285 Third Wheel
I have a standard. One of which, I don't feel queasy slicing up animals I deem as food.
I had been doing that during 'hunting' days at my village. It's simply part of life if you want to survive.
Of course, I was trembling in shock when I first made the attempt as a child.
But you get used to it over time. Help that my father showed the how step by step.
However, seeing grotesque or splatter scenes that come up of nowhere will make me feel sick.
Reason being preparedness in heart or the lack of it. Ergo, me vomiting when I slaughtered those orcs back then.
Dissecting that boar magic beast in the forest didn't make me feel queasy. Must be due to my mind recognizing it as a food.
The reason that thought is occupying my mind is because I'm in a dungeon right now.
(Dungeon-borne monsters vanish into light particles when they die so I'm totally fine.)
＝＝ ＝＝ ＝＝ ＝＝
We went to the dungeon at noon today. It's located smack dab in the middle of a wilderness quite a distance away from the kingdom.
The place is bustling with a lot of stalls around doing business with adventurers, it almost looks like a festival.
In the middle of them all is a huge hole on the ground. It's so humongous you'd think it was a giant pitfall at a glance.
There's a hut and simple fences around what seems to be the entrance with the kingdom's soldiers guarding the spot and checking the adventurers wanting to go in.
Of course. 'White Fang' aren't the only adventurers in the business. Judging from the attires, around 80% of the people here are ones.
"Let's draw the lot for our party. Looks like we're going last though."
Kidd spoke. Firuna added.
"From what I observed, the dungeon this time appears to be quite arduous. I have been catching sights of many injured people with damaged equipment."
"It'll be fine! My magic's gonna take care of them in one go like usual! Like 'Boom!' and that's that!"
Melgis looked at the cheery Mary with a dubious expression.
"You ever listen to the word you spout off? Remember the last time we had to retreat cause of that lax attitude of yours?"
"Wasn't that also cause you forgot to remove a trap!? It wasn't all me~!"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Enough of that. Pull yourselves together, you two. Kidd is back from drawing our lot."
Danku soothed the two. I remained silent all the while.
There's nothing for me to do here. My turn is inside the dungeon.
'White Fang' is chatting around like they always do. As if I'm not there. Like I'm a third wheel.
(Well I don't really care. I'm just a temporary 'companion' to them, not here to make friends.)
We're simply making use of one another. They serve as my 'cover' in this dungeon conquering.
And they use me as a 'firepower'.
That said, they probably won't understand why I'm even doing it.
"Got a so-so number. Our turn is just before evening today. Let's grab some grub and do a final check before then."
Kidd went to look for an inn after saying that. Apparently you can check in rooms to spend time in this place.
The system naturally got established due to the queue. You could wait even longer if you're struck with bad luck after all.
This place is a bit too far from the kingdom. Thus this system allows people to kick back without going on a round trip.
I went with them to the inn, in awe of business zeal people everywhere possess.
Inside the room, we put all the food we bought from the stalls along the way in a table for everyone to grab.
"I would like to consult you on one thing. Regarding the allotment of monsters."
Firuna asked me.
"...Explain. I don't get it just from that."
I had a hunch of what she's trying to say, but urged her to continue nonetheless.
"We wish to preserve our strength as much as possible. As such, we hope we could borrow your strength to spearhead the way."
She must have come up with the idea after seeing all the injured people here.
If those people ended up like that from fighting small fry, not even 'White Fang' would come out unharmed.
So I am to take point.
"That has always been the plan. In fact, I'm going to decimate every single thing blocking the way."
"Hey! Don't you think you're going overboard? That just sounds like you don't even need us to come with you or something!"
(What is this girl's flaring up for? Is she emotionally unstable?)
Mary snarled on me, Firuna reined on her.
"Mary, your magic is indeed powerful. As such, we should save it until the right time. Please refrain from casting any spell while he is in battle. It could prove fatal if you run out of mana during the most crucial moment."
Mary shut up after hearing that. Melgis spoke afterward.
"Any problem with me leading the way? Or maybe you can take care of trap removals and finding directions on your own as well?"
"No I can't. I specialize in combat stuff."
I told the truth. Best to leave it to the pro here.
'Noted', Melgis stepped back after saying that.
Danku came forward.
"Do you need a shielder?"
It must be his role. I replied just as curtly.
"I'm good. You focus on protecting our healer, Firuna."
Our survival rate will go up so long as our lifeline is intact. I'm not going to let myself get hit, but who knows what's gonna crop up in dungeons, this is for the best.
"Now then, I guess we're about done. There's a lot of unnerving elements this time around, but we are adventurers. We're pretty much finished if we get cold feet here. Let's pull through this together."
With Kidd's ending speech, we left our room and went back to the dungeon's entrance.
The soldier stationed nearby walked up to us and asked for confirmation.
"Allow me to take your lot. Okay, you guys must be 'White Fang'. Good luck. I'll take you to the ladder."
We climbed down around five meter long hole and found ourselves in front of a cave, the starting line of this dungeon.
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