Chapter 11

“Eh? A trap?”

We were a little ways back from earlier, at the safe point.

I reflexively ask back at her statement.

“Yeah”

The magician sat on the ground with her cane and hat on her knees and nodded with a smirk.

“The pathway there is narrower than it should be. That’s why a monster as big as a golem can get stuck there. Emerald golems have no long-range attacks, so if you are a backline class like a mage or archer you can trap and kill them one-sidedly.”

“Eeeh–”

So that was what she was the so-called trap she was talking about.

A method of taking advantage of the terrain to hunt them without contest from places where the monster’s attacks can’t reach.

It’s a convenient method that can be used for collecting drops and levels, but the places where you can actually do it are in no ways numerous. In fact, the most popular places will have you line up for it.

Since the entrapment points are readily available, for use of high and low levels, I didn’t think I would find an adventurer doing it in the middle of nowhere like here.

“Then…the golem was something you were pulling in there?”

“Yes. While burning the plant-type monsters, there were a lot of extra monsters to deal with so efficiency was low.”

“So…I apologize for my unnecessary actions.”

I honestly apologize.

Even though I was ignorant of it, it was a breach of conduct ruining someone’s hunt.

But the girl shakes her head.

“It’s fine. There wasn’t any information about this out there so it was confusing. Don’t mind me. Please, get your share of the drops as well.”

“But…”

“There’s nothing to worry about. You would end up hesitating to help someone if the next time it happens if I peg you for it right? If you were too late to save someone then I wouldn’t feel good about it either. You did a good thing. It’s in everyone’s best interest to keep it that way. Understand?”

“Y-yeah…”

If she was going that far as to say that, then I would have no choice but to retract my statements.

Kokoru comes up to me and says in a whisper-

“It’s nice that she’s a good person”

“Yeah”

Rather, she’s a pretty rational thinker.

She had black robes and a cane. Her large hat is taken off now, exposing her lightly braided blonde hair.

She looks like a mage in every which way, but that was unexpected.

If anything, the image I have of mages, I’ve met fit the bill of emotional people.

Once I looked at her again, she stared at me with half closed eyes.

“…Let me guess, for a mage she’s quite reasonable, am I right?”

“N-no, I wouldn’t go that far….”

“That’s what one would get with a little bit of thinking. Haa… That’s a completely prejudiced view. If one’s personality is determined based on one’s class, then it wouldn’t be strange if a mage is logical. Unlike an axe or sword that never disappears no matter how much you swing it around, being a mage requires one to choose your magic while watching your dwindling MP and choosing the right attribute for your opponent.”

“Y-you got me there…”

My prejudices aside, I’m sure that the girl in front of me is a logical thinker.

That being said, I open my mouth to ask her something I’ve been wondering about.

“But you…”

“It’s Melina”

“…Sorry, I haven’t told you my name yet come to think of it. I’m Alvin, a swordsman and she’s Kokoru, a priestess. We met here and put together a temporary party.”

“P-pleasure to meet you.”

I collect myself, and ask the girl who called herself Melina.

“Miss Melina, You said earlier that there was no information on the entrapment location but…. are you the one who discovered it?”

“Yeah, that’s right”

“That’s amazing”

I’m deeply impressed.

Finding a place like that requires a certain kind of astuteness, as well as knowledge of terrain and monsters.

That kind of keenness, which was different from the level and skills seen on your status, is also important for an adventurer.

“Are you a cartographer perhaps?”

“Cartographer? Nah. I just found that place by chance. I’m spelunking this dungeon for my own objective”

“Objective?”

Hearing that, I timidly ask

“Are you here… to beat the boss of this dungeon?”

“No way.”

Melina laughs at herself and replies.

“Even in a small dungeon like this, No way I’m soloing that boss as a mage. I am raising my level accordingly but I need a party.”

“Ah, so that’s it.”

Mages aren’t a class suited for soloing.

Was I just overthinking things? But Melina continued talking.

“But I’m going to conquer this place someday.”

“Hm?”

“You see, I’ve been mapping this dungeon as I’ve been diving here many times now, moving down little by little. On the day of my actual raid on the boss, I want to have already known the structure of this dungeon so that I can get to the boss’ lair with as little wear and tear as possible. The reason I was hunting down the emerald golems was just simply for making money. While it’s not an efficient way to go about it, I can’t get other people to come with and I can make money without them anyway. It costs a pretty penny to hire an adventurer.”

“…”

For now, I ask the obvious question.

“I get where you are coming from but, well…. Can’t you just recruit party members like normal? You’re competent from what I can see so I’m sure you’ll have a high enough level of adventurer coming at your doorstep. You don’t have to hire them for money…”

“Pfft…Not a chance”

Melina laughs, deriding herself again.

“I’m not the kind of person who should put together a party. I’ll pay the premium to hire temporary help for the boss fight. It’s better to go about to that extent….Dungeons are a dangerous place after all.”

“…”

“Have you two heard the rumors of this place? The boss here drops an item that can remove a skill. It’s info based on numerous flavor texts, gathered from dives, so it must be the truth. I have a need for that item.”

Melina continues on–

“Because I have a Minus Skill”

And with that, my gut feeling came true.