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33. Wolf’s Hidden Village (6)

「Now, that was a very unusual visitor. To think we’d run into the rumored decoration hero.」

The platoon leader laughed while pointing behind him. Looking behind, he could see the two of them peering into the swamp in the distance.

Among Duke Abik’s direct troops, decoration heroes refer to the “Divine Silver Sword.” It was a well-established theory that the party was not S-class based on their ability.

According to the rumors, it was a hoax made up by the guild that supervises Abik territory.

「A sword prodigy, a former royal gatekeeper, a genius mage, and a saint? I guess the rumors were true that they were selected for publicity.」

「You’ll realize it’s an obvious fact once you give it enough thought. It’s pathetic that both the people and the adventurers are so easily fooled.」

The two mages also agree. In fact, when they heard about Altora’s blunder, they thought that the mask had finally been peeled off.

「…I wonder if that’s really true.」

I, as the scout, was at the tail end of the formation when we entered the General’s hall. I looked away from my platoon leader, who was at the front putting his hand on the large stone door, and looked behind again.

My skill [Stealth Action] conceals myself and my party from the enemy. That’s how we got this far while conserving our strength. If I didn’t do that, we wouldn’t be able to conquer this vast S-class dungeon.

There was no sign of such skill from that man named Marge.

He came this far without concealing himself. He was standing on the edge of a swamp with such naturalness that I can only imagine. Is such a thing possible even for an S-class adventurer?

「Now, let’s forget about that poor clown and move on. First, let’s take down the “General” and forge our way to victory…Ky–」

「……Huh?」

The moment he put his hand on the door and pushed it open, my platoon leader was dragged inside, his neck bent in an impossible angle. Immediately following, the two mages also disappeared.

「Tentacles…!」

It’s tentacles. I have to hide.

Just when I thought that, a blue-purple tentacle was also wrapped around my left ankle.

◆◆◆

「[Polish], activate.」

Fortunately, the pendant didn’t sink that far. I scanned with my sensing skill and found it right away. Using Asura’s arms, I pulled it up, used my polish and cleaning skills to clean off the mud and moss, reconnected the silver chain, and hung it around Koe-san’s neck.

「Thank you, Master.」

「Well then, how’s the general subjugation progressing?」

Duke Abik’s elite troops entered the hall first. I didn’t know how skilled they were, but they had so much confidence. It’s about time they subdued it.

I placed my hand on the door and activated my sensing and perception skills. An image of the hall was formed in my mind, and the first thing I saw was a large monster. More information flowed into your mind.

「Snare Snail. It’s technically an insect, but a snail, huh…」

It seems to be in good health still. As I was about to look for any signs of humans, Koe-san pulled the hem of my clothes and pointed at my feet.

「Master, at your feet.」

「……I see.」

A streak of red blood was flowing out from under the large door.

It doesn’t belong to a monster. And the snail’s blood is not red.

「Koe-san, stand behind me. Don’t poke your head out.」

「Yes, master.」

I pushed open the large door and used [God’s Eye Drive] to catch a blue-purple tentacle crawling out of the slightly opened gap.

「[Subspace Rupture], activate.」

Once the tentacles were cut off, a writhing sound came from inside and the attack stopped. When I opened the door further and stepped inside, the damp smell became even stronger and assailed my nostrils.

「…」

What I saw inside the hall could be described as being extremely awful.

They must have been thrown away with the entire force of the tentacles. The two mages were turned into a single lump of flesh in the corner of the room. The leader swordsman… He was stuck on the door like a crushed frog, only his face looking at me. Did the blood that flowed outside belonged to this man?

「Master, we’re missing one more person.」

「…No, she’s over there.」

I pointed to a corner of the room. The scout was there, trembling while holding her knees.

She must have managed to escape from the tentacles after being dragged into the room and used her skills to hide herself. It seems that she has a well-trained [Stealth Action] skill that allows her to remain unnoticed by the enemy even at this distance.

「It’s divine punishment…divine punishment has come…」

The “General’ was wary of us and didn’t attack us. When I approached the scout, I found her, body covered in mucus, muttering something.

「What do you mean by divine punishment? What did you do?」

「Eek!」

When she noticed me, her body even more trembled. The arrogant attitude from earlier was no longer there, and she was simply dominated by fear.

「H-Help me! The tentacles!」

「I’ll help you if you answer honestly. What did you do?」

This type of regret was unusual. Only the female scout now knows the answer to what she did.

「T-The platoon leader said… there will be evidence that a “Dungeon Break” was about to happen! S-So, if a village was destroyed, it’d be more convincing, so let’s lure the monster out, he said!」