A dungeon is always busy.
It is a place where one must be thoroughly prepared at all times, for one never knows when an intruder might arrive.
Thus, the chief administrator, Celia, was attending to her duties despite the late hour.
All of this was for the great being she served.
Someone came to Celia while she was concentrating on her work.
“What brings you at this hour, Nariel?”
Nariel the Elf.
She had come to see Celia.
Currently, Nariel was residing in District 3 of the dungeon managed by Celia.
Her main duty was managing the plant monsters in District 3.
Of course, this was not something she did because she wanted to.
‘I have to save Isrin.’
Isrin, Nariel’s friend.
A talented magician and the only human friend who did not discriminate against her for being an elf and had looked out for her.
Isrin had been working as an adventurer for her sake when she was captured by Celia.
And the Celia standing before her was exploiting her, holding Isrin’s life hostage.
But the only thing Nariel could do in this situation was obey Celia’s words.
It was an unavoidable choice for the survival of her friend, Isrin.
Nariel suppressed her boiling anger and spoke to Celia.
“I-intruders have appeared. They’re still quite far, but…”
It was not that intruders had appeared directly in the dungeon.
But the trees had said that certain beings had invaded the territory from afar.
“Can you tell who they are?”
Of course, Celia had also sensed the other party’s presence.
But she needed Nariel’s answer to know exactly who they were.
“There are twelve in total, they say.”
As an elf, she possessed the ability to communicate with plants.
A typical elf’s ability would end there, but Nariel’s ability was far greater.
If she only had enough time, she could hear not just a single plant, but the communication between plants.
Thanks to that, she had detected the presence of distant intruders by listening to the communication between plants, just as now.
Celia also held Nariel’s ability in high regard and had made arrangements so she could communicate with the plants near the dungeon.
“Th-the nearby trees told me. C-cat? Monsters like that, and one being with dark skin.”
Celia closed her eyes upon hearing Nariel’s words.
Despite Nariel’s useful ability, it was merely listening to and relaying the communication of plants.
In the end, it meant there was a time gap in the relay of information.
It would take no small amount of time for the stories of plants in distant places to reach here.
In fact, the intruders’ movements were constantly changing.
“Hmm.”
Celia let out a slightly pleased sound.
She had been lacking offerings for her Master lately; if they came on their own, it was a welcome occurrence.
“Very well. Nariel, you may go in and rest now.”
Nariel bowed her head to Celia and went outside.
Celia opened her eyes.
There was one thing that bothered her.
“By the way, haven’t the scouts reported anything at all?”
She had definitely expanded the goblin scouts’ range.
Yet the goblin scouts had failed to detect the intruders.
That was the reason Celia had remained still even after sensing the intruders’ presence.
A test for the goblin scouts.
But there had been no word from the goblin scouts, and instead, Nariel had come to report the situation.
‘What a shame. It would be truly wonderful if Nariel belonged to our dungeon.’
But Celia knew well.
Nariel’s goal was to save her friend.
She was merely feigning loyalty to the dungeon in order to save her friend.
“Well, I can think about this slowly…”
That wasn’t the problem at hand right now.
What would have happened if she and Nariel weren’t here?
They would have discovered the intruders eventually, but the response differed depending on how much earlier they were detected.
That was why early detection was important.
“I suppose I must replenish the scouts.”
Of course, replenishing the scouts was a matter for later.
For now, she needed to prepare in earnest for the current situation.
Celia muttered softly and turned her head.
“Bring the Goblin Lord.”
As soon as Celia commanded, a Skeleton Knight standing nearby darted out.
* * *
A forest shrouded in darkness.
The sounds of grasshoppers slowly echoed out.
Moonlight seeped through the tree branches, pouring faint light into the dark forest.
By that faint light, the shadows of the trees stretched and grew deeper in the darkness.
Rustle.
And an unwelcome guest appeared in the silent forest.
A single small sound broke the silence that had settled over the forest.
The grasshoppers that had been chirping in the forest stopped all at once.
The unwelcome guest was treading on the grass below, carefully making its way through the forest.
The sound of trampled grass continued to spread.
It was not a single guest.
It was a group.
And they were all armed with simple weapons.
Their appearance was that of hyena heads.
They were the monster, ‘Gnoll’.
“Strange.”
The gnoll chieftain at the head of the group stopped in his tracks and spoke quietly.
“Aren’t there too many goblins in this forest?”
Crimdor, the chieftain leading the gnolls, expressed his doubts.
Suddenly, at some point, the number of goblins had increased.
They hadn’t been discovered yet, but the gnolls’ movement speed had decreased.
However, fighting the goblins was the worst possible move.
The gnolls, including their chieftain Crimdor, numbered eleven in total.
In contrast, the goblins were too numerous to count.
Moreover, making the first move before knowing the identity of those goblins was forbidden.
It was only because they were specialized in stealth that they had been able to come this far unnoticed.
“Unfold the map.”
As Chieftain Crimdor spoke, one of the gnolls behind him immediately unfolded the map.
It was difficult to see because of the darkness, but lighting a fire here would be tantamount to signaling their position to the enemy.
They examined the map using the moonlight as best they could.
The map depicted the terrain of the nearby forest in precise detail, and they had been moving based on it.
Then, one of the gnolls who had unfolded the map spoke.
“Chieftain, something is strange about this map.”
The gnoll raised a question to Crimdor.
“The goblins are one thing, but as you can see on the map, the positions of the dungeons are too artificial.”
A gnoll pointed at the map and explained.
There were five dungeons marked on the map.
But the problem was that the locations of the dungeons were far too strange.
“First, look at this dungeon. It is a dungeon with a Succubus as its master.”
A dungeon marked with an X at the center.
They had heard from the Demon Realm Merchant Association that it was a dungeon with a Succubus as its master.
And that dungeon was also their destination.
The mission ‘Dungeon Investigation’ handed down by the Association had as its target the dungeon marked at the center of the map.
“The problem is that it is in a formation where four other dungeons surround this Succubus dungeon.”
The subordinate gnoll spoke clearly and continued explaining.
“Of course, there is some distance between each dungeon, but the four dungeons are positioned exactly to the east, west, south, and north of the Succubus’s dungeon.”
Connecting the dungeons formed a shape reminiscent of a cross.
Chieftain Crimdor nodded at his subordinate’s explanation.
“Indeed, that is strange.”
He hadn’t noticed anything strange when he first received the map from the Association.
But after hearing the explanation, the dungeon positions felt artificial.
The Succubus dungeon in the center.
And the remaining four dungeons took the shape of a cross centered on the Succubus dungeon.
‘It’s as if someone deliberately arranged the dungeons.’
But Crimdor knew full well how absurd that thought was.
Dungeons occur naturally.
A dungeon was absolutely not the kind of thing that someone could create or position at will.
Therefore, the current arrangement was merely the result of overlapping coincidences.
“Didn’t they say there was no previous map?”
Crimdor questioned his subordinate again.
Even just the five dungeons marked on the current map covered a sizable territory.
There couldn’t be only five dungeons in a territory this large.
“The previous map was lost by the Association’s audit team. This is the only map we have now.”
“Those Association bastards are terrible at their jobs. Well, with so many departments, I suppose it can’t be helped?”
Crimdor shook his head and lamented.
The Association hadn’t told them much when assigning the mission.
- Investigate the Succubus dungeon and its master, the Succubus.
That was all they had said.
They had said the use of force was permitted if necessary.
The Association was large enough that it could have used its audit team to investigate the dungeon, but it hadn’t.
The Association undoubtedly felt something was off about that dungeon.
‘That’s why they left it to us.’
Crimdor and his group were monster mercenaries hired by the Association.
Even if it was a temporary contractual relationship, for now they were no different from members of the Demon Realm Merchant Association.
Following the Association’s orders as per the contract was their job.
And the mission the Association had given them this time was to investigate that Succubus dungeon.
But an obstacle had appeared.
Namely, the presence of goblins.
“Silles, can you find out which faction the goblins belong to?”
This time, Crimdor spoke to a different member.
This member was not a gnoll.
The being had dark skin and black hair.
Because of the overall dark tone, she was not easily visible on a night like this.
Still, there was one physical feature that revealed her identity.
It was her pointed ears.
There was only one being with pointed ears and dark skin.
Dark Elf.
The being called Silles that Crimdor had called upon was a Dark Elf, also a monster hired by the Demon Realm Merchant Association.
“Just a moment. I’m currently delving into the minds of the nearby trees…”
Silles’s hand was already placed on a tree.
Dark Elves, like elves, could communicate with plants, making it a suitable ability for determining the presence of goblins in the vicinity.
Trees put down roots in one place and live their entire lives there.
At the same time, they observed the surroundings more than anything, so there was expectation that they would quickly learn the identity of the goblins.
But.
‘Why…?’
Silles couldn’t help but tilt her head.
‘I didn’t sense wrong.’
She kept failing even as she tried to communicate with the tree.
At first, she thought she had simply made a mistake.
But placing her hand on the tree again yielded no response whatsoever.
‘It wasn’t a failure.’
The tree had unilaterally refused her communication.
Silles removed her hand from the tree.
And she bent down to place her hand on the grass below.
The result was the same.
“I can’t feel anything.”
The plants refused her touch.
Not only that.
They were all afraid of something.
‘What on earth…?’
She had never felt plants gripped by fear before.
‘What in the world is in this forest?’
In that moment, Silles felt a chill run down her spine.
But regardless of her reaction, Crimdor raised his voice slightly.
“You can’t feel anything? Does that even make sense?”
They needed to know whether the goblins belonged to a dungeon or were merely vagrants living in the forest.
It was a fairly important point; if they were monsters belonging to a dungeon, there would be nothing for Crimdor to worry about.
Even if temporary, he was currently affiliated with the Demon Realm Merchant Association.
Most dungeons had to bow their heads to the Association.
But if they were goblins merely living as vagrants, there were dangerous variables.
So he tried to give her another order, but Silles moved faster.
“I will withdraw here.”
“!”
The gnolls were startled by her declaration to withdraw.
“Why!”
Crimdor shouted in a moment of anger.
Realizing he had shouted without thinking, he looked around.
Fortunately, there were no goblins.
Crimdor tried to suppress his anger and persuade Silles, but she didn’t listen.
Before he could say anything, she turned around and moved her feet.
“…….”
Soon, Silles was gone.
Everyone merely stared in the direction she had left.
“What shall we do, Chieftain?”
One of the subordinates who had unfolded the map earlier spoke.
The Dark Elf was gone.
Even if it was just one person, the difference between having a Dark Elf’s abilities available or not was significant.
“…….”
What should they do now?
Crimdor continued surveying the surroundings in silence.
“Huh?”
After a moment, he noticed something had changed.
“…The goblins are gone?”
Crimdor and his group moved cautiously while scanning the surroundings.
After checking for several minutes, they were certain.
“The goblins have definitely disappeared.”
All those goblins that had been guarding the forest had vanished suddenly.
Even when he closed his eyes and focused, he couldn’t sense any sign of them.
He didn’t know why they had suddenly disappeared, but there was no doubt that this was an opportunity.
“Everyone, move quickly!”
The Dark Elf had already long been erased from Crimdor’s mind.
If the goblins were gone, she was unnecessary anyway.
That thought hit the mark.
With the goblins gone, they reached their destination in no time.
“Is this the place?”
Crimdor checked the map and discovered a cave that was presumed to be the dungeon.
He couldn’t feel any special aura.
‘Is this really a dungeon?’
It seemed more like an ordinary cave than a dungeon.
“Regardless, it doesn’t matter.”
Crimdor had his subordinates infiltrate the dungeon first.
They had nothing to fear anyway.
Even if they were discovered, he was affiliated with the Demon Realm Merchant Association.
And all dungeons were in a subordinate position in relation to the Association.
If he revealed that he belonged to the Association, the other side would absolutely be unable to do anything to them.
‘Nothing can go wrong for me.’
With that thought, Crimdor stepped into the dungeon.