Chapter 277: Report on the Dungeon

“Lord Van.”

“Ah, Mr. Ortho! Long time no see!”

Unusually, Ortho and his group appeared at the Lord’s Manor all together. As always, Ortho was strong and Pluriel was cute. The other companions were the same, but for some reason, Kusala looked incredibly battered.

“Umm, why are you so beaten up, Kusala? Could it be a marital spat…”

“…Not even close.”

Kusala answered with a heavy sense of exhaustion. Smiling wryly at his appearance, I looked at Ortho, who returned a troubled smile.

“No, well, a problem occurred in the dungeon…”

“Eh?”

While I tilted my head at the sudden report, Esparda, who was listening behind me, stroked his chin and groaned.

“…A problem in the dungeon? Would that be a vicious trap or a powerful magical beast, perhaps?”

When he muttered that, Ortho nodded deeply.

“Both. We arrived at an outrageous floor… The difficulty of conquering it is so high that some adventurers are staying at the base in front of the dungeon and spending their time hunting mountain beasts instead. Currently, only three parties are diving in to try and conquer the dungeon. Well, since there are many rare species of magical beasts on the mountain, that’s probably a surer way to earn money.”

The second half was almost a complaint. At Ortho’s sigh-mixed muttering, Kusala nodded repeatedly.

“No, it’s true. It’s definitely better to quietly hunt magical beasts on the mountain. Let’s leave a dungeon like that to legendary adventurers.”

Kusala said such things with a somewhat sulky demeanor. He probably knew the circumstances. Pluriel was smiling wryly next to the sulking Kusala.

“Could it be that only you got caught in a trap, Kusala?”

I guessed as much, but Kusala shook his head vigorously.

“No, sir. I’m a scout, for better or worse. I wouldn’t get caught in a trap. It’s because this idiot leader found a treasure and pushed his luck…! Plus, just because we were dealing with magical beasts, he told me to hurry up and open a treasure chest that was rigged with strict traps, so fire came out, arrows flew out…!”

Kusala swung his arms to emphasize his anger. Laughing at that, Ortho gave a thumbs up.

“No, I trusted that Kusala could do it, so I left it to him. He properly disarmed the trap on the treasure chest and got what was inside, so as expected of Kusala!”

“You idiot leader! I won’t be fooled!”

Kusala got angry while crying at Ortho’s clumsy follow-up. It must have been quite scary. Well, if fire came out and arrows flew, it must have been terrifying.

“…By the way, what came out of that treasure chest?”

Curious, I muttered that, and Ortho happily placed it on the table. It was a ridiculously huge, reddish lump of metal.

“Orichalcum! And it’s an ingot, not ore?”

“Amazing, right? Even the royal family doesn’t have this, probably.”

Ortho puffed out his chest and said that. Indeed, refining orichalcum from ore reduces its size to one-fifth or one-tenth. In contrast, this was a highly pure lump that had already been refined.

“…I wonder how much this would be worth in money?”

When I muttered that, Ortho held up one finger and opened his mouth.

“Ten platinum coins.”

At those words, I felt Esparda furrow his brow. However, he said nothing. Seeing that attitude, I could somewhat guess.

“…That’s definitely not the price, right? It’s an item even the royal family doesn’t possess. By the way, the King of the Dwarven Nation would want this desperately. He’d probably buy it for a hundred or even two hundred platinum coins. Maybe even a thousand platinum coins.”

When I answered, Ortho glanced sideways at Pluriel and the others. Then, Pluriel smiled softly and nodded. Confirming this, Ortho turned back to me.

“…Well, we adventurers can’t measure its value. Anyway, I thought it might have been a bit too cheap, but if you help us conquer the dungeon, Lord Van, I’ll sell it to you for ten platinum coins.”

Saying that, Ortho smiled mischievously.

“Wow, that’s super scary, but I do want the orichalcum.”

Taking advantage of Ortho’s kindness, I replied. Then, Esparda nodded quietly and spoke.

“If you can ensure there is no danger to Lord Van, I think lending a hand in conquering the dungeon is a good thing. If progress is made in conquering the dungeon, items even better than this might be obtained. Also, if rumors of that spread and even more adventurers visit, Seatoh Village will prosper even more.”

At those words, for some reason, Kusala nodded with teary eyes.

“That’s exactly right! Think of it as saving me!”

“Right, right. Think of it as saving Kusala.”

“…The idiot leader might get caught in a trap and die, but Lord Van won’t die.”

“Hey!”

It seems Kusala is holding quite a grudge. Hearing Ortho and the others’ lively conversation for the first time in a while, I laughed and nodded.

“Right. Well then, I guess I’ll help out a little.”

It must have been about fifteen minutes since we arrived at the dungeon. I regretted it immediately.

“Why are we walking normally through a place full of holes like this?”

“Eh?”

A cave-like passage with exposed rock surfaces. The floor was paved with uneven stone tiles, but there were several unnatural holes. And they were large holes that a person could easily fall into. The holes were so deep the bottom couldn’t be seen at all.

“We triggered the traps on purpose to expose the pitfalls.”

Kusala said that while jumping over a pitfall. Here too, I was made to realize the adventurers’ low awareness of safety.

“Lord Van, will you use wood blocks?”

“Please.”

When I nodded at Khamsin’s suggestion, Arb and Law busily carried wood blocks over.

“Wahahahaha! A dungeon is also an interesting thing! It seems I can do various training here!”

By the way, Dee was swinging his greatsword while jumping over holes just like Kusala, hunting magical beasts one after another. This time, to be absolutely safe, many members of the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order, including the mechanical bow unit, were participating in the dungeon conquest.

Only Kusala could act as a scout, but there were no problems at all regarding combat, and I seemed to be able to manage the traps somehow.

“Lord Van. This waterfall here is troublesome. On top of the huge volume of water, magical beasts come from above and from the lake.”

“I guess I’ll bury it.”

“Lord Van! This single-log bridge is dangerous! Please cross carefully!”

“I’ll build a bridge.”

“Lord Van. Arrows fly from the ceiling and both sides around here. They’re cleverly hidden, and it’s difficult and troubling to know which one is bad to step on.”

“I’ll build a new ceiling and walls.”

In that manner, the dungeon conquest proceeded surprisingly without danger.

“Isn’t this surprisingly easy?”

It was going so smoothly that Khamsin even made a remark underestimating the dungeon. At that, Ortho and the others slumped their shoulders in depression.

“No, conquering a dungeon like this is impossible.”

“Our hardships…”

“I had the hardest time, you know.”

While being complained at by Ortho and the others, once I had neutralized the traps on the lowest floor we were currently conquering, I opened my mouth.

“Alright! I’ve helped up to the promised location! Now, we’ve been cooped up in the dungeon for three days, so it’s about time to go home!”

When I announced that, the members of the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order replied with great joy. Ortho and the others pleaded for a little more, just a little more, but a promise is a promise. Now, I wonder what I should make with that orichalcum.

I returned to Seatoh Village while skipping.