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Chapter 33

Eventually, we reached the backdoor of the dungeon—the entrance with the altar—and all those who are combat ready assembled together.

“Alright! Listen up! We’re tacklin’ this dungeon today to exterminate the monster behind the disease. Get into parties and don’t break formation!”

“Yes, sir!”

Arleaf’s parents take up leadership roles and instruct the team.

I wonder if they’re like the heads of the village or something.

“Our goal is to go as low as we can... however, we don’t know where the monster is lurkin’. It seems like the adventurers initially encountered it on the first floor. We’ll search high and low.”

Wow... this is totally gonna a pain in the ass.

But wait, what will we do?

Hmm... I’m worried that if I were to fight with the others, I’ll accidentally hurt them by friendly fire.

To a certain degree, Muu would be fine if it gets hit by my poison, since it’s a mushroom.

Oh, and how about sealing the dungeon’s entrance and I just release all of my poison?

‘I cannot recommend doing so. We know not whether there are ventilation holes. Furthermore, you have neither enough toxin nor mana to fill the dungeon.’

I thought so...

“Group up by the entrance of each floor before proceeding together. If any of you spot the monster, don’t let it out of your sight. But do not engage until all members are ready. If it knows it is being hunted, it may go into hiding and vanish. And if that happens, that’s a mission failure.”

We really are going monster hunting.

When so many villagers and adventurers go out for a hunt together, they’re usually depicted as the bad guys. Maybe it’s different in reality.

‘The problem is how powerful our enemy is this time. No matter how big a group of humans may be, it does not change the fact that they are feeble creatures.’

Well... that’s why humans have developed spells like Forced Possession Summoning to defeat powerful monsters.

By the way, what kind of monsters do you expect there’ll be?

‘From what I can tell, there should not be anything too frightful. If all the people here today were to give their best, who knows? Perhaps it may turn out fine.’

You don’t sound too optimistic.

‘If we knew everything there is to know about the enemy, this would not be such a hardship. But what often happens in the world is that misfortune befalls those who underestimate their opponents.’

True that... I’m only here because Veno underestimated his opponents too.

So that’s what it means to speak from experience.

‘Hmph.’

Veno grumbles with an annoyed voice while we review our tactics.

“Since we’re merely a ragtag group, we don’t know how exactly what to expect. Cohgray, you and Arleaf take the rear entrance and head towards the second floor. We’ll rendezvous at the entrance of the third floor.”

It seems like Arleaf’s father heard from his daughter that I’ve been delved into the dungeon before.

I guess he wants me to check through the places I’m familiar with.

“Understood.”

“Alright, that’s all I’ve got to say. Next... let us pray at the altar.”

Huh?

Arleaf’s parents clasp their hands at the altar, followed by the proprietress and other villagers.

That’s where I changed jobs.

Hmm? What? I thought that was a religion long forgotten or something.

They all clap their hands together. What is this, a Shinto shrine?

What a devout bunch.

Right after I thought that, the walls streak with what seems to be waves of static electricity and coils around us.

Wh-What was that?

Can they not see it?

For a split second, a magic circle appeared by my feet.

‘Hmm... what is this...’

Veno, what’s wrong?

‘The mana that consumed by Forced Possession Summoning has lessened.’

Veno’s mana gets forcibly drained by Forced Possession Summoning.

But for it to lessen obviously has something to do with what just happened.

Still, reducing the amount of mana that gets drained is a good thing, right?

‘Aye... it seems like all the power within that statue had flowed into me. There is a possibility that you may no longer be able to change jobs with that the altar.’

It’s out of juice, then?

At what cost though? That was only a wee bit of mana for you.

Was it really worth it?

‘That you were able to use the altar was merely fortunate of thee. Thou canst find some other object to change jobs.’

You have a point... but why did it happen when the villagers prayed?

Arleaf’s father interrupts our conversation.

“Alright, move out! Cohgray! Arleaf! And the fungus too. I’m leaving this area to you lot.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Umm... my homunculus has a name, you know? Please, call him Muu.”

“Mu!”

“Don’t sweat the small stuff!”

That’s not something small.

It’s not like it’s a ridiculously long name or anything.

It feels like it’d be yet another long conversation if I had spoken up, so I let it slide.

And so, we head through the backdoor of the dungeon and retrace our steps to search the second floor.

We entered the dungeon with more vigilance than normal.

Perhaps a bunch of adventurers came by after hearing the rumors, but we haven’t encountered many animals.

Plus, we’ve been here before Arleaf joined us, so I somewhat know the area.

However, it seems like the fog is denser than before.

“The miasma is thicker than normal, but perhaps because I’m a Thaumaturge now, I can still breathe fine.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah, I can tell even through the gas mask. I don’t feel a thing.”

Class really does make a huge difference, eh?

As we progress down to the second floor...

I hear a familiar howl and the creature the voice belongs to appeared.

A Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha and two others from his pack...?

So you’ve finally showed up again!

“Muu!”

Sensing an enemy nearby, Muu draws his axe, charging into battle.

I ready my crossbow and Arleaf begins to chant a spell.

But... Muu stops in front of the Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha.

“Muu?”

The Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha sits like a good doggo and looks towards me.

“Umm...”

What? What’s happening?

The pack gathers before Arleaf and me.

“Woof!”

‘Hmm... I sense no hostility. Take a look at it.’

Veno highlights the skin of the Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha in my vision.

Dorimsvoyta crystals grow on its skin, much like the people in the village.

They’re infected too?

I take a look around to find all the other Midnight Blue Wolves to have crystals growing from their bodies.

Seeing how they’re showing no hostility, I inch forward a little closer to them.

Then, the alpha points to the path with its muzzle and turns his back to me.

‘Hmm... he certainly earned the right to be leader. Very clever.’

What do you mean?

‘They, too, are infected. They must be fed up with the mastermind behind this disease as well.’

Well, last time we fought together, they retreated quickly. They’ve gotta be rather smart.

But isn’t there a chance that this could be a trap?

Maybe they’re involved with this as well.

‘Though I cannot guarantee it to be an impossibility, it must be obvious if thou look at their condition. The corpses of their comrades must be piled high by now. They have no choice but to turn to us for help.’

The enemy of my enemy, huh?

‘So, it seems that they are trying to assist us... perhaps the salamander is hiding in a considerably difficult place to find and the wolves are trying to lead us there.’

They have no choice but to come to us.

A large group of villagers and adventurers are out hunting after all.

If they really are as smart as Veno seems to think, why don’t they just stay low and have us humans slay the beast?

They could have kept on being spectators without lifting a finger.

“It seems like they’re gonna show us the way. They seem to be victims too.”

“That’s... no, that’s quite possible.”

She’s a quick thinker.

“I’ve fought with them before. I killed one of their comrades and literally tanned its hide though...”

The Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha casts a sidelong glance, almost as if it were laughing at me.

“Seems like he doesn’t mind though.”

‘The present situation is more important than old grudges. After this all blows over, I may just make them my retainers because of how very clever they are.’

What, didn’t you just say all of their friends have died already?

“We should probably tell my father about this.”

“The thing is that there’s still some time before we rendezvous though. I think it’s more important that we follow them and make sure where the target monster is hiding first.”

We don’t even know yet if they’re really showing us the way.

Plus, we don’t know where the enemy is hiding. And if it is, how would we even tell?

If we mess up, we’ll be dead. It might be better if we just stuck to the plan.

But... it’s important to know where the monster is hiding.

“... you have a point. We may be searching in the wrong place after all. This is more important than rendezvousing.”

We follow the guidance of the Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha.

Along the way, we see the Claret Sunflowers standing guard, but the Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha takes a detour to avoid being detected by them. It’s shocking how well they know the layout of this place.

‘Perhaps they have the skill Vision Perception. It is a skill that allows one to see how much their target can see.’

Does a plant like Claret Sunflower have eyes? Maybe it’s like Muu with eyes growing out of nowhere?

However it may be, we reach a corner in the second floor without much difficulty.

“Woof, woof.”

The Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha starts scratching the wall.

The wall of the cave breaks off in small bits.

Hmm? Those bits are kinda weird. They’re like wooden splinters.

“Yukihisa, maybe it’s...”

Yeah. Even I know what it’s trying to do.

‘This must be a secret path. It is not surprising for one to be here. Aye... this wall is one of plant. Surely thou know what is next.’

Yeah, of course.

I use Poison Release to splatter the wall with concentrated swamp toxin.

The poison soaks into what I thought was the wall and it turns purple.

“Mu!”

Taking advantage of it, Muu swings his axe and cleaves the wall.

That’s his Hatchet Crash.

It’s super effective against plants. Though I’m not exactly sure how that would ever be useful.

The wall turns into a flurry of wood chips and reveal a path behind where it once stood.

What’s that?

It’s a dungeon, a cave-like one, with an abundance of plants and moss into a strange purplish hue.

“We wouldn’t have found this hidden passage even if we were to search every nook and cranny.”

“I agree.”

Well, now let’s go get Arleaf’s parents and the others... or so I wanted to.

But the air coming from the hidden passage begins to oscillate and vibrates through us.

The Midnight Blue Wolf then begins to whimper.

His underlings, too, are crying out, seemingly in pain.

“What’s wrong?!”

I called out to the wolves and then I saw it.

The crystals coming out of the Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha visibly gets larger and larger.

“Perhaps... it knows that we have discovered its hiding place.”

‘The girl is likely right. It knows that we have exposed it and so it is showing us its determination. It is tightening the grasp of Dorimsvoyta.’

Hold on a minute!

Arleaf’s parents and some others are able to fight, but they have infected in their ranks too.

‘If we wait to rendezvous with the others, not only will they suffer, but on top of that, we know not of what will happen to the people in the area. If we send out a signal out, we can tell the others where we are. But if we do not hurry and deal with it, the casualties will only increase. I recommend thee to first begin battle.’

“If we don’t hurry to engage and stall the monster, there’ll only be more victims. Let’s diverge from the plan and engage the monster first.”

“Understood.”

The Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha whines at us.

What is it?

‘It is saying that it its subordinates shall guide reinforcements here and so it wishes for something that easily shows that they are allies.’

“Arleaf, it’s saying that they’ll guide your parents and the other adventurers here.”

I raise my hand up and Veno deduces that I wanted a pen and paper.

“Thank you for everything you have done.”

I briefly jot down that I determined where the monster was hiding and that the Midnight Blue Wolves are our allies. Then, I tied a copy around each of their necks with cloth.

“Awoo!”

The alpha of the Midnight Blue Wolves howls, sending his subordinates out.

Even though they’re supposedly weakened by Dorimsvoyta, it really doesn’t show.

“Woof!”

Then, one of them barks at us, seemingly as if to say that our destination is just up ahead and telling us to keep following them.

... for some reason, they just look so smart even when I’m just looking at their backsides.

“Alright! Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

“Mu!”

We run out, following the secret route.

The path was full of traps—ones full of bacteria and mold.

Our enemy monster really seems to like to prey on the weak spots of its opponent.

Veno detects the traps for me and I absorb it all with my Poison Absorption and sometimes even, the Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha had us ride on its back to break through.

Veno also makes a map of this dungeon and places a bird’s-eye view minimap in my vision.

It’s quite a ways away from the original dungeon we were searching.

Even though we knew the monster exists, we were searching in the wrong place.

This is all thanks to the Midnight Blue Wolves.

‘Since it vibrates the air to stimulate Dorimsvoyta, a perceptive adventurer may have been able to find this place.’

Only if it were to turn out well.

‘However... this construction of this dungeon seems to have been quite hurried. Perhaps our target monster made it by dissolving the walls.’

Maybe that’s why it’s purple too.

It’s quite the eerie monster.

This dungeon is a combination of three different parts, hey?

The underground altar was originally a cave of an ancient village, then a famous monster made the dungeon, and now the monster this time made this tunnel.

I wonder if it took a long time to make all this.

‘The monster constructed it themselves. That mea— it is reacting! Watch out!’

I froze as soon as I heard Veno’s warning, holding my arms out so that neither Arleaf nor Muu steps out in front of me.

‘Shoot the wall to your right!’

Veno marks the target and I pull the trigger.

What I thought was the wall suddenly rises and appears while it swats my bolt out of the air.

The bolt went thunk on the ground, some smoke rising from it.

I take a good look at my opponent.

To describe it in a sentence, it’s... a monster that looks like a humongous salamander.

Its body is purple with a red belly, looking quite toxic.

It stands on two feet and looks at us. A seemingly intelligent being.

It’s about three meters long and rather wide as well, making it much bigger than it looks.

The monster looks like it has a scarf on its neck and that it’s smirking at us.

“Grr...”

The Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha intimidatingly growls at the monster in front of it—Elbatoxin, as it is named.

Elbatoxin laughs.

It opens its mouth while continuously flicking its tongue at us.

‘I say... I had thought the humans were searching the other dungeon after realizing I was operating in the shadows. But to think that a meddling monster was in their ranks... an absolute disgrace to all monsters.’

You understand what it’s saying?

Even though you don’t understand the Midnight Blue Wolf Alpha?

Though I know for whatever reason that it’s not human language.

I don’t get your criteria.

I look over to Arleaf but she doesn’t look shocked at all.