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Chapter 20 – The Other Floor Boss
Clap, clap, clap.
Just as silence had fallen over the place, the sounds of someone clapping their hands echoed.
“The party that reached the 68th floor of the royal capital dungeon of Gardana. I see that they didn’t call it legendary for nothing.”
When I turned to look, I saw Loki standing there.
“In any case, you really saved me. I promise you, I will repay this debt one day. That is to say, I will tell our party leader to do it. Yes.”
“…You always leave the work to others.”
Yorha said with a look of exasperation.
She also gave him an admonishing look, but he ignored her.
He just chuckled as if he could not be bothered to care about what others thought.
“…So. I hate to ask you after you helped me, but would you mind giving me a few potions? I gave all of mine to our leader.”
“Gave? Eh?”
He continued on about how he had been wounded. And then he showed off the wounds, much to Ornest’s annoyance.
But this was a dungeon where all healing magic was forbidden. Potions were the only thing that could save you from death, and so they were valuable. The idea of giving all of your potions away was absurd.
Especially when you were on the 64th floor.
“Yes, yes. After all, just like Clista, I was allowed to escape. And so I gave them what potions I had.”
“…What do you mean by that? Wasn’t that a floor boss?”
Clashia said, joining the conversation.
Even now, as I watched the corpse fade away, there was no doubt in my mind that it was a floor boss.
“Well, that’s not wrong. It is definitely a floor boss. I’m just saying that it was the easier floor boss.”
He said this in a way that seemed calculated for maximum annoyance.
And then the realization.
“…So there is more than one floor boss.”
“That’s right. And our leader felt that it was too much for the four of us, and sent Clista back to the surface. And I was given the role of luring away the pesky dumber floor boss. After all, when it comes to attracting ‘hate’ from monsters, I’m first rate.”
After receiving this explanation, Ornest must have been satisfied.
He then pulled out a potion from his pouch and…dumped its contents violently over Loki’s head so that it flowed down his wounded body.
Well, that certainly showed what kind of relationship these two had.
“…”
There was a second of stunned silence.
However, Loki then understood what had happened, and his body began to shake.
As for Ornest, he just curled his lip as if to say that Loki should be glad that he had saved him the trouble.
Due to the way that potions worked, you had to apply it to the wound directly. Still, there was no reason to dump it over his head like that.
Perhaps this was Ornest’s way of expressing some kindness. However, to anyone else, it looked like he was provoking Loki into fighting.
How were we supposed to cooperate in this atmosphere? As I thought with exasperation, someone moved towards me.
“…Those two. A lot happened in the past. Though, in terms of them getting along, it is not as bad as with Clashia.”
Yorha whispered to me discreetly.
“Also, it would be best if you avoided asking about the reason. It’s ridiculously stupid.”
Ornest was a mass of pride.
And Loki looked like someone who enjoyed playing tricks.
They both seemed to be the worst in their respective personality types. So it was not hard to imagine what might have happened.
Regardless, we wouldn’t get anywhere if we allowed them to continue like this, and so I turned to Loki and raised my voice.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“…Huh?”
The cuts on Loki’s body were closing up rapidly.
He was turned away from Ornest, as if he did not want him to see it.
“If you know how to get back to the upper floors, why didn’t you escape that way?”
“Ah, that. Yes, it’s a good question. …Unfortunately, you cannot escape from the 64th floor boss.”
“…I see. It’s one of those bosses.”
“Yes, yes. One person always has to distract it, or it will continue to follow the others. And so we allowed Clista to escape to the surface.”
There were two main possibilities when just one party member returned.
The first was that someone in their party had been badly wounded, and they were asking for help.
In such cases, they would need to hide somewhere in the dungeon and wait until the help arrived.
The second was when they simply could not escape.
This usually happened when they were on the lower floors. In such cases, unless someone continues to attract the enemy’s ‘hate,’ then the enemy will often appear as if waiting, in order to block the path of the person who is trying to flee.
Obviously, the latter was the more dangerous scenario.
“Still, this is surprising. I thought that Reviel was going to come.”
“The Guild Master came as well.”
“Huh? Is that right? But I don’t see him anywhere?”
He looked around.
“Two parties were sent, including ours. And so Clista and the Guild Master are in the other party.”
Said Yorha plainly. She was a lot less hostile towards Loki compared to Ornest and Clashia.
Clista only had one Core. So it would be normal to think that only one party had been sent to the 64th floor.
“…I see. So I guess Reviel must have had a Core as well.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“He was a member in an S-Rank party after all. So he would have such valuable things.”
While it was possible to give Cores away, the guild generally forbade such actions.
The reason was obvious. If it was allowed, more people would be challenging dungeons that were beyond their ability, and that would mean more deaths.
Because of this, if anyone was going to have a Core to a floor as deep as the 64th one, then it was Reviel.
Loki reached that conclusion immediately.
And…
“Well, let’s not waste any more time. We need to hold a strategy meeting.”
He said as he sat down heavily. And then he gestured for the rest of us to be seated.
“…So you have time to talk leisurely?”
Ornest grumbled. It was as if Loki was abandoning his party members.
However…
“What? That’s why I said we don’t have time. You really should listen to what people are saying. Young Ornest.”
“…You really have a talent for annoying people, you bastard.”
“…Both of you. Just shut up. This is not going anywhere.”
“…Yeah, yeah. Do what you will then.”
As Yorha had intervened, Ornest finally clamped his mouth shut.
A moment later, he mumbled ‘I get too annoyed when around him,’ and he moved away. It seemed like every gesture or word set one of them off.
“Good, good. Now that the nuisance is out of the way, we can finally make some progress here.”
Loki said in a cheerful voice.
“I suppose Clista has already filled you in, but just to make sure. The floor boss here is an Undead. A black knight in full plate mail. As someone who has faced a decent number of similar enemies, I think it might be empty on the inside.”
“…So not a skeleton soldier, but a knight.”
“Yes, yes. And so it’s best to think that all physical attacks are meaningless, unless you are just trying to buy time… And so, that is where you come in!”
Loki said, suddenly pointing at me.
“Judging by what I had seen, you’re a traditional magician who specializes in attacks. That makes you the ‘key man’ this time.”
Loki said with a mischievous grin. I thought that he looked just like a villain.
“And so, just know that no matter what happens, your role will be to deal the final blow to the floor boss. That’s all you have to think about. I’ll handle the rest.”
His thin lips spoke the words calmly.
“Deception, deceit, fabrication and general wickedness are my forte. And so we’ll start with tricking our allies. Now, it is my turn. Head on, play dirty and take them by surprise…”