Please read this
Episode 87
Inferiority complex (3)
Three paths.
Of those, the one Riley chose was the one on the far left.
On the other hand, Philip gave a different answer from Riley for the first time.
“Should I go to the right, Philip?”
“Uh, uh.”
After ten minutes of deliberation, he chose the right path.
“… … .”
[… … .]
But, what.
Strictly speaking, Philip’s choice wasn’t wrong either.
‘I guess you could say it’s just a difference in personality.’
[huh.]
Left, center, right.
There are three choices in total.
You just have to avoid going to the middle among them.
The remaining choices were simply correct depending on Pathfinder’s disposition.
The left passageway Riley chose was long, but had relatively weak monsters scattered throughout.
In contrast, the passage on the right that Philip chose was shorter, but had slightly stronger monsters.
Should I take the long, thin left passage?
Or take the short, thick right passage.
It’s just a matter of preference. There’s no right answer.
Moreover, since both of those paths were leading to the boss room, there didn’t seem to be any major issues.
Oh, of course.
This also means that if the current situation were normal, it would have been like that.
‘The reason I chose the left passage was because our party lacked a healer.’
[huh.]
There were currently a total of 4 people raiding the dungeon.
Swordsman Hancock.
Axe Warrior Marco.
Pathfinder Philip.
And Riley too.
Well, at first glance it seemed like a plausible lineup, but our party had one fatal flaw.
That is, the absence of a Healer.
Normally, minor injuries that occur during dungeon raiding can be overlooked.
That would be the case, since minor injuries were a problem that could be resolved immediately by receiving treatment from a healer after the battle.
But now things were different.
There is currently no healer in our party.
If you get hurt, you have to face the next enemy with that hurt.
Unlike traditional dungeon raids where a new round begins with each round, we had to keep moving forward while taking cumulative damage.
‘still…….’
Riley looked straight ahead, her voice trailing off.
The expressions of the group, which had until now shown only gloomy emotions, were suddenly filled with a faint hope.
‘There’s no need to go through all that trouble to break that atmosphere.’
okay.
So far so good.
At least Philip’s choice doesn’t take him to a fork in the road that leads away from the dungeon’s boss room.
* * *
If you kill the boss monster and destroy the core, the dungeon will collapse.
The dungeon would create an “escape gate” just before it collapsed, sending players out of the other world, but its location was often slightly different from where the dungeon’s entrance gate was located.
This was also the reason why mercenaries raided dungeons with hope.
The hope is that there won’t be a bunch of corpses where they came out of the “escape gate”.
‘Ermin would have taken care of all the corpses outside anyway.’
[huh.]
Riley and I looked ahead as we had that conversation.
“Ugh… … !”
Crunch─!
Marco swung his axe and split the goblin’s head open.
Brain fluid spurted out along with bloody red liquid. Marco roughly wiped the foreign substances on his face with his sleeve and smiled faintly.
At his feet lay the corpses of several goblins.
“Whew, it’s a bit harder than before, but it’s not impossible.”
Marco smiled confidently and turned his gaze forward again.
“By the way… … .”
Fork in the road.
The fork in the road that I had seen so many times before appeared again.
“Philip, I guess you have to step up this time too.”
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
“Uh, uh… … .”
Well, I think I get the general concept of this dungeon now.
A crossroads given to the conqueror.
And the enemies lurking beyond.
And once you overcome the given obstacles, another fork in the road appears.
This mid- to high-level dungeon was a “labyrinth”-style dungeon where you gradually approached the boss room.
This is a dungeon that is extremely dependent on Pathfinder.
If even one choice is wrong, we will end up in a place far from the boss room.
Then the party will become wandering ghosts that wander the dungeon until they die.
It was fortunate that Philip had not yet made that kind of mistake.
And, what.
Even if I did make that mistake, Riley would intervene before then.
[Oh, right. Riley.]
‘yes.’
[Have you figured out the location of the rune stone?]
Although many things have happened in the meantime, we must not forget the fundamental reason why we came to this dungeon.
The reason we infiltrated the Blood Wolf Mercenaries.
And the reason why Riley tried to enter this dungeon even using the name Raoul.
It was to complete the assignment quest given by the Irantes Tower. That’s why we had to secure the rune stone that was sleeping inside the dungeon.
After hearing what I said, Riley immediately gave an answer.
‘Of course, I’ve been looking for the Rune Stone ever since I entered the dungeon.’
[okay?]
‘Yes. Now, I have figured out the approximate location.’
Riley nodded and continued.
‘As Elder Isabella said, the runestone is in the boss room of the dungeon. So just keep going like this.’
[Ahem.]
Good.
The news is that there haven’t been any major problems so far.
‘Yes, so far so good.’
Riley continued, looking straight ahead.
‘It doesn’t seem like there will be much of a problem here, as long as Mr. Philip doesn’t choose the left path… … .’
“Ouch, it’s on the left.”
“… … ?”
“Just take the road on the far left.”
……uh?
* * *
“… … .”
[… … .]
After that, several more forks in the road appeared.
Every time, Marco and Hancock fought the monsters well.
“Ugh, ugh… … .”
“ha…….”
But now, their physical strength was slowly reaching its limit.
In a way, it was natural.
Normally, dungeon raiding requires several people to take turns standing in the battle line. However, now, only two people were taking on that task.
And above all.
The biggest reason they were tired now was because Philip was guiding us astray.
‘This is the fourth time.’
[……I know.]
Philip had already chosen the wrong answer four times in a row.
I watched the guy’s actions silently, hoping that something would happen, but now I have no choice but to admit it.
“Ugh, ugh… … .”
“… … .”
[… … .]
Philip is now recklessly taking a crossroads.
There were two possibilities.
The guy’s magic power is completely depleted.
Or maybe you don’t have the ability to continue “Pathfinding” by breaking through the magical barrier spread out in the center of the dungeon.
‘If we continue like this, we’ll end up on a completely different path from the boss room.’
[What I’m saying is.]
Whatever it was, it was now Riley’s turn to step up.
“Ugh, ugh… … .”
Philip looked straight ahead with anxious eyes.
A total of 7 forks in the road.
The guy who was looking at the options quickly came up with an answer.
“Two, you have to take the second route.”
“… … .”
“… … .”
It was a voice that, to anyone who looked at it, seemed to lack confidence.
You really can’t lie.
“Hmm… … .”
The mercenaries also seemed to have noticed something strange.
Hancock, who was fiddling with the sword, frowned slightly and grumbled in a suspicious voice.
“Philip, is this really the second way?”
“That, that… … .”
“At first, it took me 10 to 15 minutes to find my way. But now, it takes me less than 5 minutes to find my way.”
“… … .”
“Now it seems like I just blurt it out without even thinking about it.”
Hot.
Philip shivered slightly when he heard those words.
“I, I… … .”
“Philip, tell me honestly.”
Marco intervened.
“It feels like the monsters appearing at the crossroads are getting stronger. The number of traps also seems to have increased significantly compared to before.”
“… … .”
“Besides, haven’t you been going around in circles in the same spot for a while now?”
Silence fell.
Less, less─.
Philip’s lips began to tremble slightly.
“I, I’m guiding you on the right path! You, you guys can’t fight properly! Mo, the reason the monsters are strong is because you guys are weak!”
“Philip, that’s… … .”
“Wh, don’t ignore me! Are you guys going to ignore me too? I, I think it’s enough for guild members to ignore me!”
Philip shouted.
“Two, take the second path! I, I clearly told you to take the second path… …!”
“It is the fourth way.”
“… … ?”
at that time.
Riley, unable to stand watching, interrupted Phillip.
“It’s not the second way, it’s the fourth way.”
“… … .”
“If we enter the second path in this state, all party members will die.”
Hancock looked dumbfounded after hearing Riley’s firm words.
“Are you serious, Raoul?”
“yes.”
“Hmm, but even so, it seems better to listen to Philip than to a beginner who just learned magic for the first time today… … .”
At that moment, Marco, who had been quietly stroking his mustache, opened his mouth.
“No, I believe Raoul.”
“……what?”
“I saw earlier that it was Raul, not Philip, who ‘activated’ the dungeon gate.”
It was an action taken while the two were distracted by Ermin, but it seemed that Marco had seen what was happening between Riley and Philip in the meantime.
Hancock asked back in a bewildered voice.
“Is that true?”
“I’m not sure. I’m not good at magic. So I guess I’ll have to ask the person himself.”
Marco turned his gaze to Philip and asked the question again in a blunt voice.
“Philip, tell me the truth.”
“… … .”
“Although I didn’t see the details because I was focused on stopping Ermine, I heard the conversation between you and Raoul.”
“… … .”
“Based on that conversation, I guess it was Raul, not you, who ‘activated’ the dungeon’s portal gate.”
Marco paused for a moment, staring intently into Philip’s eyes as he asked a question.
“Am I wrong, Philip?”
“… … .”
Philip looked at the floor, his narrow shoulders hunched even further.
“That, that is… … .”
“Philip, this is not the time to be proud. This is a situation where all four of our lives are at stake. So tell me honestly. No one will blame you if the truth comes out here.”
“… … .”
“Doesn’t Raoul have better magical skills than you right now?”
Magic skills superior to one’s own.
The moment he heard that, Philip lifted the whale up sharply as if he was having a seizure.
“No! No!”
“… … .”
“Wh, of course it’s true that Raul “activated” the dungeon gate! Ha, but… … . He intercepted everything I did! I finished destroying everything and Raul just added his own spin to it!”
Phillip turned to look at Riley, sobbing.
“That, and you! What on earth are you, that you keep meddling in! You’re just learning magic for the first time today, so why are you acting like you know so much… .”
“Oh, really.”
Right then.
Riley cut Phillip off with an annoyed expression.
“I can’t even do this strenuous thing because it’s so frustrating.”
“What, what… … ?”
Pfft──!
“… …Kkung!”
Riley strikes the back of Philip’s neck without a moment’s hesitation.
Boom─!
Philip let out a comical groan and fell to the floor, fainting.
“ha…….”
Riley sighed as she looked down at Philip, who had passed out.
Marco and Hancock just stared blankly at Riley, their expressions blank as if they had no idea what was going on.
“Okay, then from now on I will take charge of this party.”
“… … .”
“Even if it’s a little embarrassing, please listen to what I have to say. Then everyone will be able to get out of here alive.”
