Chapter 38: A Swarm Of Corpses


TL: Scaramochi


***


Carrie reaches over and starts touching the wall.


I complain to Gina.


"Look at that. You've noticed."


"That's fine."


Well, okay.


"Hey. Why don't you stand over there?"


At being told to do so, Comba stood in front of the door.


The flame of the torch didn't waver.


"I knew it. There is no wind at that door. But I can feel the air flowing from this wall."


Falk, who had been examining the surrounding walls in a more extended range, lets out a small yelp.


"I heard some kind of clicking sound."


A dogon sound echoes somewhere below, and part of the wall to the right of the door slides in the opposite direction of the door, making a noise.


"Yes!"


Comba inserted itself into the gap for one person and illuminated the inside with a torch.


"It's not a very big room. Looks like there's something in the back......"


"Don't go in there!"


I shouted, and Comba was so startled that he took the torch down. He rushes to pick it up and jumps backwards, knocking off the three guys who were trying to peek in.


Combas tangle their legs and push Carrie down.


"Hey, get out of the way. Where are you touching me?　You pervert!"


I hurried up to him and Falk and I helped Comba up.


Carrie was holding her chest as she stood up.


Carrie, who had been unable to procure armor due to the suddenness of the situation, was wearing thick felt clothing.


It seems that she had fallen and Comba had held her chest as hard as he could.


It must have hurt a lot because she was wearing a metal basket hand and her weight was on it.


She was staring at Comba with tears in her eyes.


To prevent further commotion, I had Gina hold out her cane so that I could see inside the room.


"See. Look."


The floor was undulating in everyone's view.


A number of protrusions rippled and encircled the torch that Comba had dropped.


"What the hell is that?"


Sylvia looked uncomfortable.


"It's a slime. It wraps its sticky body around the opponent and suffocates and digests them. It's quite resilient and can't be easily cut with a blade, but it moves slowly and isn't a threat if you're careful."


While I was explaining, Gina's ice break exploded.


The slime shatters into pieces. It's completely overkilled.


After a quick survey of the surroundings, they go inside with me in the lead.


There was a small treasure chest on the far wall.


I checked it out, but there were no traps or locks.


Without any expectations, I opened it to find a blackened dagger and six copper coins.


To the disappointment of those around me, I put the dagger out in front of everyone.


"It's blackened, but it's sterling silver, It's worth its weight in gold. It's the best you'll find on the first layer."


I exits the room, fiddles with the wall, and closes the hidden door.


"It's a big deal that you didn't fall for this fake door. This thing is just an elaborate writing on the wall. If you carelessly touch it, it will set off a ridiculously loud alarm. To stop it, you have to tamper with the hidden mechanism, and while you're fumbling with it, you're confronted by a swarm of monsters."


"Well then, brother. If you had been caught, you would have been in big trouble."


"I would have stopped it then. I know where the trap is."


I point to the corner of the wall opposite the hidden door.


"If you stick your hand in the inconspicuous hollow here and probe the top side, you'll find a protrusion. Well, if this were a trap spewing poison gas, I wouldn't let you guys check it out alone."


We went back to the three-way junction we had just come to and continued straight ahead; after about 100 paces, the road turned left.


Just after the turn, we encounter a group of monsters.


"What the hell is that?"


Sylvia screams.


Yes, I know. Well, that's understandable.


It was a group of skeletons, their half-rotten flesh visible through the rags, and skeletons whose bones were reduced to nothing but bones.


They look grotesque, but these guys are a handful.


They are not strong, but if you try to defeat them with ordinary weapons, they are deadly troublesome.


I was joking about drawing a troublesome monster from the first layer, but I hope no one is really being enchanted by the god of misfortune.


Is it my fault for saying something boring?


With a mighty swing, Comba's battle axe blows off the skull of one skeleton.


The skeleton rolled over with a clang, but the skeleton paid the rusty sword to the side.


Comba hurriedly caught it with his shield.


"What the hell. These guys."


"Get back. They're not good with regular weapons."


Tried to slip between the vanguard and move forward. Gina had begun to chant a spell.


I looked over to see Carrie also moving her lips as she held her weapon. She drew her shortsword and sliced the hip bone of the skeleton that was cutting into the combover.


As soon as her sword shatters the bone, the skeleton crumples like a puppet losing its strings.


As she cut at the next skeleton, a corpse-eating demon extended its arm from the side.


She stops her sword and steps backward, and the skeleton's body is cut in half.


Carrie's sword glows faintly.


When she turned to face the skeleton, the huge body of the comba passed by her side and slammed her battle axe down. 


Its blade also glowed faintly.


The bones shattered into a mere motionless mass of bones, just like the one I had knocked down.


I thought I might not be able to handle it on my own, but I was easily able to finish it.


It was thanks to Gina's magic support.


"Thank God for magic that grants me. But it must have been hard to cast it on multiple people at the same time, wasn't it?"


"Eh?　Oh, yeah."


"Because I cast a spell on myself."


Carrie looked proud.


I was honestly surprised that a knight could use grant magic, no matter how rudimentary it was.


Maybe this guy is surprisingly capable.


After that, after several battles, I ordered them to pull up.


Although there was no damage, the accumulation of fatigue was intense. 


At the dungeon's exit, we encountered a lone figure with a thin physique.


I was worried that it was walking alone. In other words, there was a high possibility that it was that capable.


The figure came into the range of Gina's light.


It was a woman with hair in disarray and an agitated look on her face.


She was holding something in her arms.


My heart skipped a beat.


I couldn't believe it was a banshee on such a high floor.



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