Chapter 36

Chapter 36. Underground Dungeon (1)

The expedition wiped out every goblin swarming around the ruins’ entrance and set up camp there.

After splitting the personnel in half, one group pitched the tents, while the other cleared away the scattered goblin corpses. Balun joined the side removing the goblin bodies.

Perhaps because there were more than a hundred goblin corpses, the scene was an utter mess. Blood lay pooled here and there, and the air was thick with a fishy, sour stench.

While most of the expedition members grimaced as they moved the corpses, only Balun carried the bodies with a calm expression.

Perhaps that sight impressed him, because Michael exclaimed in admiration.

“You do not show it at all, brother. As expected, you are impressive.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can hardly breathe because of the goblin stench, but you are not showing anything at all.”

“It is disgusting, but bearable.”

“Bearable? I want to tear my nose off.”

“It is better than the smell of war.”

“What is the smell of war supposed to be?”

“The smell of blood. The smell of rotting corpses, the smell of feces and urine voided by corpses, the sweat of men, the smell of crows, and the smell of iron. It is all of those things combined.”

At Balun’s words, Michael could not answer for a moment. Balun’s expression was certainly calm, but for some reason, he seemed solemn.

“I have never experienced war, so I do not really know, but it must be a very terrible thing. Every mercenary brother who has experienced war gives a similar answer.”

“It is better not to experience it.”

“By the way, are you all right?”

“With what?”

“You seem to be pushing yourself too hard. You already used a lot of strength while fighting.”

Michael asked because, while the others were moving one goblin corpse in pairs, Balun was carrying two by himself.

With one body on each shoulder, he walked forward, and the sight was, one might say, quite overwhelming.

“I am fine. I am not tired at all.”

“You are not tired?”

“No.”

“You truly are a monster. To think you still have strength left after using that much power.”

At Balun’s calm words, Michael clicked his tongue in disbelief. How could such a person exist?

“By the way, brother, why do you keep looking around like that?”

“Looking around?”

“Yes. Are you searching for something?”

“No. I was looking to see if there were more goblin corpses.”

“Well now, you fought passionately, and you work passionately too.”

Watching Michael admire the excuse he had roughly thrown together, Balun secretly stroked his chest in relief. It seemed he had been looking around far too obviously.

In truth, he had not been searching for goblin corpses. He had been observing every corner of the surroundings.

Because everything felt far too suspicious.

Balun could not shake the ominous feeling that struck at his entire consciousness. So, after a long time, he entered his full suspicion mode and began doubting everything.

When he thought about the cause of this unease, no matter how much he considered it, he could only imagine being stabbed in the back.

Think about it. If someone betrayed the other expedition members and stole all the excavated relics, would they not make an enormous fortune?

That was why Balun was observing everything so carefully.

With the mindset that he would suspect everything, Balun examined the surroundings in detail, and the mercenaries he had grown friendly with during that time were no exception.

One never knew what lay in another person’s heart. The world was overflowing with people who smiled while stabbing others in the back. If someone like that was nearby, even Balun would have no way to deal with it.

‘First, this Michael fellow does not seem to be one of them. As for the other groups...’

There was nothing particularly suspicious about the other groups either. All they talked about were things like how they had to make contributions, how they had to be the first to discover a relic, and how they should search carefully to see if there was some kind of hidden room.

It was frustrating that he had gained nothing, but on the other hand, it seemed only natural. Who in their right mind would plan a conspiracy in a place where everyone could see? Unless they wanted to be caught, no one would do something that insane.

‘In the end, I will only know after watching them longer.’

Balun decided to take it easy. There was nothing he could do right now, so he would ultimately have to wait until things moved into the full-scale stage.

If he kept observing them meticulously, would something not get caught? Just like with Golden Fang last time.

Back then, Balun had trusted his instincts more than the situation around him. He had doubted everything again and again, and in the end, he had proven that his instincts were right.

If not for that suspicion, he would have died on the spot without being able to do a thing, and the Golden Fang mercenary corps would have made a fortune and gone into hiding.

‘If I do not trust myself, who will? So I am definitely right.’

The expedition preparations proceeded quickly.

After the expedition swiftly cleared away the goblin corpses scattered near the ruins’ entrance, they set up camp in a spacious area, took a short rest, and immediately sent in the Rogues.

According to what he had learned during that time, real Rogues possessed various useful tricks. Among the Rogues, those called Pathfinders could skillfully disarm traps and investigate traces to find routes.

Apparently, bringing those Pathfinders along was common sense when exploring ancient ruins.

The skilled Pathfinders busily moved around and analyzed the danger factors, and after they passed through, scholars called relic scholars followed them while analyzing every part of the ruins.

The analysis results came out faster than expected.

Balun watched the expedition captain and the relic scholars talk.

“How did it go?”

“Judging from the architectural style, we believe it dates back to the middle period of the Magic Empire. There is also a strong possibility that this place was a magic research facility.”

“A magic research facility. Is that why there were so many goblins?”

“There is a high probability of that. There was likely a Mana Concentration Array installed underground.”

“Oho! A concentration array!”

‘Concentration array?’

Balun tilted his head.

What was that, for that Gregory fellow to like it so much?

“Of course, far too much time has passed, so the concentration array has probably been completely erased. It would be best not to have excessive expectations, Lord Gregory.”

“No. Even so, it belonged to the Magic Empire. It is bound to be something truly remarkable! It seems there was value in the Blue Tower stepping forward!”

Whatever it was, there was no doubt it was something impressive. That was why the man liked it so much.

“Calm yourself, Mage Gregory. Your voice has grown too loud.”

“Ahem, my apologies. I became excited when I heard the words concentration array.”

“That can happen. Please continue.”

“Yes. In any case, this was a large-scale magic research facility, and considering it was hidden in such a remote forest, there is a high probability that it was an important national facility. That means there is a high chance of excavating relics.”

“Relics! They must be incredible Artifacts!”

“They likely will be. It was the Magic Empire, after all.”

“Then we need to find the entrance leading underground.”

“Yes. That is correct.”

“How long will it take?”

“The Pathfinders are searching diligently, so even at the longest, it probably will not take more than a day.”

“Excellent! As soon as we find the entrance, we will immediately organize a raid team!”

The expedition captain’s voice grew louder. His eyes were full of excitement. And he was not the only one. The other expedition members were the same.

That was understandable. How could they not be excited when incredible relics were said to be buried here?

‘See? They say there are amazing relics here. What kind of person would not want those?’

Even Balun was tempted. If he hid one or two relics and sold them, how much would he be able to get? Just thinking about it seemed enough to make him feel wonderful.

Even the name of the nation sounded impressive. The Magic Empire. It had undoubtedly been an incredible country.

Relics from a country like that?

If someone could take all of them?

Or if not all, then at least a considerable number?

The more substantial the assumptions became, the deeper Balun’s certainty grew.

‘The angle for betrayal has appeared. In my view, the odds are more than eighty percent.’

Just look at the glittering eyes of the mercenaries and knights. Every one of them was desperate to make a contribution.

But what if those eyes were not looking for achievements, but were actually filled with greed for wealth?

‘These bastards. They should earn money honestly. How dare they think about stealing national property?’

In the end, Balun cursed inwardly. It was only a guess, but that was not important right now.

What mattered was that such a thing could very well happen.

This was not the twenty-first-century global world on Earth. It was a savage world somewhere around the Middle Ages, ruled by power. In other words, such a thing was more than likely to happen.

Honestly speaking, if someone killed everyone here and ran, how would they be caught?

Could anyone track their location? Could anyone do anything at all?

‘If I do not receive my remaining 250 gold, it will all be because of those bastards. Whoever it is, if I catch them, I will not let them off.’

The entrance leading underground was found only on the morning after a day had passed.

A concealed space had been hidden beneath a stone building covered in moss and vines.

Because of this, a raid team was swiftly formed. The raid team was arbitrarily selected by the expedition command, and by coincidence, Balun was included among its members.

“Why me?”

“Because the command must have taken a liking to you, brother.”

“To me?”

“Yes. Honestly, your performance was rather impressive, was it not?”

Balun suspected that perhaps Gregory had recommended him, but surprisingly, it was not Gregory.

“It was not me. Sir Roton recommended you.”

“Who is Roton?”

“Do you remember the knight who mediated the fight between you and the Jackdaw? That is Roton.”

At Gregory’s words, Balun nodded. He knew who it was. The man had asked him this and that as though conducting a background check.

“It seems Sir Roton took quite a liking to you, Lord Balun. He strongly recommended you to the expedition captain.”

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“Why did he take a liking to me?”

“How would I know that? Perhaps he liked how warrior-like you were, Lord Balun.”

“Did he notice what I was thinking?”

“Pardon? What do you mean by—”

“Never mind. It is nothing.”

Balun closed his mouth. For a moment, he wondered if the knight had noticed his suspicions and placed him in the vanguard to sacrifice him, but that was far too absurd a thought.

No matter how suspicious Balun was, even he did not suspect things to that ridiculous a degree.

“If I have been paid, I should work. I will follow the order.”

“Good. I will also be joining the advance party. Let us work together.”

“You too?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

Balun’s eyes narrowed. Was the one who intended to stab him in the back perhaps this bastard?

“Understood. Let us do well.”

“Yes!”

Balun shook hands with Gregory. However, inwardly, he was filled with suspicion.

His mindset was that he would not let anyone off if he caught them.

Whoever got caught would truly be beaten to a pulp.

***

The truly irritating thing was that the place the raid team had to go was underground.

That meant it was a darkness where one could not see an inch ahead.

The one fortunate thing was that they had torches.

‘Damn it, what is this? Some kind of haunted house experience?’

Holding a torch, Balun grumbled as he descended the dark staircase. He had truly never imagined he would experience something like this in his life.

One of the things Balun truly hated was horror games. He was not suited to horror games that explored unknown terrors. But the current situation was exactly that.

They wanted him to push through a pitch-dark place? Without knowing what was inside?

‘Is a ghost going to come out of this?’

And with the added suspicion that someone might stab him in the back, Balun’s vigilance reached its peak.

‘Come out. Ghost, traitor, whatever it is, if anything comes out, I will kill it. You damned bastards.’

Balun gritted his teeth and firmly gripped the hand axe in his right hand. If he had his way, he would have held both axes, but because he had to hold the torch, he could not. He did not like that.

He had to split things with two axes to split them properly...

Balun strode forward, but both his legs were trembling. His heart was pounding like mad. However, the others did not know that even in their dreams.

That was because the others were blinded by achievements and were only full of motivation.

“Hah, they twisted this place up terribly.”

“You are right. It is just like a maze.”

“This was probably designed in preparation for intruders. It is proof that a core facility was located here.”

“That means there is something expensive here, right?”

“Probably.”

“Heh heh. Excellent!”

The laughter of the advance party echoed in the darkness. With bloodshot eyes, they looked around to find anything that might serve as a clue.

Then it happened. Balun, who was walking ahead, suddenly came to a halt.

“Hmm?”

“What is it, Barbarian?”

Everyone voiced their confusion. However, Balun could not answer. Because of his extreme tension, the voices behind him did not reach his ears.

‘Wh-what the hell is that sound?’

Balun listened closely. His extremely sensitive hearing caught a tiny noise.

It was the sound of hard objects striking against one another, almost like a clicking noise.

‘You damned thing. Just let there be something there. I will split it all apart.’

Balun swallowed hard. He tightened his grip on the hand axe as though he would dash forward and swing it at any moment.

‘Ghost or whatever, just come out and—’

CLICK!

He flinched.

The moment he felt as if the sound had drawn slightly closer, Balun instinctively threw himself forward.

The sudden movement startled the advance party.

“You madman!”

“What are you doing, Barbarian!”

“We told you not to act on your own!”

They urgently tried to stop him, but it was meaningless. Without hearing their words, Balun charged straight into the darkness, and his hand axe danced.

CRACK!

The sound of something breaking rang out repeatedly.

“Barbarian! At least go with... hmm.”

“That is...”

The advance party members, who rushed after him in a panic, thrust their torches forward and let out low groans.

It was because piles of bones lay shattered around Balun.

As experienced men, they recognized what they were.

“Skeletons!”

The presence of skeletons meant that the dead who had failed to ascend and wandered the living world were lurking inside.

Naturally, they were not easy opponents.

And yet, for some reason, the advance party did not feel afraid at all.

Because the axe warrior, panting roughly in anger, was responsible for their vanguard.

What a reliable sight he was, smashing the dead approaching from the darkness in a single breath...

How had he known?

No one among them had known that skeletons were approaching.

“It seems we do not need to worry about dying, thanks to someone.”

Someone said that while looking at Balun’s back. Most of them nodded at those words. There was probably no one who could look at that sight and disagree.

Of course, that was only because they did not know what Balun truly felt inside. If they had known that Balun had been more frightened than anyone else, they likely would not have thought such a thing.