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Chapter 38 – Dead end
“What a damnably convoluted maze is this…. What the hell is the Guild thinking?”
Celt clicked his tongue while glaring at the map.
Our objective this time is investigating the Dungeon.
That’s the reason we even split into groups.
The reason why we need to meticulously walk through every path is to search for anything out of place for one, and to cut down the number of monsters for another.
Normally, the monsters within the Dungeon disappear when the Dream Lord is defeated.
However, when their numbers increase beyond a certain limit, some of them can escape outside and start laying waste to the surrounding area.
A Monster Pool already happened in this Graveyard of Sorrows and quite a number of monsters overflowed already.
If we don’t cull the monsters before we defeat the Dream Lord, it might become a serious headache later.
“…..even so, this is some weird as hell route.”
I took a peek at the map over Celt’s shoulder.
It circled some place multiple times and just simply passed by others.
When we got the map I thought it was the result of wanting to make best use of the adventurers’ stamina in the investigation, but now that I’m actually experiencing it, I can’t really pinpoint what their aim really was with this.
In addition to that, it seemed the map itself wasn’t that accurate either.
It was made in a hurry for this Raid Quest, so perhaps it’s something that cannot be helped.
Celt drew a bunch of corrections on it already.
He seems like a reckless person in general, but maybe he’s more meticulous than I thought.
“Tsk, what the hell is the Guild thinking, telling us to explore a high level Dungeon with a Monster Pool happening with an inaccurate map like this? If we went by this route we would be in severe risk of getting stranded or pincered by monsters.”
Celt kept complaining while muttering under his nose.
I understand his point of view.
Well, it’s not like a Raid Quest that needed a bunch of B rank adventurers to mobilize would be that easy.
“It wouldn’t be funny if we came across a troublesome monster. Oi, we are ignoring the map and heading for the rendezvous point by the shortest route. It will be safer to hunt monsters around that area.”
Celt turned back towards us.
“….Celt, do you intend to ignore the mission objectives? We won’t be able to investigate or cut down the monsters’ numbers either.”
“No one would know, you hard-headed brat. Even if something were to happen after this, it would just be chalked up to the monsters not getting culled enough. What’s wrong with going with the safe and steady method? You seem somewhat skilled, but I’m a lot more experienced and higher level than you. Just shut up and do as I say. Or perhaps, do you wanna try your luck?”
“What….”
Is he implying that we should have a duel while within a Dungeon?
It seems Celt was irritated about failing to seize the leadership of the party and pulling Mabel to his side.
Even so, there is no advantage to having a duel here at all.
“Heheh, I’m just joking, obviously. Don’t be intimidated by a half-assed threat like that. It seems a brat is just a brat. However, don’t try to be too cheeky, or it might not stay that way.”
As expected, he wasn’t serious about that, instead he went for trying to regain the initiative.
His apparent bad mood itself must be an act to convey his point more thoroughly.
He’s really a pain to deal with.
“….I understand wanting to do your duty to the Guild, but we have no choice but to bend on this somewhat.”
Mabel lowered her voice and whispered into my ear.
Celt also has his pride as a first rate adventurer, so he must not have felt very amused about a younger newbie possibly getting one over him.
It would be bad if he got a big head from this, but like Mabel said, it would be best to diffuse the situation here.
There are many inaccuracies with the map of the Dungeon, and that’s a fact.
Changing part of the route to decrease the risks of getting cornered by monsters is indeed a perfectly logical thing to do.
…..even if the truth is that he just wants to profit with the safest and easiest method available.
“Very well, Celt. We will let you decide our path. However, please refrain from using the most obvious shortcut.”
“You should’ve just started with that. It’s not that big of a deal, we’ll just avoid the most convoluted and annoying parts.”
Celt smiled a wicked smile, then shifted his gaze from glaring at the map towards further down the passageway.
“Okay, then it’s straight there. Heavy Knight, you go forward, of course.”
There would be no use complaining here.
I let out a sigh and walked forwards according to Celt’s instructions.
I didn’t think anything too bad would come from changing our route, but….something weird happened right away.
“…..Heavy Knight, next is left.”
Celt’s irritated voice impacted my back.
“Isn’t that weird? You said right just now. Didn’t you want to avoid going the long way?”
Right, left, we were wandering aimlessly in a zig zag.
Didn’t he say he wanted to go with the shortest route?
“It’s not my fault! The map of the pathways aside from the indicated route is full of errors! Left on the next corner for now, Heavy Knight!”
“…..Celt, shouldn’t we get back to the route we are in charge of for now? If we got lost at this rate without reaching the rendezvous place, then it would be an inconvenience for the other adventurers as well.”
“Do you want to say that I have no sense of direction, you bastard!? Just go left at the next corner! We are still heading in the correct direction, so it shouldn’t be that much of a difference.”
After shouting at me, Celt started roughly scratching his head as he kept glaring at the map.
“That damn Guild, giving us a sloppy map like this. Just leave the uncertain places blank, dammit. Who the hell reported this information?”
Heeding Celt’s instruction, the four of us proceeded left at the next corner.
After walking a bit further, we noticed that the corridor was a dead end.
I placed my hand on the far wall.
A bunch of human skulls were entombed into the wall at regular intervals.
It was a famous sight in the Graveyard of Sorrows, even when it was just a game.
Although it has nothing to do with the oddities happening to the place.
“E-eeeeek! I think I might get nightmares about this….”
While Luce said this timidly, Mabel was observing the wall of skulls with great interest next to her.
It seems Mabel was really this hardcore.
“I’m more scared of the fact that we ended up in a dead end when moving according to what our more experienced adventurer teammate said. We should turn back and slip out before a monster appears.”
I said while glaring at Celt.
Perhaps due to the awkwardness, Celt himself kept silent as he kept jotting down notes on the map with a frown on his brow.
….well, this was most likely a mistake on the Guild’s side, rather than Celt’s.
It seems someone did a pretty sloppy job.
Some mistakes can be expected, since a map is made according to the reports of adventurers, but they are pretty conspicuous this time.
I was concerned about our route being pretty complicated, but perhaps it was made that way to avoid the parts that were reported by unreliable adventurers.