We arrived at the spot where the adventurers had lost contact. We got off the cart and looked around.
Out in the unpeopled parts of Darion, not-people meant forest had grown there.
A pioneer village had been attempted here once, by the look of it, but monster attacks had killed the project.
A forest inhabited by monsters, mysteriously, couldn’t be burned down.
You’d cut it down — and the trees would grow right back.
Which meant such forests spread at an absurd speed.
A lot of scholars suspected the monsters themselves were the cause.
Monsters take up residence, the forest absorbs the mana, growth accelerates—.
From the perspective of the people managing the land — a real nuisance forest.
But here, the First and the Second had a different opinion.
The First:
“Set up a village here and you could move mountains of lumber!”
The Second:
“Forestry profits, easy. What a waste… in my time, somebody had already cleared out the monster-forests, so I never got the chance.”
Powerful-generation opinions.
You could say somebody solved the spreading-forest problem in a single generation, sure. Although the Second was lamenting that his income stream had been cut for the same reason.
Cargo unloaded, we set out to survey the surroundings.
One driver stayed to mind the cargo; the rest of us split — our four-person group and Rondo’s three — into a cargo guard and a survey team.
Zelphy gave us instructions.
“No telling where the monsters are. If anything happens, retreat to the rendezvous I taught you earlier. And — there are people still alive out here, so keep first aid and food prepped to deploy on the spot.”
The driver, used to this kind of thing, nodded.
Support staff for this kind of party weren’t a popular role, but they were a hugely important position.
Normally, a six-person party had at least one.
Ideally two, was the standard recommendation.
For mercenaries, the support… rear-line component went up further.
The norm was for there to be more rear-line personnel than the front-line mercenaries doing the fighting.
“We should hire support too, maybe.”
When Rondo said that, Larf shook his head.
“Three of us, hire support? Income drops. At least four or five before you put one in.”
Zelphy warned the two.
“Don’t go slack on me. First, confirm the situation around us. Lookouts rotate often. If something unexpected hits, you think and you act. Clear?”
You can’t save someone else’s life if you can’t protect your own.
That had been one of Zelphy’s first lines.
I cut my eyes to Novem and Aria.
“Not tired?”
Novem shook her head. Aria looked pale.
The cart’s rocking had probably worn her down.
The Second:
“Have Aria rest. She’ll dislike it, but talk her into resting now and taking watch later. Say something offhand — if someone doesn’t rest, the next person can’t rest either — and she’ll buy it.”
Trying too hard and spinning her wheels — that was Aria right now.
I gripped the Jewel once and decided to talk her into it.
But before that, the Third weighed in.
“Oop — get the leader’s instruction first, Lyle. Zelphy-san’s the party leader right now.”
True enough.
I looked at Zelphy. She was watching Aria, worried.
(If you were that worried, you should’ve kept her with you.)
I made a proposal to Zelphy.
“Zelphy-san. Could we have Aria rest? At this rate, her rest gets pushed late.”
“H-hey, wait a—!”
Aria, not buying it, started to come at me. Novem stopped her with her staff.
“Zelphy-san decides.”
“B-but—”
To Aria, looking frustrated, Zelphy said:
“True, if you don’t rest now, the watch rotation gets ugly… Aria, rest up. Don’t think I’m taking it easy on you. Watch is yours when the time comes. Sleep so you can work.”
Zelphy’s eyes didn’t allow argument.
Aria reluctantly accepted it.
(She probably thinks she got pulled because she’s weak.)
The Second was cold on Aria.
“No point consoling her at moments like this. She’ll find her own reasons in her head and carry them. Real nuisance.”
The First, weaker-voiced than usual, snapped back.
“She’s young, give her room! Take the long view, will you!”
The First openly played favorites with Aria — and as far as I was concerned—
(…I’m a year younger than Aria, you know.)
I had my unconvinced moments.
When adventurers wanted to raise their efficiency hunting monsters, going into the forest was generally how it worked.
Going in meaning setting up at the edge and waiting.
Use a decoy like I did, draw monsters out, knock them down in a group.
Fight in open ground, ambush the lured monsters — efficient combat.
Catch: if the decoy wasn’t good, you got casualties.
Heading toward the forest, we tracked the missing adventurers.
Near the edge, there were traces of a cart.
The remains of a campfire, a horseless cart left abandoned.
I used Skills to confirm the situation.
(…No monsters, no people here either.)
Checking the cart’s interior from a distance, there were signs of ransacking.
“No monsters around.”
When I said that, Zelphy stared hard at my face.
“What is it?”
“No — I’d half-thought it. Lyle, you have a Skill, don’t you? Support type, on top of it.”
In the bandit subjugation, I’d moved separately from Zelphy.
This was the first time she’d seen me use Skills. And without announcing them, at that.
The Second:
“Pretty obvious. Anyway, finding out doesn’t hurt us. Affirm it. — In a way that can be read in multiple directions.”
I nodded to Zelphy.
“It’s a support-type Skill. Pretty convenient.”
Novem glanced at me to see what I thought, but she was watching the perimeter.
Zelphy just murmured, “I see.”
“Then let’s look at the cart. There’s blood on the ground, by the way.”
Three of us walked over; there was a bloodstain.
Novem.
“Bandits, maybe? An ambush here?”
Zelphy crouched and shook her head.
“No. There’s really nothing around here. Hard for monsters to settle close in particular. Volume of blood, time elapsed — hard to say definitively, but looks like the horse was attacked.”
Bones and the like were scattered nearby.
The Guild’s report had said only the male instructor was dead.
If others had died after our deployment we wouldn’t know — but they might have fled.
Zelphy, surveying:
“No signs of a fight. And the cart’s interior is… pretty thoroughly trashed.”
Casks and crates inside had been smashed. Contents pulled out.
Smashing containers that had no locks just to get at the contents made bandits less likely.
And the monster-derived materials had been left.
Bandits would have taken those to sell later.
A bandit would steal the horse rather than kill it, and take the whole cart away.
“If it’s not infighting, monsters are the most likely answer.”
We poked around the area looking for anything left behind.
Nothing turned up.
“They camped around here, approached the forest, fought repeatedly. But the way this looks — not a fight here, but a hit on the cart afterward, by the feel of it.”
Working from experience, Zelphy laid out the situation.
It was all guesswork.
You couldn’t rule out the possibility of stupid bandits doing this either.
Novem checked next steps with Zelphy.
“What now? Head back? Or push toward the forest?”
Zelphy thought, then checked the sun.
“Let’s go close to the forest. Going in is tomorrow or later.”
We left the spot, planning to look at the forest from a distance.
But in the end, looking at the forest from a distance turned up no changes.
Zelphy had come here often, and the forest didn’t look much different than before.
Though — it felt like it had spread a little since last time.
I used Skills to peek inside, and I noticed an anomaly.
The Second, too—
“Lyle. Want me to break it to you… there’s a dungeon being born.”
Night.
Back at the camp, having finished eating, I rested until my watch rotation.
Around me, Rondo and Rachel had laid down to sleep.
For adventurers, separating men and women wasn’t really a thing as a rule.
Or rather — not many parties could afford two tents to split the camp by sex.
If you had money, sure. Rookies and broke adventurers slept in the same tent regardless.
(First time camping out.)
I’d never gone far afield to fight monsters before.
Probably because I’d been considered short on ability up to now.
The First’s voice.
“Lyle. Listen while you’re lying down. The adventurers next to you are sleeping. If you make noise they might wake.”
The Third filled me in on the situation.
“A dungeon spawning inside a forest isn’t unusual. It’s actually the standard pattern. Forests, caves, abandoned mansions, abandoned forts — wherever mana pools, dungeons form.”
We’d concluded the cause of the current incident was the forest’s entrance turning into a dungeon.
Looking in with Skills, you could make out something like a corridor.
Newly formed, maybe — the dungeon wasn’t deep.
The room called the Innermost Hall — where treasure was kept — was relatively close.
The largest room was there, and the ancestors agreed that was the one.
Zelphy seemed to see it the same way and was treating the missing as having either wandered into the dungeon or hit trouble in it.
The Sixth:
“My Skill’s no good unless you get close. From outside the dungeon, current-Lyle can’t tell friend from foe.”
I’d looked from outside — could only make out the inside dimly.
A haze, as if behind a veil, no sharp impressions.
The Fifth:
“Same with mine. Outside is the limit. — For current Lyle, anyway. — Anyway, here’s our take.”
The Fourth, as usual, closed it out.
“The First says there’s definitely something bad in there. Bad enough to take down a veteran adventurer. Going in I’ll allow, but don’t head for the Innermost Hall.”
I gripped the Jewel.
Morning.
Concluding the dungeon was the culprit, we asked Larf to guard the driver.
Me, Zelphy, Novem, Aria, Rondo, Rachel — that was the team going in.
If we were on guard duty, we couldn’t extract any immobile adventurers from inside.
And Novem, who specialized in healing magic, had to come.
If there were people too injured to move, Novem was our pillar.
As a result, Larf — capable himself — was chosen as the stay-behind.
He’d looked frustrated, but no alternative existed. Zelphy hammered home: if we don’t return by the time limit, get back immediately.
Stepping into the dungeon, it was different from a normal forest.
Corridors of trees — actually a maze.
Trees lined unnaturally, corridors with proper width—.
Above all, the air felt heavy — hard to breathe. Breathing was fine in principle, but it felt hard.
Rondo, watching me, clapped my shoulder.
“Steady your breath. Breathing hard like that, you’ll wear out. It’s my second time, but you adjust quickly. You’ll be fine.”
I nodded, steadied my breath.
Then activated Skills.
Full-Over.
Map.
Search.
The First’s Skill, plus the Fifth’s and Sixth’s — simultaneously.
With my power propped up by Full-Over, I forced the Fifth’s and Sixth’s Skills through.
The grasp was sharper than what I’d had outside.
A detailed map of the dungeon surfaced in my head. I picked up where the monsters were and where the adventurers were.
(I think this every time, but the Fifth-and-Sixth combo is borderline cheating.)
Rachel raised her staff, intoned an incantation.
The surroundings brightened.
“Sorry, but solo I need a break every two hours. Novem-chan, can you swap in midway? Ten minutes is fine.”
“Yes.”
Two staff-wielding sorcerers checking lighting-rotation between themselves.
Novem had to handle healing, but Rachel needed breaks or her mana wouldn’t hold.
I told Zelphy.
“Straight ahead, left at the dead end.”
Zelphy put a hand to her chin.
“Skill at work?”
“Yes.”
I answered with confidence. She nodded and moved up.
“Rondo, front-line with me. Lyle, give direction from the back. The two sorcerers, Lyle protects.”
I wasn’t going to be in the front line.
“Understood.”
The Second, satisfied.
“Skill use burns mana. They’re conserving you. — Also, in here, the experienced person’s instructions are the right move. Lyle, use Skills frequently — keep the perimeter mapped. We’ll keep our input to the minimum.”
Meaning, the ancestors speaking up would itself be a sign that things had gone bad.
I gave direction, opted to skirt around monsters where they were milling, knocked down only groups that’d interfere on retreat, and pushed deeper.
Knowing the enemy’s position was a substantial advantage.
We pushed in, aiming for the room with the adventurers.
(A response = still alive.)
Avoid getting attacked from behind. Fight at whatever advantage we could get.
In that process I noticed how good Zelphy and Rondo actually were.
Zelphy mixed magic into her fighting — bashed with the shield. Stabbed with the sword. Blew enemies away with magic. Multiple modes.
“Get blown back! Fire Shot!”
She swept the shield horizontally; a barrage of small flame bullets fired out from it.
Individual hits were light, but the magic was area-of-effect, not single-point.
(A Fire Bullet variant? If it’s her own magic, could be a Skill.)
Some rear-line Skills were magic.
Mana consumption and power were different from straight casting, I’d heard. I hadn’t expected Zelphy to be one of those who could pull it off.
Novem.
“Impressive, Zelphy-san. Your own magic?”
Zelphy answered with embarrassment.
“It’s what came into my head, that. Just a Fire Bullet that changed shape. Cheap, right? Useful, though.”
It had been refined into a Skill, apparently.
“You could use magic, then. Didn’t you say earlier you couldn’t?”
When I said that, Zelphy sheathed her sword.
“My Skill and Fire Bullet. That’s it. With only that, I can’t say I use magic — too embarrassing to claim.”
One or two spells, and you couldn’t call yourself a sorcerer. That was the standard.
Aria was surprised.
“You could use magic back at the mansion? Then your job placements—”
Zelphy gave a wry smile.
“After becoming an adventurer. — Anyway, chatter in this kind of place isn’t a great habit. Talking about your own past, especially.”
Rondo nodded.
Same — Rondo was impressive too.
He only had a sword, but his swordwork was something.
Aria was looking at Rondo’s sword.
“Is that a Magic Implement?”
He nodded. Post-combat, perimeter scanning, breath-steadying — a short break. Conversation happened in those.
In exchange, Novem and I covered the perimeter. Novem was lighting the surroundings via magic in Rachel’s place.
“Family heirloom and partner. Three Skills in it — that’s why a man like me can put out this kind of result. Don’t go talking about it elsewhere, though.”
Rondo winked at Aria; Rachel hit Rondo’s shin with her staff.
“Ow!”
“Your girlfriend is right here — don’t flirt. Right, break’s over. Novem, switching back. Thanks.”
“Of course.”
Rachel glared at Rondo, then smiled at Novem and thanked her for the rest.
Novem gave a wry smile too.
Zelphy asked me.
“Alright — how much further?”
I activated Skills, confirmed the room.
The blocking monsters were down. On retreat we could likely avoid combat.
In the Innermost Hall, a big response wasn’t moving.
It seemed to be guarding the treasure there.
“Turn at that corner, and we’re at the target room.”
I pointed to the entrance visible from the corridor — a room with five responses inside.
“All right. Hurry.”
Zelphy moved fast for the room.
Entering, we confirmed the five collapsed at the back.
All bloody — but breathing.
Heavily weakened, though.
“They’re alive! They’re still alive!”
Rachel called out joyfully, ran to the five and held the light over them.
One of the five noticed us and opened his eyes.
“Hey. What happened.”
Rondo dropped beside him with a canteen, slowly gave water to the man with open eyes.
I checked their injuries.
“Lots of contusions. Bones broken.”
Novem began treating them with magic.
Wounds healed, but the weakened five couldn’t get up.
The water relaxed the worn-out adventurer enough that he spoke.
“O-our fault. The instructor—”
Hearing that, Zelphy went closer. She didn’t want to miss anything.
“We could handle the monsters around the outside, so… we wanted to go deeper. He stopped us. We — we wanted to make it, to be real adventurers fast.”
The adventurer broke down crying. Zelphy clicked her tongue.
“That idiot… what kind of enemy?”
Frustrated, she tried to extract the monster’s specs.
“Orc. Green. …A big club.”
A tough enemy for rookies, but takeable with numbers.
For a small-dungeon Innermost-Hall boss, fairly standard.
But Zelphy wasn’t buying it.
“You’re telling me a plain orc took him down? You bastards — wanted the treasure and dragged him—”
“N-no. It was a plain orc — but our hits, our spells, nothing landed… by the time he came to bail us out, he was in pieces too… and he told us to run first—”
Tears, but few of them. The man was running near-empty.
He was barely keeping consciousness.
Novem told Zelphy the treatment was done.
“All five treated. Stamina, though, I can’t fix.”
Zelphy stood and was about to start carrying everyone out — when we noticed the air around us had changed.
Aria.
“Hear that? Vibrations too.”
Rondo drew his sword.
”…Closing in.”
The First in the Jewel shouted.
“Lyle! Check the perimeter immediately! And — something big’s coming.”
I activated the Skill — and my eyes went wide.
Novem caught the change and called.
She seemed to feel something too, and had her staff raised.
“Lord Lyle?”
I drew the sabre, breath caught.
”…It’s coming. The Innermost-Hall boss is coming here.”
On the map, the monster response that should have been in the Innermost Hall was gone. The boss response was rapidly closing on us.
And—
“Fast.”
Zelphy drew her sword and set her stance.
“A boss leaving its room — never heard of that! Tch — everyone, ready! Boss or not, if it’s a plain orc—”
The battered adventurer cut Zelphy off.
“That thing’s not normal! Our hits didn’t land! That’s why he—! That thing — that is not an ordinary orc!”
The cry stopped everyone.
Hits didn’t land.
That’s what he was saying.
“What the hell does that mean!”
Rachel shouted. The entrance to the room blew in and a monster appeared.
I looked at it.
“First time seeing an orc, but… isn’t it bigger than I’d expected? And — red?”
Excusable, I thought.
The image I’d had: green skin, thick limbs, equipped with only a loincloth. The orc in front of me had red skin.
Not just a loincloth — coarse fur on the arms, pelts wrapped around it.
Hair grown long enough to hide its back.
Tusks below the jaw, sharp. Loud nostrils.
“Hey, hey — that does not look like an ordinary orc.”
Rondo’s tone stayed light, but his voice was clearly tense.
Aria looked unable to speak.
Zelphy stepped forward immediately.
She looked at the weapon the red orc carried.
To the orc it might have been an ordinary sword; for a human, no question, it was the size of a greatsword.
Zelphy glared at it.
“You took that bastard’s weapon? You’ve got nerve… I owed him a drink, and reasons to settle. I’ll take you down and lay you on his grave.”
I gripped the Jewel once.
By appearance alone, the enemy didn’t look unbeatable.
But I felt something off.
Not on Ceres’s level, but — that strange sense of something being carried inside it—.
The Second gave me the answer.
“It took down an adventurer and Grew. And it has a Skill. Honestly… the First — Pops’s — instincts hit way too often.”
The Seventh advised me.
“Lyle, consider retreat. If it comes to it, cut loose the five who can’t run. Prioritize the remaining living members.”
Correct.
Very correct advice.
I looked at the five fallen adventurers behind me.
(Leave them and these five are dead for sure. And — can we even break away?)
Using Skills, I could break away — I was sure of it.
I knew. I knew it would work — but I didn’t want to pick that option.
The Seventh.
“Lyle. Be cold when you have to. Otherwise you lose more.”
He’d caught me hesitating.
I looked down. The First laughed.
“BWAHAHA, you all are underestimating Lyle.”
(First?)
The First gave me a directive.
“This is the moment for your (Second’s) Skill, no?”
The First, addressing the Second. A click of the tongue.
The Second’s Skill, I’d heard, was meaningless without the others.
”…Too early. I wanted Lyle to grow more first.”
I was confused. The Fifth cut in.
“Fine in principle, but check around. An irregularity like this is in here — how is everything else going to move?”
Map check — red points were closing on us.
“Zelphy-san. The monsters are converging on us.”
When I said that, everyone reacted.
Probably they’d figured my Skill was support-type and was pulling perimeter info reliably.
“Nothing but bad news. Tell me something nice once in a while.”
Zelphy’s exasperated tone. I didn’t know how to answer.
The Second went at his own pace.
“Right. Time to teach you my Skill.”
I’d never imagined being told to use a Skill cold, in actual combat.
Not at all. No practice, just do it.
The First, to the Seventh:
“No more running.”
“Tch — Lyle, survive by any means. With the Second’s Skill, it’s possible.”
(No — saying that doesn’t make it—)
Then Skill information flowed into me from the Jewel.
(This Skill—)
I’d looked down, gone blank. Zelphy called.
“Pull it together, Lyle! If you don’t show your want here, when?! You said you’d join — you said so!”
The orc in front of me roared.
I’d been looking down. I raised my head.
Novem noticed the change.
“Lord Lyle?”
”…You’re right, just one’s meaningless. But — I would’ve liked to know sooner.”
I slowly turned the sabre toward the orc.