The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter

Goodman told us everything he knew about the bandits. First, there were about twenty of them and they lived up in the mountains. Some other bandits forced people to build a stronghold there and Goodman’s crew took over the place.

Accordingly, they were quite skilled. Only a few were stronger than Goodman, however, but not by much.
If that’s the case, a surprise attack might even work, I thought, as Goodman gave me a warning.

「The boss is a whole different monster. He might even be stronger than you, so be careful.」

「What kind of abilities does he have?」

「He wields a spear. He also uses this strange skill that makes his opponents go weak all of a sudden.」

「Go weak all of a sudden?」

「He hides his ability. I asked about it before but he wouldn’t tell me. He’s a very cautious fellow.」

So he’s the type who doesn’t even trust his subordinates. They tend to constantly be on alert so this might prove troublesome.

「What’s your plan, Noir?」

「We’ll attack at night.」

The enemy shouldn’t be as cautious at night. With my 【Night Eyes】 skill, we’ll have the advantage. I just need to “grant” the skill to Emma and Luna. Toramaru has pretty keen eyesight so he doesn’t need it.

「You’re amazing, Noir-san. I’ve never seen anyone with that kind of ability」 Goodman said, as I went over the plan with the others.

「I was just lucky.」

「Anyway, they should be coming for the scheduled check.」

「All right. Let’s capture them.」

We stood out so until the bandits arrived, we stayed in the village chief’s house.
While partaking in some veggies and drinks, they arrived. We went outside to see Goodman talking to a pair of scoundrels.

「Hey, Goodman. Who are those guys?」

「They’re travellers.」

「Travellers?! Why didn’t you send them away?! We’re sure to get it from the boss if he finds out!」

Travellers were to be sent away. That was the rule and Goodman broke it. Enraged, the guy grabbed Goodman — and let out a grunt as he was sent flying.

「What the hell are you doi— Gwaahh!」

My kick hit the other guy on his stomach. We immediately tied up the collapsed bandits. While they couldn’t move, that didn’t stop them from venting out their anger at Goodman.

「You little bastard! You’re betraying us?!」

「Sorry, but I quit being a bandit.」

「The boss will kill you, you know.」

「About this boss of yours… What kind of ability does he have?」 I said, cutting in. They simply spit at the ground in response.

「Luna-san, if you could please use that…」

「You got it.」

The bandits yelped in terror, magic guns pressed against their foreheads. That was enough to make them cooperative.

「We really don’t know anything about his ability. But his spear is quite sharp. It can even pierce through his opponent’s shield.」

Does he have some kind of skill applied to the weapon? I guess that’s one more thing to worry about besides the guy himself.

We tied them up in the village barnyard. As I went back outside, Emma met me with a worried expression on her face.

「I’m glad we have the Night Eyes skill, but is your LP enough? You shouldn’t push yourself.」

「Yeah, actually, I’m kinda short. I need 200 LP to create one and to grant it, another 200. So that’s 400 LP for you and Luna-san.」

I had less than 600 LP left. I needed to charge up for some more.
Hearing about our predicament, the village chief offered his help.

「If there’s anything we can do, just tell us.」

「Let’s see…」

Delicious food is out of the question. Money and valuables were stolen by the bandits. But it was actually agriculture produce that they took the most. They basically ruled this village to fill their stomachs.

Which means we’ll have to go with that.

「This is embarrassing but I, uhh, get stronger when attractive women provide me some nice, gentle service…」

「My word! You’re in luck. There are young girls in this village. We agreed to cooperate with the bandits on the condition that they don’t take all of them. Unfortunately my granddaughter was taken just the other day…」

The chief quickly gathered all the women. Among them were married women which made me break into a cold sweat.

「What age range are you looking for?」

「Let’s see… Sixteen… no, fourteen…」

Alice was fifteen years old and I managed to store up LP with her. Hell, it even worked with Dory-chan.

「Fourteen to… eight years old.」

「That’s too young! Are you serious, Noir?」

「I don’t really swing that way, okay?! But this whole LP storing up thing is kinda strange. It seems to work as long as it’s with the opposite sex.」

「Really? So you’re not attracted to eight-year-olds?」

「Of course not」 I declared.

Why do I feel buckets of sweat streaming down my back?
I can say with certainty that I like girls who’re around my age. I… think.

「I got ones ranging from seven to thirty years old. These here are the sexy babes of Amon village!」

Could you please stop talking so enthusiastically?

「Thirty years old may be a bit rough considering your age, but she’s got the best figure in town. She’s married, though.」

「Fuck you, chief! Those bosoms are mine!」

「Just share her for a bit! The whole village is at stake here!」

「No way in hell! She’s… She’s my wife!」

「I’ll make you village chief in the future.」

「For real?! That’s a promise, all right?!」

「I don’t go back on my word.」

I wonder how many chiefs this village will end up having…
The chief cleared his throat and continued.

「While she may not be as well-nourished as Emma-sama who grew up in the city, she is still undoubtedly an excellent woman. She should be able to recharge your so-called LP.」

「I-I see.」

「All right then, Amon’s sexy babes! Go forth and provide Noir-sama your nice and gentle service!」

「Kyaaa! Excuse us, Noir-sama!」

「Whaaaa?」

They were far more eager than expected. And so I let myself be subjected to their whims.

580 LP -> 1650 LP

I charged up quite a lot.
I tried to ignore my friends’ cold looks and granted Emma and Luna-san 【Night Eyes】.
Being left with around 800LP was great.

「It’ll take about an hour to get to the hideout on foot. Let’s take a nap until dark.」

After having dinner at the chief’s place, we took a short nap.
But before we could, the villagers rushed to the house in a panic, startling us out of our beds.

「We’ve got trouble, Chief! The Magic Eater’s here!」

「Talk about bad timing. It’s a monster that occasionally shows up at the village. Let’s take shelter, everyone.」

「Oh, the one Laura-san was talking about.」

It’s apparently a powerful monster that appears near the village.

「Wait. Couldn’t Noir-san and his friends beat it?」

「That’s preposterous. That thing is not normal.」

「But…」

「They say you’ll never know until you try. We’ll just run away if it turns out to be too dangerous.」

「Right on. Let’s go.」

I would like to at least know how strong it is.
We let the chief and the villagers go with their usual thing.

「Okay, then. We’ll evacuate to an underground shelter. Please don’t bite off more than you can chew.」

「We won’t.」

Apparently the Magic Eater shows up once a month, though at irregular dates.
We went outside and saw the monster strolling from the entrance of the village, making its way inside.
It looked like a man from afar. As it got closer, however, we realized it indeed wasn’t normal. It was bald, with white eyes and pale, gray skin. Its mouth wasn’t where it was supposed to be which was disturbing. Instead it sat on its round stomach, complete with fangs. It was about two meters tall and its appearance gave the impression that it was slow and dull. I could see the girls freaked out by the thing.

「It looks creepy…」

「It doesn’t look like it’s agile.」

「I will go at him first and see」Toramaru said as he dashed forward without hesitation, closing in on the monster. Impressive.

The Magic Eater however continued his leisurely stroll, unfazed. With his tough front legs, Toramaru attacked with a sideways blow. However its large body rose and got sent flying to the other direction.

「It’s tougher than it looks」 Toramaru said.

That should have been quite a powerful blow but it was slowly getting on its feet like nothing happened.

「What’s going on?」

「Wait a sec.」

Name: Magic Eater
Level: 80
Skill: Hundredevour, Magic Devour, Physical Resistance A, Sluggish

I knew it. It’s resistant to physical attacks.
While it did have a detrimental skill, its level was still a lot higher than the monsters in this area.

「It’s resistant to physical attacks. One of its skills says Magic Devour.」

「Maybe it devours magic with its stomach.」

「It’s possible. I’ll aim for its head. Emma will go for its arms, and Luna-san, its legs.」

「Got it.」

「Leave it to me.」

Its stomach seemed to have a voracious appetite so we aimed for different parts of its body instead. With perfect timing, we unleashed our magic at the same time.