Chapter 13 – Twins and Dungeons (9)
Back in time before Roden checked the twin sister’s name on the list, about four hours ago… ．
Dungeon depth 3rd floor.
ㅡKwajik-!
“Keeeee!!”
The white-skinned monster, whose arm was broken while trying to defend against the mace swung by Pin in succession, let out a desperate scream.
“Mr. Merim! It is now!”
A huge fireball fired from the tip of Merim’s staff that completed the spell from the rear drew a red trail and swallowed the monster.
Pew-! The monster, who had been scorched black with an intense explosion, collapsed powerlessly as it was, then flinched and slumped.
“Huh… Omg!”
“Wow! I don’t know how many times I’ve been stabbed, you damn naked bastard… He didn’t die really badly.”
Altaf spit bloody spittle and kicked the monster’s corpse that had turned into a lump of charcoal.
“Whoa… ! There are some monsters of this class that are exceptionally strong, but this time we were attacked in reverse, so the start was dizzying.”
Everyone in the party slumped in their seats, breathing heavily.
… Except for Merim, who ran towards her wounded brother while trying to defend himself from a surprise attack.
“Maril!!”
Merim, who had run up to her, hurriedly removed her brother’s sleeve, who was holding her arm, and her bluish bruised arm was swollen enough to be seen at a glance.
“… It’s not completely broken, but I think her bones are cracked.”
Marill frowned at the stimulation she felt in her arms, but she also thought it was a relief that she was hurt instead of her sister.
Merim hurriedly took out her potion, sprinkled some of her potion on her swollen arm, and fed the rest of her to Maril. The pain in her arm slowly subsided.
“This seems appropriate. Excuse me for a moment.”
A pin who had picked up an appropriately-sized, elongated lump of metal from near her used it as a splint to attach it tightly to her arm, then wrapped a bandage around her.
“Thank you for protecting me before… Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It’s not as serious an injury as Merim thinks, so don’t make that face. And thanks to the captain.”
Marill smiled softly at her co-workers and squeezed her bandaged arm, telling her not to worry about herself.
Altaf returns, having single-handedly retrieved her loot while the others tend to Marill’s injuries.
“Maybe it’s because it’s so big, out of all the ones I’ve caught so far, the biggest one is stuck in it? Look at this.”
He pushed the large crystal embedded in the monster’s chest as if to show off to her colleagues.
“This… Maybe it’s proportional to its size, so I can feel more magic power. I’m not an expert, but I think I can get three silver coins with this kind of magic power.”
“♫~”
At Merim’s assessment of her sense of magical power in her crystal eye, Altaf whistled spontaneously.
The white monsters inhabiting the third layer of the world are much more agile, tenacious, and stronger than the monsters they have dealt with so far, but thanks to the action of only one, they managed to catch up to 6 monsters.
ㅡ Clap-!
Finn, who thought this was a sufficient achievement, clapped his hands and drew attention from his colleagues.
“Suddenly, supplies were almost running out, and time was running out… ．This search ends here! The rest of the time from now on will be spent quietly resting in this place. Is everyone okay?”
There was no particular objection. Others also thought that now was the right time to end it.
In fact, they only had about 20 minutes left. It’s such a short amount of time that it will pass in an instant if you take a breath.
“Oh~! With this kind of momentum, I think we will be able to attack somehow next time or the next opportunity.”
“I want you to stay until then.”
“This expedition went well without any problems. We should consider it fortunate that we were able to return safely. Thank you for your hard work.”
Altaf, who flinched in relief that the long search was over, jumped up from his seat.
“Because I think it’s all over, the bottom one is itching. I’ll come back after a little work.”
He sprints over the nearest corner and immediately pulls down his pants. He hears the gurgling of water.
“Ugh, you want it…”
Altaf, who shuddered with the feeling of liberation through the act of excretion, felt a sudden sense of incongruity while brushing off his lower body and pulling up his pants.
“… ?”
A subtle unnaturalness that most people would inadvertently overlook, unless it was Altaf, who had good eyesight enough to serve as the eye of the party.
When I put my hand on the wall, I touched a subtly protruding switch.
‘No way… Secret room?! ‘
Startled, Al Thaf removed his hand from his switch and glanced at his comrades chatting among themselves.
“Are you still packing? Is it bad for your health to wrap for too long?”
“Now, wait! Maybe it’s because I drank a lot of water earlier, but it’s still coming out… Ahahaha… ! Just wait.”
Altaf made a clumsy excuse and hid himself in a deeper corner, as quietly as possible… He put his hand on the switch, quietly so that no sound could be heard… ．
ㅡWhoops…
‘I’m sorry to those guys, but wasn’t I the one who discovered it in the first place? So there’s no problem. The artifact here is mine now…’
Unexpected great luck made a black desire bloom in the human heart.
ㅡKwuwook.
And, desire and nervousness blind people’s eyes and ears.
To the point where I couldn’t tell whether the switch in front of me was connected to a secret room with treasure or a device that activated a trap that led to destruction.
The word if is the most meaningless word…
If Altaf had informed his comrades of the switch’s existence, and had examined the switch with Merim, the wizard, he would have been able to figure out in advance that it was a trap that triggered a certain magic.
However, that was just a useless assumption, and as soon as Altaf fully pressed the switch, a woman’s soft voice began to resonate from the speakers attached to the ceiling.
〈 I’d like to inform you. The transmission magic device that will evacuate the researchers on the floor to the lowest floor is activated. Those on site, please stop all work at once and follow the procedure… 〉
“What are you talking about now?”
“… Transmission magic?”
The voice was equally audible to her companions at a distance from her.
“You never know where the enemy might pop out! Mr Altaf!! Come back here quickly!!”
“Uh… ,Uh! I’m going!”
Altaf, who belatedly realized that he had touched something wrong because he was blinded by his greed, pretended not to know anything right away and joined his colleagues again.
〈… Start counting.〉
The woman’s voice, which had been explaining something complicated for a long time, started counting slowly from 10.
〈10… 9… 8… 〉
This voice was clearly heard not only by Merim and the others, but also by another group of adventurers on the 3rd floor.
〈… One… 0．Start transfer. Start transfer. Start transfer.〉
ㅡuuuuu-!
With those words, a complicated magic circle appeared under the feet of all the adventurers on the 3rd floor of the depth world, and they were engulfed in light and instantly moved to the bottom floor of the dungeon, the 4th floor of the depth world.
… The scenery that the adventurers who came back to their senses after their vision was momentarily distorted was quite different.
A large room with walls and ceiling made of pure white, flat metal, a chair on wheels, a desk with research journals scattered around, and square machines that flicker from time to time.
It is an unfamiliar landscape with only the knowledge of the world where adventurers lived, but things in a form that is quite familiar to modern people existed here.
“Is it Finn… ?”
“Looking at your expression, it seems that you are also caught up in it.”
Merim’s party, who confirmed each other’s existence after looking around, and the five-man adventurer group belonged to the same guild, and were mixed in bronze and steel grades.
A man with a great sword on his back asked a question as a representative.
“We were hunting on the 3rd floor and suddenly moved here. Do you guys notice anything?”
“We don’t know either. Everyone was taking a break a while ago.”
Altaf, who was listening to the conversation of the party leaders of each group, was startled inwardly, but did not reveal it.
He justified himself that he had become like this at an accidental timing.
“Well, that’s fine. Now, it’s pointless to look into the cause, so I’ll just skip it, and I can’t seem to see any way out of this room…” Should I hit him too?”
“Under the circumstances, it seems likely.”
What is at the end of their gaze is a large circular cylinder standing in the middle of the room. Unlike the circular cylinders they have seen so far, it is intact and contains a white monster over 2M in size.
“It’s similar to the monster we hunted on the 3rd floor, but it’s much bigger. Could it be the boss of this dungeon?”
“It’s like looking at a big pickle barrel. Whether it’s a boss or whatever, it should be cooked first.”
The adventurers surrounding the cylinder tried to prepare for the greatest possible attack, but… The monster inside him opened his eyes.
ㅡFluffy!
Immediately jumped high and escaped from the cylinder, the protruding monster wiped off the green liquid from his body.
Then, after taking a quick glance at the adventurers in front of him, he grinned.
“Uhuhuhu, was it fun playing with the flops so far? Cute toys.”
The attack of the monster, who swung his fist at a tremendous speed that left only an afterimage without any time for the adventurers to react to their lives, was accurately pierced into the head of the nearest adventurer wearing a greatsword.
ㅡ Crisp!
As his head shattered, a mixture of brain and blood, bone and flesh sprang out in all directions.
“Oh… It’s a much softer toy than you think, isn’t it? I have to break it as slowly as possible so that I can enjoy it properly.”
* * *
—-With my daughter-!
“Master! Welcome!”
Roxia, who had been watching her shop while the owner was away, opened the door and as soon as she confirmed that it was Roden, she rushed over to him, but she immediately felt that something was different from her usual.
“Master… ? Are you in a bad mood?”
“…”
‘Me too… He’s getting old and can’t manage his expression properly.’
Loden looked at the old book that Roxia had been reading until a moment ago and stroked her hair gently, conveying her words.
“… I’m sorry as soon as I get back, but I guess I’ll have to go out again. Today’s business is over, so lock the door until I come back and get some rest.”
Roxia was eager to ask where her master was going, but she was in no mood to do so, so she nodded her head politely.
“I’ll be back soon. It won’t take long.”
“Yes… ．Come home. Master.”
… After changing the sign on her store door to OUT, Roden quickly ran to the northeast direction and checked her inventory to make sure no one was around.
‘Is this the only thing I can cover my head with?’
What he took out was an old helmet with rust here and there.
It was the first armor I bought with the money I saved from collecting commissions when I was an adventurer, so I kept it as a souvenir without throwing it away.
Looking down at the helmet, Roden remembered her twin sister who read a book about her story and came to yearn for an adventurer.
‘… It’s a monumental first guest, and it’s also a valuable regular, so I can’t lose it like this.’
Roden murmured softly as he pulled over his worn-out helmet.
“Shall we go…”
