To properly enjoy Dungeon and Stone, you had to be good at adapting to everything it proposed. I'm not talking about getting familiar with the setting of the game, but about adapting to the style of play it required. A crack that suddenly opened while you were hunting, a teammate who betrayed you when you came across a high-ranking monster... Surely at some point in the game you encountered unforeseen situations like that.
Like right now.
«Sir, that...»
«Yes that's right.»
The Lord of the Floor had been summoned. In other words, someone on the third floor had sacrificed seven human bodies inside the Witch's Hut, whether intentionally or not.
I had a feeling it had been intentional, of course.
...But sometimes, it really is by coincidence.
Test A was none other than me. The day Missha and I had accidentally participated in the summoning, I had only decided to burn the bodies because we were desperate to take a break in the cabin. Unfortunately, someone else had already done the same, so the Soil Lord ended up appearing. In any case, that wasn't important now.
«Yandel, what should we do?»
«First, let's get out of the forest. We can't go to the fourth floor now, anyway». When Riakis, the Lord of Chaos, was summoned, all the portals on the third floor were rendered useless, turning the entire third floor into a huge boss room.
As we put as much distance as possible between us and the forest, some familiar faces decided to appear.
«Bjorn! There's a disgusting thing crawling around. What is that?»
«Un Espíritu del Chaos».
Once Riakis was summoned, those symbolic monsters began to run rampant all over the ground, and chased whoever took out their aggro to death. I sighed as I remembered it.
I haven't seen those bastards in a long time.
«I'll take care of them». Without even needing to shoot an arrow, Erwen used a fire spirit to kill three Chaos Spirits in one go.
[The Spirit of Chaos has been destroyed. This place will now deteriorate.]
If we were planning to fight the boss, we should be careful and keep track of which locations were eroding, but since we weren't going to hunt Riakis anyway.
«¡Kwohhh!»
A familiar roar echoed from the Witch's Forest. I felt a little disappointed. I thought the next time I heard that sound, I'd be the one to hunt it down.
«Bjorn! Shouldn't we do something instead of just running away?»
«What, you want the four of us to hunt down a Soil Lord?»
Technically speaking, Auyen was five, but no one bothered to correct me. It wasn't like one more person was enough to make the impossible possible.
«Bjorn, I didn't mean that... I was just wondering if we could do something. I heard a lot of people died the last time this happened. »
Yes... Many people died, and since I was responsible for the incident, I felt really guilty about it.
«Oh, and I heard that in a disaster situation, higher level adventurers have a duty to help!»
Yes, that was the commitment of adventurers. That was the reason why the Dzarwi clan, which was on the third floor at the time, did everything they could to protect the lower-ranking adventurers. Even the largest clans couldn't help but fear retaliation from the guild.
Although they extorted the adventurers as payment to protect them...
However, one thing was clear. Without their help that day, many more people would have died. Even after the Soil Lord appeared, they risked their lives to protect the low-ranking adventurers gathered there for almost four hours.
«I mean, I don't know what we should do in a situation like this. I only know how to fight. But you're different, Bjorn, so...»
«Ainar, calm down.»
She quickly closed her mouth, embarrassed. But even though he clearly felt like he had said too much, he kept looking directly at me.
I realized it only from his look. Ainar was fair. There were only two things he despised in this world, and they were monsters and looters. As long as they weren't one of those two things, she wanted to help others as much as possible.
«Don't worry. I'm not going to let people die doing nothing». The situation in general was not that bad. After all, helping others and giving back wasn't always a loss.
«Oh! I knew it!»
«Did you think he was just going to run away? I'm sure there are many barbarian companions here on the third floor.»
That being said, protecting the barbarians was just a factor for me at this point. He had planned to intervene at all costs. How high was my reputation now? It would be a tank if word spread that I ran away alone on the third floor without helping anyone.
«Ahhh! So what do we do? I'll follow you, even if you ask me to jump into the fire!»
«We will stay here and observe the situation for the moment».
"...¿Which?"
My reason for waiting at the edge of the forest was simple.
«...You think there's a chance we won't have to do anything.»
«It is almost impossible to get permission from the Adventurer's Guild to hunt down the third floor Ground Lord, so perhaps some clan went and summoned him without permission instead».
«Ah! That means if they kill it themselves, there won't be any problems!»
«That's right.»
This was all speculation, of course. There was still no way to confirm that that was what was happening.
«¡Kwohhh!»
Watching from the outskirts of the forest as a fierce roar sounded, I received real-time updates on the situation through Erwen.
«Riakis heads towards the west side of the Witch's Forest. We would need to be closer to be able to secure it, but it seems like there are quite a few people there».
«How many?»
«I don't know. They are too far away...»
«Then let's get closer».
We walked along the perimeter of the forest, heading west. Thanks to Erwen's incredible detection skills, we were soon able to gather more detailed information.
«...There are about fifteen people, and it seems that Riakis is chasing them».
Oh really? I'd bet they were looking for a better place to fight. The forest terrain was riddled with obstacles blocking the field of vision, making it an unfavorable environment for any group that wanted to confront a boss. However, there was something else that piqued my interest.
«Fifteen people...» They were not enough to defeat Riakis, although technically it could be possible with the perfect strategy and front. «I think those fifteen people are the bait, while their main team is waiting elsewhere».
«¿Eso crees?»
«Can you hear what they say?»
«No. I guess they're using a Voice Control spell because I can't hear a single word».
«Hm, or veo.»
It was a shame we couldn't eavesdrop on them, but I couldn't help but feel relieved at how things had turned out. If everything had really been an unforeseen disaster, I would have had to run into the fray and risk my life fighting that damn thing again.
Goteo, goteo, goteo, goteo.
Suddenly, rain began to fall from the sky.
¡Fshhhhhh!
My skin stung where the black rain fell, each drop was like pure acid. This was the passive ability of Riakis' aura.
[You are taking continuous Chaos-type damage. Your Mana Resistance has decreased drastically].
[Warning: When continually exposed to Chaos-type damage, there is a chance that the Confusion status effect will be applied].
That meant we were close to him.
«We'll have to move a little further back». Without a priest, we had no way to counteract his aura, so we decided to retreat a little, just out of reach of the rain. And a while later-
«We'll be out of the woods soon!»
Although I didn't have the incredible view of Erwen or Amelia, I could make out a group of about fifteen people running in the distance.
¡Boom! ¡Bum! ¡Bum!
And of course, there was a huge monster chasing them.
«Erwen, take a look. What clan are they from?»
«...They do not carry emblems.»
Huh, did they take them off? Well, they were trying to hunt down the Soil Lord without permission, so that tracks.
They continued to push Riakis away as they ran at full speed.
«Yandel», Amelia called me as she watched them walk away, «what do you plan to do now?».
«Follow them».
"¿Por qué?"
«Because if they fail, then we will have a real disaster on our hands».
In other words, if we didn't go with them, we would have no way of knowing whether we should act.
***
After following the group of fifteen for a while, we arrived at Thorn Reed Field.
Yeah, I guess this would be the best place.
The field did not have any terrain features that could block vision - just a nice, wide clearing - making it a good battlefield. Normally, there would be thorns here that would reach shoulder height, but they had all been burned and removed as if someone had come in advance to prepare this place for battle.
«Sir, the main group is over...» Erwen abruptly interrupted herself.
"¿What ocher?"
«They have realized our presence. A person is approaching us and fast».
«Can we leave them behind?»
«... There is a small chance that we can, but only one person comes.»
Hm, so it's like that. I guess there's no point in worrying about it.
I made a quick decision. «Then we will wait here.» Why would we run away if we hadn't done anything wrong? Plus, I was curious. What kind of people started an unauthorized raid that was intended to harm innocent lives?
«Are here.»
It didn't take long for someone to come running across the barren Thorn Reed field and catch up with us. From a distance, it seemed like a faint spot, but that spot soon grew and took human form.
Stomp.
About ten meters away from us, the man stopped. He seemed like an agile and fast guy judging by the seven daggers he had on his belt.
As soon as he saw me, he stood still. Since he didn't say a word, I was the one who was forced to speak first. «Why don't you say anything? You are the one who has come running».
«...I never expected to meet a celebrity here.»
Ah, so that's why he seems so dumbfounded.
«It is an honor to meet you, Baron Yandel. I never expected to meet someone as great as a baron on the third floor of the....»
«Enough. Who are you?»
When I cut him off, he seemed to hesitate for a moment before opening his mouth. «...I'm Malid Kevron».
He didn't know if that was his real name, but it was all he had. I decided to refer to him as Daggers while asking him another question. «What clan do you belong to?»
«...The Sierra Teeth clan».
It was one of the ten largest clans in the city, now reduced to four due to the war, and the same clan of which James Calla used to be vice-captain.
«Interesting», I said with a smile. «You act like it's strange that I'm on the third floor, but that a clan of your status is down here is even stranger, don't you think?».
Daggers quickly counterattacked: «That's how things turned out for us this time». Speaking of which, by any chance, were you the one who summoned the Lord of the Floor, Your Honor?».
He was quick-tempered and witty. I never expected him to turn against me like that, without a hint of fear.
«No fui yo.»
«Is that so?»
«But if I asked you the same question, I guess you'd say no too».
«It certainly wasn't us».
«Does that mean that the people who were out there provoking Riakis have nothing to do with you?»
«They are part of our clan, yes, but we simply followed the adventurer's promise and took care of this since we happened to be close».
He is a good conversationalist.
«It's good to hear that. Then we will give you a hand».
As soon as I offered our support, Daga's expression suddenly hardened. «...I appreciate the offer, but we would not dare to impose you and make you fight, Your Honor».
«Hm, why is that?»
«Isn't it fair that dangerous work is left to adventurers?»
Huh. So he was treating me like I wasn't an adventurer just because I had become noble? I had to contain the sudden urge to break his head with my hammer.
«You don't want to undermine the prestige of the rest of Rafdonia's nobility by participating in such a humble task aimed at those below you».
«...What?» What did I just hear? «When you say the rest of the nobility... are you talking about people like Count Alminus? One of the supporters of the Sawtooth clan?»
I asked the question just to confirm, but he responded with a cheeky smile on his face. «Yes that's right».
So I had heard him right the first time.
In that case, there was no point in continuing to try to have a diplomatic conversation. Was that what you meant? If you don't want problems, don't be greedy?
«What are you trying to say, you arrogant bastard?»
«... Sorry?» Daggers froze like a new recruit who wasn't sure how he had pissed off his commanding officer. «Have I heard you correctly?»
I took a step forward. «Hello, Daggers.»
«...?»
«Are your brains made of Goblin shit?»
«That? What are you talking about...?
That's better.
He had been speaking contemptuously to me all this time, but now, he was sweating cold as he slowly backed away.
«Well, I guess I'll find out once I open it».
Sigilously lift my martillo.