Makeshift Wolf Brigade II ④
Floor 41.
There was a river here, much like in the Water Dungeon, and Sahagin attacked us in a massive swarm, just as before.
But no matter how many of them came at us, fodder is fodder. They were no match for us.
“For some reason, I’m starting to crave fish,” Narcissus-san muttered, looking at the pile of Sahagin corpses charred by Mr. Agaro’s Ruinblade.
“Um, woof. Yes. I’m starting to crave it too!”
“Right? Why did you bark just now?”
“Woof?”
“How can you say that after seeing this…” Mr. Agaro said, exasperated. I thought so too.
To look at a mountain of burnt Sahagin corpses and say you want to eat grilled fish… that’s quite something.
Narcissus-san said to us, “Wof. ‘Ruinblade.’ Ura wants to eat delicious grilled fish.”
“Um, um, um, I’m getting hungry.”
“Even if you say you’re hungry…”
“But it’s true.”
I was hungry too. Combat is strenuous exercise. It burns a lot of calories.
Just then, Juicy-san’s dog ears perked up, and her tail started wagging so hard it could have created a breeze.
Her eyes, sparkling like the night sky despite it being daytime, she approached me and looked up with pleading eyes.
“Wh-what is it, Juicy-san?”
“Um, um, um, Lord Wof! Do you have any dried meat?”
“I do. But didn’t you want to eat fish?”
“Um, um, um, um, woof. Woof woof! I want to eat dried meat!”
“A-Alright. Alright!”
She tugged at my clothes, clinging to me, so I took out a wrapped chunk of dried meat from my pouch.
It was a palm-sized piece of meat with a glossy, light pink hue.
I was about to unwrap it and cut it with my knife, but she said it was fine as it was, so I handed it to her.
“Woof. Thank you! Woof woof. Hoshihoshi. Hoshihoshi. Hoshihoshihoshihoshi!”
Juicy-san squatted down and bit into the chunk of dried meat, holding it with both hands.
That’s not how a Marquise’s Daughter eats… By the way, Dagaa has turned into a Knife and is sleeping.
It’s the usual, but they’re so carefree.
Narcissus-san asked with great interest, “What’s ‘Hoshihoshi’? Wof, do you have dried meat?”
“I still have some. Would you like some? Ah, but you wanted grilled fish, right?”
“I’ll have some.”
What happened to the fish? I took out another wrapped chunk of dried meat.
As expected, she didn’t say she wanted the whole chunk, so I cut it with my knife.
I handed the cut pieces to Narcissus-san.
“Oh, that looks tasty.”
“Would you like some?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
I handed a chunk of dried meat to Mr. Agaro. That made three pieces.
I still have more. Plenty more.
Making dried meat is my life’s work, so I’ve never run out.
My pouch can hold quite a bit, and my stock is ample.
So, Juicy-san, please stop making that sad face like my dog back home when it thinks there’s no more.
That’s really not a face a Marquise’s Daughter should be making… Here, have a new chunk of dried meat.
“Um, woof. Woof woof. Seconds, woof! Hoshihoshi. Hoshihoshihoshihoshi.”
‘Seconds, woof,’ she says.
Narcissus-san was groaning. What’s wrong?
“It’s frustrating, but this is delicious, isn’t it? Wait a minute. Did she just say ‘seconds, woof’?”
“Hoshihoshi. Hoshihoshi. Hoshihoshi. Woof?”
“Wof. This is even tastier than the one I had before.”
“Well, well, that’s because I’m constantly researching, you see.”
I unintentionally slipped into The Witch’s way of speaking. However, I’m a bit stuck at the moment.
I really want some cherry wood chips.
I wonder if there are any cherry trees around here. There might be some in a Dungeon, though.
“Makes me want some booze…”
“Indeed.”
I nodded in agreement, but is it okay for Narcissus-san to drink alcohol?
Mr. Agaro seemed to think the same thing.
“Wait, wait. You. You’re a minor, aren’t you?”
“How rude. I’m twenty-four!”
“Seriously?!”
“Really?!”
“Woof?!”
We were all surprised. Twenty-four years old? No way.
“What a rude bunch.”
Even if you say so… And then I noticed.
Juicy-san. She had already finished eating.
She looked like she wanted seconds, but three whole chunks were probably not good for her.
I gave her some tea and had her make do with some chewy white bread and beans.
After a break, we headed to Floor 42.
Floor 42 was a forest.
There, we found a pack of dogs with pure white bodies and single eyes that took up more than half of their black faces.
“Uooahhhhoooohhh!”
“【Fireball】! 【Fireball】! 【Fireball】!”
“Sahagin! Zombies! And now One-Eyed Dogs?!”
A party of Seekers was fighting the pack of strange dog-like monsters.
A wolf-kin boy with a sword and shield. A man with a spear. An Elf woman with a staff.
Two men and one woman. Just like Drea— They were putting up a good fight.
“Ah, so this area is the One-Eyed Dogs’ turf, huh?”
“Um, um, um, what kind of monster is a One-Eyed Dog?”
“It’s a Silver Rank, mid-tier monster. It possesses the Relic 【Beam】.”
“Does that mean it shoots from its eye?”
“That’s right. You know your stuff.”
“Well, that’s about the only place it could shoot from.”
“Um, um, um, as expected of Lord Wof!”
“What a weird dog.”
Exactly. What kind of dog shoots beams from its eye?
“It’s a monster, after all.”
“Ah, it fired.”
A flash of light shot out from the One-Eyed Dog’s single black eye.
The boy completely blocked it with his shield.
Amazing. That shield. It looks like a small, round iron shield, but he blocked it well.
Could it be a Relic? Also, even though I call him a boy, he’s older than me.
Black hair and green eyes. He looks full of spirit. Probably around sixteen.
“Hmm. Mr. Agaro. What should we do?”
The reason we didn’t immediately rush to help was because it was a difficult judgment call.
If their request was to subjugate One-Eyed Dogs, interfering could be seen as kill-stealing.
Since judging that sort of thing is tricky, we just watched.
“They’re managing to fight, but there are a lot of One-Eyed Dogs.”
“‘Ruinblade.’ They look like they’re about to be overwhelmed. What will you do?”
If the One-Eyed Dogs fired their 【Beam】s all at once, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
Mr. Agaro made his decision.
“Let’s go. If they die, it’ll leave a bad taste in my mouth.”
Not “ruin my sleep,” huh? Hearing that, Narcissus-san joyfully dashed forward at full speed.
She turned 【Vanish】 into a long-handled double-bladed axe and smashed a One-Eyed Dog’s head.
“Uehh?”
After smashing it, Narcissus-san made a strange sound. What happened?
“Wh-who are you?!”
“Eh, no way. Purple hair and eyes… ‘Generous’ Reappearance’!?”
“And over there is Agaro of the ‘Ruinblade’!?”
The Seekers exclaimed one after another.
As expected of First Class Seekers. They’re famous.
“Moreover, that’s Torquetum’s Hired Pup!?”
The man with the spear said. Is Juicy-san also quite well-known?
Well, I’m a Tier V Seeker. Infamously famous in some circles, much to my chagrin, but generally unknown.
This is normal. Yes. This is fine.
“【Vanish】.”
I offset a 【Beam】 from a One-Eyed Dog’s eye with my own 【Vanish】.
I then pierced the bewildered One-Eyed Dog with ‘Mokusen’.
“Ugh.”
An involuntary strange sound escaped me. It felt weird, like stabbing a slimy eel.
Ah, so that’s why Narcissus-san made that strange noise.
“Waon?!”
Juicy-san also let out a strange bark, not just a strange sound.
Seriously, what is this squishy, bizarre sensation?
Then, three One-Eyed Dogs lined up and fired their 【Beam】s.
Their targets were the Drea—the three Seekers.
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Mr. Agaro swung Flame Tongue. The bluish-black flames of 【Ruin】 spread out and extinguished the 【Beam】s.
Then, for some reason, the three dogs turned towards me.
They fired their 【Beam】s straight at me with all their might.
They must have fired it with everything they had. The three beams combined were a 【Mega-Thick Beam】.
What in the world are you shooting? Honestly.
“【Rêve Move】.”
Like a dream I envisioned—I readied ‘Mokusen’, drew my arm back, and thrust with all my might.
I pierced the 【Mega-Thick Beam】 right through the middle with ‘Mokusen’.
With that momentum, I skewered and sliced through the three One-Eyed Dogs as if mowing them down.
Yup. The sensation is disgusting! And it’s three times worse!
The remaining One-Eyed Dogs, perhaps realizing they were no match, started to flee.
They were fast runners, and chasing them in the forest seemed like a pain, so we let them go.
“He pierced right through that super thick 【Beam】?!”
“Hey, hey. No way. That was a master technique, wasn’t it? Who is that kid?”
“She’s not just any Hired Pup!”
“I’m a Tier V Seeker, for what it’s worth.”
“Oh, my apologies. Is that so?”
“So that was it…”
“I’m sorry. So that’s how it is.”
“Yes. That’s right. And my name is W—”
Just as I was about to naturally introduce myself.
“Um, um, woof. Woof woof. As expected of Lord Wof!”
“Not bad, Wof. Why did you bark just now?”
“Woof?”
“Not bad, Wof.”
My name got out before I could introduce myself. Can’t be helped, I guess.
The moment I gave a wry smile, the three Seekers’ eyes changed color as they looked at me.
They trembled as they stared intently at me. Eh, what?
“Wof!? You mean that Wof!? The ‘Nightly Conquest King’…?! No wonder he’s so strong… So he actually existed…”
“The ‘Nightly Challenger King’ Wof, who supposedly brought down ‘The Impregnable’?! That explains it! So he was real…”
“The Witch’s disciple, close with ‘Torquetum’—or rather, the one who captivated those three—the ‘Night King’… and also the ‘King of the Red Room’… the man currently rumored in Hydrangea as the one women most want to be held by at least once—that he, th-this boy… Wof. So you were real…”
They each exclaimed in shock, as if they had encountered a monster.
“…………”
Ahah, ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
Haaah-hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
Ahaaaah-hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
Aaaah-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
Phew.
Ah.
For now, maybe I should stop adding ‘King’ to everything.