Ch.95An Offer You Can’t Refuse

When we escaped the Minotaur’s attack and made it out of the dungeon, it was already past 6:30 in the evening.

The sun that had been floating in the middle of the sky had disappeared somewhere, and we were greeted by a purple sky filled with clouds. We set up our tents in the clearing in front of the dungeon, relying only on the light of our lanterns, with neither moonlight nor starlight shining down.

“OK, that should cover the basic camping preparations…”

“Without a campfire, we can’t use the Repellation Field. Looks like we’ll have to take turns keeping watch tonight.”

“There’s no chance the Minotaur might burst out from the dungeon entrance, right?”

“It should be fine unless an overflow occurs. Of course, there are cases like the Plague Dungeon, so I can’t say with 100% certainty.”

“That was a special case in many ways.”

As we sat around the lantern eating bread, we could hear Hector raising his voice some distance away.

I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but from the atmosphere, it seemed he was scolding the man with the double-barrel shotgun who had been in charge of mapping.

“The situation over there doesn’t look good.”

“Drawing an incorrect map in a dungeon is a fatal mistake, so I understand Hector’s feelings this time.”

“Still, criticizing like that isn’t ideal. We still have two days until the return gate opens, and this will only deepen the rift between team members.”

“Hector’s upset because he wasted an entire day and is likely to lose his bet with Jessica.”

“Hmm? Isn’t it too early to determine the winner?”

“We can’t wander around such a complex dungeon without a proper map. That means tomorrow they’ll have to start from scratch, beginning with surveying the entrance area. All while we’re making progress with our investigation.”

In this mission, our party and Hector’s party are competing over the accuracy and value of our investigation results.

In the midst of this, the outcome regarding map accuracy has already been decided, and this gap will only widen tomorrow while Hector’s party struggles to redraw their map.

“That makes sense. But if we don’t solve the Minotaur problem, we’ll have just as much trouble investigating the dungeon. Is there no way to deal with it?”

“A way to deal with the Minotaur… there is one.”

“What is it?”

“The Minotaur exhibits near-invincible strength while under the blessing of ‘Berserk’ from the dungeon. Conversely, if we can disable that Berserk state, we can defeat it.”

“How do we disable the Berserk?”

“We need to destroy an object called the ‘Throne of Madness’ that exists somewhere in the dungeon. The problem is that the Minotaur knows its power comes from the throne, so it prioritizes defending it above all else.”

“So earlier, when the Minotaur didn’t persistently chase after us…”

“Exactly. Seeing our group of eight, it probably thought that if it pursued us recklessly, someone might circle around and approach the Throne of Madness.”

“Despite its brutish appearance, it’s quite clever.”

If Jessica’s words are true, there’s a major contradiction in the task of defeating the Minotaur.

The reason we need to defeat the Minotaur is to safely explore the dungeon.

But to defeat the Minotaur, we need to explore the dungeon to find and destroy the Throne of Madness.

It’s a paradoxical situation, like needing scissors to open a package containing scissors.

“Since the Minotaur will be guarding the throne anyway, we can’t destroy it without being detected… so our only option is a diversion tactic.”

“A diversion tactic?”

“While the main force keeps the Minotaur busy, a separate team finds and destroys the Throne of Madness. The throne should be somewhere near where the Minotaur was roaming.”

“Hmm…”

After hearing my suggestion, Jessica folded her arms, thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“That won’t work. The separate team needs Mina for dungeon exploration, and considering potential monster encounters, we need at least two people.”

“That’s true.”

“That means the main force would have to face the berserk Minotaur with just three people. And one of them would need to block the rear to prevent the Minotaur from retreating if it notices something happening to the throne.”

Yes, this was the biggest weakness in the diversion tactic I proposed.

Stopping a berserk Minotaur—that embodiment of madness and violence—when it faces the imminent collapse of its stronghold would be impossible even for Seti.

Yet I confidently made the suggestion for one reason only.

If we lack numbers, we can supplement from elsewhere.

“Excuse me, may I have a moment?”

“Huh?”

The man with the double-barrel shotgun had approached our tent without us noticing.

Even Seti hadn’t noticed him, being so focused on discussing countermeasures against the Minotaur.

As tension spread across everyone’s faces, I offered the man a seat.

“Rick Anderson. That sword-carrying fellow over there is Peter Jackson. We’re employed by Hector and travel with him.”

“Working for a difficult employer, I see. William J. Kim.”

After sitting down, Rick exchanged introductions with the other members and then explained why he had come to our party.

“I overheard you talking about the Minotaur. About splitting into teams to face it while destroying the Throne of Madness.”

“That’s right. Without destroying it, the Berserk ability makes it an impossible opponent to fight. But eavesdropping on another party’s conversation seems a bit rude, don’t you think?”

“Ah, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Will’s voice is just loud enough to carry that far.”

Rick awkwardly explained to the still-suspicious Jessica, but he wasn’t really at fault.

I had deliberately raised my voice when discussing the diversion tactic so Hector’s party would hear.

“I believe I know where that Throne of Madness might be.”

“Really? Did you discover it while exploring?”

“When we first encountered the Minotaur, it was sitting on something. At the time, I didn’t realize it was important, so I didn’t examine it closely, but I remember it was a stone chair-like structure.”

“A stone chair? That sounds a bit crude to be called a throne.”

“But if what he’s saying is true, there’s a high chance it’s the Throne of Madness. Minotaurs don’t typically furnish their living spaces.”

To think Hector’s party had discovered the Throne of Madness.

Suppressing my urge to cheer, I maintained my poker face and asked Rick:

“Alright Rick, assuming what you say is true… you didn’t come here out of kindness to tell us the throne’s location.”

“That’s right. To be direct, I’d like to make a deal with your dwarf lady.”

“That won’t work. The cost-benefit ratio doesn’t add up.”

I flatly refused without even hearing the details of the deal.

To increase our chances of success against the Minotaur and to proceed with our investigation advantageously, we needed to maintain the upper hand in this negotiation.

‘Rick, or rather Hector, probably intends to ask for our map in exchange for the throne’s location.’

Hector’s party failed at mapping and hit a roadblock in their dungeon exploration.

Hector likely believes the failure is due to Rick’s lack of skill and sent Rick to approach us as a way to make him take responsibility.

I had leaked information about the diversion tactic to Hector’s party precisely because I anticipated this outcome.

‘However, I didn’t expect they’d have discovered the Throne of Madness. Having the negotiation focus shift there isn’t ideal for us.’

Information about the throne’s location? Of course it would be helpful.

Even if the location on their flawed map is imprecise, knowing the general route would significantly narrow down our search area.

But what we need more urgently is manpower for the main force to keep the Minotaur occupied.

The reason I leaked the diversion tactic to Hector’s party in the first place was to demand their participation in the Minotaur subjugation operation.

I can’t trade that for potentially inaccurate information about the throne’s location.

“For us, the throne’s location is merely a nice-to-have. Meanwhile, you can’t even move around without solving your map problem. Don’t you think the value of what each of us holds is vastly different?”

“Well…”

“As a fellow adventurer, I’m not unsympathetic to your situation. If we had met by chance in this dungeon, I might have considered giving you the map for a reasonable fee. But we both know that’s not the case, right?”

We’re currently competitors vying for dungeon investigation results.

Handing over our carefully created map would be, in extreme terms, an act of betrayal.

“We have the opportunity to eliminate a competitor without lifting a finger. Even in the worst case, if we have to abandon our investigation and return, our victory is already secured with the map we’ve completed so far.”

“That’s right. Conversely, if we successfully defeat the Minotaur, we could leave you here and monopolize the investigation results.”

Jessica chimes in, putting pressure on Hector who stands beyond Rick.

Hector’s expression was visibly crumpling, and Jessica’s lips curled slightly upward as she watched.

While I understand Jessica’s delight in this situation, it’s time to ease up on the stick and offer a carrot.

“However, there is a way you could improve your situation somewhat.”

“What way?”

“Join the main force in the Minotaur subjugation battle and fight alongside us. If you demonstrate sufficient skill and reduce the risk to our party, I could teach you what caused your mapping to go wrong in return.”

“The cause of the mapping error…!”

The error in Hector’s party’s map isn’t due to Rick’s lack of skill but has another cause.

Without knowing that cause, they could start over multiple times and still end up with the same flawed map, ultimately forcing them to abandon this quest.

Rick, as well as Hector and Peter listening from a distance, seemed to grasp the significance of my words.

“Go back, discuss it among yourselves, and have Hector come tell us your decision personally. Our demands are: full participation in the Minotaur subjugation operation with your main force, information about the throne’s location, and in return, we’ll provide information about what’s causing your mapping failures.”

“Didn’t you say the throne’s location wasn’t that important?”

“Wouldn’t it be reassuring if Mina’s separate team could find and destroy the throne as quickly as possible? Especially for your friend Peter over there, who’ll have to engage in close combat with a rampaging Minotaur.”

After hearing our demands, Rick returned to his companions to discuss, while we enjoyed our after-dinner coffee and waited for Hector.

It took less than ten minutes for Hector to approach us with a deeply furrowed brow and accept our proposal.