159 – Unexpected identity – 4
I stood in front of the rune stone and put my hand on the surface to concentrate.
Then, a soft green light seeped into me. A strange sensation started running through my body. It was a feeling I experienced once, but I didn’t get used to it very much.
With her eyes closed, she focused her consciousness on the back of her left hand. The power that had been randomly wandering through his body gradually gathered in one place. The back of his left hand twitched.
After confirming that my body had returned to its original state, I opened my eyes. I looked down at my left hand. Next to the vitality-enhancing rune that was initially inscribed, a few more tattoo strokes were added.
‘done.’
Now that I’ve obtained the rune, my work here is over. I removed my hand from the tombstone’s surface.
The name of the rune you just learned is ‘mana enhancement’. True to its name, it was a simple effect that increased maximum mana.
The increase wasn’t that great, and it wasn’t a necessary rune, but it wasn’t a bad rune to have. Even using the special ability of the nightmare that lost its wings right now consumes mana.
After completing its task, the rune tombstone lost its light and turned into an ordinary piece of stone and collapsed. Unlike the last time, the collapse of the rune stone did not lead to a new path appearing.
Originally, there should be a passage that leads straight up to the ground, but in such a short dungeon, it was easy to just go back the way you came.
As I was about to leave the boss room, I stopped for a moment when I saw the half-broken centipede, no, the corpse of the centipede-shaped train.
‘… … Do I have to take it as proof of subjugation?’
When I dealt with the rock centipede, I didn’t have to take the corpse because I went to acquire the runes from the beginning, but now I’m here after receiving a request, so I might need proof.
In fact, just showing the rune on the back of my hand would be sufficient as evidence, and I could investigate the rune wave, but there is no visual evidence like that monster’s head.
‘I’ll have to ask Helga.’
I turned around and walked the way I came. yes. I didn’t have to think for myself. Helga knows this better than I do.
“Five.”
A short exclamation escaped Helga’s mouth. It was the first impression I gave out after seeing a rock centipede whose upper body had evaporated by nearly 1/3. The rest of the bunny girls had similar expressions.
Nyx was letting out a sullen, strange laugh as she roamed beside me, seemingly not paying attention to the corpse of the rock centipede.
He kept hitting my hand, so I slipped my left hand out, and he snatched it up and put it on top of his head and shook his head. It was like looking at a cat.
“So, shall we take it as evidence?”
At my question, Helga thought for a moment and then shook her head.
“Well… … It can’t be too big. Even if you only cut your hair, three or four should stick together. Also, if the captain acquired the rune, that would be the most convincing proof.”
“Isn’t that true?”
“Yes. It’s a little disappointing that there are no other loot or by-products… … .”
Helga’s eyes glanced around. Since Cassandra said to have everything that comes out of this dungeon, it must be regrettable that there is nothing to bring.
I already knew that there were no other rewards inside this dungeon, and since the runes were my goal from the beginning, it doesn’t matter if I don’t bring anything, but these guys won’t.
“Let me tell Cassandra one more time. The only thing I got here is the rune, so I’ll give you a separate reward.”
“That’s a good idea, Captain.”
Helga nodded and walked to my side, eyes cold as she found Nyx rubbing my left hand on my cheek as if she were going to make a groan.
The gaze immediately moved elsewhere. Rather than condoning Nix’s behavior, it felt closer to just turning it off.
“Everyone get ready to go back. You’ve had enough rest.”
Looking at the rock centipede, the bunny girls who were chatting among themselves answered yes, slightly stretching their tails. It was an answer that, if written, would probably have a tilde after the word.
Maybe it’s because they’re Helga’s subordinates, but I get the feeling that they’re becoming more and more like Helga. It’s sloppy and it doesn’t cover rest.
They went up the aisle they came in in the same formation as when they entered. Soon after, a huge pupil appeared. It was the place where I kept Nyx, Helga, and the regular members on standby.
As in the game, a fairly large number of centipedes appeared, and the corpses of centipedes made of rocks were scattered all over the place.
Compared to dozens of corpses of centipedes, our knights had no scratches on their faces, which meant that the knights unilaterally robbed them.
It wasn’t too surprising.
Bosses will not be able to compete against each other due to the fundamental difference in specifications, but on the other hand, if there is not much difference in specifications, or rather, if the enemy is ahead of the knight, it can exert tremendous power due to the nature of the field mob that appears in the last half.
Even in vanilla, it was the knights of the Golden Twilight Knights who blew away nearly half of the player’s HP with a single hit. Even more so, what if the mode was applied?
The Knights of the Silver Dawn, who were treated as elite mobs much more than the Knights of the Golden Twilight, didn’t even need to say more.
“By the way, Captain.”
Helga, who should have been at the far end, was right next to me. I turned my head to see what was going on.
Helga glanced at Nyx, who was walking from a distance, a huge glob of fat hanging from her chest, and whispered in my ear.
“Could it be that for a witch, the act of crushing a corpse into small pieces has a special shamanistic meaning?”
“Shamanistic meaning? What do you mean by that?”
Without exaggeration, it was really the first time I heard it. I’ve never seen a document that says enemies who use dark magic find meaning in tearing up corpses. I had never heard of such a conversation.
“No, that witch did it. See the pile of gravel on the right now? That was originally a centipede. That witch put it there.”
Helga’s finger pointed to the scattered pile of pebbles to my right. It was a look that I couldn’t even dare to imagine that the original was a centipede. It was like a pile of stones on the road.
“… … You said that was originally a monster?”
“Yes. Did you destroy it by yourself after the battle?”
“Hmm… … .”
I looked back at my memory, but nothing came to mind.
At least, I’ve read documents that some of the warlocks enjoy experimenting with living organisms, but even they were only for the purpose of experimentation, not meaninglessly destroying corpses.
“Oh, and when I asked why, he gave a strange answer.”
“A strange answer, what did you say?”
“When I asked what was the meaning of that kind of action, they said there was no meaning ‘here’. It could have been just something I said to make it seem meaningless, but in case you don’t know.”
It doesn’t make any sense here, la.
It’s a statement that I don’t know why. If you look at the fact that the word ‘here’ is emphasized, it means that it is an action that has meaning elsewhere.
Nyx’s personality was hard to figure out even for me, so the true meaning of those words was unclear.
“Well, I don’t know either. I’ll go out and ask one more time. If I ask, I might be able to answer properly.”
“Ah, indeed. If the captain asks, I might be able to answer properly. ”
Perhaps remembering that Nyx followed me suspiciously well, Helga nodded in agreement and stepped back.
To be honest, I was also a little curious. What did he mean when he said that there was no meaning here, and why did he say that?
Maybe it was really just a cover-up, but it seemed worth asking the question.
Nyx, whether or not she overheard the conversation between Helga and me, was following closely behind me, still with a sullen grin.
On the other hand, the distance from the surrounding knights was slightly wider than when they entered. It seemed that the action of dismembering the corpse had a little effect.
“ah… … ! You are finally out!”
As soon as I took the armor I had piled up and left the dungeon, I saw Cassandra standing with a knight right next to me.
Cassandra had a restless face, but as soon as she saw me, her expression straightened. The female knight standing behind him also made a conspicuously bright expression as soon as he confirmed us.
Eyes full of relief turned in our direction.
The fact that the lord had come all the way to this place made the knights behind me look surprised, but I wasn’t surprised at all because I had already experienced it in the game.
‘Though this and that are a bit different.’
In the game, there were only three people in this position: the lord himself, the knight he trusted the most, and the player, so it felt like he was really keeping a secret.
But not now. Not only Helga, but also the regular members under her command went in and out of the dungeon together, so the surroundings were very crowded.
Even with Nyx, who was practically an outsider, he didn’t feel the slightest need to keep a secret.
‘Well, I’m not the type to tell them first.’
As long as Caicilia doesn’t directly ask what happened, we won’t talk about going to the Rune Dungeon first.
If his mouth was that light, he wouldn’t be able to work in the imperial palace in the first place. I have no choice but to pray that Caicilia won’t get caught.
“How have you been?”
“You can rest assured now. Because the processing is over.”
“… … Fortunately, the.”
As if the tension was released, Cassandra’s body staggered. The female knight standing behind quickly supported her shoulder. Cassandra said, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.
“Has your heart suffered that much? Your complexion doesn’t look good.”
Cassandra slapped herself lightly.
“Not for that reason. Just a moment ago, my whole body was trembling and it was difficult to stand upright because of a feeling of fear for no reason. My poor complexion is probably the result.”
‘uh? Come to think of it… … .’
Since Nyx is nearby, Cassandra must be terrified, even if the female knight behind her doesn’t know. I looked around with that thought in mind.
The figure of a full-bodied witch with half purple and half green hair had disappeared.
Seeing me looking around, the knight right behind me crossed his index finger in an X. I recognized the meaning and understood it inwardly.
If he stayed, the conversation wouldn’t work properly, so he seemed to have teleported somewhere as soon as he saw Cassandra. I wondered if he had a surprisingly caring personality.
Because the timing was subtly off, Cassandra seemed to have a strange misunderstanding, saying that seeing me calmed her heart.
‘Well, what will happen now.’
I calmly waited for what Cassandra would say next. What Cassandra says here determines how the main story will flow after the middle.
To be precise, it is determined by the player’s progress from the beginning until now, and Cassandra’s role is to simply inform them, but now she skipped the entire middle.
The subsequent story entirely depended on Cassandra.
Actually, trying to find a story now is a funny act, but there was nothing wrong with being prepared.
“I… … .”
Cassandra pursed her lips.