Chapter 48: Treasure and Oddity
Narrator POV
“Oh!!!!” <Female’s Voice>
A squeal reverberated in a very unusual place.
It was a squeal of excitement from a Female adventurer.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” <Female’s Voice>
She was jumping in place and celebrating for some reason.
She was punching the air alternately with her two hands.
The Female Adventurer, Mizusawa Kazue was happy with the fact that she manages to finally find a treasure chest.
All this time, she only found an empty treasure chest because she was late in entering the dungeon.
She was blaming all this on her senpai, who made a practical joke about the newcomers who joined the dungeon raid.
But right now, she’s happy, she managed to find an untouched treasure chest for her to loot for herself.
The content of the treasure chest is all hers to take.
“Let’s see, let’s see…” <Kazue>
She opened the treasure chest.
[I don’t care if this contains worthless stuff, I’m just happy that I can take the content for myself.]
“Uwah!!!” <Kazue>
Mizusawa Kazue made her signature vocal noise.
Normally she only makes this noise when she sees something that she doesn’t like.
This time it was said in an amazed tone, a tone that projected her joy.
The light emitted from inside the chest only made her excitement and expectations shoot to their peak.
Inside the treasure chest were a nice-looking dagger, a muffler, a blank roll of paper, and several mana stones.
The mana stones are the source of light.
“Oh!!! I was not expecting to find this much. But as expected from a treasure chest. Itadakimasu~” <Kazue>
Kazue was reminded of the times she was playing games on her computer.
She took all the things she found inside the treasure chest and placed them inside her dimensional bag.
She was expecting to find silver or gold coins inside but none of that was inside.
It did not matter since the things that she managed to loot from the treasure chest and the monster she defeated earlier caused her dimensional bag to be filled to its maximum capacity.
[These will sell for about a million or two…]
She thought as she looks at the contents of the dimension bag.
Kazue expected this much, so she came prepared.
During that time she was looking for stuff in the city.
She bought normal bags that can be carried by her familiars.
She bought 3 of these bags for Isamu, Hayate, and Kaori.
Her familiars carry 1 each.
For now, she only took 1 for Kaori to carry.
In that bag she placed several kinds of potions for emergencies.
This is also where she and placed all of the mana stones she found earlier.
This also made some space for her to spare in her dimensional bag.
It has been 2 hours since Kazue resumed her dungeon exploration.
This is where she found a monster house and defeated 15 Kobolds in it.
There, she found the treasure chest that only appears in a monster house at a rate of 1 out of every 5.
With this, she felt very lucky.
“But really… This dungeon is surprisingly huge…” <Kazue>
[No wonder they were expecting to clear this dungeon in 2-3 days]
This was in her mind while being mesmerized by the size of the dungeon.
She continued navigating the inside of the dungeon.
It was not as if she had no trouble inside.
She did not just cruise through it without any harm.
Even if she tried, without the help of the (Concentration) skill Kazue will keep committing mistakes.
She will end up receiving several hits from all of kobolds she encounters every once in a while.
Thankfully, the armor she received from Shaina only prove its worth and protected her from taking significant harm.
For example,
Mizusawa Kazue encountered a Kobold as she walked in the dark tunnel.
A kobold Knight appeared from nowhere and surprised Kazue from behind a rock.
“KAH!!!” <Kobold>
With a high-pitched scream, a Kobold lounged at her with its sword raised in the air.
“!!!” <Kazue>
Kazue panicked.
Kazue was caught off guard and only noticed the Kobold at the very last moment.
Hayate was supposed to be the scout of the team but the wolf was walking behind Kaori, protecting her from a possible attack from the rear.
She has no time to pull out her sword from her waist.
Kazue had no choice and protected her body with her arm and receive the attack from the Kobold.
[Oh crap!]
The kobold did not hold back and swung its sword.
Kazue was prepared to sacrifice her arm to avoid a more seriously injury from this sudden attack.
But to her surprise it did not happen, she only felt slight pain but she did not receive any wounds from that attack.
She pushed her arm that caught the sword swing and countered after pulling out her sword to kill the Kobold.
"Whew, I thought I was done for..." <Kazue>
-bark- [Mother, are you okay?] <Hayate>
Hayate asked his master.
Kazue only smiled back and lifted the arm she used to protect herself.
“Wow, this equipment from Shai is something…” <Kazue>
She was checking out the sleeves of her coat where the sword hit her earlier.
It was torn by a little bit but it was able to protect Kazue from receiving a wound from the blade.
But with the "Auto Repair" feature of this coat, this damage will soon disappear in time.
She pulled the sleeves up to see what was the extent of the damage she received from that ambush.
She could only see a slight bruise from the area where the sword struck her.
“I feel that this equipment is just too good for me. I guess, that 100M is a worthy investment… I guess?” <Kazue>
To be honest Kazue was not sure of this herself.
She made self-ridiculing laughter directed at herself.
Just remembering her debt will almost make her cry every time.
She continued to leisurely explore the dungeon while having her guard up.
Kazue could not allow herself to get into this kind of trouble again.
She knew that she only managed to get minimal damage because of her exemptional equipment.
Mizusawa Kazue, being aware of this fact puts her guard up.
*****************
“(Fireball)” <Adventurer>
A spell was cast and a ball of flame flew and traveled into the air.
The ball of fire illuminated the straight passageway of the dungeon and exploded into the body of a Kobold shaman.
At the same time, arrows flew from some kobolds and targeted a man wielding a spear.
But that man skillfully deflected the arrows and dashed forward to eliminate that Kobold Archer.
Not so far from them was a man carrying a large sword and fighting 3 kobold knights and a kobold elite.
Despite wielding a two-handed sword, he wielded it like it was a large lightweight stick.
He was doing this to protect the people behind him, 2 mages, an archer, and a cleric.
They are inside a “Monster Room” and were fighting against a group of 17 Kobolds.
Despite being outnumbered they were not getting pushed back.
They are the ones who are pushing back these kobolds.
There is no way those monsters could post problems for them.
They are a well-balanced party and fighting against 17 Kobold was still manageable for them.
Their teamwork was flawless and they were perfectly covering each other’s backs.
The bond and the trust of these adventurers in each other were very evident as they moved like one entity.
After 3 minutes of battle, they managed to annihilate all of the 17 Kobolds.
It may not be a surprise since this party was composed of 2 C-rank and 4 D-rank Adventurers.
Kobolds are only D-ranked monsters, with the presence of the two C-rank adventurers they can manage to defeat multiple kobolds at the same time.
The party’s name was Tremblecloud and the name of their leader was Andrew.
Yes, it was the party that Mizusawa Kazue have dueled with 2 days ago and the same party whom she met yesterday.
Kazue and this party have split up after deciding to traverse the dungeon separately.
This was due to the Little miss’s frustration and worries that they would have to divide the loots later on.
Because of the desire of the little miss to gain more by monopolizing the loot on the other pathway from where they split up, they had to move separately.
They had also resumed their adventures after resting in the middle of the dungeon and camping for the night.
Although they have no idea what is the exact time because there were inside a dungeon.
Despite that, they can still estimate from their biological clock that it was around 10 or 11 AM.
Meaning, morethan 1 day has passed since the dungeon raid began.
“Search for a treasure chest there might be one around” <Andrew>
Andrew announced to his party members.
He wanted to check if the monster house they just conquered had a hidden treasure chest.
Meanwhile, the archer and the two mages are gathering the fangs of their defeated foes.
These fangs can be sold later on in the adventurer’s guild.
While waiting for the other to gather the kobold fangs.
John walked beside Andrew who was casually looking around in the hope to find something.
“I wonder how the main group is doing?” <John>
He said joyfully at their leader.
John asked this without much meaning.
He was only doing this to start up a conversation with Andrew since he has nothing else to do.
“If it’s those guys they’ve probably made much more progress than we do.” <Andrew>
“Kuuu!!! I’m envious of them. Do you think in the future our party can lead this raid at some point?”
Andrew chuckled.
“Maybe after many, many, many, years… As we are right now there is no way, we can lead the raid. The power gap is just too large at the moment.” <Andrew>
“I envy them, they probably defeated at least one Kobold General by now.” <John>
“Hahaha, I’m sure that either Vred or Rozos already had. Hell, maybe the both of them had already defeated one each by now.” <Andrew>
Andrew answers john with a sarcastic tone in his voice.
“Aaa~ it's so unfair, we’ve become adventurers around the time that Vred dude became an adventurer, but while I was just promoted into C-rank that guy was promoted to B-rank. It's so unfair!!!” <John>
John yelled.
Of course, he was envious, both he and Vred had the "Spearman" job class, but compared to Vred, John looked so average.
“Well… As much as I don’t want to admit it, Vred is more talented than me. It can’t be helped that he’s way above us right now. To be honest, I envy him too, I’ve known him for a very long time. I know that he deserved to be a B-rank… In the future, he might reach A-rank too, Kuuh!!!" <John>
John frustratedly smeared.
"It can't be helped, The guild master and even miss Lavi recognize his talents, that is also true for sir Rozos.” <Andrew>
Replied Andrew looking down.
The conversation paused for a moment.
Then John suddenly remembered something.
“Speaking of talents... What do you think of that little missy?” <John>
“Missy?” <Andrew>
Andrew did not catch what John meant right away, but after a few moments, he realized that John was talking about the little missy they dueled 2 days ago.
“The miss with the wolves.” <John>
John reminded him of her wolves.
This time he was sure that John was talking about “that” miss, Mizusawa Kazue.
“That miss is also very talented. Judging from how strong she is for her young age… she’s someone to look forward to. She has pretty good battle sense. I can only imagine her getting stronger than she is now. She may lack experience but she's talented enough to overcome that.” <Andrew>
Andrew answered sincerely.
John was impressed by how highly Andrew evaluated the missy.
She was indeed young and not so many youngsters are as strong as she was.
He even suspects that the girl was even stronger than him.
Normally, adventurers had to work hard for many years to gain level and train well to reach Kazue's current strength.
Not too many young adventurers were as powerful as she was.
Mizusawa Kazue might have not noticed this but she was the youngest adventurer among all the participants of this raid.
In actuality, her age was also one of the reasons why some adventurers doubted her abilities during the conference that happened a few days back.
It could not be helped, adventurers in her age bracket were either an E-rank or F-rank.
But Kazue managed to show her abilities that had exceeded that of a normal E-rank adventurer.
In Andrew’s eyes, Mizusawa Kazue was on the level of a veteran C-rank Adventurer.
“So that’s another one of the future talents huh…” <John>
Andrew nods at John as he was as aware of the little miss’s potential.
"That is why I wanted her to be careful, I can see the recklessness of a young adventurer in her. It would be a waste to see a talented adventurer like her just end up in waste after getting careless and losing her life." <Andrew>
He sighs.
Andrew had this reason why he wanted to keep Kazue's in his sights during this raid.
He did not want her to accidentally find herself in danger.
But he also understood her "Recklessness" since it was a very common trait of a young adventurer.
[I hope she's doing well...] <Andrew>
He said to himself while thinking of the talented female adventurer.
“She might even equal miss Lavi in pure talent.” <Andrew>
Andrew adds to his compliment towards Kazue.
“What?! That miss Lavi?! Don't you think that's too much even for that girl?” <John>
“Nah, I think she’s capable of that much… all she needs is experience and time to increase her level. If she trains well, she might very well reach Lavi’s level of achievements later on.” <Andrew>
“Hmnn… you see her that high huh?” <John>
John did not argue he can only agree.
Indeed, if that girl continues to gain experience in being an adventurer and train well.
John can see the girl reaching the potential to that of miss Lavi, the most powerful and talented adventurer of the Luron adventurer’s guild.
The only thing he could not agree in earnest was if the missy can reach the level of that "Lavi".
Lavi became an adventurer later than Andrew or John but her achievements made her overtake them in no time.
Lavi is not only popular in Luron but throughout the Artesia Empire and to some extent in the neighboring countries.
Lavi is, without a doubt, one of the most talented adventurers around.
Comparing the little missy to such an individual is nothing but a testament to her potential.
Andrew's party finished checking the inside of the monster house.
They were unable to find a treasure chest in the monster's house but they did not feel too disappointed about it.
The dungeon was indeed large but since the dungeon only have a single way to follow, there is no need for a map.
This fact was already discussed during the conference 2 days ago.
So far, the only instance that the path diverged into several paths was when they had to choose from the 5 passageways near the entrance of the dungeon.
At the time, they met Kazue where they had to choose from 2 pathways.
The path so far was simple since it only follows a single path.
The pathway does not follow a single forward direction, it often curves to the right or the left.
It also elevates up or follows a downward slope but despite that, it is mostly a 1-way road.
This was also the same with the path that Kazue took, it only follows a single pathway.
This dungeon was nothing like a labyrinth that can make one lose their way.
This is one of the reasons why this dungeon was considered to be one of the easiest.
They continued to walk forward.
After several hours of walking through the dark-lit dungeon, John said something as something was bothering him for a little while now.
“Something is off…” <John>
“You too? The truth is I also feel something is odd but I can’t get a hang of what is wrong.” <Andrew>
Andrew replied to John.
He too has no idea why but he was also feeling something odd.
“Let’s be on guard…” <Andrew>
Andrew ordered his party to be on guard just in case.
Veteran adventurers such as Andrew and his party who had been in the business for more than a decade are smart enough to not ignore this kind of feeling.
Being an adventurer for so many years will allow you to develop a special sense that you can depend on during your adventures.
The ability to sense danger and intuition to see through things.
This is why when Andrew and John felt something off, they would never ignore it.
Thus, their judgments proved to be on the mark.
It did not even take a long time for the danger to show itself.
They were surrounded by multiple kobolds there is no way they can run back or push ahead.
There were around 30 Kobolds that appeared.
If that was not bad enough there is also a large Kobold that was 2 times the size of a normal one standing behind them.
It also looks very intimidating and something about this Kobold is giving off something different.
“Hey… isn’t this looking bad?” <John>
“Hahaha, what a coincidence I also think so…” <Andrew>
They could only smile and prepared their weapons.
Still, they did not panic.
30 kobolds were still within the scope of what they could handle, albeit barely.
Andrew observed the situation with keen eyes.
Then, the relaxed expression painted on Andrew's face faded.
His gaze was glued toward the ominous-looking Kobold behind numerous enemies surrounding them.
Observing that monster made his smile twist into a very serious one.
“That one over there looks like bad news…” <Andrew>
He pointed at the large Kobold from within the horde of monsters with his chin for John to notice.
The Large kobold standing behind the kobolds was a Kobold General, something about this Kobold General was giving off an odd feeling.
Something about that Kobold was fundamentally different from the other Kobold they encountered before.
One of the kobolds howled and they started attacking Andrew and his party.
“John protect the rear. I’ll handle the ones over here.” <Andrew>
“Got it!” <John>
‘Myrona, Carl, Tristan go all out! And Mirva we leave the support to you!” <Andrew>
They all nodded and yelled following Andrew’s command.
They quickly moved into formation.
Mirva, the healer moved to the edge of the wall surrounded by the 2 mages and the archer in front of her.
This is for them to easily protect the long-ranged attackers and the healer.
They backed into the walls of the passageway and divided their force to the left and right sides.
John and Andrew separately moved to the left and to the right to act as vanguards.
John faced the ones who appeared behind, while Andrew faced the ones who appeared in front.
In time, the battle started.
The battle looks very disadvantageous for Andrew and his party.
But thanks to his capable party members and team work they are managing to fend them off.
One by one they defeated the kobolds but at the same time, their party was also receiving damage from these monsters.
Thankfully, Mirva was there to heal them.
The Kobold general was simply observing them fighting his underling.
This only made Andrew feel that this particular Kobold was dangerous.
Then his eyes went wide.
“Did… that kobold smile just now?” <Andrew>
[Impossible, kobold never does that… not even kobold generals.]
Andrew refused to believe what he saw, but there was no doubt that this Kobold smiled.
And the smile was directed toward him, and Andrew knew this.
Then the Kobold General took out its weapon from his back.
It was a large sword that was even larger than Andrew himself.
The sword was about a third of the Kobold General's size, an exaggeratedly large two-handed sword.
When the Kobold pulled his weapon out, Andrew felt chills on his back.
“HAHAHA, THIS IS AMUSING, THESE ADVENTURERS ARE NOT BAD AT ALL!” <High-pitched Voice>
“wha…” <Andrew>
It was not just Andrew but all of his party members who noticed this unfamiliar high-pitched voice.
It was not from Andrew, nor anyone from within their party.
These words came from the Kobold General.
“oi, oi… Did that Kobold… Did it talk just now?” <Andrew>
Andrew asked himself in disbelief.
His party members, John, Carl, Tristan, Myrona, and Mirva were also in disbelief.
Kobold does not speak the human language.
Sure, Kobold is generally known to be a “smart” monster since they are capable of moving in groups but there’s never been a record of a Kobold that can speak the Human Language.
The reason why Andrew felt that this Kobold was different from any other kobold they faced before was exactly because of this.
This Kobold was self-aware.
Different from other kobolds who only acts like wild animal wielding weapons.
Unlike Human and Demi-human beings, Kobolds does not have that level of self-awareness.
They may be classified as “smart” but they are only monsters; their only purpose is to kill for them to live and survive.
But this Kobold General was different.
Above all, this Kobold General was showing malice and thirst to kill them for his enjoyment.
The smile on its face is the proof.
The Kobold general lifted its ridiculously large sword with one of its arms and pointed it toward Andrew and his party.
No, to be more specific this Kobold General was pointing his ridiculously large sword at the party’s Cleric, Mirva.
“PREPARE TO DIE… FIRST, I WILL KILL THAT HEALER.” <Kobold General>
Author Note:
Hi, ya there!
It's been a while since I've done a Narrator POV
I've been doing a lot of 1st-person lately so it's kinda fun doing a Narrator POV.
At some point, I might use this kind of perspective a lot since I can describe what's happening from a bird's eye view.
well if you guys think that 1st-person POV is better let me know.
maybe I'll be doing a poll on that later on too.
After all this particular work was originally for this purpose.
It just so happened that I got emersed doing it as it was.