## Chapter 163 – Kobolds and the Underground Labyrinth
“Shit!”
However, it didn’t take long for my joyful exclamation to turn into a despairing curse.
“You fucking garbage dump!”
Kobolds have a habit of piling up all sorts of byproducts from digging their burrows into specific rooms. Most of it is trash like tree roots, old bones, and buried rusty weapons, but sometimes there are magic stones or valuable minerals among them.
Adventurers often raid kobold dungeons because such things are sometimes found. Finding ‘high-purity magic stones’ is practically an urban legend, but valuable minerals are actually found quite often, making it a decent haul.
“Hmm… unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any particularly valuable items.”
Eliza said, pulling out some unidentified rag.
She was right.
There was almost nothing worth taking.
Come to think of it, this underground facility was here from the start, and above all, this labyrinth wasn’t made by the kobolds either. Of course, there wouldn’t be anything useful. The kobolds didn’t create the burrows, they just nested in an existing space.
And wasn’t this place already swept through by the cult? If there was anything good, they would have taken it all.
“Haa… I got my hopes up for nothing. I knew it would be like this. Hey, Darkie, we should still take everything we can, right? Search hard. How sad would it be to come all this way and return empty-handed.”
“Damn it!”
In the end, all we could salvage were a few weapons that seemed to have belonged to the sacrificed adventurers. An axe, a sword, a mace… as if reflecting the user’s level, they didn’t look to be of good quality.
Still, I could probably get a few pennies for them.
Still reluctant, I violently rummaged through the piles of trash. But I couldn’t find anything useful. I felt like I was about to cry.
I had risked my life, fought heroically to the death, and even defeated the giant beast of doom, the Kobold Queen, hadn’t I? There should have been a reasonable reward.
But, shit.
There’s nothing.
It’s absurd.
This was absurd.
…The world is stained with absurdity.
The bourgeoisie in developed countries pay fortunes for a single meal, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars, yet they nonchalantly leave food uneaten… even as children in the Third World are dying of starvation every day!
Ah! Absurd world!
While someone lives comfortably in a peaceful world, boys and girls in the Middle East are kidnapped by terrorists and used as expendable war machines! What crime did they commit to have to risk their lives in war at such a young age! Who is at fault, and what is wrong!
The world!
This absurd world is wrong!
Discrimination against blacks! Human trafficking in Africa! The atrocities committed by the legendary criminal group, the KKK! The Civil War caused by slavery! Humanity’s sorrow and the tragedy of civilized society! All that absurdity was contained in this trash heap in the underground labyrinth!
Why did the wolf girl have to die!
“Uwaaaaaaaah!!!!”
I hate this absurd world!
Then I…!
I will save everyone!
“Sis! Please do something about Darkie!”
“Hmph… you’ve perked up, that’s good, right? Isn’t that Katt’s charm?”
“That’s nonsense!”
Then Winia pointed at me and yelled at Claudia. What? I was clearly determined to save humanity… Ah, that’s not it.
“Sis, it’s because you accept all of Darkie’s bullshit that he’s become like this! Sis, you have to fix what’s wrong. I can gladly do it for you.”
“Don’t do anything too harsh, okay?”
“Darkie, stop that shit and come here! Now!”
“But why!”
I was horrified!
What’s going on!
I was supposed to be collecting treasures in the treasure room in a good mood! Winia strode up to me and grabbed my head, shaking it.
“Uwaaaaaaa!”
“Kyahahahaha!”
From the middle, she started laughing maniacally. After a while, the situation settled down. Winia calmed down, and I regained my composure. I sat down and rubbed my neck.
“Darkie, if you act like a crazy bastard again, I’ll punish you. Haa. I feel a bit better now.”
She crossed her arms and declared confidently. Her chest, which had been drooping from the previous hard work, regained its elasticity and showed off its majestic appearance. Judging by the strength in her grip on my neck, she must have regained her energy.
“Yeah… if you’ve regained your energy, that’s good… I think I was just too stressed out just now. But people can be like that sometimes, why are you grabbing people’s necks over it…”
“Darkie, don’t grumble. I want to punch you.”
“Anyway, you’re so violent, really.”
“What?”
“No, I love you.”
“You’re really a son of a bitch. You little puppy.”
Winia blushed at those words, but I will never forgive her.
I will return this pain on the bed.
Anyway, there was nothing more to take, so we came out of the treasure room. It was such a regrettable result. All we had collected so far were the kobolds’ nails and teeth, the queen’s restraints, the crown, and the weapons we had just acquired.
We’ll break even, but in terms of daily wages, it doesn’t seem very good.
“I think I’ve found the way up.”
“Ohh.”
Still, it was fortunate that we could quickly find a passage to go up. It was near the treasure room. Claudia pricked up her ears and listened for any signs above, and as soon as it was confirmed that there were no problems, we went straight up.
“…Still?”
But we were greeted by the cold stone floor as expected.
“Because we fell from a pretty high place.”
Claudia said. She had caught us when we were sure to die. Thinking about it again, it was dizzying. Maybe it was because of that near-death experience that we were able to fight the queen like that.
People who have experienced death become bolder.
“I really fucking love you, Claudia.”
I said, grabbing Claudia’s shoulders.
She smiled at my actions.
“Hehe, suddenly?”
“Suddenly? I’ve always loved you… Yes. It’s clear that we were able to slaughter the Kobold Queen because of the power of this love.”
“Maybe it would have been better not to say the last part… Well, that’s also charming. Do you love me too?”
As we walked through the labyrinth, chattering and giggling, a fork in the road appeared. Left, right. Of course, in these situations, it’s always right. We had already finished eating and sleeping, so our exploration speed was very fast.
Before long, we found another way up.
“It seems like it’s about time to get out of the labyrinth.”
Considering the height, it seemed like we were almost there. As expected, the underground facility made of dirt greeted us as we went up. We’re halfway there now. From here, we just need to find the way up and we’ll reach the surface.
We rested for a while and then set off again.
We found a few kobolds wandering around on the way up. Of course, they were no match for us, who had already easily defeated the queen. We killed them easily, like taking a morning stroll.
As we went on, we encountered an adventurer party.
“Hmm? Who are those guys?”
From the other side of the path, things were approaching with lights, it was a six-man adventurer party.
I was a little nervous. Basically, I, Kim Katt, don’t trust adventurers very much. Especially in an underground dungeon like this where there are unlikely to be any witnesses, I couldn’t trust them even more.
They were lunatics who could turn into murderous robbers at any moment. The difference between an adventurer and a highway robber is only a piece of paper.
“It’s other adventurers.”
Eliza said as if it was nothing. Claudia also didn’t seem to care, and Winia didn’t pay much attention either. Well… it must be the difference in the way they’ve lived.
Finally, their faces began to be seen as they approached completely.
ㅡSilence.
They stopped and faced us.
The other side had a total of six people.
They were all thugs.
There didn’t seem to be any mages, and they all looked like typical low-level adventurers with swords and axes. Maybe around E-rank? Judging by their muscles and equipment, they didn’t seem to be very high level.
One of them glared at us and said.
“You guys… what are you? Hey, weren’t we the first?”
“I think so? What? Why are you here?”
Judging by the way they were talking, it seemed like these guys were the ones who had come the deepest. They must have been uneasy seeing us suddenly appear. If you ask why they were uneasy,
“Did you guys come up from underground?”
Of course, they were uneasy because they thought we might have taken the treasure first.
Of course, there was no treasure.
I stepped forward in front of the party and said with a smile.
“Yes? No. We got lost. Haha. Do you happen to know where the way up is? Geez. I went in for nothing and just got lost. Kobolds are coming out like crazy too… Anyway, I had a hard time, but I didn’t get anything. Well, see you later.”
Somehow.
“Hey, you stop. This is suspicious. We were clearly the first, and I don’t think there were any other paths? Who are you?”
I had a feeling that the situation wouldn’t go peacefully.
Seeing the guy suddenly picking a fight gave me a fresh shock as if I had been hit in the head with a hammer… Guys. Can’t you please have a kind heart?
“What’s suspicious? There must have been other paths that you missed. You fucking bitch.”
“Wh, what the fuck? L, leader! These guys are suspicious!”
The guy who was cursed screamed like he was having a seizure.
In my opinion, these guys seemed more suspicious than us, but people usually don’t know their own problems. I turned to look at Claudia’s face. She said as if she was enjoying it.
“Do you think we can resolve this peacefully?”
“I don’t know. But looking at the way that guy talks, I don’t really want to resolve it peacefully.”
“That’s a good attitude. Hehe… I’ll leave the decision to you, Katt?”
The other side also started whispering something.
“Calm down.”
Saying that, an older, middle-aged adventurer came forward. A man wearing tight leather armor and a sword. His equipment level was poor, and his protruding belly was an impressive sight.
“Did you say you were lost?”
“This isn’t my living room, it’s the first time I’ve been here, so of course I’m lost, you fucking idiot. More than that, bring back that guy who was talking to me in such a rude tone just now.”
“I didn’t mean to pick a fight. I’ll apologize, so please bear with it.”
He bowed his head and apologized.
“Yes… well, it’s not like I can’t bear with it, but can you just get out of the way? I’m going crazy because of the stress of getting lost, no, I want to get out quickly.”
“…”
But he didn’t seem to want to get out of the way.
He looked at me and said again.
“…Perhaps you used a secret passage or something to go down to the underground first?”
“I’m getting annoyed if you keep asking. I said I got lost, secret passage my ass.”
“No. I don’t think that’s true. We’ve been living here for about a week making a map, and there were no other paths.”
“…”
This fucking.
Then I have nothing to say.
“I guess so. So I asked if you used a secret passage or something to go down to the underground first.”
“Okay, let’s say that’s true. But so what?”
“I mean… your bag looks a bit heavy. I’ll forgive you if you tell me honestly. Did you raid the treasure room?”
The old man smiled slyly, revealing his teeth. It was as if thick greed was dripping down those teeth.
I noticed his intention.
He thought that we were tomb raiders who had used a secret passage to steal the treasure, and that we had stolen their ‘treasure’ that they had worked hard to find for a week.
It was an incomprehensible way of thinking, but it seemed that way.
That was what an adventurer was.
“What? Forgive? Who are you to forgive? Even your mother’s grandfather can’t forgive me, you fucking pig.”
“It seems like we can’t solve this with words. Guys!”
At that shout, the six-man adventurer party took a fighting stance.
The ones who can’t solve this with words aren’t me, it’s you fuckers…
I felt like my head was about to explode with anger.
“These fucking ball-sack bastards, really.”
