Black-Haired Alien From Another World 34

## Chapter 34 – Dungeon

“Hmm, now you’re starting to look like a swordsman.”
“Really?”

A month goes by so damn fast.

I’d been running like crazy, and before I knew it, a whole month had flown by. Just feeling the muscles on my body and hearing the wind whistle past my sword, I could tell I was astonishingly different from the me of a month ago. It was like leveling up. You could say it was the moment I was about to make my first class advancement from adventurer to swordsman.

“Yeah… to put it in perspective, you’re like a rookie mercenary who’s starting to get the hang of things?”
“The example isn’t very relatable.”
“Someone who’s becoming accustomed to blood and murder…”
“Please leave out the word ‘murder’ when you explain. No, if possible, let’s not use any violent words.”

It seemed like Karin’s expressions, riddled with violence like that, were largely influenced by her life as a mercenary. Mercenaries who professionally participated in wars were truly monstrous bastards who could be called masters of murder and violence. Those guys were real psychopaths who sought out battlefields and killed people only for money.

I personally found those guys the scariest. They were ruthless killing machines that transcended good and evil. They didn’t value human life very much, so they were ready to kill at any time if necessary – literally murderers.

If you saw a guy in a bar who looked like a mercenary at a glance, it would be better for your well-being to just leave. As expected of guys who went around killing people, there was a high probability that their personalities would be terrible. If you got into a fight with them, you wouldn’t even be able to collect your bones.

“Can’t help it. You’re going to be a capable serial killer someday. Becoming a mercenary wouldn’t be so bad either.”
“Why do you keep cursing your disciple? It doesn’t make me happy at all, it just gives me the creeps. And you keep trying to paint me as a murderer, but I hate killing people. Becoming a mercenary sounds really bad too.”

Every time I had killed someone, there had always been a valid reason. I never killed people for fun, for entertainment, or for profit. I wouldn’t even lay a hand on someone’s neck unless it was an `unavoidable` situation, something I `had to do`, or `I would die if I didn’t`. All the times I had killed people so far had been because of such valid reasons.

I am good. And moral. Finally, I’m a modern person with common sense and normal sensibilities.

But despite my feelings, Karin still grinned and said,

“It’s not a curse, is it? It’s a compliment, isn’t it? And that armor, you took it from the bandits you killed, right?”

Her smile was so beautiful that for a moment, the crazy thought, `Ah, she’s right, it’s a compliment, hehe,` flashed through my mind, but I quickly erased it. The violence of appearance itself. Humans are creatures that are persuaded by looks alone.

“Only the Guild Master would consider that a compliment… Of course, acquiring this armor was also unavoidable.”
“Such a meticulous bastard. You talk too much for a guy. Can’t you just take the Guild Master’s word for it? Just go with it!”
“Ah, yes.”

With that, Karin took something out of her pocket and showed it to me.

“Here, put this on.”
“What is this?”
“It’s proof that you’re a member of our guild.”

What Karin held out was a round, black piercing that didn’t seem to have any particular features. Come to think of it, Karin and the older guys who trained with me all had something like that on. I thought it was just some kind of trend, but I never imagined it was proof of being a guild member.

“Come here, I’ll put it on for you.”

Karin approached me with the piercing. Instantly, I was seized with fear. Piercing my ear? Without proper tools and treatment, I might get an infection!

“No, no! If you pierce my ear wrong, I might get an infection or something!”
“Do you think this is the first time I’ve done this?”
“Wait a minute!”
“Oops.”

I resisted, but I was subdued in an instant. The difference in strength and skill was dozens of times greater, so the only valid resistance I could offer was screaming.

“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”
“There, it’s done.”

Unlike my scream, which was powerfully unleashed, the procedure was over in an instant.

“It’s done. You’re such a drama queen, seriously. Don’t scream like that in a real fight. The moment you show you’re scared, you’re dead.”
“Huh? Is it already over?”

I touched my ear and felt the piercing. There was no pain at all, and it was clean, as if no blood had even flowed. The black piercing was perfectly fastened to my ear.

“It’s easy if you apply Sword Aura to it.”
“Huh? What did you say?”

Did she just say she used Sword Aura to put in the piercing? I decided to just accept and acknowledge that transcendent situation. With the power of Sword Aura, which could split rocks and cut steel, piercing an ear would be easy, I guess. I’m getting my ear pierced here, of all places.

“…There are quite a few people in this city who belong to our guild, so if you’re in danger like last time, try calling for help. You never know, the guys around you might come running.”

Since it was the only swordsman guild in this area, and more than anything, the guild master was a fatally beautiful woman, it was said that there were quite a few members. If there was a culture of helping each other in times of crisis, I wouldn’t get ganged up on like that. Those martial artists, those bastards. You’re all dead.

“Thank you for the advice.”

I guess she’s thinking about me that much after teaching me for a month.

“And you’re absolutely lacking in equipment. You’ve learned swordsmanship, so now you should earn money and buy some equipment. Greaves and gauntlets are essential. And shoulder pads and a helmet, and if possible, a shield too. A good swordsman is only established when he has good equipment.”

Karin grabbed my shoulder. As she said, that was true. If people of similar skill fought, the one with better equipment would win. Even if someone’s skill was a little above mine, if my equipment level was better, I could definitely hold my own. Because with the strength of an ordinary person, you can never overcome the defense of an iron plate.

The swordsman guild, Perro Dog, was a realistic gang that only taught practical things like this. Maybe it was because my ideology of thinking about throwing a rock before fighting was so in line with them that my progress was fast.

“As I always say, a person without a weapon cannot defeat a person with a weapon, a person who has not learned cannot defeat a person who has learned, one cannot defeat two, and a guy without armor cannot defeat a guy with armor.”
“That’s absolutely right.”
“And when you fightㅡ”
“ㅡIt doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you win. Is that what you’re going to say?”
“Yeah, you know it well. I’m relieved.”

I felt a sense of regret. I wanted to learn more, but I didn’t have any money right now. I’ll come again when I make some money.

“I’ll let you use the training grounds as much as you want, so come whenever you have time.”
“I will.”
“Of course, you’ll have to pay a fee for additional training.”
“I’ll learn that when I make some money too.”

That’s how I said goodbye to the guild master, whom I had grown fond of.

“Then I’ll be going now. Guild Master, have a good one.”
“Yeah, yeah. See you later.”

Having received the black piercing as proof of being a guild member, I left the guild like that. My footsteps, which were powerfully taken, were overflowing with a vigor that could not be explained in words.

Alright, now which thick-skinned bastard is going to mess with me?

I’m someone who received intensive swordsmanship training from Karin, formerly of the Royal Knights, for a month. I’ve become a skilled person who can put a hole in the head of a back alley thug with just a single sword.

Well, I might not have become incredibly stronger in reality, but at least I was confident that I would never lose against an enemy of the same level. That was important. I wouldn’t be intimidated even if I faced guys with a little more experience or career than me. In practice, my skill was similar to or slightly higher than a D-class adventurer. I wouldn’t be able to reach C-class, though.

Anyway, I quit my patrol job in the underground waterway. Now that I had a lot of time, it seemed like I could go to the Adventurer’s Guild and take on a suitable quest. And so, I entered the Adventurer’s Guild after a long time.

“Any quests?”

The guild seemed deserted because it was lunchtime. The busiest times for the Adventurer’s Guild are usually early morning and late evening. It was busy during rush hour, so lunchtime was relatively relaxed.

Looking around, some guy was drinking beer from broad daylight, and other guys were huddled in front of the bulletin board. Overall, they seemed like adventurers without work, stuck in a jobless state. Or maybe they were looking for a party. And is that guy playing the guitar over there a minstrel?

First of all, I was curious about why people were gathered in front of the bulletin board, so I decided to go and take a look. The kids were all dwarves shorter than me, so I could see the contents of the bulletin board at a glance.

[Recruiting Dungeon Exploration Party Members]
[Looking for E-class Adventurer Party]
[Recruiting Personnel to Investigate New Dungeon]
[Dungeon Porter – 5 Copper per Day]

What? Dungeon exploration?

…Come to think of it, I think I heard something like that when I was escorting the merchants. A dungeon was recently discovered, and people were flocking to it. I guess these are announcements about that.

Looking at the contents in detail, it seemed that several people were forming their own parties and heading to the dungeon. Dungeons are bound to make money, so adventurers who are blinded by money often go in as if they were looking for their own graves.

Even I almost died when I went into the Kobold Cave when I was F-class, didn’t I? Actually, a few people did die back then, but anyway, I survived, so I was terrified of even seeing the word “dungeon” and ran away.

“Hmm…”

No, but.
I’ve learned some swordsmanship, and…

“Oh, excuse me.”

I pushed through the crowd and approached the bulletin board. As expected, the names of the adventurers applying for dungeon exploration were densely written on the promotional material. It didn’t seem to have much meaning, but if I gathered the right people and applied for a party, it would be fine.

First, I read through the names to see if there were any names I knew.

“What? Copson? Is it a different person with the same name?”

But among the names written was the name Copson.

A different person with the same name? Is Copson a common name? Since he’s a guy who wanders around here and there, he might have come to Isvant after hearing the news of the dungeon’s appearance. If it’s the Copson I know, I might make him an offer…

“Huh? What? Isn’t that Katt?”

After standing in front of the bulletin board for a while, I heard a woman’s voice that sounded familiar. I didn’t know that many women, so I wondered who it was and turned my head.

“No way, aren’t you Meria?”

The person I saw was Meria, with her impressive long brown hair and blue eyes, who used a shield and sword. She was definitely the friend I had a connection with when I went goblin hunting a month ago. She was friendly and suggested we drop the formalities, and seeing that she recognized me first, I guess it’s okay to do that.

“Hmm, it’s been almost a month, hasn’t it?”
“It’s been about that long. How have you been?”
“Same as always. But you were looking at the bulletin board?”
“Ah… because they’re recruiting dungeon party members.”

Seeing her loitering around the guild at this time, I guess she’s free. Seeing the violent side she showed during the goblin hunt, she was definitely a good person to party with again.

“Are you thinking of going to the dungeon?”
“It’s not that I’m not.”
“Really? Is that so?”

Meria nodded. Should I ask her to go with me? After all, we’ve worked together once, so it would be better than partying with other adventurers I’ve never met before. The fact that she has a shield is also a plus.

“I happen to be interested in dungeons too.”

At that moment, when I was thinking that, Meria smiled and said,

“How about it? Want to go together?”

Meria made that suggestion.