Legend

Chapter 77

Legend Chapter 77

Shin~, the dungeon fell silent .

The body of the Lizardman General was cut into top and bottom halves with a single swing of Elena’s sword whip .

And after glancing at her dead duel opponent for an instant, she flicked the blood of the Lizardman off her sword whip before sheathing it .

「……As expected of Elena-sama, it was splendid . 」

The first to speak was Ara .

Even if she believed in Elena’s strength, there was nothing absolute in combat . Knowing that, she didn’t hold back with her praise while letting out a sigh of relief .

「Your swordplay was certainly splendid, but please consider your own position as well . Elena-sama isn’t just an ordinary adventurer but is the daughter of the glorious Duke Kerebel . Anyhow, it’s one thing if it was an enemy general, but to fight a monster in single combat is different . 」

「Hahaha . Kuust, you said something similar when our princess went to fight the general of the Bestir Empire in single combat . 」

「Vel!　I am not saying this for the fun of it . . 」

While Kuust and Vel argued with each other, Rei handed Elena a clean handkerchief from the Misty Ring .

「Wipe away the enemy’s blood . 」

「Umu~, thank you . 」

Wiping away the blood of the Lizardman General that had hit her cheek, she turned to look at the dead Lizardman after handing the handkerchief back to Rei .

「Rei, please collect the corpses of the Lizardmen . We will distribute the magic stones and materials after we leave the dungeon . ……You can have all of it if you want . 」

「Though that would be nice, I understand that Elena-sama has various circumstances . Well, although I would be happy if that is possible, I won’t force it . Margrave Rowlocks has already promised an exceptional reward for successfully completing the nominated request . 」

「Really?」

「Yes . I was also able to become an acquaintance with someone like Elena-sama . 」

「Fufu~, that certainly is so . The first gain for me this time was also to know someone like you Rei . 」

Unintentionally, Elena gave the exact same smile as a few minutes ago as she fought the duel with the monster .

Though Rei was charmed by that smile for a moment, he gathered himself after Set used his beak to pull on Rei’s robe .

「Oh, I’m sorry . We don’t have that much time to spare, I’ll quickly store everything . 」

Saying that in a panic, he went with Set to store both halves of the Lizardman General, the rest of the Lizardmen and the burnt up corpse of the giant spider into the Misty Ring .

Kuust saw the earlier situation and involuntarily frowned his eyes . This was because he had heard the conversation between Rei and his boss, Elena .

「Oh wow . As expected of our princess . It’s still only been several days since she met Rei and it’s already like this . 」

「Vel, it is rude to talk about Elena-sama like that . 」

「Why . Didn’t I only say the truth?」

「……Vel . 」

It wasn’t the same easy voice that he had had been speaking with earlier, Kuust replied with a lower tone . And with his response, his eyes grew sharper than before .

However, Vel still replied in an easy going manner without changing his smile .

「Well you see, think about it normally . A beautiful girl that you’ve never seen with one of the best bodies . She has a light temper and is proud . Don’t you think it’s impossible for someone to meet our princess and not like her?　Leaving aside whether it is a feeling of love or friendship . 」

「……」

「With that said, Elena-sama’s requirement is that her partner has to be at least stronger than her . ……Hey, then there aren’t any problems with Rei in that regard right?」

Muttering that, Vel felt Kuust’s magic spear pass right past his face .

「Vel, don’t say anymore . I don’t want to stab you with this spear . 」

「……Well, that’s fine . If Kuust says so, we’ll leave it here . 」

「Hmph . 」

At Vel’s scornful laugh, Kuust pulled back his spear .

「Both of you . Are you going to argue in a place like this?」

Ara, who had been taking care of Elena, glared at the two of them in amazement .

「We’re not arguing . I just have a slight disagreement with that guy . 」

「……Really? Anyhow, what Vel said was excessive . 」

「Wai-!?　Can I at least finish explaining why!?」

「I naturally understand when I see your usual, everyday, attitude Vel . 」

「Ara, that’s fine . This isn’t a place to keep talking . Pay attention from now on . 」

Kuust spit out a sigh after breaking off the argument, that had started before they realised it, and went back to the usual atmosphere .

After Rei finished collecting the corpses, they advanced through the dungeon without any particular change in the atmosphere .

「Hmm, this is the third floor down . It’s very different from the previous two floors . 」

It was after the battle with the Lizardmen, about 10 minutes walk from the stairs down to the third floor . Though it was a normal dungeon just before, the place that appeared before Rei’s eyes now was a forest of huge mushrooms .

Starting from a height of 2m, huge mushrooms up to 5m tall were growing everywhere .

「This is……it really is unexpected . 」

Maybe because mushrooms in the dungeon were unexpected, Kuust muttered with a shocked expression .

Vel and Ara also had looks of astonishment as they stood next to Kuust .

Rei was also amazed, but not to the extent of the other three, as he looked at the surrounding area with interest .

「Guru~?」

Meanwhile, Set only tilted his head without any change in expression .

However, the sightseeing attitude of the party ended with a single sound .

The first to notice was Set, who had far superior senses than humans .

「Gururu~」

Set raised a vigilant cry as he pulled on Rei’s robe .

Rei noticed it at the same time as Set .

「Elena-sama, something……no, is that a voice?」

He was going to warn Elena that monsters were approaching, but was confused after hearing the voices of people .

Because they were the first people to enter the dungeon today, he hadn’t recalled passing by any people who had entered the dungeon after them . However, he understood immediately . If they were heading towards here, it meant that they were trying to get to the stairs to the upper levels . In other words……

「Rei, what is it?」

「……No . It seems a party that spent the night in the dungeon is coming towards here . At first, I thought they were monsters because I only heard the sounds of them approaching, but now I can hear people’s voices . 」

「Hmm, I see . There certainly is a limit to how many levels you can go into the dungeon in one day considering how wide each level is . That’s why we prepared tools such as tents for camping . Well then, what should we do in this case as adventurers?」

「That’s right . According to a story I heard from Elk previously, generally, you should give a light greeting without showing any hostility……」

Rei said uncomfortably .

After all, anyone could become an adventurer by registering in the guild . Because of that, there were naturally nasty adventurers as well . Adventurers who attacked other people to steal their belongings existed as well . And in the dungeon that Rei was in now, there wouldn’t be any trouble if no one was able to complain about any events that occurred . If anything happened, it would probably be judged that they died in the dungeon . Elena gave a serious nod as Rei explained the circumstances to her .

「That’s good . Then let’s wait to see the attitude of the other party . If the party is just passing by looking for something, there’s no problem . However, if they are bandits like Rei mentioned, we’ll know immediately from experience . 」

Nodding at Elena’s instructions, they waited where they were .

Eventually, after 5 minutes, not just Set and Rei, Elena and the others could hear the sound of walking coming from the forest of mushrooms . Mixed in were also the sounds of armour rubbing against each other .

Soon, the shadows of people could be seen from a 3m tall mushroom .

There were four people . All the members were men . There was an agile looking man who seemed to be a thief and two warriors, one holding a halberd, with the characteristics of a spear and axe and another holding a bastard swords . At the tail end was a man carrying a huge rucksack on his back . All of them were probably in their twenties .

「Hm?」

Before long, the thief, who was walking ahead, stopped and looked at Rei suspiciously . The two warriors at the back also stopped to look at Rei with caution as they stepped forward to either side of the thief . For an instant, the thief glanced at Elena before looking at the Griffon .

「Rei, they are adventurers . I’ll leave it to you . Be nice but cut them down without hesitation if they attack . 」

Receiving instructions from Elena, Rei stepped forward with a nod . Carrying the Death Scythe on his shoulder, it wasn’t a combat posture but he could immediately respond if he had to fight .

The first to speak was the thief, who was at the front of the party .

「Hey, it’s unexpected to meet someone here . 」

「An unexpected meeting, that’s a funny thing because you’re the first other people that we’ve encountered since we started exploring the dungeon . ……By the way, we where the first people to enter the dungeon this morning and came straight here……how about you?」

「Hm? Ah, we came here for a request to obtain some materials from a monster down here . In addition, we had to spend yesterday night in the dungeon since the monster only appears at night . 」

「Heh, staying in the dungeon . That’s quite brave of you . 」

「Well, we are an experience C rank party . ……They are?」

Speaking about their circumstances, next was Rei’s turn as the man asked back .

Rei turned to look at Elena for a moment and spoke up after seeing her give a slight nod .

「We have some business down here . Ah, I’m Rei, a rank D adventurer . My client is the noble over there . 」

「……Hou~ . Nobles, is it . 」

Muttering, the male thief nodded . Though it was only slightly, Rei’s wariness faded slightly at that sign .

The other party might also have been cautious that Rei’s party were bandits .

「It looks like we have no particular problems with each other then . 」

「Ahh, I am a bit interested in that frightfully beautiful girl over there and the Griffon as well……」

「Hey Zach . Let’s head up quickly if there’s no problems . Don’t be irresponsible, I want to go to sleep without having to be on guard all the time . 」

「Okay . 」

Zach, the man holding the halberd, replied after the thief spoke to him . The thief tapped Rei’s shoulder lightly while smiling .

「We’re going back up but take note that there are a lot of troublesome monsters further down . Particularly troublesome is the fifth floor where there are a lot of undead monsters and magic can’t be used . 」

「No problem, I think you can understand if you see my clothing, but I’m a magician . 」

Saying that, people from the other party immediately interjected .

『Wait a moment . 』

Rei gave a wry smile at the two voices that interjected at the same time .

「Saying you’re a magician with such a huge weapon, normally I wouldn’t believe that . 」

「Yeah, actually, your way of walking is closer to a warrior than a mage . 」

At the unanimous response of the two warriors, Rei gave a light shrug .

「Well, that’s certainly not a mistake . To be precise, I’m a warrior that can use magic, I’m a magic warrior . 」

「……I see, if that’s the case, I understand . 」

As the male thief nodded, the man carrying the huge sack spoke up .

「If we have no problems with each other, then should we say goodbye?　I want to go back up, eat a full meal at the inn and sleep soundly without having to worry about anything . 」

「Hm? Ah, that’s right . Then we must get going . Though I mentioned it earlier, be careful about the undead that wander about on the fifth floor . 」

「Ah . Thank you . Normally, wouldn’t you monopolize such information to yourselves?」

「What, don’t mind it . I got the information in the same way and this chance meeting also allowed me to meet a magic warrior . Well then, I’m sorry but we have to go . I hope that you finish your search safely . 」

As the thief said that, they went in a different direction and parted ways from Rei and Elena’s group .

Rei and Elena went to the stairs down to the fourth floor while the other men went to the staircase up towards the second floor .

「……Hey, what do you think?」

The male warrior with the halberd murmured when they were far away enough from Rei .

He didn’t need to say what he was asking about . It was about the strange party they had talked with earlier .

「First of all, that blonde girl is a fantastic one of a kind . For girls over 20, I’ve seen a lot, I’ve even spent a night with a high class prostitute, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a girl like that . ……How to say it, it’s the first time I’ve lost my nerve talking to a girl . 」

The companions of the swordsman gave wry smiles at the his words . This was because it was a well known fact that he was an extreme womaniser who visited brothels every night . A large portion of their income as a C rank party, of course after distribution within the part, was spent on prostitutes by him .

「As for me, I was worried about the Griffon . How to put it, it’s the first time I’ve seen a real Griffon . 」

The Griffon left a strong impression on the male thief . An A rank monster, a monster strong enough to be called the shinigami of the sky . As a thief, he was skilled in judging the strength of others, still, the Griffon they saw earlier exceeded his imagination . It was an existence at a completely different level .

「There was also girl and the Griffon, but it interested me that they didn’t have a porter . 」

A man muttered while carrying a huge backpack

Porter . To be brief, it was what people who carried things like treasures, materials and magic stones for other were called . It was natural if you thought about it . The movements of warriors and mages would obviously get duller if they carried the materials and magic stones as they went through the dungeon . If warriors and mages had their movements dulled, it would become harder for them to deal with monsters . The people who solved that problem were porters, who specialised in carrying those items .

「……That reminds me, there was the guy stupidly huge scythe, a spear man, two female warriors and an archer . 」

The man with the sword muttered as he thought back .

「I know right? There’s no one who enters a dungeon without a porter……though it’s not absolute, it’s quite unusual . 」

Hmm~, though they all racked their brains, they couldn’t think of a reason and eventually went up and out of the dungeon .

As expected, there was no way they would have thought that the people they were talking to had an item box .

After that, though the men encountered several Lizardmen and goblins, they were successful in leaving after defeating them . After that, they submitted the materials for their request and received their reward . By the time they were sleeping soundly after celebrating at the bar, any thoughts about Rei had completely disappeared from their minds .