Chapter 56

Ch . 56: Introduction to Departure

It didnt take long for them to introduce themselves .

Mostly because it wasnt the first time theyve met each other .

Loren knew they were quite young when he met them at the bar, but when he looked at them in daylight, he couldnt help but feel conflicted when he saw the hint of youth in their faces .

Loren, you do look a bit old for your age, after all .

Yes I know, so you dont have to remind me .

Loren didnt know his exact age .

If he counted from his earliest memories, he should be slightly over twenty, but he didnt know the exact number .

No one around him really cared, and he didnt care about it either, since it wasnt necessary information for a mercenary .

The fact that it was a profession which didnt guarantee that you would live to an age which you would worry about getting old was a factor, but looking at the young students, he couldnt help but feel old .

Its okay Loren . Youre still young .

That doesnt make me feel any better . Anyways, how old are you, Lapis?

Oh, Loren . I didnt know you had such a roundabout death wish .

Oh come on

Im kidding . Im just as old how I look .

Apparently, looking young but having lived for a very long time, which was the case for many demon kin, didnt apply to Lapis .

But this was coming from her own mouth, so he didnt know if it was true or not .

Hey, the two of you . Thanks for being our proctors .

The one that came up to them and greeted them was Ain, the leader of the party that Loren and Lapis oversaw .

Although he was still a boy, he was well built, wearing a hauberk and was carrying a long sword and a round shield, which was standard equipment for a warrior in the front line .

His blonde crew cut gave him a rough impression as well .

We dont need a proctor though .

The one who muttered that was the smaller boy named Cloud .

He was wearing leather armor like the one Loren was wearing, but had fewer parts and only covered his chest, and he had an estoc hanging at his side .

Loren guessed that he was a swordsman who relied on speed during fights .

Stop it Cloud . Hes an adventurer . Hes going to become scary if you make him mad .

The one who whined was the boy with the bowl cut named Al .

He was wearing priests clothes with similar design to Lapis and had a mace with him .

When Loren asked, Al had said he was a priest in training to the Supreme G . o . d, but his weak and timid nature did not make it seem like he was .

Thanks a lot for last night! You really saved me there!

The one who called out to him in a lively voice was Feim, wearing a robe and holding a wooden staff, like an orthodox magician .

She was a magician, as her appearance was, and told them that she could use one spell per day .

Do you think they could make it to the ninth floor?

Loren asked Lapis quietly after they were introduced, and Ain and his companions were getting ready to enter the dungeon .

Loren and Lapis had already brought their what they needed into the school along with their equipment . Lapis belongings were in a backpack on her back, but Loren didnt have one since he had his great sword strapped on his back .

I stead, he had a pouch hanging from his left arm, and he also had a knife hanging on his left waist, that he had purchased for this job .

Loren, you can use knives too?

Lapis moved the conversation into a completely different direction .

Yeah, somewhat . I used them to slit enemies throats on the battlefield .

He drew the knife as he said that, but although it was shaped like a knife, it was way longer than what a knife should be, and the thickness of the blade was like that of an axe or a hoe .

That looks more like a short blade than a knife . Im surprised the shop had something like that .

This was the only knife at the shop in Kauffa . Its durability is top notch, but no one was buying it since it was so bulky, so the owner sold it to me for ten silver coins .

I couldve readied one if youd told me .

Its a spare weapon anyway . Its fine as long as its sharp and durable .

Lapis snorted in discontent at Lorens response .

On the books, the equipment and the great sword on Lorens back was all bought at the weapon shop in Kauffa, but behind the scenes, Lapis seemed to have brought it all and sold them to Loren through the shop . She didnt say so herself, but it was quite obvious at this point .

His debt to Lapis had grown to thirty gold coins, which was a small fortune, but he knew that the equipment wasnt something that could be bought with that amount .

If he asked Lapis to get him a spare weapon, she was sure to bring him something expensive, and although it would be a good deal when compared its actual worth, but Loren didnt have the capacity to be increasing his debt again by several gold coins .

So, how are they?

Their skill levels? It might be a bit tough .

As she looked at Ain and his party packing their things, the evaluation that she gave them was a quite a rough one .

They could probably manage to get to the fifth floor, but any further might be hard .

On the map that the princ . i . p . al gave them were detailed descriptions of locations of traps and monsters that sp . a . w . ned on each floor .

Lapis used that information to calculate the difficulty of each floor .

Thats only if a . s . suming the monsters in this dungeon are the same as normal monsters .

Whats the difference?

Loren asked Lapis, feeling confused .

Since he used to be a mercenary, he had never been inside a dungeon, and he didnt know about the differences of normal monsters and ones that sp . a . w . ned in dungeons .

To put it simply, monsters which bodies are left behind when they die are normal and monsters which are sucked back into the dungeon, leaving a part of their bodies, are ones that are sp . a . w . ned by the dungeon .

They are different in power?

Yes . It depends on things like the size of the dungeon .

Lapis said he shouldnt underestimate them just because they look the same .

But the dungeon they were entering was one that was used for training students, so Lapis guessed the monsters were either the same or weaker than normal ones .

When it comes to the worst, well just have to have them get wiped out

Lapis started muttering things that were surprisingly dark .

Loren immediately responded .

Youre going to stop by the bottom floor before we go up to report? I wont help you, you know?

This is where you should stop me . Why are you planning to just watch me do it?

Loren looked away at her response .

The two of them were casually talking about things that would be problematic if Ain and his party overheard them .

Now that I think of it, if your body part is in the tenth floor, how did it get there in the first place? Theres stuff that an adventurer from three hundred years ago collected, right?

The thought occurred that Lapis was a demon kin that walked the continent from that time, but if he were to believe what Lapis had told him, she wasnt alive that long ago .

When Loren told her that a part of her being down there didnt make sense, Lapis thought to herself for a moment and answered him, choosing her words carefully .

Its most likely thatmy parents sneaked inside . Either there is a side entrance somewhere, or it wasnt even remotely difficult for my parents to infiltrate it

She said it like it was easy, but this dungeon was property of the schools, and the entrance was heavily guarded, to the point where there were no stories of anyone being able to infiltrate it .

But if Lapis parents, who were demon kin as well, were able to walk in and out easily, it meant that the security was mostly meant for humans .

What in the world are your parents?

Do you want to meet them next time? Ill invite you if you want .

Lapis smiled as she said that, but when Loren saw it, he felt that there was some other meaning included as well, but he decided that he should be honest .

Not reallyAnyways, what made you believe that a part of your body is here?

Lapis looked disappointed when Loren said he didnt want to go, but at Lorens question, she suddenly took Lorens right hand .

Loren was slightly surprised when Lapis grabbed his hand, but Lapis paid no attention and asked him, still holding onto his hand .

Loren, do you know that your right hand is here?

Yeah, of course . Its my right hand . It would be weird if I didnt know .

Its the same thing . Its a part of my body, so I have a vague feeling of where it is .

Although she explained that knowing your right hand is there and knowing that a part of your body that has been ripped off is in a certain area is the same feeling, Loren couldnt really understand it .

But Loren thought that it was something that he couldnt understand no matter how long he thought about it, so he decided not to ask Lapis about it any further .

Lets say that we rely on that feeling, the problem would be how do we get all the way down there .

The final measure would be immobilizing the four of them with > or something, and then go down and

You guys ready?

As soon as Lapis started scheming again, Loren confirmed with Ain since they seemed to be finished packing .

While Lapis stopped talking, Ain started cheering his party up as they picked up their bags .

The pa . s . sing mark is the fifth floor, but our goal is the tenth floor .

We can do it . No problem .

Can we really do it

Of course, we can! We trained and studied hard for this .

What Ain had said caught Lorens attention .

From Lapis eyes, they werent skilled enough to reach the bottom floor, but apparently their goal was to reach it .

If that was the case, if they could manage to achieve their goal, Lapis goal would be achieved as well, without having to resort to more violent methods, and that would be better .

If only advice would be enough for them .

I dont think you should get faint hopes up .

Loren thought that it would be a lot easier if they could help them directly, but the students were the main actors for this job, and Loren and Lapis were the side characters .

Lets help them without them knowing and keep them going forward .

Yeah .

Hey, the two of you, lets go .

At Ains call, Loren and Lapis and the students walked towards the entrance of the dungeon .

The entrance was inside the school building .

It was to keep anyone other than the students from entering, but they would have had to consider the worst case scenario, someone sneaking inside the school, so Loren walked while looking around, searching for traps .