Ch.287Emerging from the Forest of Poisonous Insects

Inside the dungeon gate was a dense forest.

A dirt path naturally formed between the thickly grown trees, creating a corridor, and thanks to the sunlight shining down from above, no additional lighting was necessary.

One peculiar thing was that despite how lush the forest was, not a single leaf had fallen to the ground.

“A forest-type dungeon… Like the castle from before, dungeons truly defy common sense.”

“With a dungeon like this, couldn’t we just go through the trees instead of following the path?”

“People who thought that and went between the trees either got expelled from the dungeon or went missing. The more deceptively simple a dungeon looks, the more careful you need to be.”

“Ugh…”

Mina, who had been about to venture between the trees, quietly backed away at Jessica’s warning.

The Gentleman was waiting for us beside a fruit tree a short distance from the entrance.

The tree bore green fruits that resembled Western pears, but they were unlike anything I’d seen on Earth or in Grantis.

“Are those fruits edible?”

“Ah, these? They’re edible but not tasty. I won’t stop you if you insist on trying them.”

“Then I might take one or two when we leave. They might be useful for cooking.”

“With all the delicious things available outside, you want these? What strange tastes you have…”

The Gentleman shook his head and walked into the narrow path between the trees.

Our formation had Seti and me at the front, Jessica and Mina in the middle, and Phyllis with Ancestor bringing up the rear.

Iris was hiding in Ancestor’s stone house inside his bag, while Aquila was left waiting in the carriage.

Aquila wasn’t as intelligent as Ancestor so we couldn’t entrust him with guarding the carriage, and with the mana supply and Black Label connection cut off, there were limits to recharging anyway.

“Let me tell you in advance, I’ll guide the way, but you’ll have to handle any monsters we encounter. I can’t fight without weapons.”

“Didn’t you extend your nails and swing them around when we met before?”

“All the monsters living here are poison-insect types. If you accidentally touch one with your bare hands, your whole body will swell up and you’ll be writhing on the ground.”

“…That’s not very welcome news.”

Jessica’s expression soured slightly, as she disliked insects, especially those with many legs.

I was a bit worried about Seti who would be fighting at the front, but with her skills, she wouldn’t be caught off guard by mere poisonous insects.

Most poisons could be neutralized by Jessica’s detoxification magic, so as long as Jessica herself didn’t get poisoned, the worst-case scenario could be avoided.

My prediction was soon proven correct through several encounters.

“Hah!”

*Slash!*

A Poison Crawler, a giant larva, had its neck cleanly severed by Seti’s wind blade.

The yellowish-green fluid flowing from the cut surface was the “poison that causes swelling and convulsions” the Gentleman had mentioned, but it posed no significant threat to us who mainly relied on ranged attacks.

Of course, not all monsters inhabiting this dungeon were as manageable as the Poison Crawlers.

The “Venom Cricket,” a grasshopper monster that could instantly close distances with a single jump even from far away.

The “Lethal Spider,” a poisonous spider that approached silently by lowering spider webs from above.

And the “Spray Fly,” a giant dragonfly that flew in with a loud buzzing sound and sprayed poison from the tip of its long tail.

Compared to those troublesome creatures, the Poison Crawler, with its sluggish movement and lack of ranged attack capabilities, was relatively easy to deal with.

“…Hey, Gentleman. You said you periodically exterminate monsters here? Why are there still so many crawling around?”

“You call this many? When insect-type monsters start forming groups, hundreds of them are nothing unusual.”

“No, that’s definitely not normal. Except for special cases like Giant Bees, larger monsters usually have lower population density.”

We had already defeated dozens of insects in less than an hour since entering the dungeon, yet the Gentleman spoke as if this was nothing unusual.

It seemed there was a considerable gap between the Third Eye tribe’s understanding of monster ecology and ours.

“In a way, it’s fortunate that the Third Eye tribe occupies this dungeon. I shudder to imagine what would happen if an overflow occurred and swarms of poisonous insects came pouring out.”

“Come to think of it, we’ve gone quite deep, but we haven’t encountered any other Third Eye tribe members yet.”

“Of course not. Those working outside would have all retreated after hearing the gunshots. It’s our rule that no one except those with permission should show themselves to other races.”

The Gentleman said this while guiding us deeper into the forest, carefully avoiding the Poison Crawler’s bodily fluids that had spilled onto the ground.

Not allowed to show themselves to other races except those with permission… Perhaps their habit of always wearing masks was part of this closed custom?

Maybe the Gentleman bringing us here was itself an action that involved considerable risk.

For another hour, we continued through the dense forest dungeon, defeating the poisonous insects that attacked us.

As we went deeper into the dungeon, the frequency of Spray Flies and Lethal Spiders decreased dramatically, while Poison Crawlers and Venom Crickets appeared in a ratio of about 6:3.

According to the Gentleman, the Third Eye tribe periodically set fire to the leaves of the inner trees, causing the spiders and dragonflies that lived in the branches to lose their habitats and be driven outward.

“You set fire to the forest? Doesn’t that cause a major conflagration?”

“These trees are, so to speak, the walls of the dungeon, so only the leaves burn while the trunks and branches don’t. We suffer from the smoke, but it’s better than being bitten to death by spiders or tormented by dragonflies.”

After defeating several more Poison Crawlers and moving forward, we arrived at an open clearing.

Unlike other areas, this clearing showed no signs of battle and was quite clean. On one side, there was even a cultivated field with neatly planted edible vegetables like carrots and onions.

“What’s this place?”

“It’s a safe zone with fertile soil. For some reason, even the poisonous insects don’t come in here, so we use it for farming.”

“There are farming tools scattered around.”

“There must have been people working here.”

Residents of the Third Eye tribe who retreated after hearing the gunshots, perhaps.

Between their knowledge of the dungeon’s ecosystem and the traces of human activity here, there was no doubt that this place served as a hideout for the Third Eye tribe.

“Since it’s safe here, why don’t we take a short break? My eyes are stinging, my throat is dry, and I’d like to maintain Seti’s spear too.”

“I’m all for it, but… is that okay, Gentleman?”

“As long as you don’t touch the crops, it’s fine. Everyone already knows outsiders have entered anyway.”

“Then we’ll take you up on that offer.”

Having secured a moment of safety, we used Clean Up and Antidote to remove any traces of poison around our bodies, and Mina thoroughly maintained Seti’s spear, which was the only weapon that had made contact with the monsters.

As a side note, we only kept one or two magic stones and materials dropped by the monsters for research purposes and left the rest behind.

The Third Eye tribe would already be on edge about outsiders intruding, and if they found out we had taken resources they needed from their dungeon, they would harbor ill feelings before even engaging in dialogue.

‘Of course, if the Third Eye tribe tries to kill us, we’d destroy everything and demolish the dungeon.’

My stance toward the Gentleman and the Third Eye tribe was somewhat ambiguous.

It was true that they were cruel criminals who distributed drugs to the Blackheart Gang and used them as human bombs, but objectively speaking, the Gentleman himself hadn’t intentionally antagonized us.

After all, the current Ancestor and our camping carriage existed thanks to the dungeon treasure the Gentleman had left behind.

The curse they placed on the Dark Elf race was only becoming an issue because we happened to be traveling with Iris, who had transformed into a Dark Elf, or because they had business with Calliope.

If this had happened back when we were attacked and nearly killed near Atelier, I might not have cared about the existence of another race attacking Dark Elves, or might have even been grateful.

As I pondered this, a question came to mind.

“Hey, Gentleman.”

“What is it?”

“When we met before, you created a dungeon. Is this dungeon also directly created by the Third Eye tribe?”

“I can’t answer that. But would anyone choose to live in a forest full of poisonous insects if they had a choice?”

“I guess that’s true…”

So either this dungeon wasn’t created by the Third Eye tribe, or even if it was, they couldn’t customize the internal environment exactly as they wished.

If that had been possible, they would have built and lived in a proper castle like the dungeon that had caused the overflow last time—that would have been a hundred times better.

After that conversation, an awkward silence fell between the Gentleman and us. After about 15 minutes of rest, we began moving deeper inside again.