The sunset faded, and the sky was dyed red.
As the sun began to sink, lights flickered on one by one along the street.
Among them stood a particularly conspicuous building: a tavern with a sign that read “Tuska’s Barrel.”
Stepping inside, one found the tavern’s interior softly illuminated by the yellow light spilling from brass chandeliers.
The building was old, and the floorboards creaked with every step, but no one paid it any mind, drowned out as it was by the laughter and singing of adventurers chattering in drunken, excited voices.
At every row of tables, adventurers of all sorts filled the seats, clinking their mugs together.
“Kaaah! Nothing beats a drink to finish the day! Tuska, another round here!”
One man poured beer down his throat to end the day.
“So I’m telling you, I took down that damned orc chieftain all by myself!”
At another table, someone boasted of his adventures as he drank.
At one table, they were dividing up the reward they had received for completing a commission, while at another, someone was busy loudly bragging about an item he had obtained.
Everyone was absorbed in their own stories, yet there was one topic that never failed to come up.
“Have you heard that rumor too?”
“Ah, you mean the story about the owner of that mansion? They say he found an incredible treasure in some dungeon.”
“That’s the one. At first I thought it was just nonsense, but it seems to be true. And they say he’s missing an arm, too.”
A wealthy man who had appeared out of nowhere.
The person who had boldly taken possession of a luxurious mansion in the royal capital had recently become the talk of the town.
If he had been an ordinary noble, it would not have been worth mentioning, but the new owner of the mansion was a man far removed from nobility.
In particular, judging by the fact that he was missing one arm, there seemed to be some special story behind him.
While people were thinking that, an intriguing rumor began to spread.
It claimed that the owner of the luxurious mansion had discovered a tremendous amount of gold and treasure in some dungeon.
Though he had lost one arm, the story went that the treasure he had obtained from the dungeon was enough for him to live in abundance for the rest of his life.
“They say if you can just find that dungeon, you can become filthy rich.”
“I heard that too. The rumor is that it’s worth the danger. They even say it’s near the Silent Mountains.”
Rumors were always prone to exaggeration.
Even so, every table was buzzing with this rumor.
Especially because the mansion’s owner was one-armed, the story seemed all the more plausible.
However, no one knew where the rumor had begun.
All that was certain was that a story that had started in a tavern a few days ago had spread in an instant.
But what did that matter?
Was it not a dungeon brimming with treasure?
Perhaps they, too, could obtain immense wealth like the mansion’s owner.
For adventurers, it was as if a situation they had imagined at least once was unfolding right before their eyes.
“So I’m thinking of going to see for myself. I want to find out what kind of dungeon it is for a rumor like this to be going around.”
Some declared that they would set out on an adventure themselves to confirm the truth of the rumor.
In truth, most of them were thinking the same thing.
If they found treasure, all the better; even if they did not, the adventure itself would still be meaningful.
“Tch.”
But at a table in the corner, there was one man listening to the conversation with disdain.
“A dungeon full of treasure? How absurd.”
The man clicking his tongue was named Lloyd.
His family had fallen, reducing him to a commoner, but he was a fallen noble who still dreamed of restoring his house.
“You just go to a dungeon and get treasure? They can’t really believe such nonsense, can they?”
Restoring his family would require an enormous amount of money.
Even so, he was not the sort to be swept up in an absurd rumor.
From Lloyd’s experience, stories that sounded too good to be true always had some flaw hidden in them.
“Still, should I go take a look?”
But he was in desperate need of money, and could not simply ignore the rumor forever.
What if he did nothing, and the rumor truly turned out to be true?
It was not as though he could beat the ground in frustration afterward.
“I’ll just check for a moment.”
If it seemed dangerous, he would run away at once.
Thinking this to himself, Lloyd immediately rose from his seat.
It was still at the stage where adventurers had only heard the rumor, and no one had yet acted on it.
On top of that, it was now evening, with darkness settling outside.
“Thanks for the drink, owner.”
Lloyd handed over one silver coin and went outside.
If he waited until morning, the number of competitors would increase tremendously.
Since the thought had come to him, he was the type to act on it at once.
“If it looks dangerous, I can just run away.”
Lloyd fundamentally did not trust others.
He tended to distrust anyone who was not connected to him by blood.
And so, at present, he headed toward the mountains alone.
Even if he gathered adventurers, he might end up being stabbed in the back for no reason, so it was more comfortable to go alone.
Because of that personality, he did not even entrust his money to anyone, but carried it himself.
Having already experienced the uselessness of trusting others with money when his family fell, he was all the more severe about it.
“In the end, everyone is alone in this world.”
As he drew near the mountains, Lloyd drew the sword at his waist.
From here on, he would climb the mountains.
But mountains shrouded in darkness were places filled with danger, so he did not let down his guard.
* * *
Lloyd began climbing the mountains with a torch and sword in hand.
As expected, the mountains at night made for an eerie sight.
The wind blowing through the forest was cold, and the moonlight seeping through the branches cast sinister shadows.
From between the rocks came rustling sounds of unknown origin, heightening Lloyd’s tension.
Even so, he swallowed and carefully took another step.
How long had he climbed?
His destination still seemed far away.
Still, it was not as if he had gained nothing at all.
“……”
Someone came into view before Lloyd’s eyes.
“Adventurers, perhaps.”
He saw two figures.
They were probably on their way to investigate the rumor at night, just like him.
“One is in a robe, and the other is in armor…”
A knight and a mage?
Lloyd tilted his head, then quietly began following them.
But then—
“……!”
He sensed something strange behind him.
“Wh-when did they—!”
There were ghouls behind Lloyd.
If it had been just one or two, that would have been one thing. But there were not few ghouls.
They were not empty-handed, either, each holding a pickaxe or shovel.
No matter that he had a sword, it was a number he absolutely could not handle alone.
On top of that, it was night.
His vision was poor, making the situation far too disadvantageous for battle.
Lloyd wondered what he should do.
Then he recalled the adventurers ahead.
“That’s right. For now, I need to ask for help.”
He fundamentally did not trust others, but there was no helping it now.
Against that many ghouls, they needed to join forces first.
“Hey! You there! Help me! There are ghouls here!”
Lloyd ran with all his might and called out to the adventurers ahead.
Hearing Lloyd’s plea for help, the adventurers stopped in place.
Lloyd’s expression, which had thought it was saved, immediately crumbled.
The ones Lloyd had called out to were not adventurers.
They were not a knight and a mage.
No, they were not even human.
“Clack?”
The beings inside the robe and armor were undead monsters, nothing but bones.
“A L-Lich! A-and that’s… a Death Knight?!”
At the sight of the monsters that appeared before him, Lloyd felt the blood in his entire body run cold.
His heartbeat surged up into his throat, making it hard even to breathe.
Why were such high-ranking monsters here?
Lloyd despaired.
Even before he was a fallen noble, he had worked as an adventurer, so he knew well.
Monsters on the level of a Death Knight and a Lich were not common.
To begin with, they were not monsters one could easily encounter in a place like this.
“Th-this is bad…”
Furthermore, why were such beings wandering outside a dungeon?
At that moment, he regretted having come up here.
Ordinary adventurers did not climb mountains at night. It was far too dangerous, and there was no telling what monsters might appear.
Yet Lloyd himself had ended up making that very mistake.
“So I was the one blinded by the rumor…”
It had been Lloyd who clicked his tongue at the rumor in the tavern only moments ago.
Even so, a small hope that there might perhaps be treasure had lingered in his heart.
He had made the mistake of coming here, carrying a swollen dream that he might rebuild his family with gold and riches.
“Clack-clack?”
The one that looked like a Lich made bone-rattling sounds, as if saying something.
At the same time, it began recording something in a book that appeared to be a spellbook.
The Death Knight beside it remained silent.
But Lloyd felt immense terror and dread toward the Death Knight.
“Why… why is there something like that on its shield…”
The maid uniform hanging from the Death Knight’s shield was a grotesque sight.
It was enough to paralyze Lloyd’s reason.
Before a scene that defied common sense, even maintaining his sanity was difficult.
“This isn’t the time… Get a hold of yourself.”
There was an old saying that as long as one kept one’s wits, one could escape danger.
Lloyd racked his brain as much as he could.
“I have to survive, no matter what.”
He suddenly recalled hearing once that among monsters, some would occasionally negotiate with adventurers.
Terrified and searching for a way to escape the danger before his eyes, Lloyd abruptly thought of the wealth he carried on him.
It was money he had saved to someday raise his family again.
For convenience, his assets were made up of jewels and gold coins.
They were supposed to be used to rebuild his house, but if he died, everything would be over.
No matter how great the value of money was, it could not compare to his life right now.
If he could just survive somehow, he would surely be able to gather this much money again.
It was a shabby resolve, but before such a desperate situation, it was the best choice Lloyd had.
“Please…”
Lloyd held out the jewels and gold coins to the monsters. Then he closed his eyes and bit his lip.
The die was cast.
He desperately hoped that the monster before him would understand his intention.
Lloyd prayed earnestly in his heart.
“Clack!”
A moment later, the monster that looked like a Lich took all the jewels and gold from Lloyd’s hand.
“Clack-clack-clack.”
Then it said something, but he could not understand the monsters’ language.
All he could do was pray and pray in his heart that they would simply pass by.
“Clack-clack. Clack-clack-clack.”
The Lich continued saying something.
As it spoke, it handed some of the jewels to the Death Knight beside it.
“……”
The Death Knight silently accepted the jewels, then turned and proceeded forward.
Lloyd stared blankly at the situation.
But only for a moment.
The ghouls behind him also began walking past Lloyd.
“Clack-clack! Clack-clack-clack.”
The one that seemed to be a Lich left behind some words, then turned its back just like that.
He could not understand their meaning, but they sounded like a warning.
“……”
Until their figures disappeared, Lloyd could not move an inch from where he stood.
He merely stared blankly ahead.
How much time had passed?
Only then did Lloyd come back to his senses and run down the mountains.
“What? Full of treasure? Damn it!”
Far from treasure, it was a place where monsters robbed people of their money instead.
“Let’s see if I ever believe a rumor like that again!”
The mountains were not an easy place for Lloyd.