Chapter 10: Dungeon (2)

The monsters of the first level are of two kinds: stone golems and plant monsters called Thali.

As the name directly suggests, the stone golem is simply made of stone.

However, if you ask if it’s threatening, it’s not that much.

Due to its small size, only reaching a person’s knee, and sluggish movements, it is considered a relatively easy prey.

The loot it mainly drops is flint or whetstones.

Occasionally, low-grade magic stones are said to appear, which are the most expensive items to sell on the first level, making them suitable targets for novice adventurers.

And that creature stood before me.

“Grrrrl.”

I looked at it, making a heavy, ear-grating sound, like a heavy stone door opening.

A large rock mass was emitting an ominous purple light from its center, with several lumps of stone awkwardly attached where human arms and legs would be, making it look like a crude stone doll.

As it noticed my presence, it slowly, waddled its body and turned towards me.

Now I had to smash that thing.

“Ah, here it is.”

With light steps, she walked out, casually took out the warhammer strapped to her back with one hand, and then brought it down vertically.

“G—”

Without even hearing its dying scream properly, the moving rock that I had just been staring at turned into dust.

“Eh?”

Just for a moment, as dust and rock fragments settled, a single piece of stone appeared from the slightly dented floor.

“Ah, it’s a whetstone. I’ll keep this instead of selling it.”

She naturally put it into her pocket, then grabbed the hammer’s handle, stood up, and moved forward.

“Um, just a moment…”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t you say you’d explain various things for my first exploration?”

“Ah?”

A short silence flowed between us.

Had I misunderstood something?

Was I just supposed to watch her demonstration from behind today?

Just as I was thinking such things,

“Ah!”

The silence was broken by her half-folded ears straightening completely.

“I’m sorry, my old habits came out… I used to explore dungeons often when I was little. Perhaps it reminded me of those times, I got quite excited.”

No, excited or not, the stone golem turned to dust.

Was it just my imagination that the scattered fragments seemed to twitch?

“Hmm… The next one seems to be not far from here. At that time, I think Mr. Marcus can try it himself!”

“Ahaha,” she said with a forced smile, then strapped the hammer back onto her back and stood in front of me.

“Then, shall we go?”

She seemed much stronger than I thought.

Turning immediately around the corner and walking a little, we soon encountered another stone golem.

This one was staring blankly at the wall, but upon seeing her and me, it began to waddle towards us.

“…Then.”

Rustle, her large and beautiful warhammer appeared, brushing past her hair.

This time too, I hadn’t properly tensed my arm, thinking she would handle it, but she just held her hammer and stepped aside.

“Ah, I…”

“Yes. You said you would do it, didn’t you? More importantly… you need to get used to this sensation from now on.”

“This… sensation?”

The stone golem, which had approached without me realizing, was slowly trying to rotate its arms, but she lightly struck it with the tip of her hammer, knocking it over.

“When I was little, I was quite sensitive. I’d look at these stone golems and call them cute, and Thalis and call them pretty, and couldn’t properly catch them. But the reason I ended up coming to the dungeon was to earn money to have a warm dinner with my family… and if I don’t do it, someone else will get hurt or starve in that place, so I have no choice.”

She approached the fallen stone golem, placed her hammer on it, and began to press it down firmly with one foot.

“I could keep fighting in Mr. Marcus’s stead, but what if something unexpected happens one day? What if Mr. Marcus is in danger due to a mistake? Then I wouldn’t be able to save you.”

With a scraping sound of stone, it struggled wildly.

But was it an overwhelming difference in strength?

There was no sign of its body lifting at all.

“So, if you truly want to make dungeon exploration your profession, it’s something you have to be prepared for. It’s not easy. Not as easy as you think. Many dangerous things happen, and many people die or get hurt in here.”

Thwack, she kicked the creature towards me with her foot, then instantly turned around and struck something hard with her hammer.

Crack, with that sound, the pile of stones hit the wall and disappeared with a cloud of dust in an instant.

“Like this. Even if they seem weak, if you let your guard down, you can be taken down in an instant.”

Was it my imagination that a red light seemed to flash momentarily in her red eyes?

Clunk, the stone golem sprawled before me slowly rose.

The flickering purple light from the creature’s body intensified, and its body began to move quite quickly, unlike before.

“Now, try fighting once!”

I faced the creature as it approached me with a rattling sound.

It was as she said.

Gripping the war pick in my hand tightly, I powerfully brought the sharp part down from above onto the approaching creature.

Clang!

A crisp sound of hard objects colliding echoed through the corridor.

“It’s not that difficult, is it?”

She brushed away the fragments of the shattered stone golem, then with a beaming face, took out a sparkling violet gem and showed it to me.

“Heh, beginner’s luck? Look at this.”

“Magic stone…”

“You seem lucky. This alone is worth five silver coins, you know?”

Excitedly, snorting continuously and twitching her ears, she then placed the small, shining magic stone into my hand.

“Here. Keep it! We’ll need to sell it later.”

I took it, put it in my pocket, and then clenched, unclenched, clenched, unclenched my hand…

Honestly, I was trembling a lot.

“Even with its body breaking apart, it kept trying to swing its arms at me…”

That sight was terrifying. The way its purple eyes kept flickering and its arms flailed.

Even though I resolved to quickly shatter the creature somehow, I felt a strange sensation, wondering if it was in pain.

“Yes, well, that’s a characteristic of golems.”

Tap, tap, she dusted her hands, then stood in front of me and brushed off my shoulder.

“They are responsible for eliminating intruders like us. The first level… um… you can think of it like the outer perimeter of a castle. They’re like scattered reconnaissance troops.”

Thud, thud, stone dust fell to the ground.

“To carry out orders by any means necessary. That’s the basic operating principle of golems, so their desperate struggle is understandable in a way.”

“Do they feel pain?”

“I don’t know. The creatures we’ll face later will feel it, but I’m not sure if these ones, which look like inanimate objects, have senses.”

Thwack, she dusted off the last small stone, then stroked her long ear once and turned her head towards another passage.

“Shall we catch a few more? To get used to the sensation.”

“One low-grade magic stone, two whetstones, and four flints received. That’s five silver coins and 80 copper coins.”

We came out of the dungeon and sold the items at a nearby buyer’s shop.

It was genuinely not a bad profit.

Three silver coins alone is enough for her family to live comfortably, and we earned that in just one day.

“It wasn’t that difficult, was it?”

She walked beside me, showing a faint smile.

Perhaps it was due to the sunset light, but her hair looked like a field of autumn wheat.

A shimmering golden wheat field, slowly swaying this way and that when the wind blew.

“…It wasn’t bad.”

Ultimately, that brief unpleasant sensation I felt earlier seemed to have been just a temporary aversion.

After that, I cheerfully shattered their arms and legs with the blunt end of the war pick and enthusiastically pounded their torsos.

Of course, it was tiring, but perhaps I felt good because the money received for it was quite substantial.

“Then, how about we grab some dinner? Is there a good restaurant?”

“Would you like to go to the restaurant I used to frequent?”

Her appearance, fluttering her ears and demurely holding her war… hammer, probably meant she was in a good mood.

She was clearly looking forward to it.

“Then, shall we put down our luggage, change clothes quickly, and then go? It would be uncomfortable to go in these clothes, right?”

“Yes, shall we do that!”

Seeing her smile naturally and shyly, I also smiled back.

It was truly a pleasant sight to see her smiling naturally, no longer the trembling, tear-streaked figure she was on that rainy day, shaking with fear.

Her strangely quick trust made me a little worried, but perhaps it was because I was treating her well that she trusted me.

Instead of overthinking it, I should just be kind to her.

Perhaps that was the best I could do for now.