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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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As Kerry and his party stepped out of the inn to prepare for their dungeon expedition,
They found a crowd of people gathered, murmuring amongst themselves. What’s this? Some kind of spectacle?
The villagers’ gazes were fixed on Kerry and his group.
“Is it true that they’re the Hero’s party?”
“So that man is the Hero? I heard the Hero was a woman.”
“I heard the Hero was a muscular macho man. But he…isn’t that type…”
An old man stepped forward from the murmuring villagers.
“Excuse me. I’m the village elder. If you don’t mind…may I ask a question?”
“…Go ahead.”
“Is it true that you are the Hero’s party chosen by the Goddess Elena?”
Kerry nodded.
Lina wasn’t here yet, but he didn’t think that would be a problem.
As soon as he nodded, cheers erupted from the surrounding crowd.
“I knew he looked like the Hero.”
“Wow, he’s tall and handsome.”
“And look at the beauty of the women. Amazing.”
Well, our party is good-looking. But why were so many people gathered?
The village elder calmed the boisterous villagers and continued.
His words were so flowery and formal that they were difficult to listen to.
To summarize:
“Our village has been suffering from repeated attacks by spider monsters. As the village elder, I implore you. Please eliminate these spider monsters. If you help us, we will offer you a reward, however small.”
A reward, huh? Kerry discreetly approached the elder and whispered, asking how much it would be.
Everyone was looking at them with sparkling eyes, expecting a hero. It wouldn’t do for Lina’s image to be tarnished by his mercenary greed.
The elder cautiously held up three fingers.
3 gold? That can’t be right. 3 gold is too little for the Hero’s party to save a village.
Then it was probably 30 gold.
30 gold was an amount Kerry couldn’t have even dreamed of back in his F-rank adventurer days.
Just then, someone approached the village elder and whispered something.
Their voice was so low that Kerry and his party couldn’t hear.
“Elder, shouldn’t we tell the Heroes about…the village maidens?”
“Watch your mouth. You must never speak of that matter.”
Kerry saw them whispering, but he didn’t pay much attention.
He didn’t trust the elder anyway.
It seems this town is full of shady characters.
Well, with an elder like that, it was no wonder the village was in such a state.
The elder and the villagers might not know it, but the only way to eliminate the surrounding spider monsters was to clear the secret dungeon.
He had planned to conquer the dungeon with Lina anyway. And they were offering him 30 gold for free. Thank you very much.
Kerry accepted the request.
There was no way the village elder could have set a trap in a dungeon they couldn’t leave until they cleared it.
The villagers lamented their fear and plight to the Hero’s party.
Kerry appropriately appeased them and left the village.
“30 gold is 6 gold each if we split it five ways. What a steal.”
“Weren’t we going to deal with the dungeon anyway? We didn’t have to take the money.”
“What are you talking about, Victoria? We have to earn when we can.”
Perhaps because she grew up as a noble, Victoria didn’t seem to understand the value of money. He appreciated her concern for the commoners, though.
Natasha just smiled happily.
“Then let’s go shopping.”
Kerry began his preparations for the dungeon raid.
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Kerry prepared for the dungeon based on the information he had seen with the Eyes of the Goddess.
Thanks to the frequent spider monster appearances in the area, related items were plentiful, making preparations relatively easy.
Now all they needed was Lina.
Kerry was eager to enter the dungeon.
He didn’t think they would fail to clear it with this party. They might even get their hands on heroic-grade equipment.
If a heroic-grade staff drops… Lina might take care of me.
As Kerry indulged in rosy fantasies,
Victoria beckoned him over.
“Kerry, come here for a moment.”
“?”
He followed Victoria to a dim corner of the inn.
Victoria’s face was slightly flushed, as if she was excited. What’s with that suggestive expression?
“Look at this.”
Victoria showed him black lingerie.
It was so revealing, with holes for her breasts and vagina, that it was barely lingerie.
This lewd woman!
“Heehee. What do you think?”
“You went out to buy that?”
“Yes. I passed by a lingerie shop, and this caught my eye. I couldn’t just leave it.”
“…”
Why couldn’t you just leave it? Other people manage to.
“Let’s do it again while wearing this. We have to enjoy ourselves while Lina is away.”
“Natasha is awake now. And Lina will be back soon.”
“It’ll be quick.”
“It won’t be!”
“It will!”
“If we do it this time, we’ll definitely get caught. I have a bad feeling about this.”
This lewd woman just can’t control herself!
Just then,
He heard soft murmurs from the hall. Turning towards the entrance of the inn, he saw Lina.
Lina had finally arrived.
“See? I told you it was risky.”
“Tsk. Lina’s timing is always bad.”
Kerry shook his head and waved to Lina at the entrance.
Lina, attracting everyone’s attention, approached Kerry.
“It feels like it’s been a long time, even though we haven’t been apart for that long, Lina.”
“Yes, I feel the same. I suppose we’ve been spending a lot of time together.”
Kerry explained to Lina what had happened while she was gone.
The villagers’ condition, and the village elder’s request.
He saved the most important part for last.
“Fortunately, I was able to find the secret dungeon you mentioned.”
“!”
“So I prepared a strategy for the dungeon. It would have been a waste of time to just wait for you.”
“…”
“If you don’t mind, could you take a look?”
Kerry had diligently prepared for the dungeon raid.
However, he couldn’t guarantee what Lina, the one who had returned, would think of it.
Lina opened the bag Kerry handed her and checked the contents one by one.
Antidotes. Compass. A light orb that glowed when infused with mana. Various items necessary for dungeon raiding.
He had meticulously packed only the essentials.
But there was one item Lina didn’t recognize.
“What is this liquid?”
“It’s a liquid that can dissolve the spider monsters’ webs. It’s harmless to humans, of course. The experienced adventurers around here are already using it.”
“…”
Lina hadn’t known about such a liquid.
She knew other ways to deal with the troublesome webs, but this liquid was much more convenient.
Lina stared intently at Kerry.
Competent.
She knew it, but now she felt it firsthand. Just how competent Kerry was.
Not only had he discovered the hidden dungeon, but his preparations were also flawless.
Kerry must have seen the area overflowing with spider monsters and deduced that it was a spider monster dungeon. Based on that, he investigated spider monsters, anticipated countermeasures, and prepared in advance…
He had accomplished all of this in less than half a day.
Moreover, even without knowing the dungeon’s contents, he had prepared as if he knew it inside and out.
The web-dissolving liquid was a prime example. Even Lina hadn’t known about it. It was probably information shared only among seasoned adventurers in the area.
“Everything seems to be in order. These preparations should be sufficient. I didn’t expect you to be so thoroughly prepared in such a short time. Thanks to you, we’ll save a lot of time.”
“I’m glad I did it right.”
“I also have a gift I prepared for you, Kerry.”
This is unexpected.
Did she disappear to prepare a gift for me? That can’t be it, right?
“Here it is.”
Lina placed a worn-out bracelet on the table.
It looked shabby and old.
It seemed almost disrespectful to offer it as a gift.
Victoria, apparently thinking the same, frowned and said,
“Lina, this is too shabby for a gift. Are you short on money lately? If so, I can lend you some…”
“Haha, it’s not that, Victoria.”
Kerry remained silent.
With the information displayed before his eyes, he was afraid of what nonsense might come out of his mouth if he spoke.
“…”
He had never seen a Relic rank before.
Relics weren’t categorized as Rare, Heroic, Legendary, or Mythic. They were a completely separate rank.
He had heard that some relics possessed abilities comparable to Mythic-grade items.
This bracelet didn’t seem to be quite at that level, though.
Still, this is useful. Especially for someone like me, who has a lot of mana thanks to elixirs.
It felt like a customized gift that Lina had painstakingly chosen for him. A wave of emotion washed over him.
“This may look like just a worn-out bracelet, but it’s a perfect item for you, Kerry. I happened to acquire it while I was away on business. The method of use is a little unique, but I’ll teach you later.”
There was no way she had acquired such an item by chance.
She had clearly gone out of her way to get it. This tsundere regeessor!
“The bracelet’s ability is to generate a shield when infused with mana. Since you know how to manipulate mana and have an abundance of it from elixirs, it should be useful for yo…Kerry? Are you alright?”
“Kerry, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, I was just momentarily overwhelmed with emotion…”
“That’s so like you, Kerry.”
A Relic-grade item, something he hadn’t even dreamt of seeing in this world. And now he possessed one.
Lina was truly a good person. It was a good decision to be loyal to a regressor!
“If I had known you’d like it this much, I would have given it to you sooner… I’m sorry.”
“No, Lina. Haa…I’m finally calming down. I don’t know if I deserve such a valuable item…”
“You are more than worthy, Kerry. Besides, I’ll feel better knowing you have it.”
Kerry carefully slipped the worn bracelet onto his wrist. I’ll have to test it later when we’re alone.
“And I’m sorry to rush things, but I’d like to enter the dungeon today.”
“I’m fine with that.”
“I’m fine with it too.”
“We should let Natasha know, since she’s with Grandma.”
Thus, Lina and her party’s dungeon expedition was decided.
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In a forest not far from the village, seen off by the villagers, Lina and her party entered the woods. After running through the forest for a few hours,
They saw the familiar spider monsters.
Some spider monsters had female upper bodies, and some didn’t. The ones they encountered this time were ordinary spider monsters.
In other words, no breasts.
“Too bad.”
“What’s too bad, Kerry?”
“…Nothing.”
“Don’t tell me you’re disappointed that you don’t see any spider monsters with dangling breasts?”
“…”
Lina, flustered by Victoria’s words, said,
“D-Dangling breasts?”
“Oh, you haven’t seen them, Lina. We encountered them once. Some of these spider monsters have female upper bodies. And the shameless things jiggle their breasts at any man they see! Infuriating creatures.”
“…”
“We might see a whole bunch of breast-dangling monsters inside the dungeon.”
“!”
Lina’s face flushed crimson.
She seemed to know about this dungeon but hadn’t personally raided it.
Flustered to the point of blushing, Lina glanced at Kerry for some reason.
She looked like someone who had gone to see a romantic movie with her boyfriend and was embarrassed by a steamy bed scene.
But her embarrassment didn’t last long.
The spider monsters started rushing towards them, their fangs glinting.
“Kiiiieeeek!”
“Don’t go near Husband!”
Natasha, reliable as always.
They had left the old woman behind.
Her magic was useful, but her age made the dungeon seem too dangerous for her.
The spiders died without much resistance.
They were no match for the Hero’s party.
“We’re almost at the dungeon. With so many spider monsters around, it seems the dungeon’s corruption has progressed significantly.”
If the village was suffering from the spider monsters, why did they leave the dungeon alone?
Could they not find it?
With such obvious signs, could no one in the village have noticed?
That’s possible, but… Recalling the village elder’s true nature, Kerry couldn’t shake the suspicion that there was another reason.
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