The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon

After that, the messages kept dragging on.

I feel tired.

I closed the status window after reading up to that point. Not every entity had a status window. Currently, only Rena did.

Hmm.

Rena was Lv. 33. Besides her main Thief class, she had also acquired the Hunter and Trickster classes. By continuously leveling her up through capturing adventurers and monsters, she naturally gained new classes without participating in any special events.

Despite that, her Affection kept rising steadily. After I rescued her from an exploding oil trap while holding her, her Affection broke past the cap once again, reaching 60.

While her rapid growth was satisfying, seeing something like made me wonder how it even came to this point.

I let go of Rena’s head. Her head fell sharply downward, and I realized I had been supporting almost her entire upper body weight.

Thud!

In the end, I lifted my other hand to support her head again.

I asked, ”Hey, isn’t it about time for you to head to the capital?”

I’d heard from the guildmaster that she was due for a promotion to an executive position. It felt like she was approaching her “Scenario Clear.”

What happens when someone clears a scenario?

I’d been raising her in part out of curiosity to find out. I checked the scenario message once more.

[Promote her to the branch leader of the T&T Guild! The Ally in the Shadows scenario will be activated.]

Rena let out a soft groan while I was lost in thought. ”Ugh...”

With her head still supported, she looked up at me, clenching her fists tightly. Even if she had a sword, I was not confident that I could win against her in a fight. Of course, she would never attack me.

”Did the guildmaster say something useless again? Seriously... Maybe I should just get rid of him for good.”

”It’s about your promotion to an executive position. Isn’t that important?”

”I know. Let’s go together.”

”That’s going to be a problem.”

She set her sibling down and rubbed her cheek against my knee. Then she covered her ears. ”I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you... We’re going together, right? Okay, fine!”

”...”

The reason I couldn’t go with her was simple: we had been together for too long. This wasn’t the time to sit by a warm fireplace and enjoy the scent of sweet flowers.

If I joined her in a dungeon now, she would be raising me instead, and my debt to her would only grow. There was no reason to become more deeply entangled with this person in that way.

It was becoming too much.

***

It took half a day to calm her down.

She hugged me tightly. ”I’m supposed to protect you...”

I’d dug myself into this situation, so I didn’t go out of my way to distance ourselves. The increase in Affection was largely my fault as well.

”We’ll see each other again soon.”

”Of course! Don’t say things like that. It sounds like a death flag!”

”A death flag?”

”Never mind. See you soon.”

***

After sending her off, I headed to the guildmaster’s office to receive a commission. I had no intention of idling while Rena was at the Empire’s headquarters.

I planned to delve into dungeons continuously. I did not need to search for dungeons myself because the guildmaster provided the necessary items, maps, and information.

It might be because my accomplishments added to their overall success record, but he was amicable. The guildmaster’s Affection also rose gradually—I even confirmed a message showing it had reached 26.

The guildmaster unfurled a scroll and said, ”There’s a slightly challenging commission, but... it involves a dungeon.”

”I’ll take care of it quickly, so tell me about it.”

The guildmaster sipped coffee from his mug. With each passing day, I noticed the aroma of coffee becoming more pronounced.

Three months ago, it had been completely different. I couldn’t even distinguish coffee scents, nor had I ever trained such a skill. The only changes were that my level had risen quite a bit and my assimilation rate had slightly decreased.

The guildmaster explained, ”A group of adventurers have been monopolizing a dungeon.”

”Monopolizing?”

”Yes. They’ve occupied it without permission. Moreover, they’re charging tolls to use the nearby roads.”

”Common bandits, then.”

The guildmaster nodded. ”Exactly.” They’ve completely blocked off the area. The commission is... to ’resolve the issue.’”

”So, kill them all?”

”Return them to the earth.”

Over the past three months, the southern region’s security had rapidly deteriorated. Everything was chaotic, as forced conscriptions and plundering were widespread. Farmers were even robbed of their seeds. People fled to the mountains, but they couldn’t farm there, so they resorted to killing others and stealing goods.

”Who’s the client?” I asked.

”The client wishes to remain anonymous.”

”Anonymous?”

The guild master nodded again. ”Yes. However, it’s a safe commission. The client harbors no ill intentions—I can vouch for that.”

If he vouches for it...

I paused briefly.

”The client mentioned feeling uneasy about humans farming goblins and killing them.”

”Explain it in detail.”

”The humans discovered a goblin village. They’ve occupied it and are systematically killing the goblins while allowing them to repopulate.”

”They’re killing children?”

”Yes.”

I didn’t know much about goblins. I’d encountered them a few times before, but all I knew was that they were small creatures with sharp teeth and toxic tendencies. After the Demon Kings’ advent, they grew notably aggressive.

I tilted my head and asked, ”Why go that far?”

Human cruelty and persistence often came with seemingly justifiable reasons. I wanted to hear what those reasons might be.

The guildmaster said in a heavy tone, ”The humans discovered the Crimson Deer goblin village. In one-fifth of their brains, a condensed bloodstone can be found. That’s five times the usual rate in normal goblins.”

”And?”

”Grinding a bloodstone and consuming it supposedly enhances immunity and vitality.”

The guildmaster slightly furrowed his brows. Despite my ability to read such subtle expressions, the man before me wasn’t human. If he had been human, he might not have even furrowed his brows at something like this.

After a moment of silence, the guildmaster slowly said, ”To be honest, this commission is... a gesture of goodwill for the efforts you’ve shown over the past three months.”

”Goodwill?”

The man offered a slight smile. ”Yes. You’ll understand when you go to the dungeon. Will you accept?”

”Sure.”

He wasn’t someone who would deliberately set me up. It was the first time the client’s identity wasn’t disclosed, but I wasn’t particularly curious about that anyway.

***

I walked across fallen leaves, lightly frosted from the night’s chill. I’d been walking for quite some time toward the dungeon marked on the map when I heard a scream carried by the wind from a higher location.

”Help, help!”

I glanced in that direction. The source was on my path.

A woman stood crying on one side of the forest. ”Sir Knight! Please help me...sob, sob.”

I looked at the woman. Her clothes were ragged and torn, revealing patches of bare skin. Her hair was disheveled. One of her shoes was missing, exposing her pale foot, and her slim calves were smeared with mud. She looked like she had fled from somewhere in a hurry.

The woman looked at me. Her gaze wavered at my still figure.

Sobbing, she cried out to me, ”Please help me! Sob... Three goblins are raping my friend! Please, hurry! I beg you!”

Rustle.

I couldn’t just walk past her.

Goblins?

There was a goblin dungeon not far from here, but that dungeon was occupied by humans.

Could they be escapees?

I stepped off the path and approached the woman slowly. I needed to check what was going on.

I observed the woman as I approached her. The torn areas of her clothes were around her chest and thighs. I also did not notice any wounds on her skin.

I can’t tell who tore her clothes.

I had seen goblin claws before. They were sharp and rough.

Could they tear clothes so neatly while leaving the flesh untouched?

I tilted my head in doubt. But at that moment, the ground beneath my feet gave way, and the earth opened its dark mouth wide. I plummeted straight down into a deep pit of sharp bamboo spears, piercing through a soft bed of straw.

Thud!

[You have taken fall damage!]

The spears couldn’t penetrate my armor, and falling from this height didn’t significantly deplete my life force either. Even with the weight of the armor, I was a fleshless skeleton. I did not take any additional damage from the weight of heavy armor.

Pathetic.

It was absurd to fall into such a trap mere hours after parting ways with Rena. Clearly, I had become too reliant on her as she had been disarming every trap we encountered.

Still, this was unacceptable. I felt disgusted with myself, lying helplessly inside the trap.

”...”

A voice called down from above. ”What’s this? You don’t even scream?”

The woman with the clothing that exposed her chest and thighs looked down at me from the edge of the pit.

I measured the height, which was three times as tall as me. The trap had been dug vertically, making it difficult to jump out, and there was nothing to grab onto.

”Well, you’ll have plenty of chances to scream soon. Strip!”

Strip? Are all human women like this?

I looked up at her silently. Suddenly, I saw a gaunt man appear out of nowhere, and he was undoubtedly part of the same group. His clothes were stained with dirt in various places. Perhaps he had worked hard digging the trap.

The man with a haggard face looked down at me and shouted, his fatigued voice carrying a metallic tone, ”Didn’t you hear me? I said, take off your armor!”

I retorted, ”What are you doing?”

The woman chuckled, her laughter echoing.

”Don’t you know? It’s knight hunting.”

”Knight hunting?”

”There’s nothing to eat, so we have to eat people, don’t we? Hurry up, take off your armor and kill yourself.”

The reason was clear: the deteriorating law and order were the natural result of brutal exploitation. Even the seeds meant for next year’s planting had been confiscated for military supplies. It was unreasonable to expect them to uphold the law or care for their neighbors.

Still, I asked. I wanted to hear their stories from their own mouths.

”Explain yourselves.”

However, they didn’t seem interested in explaining. Instead, they picked up a torch made of cotton and oil from the ground.

The woman said in a low voice, ”I’ll give you exactly ten seconds. Once it melts into your flesh, even we won’t be able to pull it off easily.”

Whoosh!

The woman lit the torch.