5 – A Strange Warrior Party Somewhere (5)
When I reached the area of Blitz Wing Lizard beyond the zone of Lizardman, I quickly finished the briefing.
“Erin, block the approaching melee warriors in the front. With your skills, it shouldn’t be difficult to handle the Lizardman warriors.”
“You’re entrusting me with this task?”
“…I’m asking for a favor.”
“Uh-huh, okay~♡”
Erin naturally takes the vanguard. Frankly, it doesn’t seem necessary to attach any other support just in case of potential risks. Based on the tricks Cer-Aria showed a while ago… Erin, who is a hero, will only get stronger.
“Frei, be prepared for arrows and spears falling back with divine protection. Aria will snipe enemy archers and spearman while being protected.”
“Yes, Allen.”
“hahahaha alright, leave it to me!”
And then…
“Leticia, you’re on standby.”
“Yes…yes? Why?”
“There’s bound to be some Lizardman Shamans among them who mix their magic to mess with the control of spirits. Of course, even if it’s your ability, there’s a possibility that they could attack somewhere strange without having to relinquish the authority over the spirits. It could be a problem if the power of the spirits strikes us for no reason.”
“How can a Lizardman Shaman even do that?”
“Well…”
Did the game developers make it like that?
“Are you telling us to just rest? I don’t like that…”
Letisia looked at the whip in her hand as if disappointed.
… I don’t have a good feeling about this. If they keep us from doing anything, they’re probably planning to use this on us later.
It would be better to tell her that she will have a chance too.
“When all the wizards are dealt with, then it will be okay to release the spirits.”
“Who’s intercepting the wizards?”
“Well…”
When I turned my head, Letisia also turned her head in the expected direction. There, sitting in a corner with a disheveled appearance, was a docgeogu.
Perhaps due to the docgeogu’s sensitive perception, she immediately met my gaze as soon as we looked at her.
“… Why?”
“You have to intercept the sorcerer, thief.”
“… Huh?”
“Erin and Aria will attract attention. Whenever there’s an opening, you just have to deal with the Lizardman sorcerer. Then Letisia can bring out the spirit again and provide support.”
“I, I have such an important role…”
“What are you saying? You’re the only one.”
Apart from the docgeogu, no one else remains. The docgeogu occupation is specialized in this kind of memorization skill, and although there is Frey, she has already decided to entrust her protection to Ser-Aria. There is no need to burden one person with two roles.
However, the docgeogu slightly widened her eyes and asked me.
“I’m the only one…?”
“Huh?… Uh, yeah.”
“…Okay, I got it. I’ll do it.”
Suddenly, the child became proactive. For some reason, it felt like a good thing to me.
“Yeah, thanks. A sorcerer would have a staff that looks like this.”
As I hastily shaped a makeshift staff out of a tree branch on the dirt floor, the child looked slightly surprised and spoke.
“Allen…”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry… I really don’t know what it is.”
“…Uh, yeah.”
I’m sure I was drawing a staff, but why is there a snake-like thing drawn?
“Wow, you can’t draw at all~♡ Are all ten fingers just for decoration?”
“…Noisy.”
“hehehe♡”
“…Anyway, if you’re holding a weird-looking staff, most likely you’re a sorcerer. Just take them down and we’ll be fine.”
“Got it.”
In any case, the roles have been distributed. The party combination seemed impossible to break through with the typical composition of lizardmen troops in theory, but as long as everyone plays their role well, we should be able to get through smoothly.
“How to fight and handle the situation, I leave it up to your judgment. You are all much more skilled than me.”
“Um, okay!”
“Sure.”
“Then let’s go.”
Once beyond Blitz Wing Lizard’s nest, they came to the stairs. Though it was a staircase leading down to the dungeon, it was split into two branches.
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“Where should we go from here?”
In truth, I didn’t know here either. Both paths led to the district of the Lizard Man, but the problem was that one was a route with traps, and the other was a normal route used by the Lizard Man.
This was a random gimmick that kept changing in the game, so I still didn’t know which way was the right answer.
“For now, both lead to the district of the Lizard Man.”
“So, does it mean we just go anywhere?”
“Yes, but… one side is a place full of traps, and the other side isn’t.”
“Then it would be more convenient to go to the place without traps. Do you not know where, Arlen?”
In response to Frey’s question, I nodded slightly. Honestly, it doesn’t matter where we go. Whether it’s to the right or left… our party won’t have any problems even if there are traps.
However, Sera-Aria took out a bottle of alcohol from her waist and said, “Hmm, so we have to leave it up to our luck? Sounds good!”
What? Is there something good about that idea?
After gulping down the liquor, Sera-Aria neatly emptied a bottle as if drinking water.
“Let’s decide with this!”
“What?”
“Come on~.”
Sera-Aria laid the empty bottle on its side on the floor.
“You wouldn’t be suggesting…”
“Look!”
As expected, Sera-aria spun the bottle around with her hand. After spinning for a while, the bottle stopped, pointing to the right. Upon seeing this, Sera-aria pointed to the right with her hand.
“Let’s go there!”
“Hey… if we decide like that, what are we going to do!?”
“Huh? Is it not okay?”
Of course, why are you asking me questions? You crazy man!
However, contrary to my expectations, the party members’ reactions were not that negative.
“But I mean… it shouldn’t matter. Whether we go right or left.”
“If the first trap area has a similar feeling, maybe we should proceed with dismantling the trap?”
“Yeah, there’s no way to know what the right answer is anyway~?”
But that’s just the way it is… I never imagined that this kind of decision-making would gain approval. Are all these people so insecure somewhere?
“…Alright, let’s go. But let’s go slowly while the thief checks.”
“Yeah, if I didn’t do that, I’d be useless…”
“No…”
It’s not like that…!
“Don’t worry, thief. If any traps are triggered that I didn’t detect, I’ll protect you.”
As Frey spoke, Dorge’s expression seemed to relax slightly, looking relieved. It was a beautiful sight, but honestly, it was just Dorge’s exaggeration.
Name: No Name
Occupation: Thief
Stats:
[Strength: 118] [Agility: 525]
[Endurance: 210] [Intelligence: 47]
[Magic: 388] [Divine: 0]
Traits:
[Trap Disarmament Lv.9] [Stealth Lv.8] [Sixth Sense Lv.10] [Throwing Mastery Lv.7] [Poisonous Strike Lv.7] [Sensitivity Lv.8] [Block Sensation Lv.9] [Immunity to Poison Lv.10] [Disease Resistance Lv.7]
Unexpectedly, it turned out that she had an impressive set of skills, perhaps even enough to be considered the next Erin in this party. Her agility and endurance far exceeded those of Serena-Aria.
Although her magic and strength were slightly lacking, her traits alone show how strong she is. There is not a single trait level that falls below 7.
Of course, if it was natural, then it was natural. Among the party members, this character was undoubtedly the best at boosting morale. The idea of nerfing Dodgeo because he was so good became a common topic among the users.
With instincts and agility surpassing that of a warrior, and his skills in disarming traps… Honestly, as long as Dodgeo was there, the party would never fall into a trap.
We chose to descend the stairs on the right, determined by the bottle of Serra-Aria.
*Crash!!*
“Damn it…!”
“hahahahaha, these traps are not just ordinary!”
As expected, numerous traps awaited our party.
Damn it, I didn’t trust things like alcohol bottles!!
We had just stepped in, without even touching anything, and the trap was immediately triggered. Perhaps it started as soon as we lifted our feet.
Even if we tried to go back, the entrance we came through was tightly closed, and it wouldn’t open.
– It’s a door made of the same material as the walls of the dungeon, protected by an unknown power. It cannot be destroyed by any means.
This damn status window is driving me crazy. Still, the other party members were showing remarkable agility, dodging skillfully here and there, but the problem was me.
“Hurry up, you clumsy~♡ Or else you’ll die~?”
“Argh, I’m also moving as fast as I can!”
When dodging the poisonous arrows flying towards me, the mesh on the slippery ground prevents them from rising up. However, if I stick to the wall, sharp blades immediately spring out. And then more arrows fly in different directions…
There’s no way I can easily avoid traps like these as someone relatively slow compared to them. Erin pulled me here and there, but soon enough I reached my limit.
“Ugh, seriously… How long is this going on?!”
“It doesn’t seem possible. I thought we could move forward little by little, but Alen can’t make it.”
As Frey said that, she extended her palm forward.
-The Saint Frey activates [Glorious Guard].
Suddenly, a vast sacred power covered the surroundings and protected us from various traps. The incoming arrows couldn’t pierce the barrier and just fell harmlessly, while the spears and blades were so sturdy they shattered.
Even when dressed like that, she truly seems like a saint…
Thanks to it, I had time to catch my breath. Frey, with his shield raised, turned to me and asked,
“Now what should we do? We set up this trap intentionally, but it seems like there’s no way back.”
What should we do?
I carefully observed the traps that were coming at us.
“Just wait and see.”
Although I didn’t realize it earlier because I was busy avoiding them, there seems to be a sequence to activating these traps. Arrows come first, followed by spearheads shooting out, and then sharp swords or thorns emerge. It seemed like they were designed to entice those caught in the trap to move in such a way.
I asked Dodger.
“Thief.”
“…Huh?”
“When you look at it, there’s a pattern, understand?”
“Yeah… I know. Maybe everyone knows… It must have been harder for Allen because he didn’t know…”
…Ah, is that so.
“Well then… Can you go out alone and dismantle it?”
“…Huh? Me?”
Seeing my slightly startled expression, Erin and Cer-aria pushed me as if I were a bad guy.
“Ooh, you scoundrel~♡ Telling someone much smaller than yourself to go alone into a dangerous trap~?”
“Allen, that’s a bit too much!”
These things…
“…Don’t say strange things. I’m just making a highly objective judgment.”
The agility of a thief is paramount in a party. It’s not just about the numerical values of the stats, but their characteristics are also most suitable and exceptional for surpassing such circumstances.
“Thief, you can do it.”
“…That’s unlikely… I’m useless.”
“Stop with that weird talk already. There’s no one here who knows more about traps than you, and no one faster than you.”
In the current situation, there was no room to entertain self-esteem-diminishing remarks. I had no choice but to somehow boost her confidence and persuade her.
I firmly grabbed her shoulders.
“…Now, wait a moment…”
Before the escapee could run away, they looked straight into the eyes and said:
“This is really all I can do.”
“…!”
The escapee seemed to be considering. Actually, it didn’t make sense that they couldn’t do this with their ability, but because of their low self-esteem, they seemed to have little confidence in their abilities.
To give her confidence, I offered a bet.
“Otherwise there’s another way.”
“…a way?”
“Everyone else gets out and I’m the only one left here. You guys should be able to get out just fine, but I won’t be able to. It’s sad, but it can’t be helped…”
When I talked like that, the escapee’s eyes widened. Then she held out her hand and said:
“That, that can’t be done…!”
“Then you’ll do it?”
“…Uh.”
“I can really do it.”
Dokkeoga’s shoulders trembled, but I still looked at Dokkeoga with confident eyes. It would be great if my intention could be conveyed to Dokkeoga that he can do it…
At that moment, Erin came up next to me and said, “Are you going to bully a girl now? It’s pathetic to threaten her life and use it against her~♡”
“Please don’t say weird things…”
“…Oh, okay. I’ll do it.”
A positive response came out of Dokkeoga’s mouth. I lightly patted Dokkeoga’s shoulder with joy and said.
“You thought well! You could really do it.”
“Ah~♡ So in the end, it was through threats, huh?”
…I never threatened.
With a determined decision, Frey approached with a sly smile. Every time she moved, the skirt’s edge opened, dangerously exposing her thighs.
‘What a real pervert…’
Whether I thought that or not, Frey reached out to Toredo and said, “Thief, just in case, I’ll give you a blessing.”
“Y-yes….”
The Holy Maiden Frey activates [Divine Protection].
A skill notification message appeared as holy power flowed from Frey’s hands and permeated Dogeo’s body. At that moment, Dogeo opened his eyes wide.
“… It feels warm.”
“Oh, come to think of it, I have never blessed a thief before. Erin or Aria usually take care of that…”
“Huh?”
Even if Erin is a priestess, why would Ser-Aria…
As I looked at Ser-Aria with a curious gaze, she confidently straightened her flat chest and spoke.
“Ahem! Because I’m the one taking the lead!”
Is it something to brag about to be in the front as an archer?
“…. I’ll go.”
He took out a few tools from a small pouch hanging on his calf. I couldn’t tell what they were for, but I thought they might be tools for disarming traps.
More than that, I feel strange leaving this to a girl smaller than me, as Erin said. I said to Duk, who was about to go outside the protective shield.
“Cheer up. I believe in you.”
Duk’s pupils slightly widened. And she nodded her head gently.
“…. Yeah.”
With that greeting, Duk stepped outside the protective shield.
“I’ll give it a try.”
***
-A thief activates [Mancheonhwau].
As soon as the shield was raised, hundreds of traps came flying towards her, and she quickly pulled out hundreds of charms, so fast that I couldn’t even see where she took them out from.
“What…?”
The hundreds of charms accurately collided with dozens of arrows, poisonous stingers, spears, and thorns flying towards her, shattering all the traps they hit.
In the meantime, Godeugo rapidly dismantled the remaining traps, making sure they wouldn’t reactivate. The speed at which she dismantled them was even more remarkable than what she showed in the first area. Now I could believe that she was capable of setting up such traps herself.
Her speed darting between the traps was also incredibly impressive. Perhaps it was due to Frey’s blessing, but it was nearly impossible to keep up with her movements.
“…It’s over.”
When those words came out of Dodgeo’s mouth.
Only seven minutes had passed.