The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter - Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Translator: “Kell” Editor: ”Weasalopes”

A monster showed up in the village out of the blue . It didn’t have a mouth — at least, not where it was supposed to be . Instead, it sat on its round, swollen belly, complete with fangs . The Magic Eater . It had 【Magic Devour】 as one of its skills so I assumed it devoured magic through its stomach .

So I came up with a plan . I’d aim for its head; Emma would go for its arms, and Luna-san, its legs . We would launch our attack with carefully synchronized timing . Then it wouldn’t have time to activate its skill . Or so I thought . I wanted to punch myself for coming up with a plan so naïve .

「Ugh…」

「Yikes… that’s just disgusting . 」

Right before we could land a blow, a bunch of mouths emerged from various parts of its body and completely devoured our magic attacks .

「Guhihihi…」

Foam started bubbling around the mouth on its belly . Good lord . And what’s up with that creepy laugh?

「Hmm . 」

「What’s up, Toramaru?」

「I feel like it’s gotten a little more vicious . Though it’s just my intuition . 」

「You mean it got stronger? Wait a sec . You’re right! It levelled up!」

It went up from level 80 to level 81 . Luna-san furrowed her brows .

「Maybe it get stronger every time it absorbs magic?」

「Could be . 」

「What do we do, Noir? Keep on fighting it?」

Emma’s growing concern was understandable . We couldn’t come up with anything effective against the creature . We also had the bandits to deal with so it was in our best interest to stay out of harm’s way .

「Let’s get out of here and make a mess . 」

「Hop on, then . 」

We mounted on Toramaru’s back and went out of the village . The Magic Eater followed . We kept a steady speed just enough to not let it catch up to us . A few kilometres out, we found some weaker monsters and killed them . The gluttonous creature happily partook of its delicious meal, sounds of bones cracking under its fangs . We left a few more dead monsters on our trail, luring it . We then used the opening to return to the village . It was too focused on its meal that it didn’t follow us anymore .

「That thing was so creepy . 」

「True that . We could probably beat it but now’s a bad time . It might come back . What to do…」

More bandits might come once they notice that the ones they sent have not returned . I would want to avoid that at all costs . Our surprise attack won’t work if they’re on alert .
As I was contemplating, Toramaru suggested something .

「I could stand guard here in the village . If that thing returns, I’ll just do what we did earlier and lure it away . I can most likely take it down if I go all out and push my limits, though . 」

「Would you get hurt if you did that?」

「A little, yes . 」

「Then please don’t . I wouldn’t want your life to be in danger . 」

「I see . Then I will do what we did earlier . 」

「All right . The rest of us will take down those bandits . 」

I just hope that thing was satisfied by his meal and won’t come back . After explaining the situation to the chief, the three of us headed to the bandits’ hideout .

It was completely dark by the time we made it to the foot of the mountain Goodman told us about . Too dark, in fact, that one would need a lamp to see . Fortunately, we had our 【Night Eyes】 so we made our way to the hideout without trouble . There’s barely any monsters here . The path however was steep and strewn with pebbles so we had to proceed with caution .

「There . That must be it . 」

Near the peak, a mansion stood at a level area surrounded by trees . While it looked old, it was an imposing structure, quite grand in its size and two storeys high . Apparently some distrustful aristocrat had lived there a long time ago . There was light at the entrance where two men were stationed, wielding spears .

Are they drinking? There’s not a lot of people who’d come to raid the place so they’re not entirely cautious, I suppose . Which is a good thing for us .

We gathered behind a tree a few distance from the men and discussed our course of action .

「Hey, Noir . Should we take down those lookouts?」Emma asked .

「It should be around midnight right now . Just to be safe, let’s wait a bit more . 」

「Got it . They look drunk . It would be easier if they just knocked themselves out cold . 」

That would indeed be great . Though we could probably take them out without trouble anyway . The question was what to do once we’re inside, so we laid out our plan . Luna-san offered her suggestion .

「They’ve got the village chief’s granddaughter and other people inside, right? We should split into two . 」

「That’s what I was thinking too . It would be difficult if they used the civilians as human shields . Let’s split into two . One pair and one will go solo . The former will take down the bandits, the latter will rescue the hostages . 」

「Here, here! I want to go with Noir!」 Emma said .

「Very well . Then I’ll rescue the hostages while taking down any bandit I encounter」Luna said .

「I’m sure you’ll be fine, Luna-san . But please be careful nonetheless . 」

「My gun is suited for surprise attacks . I’ll be fine . 」

「I mean, about you fainting…」

Luna-san tends to lose consciousness and suffer from violent seizures if she used her magic gun too much . It wouldn’t be much of a problem if she had someone with her but alone, it should be rough . With our objectives confirmed, we proceeded to have a light snack, waiting for the night to further deepen .

Fortunately, the two men were now completely smashed and on the brink of falling asleep . Man, these guys are too relaxed .

「Let’s move . 」

「I’ll take the one on the right . 」 Luna said .

「I’ll go for the one on the left, then . 」

I weaved through the trees, closing in on my target . Luna-san, however, didn’t move from her spot . With her long-ranged weapon, she didn’t have to . Lucky her .

My 【Stone Bullet】and Luna-san’s【Energy Shot】zipped through the air, hitting our targets almost simultaneously . Both men lost consciousness at the same time as well .

The three of us quietly pushed the massive door open . We shuffled softly through the corridor, which was covered in rug that was worn-out in places . There were a lot rooms on the first floor, but there was no one on the corridor . Maybe they’re sleeping . When we got to the stairs, we could hear guffaws echoing from the second floor . A group of people drinking I guess .

「Noir-dono . I’ll search the first floor . 」

「Roger that . We’ll check the second floor . 」

「Be careful, Luna-san」 Emma said .

With a wave of a hand, we went our separate ways . Emma and I climbed the stairs quietly, and then we immediately ran into trouble . We could hear footsteps from the second floor heading our way .

「Wh-What do we do?」

「Judging from the sound, it’s only one guy . Let’s wait for him to come closer then we strike . I’ll cover his mouth while you give him a blow to his stomach . 」

「Leave it to me . 」

A short aisle with walls on both sides continued from the top of the . Farther away a second corridor stretched perpendicularly to the aisle in the shape of a T . We hid behind the wall near the top of the stairs, holding our breaths, waiting for the man .

「Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~ I’m the strongest! The strongest! The strongest!」

The man was humming to himself as I jumped out and covered his mouth .

「Uughh…」

「Emma . 」

「Hiya!」
With a short, spirited cry, she punched straight at his stomach . This should knock him… out? He was still conscious .

「Hmm? I guess I didn’t use much power . Hiya!」

The second blow knocked the man out cold . You scared me for a second there, Emma .

「Ehehe… My bad . 」 Emma said .

I’ll forgive her just cause she’s cute . We tied him up with a rope we brought — tight enough so he couldn’t move even if he wakes up .

「Infiltrations like this make me tremble . 」

「With excitement?」

「Too obvious, huh? We used to go exploring a lot when we were kids . There was even a time when we pretended to sneak into a burglar’s home . Do you remember?」

Not really . My memories are fuzzy . I do remember playing a game where we had to take back a treasure from a wolf’s den, though . Basically, we sneak into the house of a neighbour who had a dog, eat a candy, then come back . Looking back now, it was stupid . And we failed every single time too .

「The games we played together back then are helping us now . It was all worth it,」Emma said .

「Sounds like a bit of a stretch . 」

「Ehehe~ Now, now . Let’s just keep our spirits up like this and move on . 」

「You’re right . Anyway, this guy was probably on his way to the bathroom . Next, we’ll deal with those other guys making a racket . 」

「Okay! Let’s go!」

Emma treaded down the corridor fearlessly as I trailed behind her .
All right, then . Is the boss among those guys? The grunts are no problem . The boss, however, is apparently exceptionally skilled . We have to stay sharp when we face him .