Chapter 180 - The Eyes of a Dream-Chaser Always Burn
Krais crossed his arms, his eyes gleaming as he continued.
"The period when this fellow Dolph, the owner of the treasure map, created this dungeon was a long time ago."
Wondering what nonsense he was spouting now, Enkrid just stared. Krais shot him a confident smile. It was slightly annoying, but having nothing to say in response, Enkrid simply watched.
"Which means," Krais continued, "a method like this didn't exist back then."
As the eras changed and time flowed, treasure hunters had grown cunning. When it came to the process of risking one's life to disarm traps to obtain the prize within a dungeon, they began to skip the arduous steps and focus solely on the result. The culmination of that was the book he mentioned, Kristlown's Guide to Dungeon Delving.
"It's a technique called the 'back-door method.'"
It was an unconventional shortcut, but if it worked, it was a brilliant method. Enkrid himself had just experienced something similar. When capturing the gnoll leader was the obstacle, hadn't he found a way to overcome it not by waiting for the beast, not by sacrificing the village, and not by choosing an unfavorable battlefield?
"This is it."
Krais found a boulder the size of a grown man and spoke.
"If you please, Luagarne."
The Frog stepped forward without protest. When she pushed the boulder, it toppled to the side with a thud. Beneath it, an old, hole-like opening was revealed.
Krais took a shovel from his pack, dug a few times, and said, "This is the entrance, so roughly…"
He then began to walk with long strides. After pacing around the area for about the time it would take a finger-length candle to burn down, Krais once again showed a wide grin.
"It should be right about here."
Krais lifted the shovel and began to dig into the ground. Shoveling, of course, was not a one-man job.
"I'll help."
This time it was Enkrid. He took a shovel and started digging. From what he understood, the plan was to bypass all the traps and dig a hole directly into the location where the treasure was hidden. It was hardly a novel idea, but it might have been an unthinkable method in the past, when Dolph had first built the dungeon. It was a shortcut, but it was far more efficient than risking one's life disarming traps.
Enkrid agreed and helped.
Esther paced around nearby, flexing her claws, but Enkrid shook his head.
"Get some rest."
The panther looked visibly exhausted.
"Mrrrrow."
As if the words were most welcome, the panther purred and found a spot to lie down. She curled up and closed her eyes. Looking at her now, she really did seem tired. Aside from when he was sparring on the way here, he had carried her in his arms. She looked completely drained.
In any case, Krais was right.
"We're just picking up some treasure on our way through, why would we leave this behind? Ah, it might not be here. Someone without a map could have looted it, but the probability of that is low."
Was that the third time he'd said it was no big deal?
As they dug, the soil crumbled and fell away, revealing an artificial passageway.
"See?" Krais said. It was the result of him and Enkrid taking turns with the shovels.
Inside the hole, a few gold coins rolled around, reflecting the light. It was too dark to see further in, but a few coins couldn't be the entirety of the treasure.
Just as Krais had said, it was easy.
"Whoa."
Finn's eyes sparkled. Krais had promised her a portion of the krona. This meant Finn could also walk away with a few pouches of coin. Luagarne and Esther were uninterested, while Enkrid thought some krona would be nice because of his damaged swords.
Go down, grab the treasure, and come back. It was still an easy job.
It had to be. It was supposed to have been an easy job.
The sun was setting, and the moon had already risen. Krais glanced at the moon once before speaking.
"Let's all go down. It seems like a decent place to spend the night. And there might be a lot of things to carry out."
There was unlikely to be any danger. There were no beasts around, and they weren't going to be spending more than a day inside. The sun was setting, after all. Since they had to make camp anyway, it would be good to spend the night below if there were no immediate threats.
Krais laid out his calculations. Everyone agreed with his suggestion to spend the night below and move out tomorrow, rather than being pestered by insects outside.
"That sounds good," Enkrid agreed. As he did, he wondered if there was anything else besides a few gold coins.
'Will there be anything decent?'
He wasn't short on krona, but his swords had been severely damaged in the last battle. In particular, the sword made of Valerian steel and Noir soft iron was badly chipped. Separate from needing a new edge, its core had also been damaged.
'This one's unusable.'
To a mercenary, a weapon is life. A swordsman who doesn't understand the value of that life is flawed from the start. Enkrid, naturally, knew how to assess the condition of his weapons. He had cut down hundreds of beasts and monsters. It would be strange if his swords were still in perfect condition. It meant the cores of both swords were damaged. His armor was also torn in several places. The leather parts were ripped, and there were holes in some of the chain links underneath.
As he thought this, he saw Luagarne moving nonchalantly beside him.
"This will delay my return," Enkrid remarked.
Luagarne puffed out her cheeks with a croak and replied, "It is fine. I am merely enjoying myself."
The atmosphere was cheerful. Enkrid gave Esther a piece of seasoned jerky. In the meantime, Finn tied a rope to a sturdy tree. Her Ranger knot-tying skills shone.
"It won't come undone unless it's cut. And it's not too steep to climb back up."
It was a precaution, just in case. Very Ranger-like.
They dropped the prepared rope down into the hole.
One by one, they descended, starting with Enkrid, followed by Finn and then Krais. Esther leaped down, digging her claws into the wall to descend. Finally, Luagarne wrapped the rope around her feet and hopped down with a few light taps.
Everyone was down. The moon was high in the sky.
'Is it around midnight?' Enkrid wondered internally.
"We can camp down here and head up tomorrow. It'll be perfect," Krais said from behind him.
Enkrid nodded. In case there was any lingering danger, he lit a torch and scanned the surroundings. In the back, toward the original dungeon entrance Krais had found, he could see a long passage, but it was so narrow one would have to stoop to get through.
'My back would break trying to get out that way.'
Not literally, of course, but it was that narrow. Fighting in such a place would make it difficult to respond properly.
'A bad place to use a sword,' Enkrid judged.
There seemed to be no other dangers. Everyone else thought the same. There wasn't as much dust as one would expect, and there were no pressure-plate traps.
Esther let out a leisurely yawn with a low growl. She still looked tired, so Enkrid held her in his arms and handed the torch to Krais.
Luagarne looked around and muttered, "Traces of great age."
What was she like as a scholar? Enkrid found himself idly wondering.
'She knows ancient languages and serves as a talent appraiser for the kingdom.'
Separate from her combat prowess, the multitalented Frog's value was certainly not low.
Finn could find no danger in the passages ahead or behind. As a Ranger, Finn wasn't a professional treasure hunter, but she knew how to spot traps.
'It's clean.'
If there was a trap she couldn't see, it would have to be related to magic or be a very high-level mechanism—the kind that activates with a mere graze, not the simple tripwires or arrow traps. The kind that only an expert treasure hunter would notice.
'A bit much for a single rich guy to build,' she thought.
Such traps were the kind you'd find in an ancient tomb, as they would typically require magic to be woven into them.
Finn's eyes fell on Krais walking beside her. Having picked up three or four gold coins from the floor, he was examining the surroundings by torchlight.
Until that moment, nothing had happened. No danger, nothing special.
The passage was short and soon opened into a circular cave. A fitting scene for the end of a dungeon, there was an altar and a single old, worn chest. Atop the altar, a dust-covered sword was embedded. To put it nicely, it was ancient and elegant; to put it badly, it was just endlessly old.
"We came to the right place," Krais couldn't hide his excitement. He had dug in the right spot and found the right path. At this rate, couldn't he call himself a treasure hunter? He was glad he'd read Kristlown's Guide to Dungeon Delving. Ever since he was young, after learning to read, Krais would find and read all sorts of books. He believed they would be the hand that pulled him out of the swamp of poverty from his childhood.
He had been right. Hadn't he just found treasure like this?
"Does it really take that much krona to open a salon?" Enkrid asked casually.
"Yes, of course," Krais answered without skipping a beat.
Really? Enkrid's eyes asked. For the first time in a while, Krais recited his dream.
"In the capital, I'll build the most luxurious, glamorous facility that everyone will be dying to enter. I'll even create memberships. And that's not the end. I'll open branch locations. All across the continent."
The eyes of one who chases a dream always burn.
Enkrid not only had no right to laugh at another's dream, but he also found the sight of Krais's shining eyes to be pleasant, so he just offered his support.
"Right. Go for it."
The room contained only two chests and the old sword stuck in the altar. Seeing as there were gold coins dropped in the hallway, there had to be something here as well. With great anticipation, Krais examined the chests. He knew they might be rigged to shoot poison darts when opened. Krais moved forward cautiously.
Behind Krais, Luagarne offered Enkrid a piece of advice more valuable than gold.
"Just learning the basics won't be enough. You need to learn a proper style of swordsmanship and make it part of your body. Then you'll be able to advance further."
"For example?"
"The Northern style of swordsmanship. You learned it from that man, didn't you?"
The Frog's eye for detail was sharp. After observing Ragna and then Enkrid, she had discerned the origin.
Enkrid nodded. The Frog spoke again.
"It would be good if you could properly learn the Northern style from that blonde, red-eyed friend of yours."
"And you can't teach me?"
"I am bound by a covenant. This has already been an exceptional vacation. I must return."
As she spoke, Luagarne's voice was filled with genuine regret.
A covenant. Frogs are easily swayed by their wants and desires. For that reason, they make what is called a "heart's oath." To avoid repeatedly speaking the word 'heart,' they substitute it with the word 'covenant.' Thus, a Frog's covenant was not something to be taken lightly. It was a rule that had to be obeyed unconditionally, before their own wants and desires. Frogs who lived without upholding one were extremely rare, practically nonexistent. This was why the saying "an innocent Frog's sword-swing" came to be. It meant that an unknowing Frog could be tricked by a human or another race, selling their covenant and causing a massacre with an unwilling blade.
'That's quite something.'
Enkrid realized anew that Luagarne's earlier words about falling for him were not spoken lightly.
Was there really a need for that? To make a heart's oath to fall for him? Why? What for?
Enkrid couldn't tell her to cancel it. No fool was unaware of the weight of a Frog's oath. He also knew well that Frogs enjoyed taking the heads of those who insulted their oaths. Not losing a fight and insulting your opponent were two different matters, so Enkrid kept his mouth shut.
It was then.
"KYAAA!"
Esther, who had been curled up in a corner, steeped in exhaustion, suddenly let out a fierce cry.