298 What's the Source of Your Fatigue? 'Mental'
"Why ask that now... Well fine. You see, the older a dungeon the stronger its influence on space grows. So a dungeon this vast must have lived for so long you can't even imagine the exact number."
"Hee~. So the entrance to this wonderfully old dungeon showed itself now of all time huh."
I was talking to myself there but she overheard.
"Yep. Something like this happening is super rare, just you know. Most dungeons popped their entrances above ground after about a year. This one is pretty much a Grand Dungeon class..."
She missed 'now of all time' it seems.
(Guessing it's because of me... Gotta accept that by now.)
Yes, as someone who constantly gets dragged into a mess after a mess, even this dungeon's emergence must have been caused by that 'something' on me.
However, that fact has got nothing to do with White Fang and I don't want them to start interrogating me, so I keep it to myself.
"I'm guessing dungeons that get this big have fewer floors to compensate, or maybe not?"
I still have a question left. An important one for this expedition.
"We still don't know about that point. I mean, there's no record of a dungeon this huge before, it's a first in history..."
"I believe this dungeon definitely has a boss. As for on which floor, we have no choice but to keep going until we reach the deepest one."
Firuna added to Mary explanation. Meanwhile our clothes dried up.
"Okay, I'm ready now. We've gotta move out soon or else Barido might catch up to us."
Kidd urged our departure. Apparently the next batch of adventurer party is given permission to enter the dungeon after a period of time from the last batch.
We erased the fire and went back to the lake and started walking around the bank.
There's no sign of monsters spawning even after a while.
"My magic search doesn't work underwater. But I managed to grasp the size of this lake somewhat."
"Tell us the rough distance between our location and the opposite bank."
Mary sighed at Kidd.
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"You don't want to hear it. We've still got a looong way to go. Knowing now's just gonna wear yourself out."
Kidd could only smile wryly at her reply. Same with other members.
I'm reminded that I haven't study length units used in this world.
It bothers me a bit but I can't tell if the knowledge falls on 'being study-able' or 'something your average country bumpkin doesn't know'.
Asking that question here is akin to giving them information about the relationship between me and this world.
'Was he in an environment with a good education or not' and such. You can trace it back from there.
Hence, keeping silent is essential. An important skill to live in this world.
My goal is to lead a recluse life somewhere peaceful. Currently, I still can't decide if I should get along with this White Fang party or not.
Still trying to measure if it's fine to get more involved with them or not.
I'll be fine with having White Fang as my cover, but if they make an attempt to utilize me for their benefit, I'm leaving the kingdom.
Guess my next destination is gonna be the federation? My mind wandered.
We kept trudging on when Mary finally spoke.
Think it'd been an hour since the last time? We came across zero monster in the meantime, the journey was smooth.
"In just a bit, we'll be right at the opposite end of where we were."
We must have covered quite a lot of ground. Thanks to that serpent popping up, all the monsters around must have scampered away, there's still no sign of any even now.
"How about taking a break here? I don't sense monsters nearby. It's a good spot to catch our breath."
Melgis proposed. He's weirdly assertive. I thought he was pro exiting this dungeon.
"Now that we've come this far, it's do or die. Both pressing on and falling back carry the same risk of dying. So I'm gonna bet on the former and do it right."
Noticing my gaze, Melgis replied. Seems like he saw through me.
The guy is a scout. He must be mentally drained from always on the lookout ahead.
I realized how inconsiderate I was being when he must be the one most fatigued among us.
(Right, I gotta take some burden off Melgis by killing any monsters he found as soon as possible.)
It was a huge misunderstanding. He looks tired *because* of me. However, that truth escaped me.
Melgis is mentally weary due to his fear of watching me eliminating monsters at a breakneck speed. It has nothing to do with scouting being nerve wracking.
Every single time, he would announce any enemy he found which then disappeared in the same exact moment. He couldn't understand what was going on at first, but gradually got it the more it happened and started to fear.
That fact took a toll on his mental fortitude.
"Alrighty, let's take a quick break. The rest of the way is a straight path through the forest from here. Melgis, we're counting on you."
"Yeah, I got your back. No worries. Just gotta go at it like usual..."
Must be the usual exchange between Kidd and Melgis.
There I added.
"I'll take care of any monsters you found right away, like I've been doing. You can relax. Leave it all to me."
Melgis's face cramped up when he heard that, but I missed this moment as my eyes were fixated on the forest.
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