episode_0008

“Ugh…! Knock, knock…. Gulp, gulp….”

“Uuuugh…. Kwaaak, hak…. Aak….!!”

Difficulty breathing due to the terrible stench and poison.

Towards the warrior party, whose tears were streaming down their faces and they could not even see properly.

“ចាប់បាន។!!”

“សម្លាប់!! សម្លាប់​វា!!!”

The leprechauns rushed in wearing gas masks they had prepared in advance.

— Phew…!!

“Kkaaaak…!!”

After allowing a blow without a countermeasure, Hyunwoo desperately swung his sword and entered into battle with enemies that were barely visible.

“Gasp, gasp, kekekeke…. Woof eeeek…! Ugh….”

— Crunch….!!

“Ugh… Ugh…!!”

After that.

Suffering from the constant attacks of leprechauns and their clever traps.

I’ve been struggling for hours, wandering through an incredibly complex dungeon.

The warrior party members were completely exhausted and walking around as if they would collapse at any moment.

“Haaah….”

“Gasp, ugh…. Ugh…. Phew…. Sigh….”

“Nigimi… fucking… fucking piece of shit… fucking window…”

— Sigh.

at that time.

Krimhilt, who had been walking ahead, quietly raised her hand and stopped the group.

Beyond the bend in the passage, they found two leprechauns standing guard, blocking a large door.

“……….”

“…………..”

After exchanging glances without saying a word.

Gadahum summoned a butterfly-shaped servant horse and sent it toward the door.

“There doesn’t seem to be an ambush. There’s barbed wire on the door and no gaps to crawl through. It seems difficult to look inside with a servant horse. The leprechauns standing guard…are quite large and well-armed. There’s no doubt that this is a very important room.”

“……..”

“First, Mr. Zion, you snipe one guy and neutralize him, and in the meantime, the warrior…”

at that time.

— Thud, thud, thud….

Hyunwoo drew his holy sword and strode across the passage.

“អ្វី!?”

“មនុស្ស!! មនុស្ស!!”

— Pot, breakup….!!

The two leprechaun sentries hurriedly took up their weapons and tried to fight Hyunwoo, but…

The gap in specs was overwhelming, and Hyunwoo roughly swung his sword to cut off their windpipes.

“Grrr…”

“Oh my…. I remember……”

and.

The party members, frozen in confusion, hurriedly followed after Hyunwoo after he had defeated both leprechaun guards.

“–What the hell is this?”

“What did you do…. You did that, right? It doesn’t seem like there was an ambush. Then the right thing to do is to deal with it quickly and head-on.”

“There was no ambush, but if there were any traps or other dangerous gimmicks….”

“It wasn’t there?”

“……….”

“I’m sick of listening to you keep talking nonsense about useless strategies and surprise attacks. Aren’t you getting tired of hearing your useless nonsense?”

“…………..”

He looked at Hyunwoo with an expression that seemed like he wanted to swear at any moment.

Gadahem struggled to restrain himself and parted his lips.

“You are the ones who asked me for a strategy.”

“That strategy is useless, that’s why they’re doing this. They don’t properly identify weaknesses or characteristics and give orders, and they don’t block enemy surprise attacks in advance. What good would it do to be trusted?”

“I am not a transcendent being. I cannot perfectly understand all situations and information. I am providing the best information I can within the limits of my understanding. For the parts that are lacking, please use your experience and improvisation….”

“–Fuck!!”

— Tukaang…!!

After kicking the door with a rough kick, he silenced Ga-da-heum.

Hyunwoo continued to kick the wall and door with his feet and swear at them.

“Nigimi…. That’s all you can do? You damn bitch!! Then why did I bring you here? You useless piece of luggage, what’s so great about you that you roll your eyes and sit there with your mouth wide open!! It’s no different than when we come here and fight!!”

“You say there’s no difference? If I hadn’t been there, when you got caught in the rockfall trap earlier, everyone would’ve died from suffocation. Are you so stupid that you can’t even understand that? Or…..”

–Suddenly.

at that time.

Krimhilt quietly approached Gadahum and grabbed the back of her neck.

“Let’s go, unnie~ Let’s not say bad things. Okay?”

“What… are you saying…?”

“We are a ‘hero party’ that fights to save the world, right? If you say too many bad things, the goddess will punish you.”

“Well, the one who started the fight was the warrior, Choi Hyun-woo…..”

— Kwaaak….

A tremendous force that crushes the neck.

Gadahum, being an experienced adventurer, could sense that Krimhilt would turn his spine into a vertebrae at any moment if she wanted to.

I kept my mouth shut while feeling the cold sweat running down my back.

Krimhilt whispered in an affectionate voice, without breaking the innocent girl’s smile.

“If you fight with Warrior Oppa one more time, Cream might get angry too? So, everyone, get along well~.”

“Yes…..”

Gadam lowered his head with a completely intimidated expression.

Hyunwoo also nodded with a sigh, as if his anger had subsided a little due to Krimhilt’s mediation(?).

“Okay. Let’s stop fooling around and go in. Let’s check what kind of room it is that these big guys are guarding so strictly.”

“Yes~.”

“Okay.”

Party members follow behind the warrior, clapping along to his words.

And Gadahm was able to realize one fact belatedly.

The fact that he was in the middle of a group of psychopaths called ‘Hero Harem’.

After a while.

— Damn…!!

After cutting through the metal barb that blocked the door, the warrior party entered the room.

–Whoaaah….

“Ugh…!!”

“Ugh…..”

A foul odor wafting out.

What’s piled up in a fairly large room is….

It was a pile of human corpses, cut into pieces.

As an experienced adventurer, I’ve never had anyone make me feel this sick or have a mental breakdown like this…

Everyone looked around the room with expressions of disgust and discomfort.

Gadahum opened his mouth as he called his servant horse and searched the room.

“Leprechauns are cannibalistic creatures. This place seems to be their food warehouse.”

“Ha… You’re not really helpful in combat, but you’re really knowledgeable about useless things.”

“………..”

“So, is there anything that might help?”

“No. I don’t think there’s anything special.”

“Damn, you made me waste my time just to watch this fucking mess….. Haa. This is a really fucking dungeon….”

After spitting roughly on the floor.

Hyunwoo tried to lead the party members out of the room.

at that time.

“I….I….”

“—–!!”

“……!?”

“Are those people over there….humans….?”

A small voice was heard from the corner.

After a while.

The person who crawled out from under the pile of corpses with the help of party members…

He was a shabby looking teenage boy.

It must have been starving because it had been hiding inside for quite some time.

When I took out food and water from the backpack that Gadahm was carrying, he ate it at a speed that seemed to blink the eye.

Krimhilt smiled brightly and patted the boy’s head.

“I know you’re hungry, but if you eat too quickly, you might get sick. Eat slowly and chew thoroughly~.”

“Gasp, gasp…. Yes, I’m, I’m sorry….. Gulp, gulp…. Gulp…..”

“Fuck, I’m wasting my time, why are you sitting around taking care of that little brat? Just throw him some food and leave him alone, he’ll figure it out on his own….”

“Hero….!!”

“What, did I say something wrong?”

Leaving Hyunwoo grumbling a little further away and Julia trying to stop him.

Gadahem waited beside the boy until he finished eating.

Then, as the boy swallowed the last piece of bread and caught his breath, he slowly knelt down on one knee and brought himself to his eye level.

“I…..”

“Ah…. Yes. Go ahead.”

“Are you Prince Edouard?”

“…….!!”

“………..!!?”

Amidst the party members’ gazes of confusion and shock.

The boy nodded hesitantly.

“Yes, that’s right. Have we met before?”

“No, this is our first meeting. But I think it would be hard not to recognize you with your characteristic reddish-brown hair and your dignified appearance, which resembles His Majesty the Marquis.”

“………”

To the boy who nodded with a bewildered expression, I bowed my head deeply to show my respect.

Gadahem opened his mouth again.

“I am a wizard from the Adventurer’s Guild, Gadahum Rujoru. I have come to rescue the prince at the request of His Majesty the Marquis. We will soon take you to a safe place, so please do not worry and follow us.”

“Ah…..”

A look of relief spread across the boy’s face.

and.

Hyunwoo, who had been at a loss until then without understanding the situation, belatedly asked a question.

“Uh… What? So… that kid is the son of the Marquis we came to find?”

“Sir. ….Please be careful with your words.”

“………”

“I’m the one who’s being ridiculous. If you’re going to take on a rescue request, shouldn’t you at least look into the person’s appearance before you go?”

“Write……….”

“Well, it’s kind of pointless to expect common sense from someone like you now.”

While Hyunwoo was keeping his mouth shut with a rotten expression.

Gadahum took out spare shoes and clothes from his backpack and handed them to Eduard, continuing the conversation.

“I’m glad you’re safe. I didn’t think you were hiding in a place like this…. Your quick wit and judgment seem to be qualities that have been passed down through generations in the Marquis’ family lineage.”

“No, it’s not my wisdom…”

Eduard’s expression darkens rapidly.

As Gadahem quickly shut his mouth, the boy continued speaking.

“One of my knights changed into my clothes and fought against the monsters, drawing attention and losing his life. Thanks to him buying me time, I was able to hide under the pile of corpses.”

“………..”

“I tried to refuse somehow… but I couldn’t refuse his advice that if I died, all the people would be sad. You could say that my life was borrowed from him.”

“So that’s what happened….”

It was an anecdote that could be considered touching(?) in its own way.

For Hyunwoo, who had no interest in game scenarios, it was just useless rambling.

He scratched his head, unable to hide his annoyed expression, and joined in the story.

“Well, I’m glad you’re safe. I’m sure there’s a lot more I want to say, but let’s talk about it once we get out of here. You probably don’t want to stay stuck in this disgusting place, do you?”

“Warrior….!!”

“No…. He’s right. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

A few minutes later.

As the party members were packing up their bags and about to leave the food warehouse.

Eduard, who had been following behind, suddenly stopped walking.

“I…you guys.”

“…….?”

“What’s going on?”

“………..”

Eduard, who had been thinking long and hard with his mouth shut, resumed his story after quite some time had passed.

“About 30 minutes ago, I saw a dozen or so village children who had been held captive here being dragged inside. Given their habits… I’d say they were probably taken there to be eaten alive.”

“……….”

“You must be quite skilled adventurers since you made it this far, defeating monsters with a small group of people. Please, can you rescue those children?”

Party members exchanging glances with complicated expressions.

Hyunwoo took a step forward with a very crumpled expression.

“No, shit….”

and.

Julia carefully dissuaded him and then approached Confucius.

“Confucius.”

“Yes….”

“I understand your feelings, but the most important thing right now is your safety. Our physical strength and magical abilities are limited… and we have already suffered considerable losses to get here. If we don’t get out of here as quickly as possible, neither we nor your life can be guaranteed to be safe.”

“………..”

“And… If Confucius dies in a place like this, wouldn’t the knight who lost his life in his stead be ashamed?”

“…………………..”

Julia’s logical persuasion.

After listening to the story with his mouth shut, Eduard held up two fingers.

“I will pay double the amount my father proposed, using my own money.”

“——-!!”

“…………..”

“Please, please help us rescue the children.”