Makeshift Wolf Brigade II ⑤
I could only laugh inwardly at this unexpected situation.
“King! King! King! As expected of you, Woff!”
“Um, um, um, Lord Wof is amazing! Woof woof! As expected of Lord Wof!”
“…Ah, it’s spread quite a bit, huh…”
Narcissus-san and Juicy-san were ecstatic.
The contrast with Mr. Agaro’s utterly troubled expression was stark.
I let out yet another indescribable sigh.
So these kinds of rumors are spreading. No wonder those unpopular guys are attacking us.
For some reason, it made me picture men led by Hayyarn, who was at the front, arms crossed, smiling defiantly.
Suddenly, three Seekers approached us, and the wolf-kin boy in the middle stepped forward.
Black hair, wolf ears, and a tail. Even though he’s also a wolf-kin, he’s completely different from Juicy-san.
Is she really the family dog after all? No, she wasn’t the family dog.
The wolf-kin boy bowed his head politely. What was it? I sensed an air of dignity about him.
“We’re saved. Thank you very much.”
“Yo. You guys okay?”
“Yes. No one is injured.”
The man with the spear also bowed his head. Following him, the elf woman with the staff bowed as well.
“We’re a party called ‘Cerberostern.’ I’m Nabel.”
“I’m Colan.”
“And I’m Plancy.”
The wolf-kin boy with the sword and shield was Nabel. The man with the spear was Colan. The elf woman with the staff was Plancy.
The spearman, Colan-san, began to speak.
“We actually messed up a bit.”
“Messed up?”
“We were completing a request on the 25th floor and found a hidden room.”
“Heeh, that’s lucky.”
“Was there treasure?”
Narcissus-san leaned forward eagerly as she asked.
Plancy-san replied with a wry smile.
“And then we stepped on a Teleportation Array and got sent here.”
“Ah, tough luck.”
“How unfortunate.”
“Um, um, my condolences.”
“And so, we… we don’t know what floor this is.”
“It’s the 42nd floor.”
At Mr. Agaro’s words, the three of them showed expressions mixed with shock and fear.
“Uwaaah…”
“There’s a limit to how far you can be teleported…”
Being sent more than 10 floors down from the 25th floor all at once is pretty terrifying.
“Um, uh… so, we’d like to return.”
Nabel-san said awkwardly.
There’s something called a Forced Teleport Stone, a quick way to return to the surface.
It’s a convenient Legacy that forcibly teleports you to the 1st floor when broken.
However, it’s expensive. One costs roughly 500,000 Oro.
Well, someone of Mr. Agaro’s class probably has one or two.
And buying them isn’t a burden for him.
But Mr. Agaro probably wouldn’t just hand one over to them easily.
He must be wondering whether to give one or not.
Should he tell them about the room with the Teleportation Array on the 40th floor?
The Teleportation Array is bidirectional, so stepping on the one on the 40th floor would take them to the Guild’s basement.
But that Teleportation Array is, for all intents and purposes, confidential. He can’t just easily tell them about it.
Incidentally, about those Forced Teleport Stones…
They’re haphazardly tossed into a wooden box in the messy living room of The Witch’s House.
When I found that wooden box before, The Witch gave me a few. And so…
“If you’d like, I can give you this.”
I said with a smile, taking a Forced Teleport Stone from my pouch and showing it to them.
Nabel-san’s eyes widened, and he gasped.
“Th-this is—?!”
“It-it’s huge.”
“Apparently, it’s a raw stone.”
“A raw stone?!”
“H-hey, Woff.”
“Um, um, um, Lord Wof. That’s very expensive…”
“Hmm. Quite a nice item, isn’t it?”
“Is this… i-is it really okay…?”
Nabel-san looked so anxious it was almost pitiful.
Of course. It’s fine. However. There’s a condition.
“Of course. You’re in trouble, after all. In return, though, I have one request.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“If it’s something we can do.”
“It’s not like we can do anything, but we’ll show our gratitude.”
“No, no, it’s not such a big deal. Just do what you can, but I’d like you to help dilute the rumors about me.”
“Rumors?”
“Yes. The rumors you were just spou— I mean, saying. Actually, they’re full of things that aren’t true.”
“Eh, is that so…?”
“Yes. It’s all a pack of lies.”
“A pack of lies?”
“Yes, and that’s why it’s causing me so much trouble.”
I put on a light, wry smile.
Then, Narcissus-san opened her mouth with a dubious expression.
“But it’s true that Woff is The Witch’s disciple and is good friends with Shiro, Chive, and that Munieca, right? You were in the same room as half of ‘The Impregnable’s’ Tsukaishi.”
“Um, um, um, Lord Wof is very close with everyone from ‘Torquetum,’ Bid-san, the older sisters, and also the maids from Menosdor!”
“…Ah, w-well, yeah, I guess so.”
Hey! Will the peanut gallery please be quiet!! And Mr. Agaro, why are you being so hesitant?!
Then, Colan-san spoke up with an “Oh, by the way” expression. Hey now.
“…Actually, I saw Woff-san going to the second floor of the ‘Cidre Tavern.’ His companion was Megadia of the ‘Kuro-nomi.'”
“It seems none of you want to go back home, then.”
I pretended to put the Forced Teleport Stone back into my pouch with a disappointed look.
“W-wait!”
“Hold on! N-no, now that I think about it, nothing like that happened! Not at all! Yep! Nope, nope! Ahahaha… I’m sorry.”
Colan-san bowed his head. I sighed.
“As long as you understand. So, will you take on the task?”
“W-we understand. If it’s something we can do to the best of our ability, we’ll accept.”
“I-I’ll also try talking to other Seekers…”
“I’m counting on you.”
I handed the Forced Teleport Stone to Nabel-san.
Nabel-san, upon receiving it, nodded awkwardly.
Colan-san fell silent, and Plancy-san gave a faint, wry smile.
“Don’t expect too much, okay? We’re still only Tier IV.”
“Hoh, you fought well against those One-Eyed Dogs.”
Mr. Agaro sounded impressed.
Tier IV. That’s one rank above me, the same as Ax-san and his party, huh?
It’s certainly amazing for just three people to fight so well against a pack of Silver Rank mid-tier monsters.
“Well, we’ve fought them in a hidden room before.”
“Ah, hidden rooms sometimes have strong ones in them.”
“Is that so?”
Narcissus-san’s eyes lit up. Is she from a warrior race or something?
The Generous kind of give off that vibe, don’t they?
“Um, um, the room just now was also a hidden room.”
“Ah, we. Reli—”
“Colan-san!”
“Oops, my bad. Anyway, we’ll make sure to do it properly.”
“W-well then, we should be heading back soon.”
“Everyone. Thank you so much for your help.”
Nabel-san bowed his head politely again. He really does have an air of dignity.
“You guys. Take care.”
“Ura. I’ll remember you all.”
“Um, um, um, please take care!”
“Yes. Well then.”
Nabel-san broke the Forced Teleport Stone.
“I’m really counting on you.”
“””Yes!”””
With a spirited reply, their figures dissolved into particles of pale green light and vanished.
Hopefully, this will somehow reduce those nasty rumors.
After that, we fought packs of One-Eyed Dogs about three more times.
There were also Sahagin and zombie corpses scattered about.
Did they fight and kill each other? Or were they defeated by the One-Eyed Dogs?
After advancing for a while, we next encountered a male and female Tier II Seeker duo.
The two said they had come to this floor for a request.
We fought alongside them briefly, got information on how to reach the 43rd floor, and then parted ways.
Just as they said, we discovered a Tower in the Forest.
And, just as they said, there were stairs leading down inside the Tower.
The 43rd floor.
Beyond the stairs was a castle, and the Tower on the 42nd floor had been this castle’s spire.
The view outside could be seen from the castle.
Blue lights twinkled in the blackish-purple sky. It was just like a starry night.
And the Queen of the Night (a full moon), surrounded by her sisters (satellites), reigned supreme.
“Nighttime, huh?”
“Huh? That’s an artificial sky, you know.”
“No. Look here.”
Mr. Agaro showed a black stone.
This was a Day-Night Stone. It’s linked to the time on the surface; white indicates day, and black indicates night.
Meaning, it was nighttime on the surface.
“Perfect timing. Shall we stay the night in this castle?”
There were no objections. Everyone was tired one way or another.
Spending the night in a castle, how luxurious, I thought nonchalantly.
We lightly explored the castle.
Within the area we checked, there were no Monsters.
Also, it wasn’t a particularly large castle.
There was a hall and an audience chamber, but no throne.
Narcissus-san said it was the castle of a regional lord, not a royal castle.
Juicy-san agreed with her.
Tasan’s castle is more than five times bigger than this? Seriously?
We decided to make camp in the audience chamber.
Barrier stones were placed in the four cardinal directions, and Mr. Agaro took out enough sleeping bags for everyone from his pouch.
Once the camping preparations were done, I immediately started making dinner.
Meanwhile, the women went to take a bath. We had found a bath during our exploration. It properly had hot water.
Mr. Agaro said such things happen because the era is reproduced exactly as it was back then.
Since it was a little far from the audience chamber, Mr. Agaro stood guard just in case.
Narcissus-san said she’d kill him if he peeked, and Mr. Agaro grumbled, “Who would even peek?”
He had taken out a sake gourd from his pouch and was holding it, so he was probably planning to drink while keeping watch.
Dinner was Mixed Meat Soup and black and white bread-beans. Also, baked wild grass and mushrooms with cheese.
The wild grass and mushrooms were foraged in the Forest on the 42nd floor.
Mr. Agaro ate while drinking, and Narcissus-san and Juicy-san asked for seconds.
Dagaa was engrossed in the Mixed Meat Soup. Good, good.
After finishing eating, I took a bath.
When I got out, everyone except Mr. Agaro played cards to pass the time.
Narcissus-san was overwhelmingly bad at it.
And Dagaa was way too strong. What’s with this guy?
Mr. Agaro just kept drinking. It wasn’t like his usual drinking contests.
Keeping her distance from us, she sat on the windowsill, looking outside while sipping from her gourd-shaped flask.
She must have had a lot on her mind.
It was about time to go to bed, so we turned in.
Late at night.
I was out on the balcony that extended from the audience chamber.
I was just vaguely looking out at the view when someone approached.
It was Juicy-san.