Legends and Dungeons, Merfolk and Fishmen – Part 02
Is that party really hiding something? It’s a bit hard to believe.
The red-haired adventurer had pestered Hikaru at the dungeon entrance, but that was about it. Perhaps it was just jealousy. They liked Zappa too much and couldn’t accept the fact that the man invited Hikaru to their party.
But since the warning is from Unken, it might be better to exercise caution.
Hikaru decided to keep this information in the back of his mind.
“Freya, let’s wrap up our survey by focusing on gathering information from the surroundings. Returning seems like the safest option.”
“I think that’s a good idea. At times like this, I’m grateful you’re not the ambitious type.”
“Really…” Hikaru chuckled dryly.
“Even without ambitions, Lord Hikaru possesses the power to achieve great feats!” Paula said, for no reason at all.
The next day, they explored the settlement’s surrounding area, particularly around Lake Tseng-Ti, and compiled a report.
The lake gleamed beautifully in the sunlight, and the residents were out fishing. As Angela had said, she entered the dungeon today.
On the third day since Zappa and Scorching Goblet began exploring the dungeon, Freya finished creating her report.
“All right. That should be it. All that’s left is to enter the dungeon and check the first floor.”
“Got it. Let’s get this over with quickly.”
“Let’s go!”
Hikaru and the girls headed to the dungeon.
Today, like every other day, new adventurers arrived, and merchants tried to sell preserved food to them.
Standing in front of the stairs leading underground, they could feel the air slowly flowing into the dungeon.
It’s incredible how this dungeon is a massive magic item. I wonder what the power source is?
Putting together the mermaid legend, the internal glow, and the fact that monsters turned into ashes when killed—something they learned by interviewing adventurers who had exited the dungeon—it became apparent that this was an artificial dungeon.
I don’t know how the legend ties into this whole thing, but the party that clears this place will probably find the answer.
Hikaru led the way, and Freya and Paula followed.
There was faint light, but it was just barely enough to see, so Hikaru raised a magic lamp to light their way.
The intel was right. The monsters have already been killed, and they don’t respawn often. They just left the ashes.
Freya was talking to adventurers engaged in mining activities in a small room. It seemed they were collecting jades.
There was a stream, and adventurers, relying on the light of their lamps, immersed their arms into the icy water, so cold it felt like it could cut their skin, searching for gold dust.
Though it’s an artificial dungeon, once we’ve mined all the jades and gold dust, that’ll be the end of it. And if the monsters’ respawn rate is low, there won’t be a lot of magic stones. It likely won’t become a popular dungeon.
Hikaru remained vigilant, using Mana Detection to scan the surroundings, but there was no sign of monsters. Expanding the range of detection too much would put a strain on the brain, so he kept it in energy-saving mode.
“Looks like the path ahead leads to the second floor.”
Freya pointed to a giant cavity. There were about thirty heaps of ashes in the clearing, indicating there was a skirmish, and there were traces of camping scattered around. It was undoubtedly the place where Scorching Goblet spent the night two days ago.
“I heard that a narrow path extends from this massive cavity, gently descending underground.”
“That seems to be the case.”
Hikaru’s Mana Detection could also sense the trace amounts of magical energy inherent in the dungeon’s structure. He could perceive the thin tube-like passage extending downward.
“I think it’s fine to conclude the survey here,” Freya said. “If we head back now, it should be around evening.”
“Lord Hikaru!” Paula yelled from a distance.
Could it be an enemy? No, his detection did not pick up anything.
“What’s wrong?!”
“L-Look…”
Upon reaching Paula’s location, Hikaru found her standing near a towering rock wall. Several large rocks were stacked in the area. Paula pointed beyond a gap big enough for one person to pass through.
Hikaru’s nose caught the scent of iron, and he gave a start. He raised the magic lamp, revealing two adventurers’ corpses stacked atop each other.
“What?!”
“Freya, please step back. I’ll go check first.”
Hikaru immediately recognized them as women—both of them.
Their throats bore deep cuts, and copious amounts of blood marred their chests to their abdomens. Although everything was already dry, it was evident that not much time had passed since their death.
Hikaru recognized these two female adventurers. They were part of the party that visited the settlement, and they were alive at that time.
“It’s not the work of monsters. Their throats were cut with a sharp blade.”
“I-If it’s a sharp blade, it could still be monsters.”
Freya was trembling, her face pale.
“Both of them had their throats cut the same way, with no other injuries. It’s impossible to get such wounds from fighting monsters. The most plausible scenario is being called by someone they weren’t wary of, attacked from behind while off guard, and having their throats cut.”
“S-So, the culprit is…”
“Probably a fellow adventurer.”
“It can’t be.”
“Paula, use healing magic on Freya. Let’s move a bit away from here.”
“Understood.”
Paula was more composed than Freya. She had witnessed the deaths of many people when the Accursed Toxin ravaged the population.
It might sound wrong, but she might’ve become desensitized to the death of others.
They moved to the opposite side of the massive cavity, near the path leading to the second floor. Freya sat down, and Paula cast her healing magic. If they had camping equipment, they could have made tea to calm her down, but they didn’t plan to stay long today, so they traveled light.
“Thank you, Paula.”
“Are you okay? If it’s too much, don’t hesitate to say something.”
“I won’t. You’re very skilled at magic.”
“Thanks to Lord Hikaru!”
“What?”
“W-We studied together and visited churches,” Hikaru hastily interjected. “That’s how Paula’s magic improved.”
“Ah, I see. that makes sense. You can’t use magic, so you wouldn’t have been able to teach her.”
“Of course.”
I can boost people’s magical abilities, though.
“Anyway, in cases like this where adventurers are murdered, what does the guild do?” Hikaru asked.
“We would document it and inquire about the circumstances with the party members,” Freya answered. “If possible, I would like to do it here.”
“But the culprit might escape. If I were the culprit, I would try to go as far away as possible, at least.”
“Yeah… We would need to report the names of the party members to the guild and ask about what happened when they appear in any town. But why would adventurers kill each other like this?”
That part also bothered Hikaru. He had not seen adventurers killed by fishmen so far, only injured. Scorching Goblet had taken care of most of the monsters too.
There was still gold dust and jade near the entrance. This large cavity had been exhausted, but there were plenty of chances to obtain treasures. It was too early to argue over shares.
In the case of a woman being killed, could it be due to resentment? But still, killing both of them? And… even if it’s out of resentment, wouldn’t the culprit take anything valuable with them?
From what Hikaru observed earlier, the women wore bracelets and anklets that could fetch a good amount of money if sold.
Were they left untouched out of fear of being traced back to the culprit? Still, the circumstances don’t really fit.
Evidence suggested that the killer was too accustomed to killing for the cause to be a mere internal strife. Perhaps there was a pleasure-seeking killer out there who roamed from party to party.
Is it possible for Zappa to have done it?
Hikaru recalled Unken’s warning and the dark rumors surrounding Scorching Goblet.
The method is too clean for it to be him. If he wanted to kill someone, he would probably smash their heads with his axe. But they also say, ‘looks can be deceiving.’
“Given the situation at hand, it’s best we turn back immediately,” Freya suggested. “As for the bodies, unfortunately, we just have to leave them here. We can’t carry them anyway.”
Paula rose to her feet.
“Paula?”
“I’m just going to guide their lost spirits.”
There wasn’t the usual carefree expression on her face, only firm determination.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
Rule Breaker (Light Novel)
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
I mean its clearly obvious it aint the leader despite the author trying to pin it that way with shown evidence. I’m guessing “weak” boy is the culprit