Chapter 41 – Dungeons

It wasn’t once or twice that I saw a human corpse, so I looked around to see if there was anything worth taking. Even in RPG games, if a user dies, the item drops. In a similar principle, the remains of the dead without relatives were to be occupied by the living.

Perhaps because he was an adventurer who had crawled into the dungeon, his equipment was not in poor condition. Although they were wearing fancy leather clothes, of course, most of them were torn and torn due to the monsters digging them up, so it was hard to expect any special value. I finally found the wallet after searching in the bosom, and found two knives with a sleek design lying around. There was nothing that looked like a main armament. What kind of bird-ki enters the dungeon and only carries a knife?

There were about 80 coppers worth of copper coins in the purse, so we decided to split 20 coppers each. The knife could be put in one’s pocket and sold later to settle the bill. I was about to leave that way, but Elise stopped me.

“Those who meet their end by monsters will enter purgatory.”
“You mean purgatory?”
“Unless someone will take care of the body.”

There was no one who didn’t know that the word was asking for help in collecting the corpse. To be honest, it wasn’t very pleasant to touch a corpse lying dead, but out of consideration for Elise, a religious person, I decided to make things simple.

“The method of repair is not particularly limited as long as it is not a malicious insult to the corpse. The important thing is that the repair is carried out by human hands itself. By doing so, the soul of the dead can be saved. “
“Okay.”

Should I call it probation? The courtesy for the dead was over by simply placing the corpse in a corner, correcting the posture, and covering the face with his torn clothes.

“Please guide the lost soul to the original path…”

Elise prayed briefly. Seeing that, Copson asked Elise as if he remembered something. Hearing the contents, it seemed that he was expecting something like a blessing. I don’t think it would be a blessing just because someone uttered a few words. Elise must have known that, and she expressed her regrets to Copson.

Anyway, we approached the sound of the water, which was our original purpose.

“As expected, the groundwater was flowing.”
“That’s right.”

Groundwater was flowing gurgling through a fairly well-made aqueduct. When I measured the depth with the scabbard, it seemed that it was only knee-high. It looked like it would be okay to soak in, but you never know what kind of aquatic life it might contain.

“Is there water, so monsters are gathering around?”
“I wonder if that’s the case. Even a monster needs to drink water.”
“First of all, I want to wash off these dirty things on my body…”

As he said, the body fluids of tooth maggots and pieces of flesh were sticking all over his body due to the fierce battle just now. Certainly washing would be good for physical as well as mental health.

We took turns taking turns to be wary of our surroundings and simply washed our bodies and clothes. I soaked a cloth in water and wiped my clothes, and washed my hair and face. Don’t forget to fill the canteen with water.

Said Meria, who was cleaning her shield.

“Well, come to think of it, water flows underground, doesn’t it?”
“Is that right?”
“Then I think we can go underground by following this waterway without having to go back. It’ll be easier to remember the way that way.”
“That’s a good idea.”

As he said, after washing my feet, I walked along the waterway.

The third basement floor also seems to have nothing to see. The monsters that flowed in from the darkness were living in an unpleasant ecosystem in their own way, so there was no reason to do the ‘investigation’ that Elise originally said, and it was difficult to find anything that could be made money.

Will there really be something on the 4th floor?

At the end of the canal was a large stone gate. On the door is a large, elaborately carved human skull. Regardless of the East and the West, a skull means something not very good. Copson, three steps away from the door, whispered in my ear.

“The skull door… It’s a little ominous.”
“A little? I’m so fucking sinister.”

But just looking at it, it doesn’t seem like there’s something in it. As usual, dungeons promised greater rewards the deeper they went. Despite the name of the Ossuary Palace, the only skeletons I’ve seen so far are the corpses I’ve just seen.

Looking at the skeletons decorated on the door, I think the 4th basement floor is the place where the ashes are kept. And it is customary to keep their remains or valuables for the deceased together when keeping the ashes. The way I see it, this is the part that makes money. It’s not for nothing that adventurers are called grave robbers.

“Undead.”

Ashes and undead.

“They said that the undead appeared.”
“Yes. There was information that the undead appeared in the dungeon. My main purpose is to investigate them.”

Elise found the party to investigate it. There’s also the matter of destroying the kobold idol, and this is the start of the show. As soon as I pushed the door vigorously, a thick cloud of dust rose and the door slowly opened.

“Cough, Cough. The air here looks bad. It feels like you’re in an old warehouse.”

As Meria said, the air inside was turbid and dust was flying around. It is not very appetizing to learn the horrifying truth that these things are probably human bone meal. Wow, can calcium be supplied just by breathing? I took out a cloth and wrapped it around the lower part of my face to wear like a mask.

“Oh, the light… Barbarian, do you have more oil?”
“Have you finished writing already?”
“Still, it seems like a few hours.”

I changed the oil on the lantern. Seeing that the lantern, which was said to last for several hours, was worn out, I finally realized the time in the dungeon. Copson raised the lantern, which had regained its original light.

The formation again advanced with Meria as the lead, followed by Copson, Elise, and me. The width of the road was as wide as the size of the door, and a fork in the road appeared again.

“Left? Right?”

Meria in the lead said.

“…”

However, perhaps because the party was also nervous, the answer did not come out hastily. If you choose one path and enter, if the enemy suddenly rushes from the front and back, you might be in trouble.

“Can you tell. Just go right.”
“I don’t know anything, so I don’t think the direction is that important.”

At that, we turned to the right.

ㅡ Jerking and bucking.

Stone wall. And a stone floor.
Relying only on the light of the lantern, I walk through this dusty space. It literally gave off the feeling of entering a full-scale dungeon. And since it’s a dungeon, something is expected to pop out.

After walking for a while, Meria suddenly stopped.
Did you find something?

“Hey, Kat. There, that one.”

Merii pointed her sword in front of her. The light from the lantern didn’t reach that far, so I couldn’t see it clearly, but something was walking.

ㅡ Less, less, less.

It is not crawling or walking on all fours. Stretching his neck his and squinting his eyes his, I got a rough outline of it, which seemed to be walking on its feet his.

“…Is it another adventurer?”

—Gulp.

It might have been other adventurers who entered the dungeon.

It’s a dungeon where a lot of people come and go, so there’s nothing strange about meeting another party of adventurers inside. Shall we say hello? There is a lantern light here, so the other side must have already noticed us. I was worried about whether or not I should say hello first to let them know that there was no hostility.

I don’t want to think about it, but it could have been a sudden attack from the other side.

In this confined space, if you encounter murderous robbers pretending to be adventurers, there is no other way than to fight them. Murder and robbery in a dungeon with no evidence left It wasn’t an urban legend that adventurers talked about in a bar, it was just a real thing.

Of course, the loot that could be obtained by killing them was mouth-watering, but as long as you are fighting armed people, damage is inevitable. Even if there were four reliable combatants on this side, the same would be true.

In the midst of the ongoing tension, it still walked slowly.

“You walk slowly…”

I recited exactly what I felt… But then, all of a sudden, that thought came to me.

“…Don’t those bastards carry a lantern?”

Why is there no light over there?

Since humans cannot see anything in the dark, lanterns, torches, or equivalents were essential. Could it be that they are elves who can see at night as well as during the day? Elves had only been seen once, but they were as mysterious as their beauty.

“…You thought the same as me, Barbarian.”
“I agree.”

Copson and Elise also said if they realized the ideal.

ㅡ Less, less, less.

Could be a monster. The kind that walks on two legs, too.
Information about the walking monsters passed through my head. Goblins… Kobolds… For their size, it seemed like none of them.

Finally he came within sight of us.
It appeared

“Uh, Mom.”

It was unbelievable. I called that name, remembering the face of my mother, whom I hadn’t seen for years.

“It’s a skeleton. With this, the information about undead appearing in dungeons has been proven true.”

ㅡ Less, less, less.

This rattling was the sound of a skeleton walking against its own bones! Does it make sense for the skeleton to move by itself, you motherfucker!

“Fuck! Skeletons are walking!”

I had only heard of undead undead, but when I saw it for real, I started to get really scared. It felt like a very scary existence that was just a skeleton rather than a living person. It was literally an unreal sight. The dead are resurrected and moving, so there is a degree of lack of common sense!

“Don’t be so frightened. They were originally people too.”
“They?”

ㅡ Less, less, less.
ㅡ Less, less, less.

The skeleton that came back to life was not one. Ancient soldiers, each armed with decay and rust, were coming from the other side to keep the intruders out!

“Well, it’s better to see than zombies.”
“Yeah~. Zombies sometimes appeared in our hometown too, but they’re less disgusting than them.”
“What? What?”

However, Copson and Meria’s reaction was beyond common sense. Unlike me, they weren’t shocked or scared. He seemed relaxed, as if he felt that the things that came to life and walked around like that were extremely reasonable beings.

“Basically, lower level undead are weak compared to monsters with life. Barbarians, what are you so afraid of?”
“You said you were weak? Are you bastards whose name has been revived?”
“Then, don’t those guys with no muscles and all rotten bones look strong? Strength comes from muscles and bones, but they’re both agile.”

This was the difference between Copson, a foreigner, and me, a modern Earthling. They were able to see things in this fantasy world properly, without any kind of preconceived notions. The experience and way of life were different. Copson’s words made sense, and he was right.

I saw skeletons that looked like they would come out of a horror movie again.