The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon

”I know where the Lurium is! I can guide you to it!” Isaac exclaimed.

His words immediately put me on guard.

”I don’t believe you. It sounds like you’re just saying anything to avoid being thrown into the ocean.”

”Why wouldn’t you believe me?! Do you think just anyone can engrave a magical circuit? Who else could breach the veil of the underworld?!”

”Just trust me and follow my lead! I will show you a new world,” Isaac said, sounding incredibly desperate.

”It’s not your skills I don’t trust. The problem is something else.”

This was the same person who had leeched off the Chandler family for generations, manipulated the dreams of Chandler and his father, and lured me into a trap. At the graveyard, he had tried to seal my soul without a second thought.

Of course, I couldn’t trust him.

”What? Hey, what’s wrong with my character? You won’t find anyone with a better personality than me!”

His response was instant. I hadn’t even mentioned his character, but it seemed like he had heard that criticism plenty of times before.

Character, huh...

I was still mulling over the word when Rena suddenly called me. ”Master? Are you talking to the sorcerer right now?”

Her intuition was impressive. She had immediately picked up on my awkward silence.

”Ah, sorry.”

”It’s fine. I’m not interrupting, am I? Do you need fire, by any chance?”

Rena playfully swung Yemera’s candle back and forth. The candle was small enough to fit entirely in her delicate, pale fingers. The moonlight glistened like dew on the sharp spike of the silver candlestick.

”Should I light it?” Rena asked.

At that moment, Isaac spoke again.

”Hey! There’s a way for her to hear me, too. Want me to tell you?”

I was slightly puzzled. Considering his capabilities, it wasn’t particularly surprising. But the fact that he was the one offering to share information was unusual.

”Why the sudden generosity?”

”I’m just trying to build a basic foundation of trust. That way, we can avoid problems in the future, right? Come on... let’s be honest with each other. There’s no need to go straight for the fire, okay?”

”Hmm...”

”Please, let’s have a civilized conversation first. It’ll make things much easier for both of us.”

I signaled Rena to hold off for a moment.

”Alright. How do we do this?”

”You need to focus your consciousness...”

Isaac carefully explained the process. He described how I could act as a medium to facilitate communication.

”Do I really need to be involved?”

”Yes! You have to be part of it. Why would I harm you? Come on, you’re not that dumb. If you’re gone... I’ll be trapped here forever.”

”Hmm.”

Rena nodded after I explained the situation to her. ”Alright then. Connect us. I’ll ask him directly.”

I linked their minds together.

”Can you hear me?”

”Master? Is that him?” Rena asked.

”You insignificant little brat. Mind your tone. I am Isaac Bel’Homec, ruler of the twelve southern cities!”

”There are twenty-four cities now. You’re pretty ancient, huh? Will you even be useful?”

”You insolent wretch!”

Well, at least it was confirmed that Rena could now hear him.

”But still, you’re a famous figure.”

”Hmph. That’s right. Have you heard of my name? Your ignorance and disrespect are infuriating, but I will overlook them just this once.”

Rena, completely unfazed, skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the interrogation. ”You said you know where to find Lurium?”

”That’s correct.”

”Before that, tell me everything you know about dungeons.”

”Dungeons? You want dungeon information? But the Lurium is—”

”Dungeons first. Make this easy for yourself. No need to make things difficult.”

Why do I feel scared?

Even without any ice magic, it felt like the surrounding air was getting colder.

Without waiting for Isaac’s response, Rena pressed on. ”Dungeon rank, location, traps, appearing monsters, rewards.”

”And what if I refuse?”

”If there’s even a single lie, or if you leave out anything important, I’ll roast you immediately. If anything seems even slightly suspicious, I’ll burn you right away.”

Isaac was speechless.

”Start talking.”

***

”That doesn’t match what I know. That place has a fire trap, and you’re telling me to offer oil on the altar? Do you like things hot?” Rena said.

Fwoosh!

”Ugh, ack—aaagh! W-Wait! I misspoke! Aaaagh!”

Rena scolded Isaac. ”Come on, you have to endure it. You’re three hundred years old. Why are you acting like pain is unbearable?”

The scorching metal medal trembled violently.

It was a pitiful sight. I thought that once we could communicate directly, Rena wouldn’t be so cruel to a soul she could actually converse with.

But I was wrong.

Hmm...

At first, I assumed Rena had a specific strategy in mind. She started by asking for information about dungeons first, questioning Isaac step by step, beginning with what he already knew. Whenever he lied, she immediately burned his soul with Yemera’s candle.

I thought this was a tactic to ensure he couldn’t lie later when answering more important questions. But...

That’s not it, is it?

Rather than serving a specific purpose, she seemed to be enjoying it far too much. Rena meticulously heated the medal, looking immensely satisfied.

This is making me feel bad...

To her, Isaac’s agonized screams seemed to be as enjoyable as a skilled tenor’s solo performance. Her expression mirrored that of a delighted concertgoer experiencing the best show of their life.

I made a mental note to never turn her into an enemy.

”Isn’t this... a bit much? Maybe we should stop now...” I muttered.

Rena shook her head firmly. ”No. Absolutely not.”

”Hmm...”

She looked at me with a resolute expression. ”Master, imagine if you were trapped in a medal and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. I wish I had a thousand of these medals with him inside.”

”A thousand?”

”Yes. But since there’s only one, I have to be careful not to damage it too much.”

A chill ran down my spine.

”It’s about time we wrap things up,” Rena said.

Rena carefully examined a map where she had marked several locations. She had extracted everything, including the location of Isaac’s cult where Lurium was supposedly hidden.

”Ugh... sniff... sob...”

”Hmm... I see,” I uttered.

”The sunlight is so bright,” Rena commented.

I agreed. ”Yeah, it really is.”

To be honest, I wasn’t that concerned about whether she was finished torturing Isaac or not. After listening to Isaac’s screams all night, I felt like contradicting Rena’s words would be a bad idea. I had been keeping a close watch in case Isaac attempted any tricks, but he was already half-broken.

The curse that had backfired on him seemed to have locked away even his remaining abilities.

I casually spoke to him telepathically. ”You should’ve just let yourself be erased.”

”Sniff... sob...”

Rena called out to me. ”Master?”

”Ah, yes?” I answered.

”We’ve gathered a lot of information. But there’s a lot I can’t personally verify. I... think I need to ask the director for help.”

A cold chill ran up my spine.

”Director?” I repeated.

”Yes. The person who helped me before. He’s a high-ranking T&T officer disguised as an orphanage director.”

”What’s his real identity?”

Rena hesitated for a moment. ”Well... uh... I was planning to surprise you, but...”

”A Slime?”

”Oh!”

Her neatly shaped eyebrows shot upward. She placed a hand on her chest, her posture stiffening.

”H-How did you know that?”

Telling her I once died by being melted alive by the Slime wouldn’t exactly be believable.

”I found out by chance a while ago. But isn’t there another way? Do we have to verify this through him?” I asked.

The Slime was a member of the T&T Inner Circle. If we involved him, there was a high chance that Puruson’s followers would try to take control of us. It made me uneasy.

They’d try to recruit us. And if we refuse...

The Inner Circle’s officers would simply eliminate us themselves. I wanted to avoid getting involved with them at all costs. Even now, there was a possibility that we were already under surveillance, either directly or indirectly.

Rena immediately picked up on the fact that I wasn’t just making baseless concerns. Her eyes gleamed with seriousness as she nodded.

”Well... there is another way. There’s an official channel that connects to Ember’s headquarters. But it’s farther. We’d have to go all the way to the capital. The director’s method is... more certain, but...”

I had to make a choice. I wanted to avoid the slime at all costs, but there was still a possibility that Isaac had fed us false information. Conversely, there was a small chance that meeting the slime wouldn’t cause any issues.

Either option could be a mistake. However, heading all the way to the capital was too much.

I turned to Rena. ”What do you think?”

”You’re wary of the director, right? Then we’ll eliminate that option.”

Rena pointed to two locations on the map—one southwest of the graveyard and the capital.

”The capital is fourteen days north,” Rena said.

”The cult Isaac mentioned is two days west,” I added.

”If we go to the capital to verify the information first and then head to the cult... it’ll take about fifteen days total.”

”Since it’s a secret cult, there’s no guarantee that the capital’s headquarters even has information on it.”

”This route is too inefficient.”

”Yes, definitely.”

”Let’s head straight for the cult.”

***

The carriage raced westward. Using the hypnosis technique Isaac had taught me, the three horses behind us galloped in formation, following closely.

The Hypnosis skill and the Allusion skill had unfortunately disappeared along with Isaac. The same went for other inherited skills. However, by following his instructions and moving my hands a certain way, I could still put horses into a hypnotic state with little effort.

”How is it? Pretty useful, isn’t it?” Isaac asked.

”Speak only when I call you.”

”...!”

We rode continuously for three full days, switching horses each day. The horses showed no signs of fatigue, as if three days of travel were nothing to them.

As we gradually approached the vast western desert, the air became drier. Whether it was the nearing winter or the tension of the impending war, something in the atmosphere felt different.

The last stop before the cult’s location was a small village in the southwest. They were selling camels. The cult was in a rather remote place.

”Are you heading toward the desert? If you continue west from here, camel prices will go up. You should trade your horses for camels now.”

”No, we’re heading south from here, so we’re fine.”

”Ah, I see. That way leads to the jungle... Would you like to check out some machetes for jungle exploration? Having one is great, but not having one could be really inconvenient...”

The village closest to the cult Isaac had described had a promising young merchant. Her prices were surprisingly fair, and she stocked supplies that would appeal to travelers heading into the desert or jungle.

Rena generously paid more than necessary. ”Both the products and the prices are good. Keep the change.”

”Thank you!” the young merchant exclaimed.

”That was a good deal. What’s your name?” Rena asked.

”I’m Terezia Marker. I hope to see you again, dear customer!”

Terezia looked about twenty years old. A blonde woman with her hair tied back bowed slightly as she bid us farewell. For some reason, she left an impression on me.

Leaving her behind, we headed into the jungle south of the village. About two hours into the ride, we still saw no signs of habitation.

[Skill: Detection Lv. 5 activated.]

[Skill efficiency increased by 1,000%!]

[Current Health consumption: 0.0021%]

I had kept my Detection skill running since we left the village. Even if the information had been extracted through torture, it was only natural not to trust Isaac completely.

Yet, I detected nothing.

”Didn’t he say the cult was supposed to be this way?”

Isaac didn’t respond.

Since our minds were still connected, I unintentionally picked up traces of his emotions. Something unfamiliar was creeping up from within him.

He’s worried? What... is he so anxious about?

”Master?”

Rena scanned our surroundings and pointed at something. A stone totem, half-burned and half-shattered, stood before us. It was an owl-shaped structure that stood about two meters high. Human bones, charred black, hung from its neck.

”Neigh!”

The horses recoiled in fear at the sight of the totem, stepping backward. We tied them up in a clearing behind us.

”Let’s walk.”

We had to walk anyway because the path ahead was too narrow for riding. We walked for quite a while, yet nothing appeared.

Did he lie?

It seemed things wouldn’t progress with just kind words. Just as I was about to confront Isaac, the medal in my possession trembled violently.

Rumble!

”Stop.” Isaac’s voice sounded unusually heavy and dark. ”I... lied to you.”