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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 111
Of course, I wasn’t interested in the conversation, but the Dwarf porter seemed to enjoy chatting so much that he wouldn’t stop talking.
Judging by the distance, the other porters had already moved far away.
Even Luna and Misha, the head maid, looked slightly pale, likely worn out by his endless chatter.
“Leon, that Dwarf is noisy.”
“Just hang in there a bit. We’ll only see him for a few days.”
We had disguised ourselves as fairly ordinary porters, so no one knew we were a noble's son or a head maid from a prestigious family.
At that moment, the gate opened, capturing everyone’s attention.
The massive red rift that formed in the air held an overwhelming presence.
“Advance!!”
When the leader of the mercenary group shouted, everyone began moving through the rift.
As soon as we entered the rift, Luna flinched and took a compass out of her pocket.
It was a compass that pointed in the direction of the item she desired.
The target she had set on the compass was an ordinary ring that she had been desperately searching for.
The Fate Lord.
“Le… Leon.”
She spoke to me in a flustered tone.
“What?”
“The… the ring is here. It’s here!”
As expected of her, she completely lost her composure when it came to the ring.
She grabbed my arm and clung to me anxiously.
* * *
The mercenary group skillfully hunted the monsters in the deeper layers.
Rather than simply overpowering them with strength, they had a thorough understanding of their strategies and used teamwork to defeat them.
The wounded were treated, and those who could still fight attacked the enemy.
If something felt even slightly off, they’d abandon pursuit, and when an opportunity was certain, they’d finish it quickly.
They seemed so coordinated that it was clear they had worked together for a long time.
Well, if they weren’t this good, they wouldn’t be called a major mercenary group.
As a result, the expedition went smoothly.
All we did was carry their loads, follow them from the rear, retrieve items they needed, or pack up the precious materials and ores gathered during the expedition.
Honestly, I expected being a porter would keep me busier, but that wasn’t really the case.
Luna, on the other hand, continued to be restless.
Every three seconds, she glanced at the compass and turned her head in different directions.
Her pupils trembled slightly, showing her visible nervousness.
She couldn’t calm down at all.
“Luna, calm down.”
“I-I’m calm.”
“Start by taking a deep breath.”
The head maid Misha gently rubbed her back and patted her like a caring mother tending to a child.
But it was clear Luna still couldn’t calm down.
“Luna.”
“……”
“Just hold on a little longer. According to the plan, we’ll stop at the base camp. Once we unload and set up camp, we’ll be able to rest. At that point, we can go look for it together.”
She looked up at me like a drenched puppy and nodded.
“I have to… we have to go.”
“I never said we wouldn’t.”
She perked up and picked up her pace again.
None of us really felt the weight of our loads—neither Misha, Luna, nor I.
“Huff… huff… You young folks sure are strong. Aren’t you hot carrying all that?”
The Dwarf porter, gasping for air, started talking again when he noticed we weren’t sweating despite wearing robes.
“How far is our destination?”
“We’re almost there. The terrain is the same as before.”
“Still, there’s been nothing unusual. Were there fewer volunteers this time?”
I didn’t hide my curiosity and asked directly.
“Good question. You must be an outsider, right?”
“Yes.”
“The truth is, there’s been a strange rumor going around Ravela. Some sort of anomaly occurred in the deeper layers.”
“An anomaly?”
“I heard the Ares Mercenary Group, which rivals Hercules, had an accident during a deep-layer expedition. All 20 porters who went with them were wiped out.”
Ah.
If that happened recently, it’s no wonder there’s some anxiety.
“Apparently, something went wrong in the rift they were exterminating recently. But with Hercules’s reputation, there’s little chance we’ll get hurt, so don’t worry.”
The Dwarf laughed heartily, showing not a trace of concern.
After walking for about another 30 minutes, we began smelling the musty scent of a swamp as we continued onward.
Finally, we reached a dry clearing, where the mercenaries began setting up camp.
The porters’ role was to carry supplies needed for the expedition.
Besides that, there were odd tasks, so I helped out a bit with setting up the camp and then found a spot to settle.
“The expedition will officially begin now, and it’ll last for about three days. In the meantime, our job is to stay here or organize supplies as instructed.”
“It’s more relaxed than I expected.”
As soon as Misha shared this information, Luna clung to my arm.
“Leon.”
“Just a little longer.”
“Ahhh… Leon.”
Her whining was unintentional, and she didn’t seem to realize she was being affectionate.
She looked so cute that I ruffled her hair, but she pulled my arm.
“Let’s just look around. Just for 100 meters.”
“...Fine.”
We didn’t have anything else to do.
We were just waiting around, and the chatty Dwarf was already drinking with his companions.
There were no monsters here, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
“Head Maid Misha.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll make up an excuse.”
“Thank you.”
I needed to find some catalysts, too.
I grabbed Luna’s arm and activated necromantic mana.
The shadows wrapped around us, concealing our figures.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
The catalyst was important, but the most pressing thing right now was this restless person.
“Leon! It’s west!”
She pointed west with her finger and yanked on my arm.
Despite her slender frame, her grip was surprisingly strong.
“Hey, hey! You’re gonna pull my arm out, idiot!”
“Hurry! Quickly!”
She dashed off in a hurry.
Of course, we snuck out, and this place we were in wasn’t a safe zone.
Because of that…
-Grrrrrrr! Raaaagh!!!
It was only natural to be attacked by grotesque lizards that jumped out of the swamp.
But before they could get close to Luna, who was running ahead, dozens of flying sword slashes tore them to pieces.
“Be more careful.”
“I’m fine. Come on!”
She ran off again, like an excited child.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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We chased the compass needle as it shifted directions with every moment, running for quite a while.
Suddenly, Luna stopped in her tracks.
“……”
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“The direction changed.”
Her expression twisted with confusion.
“It suddenly moved east.”
We had run west for so long, and now it was moving east?
We hadn’t detected anything moving in that direction earlier.
Which could only mean something like spatial displacement had occurred.
“Leon! East!”
Once again, she grabbed my arm and pulled me along, and I followed her reluctantly until I paused for a moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Wait a second.”
Just now, that thing... it moved, didn’t it?
We had arrived at a spot with a massive statue, half-submerged in the swamp.
At first glance, it just looked like a buried monster statue, but it gave off an odd sense of wrongness.
Still, there wasn’t any sign of life.
“Never mind. Must be my imagination.”
Despite my words, I thrust my hand into the shadows just in case.
Muyeong poked his head out of the shadow and looked around.
Swoosh!
Of course, Muyeong wasn’t my target, so I pulled out a reptilian undead creature I had stashed in the shadows.
I had farmed it along the way here.
I balled up the creature and hurled it at the statue with a wet splat, then took off after Luna.
* * *
In the end, we failed at both objectives.
I couldn’t find the level of catalyst I wanted, and Luna failed to find her Fatelord.
“Back west… something’s strange. It keeps moving.”
Luna muttered with a frown, unable to make sense of it.
Her uneasiness was plain—she was biting her nails and stamping her feet in frustration.
The Fatelord was supposed to be a simple, powerless ring.
The fact that it kept moving suggested some external factor was at play.
The catalysts were also a disappointment.
The catalyst I sought could only be formed in special environments with strong mana condensation.
Highly condensed mana in places saturated with monster energy.
Most of those places are cracks, but ordinary cracks couldn’t produce the level of catalyst I needed.
That’s why I’d come to the depths of the Ravela Dungeon, a place with continuous, condensed power.
Technically, I did find catalysts.
The issue was that none of them had the output or energy density I needed.
Still, if I condensed the low-quality cores scattered around here, I could make something close to what I wanted, so I didn’t throw them away.
But I’d rather find a naturally condensed one if possible.
For now, I had to be content with this.
“Let’s retreat for now. We’ve been gone too long.”
There would be other days, and next time, we’d have to search another area.
Luna, though dejected, couldn’t take her eyes off the compass.
For some reason, the Fatelord was moving randomly through the depths.
Luna was visibly disappointed.
She hesitated, staring at the compass until I finally carried her on my back.
Only then did she slump down.
I didn’t know what expression she was wearing now, but I remembered the near-tears look on her face before I carried her, and it left a sour taste in my heart.
“We’ll find it tomorrow.”
“I hope so.”
At her quiet words, I just nodded.
It was clear that we needed to go deeper to find what we wanted.
Conveniently, Luna’s compass was already pointing toward the inner part of the dungeon.
Of course, the inner area was currently being pushed by the expedition team, which made it a bit tricky for us to enter.
As I waited for the right moment, a girl with crimson hair—someone I’d seen a few times before—approached the porters.
“Is anyone here interested in joining the expedition?”
“Expedition?”
I repeated her words, and a talkative dwarf explained in a hushed tone.
“Extra work. You’d follow the expedition team deeper into the dungeon. Of course, since the camp is here, you wouldn’t stay there long, but the monsters there are much stronger than those around here.”
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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