Chapter 8 – Twins and Dungeons (4)
A week has already passed since the earthquake that shook the Warmela estate, and now four men and women are talking for a long time in Roden’s shop.
“… Did you explore the dungeon?”
“I went in for the first time yesterday, but I heard it wasn’t a joke~ To be honest, I thought everything written in the books I read as a child was a phrase, but it was all true. It’s the first time I’ve seen it.”
“It was very strange. There were also rectangular buildings made very straight, and there was also a tree with apples the size of a human head, and I picked one from there.”
Marill, who was describing the scenery of the dungeon she had explored the previous day in as much detail as possible, put a large bundle on her table and then she unpacked it.
Then her gigantic apple appeared, and Roxia, who was sitting on top of her Merim, opened her eyes wide to see an apple bigger than her own head, also known as the Apple Head.
“And… This is an apology, right?”
“Yeah! It’s an apple. All the animals around there seem to be fine eating it, so I ate it with her colleagues on the spot, and it was delicious.”
Roxia tilted her head at the unfamiliar word she heard for the first time in her life and copied Merim’s last words like a parrot.
“Jontaek… What?”
“Abbreviation of ‘It’s fucking delicious’. If you take it one step further here, it’s Gaejon-taste, and the next step is Gaejjjim…”
“Hey.”
Roden, who was worse than beside her, raised her hand blade and pressed it on top of Merim’s head.
“To blow the capital without hesitation on the head of a frail lady… If you show Loxia this kind of violent impersonation, is it really bad for her emotions?”
“That’s my line. If you’re pardoned as a wizard, you should only teach the right knowledge like a wizard. You’re teaching a child something bizarre.”
Merim, who unfolded the cone-shaped hat that had been pressed down by the blades of her hand, raised her objection.
“Ha, the duty of a wizard is to seek as much knowledge as possible~ Mr. Roden. Since it’s so tightly packed, there are no girls he’s dating.”
‘Putting where it hurts…’
“Your excuse sounds plausible. By the way, do you guys plan on exploring dungeons more?”
“Yes. I was a little nervous before entering, but… Although there are monsters of a type I have never seen before, they are not as dangerous as I thought. I was a little greedy and went down to the first floor of the inner world, but even if I sold the loot I got today, I could easily make more than 5 times the usual profit.”
“It’s a problem having to wait for the turn given by the guild thanks to rumors and business partners from nearby cities flocking to it. To enter again next time, you have to wait a week.”
Even this, the twin sisters and their colleagues are from this guild, so they can get into it quickly.
“…”
After hearing her twin sister’s story, Roden pondered for a moment before deciding to offer her heartfelt advice.
“Money is good, but don’t be too greedy. The dungeon is a man-eating demonic world with the characteristic that the deeper you go into the world, the more dangerous it becomes.”
“Are you talking like someone who has been there? Mr. Roden. Were you an adventurer when you were young?”
“… This is an experience I heard from an old friend who used to live with knives. He almost died several times in a dungeon, but barely survived.”
“Hey… Well, I’ll write it down for now.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
The twin sisters, who honestly expressed their gratitude for how much the other person’s feelings were conveyed, got up from their seats with their respective weapons hung on the wall.
“Wait, aren’t you taking this?”
Roden pounded the apple head on her table and called her sister to leave her shop.
“Today, I came to give the two of you a bit of chopping and handing it to you.
“The skin is a bit thick, so you will have to peel it off. I’ll come back the day before the exploration.”
“Thank you for the gift! See you next time. Merim unnie, Marill unnie!”
“Bye bye!”
Roden silently saw off her twin sister as she left, waving her hand as usual.
Looking at the apple head left on the table, he felt that it was pure kindness after a long time.
‘It’s really ignorant. Let’s make a salad with this today.’
… After finishing the business, the two people who went to the market together began to trim the ingredients that were put on the cutting board.
“Roxia, I always say this, but you always have to be careful when using a knife.”
“Yes.”
ㅡSeouk-suck.
Loxia was chopping her lettuce, following her master’s instructions, and Roden, who was slicing meat beside her, glanced at her from time to time, worried that she might get hurt.
“It doesn’t matter if it takes time, so slowly from the very end so that you don’t get hurt…”
‘To be honest, I didn’t want him to hold anything like a knife in his hand… It’s kind of necessary.’
As long as you know how to handle a knife so you don’t get seriously injured by a knife in the future, Roden has been teaching you how to use a kitchen knife, albeit little by little.
After a while.
The thinly sliced chicken meat, the fresh vegetables I had just bought from the market, and part of the apple head I had received from the twins were chopped and mixed, and the dressing was added to complete the salad.
“Then let’s eat.”
“Thank you for this food! Master.”
Roxia, who saluted her meal and took a handful of her salad, opened her mouth wide to taste the salad she and her master had made together, and immediately commented.
“Like Merim unnie said, good taste… No, it tastes like dog shit! Master!”
“… Haaaaa…”
Roden let out a deep sigh and lamented deeply in her heart that Roxia had learned her strange words from the mage.
* * *
After lunch the next day, Roden was giving Roxia her usual education before going out.
“If you keep wearing the ring while I’m gone, and there’s a case in time… You know what to do, right?”
“Didn’t the master tell you to tear the parchment he gave you?”
Roden, who stroked her head as if he was proud of Roxia, who answered her well according to what she had learned, spoke loudly to Roxia, who was seeing her off, while slowly starting to walk towards the city.
“Then I’ll go out for a while. Don’t worry, it won’t take long.”
“Yes! Don’t worry about me either and come back. Week… Uncle!!”
The word master was about to come out, but Roxia changed it to her uncle, and she looked at his back until the master, who was gradually moving away, was completely out of sight.
By the time the slowly receding store became a small dot, Roden’s steps toward the city turned in a completely different direction.
‘The location where the dungeon was discovered must have been said to be in the forest in this direction… ? It’s also the direction to the next town.’
While Roden was walking slowly, she entered the dense primeval forest located in the northeast direction of the downtown area.
In the forest, where most of the sunlight did not come in, where the leafy branches of the tall trees towered high, the visibility was poor and it was quite gloomy.
Not long after he entered the forest, Roden found footprints that were only in a common direction, and he followed them all the way.
‘… It takes about 40 minutes to walk in a straight line.’
Soon after, Roden arrived at the destination of this walk, the area where the dungeon was located.
The appearance of the adventurers guarding the dungeon caught my eye, as if the words of the twin sisters that it was managed by the guild were true.
“Hehe, did I win this time too?”
“Hey fuck… I can’t do it anymore. Shouldn’t you change your job to a gambler instead of an adventurer?”
“Stop talking and pay the stake. Let’s do the next round quickly.”
The expression “Guarding” Might have been somewhat inappropriate. The five adventurers who were seated in front of the dungeon entrance were leisurely playing poker.
“Hmm? Who is coming over there?”
Feeling the presence of Roden striding towards them, the adventurers raised their voices without turning their heads.
“Hey! This is a dungeon managed by the Varmela Guild, so if you want to go inside, register in advance and come again.”
One of the adventurers, who was still playing poker, turned his head and looked carefully at Roden’s face before recognizing him.
“For sure… Aren’t you an alchemist who sells potions? What did you come here for?”
“There’s no particular reason, and I came here for a walk because I wanted to take a look at what the dungeon’s passageway looked like.”
“Ah, this man is dangerous alone. What if he runs into robbers or monsters in the forest…”
“The road leading to the dungeon is much safer than any other road because many adventurers come and go, isn’t it?”
Thanks to the constant flow of adventurers who have recently visited this place, robbers and monsters on the way to the dungeon do not even come close.
Well, from Roden’s point of view, it doesn’t matter whether robbers or monsters appear.
“That’s right. There was no word to simply stop the onlookers, so watch until you get tired of it.”
“Haha, thank you.”
Roden smiled broadly at the adventurers and looked closely at the passage leading to the dungeon.
In the air, a completely different landscape was glimpsed through a large crack that gave the impression that the transparent glass wall had been broken.
“Hmm…”
‘Thanks to the story the twin sisters told me, I expected it to some extent… The scenery over there is, of course, the Masti area.’
Roden knew from past experience that the dimension connected to the entrance of the dungeon in front of him was not that dangerous, so he decided to leave it alone without taking any other action.
Exploring dungeons is accompanied by risks, but there are many gains. Shouldn’t juniors also make a living?
‘I came to check it just in case, but if it’s at the level of Masti, there won’t be much damage if I leave it alone. After a few months, junior adventurers in the area will slowly attack it.’
“It looks quite strange. Enough then.”
“Are you leaving already? Go back carefully.”
The moment Roden, who turned around without any regrets, was about to leave,
ㅡFaji Jik-!
I heard the sound of something escaping from the passage of the dungeon, and when I turned my head again, the adventurers were sitting on the ground.
“Huh… ! Omg!! Heh heh heh!!”
“Whoa! Hook… !”
The adventurer party, all male and composed of 5 people, could not hide their excitement even though they were breathing heavily.
One of the adventurers, who had regained some composure, glanced around and shouted loudly with a trembling voice.
“Sir baaaaal!!!! We finally found an artifact!! I brought you a fucking artifact!!!!!!”
