Chapter 53
There was no time to explain hypnosis to Karen, so I immediately put the two of them into a trance.
It was not difficult to uncover Wavid's true intentions, but we had to hurry.
We were in the middle of a dungeon where Skeleton Warriors roamed. If we were ambushed, the two in a trance would be in greater danger than I was.
Fortunately, I had already confirmed that Skeleton Warriors were more sensitive to light than sound, so I was able to hypnotize them without hesitation.
"Wavid. Answer my questions honestly. Why did you come here?"
"To capture a criminal who used to be an adventurer…."
"A criminal? Why?"
"Because it's my job…."
So Wavid wasn't an ordinary adventurer. Was he some kind of bounty hunter?
"Am I the criminal who used to be an adventurer?"
"I'm not certain. But I do suspect you."
I see. That meant he hadn't happened to run into me by chance. He had been deliberately lingering around me all this time.
He wasn't suspicious enough to warrant hypnosis just to confirm it, but I had been able to find out why he had approached us.
Good thing I did it.
I had learned very well that this other world required far more caution than the modern world.
There were so many people approaching me covertly, without going through the authorities.
To protect myself, I had to start thinking, too.
Just then, I heard footsteps from the next room. Another adventurer?
"Wavid. You are strictly forbidden from carrying out any attack against Karen or me."
I put the surest safety measure in place, then clapped my hands to wake them.
"Hmm?"
Wavid slightly furrowed his brow, as if he felt a sense of déjà vu.
"Where were we?"
If Wavid was tracking a criminal who had once been an adventurer, it would be unnatural to hide our purpose.
The fact that Karen and I were undergoing an additional test to select a candidate for the Hero was hardly a secret.
"We were talking about why we came to hunt a lich. Our goal isn't gold."
"I apologize for prying, but if it isn't gold, then what is it?"
"The selection of a Hero candidate. The additional test assigned by the examiner is to deal with the lich, so we came here."
"Ahh! I'd heard rumors about that."
What an act. I could tell he had asked even though he already knew everything, without needing to hypnotize him again.
"Is the lady beside you here for the same reason?"
"Huh? Yes! Actually, you could say I practically dragged my brother here."
"Weren't you two acting together because you shared the same purpose?"
Wavid asked back, sounding puzzled.
For now, I decided to let Karen do the talking. For some reason, I had a feeling things would work out well.
"At first, I went to ask him for help. I had an urgent mission and asked him to lend me his strength…."
"……I see. Goodness, I wonder if I have taken too much of the time of two people already busy with their test."
"Not at all. Thank you for helping us."
"May Elesia's blessing be with you both."
Had his suspicions about me been dispelled?
Perhaps Wavid had even thought that Karen or Isti might be under some kind of threat.
After all, I was traveling around with two of the village's most renowned beauties at nearly the same time.
Another man might have thought it enviable, but wouldn't Wavid, whose job was to suspect fellow adventurers, have found it suspicious?
"Brother. Do you know him?"
Karen spoke after Wavid had left.
"We ran into each other at the guild a few times and introduced ourselves. He seemed to know Isti."
But what was that thing he said at the end…… “May Elesia's blessing be with you”?
"Karen. What's Elesia's blessing?"
"You really lack common sense, Brother. She's the most famous goddess of light in the Holy City. The Kingdom of Deitun worships the Goddess of Light."
"I've never heard of her."
"He must be from the Holy City. It's something people from there say often."
"Isti never says anything like that."
"Hmm, Isti is an elf……. Maybe she worships a different god?"
“Elesia”…….
Was she the goddess who governed this world?
The goddess who had sent the rightful Hero to this world. She must surely regard me as a thorn in her side.
"Brother, you're under Lady Beleira's protection, right?"
"How did you know?"
"Do you think I'm stupid, Brother? I know she's the Goddess of Fire. It's Lady Beleira.
The way you fire your fire magic so close to your own body, too. It seemed like you had received Lady Beleira's protection."
"So Bela was quite a famous goddess, too."
"……I don't really know why someone like that is your slave, though. Are you a god, too, Brother?"
"Do I look like one?"
I casually reached out and grabbed Karen's tits.
Karen flinched and stared intently at me.
"Ngh. Not at all……."
"If you keep being my cock sleeve, you'll find out someday."
"I didn't bring it up because I particularly wanted to know. I don't pay attention to things like that."
That was true. Karen had a pretty easygoing personality.
All sorts of things had happened in the Black Forest, but she had never asked about them, either.
"Speaking of which, isn't that examiner the exact opposite of you? He looked like he could even guess how many Skeleton Warriors we'd killed.
That level of obsession is practically an art form."
"Pfft…! Brother, you shouldn't badmouth the examiner. We don't know where he's watching from."
Laughing aloud in the dim dungeon made me feel much better.
"Shall we keep going?"
"Yes. Let's definitely catch the lich!"
"Give me the lantern. It will be easier to fight in an emergency if your hands are free."
I put Karen's lantern into my personal storage and used Veil of Concealment to hide the two of us.
Even though we had just met Wavid, the atmosphere in the dungeon made it impossible to imagine running into anyone else.
The stone chamber was desolate, lonely, and somehow cold.
We carefully checked the Skeleton Warriors' positions and discussed our strategy in low voices.
"One straight ahead, and two to the right. Brother, what should we do?"
"I'll take the two. You hold off the one in front."
"Okay."
Karen repeatedly gripped and released the handle of her short, blunt sword as she waited for flames to rise.
"Fireball!"
The Skeleton Warriors reacted—not to the sound, but to the light.
I fired a Fireball at the two Warriors charging toward us like moths to a flame.
Just as expected. Since Fireball had a wide area of effect, the two standing close together were struck by my magic at the same time and crushed.
"Karen!"
Karen was struggling with the remaining one. She endured the Warrior's fierce attacks, then countered with her sword and shoved it back.
I didn't miss the opening.
"Fire Arrow!"
Since my Fire Arrow proficiency was at its maximum, it could be cast at a considerably faster speed.
Thanks to that, I was able to perfectly halt the Skeleton Warrior's movements.
"Hup!"
While the Warrior was immobilized, Karen swung her sword with all her strength and smashed the Skeleton's skull.
(Your level has increased.)
(Your level has increased.)
"Great!"
A thrilling shiver ran through me when everything went according to plan and we succeeded.
We slapped each other's palms, sharing the joy of our success.
"My level went up by a huge amount. Did yours, too, Brother?"
"Yeah. It's still going up."
Karen's level had been around thirty or forty lower than mine, hadn't it? If so, her rate of growth must be incredible.
"I want to keep raising my level like this and become incredibly strong."
I had thought the same thing before, but…….
I wasn't sure whether I could continue living as an adventurer, constantly seeking danger.
"Brother!"
I had let my thoughts wander for just a moment, and that was my mistake.
The Skeleton Warrior had been closer than I thought. As we approached without any light, it sprang at us as though it had sensed our vibrations.
Karen noticed immediately and stepped in front of me, but our response was slow because we were in darkness.
"Urgh!"
Karen was shoved backward and fell.
"Fire Arrow!"
I fired a Fire Arrow to save Karen, but the Skeleton Warrior endured it, came at her, and swung its sword.
"Karen!"
"I-I'm okay, Brother!"
The Skeleton Warrior was swinging its sword through empty air, as if it couldn't pinpoint our exact location.
Even though Karen had fallen right in front of it…… Ah!
It was because of Veil of Concealment.
I had never even thought about how a creature without eyeballs could see us in the first place, but thanks to Veil of Concealment, it seemed Karen had avoided further attacks even after falling.
Karen got up, regained her balance, and immediately shoved the Skeleton Warrior away.
"Fire Arrow!"
I fired an Overcharged Fire Arrow and crushed the Skeleton Warrior.
"Hah, haa……."
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No. I was just a little startled. I thought I was going to get cut by its sword……."
"Sorry for letting my attention wander."
I sincerely apologized to Karen.
"Protecting you when you're in danger is my job. Don't worry about it."
Karen's consideration put me at ease.
But I was also furious with myself.
"Monsters at this level really are dangerous. I bet plenty of adventurers get injured while leveling up and end up retiring just like that……."
"This won't do."
"Brother?"
I needed to be able to deal with enemies this weak with ease.
Now was the time to cross the line I had drawn for myself.
There was no way I could improve if I always held back and kept my distance.
"Let's go."
I used Veil of Concealment again and walked forward.
Karen followed behind me.
There were four Skeleton Warriors in the next room. Perfect.
"Oppa. This time?"
"Leave this room to me."
"By yourself? That's dangerous."
"We're going to deal with a formidable enemy that can even use magic. There's something I want to try now. If things get dangerous, I'll use 〈Spatial Leap〉."
"……All right. I'll leave it to you.
But if your life is in danger, I'll rush in no matter what anyone says."
"Good. It'll be hot, so stay a little farther back."
Maintaining the Veil of Concealment, I steadied my breathing and walked to the center of the room, then attempted an instant cast.
"Fireball."
Immediately after I murmured the brief incantation, brilliant flames bloomed, brightly illuminating the room.
It drew the attention of all four warriors at once. Without hesitation, they charged at me from every direction.
If they surrounded me, it would be over. In an ordinary situation, that was.
To burn all four of them for certain, I poured in every last bit of MP and overcharged the Fireball.
"Oppa. It's dangerous if you don't use magic…!"
Karen shouted, but I waited until the warriors had come close enough.
Then I retreated a few steps and dodged their attacks.
It wasn't difficult as long as I concentrated. Because of the Veil of Concealment, they couldn't see me clearly. Not even in such a brightly lit environment.
The skeleton warriors were aggressive, but they didn't move with as much thought as humans.
When I moved while casting the Fireball, they followed me and kept swinging at empty air. Since they only thought of charging straight toward the same target, they became tangled with one another and couldn't even pursue me properly.
Even so, four monsters wielding deadly weapons remained a threat.
I couldn't completely shake them off by merely retreating, and in the end, they surrounded me. I could evade attacks that came close to being wild swings, but as I'd expected, a dangerous moment arrived.
It's fine. I'd already practiced this, hadn't I? We were trapped indoors with no room to maneuver, but outside, my spirit had even blocked the attacks of a Thin Wolf.
I raised a barrier with the wind spirit and deflected the trajectories of the skeleton warriors' attacks.
The spirit blocked the dangerous attacks I couldn't evade in my place, while I focused and dodged the attacks I could deal with.
In this way, I bought time and continued overcharging the spell until it reached a sufficient level.
"Ugh……!"
Karen covered her face with her arms and took a step back, as if she'd felt the suffocating heat.
The Fireball swelled dramatically while I stalled for time. If they had been humans rather than monsters, they probably would have thought of fleeing long ago.
As soon as the 〈Overcharged Fireball〉, whose power had risen beyond my ability to contain it, was ready, I drove it into the skeleton warriors' bodies.
Bang!
With an impact that shook the dungeon, everything in the room was engulfed in flames.
(The Goddess's Blessing protects you)
(You have leveled up)
When the flames subsided, I was the only one still standing.
On the floor, finely shattered fragments of bone burned with the Fireball's power.
The might of the 〈Overcharged Fireball〉, which had killed a Thin Wolf instantly in three direct hits, remained undiminished.
And even after taking the full force of the aftermath, I was unharmed. The flames clinging to my clothes were easily brushed away with the barrier created by the wind spirit, as if shaking dust from them.
Since the blessing made me immune to heat and prevented me from taking fire damage, this was actually a method I'd thought of as early as when I used Fire Arrow.
But I'd never tried it because I thought deliberately putting myself in danger would be foolish.
"Oppa…!!"
Karen came running toward me.
"A-are you all right? There was an explosion like that……."
"I'm fine thanks to the blessing."
Karen already knew that I had received the blessing, so there was no reason to hide it.
"Oppa, just now, you were completely different from the Oppa I've seen until now."
"Was I a little cool?"
"……Well. It was nerve-racking, but you were amazing."
Karen spoke with profound relief.
I hadn't been putting on airs just because I wanted to show her a cool side of me.
How should I manage risks in another world? My thoughts on that were gradually changing.
When I'd first arrived in this world, I thought the best approach was to maintain a safe distance─though the fistfight with the goblins couldn't be helped─and deal with enemies one at a time from afar.
But if I stubbornly clung to that method, I'd become a mage who was completely useless when things went wrong.
So I decided to actively use the spirit to deflect the enemy's close-range attacks, and to willingly unleash my magic, even if it meant using area-of-effect attacks.
The result was successful.
What good would leveling up alone do?
'Skeleton warriors are nothing special.' To become someone who could say that, I had to master the wind spirit and make use of magic at more than one hundred percent.
"These are the stairs to the second basement level."
There were stairs directly in front of the room I'd cleared.
"Can I do what you did too, Oppa? Spirit arts that block enemy attacks… I want to try it too!"
Ah, Karen had never used a spirit for defense before, had she?
The fight I'd shown her seemed to have given Karen some good inspiration.
"Why couldn't you? It would've been easier outside. Let's try it together."
"Yes!"
Together, we proceeded to the second basement level.