The Dawn Mercenaries left the inn around noon and headed straight for the dungeon.
It seemed the heavy warrior Randy and the scout Duncan had shared a room, as they were eating breakfast on the first floor in the morning. However, Dagart and Glinda, who were also in the same room, were late in waking up, which resulted in the delay.
When they arrived at the dungeon, which was a short walk away, they bought some food that could be eaten quickly from a nearby stall and immediately entered the dungeon.
Even though they wouldn’t come out for several days once they went in, it seemed their luggage was unusually light. I deduced that Duncan had stored the food he bought directly into a bag, which was an internal expansion bag using Spatial Magic, and that he was storing most of their luggage in it.
If that’s the case, their tactics would change depending on what’s inside.
Whether they inflict damage gradually or use poison, if there are high-level recovery potions or powerful antidotes inside, the attack itself would be wasted.
Weakening them isn’t a waste in itself, but they’re not opponents that we can afford to make such extra attacks against.
As a tactic, I initially thought I should neutralize the magician Glinda first, but I need to change the priority.
But that’s only after dealing with Rada, who’s been following us from behind.
“…One with cheese in it, please.”
“Here you go! That’ll be three Copper Coins.”
To avoid suspicion, I bought a rye bread sandwich with cheese and pickled vegetables from a different stall than they did, to stagger the timing.
While watching the Dawn Mercenaries enter the dungeon, I confirmed that Rada was still following, paid the shopkeeper the Copper Coins, and headed towards the entrance of the dungeon.
Last time, I was stopped because I was a child, but I was able to get through using Carla’s face. This time, it was a young soldier, so I was able to enter without being stopped.
Once inside, the Dawn Mercenaries were naturally already gone, but I didn’t hesitate to erase my presence and run straight down the passage.
According to the information, the Dawn Mercenaries were based in a safe zone around the tenth floor. With their original strength, they could probably dive deeper, but their goal wasn’t to earn money in the dungeon, but to safely kill time until things cooled down.
So, I figured they would head straight down without making any detours, and I had researched the shortest route when I went with Carla.
After running through the dungeon passage for a few minutes without encountering any Monsters, I saw the Dawn Mercenaries in the distance, cutting down several Kobolds.
Kobolds are Rank 1 Monsters that resemble upright stray dogs. They are small, about the size of a child, and sometimes carry weapons, but their threat level is really not much different from stray dogs.
Such low-level Monsters were no match for a Rank 4 party. In front of Glinda, who was yawning and watching, the three men were safely dealing with the Kobolds.
I followed them without even bothering to collect the Rank 1 Magic Stones, carefully advancing into the depths while maintaining a certain distance.
Normally, it’s said to take about an hour per floor in this dungeon, even if you take the shortest route. But they seemed to be a little faster, descending to the second floor in about two-thirds of the usual time.
The second floor was almost the same, with only Rank 1 Monsters appearing, and Rank 2 Hobgoblins appearing alone very rarely.
On the third floor, the ratio of Rank 2 Monsters increased slightly, and on the fourth floor, Rank 3 High Kobolds also appeared rarely.
By the fifth floor, Rank 1 Monsters disappeared, and most of them were solitary Hobgoblins and High Kobolds.
This is the limit for low-rank solo Adventurers. Conversely, even low-rank Adventurers can conquer up to that point, but since it hardly earns any money, parties that challenge this dungeon are inevitably Rank 3 or higher.
If you dive this deep, you hardly see any other Adventurers. If you’re only diving for the day, you’d stay on the lower floors, and if you’re diving for several days, you’d hunt on the tenth floor and beyond, where groups of Orcs appear.
I haven’t fought at all so far. If Rank 2 or 3 Monsters appear alone, they’re no match for them.
Now… is this a good place?
I took off the cloak I was wearing to disguise my gender and wrapped it around my lower back, dispelled the illusion of ash on my hair, and gradually closed the distance with them as they moved forward.
(…1, 2, 3…)
As I timed my approach and closed the distance, the scout Duncan noticed my presence and turned around warily.
“There’s something behind us!”
“Wait, it’s not a Monster!”
As I called out to Duncan, I used the hand gestures that Viro had taught me to convey ‘Caution’, ‘Ambush’, and ‘Advance’ using the signs between scouts. Duncan looked surprised and told his companions, “Keep moving forward.”
“A woman…? No, a child?”
Dagart muttered in a small voice as he glanced back for a moment.
The reason I took off my cloak was to make them lower their guard. Recently, I’ve been growing taller, and there have been more and more situations where they don’t let their guard down, but it seems they still let their guard down if they think I’m a woman.
The reason I timed it at the beginning was to target the moment Rada disappeared into the Shadow, so that they wouldn’t realize it, but the Dawn Mercenaries’ scout was excellent, and accurately read my intentions.
“Randy, make some noise. Hey, girl, is something coming from behind?”
Just like I had initially kept a distance of several dozen meters when I was following them, the distance between me and Rada was about the same, so it wouldn’t be a problem if they spoke in a low voice.
Duncan, who understood the situation, made his companions make noise, and asked me in a small voice while facing forward. I nodded slightly.
“Yes, something lurking in the Shadow is following us. At first, I thought I was being targeted, so I hid using Stealth, but it still followed, so I thought you were being targeted, and I called out to you.”
“You… you’ve been following us?”
“I-I’m sorry. I started partway through, but I wanted to go to the fifth floor…. I don’t have much, but I can pay you if you want.”
“Don’t raise your voice. The money doesn’t matter… what should we do?”
“That child’s combat power is only about 200, so she’s not strong enough to deceive us and do something,”
Glinda, who seemed to have appraised me, whispered to Dagart in a small voice.
“What do you think, Duncan? Is there really something there?”
At Dagart’s suspicious voice, Duncan showed a sign of concentrating.
“There’s nothing… no, wait, there really is ‘something’ there!”
They really are excellent…
Even if you know she’s there, it’s not easy to find Rada’s presence, who blends into the Darkness, even if you can sense a slight discomfort.
They immediately became wary, understood my intentions, and immediately took action.
At the same time as being horrified by the strength of that Rank 4 party, I was also impressed by Dino’s insight, who thought that the Guild members would also be harmed if they were confronted, and tried to ask the master to deal with them.
“Maybe it’s those pursuers? Then they’re our enemies.”
Randy muttered while making loud footsteps, and I felt the wariness towards me from Dagart lessen.
“That’s right, we shouldn’t suspect a cute little girl like her.”
Duncan and Randy chuckled slightly at Dagart’s joking words, and Glinda glared at me lightly as if she was sulking.
“So, what are we going to do?”
“Well… Duncan, can you tell where the hidden one is?”
“No, not exactly yet. What about you?”
Duncan acknowledged me as an Adventurer with the Scout job, and asked for my opinion.
“It seems like they’re hiding for a few seconds, but I have a rough idea of the timing. Should I try attacking with Magic?”
“You’re a Magician…”
“Then let’s leave it to her. Glinda, Duncan, get ready.”
At Dagart’s small voice, Glinda gripped her staff, and Duncan readied his bow.
They really are excellent. That’s why we can trap Rada like this without her noticing.
“Then, in ten seconds… I’ll go.”
I concentrated my mind while chanting the Dark Magic spell, as more than half of it was composed of Dark Magic.
It’s the first time I’m using it, but I’ve checked the composition many times and confirmed that I can activate it halfway. The reason I didn’t activate it all the way was to suppress the “level up” that would come with it.
“――【Shadow Snatch】――”
The Blade crosses the Shadow and steals life.
With the Magic I chanted while walking, a small “Darkness” was born from the Shadow in my clenched palm.
I threw it up so that it would float behind me, and timed it to throw a Hidden Weapon at the Shadow under my feet exactly ten seconds later while walking.
This is an application of the Dark Magic 【Shadow Walker】 that Rada was using.
Rada’s Shadow Walk is a powerful magic, but from my perspective, it has fatal flaws. One is the large Mana consumption. Rada suppressed it by maintaining a standby state, but that made her unable to use any other magic.
And the biggest problem is being cut off from external information while traversing through shadows.
It might not be an issue for assassinations from surprise attacks, but in a direct fight like this, that few seconds of information blackout is fatal. If the timing and location of her emergence are identified, it becomes a significant opening.
So, to suppress consumption and avoid information blackout, I limited Shadow Walk to only the weapon.
Thanks to that, the Level 4 Dark Magic [Shadow Walk] became equivalent to Level 3, and Mana consumption was reduced to about one-tenth.
“――!?”
I was aiming for it, but fortunately, the attack hit around her throat.
Rada, caught off guard in her absolute safe zone, panicked and jumped out of the shadows to avoid further attacks.
In this state, even I can land an attack, but for the sake of another “trap,” I yielded to the back, and Glinda’s magic and Duncan’s arrow pierced Rada’s torso.
[Shadow Snatch] is still difficult to control, but I can maintain it for about five seconds. I slid the remaining “darkness” on the floor, and the hidden weapon I threw at her feet again pierced Rada’s face from directly below.
“…………”
Rada’s eyes, filled with shock, reflected me as she fell to the ground. Is she still alive…? But you’ll die here.
Duncan’s arrow flew again, piercing Rada’s head and confirming the kill. As I extinguished the darkness, I felt something growing within me, and my Mana and power increased.
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 3] 1 Up
[Mana Capacity: 135/210] 30 Up [HP: 141/148] 3 Up
[Strength: 7 (9)] 1 Up [Endurance: 7 (9)] [Agility: 11 (14)] 1 Up [Dexterity: 8]
[Dagger Arts Lv.2] [Martial Arts Lv.3] 1 Up [Throwing Lv.2] [Thread Manipulation Lv.2]
[Light Magic Lv.2] [Dark Magic Lv.3] 1 Up [Non-Attribute Magic Lv.3] 1 Up
[Utility Magic x6] [Mana Control Lv.3] [Intimidation Lv.3]
[Stealth Lv.3] [Night Vision Lv.2] [Detection Lv.3] [Poison Resistance Lv.2]
[Simple Appraisal]
[Overall Combat Strength: 403 (Body Enhancement: 473)] 187 Up
As planned, I leveled up… I can do this.
As Rada breathed her last, the men sighed in relief, and Glinda, the magician, came towards me excitedly.
“What was that magic!? I’ve never seen it before! How did you do it? Teach me!”
“Ah, yes… Ah, that’s a lovely necklace.”
When I complimented the pendant that spilled out from her bouncing chest, Glinda smiled proudly for a moment.
“You can tell, right? It’s nice, isn’t it? It uses a gem called ‘Spirit Tears,’ and I liked it so much that I begged Dagart for it! Hey, teach me that magic from earlier. I’ll show you the necklace later!”
“Yes, I don’t mind.”
Smiling at the “stolen goods” swaying in front of me, I turned my right palm upward and pointed it at Glinda.
Normally, asking other Adventurers about their skills is taboo. But the men, relieved to have defeated the “Assassin,” just smiled wryly and ignored Glinda.
“[Shadow Snatch]…”
I activated Dark Magic and created a small “darkness” in my palm, and Glinda peered into it excitedly.
“How can you attack with something like th――”
Shupat!
“……Huh?”
At that moment, the gimmick of the micro-crossbow hidden in my left gauntlet fired an arrow. The arrow, sucked into the shadow, pierced from Glinda’s eye to her brain as she peered into the “darkness.”
Glinda silently collapsed, her remaining, wide-open eye reflecting my expressionless face.
Three more people.
Next time: Battle with the Rank 4 party.