Chapter 265 Lower Floor Team (Part V)
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(Gieze’s POV)
Right in front of me, a high Goblin was cut in half from the waist down and fell.
I sheathed my curved sword (shamshir) and turned around.
Just as I caught in the corner of my eye earlier, Mr. Gorge and Noriss had successfully taken down another high Goblin.
We easily eliminated the two high Goblins in this room, and I picked up the magic stone rolling at my feet.
”That was pretty smooth. Looks like I ain’t gotta do much in this run.”
Ms. Simona, who was waiting near the entrance of the room with Ms. Eluda, Karina, Lotta, and Noo, said with a hint of disappointment.
But her expression looked happy.
”It’s almost lunchtime~.”
”Yeah, let’s take a break and have lunch here.”
Noo spread out about four canvas sheets tied to her large backpack on the floor with Ms. Eluda.
Noriss was trying to unlock a wooden box that had appeared, while Mr. Gorge and Lotta watched him.
”Wh-where should we draw the line for this exploration?”
Karina asked as she sat next to me on the sheet.
”Well… if we can defeat the floor boss on the Second Floor and make it to the ‘Safety Zone’ where we finished exploring before, that would be great──what do you think, Ms. Simona?”
I called out to Ms. Simona, who was watching Noo prepare lunch.
”Huh? ──Ah… once we clear this place out, we should hit the floor boss.”
Ms. Simona replied and came over to sit on the sheet.
”I think we’ll probably complete the map of the Second Floor in the next room.”
Noriss walked over holding a cloth bag.
”Hm? Is that loot?”
”Yeah. It seems to be some old coins…”
”Alright, let’s have Eluda take a look at it.”
Ms. Eluda, who had been lying at the edge of the sheet, sat up.
”Hmm… most of these are copper coins. A few silver and gold coins… the purity of the silver and gold seems quite high. Still──.”
As she received the cloth bag and started to jingle the old coins out onto the sheet, Ms. Eluda muttered to herself.
”…I ain’t ever seen a coin design like this before.”
Ms. Simona, who had been peering in, picked one up and tossed it over to me.
I caught it and took a look.
”Y-yeah, I definitely… I-I haven’t seen this even around the Empire…”
Although it was quite worn down, it seemed to have a woman’s profile engraved on it.
”When we get back to the surface, should we show it to Lady Milia?”
”Speaking of which, she said it had ‘historical research value’ and bought a dagger last time. She might be interested in this too.”
Ms. Eluda suggested collecting the coins and putting them back in the cloth bag, and Lotta agreed.
I tossed the coin I had to Ms. Eluda.
”It’s definitely quite old. Yeah, let’s have Lady Milia take a look.”
* * *
Noo’s homemade jerky is well-seasoned, and it becomes tender with just a little heat.
It’s very easy to eat and delicious even when stuffed in bread.
”I learned it from Lady Hanna~.”
Noo is not only a fantastic cook, but she also looks adorable while eating.
She enjoys her food so much.
”The food is delicious, and the maid is cute. I’m already good to be a member of ‘Famière,’ right?”
While munching on her bread, Ms. Simona squinted at Noo.
”…We ain’t makin’ that decision by ourselves, ya know…”
”Right. You need to sort things out with ‘Rose Hip’ properly.”
Mr. Gorge and Ms. Eluda pointed out the obvious truth.
They’re absolutely right.
”I know… but I’m already Hiroya’s girl, ya know? Ain’t no way I’m goin’ back to ‘Rose Hip’ now…”
”Noo is Sir Hiroya’s servant, so I want him to want my body soon~.”
Noo’s comment, overlapping with Ms. Simona’s, made everyone at the table burst out laughing.
* * *
After finishing lunch, I opened the door on the opposite side of the room and moved forward.
Soon, a door appeared at the end of the hallway.
”There are no traps… and it’s not locked. Inside, there are… three high-class humanoids…”
I stepped back, letting Noriss examine the door, and stood in front of it.
”They’re high-class. Karina, prepare ‘Anti-Magic.’ Lotta, use attack magic, but try to target enemies other than the ones Mr. Gorge and I will handle.”
As I quietly gave instructions, Karina and Lotta nodded in agreement.
”Ms. Eluda, please protect Karina and Lotta. ──Mr. Gorge and I will charge in. Noriss, please sneak into the room like you always do without being noticed.”
After saying that, I turned back to check on them.
Mr. Gorge and Noriss each drew their weapons──a bastard sword and a short sword──while Ms. Eluda nodded and readied her large shield.
”…Alright, I’ll kick it down. ──!”
──BAM!
I kicked the door open and leaped inside.
Three high goblins were there.
At their feet…
──An Adventurer Party!?
There were camping supplies set up in the corner of the room…
(Were they attacked while camping?)
”GieGie! First, the enemies!”
Mr. Gorge noticed my brief hesitation and called out as he charged at one of the high goblins.
”…Ugh!”
I dashed toward the central high goblin, which had its left arm raised.
”Anti-Magic!”
I heard Karina’s voice.
She was nullifying the magic of the high goblin I was heading toward.
(I have to take it down in one strike!)
I closed in on the confused high goblin, whose magic was disrupted, and leaped at it.
”Ha!”
I twisted my body as much as I could and drew my sword, aiming for the high goblin’s neck.
It was a strike taught directly by Lord Hiroya, using maximum centrifugal force.
With my left arm, which couldn’t use magic, I aimed that strike at the high goblin, which was trying to guard its throat.
Just before its left arm could protect its neck, my blade caught it.
Losing its head, the High Goblin fell with a thud!
(One is with Mr. Gorge and Noriss… I’ll take care of the other one!)
I chased after the High Goblin that had already dashed toward Karina and the others.
”Eluda, stop it!”
Ms. Eluda seemed to be planning to protect from a distance away from the rearguard…
She stepped forward with her shield raised against the High Goblin.
The High Goblin swung its club back and brought it down toward Ms. Eluda.
──Thud!
Ms. Eluda caught it with her shield held high, not budging an inch.
”Such an opening!”
She quickly drew her hand axe from her waist and slashed at its left leg.
I caught up and attacked from behind, delivering an upward slash that severed the High Goblin’s right thigh.
”Fireball!”
Lotta launched a fireball created by her magic at the High Goblin’s head.
The fist-sized fireball hit the High Goblin’s head directly and exploded.
With its legs cut off and its head lost, the High Goblin fell to the ground.
* * *
”Looks like there are monsters in this room while we were camping.”
I gathered the bodies of four adventurers in the corner of the room.
Each had their arms, legs, and heads smashed, and it was a pretty gruesome sight.
”Maybe they didn’t know the maze… or maybe this was a room where some other crew wiped out the monsters…”
According to Ms. Simona, the monsters that appear in rooms and halls don’t spawn randomly like other ‘wandering monsters.’ Instead, if they are defeated, new ones will appear in that room after some time.
”Well, it’s usually about 6 to 8 hours. The floor boss takes about 1 to 2 hours.”
So, to keep track of the spawn times, it’s common not to camp in rooms where other parties have wiped out monsters.
”…Looks like they had no choice but to take that risk and rest…”
Looking at the number of fallen bodies…
It seemed Ms. Simona’s guess was right. The other members must have already…
Mr. Gorge was rummaging through the bodies.
”Mr. Gorge…! That’s disrespectful to the dead…”
I rushed over to stop what was happening, but Mr. Gorge looked up at me with a sad smile.
”No, that’s not it… This is it.”
What he pulled from the body and offered was…
”An adventurer card…”
”We can’t take the body back. If we leave it… well, it will be taken care of.”
When Mr. Gorge said “taken care of,” he meant it would be “eaten by monsters.”
”So… this is all we can do. To let the guild… and the surface know that a life has been lost.”
I nodded at Mr. Gorge’s sorrowful smile and decided to search for the adventurer card from the body as well.
”I’ll look too.”
Lotta crouched down next to me.
* * *
We collected the ‘adventurer cards,’ magic stones, and loot, and decided to leave the dead-end room and head towards the floor boss.
There, we were faced with a similar situation once again.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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