The adventurers were climbing the steep terrain of the mountain range.
“How long do we have to keep going up? Wasn’t there supposed to be a dungeon nearby?”
But contrary to what was marked on the map, there was no sign of an actual dungeon at all.
It was the same no matter where they looked.
This was already the umpteenth time they had come up empty-handed.
The adventurers were beginning to grow irritated.
“Those guild bastards, stuffing their bellies selling cheap-ass maps.”
The map they had was one purchased from the Adventurers’ Guild.
The Adventurers’ Guild had only banned entry into the mountain range; it still sold maps with the terrain and dungeons marked on them as usual.
But nothing on it was actually right.
And since the maps were not exactly cheap despite being inaccurate, everyone began to voice their complaints.
“Maybe.”
Islin, an ice-attribute mage, spoke up.
“Maybe there really is something here. That must be why a noble commissioned the request.”
Islin’s argument was fairly reasonable.
“That makes sense.”
At her words, a large man nodded in agreement.
It was the warrior Gregto.
The sight of Gregto holding a massive shield in his right hand and a huge greatsword in his left was truly astonishing.
For an ordinary person, it would have taken considerable strength just to lift a shield of that size.
But Gregto held the shield and sword lightly, as if they were toys.
“Our objective wasn’t dungeon exploration in the first place. The request was to conduct a general reconnaissance of the mountain range and check for anything unusual.”
As everyone turned their eyes to him, Gregto shrugged and continued.
“Like Islin said, we don’t know what’s happening in this mountain range. The worst case is that we’ve become guinea pigs sent to find that out.”
Guinea pigs.
Borrowing his words, it meant every adventurer here had become a lab rat.
There really might be something happening in the mountain range.
Perhaps the ban on entering the mountain range was related to that.
And Gregto’s claim was that the Adventurers’ Guild and the noble might have colluded to arrange this in order to find out.
“Damn it! No wonder they were paying so much.”
Normally, they would have dismissed it as an absurd claim, but this request was far too strange.
In particular, the advance payment alone was enough for each person here to live in leisure for a year.
At first, they had simply thought it was a request from some noble lord with deep pockets.
Drawn in by the large sum, they had not thought too deeply about it.
Moreover, the request itself was simple.
It was merely reconnaissance and terrain exploration of the mountain range, so they had not attached much significance to it.
“……”
But not anymore.
Hadn’t every map they had purchased from the Adventurers’ Guild led them astray?
They had not checked every part of it, but so far, they had done nothing but come up empty-handed.
At this point, it was not that the map was wrong.
As everyone was thinking seriously, Nariel, who was at the front, shouted.
“Th-there are footprints over there…!”
There really were footprints there.
But they were far too faint.
They were only lightly pressed into the dirt path.
They were so subtle that if Nariel, who was serving as their guide, had not noticed them, they would have passed by without a thought.
“So we did have visitors before us after all. Nariel, can you tell roughly what kind of footprints they are?”
At Gregto’s words, Nariel stared intently at the footprints.
They were faint, but fortunately, their characteristics were distinct.
“Um… first of all, there are four.”
Nariel continued explaining their features.
“What’s unusual is that except for one, they all seem to be monsters. Yes, three out of the four look like skeletons.”
The footprints of three of the beings had been left in the shape of bones.
Because of that, it was not difficult to identify them as some kind of skeleton.
“Skeletons?”
Gregto burst into laughter at her words.
“What, we were scared of mere skeletons? Wahaha.”
Facing an unknown being was always frightening.
But if the opponent’s identity was clear, as it was now, it was not difficult.
And weren’t they skeletons, of all things?
“Then who’s the remaining one? Is it not a monster?”
After laughing for a while, Gregto cleared his throat and asked another question.
“Ah, yes. For now, it was wearing shoes, so I don’t know what it is.”
Unlike the bone marks, one of the beings had left shoe prints as they were.
“But I feel a somewhat strange aura from it.”
“A strange aura?”
“I’m not sure what it is, but that’s the feeling I get.”
Nariel’s explanation ended there.
As soon as he heard that, Gregto turned away as if it were no big deal.
He had already made a rough calculation anyway, so he had no further need to look to Nariel.
To summarize, their opponents consisted of four.
Three of them were skeletons.
The other one had been wearing shoes.
‘A dark mage, perhaps.’
Of course, it might be a monster.
Monsters also wore equipment just like humans did.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
He did not know who the remaining one was, but three of them were definitely skeletons.
The adventurers here had enough combat strength to subjugate skeletons without issue.
So he was not worried.
Gregto looked at everyone and said,
“Those footprints’ owners may be the very beings we’re supposed to find.”
They might be the ones throwing the map into confusion.
And if they continued reconnoitering the mountain range, they would eventually encounter them.
“Since it’s come to this, let’s just split into two groups here. What do you think?”
What Gregto proposed was dividing the current group of adventurers into two.
They would split into two teams; one would follow the footprints and track the unknown beings from behind.
The other team would trace the direction from which the footprints had come in reverse.
Of course, since they were so faint, the footprints might disappear midway.
But it would be far more efficient than blindly turning the mountain range upside down.
Everyone nodded at his words.
They had been afraid until just moments ago, but now they were fine.
If anything, they wanted to finish quickly and get paid.
The adventurers began dividing the group into two according to Gregto’s words.
“First of all, Nariel is in the group tracking them.”
Nariel, her hat pulled low, gave a slight nod.
Her role was that of a guide.
Since she was also skilled at tracking someone, it was an obvious arrangement.
While the adventurers were busy splitting into teams, Nariel carefully looked at the tree beside her.
‘The tree is trembling.’
The reason she was skilled as a guide was not merely because she was agile.
It was because she could feel nature.
But this was a secret she had never told anyone.
Nariel stroked the tree.
The tree was trembling violently.
Nariel closed her eyes and shared the tree’s emotions.
‘Darkness.’
It was so dark that its end could not be known.
‘And desire.’
Within that darkness, desire existed.
‘Lastly, greed.’
Endless greed stretched out.
Nariel opened her eyes, feeling fear.
“What on earth is this…?”
It was an indescribable feeling.
* * *
Steam rose in wisps.
The warm vapor touched the ceiling, became droplets of water, and fell to the floor.
In the hollowed-out place, warm water and slimes of various colors were mixed together.
It was a slime bath.
And at the center of the slime bath was—
“Clack.”
The Arch Lich.
The Arch Lich’s bones gleamed and shone within the warm water.
Sticky slimes were cleaning every nook and cranny of the Arch Lich’s bones.
A slight acidity seeped out from the slimes, but it meant nothing to the Arch Lich.
If anything, it even felt refreshing.
“Clack.”
Bathing in the warm slime bath was both strange and fantastic.
The Arch Lich wore a satisfied smile on his face.
The slimes were cleaning not only the Arch Lich, but even the shoes he had been wearing.
The luxurious-looking shoes were one of the “small tokens of sincerity” Skoll had given to the Arch Lich.
“Clack.”
The Arch Lich ordered the skeletons attending him nearby to come in as well.
The skeletons glanced around, and only after the Arch Lich spoke once more did they finally enter the bath.
“Clack.”
The Arch Lich was satisfied.
If he enjoyed it alone, that would be a bribe.
But if everyone enjoyed it together?
Then it was merely ordinary hospitality.
After enjoying the bath for a while like that, he got out of the tub.
The Arch Lich nodded and lifted his notebook.
Holding the fountain pen Skoll had gifted him in one hand, he wrote smoothly.
- Sticky Puddle Dungeon: no issues.
This was not personal bias.
There truly were no problems.
The current master leading the dungeon “Sticky Puddle” was a 3-star King Slime.
As befitted its name, it was larger than ordinary slimes, and its combat power looked equally formidable.
“Ppyu!”
The King Slime roared.
- As expected of a dungeon master, even its roar is rough.
It has quite a threatening appearance to adventurers.
Based on such points, the Arch Lich recorded everything thoroughly.
The record for this dungeon was completed in no time as well.
“Clack.”
At the Arch Lich’s words, the skeletons also came out of the slime bath.
Now it was time to leave.
The skeletons began taking their positions.
On the Arch Lich’s left stood a skeleton holding the notebook, and on his right stood a skeleton holding the fountain pen.
The skeleton behind the Arch Lich was holding the “small tokens of sincerity” received from Skoll, along with a pack made of slime mucus.
It was an item the King Slime had gifted him, saying it would be even more effective if he attached the pack to his body.
The Arch Lich nodded and left the slime dungeon.
He had already inspected two of the four dungeons.
[Red-Headed Tribe] - Complete, no abnormalities.
[Sticky Puddle] - Complete, no abnormalities.
And there were two dungeons remaining.
[Mist-Covered Village]
[Dregs of the Demon Realm]
After wondering where to go next, the Arch Lich decided to head to the relatively nearby “Dregs of the Demon Realm” dungeon.
The Arch Lich and the skeletons began moving.
They were all undead.
Since they had no need to rest, they continued walking onward.
They walked and walked.
Repeating that action, they were soon able to arrive at the dungeon.
[Dregs of the Demon Realm]
In front of it, a single skeleton soldier was waiting, and the moment it discovered the Arch Lich, it ran over.
“Clack!”
Then it saluted the Arch Lich with a loud sound.
The Arch Lich nodded.
- Swift in action. This is worthy of praise.
In truth, rather than being swift in action, they were all undead.
The skeleton soldier was also undead, so it had no need to sleep or rest.
And in fact, that skeleton soldier had been standing at the entrance from the moment the dungeon “Dregs of the Demon Realm” came into being until now.
It had not left its post even once.
When the Arch Lich entered the dungeon, the soldier began guarding near the entrance again.
“Clack!”
“Clack!”
As the Arch Lich entered the dungeon, everyone greeted him.
The “Dregs of the Demon Realm” dungeon was a place composed entirely of skeletons.
There were skeleton swordsmen, of course, as well as skeleton archers and mages.
Naturally, there were also those of lower rank.
Soldiers, archer apprentices, magic trainees, and so on….
And a skeleton knight approached the Arch Lich’s side, rubbing its hands together.
It was the master of this dungeon, a 3-star skeleton knight.
Originally, it had been a 2-star being, a skeleton swordsman, but after entering the service of the great master, it was said to have evolved into a 3-star.
Rattle—
Clatter—
If one looked closely at those greeting the Arch Lich, one could see their bodies trembling faintly.
They were genuinely afraid of the Arch Lich.
Inspector Arch Lich.
He was a being who had come from an upper-rank dungeon to conduct an inspection.
And more than anything, he was the Arch Lich who could make them explode.
One of the Arch Lich’s skills was Corpse Explosion.
And it could explode undead monsters of a lower grade than the caster.
But the Arch Lich was a 5-star being.
Every skeleton here fell within the range of the Arch Lich’s skill.
The fear that their own bones might explode at any moment if things went wrong made them tremble.
To them, the Arch Lich was a fear and terror that surpassed even an inspector.
“Clack.”
The Arch Lich opened his mouth.
The inspection would begin now.