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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I never signed up for this kind of alarm.
I opened my eyes to the sound of a scream suddenly echoing through the hideout.
I rubbed my eyes and looked around to find the source of the scream.
I saw Sif collapsed on the floor.
“…Why is she like this again?”
I looked around to see why Sif had fainted.
The door was closed, the ceiling hadn’t collapsed, there was nothing on the floor…
“…I see why she fainted.”
I picked up the sandwich that was lying on the floor in a tragic state.
Pieces of caterpillar were precariously clinging to the bread.
It seemed that Sif had never eaten a caterpillar before.
Judging from the way she talked, it seemed like she had gone through a lot of hardship because of poverty, but her taste was more refined than I thought.
“…It’s a bit much to eat, so should I just bury it?”
I dug a hole and threw the dirt-covered sandwich into it.
Evidence destroyed.
I took out the remaining sandwich from my backpack and took a bite.
It tasted just like a normal sandwich, except with caterpillar instead of meat, but the nutrition was definitely better than other sandwiches.
After stuffing both sandwiches into my mouth, I nudged Sif’s leg with my foot and woke her up.
“Wake up. It’s time to work.”
“Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!”
What’s wrong with her all of a sudden?
“I, I had a terrible dream…”
Did she meow when she was mentally broken?
It was quite amusing to see her panicking, so I decided to watch her for a little longer.
I sat on the bed and watched Sif until she came to her senses.
She muttered to herself and grabbed her head, then finally noticed me and shouted,
“What the hell did you put in the sandwiches?!”
“I put caterpillars in them. Is there a problem?”
“How could you even think of putting caterpillars in sandwiches?!”
“You’re a picky eater.”
“If you ask anyone on the street if not eating bugs is being a picky eater, what do you think they would say?”
“You’re a picky eater.”
“Nyaaaaaaaaaang!”
Why are you messing with my hair?
I looked at Sif, who was freaking out by herself, then picked up the supplies piled up in the corner.
I needed to pack them neatly in my backpack and get out of here.
We still had some time left, but there were a lot of things I had to do before Lew-something and his harem entered the dungeon.
For example, making an entry route by digging through the dungeon walls, checking if the dungeon’s structure was the same as the one vaguely etched in my memory, deciding on a course of action after confirming the members… The list of things to do kept piling up.
Especially since my position as an escort knight was extremely ambiguous, unlike the students.
Being an escort knight had its advantages, but it was a bit troublesome when it came to interfering with the main story.
So I really hoped that Lew-something was a transmigrator.
So that I could just let him do the heavy lifting and live a quiet life in a corner of Yeomyeong-gwan, barely noticeable.
I could play with Milia, fix Elisa’s gloomy personality, exchange jokes with Renny, and as for Karina…
“…I’ll think about that after I finish everything.”
It wasn’t that difficult.
I packed all the supplies into my backpack, from the sleeping bag to the preserved food.
Since Sif had brought quite a lot of supplies, even after filling my backpack, there was still about a third left over.
I grabbed Sif’s scruff, who was still out of it, and lifted her up.
“Get a grip.”
“I’m dizzy, stop shaking meee-”
She seemed a bit better now.
I let go of Sif’s scruff and placed the empty backpack in front of her.
Fortunately, Sif seemed to understand my unspoken message and immediately started packing the supplies into the backpack.
“Ugh… I’m never eating the food you pack again…”
“I packed extra, you know.”
One of the most important things in exploration was food.
Even a newborn baby, a top warrior on the continent, or a great mage who could summon meteorites from the sky would starve to death if they didn’t eat anything.
“Let’s stop talking about this. I think I’m going to throw up…”
If you hate it that much…
“Then let’s depart right away.”
“Can’t we rest a bit before we go?”
“Weren’t you just lying on the floor a moment ago?”
“Well, that’s…”
“I’m the one who’s going to be working anyway, so just sit back and watch.”
“Fine…”
Alright, let’s go.
We left the hideout and headed towards the passage I had blocked off earlier.
It wasn’t difficult to find the blocked-off area.
I was the one who built everything from start to finish, and I had left a mark on purpose.
“This is it.”
“Here?”
“Disassemble.”
The wall I touched crumbled naturally, revealing the passage.
When I shone the lamp, the passage was in the same condition as when I had finished construction.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like I needed to do the work twice.
“Isn’t this the place you dug through before?”
“That’s right.”
“But what does this have to do with the dungeon?”
“At the end of this passage is the dungeon’s outer wall.”
“I see-”
“I’ll go check it out, so wait here.”
“Then I’ll rest a bit…”
As soon as I finished speaking, Sif slumped down, using the backpack as a backrest.
It seemed that she was still feeling sick.
I looked away and walked straight into the passage.
Fortunately, the passage wasn’t that long, so I was soon able to reach the outer wall of the dungeon.
Where in the dungeon was beyond this wall?
There were no clues, so I couldn’t be sure.
But I was guessing it was the first floor.
Since the tunnel was built at about the depth of a subway station, I didn’t think it would reach the deepest part of the dungeon, which was located deep underground.
I would know for sure if I broke through this wall.
“As expected, mithril is the best.”
Even though the only light source was the lamp that barely illuminated in front of me, it was shining on its own.
As expected of mithril, which was said to be worth a mansion for just one lump.
I stared at the outer wall and then inserted the shovel blade into the gap between the stones.
Perhaps because even the outer wall of a dungeon was nothing more than a stone wall in front of mithril, my shovel pierced through the gap effortlessly.
I immediately used it like a lever to pry open the gap and repeated the process.
Once. Twice. Three times. Four times…
The more I dug, the more the outer wall began to crumble.
No matter how sturdy the outer wall of a dungeon might be, it couldn’t withstand the combination of my master-level digging and mithril.
After digging for about an hour, I was able to encounter a new light source instead of the lamplight.
“Is this the first floor?”
I wasn’t sure if my memory was accurate, but it didn’t seem like the second or third floor.
If I remembered correctly, the structure of this dungeon narrowed as you went down, and the room I was looking down at was as wide as a sports field.
First, I needed to make an entrance.
“Crafting.”
A plausible-looking door was created on the broken outer wall.
When I opened and closed it to test it, it seemed fine except for a slight squeaking sound.
This should be good enough to avoid being noticed.
Given the location, no one would notice anything unusual unless they were staring at the ceiling.
Next, I took out stakes and rope from my backpack.
This was to secure a way to get down.
I couldn’t use magic, and jumping down from a height of at least 5 meters without any equipment wasn’t a wise choice.
Sif, being a cat-beastkin, was flexible enough, but I was an ordinary human, and if I fell wrong, I could sprain my ankle.
I tied the rope to the stakes, hammered them into the ground, and then lowered the rope.
“Are the basic preparations done?”
Now all we had to do was wait for the protagonist and his party to appear.
I dug around the area with my shovel and created a space to rest.
I didn’t know how long I would have to wait, so there was no need to wait in an uncomfortable position.
After finishing the work, I immediately went out of the passage and brought Sif in.
“Sleep here.”
“Okay…”
Sif slumped down again, using the backpack as a pillow.
I stared blankly at her and then took a blanket out of my backpack and covered her with it.
Sif’s face, which had been slightly contorted, regained its peacefulness.
Perhaps it was because the coldness that had been bothering her was gone.
“…I hope they come soon.”
I placed the lamp between me and Sif, took out my sleeping bag, and got inside.
Maybe it was because it was an expensive sleeping bag, but the inside was quite soft and warm.
Now it was a battle of patience.
I took out my watch and checked the time.
I had about half a day left.
I closed my eyes.
“…Hey.”
“…Sif!”
“…Hey!”
Finally, they were here.
I woke up Sif, who was sleeping soundly with drool dripping from her mouth, and packed up our things.
It was time to move.
“Did you sleep well?”
“I slept too much; my body feels stiff…”
Sif stretched loudly, twisting her body.
As expected of a cat, her back bent like a bow, and it was quite an amusing sight.
“Stretch as much as you can. We’re going to be moving around a lot from now on.”
I closed my mouth after those words and listened to the sounds coming through the cracks in the wall.
I could hear sounds of explosions, collisions, and scraping.
Were they still fighting?
Thanks to that, it wasn’t difficult to figure out the location of the protagonist’s party.
How much time had passed?
I felt that the time to enter the dungeon was approaching as the sounds gradually faded.
“…The sounds have completely disappeared.”
I carefully opened the door and surveyed the dungeon.
The floor was littered with blood and broken pieces of stone, and I could see footprints made of monster blood.
They definitely passed through here.
“Sif.”
“Should I go down first?”
“Go ahead.”
I quickly created a way to go up and down with the rope.
However, Sif, being a cat, didn’t want to bother with that.
She jumped down and looked around.
“There’s no one here.”
As soon as Sif finished speaking, I slid down the rope and joined her.
“From now on, we’ll follow the examinees from a distance where we won’t be noticed.”
“This feels like a job that requires hazard pay.”
I looked at Sif, who suddenly said that while looking around.
The money-hungry cat burglar made a circle with her index finger and thumb and looked at me with suggestive eyes.
“We’ll talk about hazard pay after the job is done.”
“Hehe, I’m looking forward to it.”
Sif grinned, showing a smile that made me want to flick her on the forehead.
She twitched her ears playfully.
…Whatever.
Hazard pay wasn’t important right now.
And so, our tailing operation began.
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[Your Text Here]
The whole caterpillar thing bugs me