Ch.16Shen’s Dungeon (3)

“How’s the armor?”

“Hmm…”

Seriya stretched her body to test the armor’s flexibility.

“It’s good. This should be fine even for intense movements.”

She said while straightening her back.

“Then it should be fine. Chain mail has quite good mobility. This will be enough to swing a sword properly.”

Today is finally the day we head to the dungeon.

For this, I deliberately woke up earlier to prepare, buying provisions and such, and surprisingly, I also packed the spatial carrier that Seriya brought.

I didn’t know what a carrier was, but it appeared to be a rectangular bag with wheels attached.

Indeed, buying something like that explained why she was drowning in debt.

“But that carrier thing. What about during combat?”

“I’ll just shove it aside and fight. Goblins and orcs are fighting for their lives too; they won’t be interested in a bag, right?”

I suppose that makes sense.

I nodded in understanding.

We finished a simple breakfast at the inn, then mounted our horses and headed toward the dungeon.

*

“There are a lot of people here?”

“Once we get inside the dungeon, everyone will scatter anyway.”

“Oh… Is that how it works?”

“Is this your first time in a dungeon?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it’s only my third time, so I can’t say much either.”

Numerous adventurers had gathered at the dungeon entrance.

Some of them were already coming out of the dungeon, while others were about to enter—we belonged to the latter group.

“You there. Stop.”

As we approached on horseback, a bearded man not wearing armor stopped us.

“What is it?”

“Only adventurers are allowed beyond this point. Show your adventurer credentials.”

We dismounted and showed our credentials, and the man wrote something on a paper before letting us pass.

“Is he an employee of the Adventurers’ Guild?”

“Seems like it.”

As we got closer to the dungeon, there were street vendors set up nearby. The most noticeable among them was the Relief Knights’ stall, staffed by people wearing pure white robes over armor.

“Relief Knights… First time seeing them in person…”

“Really? They’re everywhere.”

“I’ve seen plenty of blood donation centers and poor relief stations. But I’ve never seen armed ones like that before.”

“Ah, I see.”

The Relief Knights, a global humanitarian organization rivaling the Adventurers’ Guild, have an even longer history than the guild if you trace it back.

They had a sign saying “Blood Urgently Needed” at their stall and were collecting blood from people lying on beds. It seemed there were more injured people than expected.

“Sigh… When I was young, I used to sneak into blood donation centers just to get some white bread and butter.”

“When you have no money, that’s the only way to get such food.”

I nodded.

Even the poorest person still has their body, so unless they’re ill, they could somehow scrape by doing public work or donating blood at places run by the Relief Knights.

Of course, that “unless they’re ill” condition itself is quite strict.

After observing the Relief Knights’ local treatment center for a while, we started looking for a place to leave our horses.

Fortunately, there was something like a stable nearby, probably operated directly by the guild.

“Just one horse?”

“Yes.”

“That’ll be 10 copper coins.”

I took out 10 copper coins from my pocket, then took out my spatial storage and put all the remaining money I had into it.

Since we were entering the dungeon now, I wouldn’t need money anymore.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

And so we entered [Shen’s Dungeon].

Rolling… rolling…

Pulling the carrier, of course.

*

Whoosh…

“So this is a dungeon… What an eerie atmosphere.”

The inside of the dungeon maintained a peculiar brightness.

It was dark, but not so dark that we needed torches or lanterns to see. Not being able to see far ahead was a disadvantage, but having torches or lamps would make us targets.

“Is this… a cave? Or ruins?”

As she said, the interior of the dungeon was strangely like a half-cave, half-ruin hybrid.

Heavy air and strange lighting… This must be the magical effect of the dungeon.

“It looks buried, so probably ruins. Let’s start moving. Now that we’re here, we need to at least break even.”

“Right. If we don’t make a good haul here, we might really end up being dragged somewhere to mine coal until we die.”

Seriya said, shuddering.

I’ve heard that for elves who live forever, the fear of being confined somewhere is beyond imagination.

“You take the lead. I’ll cover you.”

It might seem odd for a butler to stay in the back, but if a scoundrel is behind, they can’t detect traps.

This isn’t about having a keen eye but about skill, something I couldn’t replicate, so it was right to have her take the lead.

“Alright. Follow me closely.”

I nodded and drew my longsword from its scabbard.

Shing…

The heavy sound of the sword echoed softly, and Seriya began moving forward, her eyes on the floor while I watched ahead.

Rolling… rolling…

Pulling the carrier, of course.

Feeling… feeling…

Seriya was practically crawling on the floor.

She was probably looking for thread-like trap mechanisms, but it didn’t look dignified, to say the least.

As we were about to turn a corner…

“Wait!”

Seriya stopped me and began moving her fingers busily.

“A trap?”

“Nothing too special. A tripwire mechanism activated by thread. I don’t know what it’ll trigger, so stay right there.”

As I stood still watching, she clung to the wall, moving her fingers diligently, performing some professional task.

This must be the talent of a scoundrel—trap detection and disarmament.

I couldn’t help but admire the scoundrel’s skill, which went beyond mere curiosity to a kind of awe.

Click!

“Done!”

“Oh…”

Eventually, I heard a clicking sound followed by something shifting, and Seriya showed me a rolled-up thread.

“This is the tripwire.”

“I couldn’t see it at all…”

“Well, it’s dyed gray and the thread itself is thin. Seeing this would be almost magical.”

Saying that, Seriya put the disarmed tripwire into her bag.

“Is that worth money too?”

“Thin, tough, and nearly invisible thread sells surprisingly well.”

“I see.”

If clothes were made with such thread, even with stitching marks, they wouldn’t be visible, so they could sell at a high price.

*

“Wait.”

This time I called out.

Seriya approached me, and I pointed to the dark area ahead.

“Two goblins and one orc. I’ll handle the orc; you take care of the goblins.”

“I can’t see anything.”

“Focus on the footsteps. Don’t even breathe. Look for the faint light from their eyes.”

As I said that, Seriya began nocking an arrow to her bow, having spotted them.

Soon the arrow left her bow, and from the distance came screams and monstrous howls.

“They’re coming!”

“I’m counting on you for the remaining goblin!”

Saying that, I rushed forward with my longsword.

“Keeeet!”

A goblin charged at me first. I struck it with my left fist, then adjusted my stance and gripped my longsword with both hands.

“Chweeeek!”

With the orc’s distinctive nasal cry, an axe flew toward my head. I twisted my body to avoid it, then slashed at the orc’s leg.

Slash!

“CHWEEEEEK!!!”

“Damn! Was it too shallow?!”

An orc was still an orc.

Thanks to its bulk, about the size of a human’s belly, slashing attacks rarely inflicted fatal wounds unless they were exceptionally powerful.

Thud!

Whack!

“I’ve taken care of the goblins!”

“Well done!”

I deflected the axe while responding to Seriya, and when the orc tried to recover its weapon, I thrust my longsword into its chest.

Squelch!!!

It felt like stabbing pork fat with a fork.

The orc’s body collapsed, and I pulled my sword from its heart, then swung it to behead the orc for confirmation.

“Hmm… Good strength and stamina, but not particularly durable, it seems.”

It felt not much different from cutting a human’s neck.

I thought this as I wiped the fat and blood from my sword.

“You really fight well! You didn’t show any fear against the orc and finished it in just two moves.”

“Is there any reason to be afraid? I fear humans more than monsters.”

“Haha! I agree.”

Saying that, we moved on to the next area.

In the next area, there was a room with treasure, guarded by three orcs.

“I’ll take out one with an arrow, and we’ll handle the other two at close range.”

“I’ll shoot the arrow and then follow with my dagger.”

“Good.”

When Seriya shot her arrow, one orc instantly perished from the close-range shot.

“Chweek?!”

Then I with my longsword and Seriya with her dagger each engaged an orc. I put my weight into it and knocked the orc down, then drew my middle sword to quickly behead it before thrusting my longsword into its heart.

I got up and watched Seriya’s battle, but she wasn’t as strong as me and was struggling in close combat with the orc.

“Need help?”

“No… I’m fine! I can… handle this… myself…!”

“CHWEEEEEK!”

After about three minutes of fierce fighting, she found an opening and gouged out the orc’s eye with her dagger, then used that opportunity to slash at the orc’s body repeatedly, ending the short but intense battle.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah… Just… a bit tired….”

Saying that while catching her breath, she then opened the carrier I had been carrying and began frantically scooping up the treasures in the room.