Chapter 131

“Ugh… I almost died. Seriously, picking the wrong job led to this mess. What kind of suffering is this?”

Freide still looked pretty annoyed. Sitting in the carriage, checking her weapons, she kept grumbling like she wanted me to hear.

“Not very bold, are you? Still hung up on something that’s already over. A real man should let the past flow like water and focus on the future. Guess your heart’s as small as your chest.”

“Yeah, talk about bad luck, huh?”

I figured I should be understanding. Freide’s just a bit worn out from all the bad luck. Luck’s up to the heavens, not something we can control. But with her sensitive personality, she might get stressed over stuff like that.

“You’re the most shameless person in the Empire. Don’t you—no, don’t *we*—have something to say?”

Something to say? You want me to apologize? No way. My plan was perfect. If anything, it’s the ancient people who built ruins in such a fragile spot and gravity that caused the mountain to collapse, not me.

But fine, if you insist.

“Sorry…”

Freide’s eyes twitched. Like she never imagined I’d ever say “sorry.” Well, if that’s what she thought of me, I guess I should live up to her expectations.

“…There were some unexpected variables, but we can still call this dungeon raid a success, right? All’s well that ends well!”

Freide’s face twisted in anger.

“You crazy woman. Does Ka`har drop dead if they say sorry?”

Wow, she’s pretty good at colorful language. Where’d all that noble grace go?

“Do they drop dead if they say sorry?”

“Well, usually, yeah…”

I answered, recalling some old memories. Most of the times I heard “sorry” were when Ja-han or Mersin misunderstood me and executed someone. Soldiers, servants, you name it. Thinking back, those were some brutal times.

“Savages.”

Freide spat out, clearly disgusted by Ka`har’s culture.

“And what do you mean ‘all’s well’? We literally just buried everything and left.”

“Buried? It was a perfect strategy using the terrain. We used nature’s power to defeat an enemy we couldn’t beat head-on. That’s what a tactician does!”

“And if our heads had flown off, it’d just be an unfortunate accident?”

“Exactly!”

Freide couldn’t take it anymore and swung her fist. I dodged, and Milia, startled, grabbed Freide. But Freide shook her off with a twist.

“F-Freide, calm down!”

“Don’t stop me! I’m gonna teach this jerk some manners today!”

Freide went wild, throwing punches and kicks, making the carriage shake violently. At this rate, it might flip over.

I dodged a few hits, but she showed no signs of stopping, so I had to grab her arms to restrain her.

Freide gritted her teeth.

“…I should stop messing with her. She might start swinging an axe in here.”

“Alright, alright. My bad. How was I supposed to know the whole mountain would collapse?”

“Ugh…! If only I were a master…!”

Even if she were a master, so what? In a tight space like this, it’s all about strength, not skill. And I’m pretty sure I’m the strongest among masters.

—

After that, nothing much happened.

Freide, who had been raging, calmed down after I properly apologized, snorting like she’d let it slide. She’s the type who’s easy to take advantage of. People like her usually end up ruining their lives by co-signing for friends or something. Lucky for her, she was born into a noble family.

Milia and Damien didn’t say much since they agreed with the plan. Or maybe Freide said everything they wanted to say.

Milia did look a bit sulky, though.

On the way back, we stopped by the village we had devastated.

The village had changed quite a bit. When we left, it was half a hellscape, but now it was pretty clean, with soldiers patrolling around. Only the burnt ruins of houses remained as reminders of that day.

The women who had been sacrificed were already taken by the Elpinel Church for treatment, and the bodies of the villagers had been cleared by the investigation team. Must’ve been tough for them. There were hardly any intact bodies left.

“Find anything?”

“Unfortunately, nothing yet. Seventy percent of the village was burned, so there’s not much to go on…”

Freide glanced at me after hearing the investigation team’s answer.

“What? That was the best way to cover all bases.”

“Sigh… Is this really the same woman who was so active during the fire?”

Freide let out a deep sigh. Sadly, it’s the same person. Back then, I was… kind of in a trance.

Probably a mix of guilt, injuries, and the heat and smoke from the fire left me a complete mess, both mentally and physically.

While leaning our heads together in the carriage, we were in the middle of writing a report to submit to the academy.

It was around the time we were writing about the monsters.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard the story of when you guys fought the monsters yet. You said you’d tell me later.”

I barely remembered. Totally forgot about it.

With all the shocking events that followed, who could think of tales of bravery like the three of us catching monsters while hailstones fell from the sky?

“Ah, right. I’ll tell you after finishing this report.”

Freide tapped the paper she was writing on with her fingertips.

We had been discussing the content to report, but the actual writing was entirely left to Freide.

She’s the only second-year in our group and has the best handwriting among the four of us.

Her handwriting was as elegant as the royal family’s letters. Is that what you call the refinement of a noble?

Given her usual behavior, it’s hard to believe, but as the daughter of a grand duke, she’s just below the royal family in status.

Every now and then, she shows this noble side.

Doesn’t suit her.

The report omitted all the parts that needed to be concealed.

Things like permanent magical power, ancient civilization drawings in the ruins, and experiences from being sucked into a portal.

So, it ended up being half lies.

“The daughter of the Faelun family writing a false report, what would father say if he knew…?”

“Disclosing this would only cause chaos in the Empire. It’s not a false report; it’s sacrificing your reputation for the Empire’s sake. Isn’t that honorable?”

“If only you could talk…!”

Ignoring Freide’s attempt to scold me, I read the handed report.

—

Entered Karmaine Forest. Arrived at the dungeon entrance after 30 minutes.

A cave-type dungeon inside a massive rocky mountain.

The entrance leads to a wide cavern.

Advanced while defeating dozens of bat frogs and about ten centipede snails.

Transformed into a ruin-type dungeon from the middle.

Severely damaged, making era identification impossible.

Low ceilings suggest it’s not from the era of the racial wars.

Proceeded underground following the ruin’s passage.

Found a personnel-dispersing trap.

*Baron Medean separated due to his own carelessness.*

—

“This part feels oddly malicious, doesn’t it?”

“What can I do?”

—

Continued exploration with the remaining members.

Magical energy concentration rose to dangerous levels.

Defeated about a dozen more monsters.

Appeared monsters were the same as before.

Advanced for about 20 minutes.

Encountered the ‘Cursed Mother’ in a sealed stone chamber.

Successfully defeated after a fierce battle.

—

“The Cursed Mother?”

“Yeah, we had a tough fight with the three of us.”

Freide shrugged her shoulders.

So, this is the monster that melted Damien’s greatsword.

—

Reunited with Baron Medean during rest.

Reported discovery and repulsion of three new types of monsters.

Hybrid species.

Estimated to be near-expert level monsters according to Baron Medean.

Baron Medean named the monsters ‘Locust Centaurs’.

Meaning unclear.

Details of the new monsters are attached separately.

—

“Meaning unclear? I thought it was pretty straightforward. I thought it was quite intuitive.”

“Straightforward? No way. What even is a centaur? Is it from the Ka`har language?”

Ah, come to think of it, people in this world wouldn’t know about centaurs.

Though there are plenty of monsters with similar silhouettes.

—

Confirmed an irreparable level of contamination in the dungeon’s deepest part.

Encountered a top-tier Undead Knight. Engaged in battle.

Ruins collapsed due to battle effects. Abandoned subjugation and escaped.

Could not confirm the Undead Knight’s destruction but presumed it was caught in the collapse.

No significant gains.

Most artifacts were completely destroyed and deemed worthless.

As the entire dungeon collapsed, additional deployment is considered meaningless.

– Considering the leakage of magical energy, recommend designating the area as a restricted zone.

—

It was a neat summary.

Except for the part filled with malice towards me.

Guess there’s still some resentment left. Not very magnanimous, is she?

But well, this should suffice as a report.

“Seems fine. We can submit it as is.”

I handed the report back to Freide.