episode_0128

“… Just like that, I stopped Damian from destroying the door. I wasn’t sure if it was the right decision… In the end, it seems like it was the correct answer.”

Friede smiled and shook her head.

The answer was correct.

I smoothed the bandage covering his cheek and glanced at Damian, who was sleeping without the world knowing.

Damien, you helpless bastard.

You were just trying to destroy the teleportation door? If Friede wasn’t there, we would have been in big trouble, really.

Almost… .

A chill pierced my heart, as if I had swallowed an icicle.

Does that bastard have any idea what he almost did? You probably can’t even guess.

If one side of these transition gates is broken, their functionality will be disrupted immediately.

The magic itself is broken and does not work at all, or even if it does work, it does not reach the other side.

Rather than arriving… You will be caught in a gap in space and your body will be torn to pieces in an instant.

Either starve to death or be torn to death.

Both had terrible endings.

In other words, Friede can be said to be my lifesaver.

I didn’t really plan on telling her this.

I can already imagine how worried they would be if they found out.

“Good job. As expected, one thing is certain: judgment. Is it like the regalia of an elder?”

“Older is a title that makes you look very old. Aren’t you and me at most one year apart?”

Friede, with her arms crossed, tilted her head slightly and glared at me.

I saw him tapping his arm with his index finger… It seems that he is very dissatisfied with being called ‘elder’.

“Even if there is a one-year difference, a lot is a lot, right? So, what happened after that?”

“Hmm… Turning the horse around. What happened? I’ll pass on. After that… I decided to explore the rooms on the left and right first. There might be a passage leading inward, and even if you showed up again, we couldn’t even tell how long it would take.”

I guess he was wandering around in the meantime.

Seeing as he was resting here again, it looks like there was no passage after all.

“The room on the left was like an armory. There were old weapons and armor lying around. They were all broken and rusty, so there was nothing that could be salvaged. There was a passage that seemed to lead inside, but it was blocked because the ceiling had collapsed.”

Friede shrugged and pointed to the door on the right.

“So I turned around and headed for the door over there. There’s a long passageway that goes on and on… Monsters started to come out.”

Friede was in the midst of continuing his explanation.

“Um, Senior Friede?”

Millia, who had bandaged my wound, called Friede.

“Huh? I’m talking to Hashal right now. Do you have something to say?”

“That’s the story. Do I really have to do that here and now? I’m also worried about Magi… I think Hashal’s injuries should also be properly treated by a priest.”

It was an irrefutable opinion.

“Well, if you think about it, there’s no need to do it here… ? Umm. Then, shall we go back first? Those are the monsters inside, Hashal, because you must have subdued them all. I’ll tell you the back story as I go.”

Friede nodded and stood up.

Of course, he had no doubt that I would return after cleaning up everything inside the dungeon.

“That… I didn’t catch it.”

It was an embarrassing confession, but it was an issue that had to be addressed. Even for future work.

In my opinion, this dungeon must be closed down.

“What? I think I heard something wrong. Could you say it again?”

Friede asked back with a puzzled expression.

Millia, who was trying to wake Damian, also looked at me with an expression full of suspicion.

“I escaped because I couldn’t catch him. It’s absolute hell inside there. Hell.”

I shook my head. Like I never want to set foot there again.

In reality, that was how I felt.

It was a place I didn’t want to even look at until I had the ability to at least defeat that ghost knight.

“Hell? What on earth did you deal with? I heard earlier that they were monsters near the moon.”

“Of course I caught them. The problem is, that wasn’t the end.”

“There were more monsters? I think there are too many.”

I know yeah.

At most, the dungeon discovered at this point is limited to one or two master-level monsters.

As it was an area where only those with master level or higher skills could enter, it was a dungeon where the balance was broken for a long time.

“A warrior of Valthyr, do you know? There were seven of them, and a ghost knight as strong as all of them combined came out. What, a monster that shatters the entire ground with a single slash of a knife.”

“Valthyr… Valthyr… Oh, that’s right. I remembered. A monster that looks like a beast. About ten years ago, it appeared once in the North… There are seven of them? And there’s even a ghost knight… ? Oh my, you need half of the Empire’s masters to subdue it. It was luck that I was able to escape.”

Friede took a deep breath. Sure, it’s surprising.

I was able to escape thanks to them fighting among themselves and getting along well, but if they had joined forces to attack me, I probably wouldn’t have been able to last long.

“Well, the ghost knight and the guys fought each other. Strangely enough. I survived thanks to you.”

“A monster and a monster fought each other? It’s not a joke, right?”

It was an attitude of disbelief.

I understand. I never even imagined something like that could happen until I saw it myself.

I’ve never seen monsters attack each other in the game.

I didn’t bother to answer and only showed a serious, stern expression.

Sometimes a simple look can be more persuasive than a thousand words.

As expected, Friede let out a deep sigh, as if she had convinced herself that everything was true after seeing my expression.

“… I guess he’s serious. So what now… .”

Friede lowers her head as if thinking.

There were deep wrinkles between the shadowed eyebrows.

“There is one solution I have in mind. Would you like to listen?”

“Measures? What is that.”

After all, if you’re an opponent you can’t beat, you have to trap them.

“I’m going to bury this entire dungeon. Break down the door and collapse the passage so that nothing can escape.”

It was an ignorant, but realistic solution.

Even if a ghost knight could destroy the entire ground, it would only be a small part compared to this rocky mountain.

Once the passage is completely destroyed, it would be impossible to dig through it with a sword.

If you do that, the ceiling will collapse before you can swing it a few times.

No matter how strong the ghost knight is, what can he do with just one sword when the mountain is collapsing?

If there wasn’t enough destructive power to pierce this rocky mountain with a single blow, it wouldn’t have been possible to escape.

“Are you serious? I don’t think you quite understand, but the value of these ruins is at a level that will change human history? It would be better to inform the empire and gather as many masters as possible to subdue them… .”

“If this technology is not leaked. What if the method of permanently activating magic without a wizard is leaked to other races? Imagine an army of beastmen attacking you using magic. How many people will die? It’s a very dangerous technique.”

“But… .”

“Even if it’s not a monster, it’s a ruin that needs to be closed anyway. Because the inside was contaminated to a level that could not be purified.”

I told Friede about Magi’s Lake.

Even if we somehow succeed in subduing the ghost knight, purifying the lake would be impossible even with ten Laceys.

In the end, the best thing to do was to destroy it so that the magic energy could not leak out as much as possible, then designate it as prohibited and close it.

Although I didn’t mention it, I’m also concerned about what happened before Valtir’s warriors appeared.

The approach of a god-like being. Considering that he tried to kill me by summoning a monster, he must not be a good god.

Fortunately, it ended without incident… It was a strange experience that is difficult to explain.

Will that only happen to me? I’m not sure.

It might be trying to do something not only to me, but also to others who will come here later.

As expected, it is an extremely dangerous place in many ways.

It’s right to break it.

“Umm… . Ugh… . I don’t think it’s wrong… .”

Friede, who was in trouble, kept smoothing her hair.

Well, from her perspective as an imperial citizen, it would be a waste because it would mean throwing away the opportunity for the empire to become even stronger.

But what if I say that?

If Friede opposes until the end, I plan to push through it even by force.

Things will get a little worse, but… It would be much better to fight with a friend than to watch the world fall apart.

“But Hashal, even if it’s a door, how on earth are you going to destroy the passage?”

Millia, who was listening, opened her mouth softly.

Well, if I just hit it on the way out, that’s it.

I don’t think it would be that difficult. You’ll just have to destroy the parts that support the weight.