Chapter 36: Harris Party
TL: Scaramochi
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About five days after the counterfeit money scandal, I was in the dungeon of Mt. Dorus
"Okay, then, let's each check our equipment. Gina. Once you're inside, get the lights."
I looked around at the scattered party.
Falk, looking nervous, was checking the condition of the baskets on his hands. With a snap and a flick of his wrist, four iron claws popped out. His body was lightly clad, with only a leather chestplate over his fur.
Sylvia strings her shortbow using the wall outside the dungeon. She took a couple of empty pulls without nocking the arrow. She wore a thick glove on her right hand only and no armor of any kind.
Comba were young, but these two looked even younger because of their baby faces.
In this party, I would be the oldest.
I suddenly felt old.
"I don't mean to threaten you, but if you want to get out alive, you'll have to follow my instructions. There aren't that many strong enemies in the first layer, but there are traps, and there's no guarantee that there won't be relatively strong monsters. Besides, we don't have a priest here, so I can't heal you."
Falk and Sylvia listened intently to my instructions.
Carrie also raised her hand, albeit lamely, as if she understood.
I walked down the stairs with Comba, Carrie, and Falk in front of me.
The cold air immediately clung to us.
"It's cold."
Falk shivered.
Well, that's because your outfit.
I've got oil on my exposed parts, so it shouldn't be so cold that it interferes with my movements.
I guess I'm used to it, I'm not cold at all.
I tell them to go to the right down the passageway at the bottom of the stairs. If we go left, there is a stairway to the second layer, but of course I don't intend to go down today.
In terms of strength, it wasn't so different from the last time, but there was no reason to risk it.
I chose this side of the passage for another reason.
My ears caught a faint sound in the back of my head.
"There's something about a hundred paces ahead."
I told her, and the glow of the ball of light floating above Gina's wand increased.
Soon, out of the reach of the light appeared goblins with short legs and hideous faces.
Five in all.
They were a good match for our first battle.
One of them was holding a similar single-edged sword ...... and the one in the rear was holding a staff.
Their mouths were moving.
"Watch out. They're going to use magic!"
From time to time, some goblins get cocky and use rudimentary magic.
At best, they can only use magic up to the equivalent of level 1, and it's not very effective.
My bad feeling was right, I was feeling mildly sleepy. Sleep magic.
The vanguards had closed the gap, so only I, Gina, and Sylvia were in the area of effect.
I tried to counter the magic by concentrating on it.
After a few breaths, the hazy feeling disappeared.
I heard a clank and looked to my left to see Sylvia lying on the ground in a heap.
On the other side, Gina was chanting with a cool face, raising her staff.
I analyzing the battle situation.
Comba and his team had the upper hand in the battle.
Comba's battle axe bounced off the goblin's sword and splattered its defenseless neck.
They were taking advantage of the difference in power and size.
Carrie was striking with her opponent but was superior in speed, and Falk was catching his opponent's sword with the claws of both hands.
If this is the case, he should kill the mage in the rear guard of the enemy.
I pulled a knife from my shoulder, but from my position, Comba's large body was blocking the line of fire.
In the meantime, Gina's chanting is completed and a thin, clear blue object forms at the tip of her wand.
The magic of the Frozen Needle pierced the goblin's chest with the wand.
The goblin bends over and falls.
Gina and the goblin were not comparable in terms of magic power and magic resistance.
Even if the other party had fired the same magic at Gina, it would probably have ended up shattering on the surface of her robe.
In the meantime, Comba and his team had destroyed the remaining vanguard of the enemy.
The vanguard loosened their tension.
"Don't let up. Finish off the rear guard!"
Red light was gathering at the tip of the fallen goblin's staff.
Carrie, alerted by my voice, stepped forward and stabbed them in the back with the long sword in her opposite hand.
With a gasp, the light at the tip of the staff disappeared.
Comba, who had returned after checking on the rest of the enemies, emitted a muffled voice from inside his helmet.
"Brother. I'm sorry for being so careless."
"Don't let your guard down until you're sure you've defeated the enemy. Well, I don't think there would have been any deaths even if that magic had been perfected."
Falk bowed his head, and Carrie bit her lip but gave a small nod.
"Ah. Sylvia. What's wrong?"
Falk gives a little shout.
"Don't worry. You've just been magically put to sleep. Gina. Wake her up."
Gina kneels down and raises Sylvia's upper body and smacks her face.
"Ngh."
Sylvia wakes up with an out-of-place sexy voice.
She jumps up and brushes the debris off her face and body.
She picks up her shortbow, which had fallen to the floor.
She must have understood the situation, because she was turning bright red.
"I'm sorry......"
I urged everyone to move to the monster's corpse.
I told them to be on the lookout for anything around them and then fished out the gold items.
Unfortunately, I don't even have a single small copper coin.
"Well, now we've survived the first round. No one got hurt, which is good for a first. Well, it didn't pay off, either. Everything is an experience. Sylvia should remember what it feels like to be hit by magic. Next time you should be able to resist a little better."
I pointed to the wand the goblin was holding.
Gina shook her head.
"I don't need to do magic sensing. You can't use that on people. You'll be cursed."
I signaled to Comba, and he slammed his axe down, snapping it in half.
"Damn, this isn't my lucky day at all. I was hoping this would at least be worth some money."
"Do you usually have some kind of income?"
Falk looks at me with expectant eyes.
"Yeah. You're pretty unlucky to have no income worth more than a few copper coins. Someone's got the god of misfortune bewitched, don't you think?"
Everyone laughs at my joke.
"Come on. Let's keep searching."
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