Chapter 9: Dungeon (1)

I paused at the sudden question, then turned towards her.
“If it’s about that time…”
“If it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to tell me.”
I didn’t have to think hard to know what her question referred to.
It was clearly about that day’s incident.
However, I was more concerned with how much and in what way I should tell her the story.
More than anything… just recalling that incident still vividly brought back the sensation of that cold blade, which was not pleasant.
“Shall we sit first.”
As I sat down, pressing my thumb against my forehead for a moment, I saw her face with slightly widened eyes.
She looked quite anxious to anyone who saw her.
‘I wonder if she’s thinking, ‘Did I bring it up for nothing?’ ’
“Um, the question I just asked. Could you please pretend it didn’t happen…”
As expected.
“I didn’t know it would make you so uncomfortable. Please forgive my rudeness…”
“No, no.”
I waved my hand slightly.
My intention wasn’t to see her flustered.
I was just wondering how much and in what way I should tell the story so it wouldn’t burden her.
“It’s not a pleasant story. But if you don’t mind…”
So… I suppose I should start from the time I moved with that woman.

Miela, that is… Valentina Shive.
As soon as she met me, she pushed me into a shop, saying I needed to prepare weapons.
She told me to just pick up any weapon.
At the time, I had a significant amount of money, and I also kept several gold coins in a separate coin purse, so I confidently picked up any weapon, and that was the five-gold-coin longsword for which I was thoroughly ripped off.
“I was foolish to think that was the average price, though. Haha.”
So, with her, I casually passed through the dungeon entrance guard post, which was negligently guarded, and walked deep into the dungeon.
After walking for a long time in the darkness, I found an empty room, where I was deeply stabbed by Shive’s dagger.
How much it hurt while I flinched from the pain and had my belongings taken, how terrifying it was for the blood to drain away.
Even now, my body trembles when I think about it…
Just as I was losing consciousness, she must have thought I was dead, as she turned and began to walk away from me.
At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and simultaneously regained consciousness.
And the sound of a blade hitting the ground, echoing in my ears.
“I was lucky. It was a plant monster… I mean… a Thali? Was it? I didn’t expect that creature to be lurking in the corner.”
The vine that tightly gripped that woman’s arm was clearly visible in my wavering vision, and so was the fallen sword.
I don’t know what I did with it, but when I came to, I was in the infirmary within the guard post.
I was very lucky.
I barely survived.
“I barely… survived.”
A slight smile bloomed on my face.
The rising sense of relief in my chest and an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction must have lifted my spirits slightly.
But when my eyes, which had been on my caressing hand, turned to her, I then realized I had said too much.
Because her face was seriously stiff.
“Such a thing…”
“No, I didn’t mean it that way…”

‘That thought flashed through my mind.’
‘Did I truly hold no resentment towards her?’
Thinking about it, it was quite funny.
When I came to my senses, the woman who worked at the counter of the inn where I resided was about to become a slave.
Hearing strangers say it would be good to help her out if possible, I bought her as if possessed.
Her, a complete stranger.
Thinking about it now, it was a very illogical flow of events.
Why did I want to buy her?
What did I expect by taking her in as a slave?
“…That’s not it.”
There was no ill intent.
That much had to be firmly established.
I did not bring her here to exact revenge.
However, the image of her becoming someone else’s slave flashed before my eyes.
Her horribly injured ear, her bruised face, her scarred neck, staring blankly at me, dressed in rags with chains on her hands…

I shook my head violently.
Yes.
That was why.
Another face flashed by.
Paul, the sheep beastman who took me in, a complete stranger.
Even though he worked me to exhaustion, he provided a warm room and bed, and purposely went to the city to get me what I needed.
That kindness he showed, even as he was losing his life on the day the bandits attacked, making sure I had what I needed.
Wasn’t it because I hadn’t forgotten that kindness that I bought her?
“So, you don’t have to make that expression. It’s alright.”
A single remark, as if shedding a burden, I offered to her.
But despite her forced nod, I couldn’t see any relaxation in her face.

The next day, the dungeon entrance was under strict guard surveillance.
Everyone entering had to submit their identification to the guards, then insert it into a device for verification, only then could they enter the portal in order.

This was a new experience for me.
When I first passed through that place, the entry procedure was extremely lax.
“Next!”
This time, unlike then, I passed through the portal with proper armor and weapons, and even a slightly heavy shield, and entered the dungeon’s interior.
Inside, there was a large waiting area similar to before, but this time, a slightly different sight was visible.
Right next to the entrance, a small guard post with a sign reading ‘Guard Station’ was placed, where one guard inside and two leaning outside kept track of each person passing through.
Until now, it had just been an empty space where people gathered in small groups, but it seemed that more lanterns to light the surroundings and convenience facilities had been added.
“Phew…”
I exhaled deeply.
That day, I entered the dungeon overly excited, boastfully showing off my skills to the woman I first met.
…Unaware she was a murderer, simply intoxicated by the fact that I had come to another world and by what was only beautiful to my eyes.
Terribly butchered and covered in blood, had it not been for a chance opportunity that appeared amidst the ebbing warmth, it would surely have been me, not her, whose life was taken.
“Um,”
Rustle, I raised my gaze, which had been lowered, at the sensation of an arm gently wrapping around mine.
“This time… I’m here, so you don’t need to worry.
If it really doesn’t seem possible… there are other ways too.”
Perhaps I gained some courage from her appearance, soothing me with a gentle, soft voice; I shook my body once and stretched my shoulders.
Doubt and anxiety continued to subtly arise in a corner of my mind, but I deliberately suppressed them.
“It’s alright. I’ll trust you.”
This time, it was a trustworthy opponent.
Didn’t I have a contract too?
Thus, I forced myself to feel reassured and slowly took a step forward.
Unlike that time when the dark path gradually obscured my vision, this time, thanks to having properly prepared a light source, I could at least see clearly ahead.
With a torch in one hand, and the other resting on her waist, her movement, as she looked around, suddenly stopped.
“Just a moment…”
She slightly bent her knees, gently closed her eyes, spread her ears wide, tilted them this way and that, and then stood up towards me.
“I hear sounds from this direction.
A rough scraping sound from the left, and a rustling… brushing sound from the right.
The left is a stone golem, the right is…”
She paused for a moment, then bit her lower lip slightly and looked directly at me.
“I think it would be better to go to the left.”
“Why?”
“The right… it seems the only monster on this level that would make such a rustling sound is a Thali.
I’m telling you this because I’m worried you might have unpleasant thoughts.”
She approached me with a serious expression, her eyes scanning my face, then took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped my face.
“If you think it’s too much, you can go back even now.
Look at this.
So much cold sweat…”
‘So much?’
Thinking that, I placed the war pick I was holding into my waistband, and then I felt the damp sensation of my gloves.
I told myself I was fine, but was I really fine?
‘…I have to be fine.’
‘I need to earn living expenses for two people, and even money to send to her family.’
‘The only job that can provide stable income, short-term or long-term, without requiring a high level of knowledge, is dungeon exploration.’
‘Hunting bounty hunters? Of course, that was out of the question. Killing a heinous criminal once was purely luck.’
‘Paperwork? Business? Me, without capital and unable to write properly?’
So, I had to do it.
For now, and for our future life.
A sense of immense pressure suddenly came over me, but I couldn’t kneel now.
I had to be firm in my resolve.
I placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded.
Gripping the war pick at my waist tightly again, I took a step towards the left passage.
“Left passage, you said?”
Responsibility, that was important.
I was now one person’s master.