When Baalcherit was peacefully going about its day.
Throughout the Silent Mountains, the footsteps of adventurers never ceased.
They were all like moths to a flame, drawn by rumors in hopes of making a fortune overnight.
Several days had already passed since the rumors spread, but not a single person had found the dungeon where the treasure was buried.
Because of that, countless people moved toward the mountains with fire in their eyes.
But the Silent Mountains were not a place to be taken lightly.
They were practically connected by land to the Demon Realm, so no one knew what kind of monsters might appear.
Since it was such a dangerous place, most adventurers who climbed the mountains either formed parties or were people confident in their own abilities.
Of course, being confident in one’s abilities and forming a party did not mean one was safe.
“H-hiiik! Save me! Please!”
A man who had climbed the mountains knelt on the ground and begged for his life.
He, too, had heard the rumors and come up the mountains, only to encounter an unexpected variable.
That variable was an orc.
If it had only been one or two orcs, that would have been one thing, but he had run into a group of several dozen or more.
The leader of the orc horde the man faced was Skoll.
“Chwik! Vermin who know no honor have trespassed upon the sacred land of the ruler! I, in the name of Skoll, command you! Kill them all!”
Skoll, the master of the dungeon “Red-Haired Tribe” and the chieftain leading the orc horde.
Skoll clenched his rugged fist and roared with vigor.
In his eyes burned the firm resolve of a warrior, but his mood was far from pleasant.
In truth, he was staring with a deep frown at the man begging for his life.
The reason was that his opponent had no honor.
“Trash who knows no honor! If you are a warrior, you should not fear something like death!”
Begging for his life without even fighting.
It was a sight unworthy of a warrior.
A warrior, by nature, did not give up easily no matter how difficult the situation.
At times, even if the opponent was someone he could not defeat, he was still a being who had to clash with them first.
That was honor, and that was what could be called a true warrior.
And yet this man knelt before even fighting.
Skoll was enraged by his opponent’s actions.
If he had knelt after fighting, or humbled himself with proper respect, Skoll might have let him live.
It would have meant that the warrior was damaging even his own honor to treat his opponent as a strong foe.
But the feeble human before him had not done that.
Instead, the man committed a transgression that crossed the line.
He took money out from his bosom while begging for his life.
“Please! I beg you! I’ll give you everything I have, so just spare my life—”
But before the man could finish speaking, his head flew off.
“To think you would dare try to sully even my honor!”
Enraged by the act of trying to diminish his honor with money, Skoll swung his axe himself.
In an instant, the adventurer party became cold corpses.
Skoll raised his bloodstained axe high and declared.
“Warriors! I, Skoll, am deeply disappointed by the reality that there are so many who know no honor!”
Ooh—! Ooh—!
At Chieftain Skoll’s words, the orcs likewise raised their weapons high into the sky.
“I hereby swear in the name of the tribe! I will not leave a single one of those who know no honor alive! That is the path of a true warrior!”
At Skoll’s declaration, the tribe members also let out thunderous cheers.
Clatter—!
And at that moment, skeletons approached the orcs with rattling sounds.
At the head of the skeletons approached Berter, the Dullahan, holding his head in one hand.
Berter was the leader of the undead assault force.
Along with the goblin scout unit, they were troops that guarded the dungeon.
Skoll welcomed Berter with a smile.
“Did Lord Necros send you! Chwik! I’ll be counting on you again this time!”
Skoll handed the cold corpse of the adventurer to Berter.
The skeletons began to clean up the adventurers’ bodies and traces completely.
Seeing that, Skoll was amazed.
‘As expected! Lord Necros is a warrior who knows honor!’
To clean up voluntarily without anyone ordering them.
This was surely an action born not only of honor, but also of loyalty to the ruler.
Skoll, moved in his heart by Necros’s actions, looked at the skeletons.
Among them, the sight of the Dullahan stood out.
“Demon sword… stronger… power.”
Berter was looking over the adventurers’ corpses while holding his head in his hand.
More precisely, he was checking the swords held in the adventurers’ hands.
“Demon… sword. Want… power!”
However, the demon sword Berter wanted did not appear.
In a way, it was only natural.
A mere adventurer would not be carrying around a demon sword.
Even so, Berter did not give up and rummaged through the corpses carefully.
“Power… stronger… power!”
At that sight, Skoll was amazed once more.
‘A true warrior pursues great power! As expected of a subordinate of Lord Necros!’
Berter was a being who had been killed by the Death Knight and become a Dullahan.
Strictly speaking, he was practically a subordinate of the Death Knight, but there was no way Skoll would know that.
‘Honorable tribe members are born under an honorable leader! Today as well, I learn from Lord Necros!’
Skoll nodded and closed his eyes.
He had gained a new realization from the actions of Necros and Berter.
While he sorted out that realization, the skeletons disappeared carrying the adventurers’ corpses, and Berter, who had realized there was no demon sword, also vanished.
Once the skeletons disappeared, only Skoll and the orcs remained there with their eyes closed.
And for Skoll, who had gained realization, a new change began.
- Skoll has gained the realization of evolution.
- Skoll’s grade evolves from 3-star to 4-star.
* * *
Meanwhile, the Goblin Lord, who had set out to hunt, walked through the forest near the dungeon.
Around the Goblin Lord, goblins belonging to the scout unit were lying in ambush with their figures hidden.
It looked as though they were escorting their king.
“Krrk, this place’ll do.”
As if he had simply come out for a stroll, the Goblin Lord leisurely took out a weapon.
The weapon he took out was a mana gun.
It was one of the weapons used by hunters on Earth.
It was a weapon that Azmo, an incubus on Earth, had given to Celia as a gift, but now the Goblin Lord was using it.
The mana gun had the advantage of being easy to use as long as it was charged with mana.
Above all, the interesting thing about it was that its power changed depending on the magical power grade of the being who charged it with mana.
The mana gun held by the Goblin Lord had been charged personally by Celia, so its power was extraordinary.
The reason the Goblin Lord had come out hunting after so long was not simply for fun.
He had come to carry out Celia’s orders.
What Celia wanted was one thing.
To create an environment that would keep adventurers entering the dungeon.
To do that, they could not kill every adventurer who trespassed.
Some had to survive and spread rumors about the dungeon. But that did not mean they could be let go without any response either.
If the dungeon was looked down on, there was a high chance even low-level humans would flow in.
It was a difficult mission that required showing just the right amount of resistance.
But the Goblin Lord had a good method.
“We’ll let one human live each time. Until I give the order, stand by!”
No sooner had the Goblin Lord finished speaking than a signal came from the scout unit ahead.
It meant humans were coming this way.
“From now on, cut off the enemy’s expected escape routes!”
At the Lord’s command, the goblins began moving busily.
Not long after the signal fell from the scout unit, the adventurers began to appear.
There were six adventurers in total.
Because they were still quite far from the Lord, the adventurers did not notice anything strange.
“……”
The Goblin Lord aimed the mana gun, the bulging veins on his dark green skin showing.
In his gaze was the ferocity of a beast eyeing its prey.
He carefully breathed out and placed his index finger on the trigger.
Bang—!
At last, along with a tremendous roar, a flash of light burst forth faster than the eye could blink.
Blue mana became a bullet and pierced an adventurer.
The head of the adventurer holding a staff shattered to pieces. Red blood splattered in every direction.
The adventurers screamed in panic at the sudden attack.
However, the Goblin Lord did not stop and fired the mana gun in succession.
Bang— bang— bang—
The roar shook the forest.
The bodies of the screaming adventurers were torn apart horribly.
Bang— bang— bang— bang—
Armor shattered and chunks of flesh scattered.
A gruesome scene unfolded between the bushes.
Of the six adventurers, five died.
Even the adventurer who barely survived was not in good condition.
One of his arms had been blown off.
The adventurer who lost his arm fled in a wretched state.
The goblins blocking the escape route tried to chase after the fleeing adventurer, but the Goblin Lord stopped them.
“Let that one live. Krrk.”
The Goblin Lord gave the goblins the order in a phlegm-filled voice.
As Celia had said, they could not kill every adventurer.
That was why he had deliberately let him escape.
Since he had blown off one of his arms anyway, it was not as if he had let him go peacefully, so it was an acceptable result.
“Return to your positions and stand by.”
For a while, adventurers would continue to come.
The Goblin Lord maintained his mana gun and waited for the next adventurers to arrive.
In the meantime, the skeletons waiting nearby revealed themselves.
Clack, clack— clatter—
They began cleaning up the five adventurer corpses the Goblin Lord had hunted.
This time, Necros and the Death Knight appeared along with the skeletons.
“Clack, clack-clack.”
“……”
When Necros said something, the Death Knight merely nodded silently.
And the skeletons moved busily.
The skeletons separated the equipment from the adventurers’ corpses.
The corpses were offerings to be presented to Master, and the decent equipment would be used when the monsters armed themselves.
Naturally, all the money the adventurers had possessed was taken by Necros.
However, Necros’s pockets were already full of gold coins.
There was no room to put more in.
Of course, Necros did not give up.
The skeletons in charge of financial management, whom he had already appointed on-site, separated gold coins and jewels and reported the amounts to Necros.
“Clack-clack.”
(Five gold coins.)
“Clack.”
(Confirmed.)
Necros recorded the amount without omission in a thick notebook.
In the notebook, the details of how it would be distributed going forward were already written.
Among them was a separate portion of gold coins to be offered to Master.
After finishing the ledger, Necros handed a portion of the gold coins to the Death Knight.
Since the Death Knight had also been roaming the mountains together with Necros, the pockets of her maid uniform were now full.
But who was the Death Knight?
Before being the work foreman in charge of the dungeon’s fortification construction, she was the mid-boss of Area 1 on the first floor.
The ghouls she had brought from the first floor took the gold coins and jewels on the Death Knight’s behalf.
“Guuuuh?”
The ghouls shoved the gold coins and jewels into their mouths.
Although their bodies were rotten, unlike skeletons, they still had flesh remaining, so it was a method they could use.
Necros also shared gold coins with the Goblin Lord.
Money was always right.
“Demon… sword. Power. Demon… sword…”
While they were in the midst of taking their spoils, Berter appeared.
Berter searched the adventurers’ corpses for a demon sword, but this time, too, he came up empty-handed.
“…None.”
Quickly losing interest, Berter turned away once again to search for a demon sword.
Following the direction Berter left in, the skeletons and ghouls also began moving.
“Clack.”
After them, Necros and the Death Knight also moved.
The mountains at present were practically a place where gold coins flowed.
A place truly filled with hope.
Necros moved busily again today, seeking even more hope.