Five thousand soldiers, the cream of the crop, were making good progress through Mohed’s Great Dungeon, which was known as the worst dungeon of all. The enemies that appeared are slaughtered one by one, leaving only scattered corpses behind them. The magical beasts could only run away from the unusual intruder. The slimes are trampled and horned rabbits are grabbed by their ears and their heads were cut off.
A total slaughter. If there were adventurers here, they would have felt that way.
“Hahahaha! Our kingdom’s army is the strongest!”
Behind the soldiers fighting the enemy, the general was frolicking like a child. In contrast, Arvish and Feria walk in silence.
“You are very quiet, Hero-dono. We are almost at the tenth level. Can’t you be more pleased?”
“We are just on the tenth floor. What we are aiming for is the 24th floor. There’s still a long way to go.”
Arvish turns his attention to the guide. Then Coby, who had read the air, began to explain to the general.
“Hehe, for intermediate adventurers, this area is like they are just strolling in a garden. The real trouble is from the fifteenth floor downwards. Furthermore, from the 20th level onwards, even advanced adventurers will not touch it.”
“Humph! Of course I know that much! Who do you think I am? Just shut up and show us around!”
“Well, please excuse me. Kuhihi.”
Coby gave a vulgar laugh and ran to the soldier walking in the lead. It is already the third day that the royal army has gone underground. Although there is a slight delay from the original plan, it is proceeding without any major problems. Everyone was caught off guard by the fact that it was a big dungeon.
“Good grief, it seems like my cute Lich won’t be able to make their appearance like this.”
Professor Jill grumbled behind Arvish. The professor is followed by four lich dressed in white robes. Arvish spoke without looking back.
“The four of them are our trump cards after all. We can’t let these small fry fight against them.”
“It’s not yours, it’s mine. I decide what kind of enemy they fight against. Don’t forget that in this mission, you are working with me.”
“Of course, I fully understand that. Well, I’m not saying that you are just participating in this event because of the huge research grant from His Majesty. If you disobey my orders, you won’t be able to get what you can get, understood?”
“……Then find that opponent as soon as possible. I don’t have enough free time to be with you guys forever.”
The professor turned away and stopped talking. Arvish inwardly scoffs that even an arrogant researcher can’t beat money.
In fact, Professor Jill had run out of money for his research. The cause is his indifference to money. He spent a lot of money on his research, and when it wasn’t enough, he sold off the assets left by his parents to make money. When that was gone, he got into debt to get some money. Naturally, such a life does not last long. Cornered, he decided to sell the results of his research to King Logas. The King liked the man-made Lich at first sight and promised to help fund his research. However, that is on condition that he helps catch the Homeless party.
“Are all researchers like that?”
“Who knows. I don’t know much about them, but I can tell right away that people who think of modifying a magical beast to make it obey his commands is not normal.”
“That’s right. I would like our relationship with him to be clear.”
Feria told Arvish to put a line on their relationship with the Professor.
◇◇◇
The army finally reached the fifteenth level.
Coby and Arvish were having a conversation.
“Is it true that they have a store around here?”
“I won’t tell a lie danna-sama. There is even a signage there that says ‘Homeless Cafeteria’, and they are making a lot of money off the adventurers coming here.”
“Opening a cafeteria in the dungeon is indeed something that Shinichi Tanaka would think of. He must be serving expensive food to adventurers anyway. It’s a despicable way to do it.”
“As expected of danna-sama, you are quick to understand. Then I have a suggestion for you, let’s take the cafeteria from them. There is probably plenty of food and water there, and these fifteenth floor is a safe zone as there are no enemies here. I’ll tell you that it’s a great place for your soldiers to relieve their fatigue.”
Arvish began to think over Coby’s words. He thought that Coby is indeed right, they did not see any enemy on the fifteenth floor. It would be a great place for the soldiers to rest. Moreover, food and water would be available, so Coby’s suggestion was not bad.
“Alright then, show us to that cafeteria.”
“Hehe, I understand.”
For about an hour, they walked on a route where not a single enemy appeared, then they eventually found it. The wooden door has a signage that says, “Homeless’ Cafeteria”. Just looking at it enraged Arvish.
“Rush in! It doesn’t matter if you kill the people inside.”
Fifty soldiers broke through the door and stepped inside. Tables and chairs in the cafeteria are overturned and destroyed. The sound of glass bottles breaking can be heard, and the footsteps of many people echoed. After a delay, Arvish walked inside the cafeteria.
“Looks like no one is here.”
Arvish muttered to himself as he looks at the deserted cafeteria. The crystals on the walls dimly illuminated the room, and the soldiers had already begun to search for food.
“Arvish-sama! We have found food and water!”
One of the soldiers made a report. Several soldiers were carrying large bags to the center of the room, as well as moving many other barrels.
“Thank you for your hard work. Very well, I will allow you guys to consume half of it here. Also, please feel free to drink alcohol.”
“Yes!”
As that soldier leaves, another soldier comes to him. In his hand was a large, puffy leather bag.
“I found the money of the Homeless party!”
“Well done. Then, let me hold it.”
After receiving the leather bag, Arvish loosens the muzzle strap and immediately checks inside. Coins rub against each other but he was discouraged to see what’s inside. Most of them were copper coins. He tied the muzzle again and threw it to Coby, who was nearby.
“Eh? Are you sure danna-sama? That’s about a gold coin worth you know.”
“I’ll give you that much money. Think of it as a reward for letting me know about this place.”
“Hehe, thank you danna-sama.”
After receiving the money, Coby moved to the corner of the room and began counting the copper coins. The general who is already drinking is watching the situation. He sat down at the counter in the dining room and called out to Arvish who is giving instructions to the soldiers.
“Don’t you have any other guides? I just don’t like that guy.”
“I understand your feelings Your Excellency. But right now, we need his help. Though he looked like that, that man is a seasoned adventurer who has once reached the thirtieth floor. He is indispensable for us to move forward.”
“Tsk. He doesn’t look like a seasoned adventurer at all. But since Hero-dono says so, I’ll put up with it for a while, of course, you’ll get rid of him when the mission is over, right?”
“Yes, as soon as we have secured the way to the surface. Your Excellency need not to worry, you will not get your hands dirty.”
The general took a sip of the glass of sake, saying, “I’ll leave everything to Hero-dono then.”
Why is Arvish so submissive to the general? It has to do with the position he is in. Although he is a hero with the title of the strongest in the kingdom, he is by no means the head of the military. It is the general who commands the entire army and even he, the hero, is also his pawn.
However, a hero is granted the same right to speak or refuse orders from the general. Although he is formally lower in rank than the general, in reality, he is also recognized as a general. It’s just that he doesn’t have subordinates.
Because of these complications, Arvish had to act as an equal but he talks to the general as his superior. Moreover, in this operation, the general had given Arvish the right to command the soldiers. It is not a right to directly command the soldiers over the general though. If the general felt offended, the soldiers could quickly disobey his orders.
“I need to get rid of this guy as soon as possible”, Arvish thought about it with a delightful smile.
◇◇◇
“N-Not good! It’s terrible, General!”
The screams of a soldier awaken the other soldiers who were sleeping. Arvish and Feria jumped up and ran over to the General, who was still sitting at the counter.
“This is…”
The general’s face had turned pale, and rigor mortis had already begun. A half-drunk liquor bottle was placed nearby, and Arvish quickly grabbed the bottle.
“Feria, get a silver spoon from my luggage! Hurry!”
“Yes, I’ll get it right away!”
Once he got the spoon, Arvish dripped a few drops of liquor on the silver spoon. Then, the spoon, which was in a shade of beautiful silver, suddenly turned black. The soldiers around him were stunned by the situation.
“Look! It’s poison! Someone killed him!”
“Impossible! We’ve been on guard all night but we did not see any suspicious people!”
Several soldiers spoke up. They are the unit that was in charge of the guard last night. Suspicion was cast on them by other soldiers.
“Calm down. I didn’t say that there are traitors among us. Wouldn’t it be more natural to think that we were infiltrated by someone with stealth skills or other means? And if there are people who can do that…”
“It’s those Homeless bastards, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, Shinichi Tanaka’s party would be able to do it.”
The soldiers shouted,
“Damn Homeless!”,
“H-How dare they… to the General!”
They expressed their immense anger. Arvish’s words quickly turn into facts among the soldiers. They believed that it was the Homeless who killed the general.
“It is unfortunate that His Excellency has passed away, but we cannot afford to abandon our mission. We have to catch the Homeless party who killed the general. I’m sure His Excellency wants that too. Alright. I’m going to lead the army from now on, do you have any objections?”
The soldiers bowed to Arvish in silence. In the event of the death of a general, a person with a similar position temporarily leads the troops. There was no one better than Arvish on this occasion.
“Then get ready to go, we’ll be out of here in an hour.”
The soldiers immediately obeyed the order. Arvish leaves the room first, taking Feria with him. After walking about twenty meters down the dimly lit corridor, they were laughing with the corners of their mouths raised sharply.
“Well done Feria, thanks to your stealth skills, I was finally able to get rid of that guy.”
“It’s not a big deal. I just poisoned the liquor bottle.”
Ever since Arvish and Feria dived into the Great Dungeon, they had been looking for an opportunity to assassinate the General. Blaming it to the Homeless party is also in their plan.
“I knew he was going to drink until late at night. He had insomnia after all.”
“All I had to do was sneak up and use my stealth skills to poison the bottle, it was really easy.”
The two of them giggled. Suddenly, they heard a sound behind them, it was the sound of a stone rolling, as if it was kicked.
“Who?!”
Arvish reflexively turned around, but there was no one there. The two of them looked at it many times to see if anyone was eavesdropping.
“I’m sure it’s just your imagination.”
“That’s right. I was a little too excited. Let’s go back to the soldiers.”
As Arvish tried to walk away, Feria grabbed his arm and held him back. She has pink cheeks and looks a little embarrassed.
“This last few days… we haven’t done it you see. There’s still time so…”
“Oh, my sweet Feria. I love you.”
The two of them sought each other out like beasts in the dimly lit corridor. They didn’t even know that someone was watching them intently nearby.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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