Chapter 26: Free Exploration To the Dungeon!

[STAGE 2]

- Until the start: 9 days 20 hours

The next Stage starts in ten days, but the repair will take at least a bit more than two weeks.

At this rate, when the next stage begins, the walls will practically not be functioning properly.

“All uninjured soldiers will be mobilized to repair the wall from tomorrow.”

I ordered Lucas.

“We must hurry with the repairs and finish as soon as possible.”

“I take Your Highness’s order.”

Lucas bowed.

I want to keep the soldiers on standby in perfect condition, but I have no choice. We need to speed up the repairs of the fortress wall even by a little bit.

“By the way, what about the condition of the wounded soldiers? I did not receive any proper reports.”

“There are about 50 seriously wounded, and 200 lightly wounded soldiers. They are all being treated in the temple currently.”

There were very few casualties among ordinary soldiers. It was thanks to the fact that most of the battle was done in the long-range artillery phase.

But instead, I lost four hero units…

Anyway, the point is that we are lacking in numbers. At this rate, we will have to fight with a shortage of troops.

“Aider, how is the situation regarding the military expansion?”

“More troops will be sent from the nearby city. The messenger who went to the central area will also return by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow has to be the day that things progress.” Anything else I can get my hands on, but the troops' replenishment is a matter that is out of my hands.

All I can do is pray that the reinforcements come without trouble. I hope that a lot of new mercenaries will come over in the remaining nine days.

“Alright, Aider. Let me know immediately if anything happens. Then, Lucas, let us do what we can while we wait.”

“What would we be doing in the meantime?”

Smirk.

After smirking, I gave an eye gesture to Lucas.

“We gotta hit the dungeon.”

“......!”

“We have to leave to destroy the core where the monsters pour out from.”

Lucas, with a slightly nervous expression on his face, asked me carefully.

“Will we be taking the teleport gate to the Black Lake like last time?”

“Yes, Lucas. However, this time, we will be going below the lake directly with our party.”

Below the lake.

To the main base which is filled with monsters.

It was time to change the genre of the game from Tower Defense to Dungeon Offense.

“Lucas! Gather the main party.”

As I kept the smirk on my face, I cracked my hands.

“Finally, it’s time for some adventure.”

In other words…

It’s time for some leveling up and item farming!

* * *

I summoned the party members.

I will rest for today and enter the dungeon tomorrow morning. I should get them prepared to start now.

Everyone answered my summon, and gathered at the manor house I stayed in.

“Welcome, everyone. Have you been resting well?”

I took a look at the gathered members once. Even though they drank until late yesterday, not a single person missed out and everyone gathered.

The assembled members were, Lucas, Demian, Jupiter, me, and…

“Why… did you summon me here…?”

…Lily.

She looked around her with her shoulders shaking. It seemed as if Lily instinctively noticed that we were headed to a dangerous place.

“You definitely said that I won’t ever have to fight in the forefront anymore, right…?”

“Hm~?”

I smiled at her instead of giving a definite answer.

What can I say, Lily? The amount of hero units I have right now is only five, including you. I really need you.

Lily realized the situation with my smile, and her complexion turned white.

“Y-Your Highness! You know I actually can’t walk, right?! I’m hurt!! I need to retire real soon!”

Lily actively appealed her own injury, pointing her hand to the wheelchair in which she was sitting.

“I’ll just slow you down since I have limited mobility! I’ll just stay here and quietly work on repairing the artifacts! I’ve grown to really like that job, you know?!”

“It’s good to hear that you love working with the artifacts, Lily. It seems like you’d be okay with working with artifacts for a long time.”

“No, no, no! That’s not what I meant!”

Maybe I should form a life contract with her.

I wanted to tease Lily who was about to burst out into tears, but I decided to calm her down a bit.

“Please, just one more time, Lily. I promise I won’t take you to a battle site after this.”

“I think you said the same thing last time too, no?!”

“I need you in order to protect this city, no, to protect all of mankind.”

Lily couldn’t continue her complaint when I mentioned the great cause.

Even though she was a mercenary who didn’t have to care about such a thing at all.

“Uuuh… Fine… Just this once…”

“Thank you, Lily.”

I turned my head after thanking Lily for reluctantly agreeing.

“Jupiter and Demian, how are you two feeling?”

Jupiter suffered minor injuries in the battle yesterday. I wonder if she is okay considering her age.

“I’m fine, Your Highness.”

Jupiter tapped her unbandaged forehead with her fingertips. It was clean and in better condition. Aight, she looks fine.

“And Demian…?”

My face hardened as I looked at Demian.

I didn't realize it when I looked at it earlier, but this guy's face is a mess. His eyes seemed hollow, and his face was pale.

“Hey, Demian. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Could it be a side effect of overusing Thousand-Mile Eyes?

“I-it’s okay, Your Highness.”

Demian put out his palm and immediately covered his mouth with his hand.

“I’m just… hungover. Urgh.”

“......”

“It’s not my first time drinking alcohol, but I never drank this much before… Uuugh.”

I glared at Jupiter, who made Demian drink that much.

Jupiter whistled carefreely and looked away. You rotten adult…

“I should be fine by tomorrow. Please don’t worry about me.”

“Alright. Make sure to take a good rest tonight.”

Anyway, there’s seemingly no problem heading off with this party of five.

I briefly explained to the party members.

“Tomorrow, our party will go on an expedition.”

“An expedition?”

“That’s right. I’ll explain the details after we head off tomorrow.”

It should be much easier and faster for them to see it with their own eyes instead of explaining that there’s a dungeon under the lake filled with monsters.

So I didn’t explain everything and moved on to the next topic.

“The goal is to leave tomorrow morning and return at night, but other variables may arise. We may have to set up a camp there.”

“Set up a camp…? We must be going off to a faraway place then.”

Lily muttered to herself in worry. Hmm, well. I guess you could say it’s far. In a way, it’s pretty close though.

“I will prepare all supplies and equipment. All you need to do is gather your weapons and armor tomorrow morning and assemble here.”

I did not explain the specific destination, the reason for the expedition, or the way to get there. However, the party members did not raise any questions.

I had to thank them for that. It was the kind of work that was difficult to explain but easy to understand upon experiencing.

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“Alright, that’s it for today. Maintain your condition well, and see you tomorrow morning.”

“Understood, Your Highness! Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

* * *

* * *

Jupiter, who quickly saluted me, headed out first, while she pushed Lily’s wheelchair who seemed like she was still about to cry.

I stopped Demian who was about to follow after them.

“Demian, care to spare a minute?”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

Demian looked into my eyes with a pale, hungover face.

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

“Well… there’s nothing really wrong.”

Demian had reached level 20 in the last battle, and the first-class advancement became available for him. I just wanted to check the results.

I’d already checked Demian’s growth and status in the stat window.

[Demian (N)]

- Level: 20

- Title: None

- Class: Intermediate healer

- Strength 5 | Agility 17 | Intelligence 14 | Stamina 8 | Mana 12

Perhaps it was because he continued using long-range weapons such as cannons and bows, his agility stat was the main increase. But since he was an N-rank character, the base stats weren't that good.

And the skills…

[Skills Learned]

> Passive: Healing Light

> Skill 1: Detox Light

> Skill 2: ??? (Available after second-class advancement)

> Ultimate: ??? (Available after third-class advancement)

His passive is ‘Healing Light’, which can be considered the standard of healers. The unit can heal allies with their mana.

And the 1st skill that he acquired this time was the Detox Light, which can heal all kinds of poison status ailments.

A pretty ordinary skill set for an N-ranked healer.

However, Demian is now a sniper.

Not a single skill provided any help to his sniping. It was better than nothing, though.

“After the last battle, how do you feel? Have you noticed any changes? Your skills, perhaps…?”

I asked Demian to check if he had acquired the skill properly.

In the game, you could just conveniently acquire and start using the skill, but I’m not sure how it works in reality.

“Yes. I thought I should tell you about this… I felt like I’d realized something during the battle.”

Demian answered, rubbing his fingers as if he was nervous.

“I think I’ve acquired a healing skill. I instinctively learned how to use it. But I’ve never used it yet.”

Hmm. It seems that the character realizes the next skill once enough experience has accumulated.

I lightly patted Demian’s shoulder.

“That skill could save our party from death. Of course, your main job is as a sniper, but do try to keep practicing your healing skills too.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

I sent Demian to get some rest.

I called Lucas, who was silently standing behind me.

“Lucas. You can go take a break too.”

“Pardon? But…”

“We must enter a dungeon filled with monsters tomorrow. You will have to protect me to the best of your ability then, right? Don’t be stubborn, and take a break and conserve your stamina.”

Lucas reluctantly nodded his head.

“...I shall act as you order.”

Lucas also went to his room, and now, it was just Aider and me remaining. I gave a chin gesture to Aider.

“Aider. Prepare the expeditionary supplies.”

“What kind of supplies should I prepare?”

“Preserved food, camping tools, various potions, and…”

I named the items most necessary for dungeon exploration.

“Light. Lanterns. Torches.”

A happy smile appeared on Aider's lips. I sighed softly and said one more time.

“Anything that can emit light.”

* * *

The next morning.

The backyard of the Crossroad manor house.

All five party members gathered, and I provided equipment to each of them. It was a backpack in which food and first aid were stored.

“It feels somewhat serious. Just where are we headed to?”

“You will find out soon.”

I took the lead and headed for the teleport gate.

Rumble-

When I put my hand on the pile of stones in the backyard, the teleport gate was activated.

With a strange operating sound, piles of stones floated into the air, spinning round and round to form a magical door.

Upon recognizing the teleport gate, Jupiter seemed quite surprised.

“Could this be… teleportation magic? But teleportation magic was lost a few hundred years ago, how…?”

“Ahem!”

I pretended not to hear. We will find out soon as we continue with our expedition.

I looked back at the party members and declared.

“Starting now, we will enter this teleport gate and go to the monster’s main base. We will be heading below the Black Lake.

Except for Lily, who had dropped her chin, everyone seemed pretty calm about it. Everyone seemed to have guessed that I was leading them to a dangerous place.

“Under the lake lies their kingdom. We must explore it and find out the cause behind the emerging monsters.”

This is the main objective of the game.

“This is the only way to end the invasion of monsters for good.”

To destroy the core of the monsters.

Finally, it was time to start the second genre of this game, Dungeon Offense.

Everyone seemed to have a lot of questions, but I activated the teleport gate first.

[Teleport Gate]

- Please choose your destination.

> Lakeside Ferry

> (Unopened Area)

> (Unopened Area)

> …

Once again, we will be headed to the first point, the ‘Lakeside Ferry’.

The magic door rotated and the teleport gate was activated. I took the lead and stood in front of the gate.

“This gate leads directly to that lake. The briefing will be done on the way, so come along.”

“Your Highness! I’ll head in fir—”

“Alley-oop!”

Ignoring Lucas saying he’ll go in first, I jumped into the gate. Because it's safe anyway!

* * *

[Now Loading… Teleporting.]

[Tip - Hero units grow by leveling up. Levels can be raised by gaining experience points, and experience points can be obtained in all kinds of battles.]

Could I get better tips than these obvious ones, please? Huh?

I muttered to myself. The tips you get from the games aren’t really useful anyway.

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