3 bar menu

32. Wolf’s Hidden Village (5)

「Fufu……」

「Kukuku…」

「Hahaha! The Marge from “Divine Silver Sword”! This is a masterpiece!」

The four carrying Duke Abik’s family crest burst into laughter all at once. It has only been less than three weeks since I left, but it seems that the Divine Silver Sword has already lost its trust. That was faster than I expected.

The swordsman laughed for a moment, then pointed at my face with a grin on his face.

「Listen, Marge-kun. This is kindness.」

「…Kindness?」

「I think it was just three or four days ago? It seems that your leader embarrassed himself in front of my lord. Even though he brags about being an S-class, he is still a sleazy adventurer after all. So I feel sorry to even blame him.」

「So?」

「That’s why we, who discovered the source of the monsters, decided to conquer this dungeon. On behalf of the weak and heartbroken guild.」

Which means–.

「It is not on the Duke’s orders, but your own initiative, huh.」

「Be careful with your words. It is also the duty of a good commander to make the smart move at times.」

It was a brief explanation, but I was able to understand the general situation.

Even Duke Abik was aware of the increase in monsters around Kinui. The duke selected the elite of his private army to investigate, and these men were chosen. Coincidentally, due to Altora’s blunder, the duke lost trust in the guild, and these men who discovered the dungeon arbitrarily decided to capture it.

If House Abik conquered the S-class dungeon on behalf of the guild, it would be a big political advantage. These four probably thought that if they could monopolize the credit, their future would be bright.

「I can guess why you’re a duckweed now. You were fired from the guild because of your incompetent leader, right? You probably thought that you could recover your reputation by capturing this dungeon. You have guts for coming here as a duo, but don’t you dare underestimate an S-class dungeon. Thank us for kindly stopping you, and leave this place.」

Apparently, this man doesn’t know that I retired from the Divine Silver Sword.

「You haven’t contacted the duke yet, am I right?」

「We’ll just report that a Dungeon Break almost occurred so we had no choice but to capture it on our own. Don’t fuss about the particulars.」

In that case, Duke Abik must not have been told about the wolf’s hidden village. After conquering the dungeon, I can catch these men while leaving the dungeon and seal their memories with skill or magic and it should be fine.

In that case, let’s forge ahead.

「Hey, I told you that you’re not getting past. If you don’t listen…」

The man moved and reached out his hand to Koe-san instead of me.

I immediately covered Koe-san with a [Vajra Barrier], but what the man grabbed was the pendant on her chest. With all his might, he tore off the silver chain, then threw it far behind us.

The pendant fell in a moss swamp. The men laughed again.

「One of the matching pendants is sinking in the swamp over there. If you don’t find it soon, it’ll sink into a bottomless pit.」

「Seriously, even though you’re part of an S-class party, you’re just a luggage boy. Quietly stay in the swamp until we finish conquering the dungeon.」

「We only recently pulled off the disguise from that Divine Silver Sword guy. It means that they were just a party of weaklings like this. Let’s go already.」

「That’s right. We’ll show you that truly talented people don’t rely on others to watch out for them.」

There was a large stone door ahead. Although it was two times smaller than the one in the deepest part of “The Abyss Where Evil Comes From”, it still had a majestic appearance and an eye-catching design. It’s probably the hall where the “General” is waiting.

Koe-san lowered her eyes while looking in the direction of the swamp.

「I am sorry, I was careless. I shall look for it, so please go ahead first, master.」

「No, let’s find it together.」

「But……」

「Our purpose is simply to conquer the dungeon in the shortest possible time and help the werewolves on the ground.」

I heard on Kinui that that jewel is the werewolf tribe’s treasure. It must be something important to them, and we can’t just let it sink like this.

In that case, it would be faster to leave the “General” to Duke Abik’s soldiers and search for the pendant in the meantime.

「They ran their mouths quite a bit. I guess they have a good chance of winning.」

「I wonder.」

“Those who stepped inside a dungeon with the confidence to defeat the “King” would never have a hard time against the “General”.」

It won’t be too late to pay them back for this after everything is over. Deciding so, I focused my sensing skills on the swamp and extended my invisible arm.

I didn’t even notice that blood was slowly flowing out from the large door behind me.