Ch.231Deep in the Mountains, to the Secret Castle

8:00 AM.

As soon as the dungeon maps were distributed, the adventurers who had woken up early and were waiting after completing their preparations rushed out like the receding tide.

The dungeon’s location marked on the map was about 15km away from the Wellord Mine, halfway up a mountain.

Even accounting for the difficulty of mountain marching, it was a distance that could easily be reached before sunset, so it was natural for everyone to be desperate to arrive even a little earlier than others.

“Well then, let’s get going too. I wish you luck.”

“Ah, thanks for your help. Send my regards to Chief Cyrus and Mag.”

Amid all this, I was exchanging farewells with the representative of the Silver Wolf clan youths at the now-quiet entrance to the mining village.

If someone were to ask why I was dawdling while other adventurers were rushing to the dungeon—

“Well, shall we get going too?”

“Hehehe~ Prepare to witness the true value of the camping carriage!”

—it’s because unlike the other adventurers traveling on foot, we planned to move quickly and comfortably by carriage.

What problem could there be in starting just five minutes late while saying goodbye to the Silver Wolf clan?

“Hya!”

‘Neeeigh~!’

The large carriage pulled by Ancestor passes through the entrance gate of Wellord Mine and quickly overtakes the adventurers walking ahead.

The adventurers envied us traveling by carriage but soon began to mock us, saying that such a large carriage would quickly overturn and become immobile while climbing the mountain.

“Well… most people would think that.”

“Hehehe~ This is a chance to test the camping carriage’s rough terrain capabilities!”

The camping carriage we’re riding maintains stability even on fairly bumpy terrain.

This is because the slime-material tires with elasticity beyond rubber and the four completely independent wheel suspensions move up and down with the ground to secure extreme grip.

By the time the adventurers traveling on foot were no longer visible, we finally entered a steep slope that would be impossible to traverse with an ordinary carriage.

On such a steep incline, carriages typically lose balance and slide or overturn, or the draft animal suffers excessive strain and becomes unable to move.

No matter how excellent the camping carriage’s suspension is, it couldn’t possibly traverse a steep slope scattered with soccer ball-sized bumps without issue.

“Rough terrain mode, activate!”

“OK.”

For such situations, the camping carriage’s rough terrain mode was prepared.

When the lever installed next to the driver’s seat is pulled halfway, four auxiliary legs deploy from the underside of the carriage, plant themselves on the ground, and lift the cabin compartment about 30 centimeters.

“Now, let’s go slowly, Ancestor. This is our first time in rough terrain mode.”

‘Prrrr~’

‘Thump thump thump thump…’

The camping carriage begins moving in quadrupedal locomotion, matching Ancestor’s pace as he climbs the mountain path with heavy steps.

The four auxiliary legs step on optimal spots according to the ground’s elevation, maintaining the cabin compartment as level as possible.

This is the camping carriage’s rough terrain mode, perfected using data from the Ant Walker.

“Still, it’s inevitably slower than normal travel mode.”

“But it’s much faster than walking, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’s also nice not to accumulate fatigue.”

“From now on, we might never have to get out of the carriage except for combat…”

“Um, I feel like I’ve been swallowed by some giant spider monster.”

Unlike the other members who were genuinely impressed with the rough terrain mode’s performance, Iris made that comment with a slightly pale complexion.

It’s an understandable sentiment coming from someone who was tormented by a monster with a spider lower body.

After driving the carriage for about an hour, switching between normal mode and rough terrain mode depending on the surroundings, we finally reached our destination marked on the map.

“There it is. The dungeon gate.”

“There’s a large amount of soil and stones piled up around it. Was there a landslide?”

“Maybe it was buried in a landslide and exposed due to the overflow. Anyway, let’s find a place to park the carriage.”

We secured the carriage, now in camping mode, about 50 meters away from the dungeon gate and prepared to enter.

As always, the entry members were the five of us: myself, Jessica, Seti, Mina, and Phyllis.

Iris, who couldn’t use magic due to the collar of subjugation and couldn’t use guns because of her black mana, had to wait in the carriage.

Although not all party members need to participate in combat or exploration, we should soon resolve the situation where she has no means to protect herself.

“Ancestor, please take good care of Iris.”

‘……’

In response to Phyllis’s earnest request, Ancestor, transformed into human form, silently nodded.

After confirming that Iris had locked all the doors inside the carriage, we finally approached the rippling dungeon gate.

Hoping that unexpected situations like the mansion dungeon wouldn’t occur, we passed through the gate in order.

“Th-This is…!”

“…A castle?”

What we saw immediately after passing through the gate was a rugged medieval European-style castle.

A tightly closed castle gate, high walls, and watchtowers built at the four corners of the walls.

The spire visible beyond the walls must be the upper part of the inner castle.

“This is troublesome. Are they asking just five of us to conduct a siege?”

“We arrived three hours earlier than other adventurers, but this makes it meaningless.”

“…That might not be the case. I don’t see any soldiers guarding the walls.”

“Huh?”

Hearing Phyllis’s words, I looked through binoculars and indeed, there were no soldiers or weapons deployed on the walls.

Seeing something moving inside the watchtower windows suggests the castle isn’t empty, but there’s no denying the impression that the military force is meager compared to the castle’s size.

“…So while it takes the form of a castle, its essence is still a dungeon.”

“What do you mean?”

“The number of monsters inhabiting a dungeon is determined by the dungeon’s size, not the form of the internal environment. Even with the overflow, only about 300-400 Lesser Demons poured out, so the number of monsters remaining inside must be much fewer.”

“So we don’t need to worry about archers densely positioned on the walls or the courtyard being filled with cavalry.”

“Right. It’s not a building constructed with actual warfare in mind.”

If that’s the case, then the story is simple.

Like the protagonist in a game defeating Count Dracula, we just need to break down the castle gate, boldly charge in, and defeat the boss on the top floor to clear it.

Of course, we also need to find the treasures hidden throughout the castle before that.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Be careful, attacks might come from the watchtowers.”

As we rapidly approached the castle gate, arrows began to fly from the watchtowers on both sides, just as Jessica predicted.

However, those watchtowers aren’t completely open on all sides but designed to observe the outside through small windows.

With such limitations on the number of arrows they can shoot at once and the angles they can target, they’re insufficient to prevent our party’s approach.

“Disintegration!”

‘Kwang!’

As Jessica uttered the spell while lightly touching the castle gate, part of the steel gate shattered like a glass window hit by a hammer.

Through the hole thus created, we rushed inside the gate, and our first enemy revealed itself before our eyes.

‘Prrrr…’

“That’s…”

“A headless knight?”

Waiting for us in the castle courtyard was a knight in black armor riding a translucent ghost horse.

The knight, missing everything above the neck, held a large sword in his right hand and what appeared to be his own head—that of an old man with white hair—in his left.

“A-rank undead monster, Dullahan…!”

‘Neeeigh~~!!’

“!?”

The moment the ghost horse carrying the headless knight Dullahan neighed, a freezing chill ran through our bodies, and the surrounding area was enveloped in fog.

The fog was so thick that we couldn’t see our companions standing within arm’s reach.

‘Clop clop clop’

The sound of hoofbeats running through the fog can be heard.

If this fog is a special ability of Dullahan or the ghost horse, we must assume they can clearly see our positions.

“Dullahan is coming! Everyone be careful!”

Even shouting to my companions like that, there’s no response.

It seems this thick fog interferes not only with visibility but also with sound transmission.

‘Clop clop clop…’

“Damn… it’s definitely getting closer, but I can’t tell from which direction.”

The sound of Dullahan’s hoofbeats seems to come from the front when I think it’s from the front, and from the right when I think it’s from the right.

While concentrating all my nerves to prepare for Dullahan’s attack, suddenly a ‘swoosh’ sound came from somewhere.

It was the sound Seti makes when slicing through a monster’s body with her sharp spear.

‘Did Seti take it down?’

With her sensitive hearing and excellent reflexes, Seti could certainly respond to an ambush in the fog.

Since Dullahan was wearing full plate armor, what she just cut was probably the ghost horse.

That’s what I thought at that moment.

‘Thud’

“Huh?”

A heavy object rolls from somewhere and touches my feet.

As I instinctively lower my gaze to identify the object, a heavy anxiety weighs on my mind.

Something was cut, and a round object rolled to touch my foot.

But a horse’s head isn’t round enough to roll around.

No, it’s strange in the first place that a head would roll around after cutting a ghost horse’s neck.

Then… what exactly was cut and rolled here?

“……”

I try to imagine optimistically.

A scene where Seti magnificently avoids Dullahan’s ambush and cuts down the ghost horse.

Dullahan, dismounted as the horse collapsed, must have dropped the head he was holding in his left hand.

Believing that, I direct my gaze to my feet.

“Ugh…”

See, there it is.

It was indeed Dullahan’s head.

After all, it’s a rule that Dullahan’s head rolls around like a ball and gets treated like a toy.

“Ah…”

So even if it has black hair,

pretty cat ears,

and healthy brown skin,

it must definitely be Dullahan’s head…

“AAAAAAHHH-!!”

…Please, someone tell me that’s the case.

Anyone, please.