Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

63 – Dungeon Inspection of Ark Reach (2)

The adventurers were climbing the steep terrain of the mountain range.

“How much longer do we have to climb? Wasn’t there supposed to be a dungeon nearby?”

But contrary to what was marked on the map, the actual appearance of the dungeon was nowhere to be seen.

Looking around, it was the same.

This was already the nth time this had happened.

The adventurers began to get annoyed.

“These guild folks, selling us cheap maps and stuffing themselves with our money.”

The map they possessed was bought from the Adventurer’s Guild.

While the guild prohibited entry into the mountain range, they freely sold maps indicating the terrain and dungeons.

But there was nothing accurate.

Since there was nothing accurate and the map wasn’t even cheap, everyone expressed their dissatisfaction.

“What now.”

The ice-elemental magician, Eserin, spoke up.

“Could there really be something? Perhaps the nobles entrusted this mission.”

Eislin’s argument was quite convincing.

“That makes sense.”

A burly man in the group nodded in agreement with her words.

He was the warrior Grecto.

With a massive shield in his right hand and a large sword in his left, Grecto’s presence was truly awe-inspiring.

For an ordinary person, just carrying a shield of that size would require a great deal of strength.

However, Grecto wielded the shield and sword as if they were toys, effortlessly.

“Originally, our goal wasn’t dungeon exploration. It was a commission to survey the entire mountain range for any abnormalities or special occurrences.”

As everyone focused their gaze on him, Grecto shrugged and continued speaking.

“As Eislin said, we might not even know what’s happening in this mountain range. The worst-case scenario is that we become the Moromot experimenting on it.”

Moromot.

In his words, it meant that all the adventurers here had become experimental mice.

They truly didn’t know what was happening in the mountain range.

Perhaps there was a prohibition on entering the mountains related to this?

And Grecto’s argument was that the adventurer guild and nobles had conspired to figure this out.

“Damn! No wonder they paid so much.”

Normally, it would have been dismissed as an absurd claim, but this mission was too strange.

Especially considering the upfront payment, each person here had enough money to live comfortably for a year.

At first, they just thought it was a noble’s commission with a hefty reward.

They didn’t think deeply, lured by the large sum.

Moreover, the mission seemed simple.

Just scouting the mountain range and exploring the terrain, so they didn’t attach much significance to it.

“…”

But not now.

The map purchased from the adventurer guild was completely off.

Although they hadn’t checked every detail, they had been wandering aimlessly so far.

This meant the map wasn’t incorrect.

When everyone was taking it seriously, Nari, who had been at the forefront, shouted.

“Hey, there are footprints here…!”

There were indeed footprints there.

But they were very faint.

They were just lightly imprinted on the dirt path.

Had it not been for Nariel, who was guiding them, they would have passed by them without a second thought, so incredibly subtle were the tracks.

“It seems a diviner did pass through here. Nariel, can you tell what kind of footprints these are?”

At Gregto’s words, Nariel scrutinized the footprints intently.

Though faint, thankfully, they had distinct features.

“Um… for starters, there are four sets.”

Nariel continued to describe the features.

“It’s peculiar; all except one seem to belong to monsters. Yes, among the four, three appear to be from skeletons.”

The shapes of three of the entities’ footprints were distinctly bone-shaped.

Hence, it wasn’t difficult to figure out that they were of the skeleton variety.

“Skeletons?”

Gregto burst into laughter at her words.

“What, did we get scared by mere skeletons? Ha-ha.”

Encountering an unknown entity was always daunting.

But when the identity of the entity was clear, as it was now, it wasn’t such a daunting task.

It might not even be a skeleton.

“In that case, who might the remaining one be? Not a monster?”

After a hearty laugh, Gregto cleared his throat and posed another question.

“Oh, yes. They’re wearing shoes, so I can’t tell what they are for now.”

Unlike the bone imprints, one of the entities’ imprints was of a shoe.

“But I sense something slightly peculiar.”

“A peculiar feeling?”

“I’m not quite sure what it is, but that’s the feeling I get.”

Nariel’s explanation ended there.

Upon hearing this, Gregto casually turned away, as the rough estimation was done, and there was nothing more for Nariel to see.

To summarize, there were four entities in total.

Among them, three were skeletons.

One of them was wearing shoes, they said.

“Could it be a dark magician?”

Of course, it might be a monster.

Monsters also wear equipment like humans do.

“Well, does it matter?”

Though unsure of the identity of the remaining presence, three were undoubtedly skeletons.

For the adventurers here, dealing with skeletons was well within their capabilities.

Therefore, there was no need for concern.

Gregto looked at everyone and spoke.

“Perhaps those footprints belong to the beings we need to find.”

They might be the ones currently disrupting the map.

And if they scout the mountains, they will eventually meet them.

“Since it’s like this, let’s just split up here. What do you think?”

Gregto’s proposal was to divide the group into two.

One group would follow the footprints to track the unidentified beings.

The other would trace back the direction these footprints came from.

Of course, the footprints might be too faint, and they might lose track along the way.

But it would be much more efficient than blindly overturning the mountains.

Everyone nodded in agreement with his words.

Just a little while ago, they were scared, but now they felt fine.

Rather, they were eager to finish quickly and earn their money.

The adventurers began to split into two groups as Gregto suggested.

“For now, Nariel will lead the group tracking those beings.”

Nariel, wearing a hat, slightly nodded her head.

Her role was a guide.

It was a natural measure since she was adept at tracking someone.

While the adventurers were busy forming groups, Nariel cautiously glanced at the tree beside her.

“The tree is trembling.”

Her proficiency as a guide wasn’t solely due to her agility.

It was because she could sense nature itself.

However, this was a secret never spoken to anyone.

Nariel embraced the tree.

The tree was trembling intensely.

Closing her eyes, Nariel shared the emotions of the tree.

‘Darkness.’

It was dark to an indescribable extent.

‘And desire.’

Desire existed within that darkness.

‘Finally, greed.’

Endless greed unfolded.

Nariel opened her eyes, feeling a sense of fear.

“What on earth is this….”

It was an indescribable feeling.

* * *

Steam rises gently.

Warm vapor touches the ceiling, turning into droplets that fall to the floor.

In a hollowed-out space, various colored slimes were mixed with warm water.

It was a slime bath.

And in the center of the slime bath.

“Squelch.”

There was Ark Lich.

The skeletal frame of Ark Lich sparkled in the warm water, emitting light.

The sticky slimes were diligently cleaning every nook and cranny of Ark Lich’s bones.

A slight acidity emanated from the slimes, but to Ark Lich, it was nothing.

It even felt refreshing.

“Squelch.”

Bathing in the warm slime bath was peculiar yet fantastical.

Ark Lich smiled contentedly as if satisfied.

Not only were the slimes cleaning Ark Lich, but they were also polishing the shoes he wore.

The sophisticated-looking shoes were one of the ‘small tokens of respect’ given to Ark Lich by Scol.

“Thud.”

Ark Rich commanded the skeletons standing beside him, who were idly waiting, to come in.

The skeletons hesitated for a moment, but entered the hot spring when Ark Rich repeated the command.

“Thud.”

From Noble mtl dot com

Ark Rich was satisfied.

Enjoying it alone would be a bribe.

But what if everyone enjoyed it together?

It’s just receiving ordinary hospitality.

After indulging in the bath for a while, Ark Rich stepped out of the hot spring.

Nodding, he raised his notebook and delicately recorded with the fountain pen Scoll had given him as a gift.

– Sticky Puddle Dungeon, no issues at all.

This is not favoritism.

There really were no issues.

The current owner leading the ‘Sticky Puddle’ dungeon was a 3-star King Slime.

As befitting its name, it was larger than ordinary slimes, and its combat power seemed formidable.

“Squish!”

The King Slime roared.

– Roaring like a dungeon owner, rough appearance.

Poses a significant threat to adventurers.

Based on these points, Ark Rich meticulously recorded.

This dungeon’s record was quickly completed as well.

“Thud.”

As Ark Rich spoke, the skeletons also emerged from the slime bath.

Now it was time to leave.

The skeletons began to take their positions.

On Ark Rich’s left, a skeleton holding a notebook, and on the right, a skeleton with a fountain pen, took their places.

Behind Ark Rich, a skeleton held a pack made of slime secretions along with the ‘small tokens of gratitude’ received from Scoll.

This pack, when applied to the body, had an even better effect, a gift from the King Slime.

Nodding, Ark Rich exited the slime dungeon.

Already, I have explored two out of your four dungeons.

[Red-Haired Tribe] – Complete, no issues.

[Sticky Puddle] – Complete, no issues.

And now, two dungeons remain.

[Fog-Enshrouded Village]

[Remnants of the Abyss]

Contemplating the next destination, Ark Lich decided to head towards the relatively close dungeon, ‘Remnants of the Abyss.’

Ark Lich and the skeletons began to move their footsteps.

All of them were undead.

Without the need for rest, they continued to walk.

They walked and walked.

Repeating this action, they unexpectedly arrived at the dungeon.

[Remnants of the Abyss]

In front of it, a skeleton soldier awaited, and upon spotting Ark Lich, it rushed towards him.

“Snap!”

Then, with a loud noise, it saluted Ark Lich.

Ark Lich nodded.

– Quick in action. This is commendable.

In truth, their actions were not swift; they were all undead.

The skeleton soldier, being undead as well, had no need for sleep or rest.

Indeed, this skeleton soldier had been standing near the entrance since the dungeon ‘Remnants of the Abyss’ appeared.

It had never left its post.

As Ark Lich entered the dungeon, the soldier resumed guarding the entrance.

“Snap!”

“Snap!”

As Ark Lich entered, everyone greeted him.

The ‘Remnants of the Abyss’ dungeon was entirely composed of skeletons.

There were skeleton knights, as well as skeleton archers and wizards.

Of course, there were those of lower ranks.

Soldiers, apprentice archers, magic trainees, and so on…

And a skeleton knight approached Ark Rich and extended its hand.

The owner of this dungeon was a 3-star skeleton knight.

Originally a 2-star skeleton inspector, it evolved into a 3-star upon entering the service of the great master.

Thud-

Thud-

If you looked closely at those who were greeting Ark Rich, you could see their bodies trembling slightly.

In reality, they were feeling fear towards Ark Rich.

Inspector Ark Rich.

A being who came to inspect the higher-level dungeon.

And, above all, Ark Rich was someone who could make them explode.

One of Ark Rich’s skills was corpse explosion.

And it could explode undead monsters of lower grades than the caster.

However, Ark Rich was a 5-star being.

All the skeletons here fell within the range of Ark Rich’s skill.

The fear of their own bones exploding at any moment made them tremble.

To them, Ark Rich was not just an inspector but something beyond, a fear and terror.

“Exactly.”

Ark Rich opened his mouth.

Now, the inspection was about to begin.