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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Gaendal and I woke up from our sleep around the time when the sunset began.
As usual, we rose while smelling the fragrant aroma of stew, but since it was obvious that it would be bothersome if we suddenly felt the need to go to the bathroom, we decided to move only after lightly stretching our bodies.
“There’s a group that regularly purchases supplies from the village.”
Surprisingly, while we were asleep, Yekaterina and Rellie had gone to the nearest village and finished gathering information before returning.
As I couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of party members actively moving, their explanation continued.
It took at least 20 minutes to leisurely ride a horse to the village, and they usually visit at weekly intervals, with the next visit approaching soon.
Since there were no horses around the dungeon when Gaendal checked, we concluded that even if those guys moved, they only traveled on foot.
“Usually, 6 or 7 of them come down in a group and spend half a day at the tavern each time before returning.”
Undoubtedly, it was a thoroughly planned stress management session.
I don’t know if it came from the demons or if someone else was playing the role of the brain, but thanks to that, my level of vigilance towards them rose slightly.
Still, if timed well, it was an opportunity to cut down half of them, including the guards on shift, so we gave a generous round of applause to the two who had gathered the information.
Waking up to find the difficulty of the request plummeting! What a wonderful team.
“They definitely won’t return until tomorrow morning no matter what, so if there’s any sign of approach, you can just be on guard and observe for now. It might be tiring, but it would be better to take turns keeping watch at 3-hour intervals.”
“Won’t you two be keeping watch at 4-hour intervals at the least? Don’t worry.”
Touched by Gin’s kindness in offering his cloak to me, who was moving without one since I would be next to the bonfire anyway, Gaendal and I headed towards the abandoned dungeon without delay.
No matter how much moonlight and starlight there is, the darkness that descends in the forest at night is deep enough to be impossible to ignore.
Although my night vision was quite good from living in a forest cabin, the problem was that Gaendal had poor night vision, so we hurried our steps as much as possible.
The scouting plan was extremely simple.
Just crouch down and observe the situation.
No matter how much they pretended to be guild members, it was clear that they would work on their main activities.
So if they were to take separate actions outside the dungeon, it would be late at night or early in the morning.
Even if there were no such external activities at all, we could conclude that they were up to some mischief inside the dungeon, which was enough.
I speculated that the visit to the village for supplies would definitely take place from around noon until before the sun completely set.
They spend most of their day inside the dungeon.
Even then, they only come out for guard duty.
We would soon find out, but if there were no other external activities, it would be fine either way.
Even if there were, it would be limited, but if they continued to operate under such tension without light for several months, they would inevitably become mentally exhausted.
The notion of sending them to the village tavern for nearly half a day for stress management had already occurred to them, so there was no way they would overlook that fact.
It was clear they had in mind to let them bask in the sun as much as possible within the tavern’s operating hours before returning and allowing them to rest thoroughly for about a day.
“Indeed. Stress management. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“For us, even if we engage in long-term dungeon activities, it’s difficult to exceed 2 weeks. They’re in a position of hiding, so it’s a necessary situation for them.”
Although I couldn’t know specifically how long it had been going on, they said it had been at least several months since they started visiting the village, so unless they managed it that way, they would certainly become extremely sensitive and cause trouble among themselves.
As Gaendal said, the fact that even the guarding personnel didn’t seem lax only further supported my opinion, as it was proof that the management hadn’t become sloppy at the very least.
“You’re truly skilled in various aspects when it comes to dealing with people. I’m surprised you can think that far.”
“It just somehow turned out that way.”
“It doesn’t seem like a simple guess that one can make by chance though…”
At the end of a conversation that gave me a strong sense of déjà vu, we ran for about ten minutes and arrived at the safe observation point Gaendal had checked.
I thought the entrance would also resemble the temple structure Gin mentioned, but unexpectedly, the entrance was in the form of a cave with soil and grass intertwined haphazardly.
Anyhow, the structure of dungeons in this world is something you think you know but don’t.
“Then, I’ll go and check if there are any noticeable traces around before it gets darker.”
“I’m counting on you.”
Without even asking what traces I was looking for, I diligently and stealthily yet swiftly wandered around the surroundings to repay Gaendal’s firm trust.
The first thing I tried to find was simple.
The state of medicinal plants or vines that could be used as materials, as well as wood for fuel that they would likely gather while living there for an extended period.
Any traces of human presence.
In my previous life, I didn’t even know the first letter of survival, but having grown up receiving intensive care from Asirye, my current self became a skilled tracker who can track traces to a certain extent even at night without the help of spirits, specializing in forests.
For me, who had mastered elven techniques with a human body, the forest was no different from a front yard.
Come to think of it, I might be quite remarkable.
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The investigation continued for about 20 more minutes even after the sun had set and darkness had completely descended upon the forest.
During that time, there was no movement from the dungeon.
Only the faint sound of those standing guard conversing to overcome boredom could be heard.
And when I returned to the observation point, I had to report an unsatisfactory result to Gaendal.
“Those bastards haven’t touched anything around them.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Nothing at all.”
They hadn’t touched anything at all, to the point where it was hard to believe.
Even the things that could be used as fuel were too abundant compared to the time they had stayed there.
Judging from the lack of traces of felling trees, they hadn’t even relied on logging to make up for it.
“It’s a problem that they have so much money that they don’t feel any burden in procuring most of their daily necessities, including fuel, from the village, and it’s also a problem that they haven’t even attempted to prepare for cases where supplies run out.”
They were clearly hiding from others’ eyes.
That meant they had no means of earning funds externally, and they had endured for several months as if they were guild members diligently guarding the dungeon without even resorting to theft for fear of getting caught.
“Does this mean that either the demons are supporting them financially while scheming something inside, or there’s a third force providing financial support?”
An intense chill ran down my spine.
“Gaendal, have you ever seen a demon?”
“Just once. When I took on a request for a reconnaissance team on the battlefield, I saw them indirectly.”
Stroking his chin while briefly reminiscing, Gaendal continued.
“Even the Demon Lord’s army has regular soldiers. But their basic tactic is for those regular soldiers to break through a dust screen made of tower shields with their bodies, that’s how insanely strong they are. Of course, if it’s demons of that level, we could also handle them without much difficulty, unless they use magic. However…”
“The problem is that the demons deployed to a place like this wouldn’t be at the level of ordinary soldiers.”
“That’s right. Even by our standards, it’s not a task to be entrusted to regular soldiers.”
Yeah.
They would have inserted special forces at the very least.
Following Gaendal’s serious expression, I also put on a grave face, but inwardly, I cheered. Still, the possibility of them knowing something had increased.
Above all, it’s not just the kingdom which is waging war, but the demons are as well.
For several years now.
Deploying an incredibly powerful demon to such a secret mission, as Gaendal is imagining now, would be a waste of talent.
The proper way to utilize them would be to deploy them on the battlefield to crush as many kingdom soldiers as possible.
At most, there would be one demon capable of single-handedly taking out those 20 guys, or a squad-level unit of demons.
In addition to that, there might be one more head directly orchestrating the plan.
I can confidently say that even if it’s a bit unreasonable, I could win against that level alone.
“They say that when people face unknown situations, they tend to have negative thoughts rather than positive ones.”
“Hm?”
“It’s like when a child who went out to play in the morning doesn’t return until late at night, rather than thinking the child might have gone to play at a friend’s house, had dinner there, and is coming back a bit late, the first thought is worrying if something happened to them.”
“…In other words, our thoughts may be too negative as well.”
Honestly, I thought it would be considered completely out of the blue, but Gaendal turned out to be a truly deep thinker.
Thanks to that, I could convey my thoughts to him without any hesitation.
“Yes. Even if they’re demons, they’re ultimately a race that forms a nation, and they haven’t been able to overwhelm us in the war that has lasted for several years, so they’re similar lifeforms, aren’t they? If they were truly powerful demons, they would be too busy being deployed on the battlefield to make the frontlines even slightly advantageous. At worst, those here would be a special unit of about five or six members… a scale of less than ten people. I think that’s the most reasonable judgment for now.”
Come to think of it, the possibility of a single individual strong enough to tear apart all 20 people, as I had thought earlier, is also very low.
It’s inefficient.
Those who can slaughter 5-6 people are relatively more common than those who can slaughter 20.
If that’s sufficient, it would be normal to use them this way.
“Instead, I think we can assume that there’s a structure in place where they can directly communicate with the Demon Lord’s army or receive material support in some form unknown to us.”
“Hmm… You’re right. I got scared of the fact that they’re demons. I’m so glad you came with me.”
Gaendal’s brightened face further elevated my trust in him.
A leader who doesn’t take the opinion of someone clearly younger than him lightly.
If this request succeeds, Engrim can really hold his head high.
It means his eye for people is genuine.
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Hmm. He definitely doesn’t survive