Chapter 258 – 23. The Girls From the Empire
A single light source floating in a dark cave.
The party relied on a small light to advance into the dungeon.
Unlit dungeons are surprisingly common.
Rather, it was much rarer to see luminous stones or magic lights embedded in the ceiling.
Well, if you’re the owner, there’s no reason to use this path.
But they are intruders.
The owner of the dungeon had no choice but to break in through a path that could not be blocked and steal the treasure. Of course that’s the position when the owner is alive. If it was a dungeon that was hundreds of years old, not decades, it was now the realm of adventure.
‘Stop.’
Evelyn, the tank of the party that was advancing the most, raised her fist and stopped the march.
Everyone’s eyes are now on the leader and warrior, Han Ji-na, who is passionate.
“…”
With the power of light created by mage Belluna, her eyes shook as she gazed into the deep darkness.
‘What?’
It’s not like you can’t see inside.
The problem is the identity of the monster.
Two arms stretched long enough to touch the floor, as big as a troll. Unlike the ferocious roaring eyes, the mouth is sewn shut with something like needles. I know it’s not a normal monster, but it’s not the kind of chimera that’s commonly known.
“It’s a red-toothed long-armed troll.”
“…?”
Jina’s head turned at the calm voice of Han Siwoo.
It was the eyes that seemed to know how to know such a thing.
“It’s a Chimera, but there’s not much trace of it.”
“Then…”
“There’s a good chance it’s only partially remodeled. Like senses or muscles.”
Siu Han then gave her some advice on how to deal with her trolls.
Gina, who nodded her head for the not-so-short help, gathered her four party members and came up with a strategy to deal with the trolls. Soon, the party members, mainly A-class warriors, secretly approached and began to engage in a battle with the trolls.
“Weren’t you just watching?”
A woman approached Siwoo, who was watching them with her arms crossed.
It was Sheila.
“Wasn’t that what Aunt Sheila decided to do?”
“Um, that’s right.”
Zira Sheila, who wasn’t particularly wrong, also readily agreed and looked at the battle with her eyes open.
Siwoo smiled lightly at her worried appearance.
I wasn’t worried about Hanji or the party.
Although the red-toothed long-armed troll is a rare species, it is not a very difficult opponent if you have enough information.
Even if it is converted into a Chimera, it cannot be compared to a class A party.
‘I’ll finish it soon.’
Shortly after, when the girls seized the victory, Siwoo was wary of the surroundings and prepared for an unexpected attack.
‘Anyway, I never thought I’d come here.’
He recalled the reunion with Hanji and Pati a few days ago.
Han Si-woo greeted lightly on the first day of arrival due to time constraints and had time in earnest the next day.
During the day, I had time to meet the queen with Han So-young in the evening.
And she received a piece of paper from Ji-na Han without even speaking a few words.
“Sister, what is this?”
“It’s a treasure, no, it’s a dungeon map.”
“Yes?”
Suddenly, what kind of dungeon map is this?
She tilted her head and looked at the map, and she explained quite well.
The location of the dungeon, how to find it, and even the internal structure are described in detail with pictures, so it seems to be quite expensive. Although the language is quite old, it is not a code, so there is no great difficulty in interpreting it. This was enough to call it a treasure map.
“What is it?”
“I found it in the storage room while preparing to move.”
It was Jenny, the youngest, who answered.
“Hmm.”
“I got it quite a while ago, but I forgot to put it in the warehouse because of the location.”
“Aha.”
After calculating her coordinates and realizing that the location was the Kingdom of Palania, Siu nodded her head.
A dungeon like this is hard to explore just because the kingdom is different.
Usually, in this case, the warriors of the country are used to explore, or they are sold.
Hanji and Pati seem to have forgotten while trying to grow up and take the former method.
“But why is this?”
“Let’s go together.”
“Yes?”
“Even though we’ve been here for a while, we’re thinking of taking a break from our mission, but we’re going to go back after thinking about the map. It doesn’t seem like it’ll take long, considering the distance and the internal structure. How about it? Let’s go together!”
“Is it with us? I don’t think it’ll matter even if we don’t have a party…”
“No, only with you.”
“But we’re still warriors of the empire. So I thought it would be okay if I took you alone.”
“Aha.”
I was quite drawn to it.
I was just curious about Hanji and the party’s fighting style and skills.
I know roughly, but you can get a feel for these things by seeing them fight in real battle.
“When are you leaving?”
“Fortnight later.”
“After 15 days… Not bad. After going to the dungeon and resting for a bit, it would be perfect if we set off for Springfield.”
“Okay, okay. Then, have you decided?”
“Yes.”
It was decided that Ji-na Han and the five members of the party and Si-woo Han went to the dungeon.
After that, Han Ji-na asked Sheila to take a break from her training for a few days, and even joined her in the process. It was quite unexpected, but there was nothing wrong with having a good person together.
It’s not like they’re aiming for by-products and loot from dungeons anyway, and dungeons like this have many strange traps. The price of items to be prepared for insurance is drastically reduced just by Sheila accompanying them.
In this way, a total of seven members bound for the dungeon gathered, and after 15 days, they departed and arrived here.
“Hmm, it seems that the warlock’s skills are better than I thought.”
“I agree.”
Their eyes met the troll together.
The red-toothed long-armed troll is a monster that only inhabits the northern part of the continent.
It wasn’t something that could be found in the kingdom of Palania, the western part of the continent, and the remodeled workmanship was unusual. Even if everything else is calm, it’s unusual to capture a monster that can be called an ogre and save it until now.
“I wish I didn’t have any problems.”
“Of course not.”
“Ah. Haha. I see. I said something stupid.”
Seeing Siwoo’s stupid laugh, Sheila snorted lightly.
That was really stupid.
‘I’m here and you guys can’t get hurt.’
What Siwoo was worried about was various unexpected situations besides simple injury, but that was what Sheila was going through. Getting hurt by someone in the party. Other than that, she didn’t care about anything.
And if anyone was in danger of being hurt, she was ready to wield her spear with full force.
‘Good job bringing her aunt.’
Even if a high-ranking demon appears, I feel relieved by Sheila’s intense fighting spirit, which seems to catch it in an instant.
He took out a map from his pocket and checked it as the battle was about to end.
‘I’m half way there.’
It must have been half a day since entering the dungeon.
It’s already half way in.
For a dungeon full of all sorts of malice and pranks, half a day and a half is not bad.
Because dungeons are full of mazes, traps, and monsters whenever you have a chance.
“For now, it seems that there are only a few dangerous places left…”
Keen eyes scan the depths of the dungeon map.
Siu and Han Ji-na’s party have thoroughly analyzed and analyzed this map. As always with wizards, there may be hidden information. In particular, the help of Ash, who realized her talent in this process, was great.
“Oh, it’s hard.”
“What kind of arm is growing more over there…”
“So! It’ll be almost 3m.”
They return after a hard battle.
Even the troll’s corpse was retrieved with magic, and the cleanup was finished.
“Everyone has suffered.”
Sheila, who thanked Hanji and Pati for their hard work, immediately pointed out the mistakes they had made during the battle.
Even in the midst of exhaustion, everyone listened to her advice with sparkling eyes.
The teachings of a talented person who is famous on the continent. Even though Sheila is a lancer, she is not only useful to those who use spears. She comes from a commoner and has risen to the top, and has a keen insight in the field of battle.
“…And Jenny. You need to fight more aggressively. You know how sensitive a witch’s magic is to a person’s will, as is a wizard, right?”
“Yes!”
“Okay. That’s it. Finally…”
The five women listen to Sheila in a stiff posture.
Sheila glanced at them lightly and gave them a cool smile.
“I worked hard fighting. It’s late, so let’s rest here.”
“Wow!”
“Thank you. I-I have a question, but when it’s like this…”
“Haa, I’m hungry…”
With the announcement of a break, the atmosphere is relaxed.
Originally, in a dungeon, you shouldn’t let go of tension at any time, but the fact that you were with Sheila made them loosen up. She was a little more nervous than usual, especially with Sheila watching.
While each was doing their own thing, Belluna went to Siu, who was still looking at her map.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m looking at the map.”
It was an insincere answer, but she immediately understood the meaning.
“Because of that?”
“Huh.”
Belluna turned her eyes to where Siu was watching closely.
Deep inside the dungeon. There were two unidentified places where interpretation failed.
Usually, the dungeon owner writes down important places with his or her own password. That way, they could be prepared in case the dungeon map was leaked like this. Therefore, even if the interpretation fails, there is nothing strange about it.
“Don’t worry too much.”
“Hmm…”
But Siu couldn’t let go.
It was because of the knowledge of round 1.
‘Looking at the location, this place is definitely ‘there’.’
In the first playthrough, Hanji or the party eventually sold the map somewhere else, but a party of warriors other than them visited this place. And went missing After that, two more parties came and went missing, and finally another party succeeded in attacking.
‘There is a high probability that the first party was wiped out by the monsters. But the second and third don’t. It must not have been lack of skill, but the reason for the disappearance.’
For some reason, I had a hunch that the reason might be in these two rooms.
‘There’s something on my mind. What the three parties have in common…’
Belluna must have said her words, but Sheila came over and patted him on the back.
“Aunt?”
“You should stop resting too. Everyone is preparing dinner.”
“Ah. Yes, I see.”
Half a day had passed since entering the dungeon, so it was pitch black outside.
Even if there is no distinction between day and night in this room, the human body needs to act according to its biorhythm to stay in good shape. Siwoo apologized to Sheila for her and put her map in and went to her Kate and started helping her.
After that, after having dinner, the party set a night watch with magic and went to sleep.
Then, I woke up at dawn and started attacking the dungeon again.
After a few hours.
– Giggling, come on! Then let the game begin!
“Game…?”
-This is a game made with great care by this wizard!
Siwoo watched the game presented by the ghost of the dungeon.
Wooden sticks piled up in a familiar shape for some reason.
Even the text written on the pink and white sticks at the top.
‘What? A game made with care? This. It’s love Jenga!’
At that moment, the commonality of the parties that were wiped out in the first round came to mind.
All three parties were clearly made up of men.
