—
In the end, he revealed the origin of the…
“Green Wraith Stone.”
It turned out to be…
A seemingly ordinary small red box.
The box looked like a common souvenir gift box, the kind you’d find in any gift shop.
If anything…
The only thing unusual about this box was that it was wrapped in what appeared to be high-quality silk fabric, which gave it an air of luxury. However, the fabric seed to have been torn from sothing else, with frayed edges that hadn’t been properly finished, making it look quite odd.
“It ca from this box.”
…
The scene fell silent.
The old man’s way of answering questions was like responding to “What do you see with?” by saying “With my eyes!”
“…Are you ssing with us?!”
“No worries, this dungeon will soon cease to exist.”
Shuna flashed her dagger.
“Yeah, it’ll be gone soon!”
Will aid his hand at the old man’s head.
The two of them looked like a pair of villains teaming up with a corrupt boss.
“I really don’t know. When it ca into my possession, it was just this box with a note saying, ‘Use this if you don’t want your dungeon to beco a lackey.’”
Lackey?
Use?
“So… you got it by chance and don’t know who put it there?”
“Exactly.”
He nodded, looking quite innocent, spreading his hands.
“Oh? Do you think we’ll believe that?”
“…There’s nothing I can do if you don’t! I’m not exactly a brainy ruler.”
Damn it!
How could a dungeon ruler be so strange?!
He had no leadership qualities at all. Only a dog given a bone would be loyal enough to work for him!
Will recalled the monsters they had encountered on the way.
Uh…
The only one that could be considered an elite was indeed a dog.
This dungeon might as well be renad “The Old Man and the Dog.”
However… the box did confirm a few things.
Will stared at the box, deep in thought.
The Green Wraith Stone was definitely not sothing originally from this world, and this incident further validated that idea.
Even the dungeon ruler who obtained it didn’t dig it up from within the dungeon; it was given to him.
Strange, too strange!
Will felt like a detective following a lead, investigating a massive smuggling operation.
But…
How could they trace its origin with just this box?
Will stared intently at the box while Shuna began examining it, turning it over and over in her hands.
Would there be a clue?
It seed unlikely, as it looked like an ordinary…
“Will… I think I understand.”
“Hmm?”
“This box is from Yavik City, 20 kiloters away.”
She said this with such certainty, even naming the city directly.
Huh?!
Did she already have so tracking magic that Will didn’t know about—
Shuna turned the box around, showing Will the back.
“It says so right here: ‘Yavik City, Souvenir.’”
“……”
Was the answer really that simple?!
“Old man, you’ve had this for so long and never checked the back?!”
“I can’t read.”
“We’re having a proper conversation here!”
“I don’t know how I can speak your language, but just because I can talk doesn’t an I’m not illiterate.”
Once again, Will was convinced by the old man.
However, why dungeon inhabitants could communicate seamlessly with humans was a mystery in itself, not sothing they expected to solve here.
“But knowing it’s from Yavik City explains the white marks.”
“What?”
“Will, Yavik City has a newly famous dungeon, the Moonlit Ice Extre.”
“You’re saying those marks look like they were made by ice magic?”
“Very likely.” Shuna’s eyes lit up. “How about it? We’re close to there. Want to check it out? Next ti we might not get the chance… that dungeon could disappear.”
Will’s first reaction…
Was to think about the three people back in Novice Town.
His initial thought was to return.
But…
He turned back to the Green Wraith Stone.
This object, existing outside of fate and originating from a ga that shouldn’t exist, seed to be guiding him in a certain direction.
It’s okay!
The three back ho would be reassured by his letter!
He just needed to move forward boldly!
“Sure, let’s head out today.”
“But wait, I have another question.”
Shuna stood by, looking at the old man slumped in the half-broken chair.
“Lackey… what does that an? Who are you supposed to be a lackey for?”
“Heh.”
For once, Will heard a chuckle from the old man, along with a rare emotion in his voice… anger?
Will’s heart began to race. For so reason, when the old man laughed, Will felt a sense of foreboding.
“Humans outside the dungeon live so safely and comfortably, they don’t even know about this.”
This sense of foreboding…
Might not co from the boss himself.
Will had thought they could leave the old man to continue running the dungeon, as they weren’t interested in its products. They could take the information and go without clearing it.
Leaving a dungeon with clues about the Green Wraith Stone was more beneficial to them.
But…
When the old man said this, Will felt an inexplicable worry.
“The dungeons you see now have long been…”
For example, in stories, NPCs about to reveal crucial information often get cut off—
Bang.
Before he could finish his sentence, a hole appeared in the old man’s silver-haired head.
“Huh?!”
A gun?
No… in this era, it was probably just a simple musket.
In an instant, he collapsed from his already broken throne.
How could this happen?!
Did the flag get triggered so quickly?!
As a boss, his body began to dissipate, leaving behind the “loot” for clearing the dungeon.
“Who’s there?!”
“We made it—are you all okay? Two rescue teams were trapped here, and they ca to us for help—now the boss should be dead, right?”
“…Rescue team?”
Will turned his head, words stuck in his throat.
Co to think of it, the staff mbers who had run past them earlier had ntioned going to the neighboring city for help.
Calculating the ti, it seed they could have arrived by now if they rode fast.
And the previous two teams had just left. They hadn’t even exited the dungeon yet, which was worrying.
Standing in front of a twenty-person rescue team…
Was the “captain.”
The good captain who had stolen their boss and cut off their lead!
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