Chapter 271

The Dungeon Expedition — Part 1

“You seem happy, Nell,” said Carlotta, as the two walked side by side down one of the church’s corridors . “Did something happen?”

“Mhm . ” The hero nodded with a cheerful, ear to ear smile . “Something really nice happened last night . ”

“Did you have a run in with your fiance?”

“H-how did you know!?”

“…I didn’t . I said it as a joke . ” The knight smiled, awkwardly, before clearing her throat . “I understand that you’re happy, but the meeting we’re about to partic.i.p.ate in is of utmost importance . Make sure you conduct yourself appropriately . ”

“O-of course . ” Nell closed her eyes, took a deep breath . Once she reopened them, her smile was gone, replaced by a neutral, serious look .

Seeing that her friend and subordinate was now ready, the more experienced paladin nodded in satisfaction .

“Good . Then let’s head to the conference room immediately . All the others are already present and waiting . ”

***

Upon entering the conference room, Nell found herself greeted by the usual sight . Ten-odd paladins were present in the hall, each wearing a piece of armour with an identical insignia, one that marked its members as of the Order of the Faldien Holy Knights .

“I’ve gathered all here today in order to brief you on our next mission . ” Carlotta, the commander, addressed her unit in a loud but clear voice . “The bra.s.s has placed us in charge of destroying a dungeon near the coast . In other words, we’ve been ordered to put down a demon lord . ”

For a moment, the hero felt her heart lurch in her chest, but placed a hand on her chest and heaved a relieved sigh once she gave her captain’s words another thought . The Wicked Forest was nowhere near any coast .

“That mean we’ll be heading off to the Lohn Region?” asked a knight .

“It does,” said Carlotta . “Our objective is approximately four hours away from Poezhar Port . ”

“Only four hours!?” The paladin’s eyes almost seemed to bulge out of their sockets . “Why’s it that this is only getting addressed now!? That d.a.m.n thing’s way too close to town!”

“The guild has had its adventurers investigating it for quite some time . They’ve been making steady progress through the dungeon,” answered Carlotta .

“Why’re we getting called to action if they’re making steady progress?” asked another paladin . “Conquering dungeons ain’t part of what we normally do, is it?”

Paladins rarely ever took the initiative in engaging monsters in combat . Their duties typically consisted of maintaining public order, aiding the armed forces in making arrests, and guarding VIPs . They would occasionally seek out dungeons that popped up near the regions they policed, but it was unheard of for them to be sent to conquer a dungeon based in another region . The paladin who had posed the question reasoned that the scenario at hand was likely linked to some sort of extenuating circ.u.mstance .

“It isn’t,” agreed Carlotta . “The adventurers sent to subjugate the demon lord made it through its dungeon and confronted it, but were forced to escape because it was too much for them to handle . As you all know, a more skilled group of adventurers would normally be sent in to eliminate the demon lord as soon as possible, but none happen to be available right now . The army’s a bit too busy to deal with it, so the task fell to the church . Our order was selected because we happened to be one of the most skilled . ”

Carlotta paused for a moment to frown in disinterest .

“Or at least that’s what they’re putting on paper . The real reason is politics . Arresting the two senile old b.a.s.t.a.r.ds we called cardinals and rooting corruption out from our ranks was good for us, as an organisation, but it caused too big of a change . The public noticed immediately, and is starting to lose faith in us, so the higher ups want us to put on a bit of a show so they can prove to the people that we’re still standing strong . ” She snorted in annoyance . “Normally, I would’ve told them to screw off with their ridiculous demands, but the political situation they’re in is a direct result of our actions . Someone’s got to fix it, and I trust none of your are senile enough to need someone else to wipe your a.s.ses just yet . ”

Her sarcasm-laced words caused a series of laughs to echo through the conference hall .

“Unfortunately, we can’t all go . ” She spoke after allowing her troops a few moments to relax . The well-trained brigade quited right back down the instant they heard her voice . Every last man managed to regain control of himself and redirect his attention to the commander . “The higher ups will soon be hosting a ritual in order to select a new pair of cardinals to replace the buffoons we arrested . Over half of you are going to have to remain in Als.h.i.+r in order to guard anyone the bra.s.s marks as a VIP . The rest of you are coming with me . But, as I’m sure you understand, we can’t just march on a dungeon that a group of adventurers failed to conquer with only half our numbers . We’ll be looking for a little bit of outside help to ensure our success . ” Carlotta’s gaze slowly panned across the room before finally stopping as she locked eyes with a certain specific individual . “Nell . ”

“H-huh? U-uhm… I mean, Yes, captain?”

The hero hadn’t thought that the ball would suddenly be pa.s.sed into her court, so she reacted with a bit of a start before correcting herself .

“You’ll be playing a pivotal role in securing us the help we need . You see, the person the bra.s.s has in mind happens to be…”

***

“Dungeon!”

“Dungeon!”

“Conquest”

“Konkuest!”

“And we’re not even doing it for free! We’re going to make mad bank!”

“Madd banck!”

s.h.i.+ jumped for joy and cheered right after I did; the slime had parrotted both my words and my actions . I’m pretty sure she doesn’t actually know what I’m talking about, seeing as how she’s kinda struggling with some of the words, but whatever . It’s cute .

Copying everyone else was something that the aqua-coloured monster did relatively often, and I was pretty much convinced that she only sometimes fully understood the things that came out of her own mouth .

“Were you not fiddling with an enchanted orb just a moment prior? Why have you suddenly broken into cheer?” asked Lefi, with a raised brow .

“Nell just invited me to help her conquer a dungeon,” I said . “I’m super hyped . ”

“You are conquering a dungeon? Does that not entail… defeating a demon lord?” she asked, hesitantly . “Would you not feel remorse for having to slaughter one of your brethren?”

“Brethren?” I chuckled . “Lefi, please, what are you saying? I’m a demon lord . We don’t give two s.h.i.+ts about each other . For us, the only distinction that matters is friend or foe . ”

The only friends, per se, that I had were the dungeon’s residents, Nell, and a few others here and there . And for the most part, basically everyone else, demon lord or not, was a foe .

“If you have no particular concerns on the matter, then I suppose there is no longer any reason for me to worry . ”

I almost couldn’t contain my excitement . Visiting another demon lord’s dungeon was something I’d been wanting to do for a long time . Nothing I’d heard about any other demon lord had been anywhere even remotely close to positive . I was told that they were full of themselves and basically out to get the races . In other words, they were basically just evil sc.u.mbags . If that was true of the demon lord whose door I was about to knock on, then I saw absolutely no issue with offing him . Not that I’m any less hostile or evil, I guess, if my t.i.tles are to be taken into consideration .

“Will you be gone for long?”

“Maybe . It should at least be a shorter trip than my last trip” I said . “Oh yeah, the dungeon’s apparently near the beach so I’ll try to bring back some seafood or something . You know, as souvenirs . ”

“Seafood!” repeated s.h.i.+ with a big smile .

“Yup, seafood . Seafood is super tasty, so look forward to it . ”

As I continued talking to and entertaining s.h.i.+, I got everything I needed together to make sure my trip would end in success .