The Saint’s Dungeon Business - Chapter 23

The Saint’s Dungeon Affairs – 23

Archmage – 4
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The number of female wolfdogs were at least about the number of wolfdogs we dealt with yesterday at the last combat. To make it worse, they’re not mixed but there are only females. Even if Sarah and I levelled up, it does look like it’ll be a tough fight.

“Hmm. Are you done?”

“C’mon. Can’t you see those wolfdogs surrounding us and waiting for the attack?”

“Who cannot? This one is referring to the transcendent.”

“Ha. A wolfdog in a heat can’t be a match to me, no matter the size.”

“So that means this one may cease her move.”

“Huh? Cease what?”

About the middle area of the robe-lady rose a bit.

Huh? What is she doing? Did she raise her hand or something? I heard a snap, then the wolfdogs started running at me at once.

“Hey! What did you do?!”

“Haha. Why do you think they weren’t attacking you until now?”

Probably this robe-lady had a trick to keep them away from us.

“Who could have known it when you never told us you can do that?! And why did you stop it now?!”

“this one asked you if you’re done.”

“Do you think I really knew you meant this?! You can do it again, right?! Please tell me you can!”

“Hmm. Not quite.”

“Damn it! Sarah, follow me! We’re breaking through!”

“Okay!”

It’ll be a tough fight when surrounded. So I ran to break through a side. Of course, I didn’t forget to activate my Saint Skill. At least with the skill very optimized for aggroing them to me, I can prevent them from attacking Sarah. One big advantage is that I don’t have to worry about her and focus on the battle happening before my eyes. Great, so the first thing to do is breaking through the siege, earn enough time for Sarah to climb a tree, and touch every single female wolfdog with Saints Touch to focus the aggro on me.

“Hey! Can you help?!”

“Hmm. Good Luck. I’ll cheer you on from up here.”

The robe-lady was floating up in the air before we knew and she was observing us from up there. Damn it. You, wait right there and get ready for my skills. I’m not stopping even if you beg with tears.

Before they leave no place for us to  escape, I made the move first and hit the wolfdogs. I focused on getting their aggro first rather than dealing damage. I activated my Saint Skill and threw a punch on each of them, and sent Sarah away.

“Get to a tree, first!”

“Okay. Be careful!”

We barely managed to break through and let Sarah escape to the top of a tree, I killed the ones on my body and turned back to face the wolfdogs. It will be a tough fight, but what reassures me is that robe-lady. She’s just observing for now but she’d help me if my life is in danger, wouldn’t she? She’s very interested in the Saint skills so she wouldn’t let me die before she experiences it.

I don’t know how she did it, but considering how she was able to hold them from attacking us and how she’s floating up in the air, she must be a great figure, more than I imagined. That reassures my mind a bit.

Sarah already started shooting her arrows. And her firepower got strong enough to land critical hits on the female wolfdogs. She now could shoot down the wolfdogs doing their circus tricks. I aggro them with Saints Touch, and if the ones I missed jumps to Sarah, she shot them down. Since I don’t have to worry about Sarah anymore, I went crazy with the fight. I first grabbed the nearest one and threw down, and stomped on it. Hitting the one coming from a side with my elbow, I stretched my arm right away to punch the one in the front. I stabbed the one going for my leg with my knee, and booted it with a Low Kick as if I tackle. It’s corpse acted like a barricade to keep the others away. Meanwhile Sarah constantly shot the wolfdogs with her arrows, killing them one by one. This might be easier than I thought at this pace! But soon I learned I was wrong. No matter how good we were, we couldn’t win when outnumbered. The number of arrows was limited, and my health points getting low bit by bit was getting as low as it could. Damn it. Did the transcendent gathered every single  female wofldogs here? Why’s there so many? I might really die here.

“Hey! Are you really going to be there and just watch? Please save us!”

“’Tis your limit this one presume. That leaves this one no choice.”

The center of the robe rose just like the last time, and I felt a sudden flow of great amount of energy. How should I describe it? I’ve never felt this before. The only way to describe it is that you can’t see it, but you can feel a great amount of energy gathering at the robe-lady. I suppose this is the flow of mana. And the energies formed countless many orbs. The number of them are probably the same as the number of remaining wolfdogs. Each orb hit each wolfdog, and erased their existence in a blink.

Yes. They literally got erased. With bare eyes you couldn’t even see them feeling pain or getting hurt. They just disappeared from where they were at, as if there was nothing after all. The scene before my eyes were so in vain that if it wasn’t for the pain and injuries I got a moment ago while fighting with them I would have thought maybe I was dreaming. Only the magic stones and loots on the ground proves that the wolfdogs existed.

“W-what are you?!”

“Mmm? this one thinks she already told you who she is. Have you forgotten already? That’s a very short memory you’ve got. Do you not think ’tis rude to forget the name of someone you’ve just met? this one supposes it can’t be helped. Remember it well this time. this one’s name is Diana. This one follows the path of magic cultivation.”

“Who would ever forget that chuunibyou introduction?! I’m not asking your name. I’m asking what you are.”

“…Do you not know this one?”

“How would I? Have we met before?”

“Hmm. this one knew it was odd when you kept speaking to this one with such an attitude, but never thought you wouldn’t know this one. Do you not know this one, young lady?”

“I’m sorry? No.”

Sarah seemed to have been in a daze in amazement seeing Diana’s magic; she startled when Diana talked to her.

“You both didn’t know who this one is? That’s so brave of you to accompany someone with such suspicious clothing.”

Oh so you knew you had suspicious clothing.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know who this one is. But worry not. This one doesn’t have any other intention than the interest in the skills of the job named Saint. this one means to harm you not.”

“AND you would leave me to death?”

“Are you not an outlander? There were some cases of outlander ones getting new abilities awakened when they’re endangered. So this one had a hope in you but shamefully you’re not the kind.”

Okay, just what kind of manga characters from which dimension jumped to this world and made that stereotype? Anyways, she’s probably not lying about her claim that she doesn’t intend to harm me. Seeing how she killed the wolfdogs, she could kill me at any moment she wants. And it seems she’s not one of them who gets what they want with their strength.

“Why don’t you retrieve the magic stones and loots? There’s a chance the transcendent grants you with extremely rare ones.”

Ohh. Right. I just had an intense fight with the female wolfdogs after fighting the transcendent, so I haven’t seen what the transcendent had dropped.

“By the way, do you know if we’d get compensation for reporting a transcendent?”

“Mmhm. There were many cases of the reported ones being found again. The compensation won’t be low.”

Great. Diana, a high-level adventurer, said it’s her first time seeing a transcendent at an upper floor, so this is probably the first discovery. The compensation for the female wolfdog wasn’t low, so I have high hopes from this one!

With buoyant mind I went to where the transcendent was, collecting the loots and magic stones on the way. There was a magic stone that was as big as half of my fist. Considering the size of the female wolfdog magic stones are about the end phalange of a thumb, that’s a big difference. No wonder how it could last my attacks so well.

“Oh. That is just as big as the magic stones of the monsters next world level. You were lucky with that fight.”

What?! And you were just looking at me fighting it?! Wait a minute, was she using her whole power on stopping the female ones? Seeing how peaceful she looked that doesn’t look like the case, though. I put the magic stone in my inventory and checked the drop. And I covered my eyes with my hands as soon as I saw it. Fuck! My eyes!

“Hey, Diana.”

“Mmm? Listening.”

“Do they drop that kind of thing, too?”

“Ho. It dropped a very rare loot. You’re luckier than it seems.”

You call this lucky? The rare loot of the transcendent was its penis. What’s more is that it was just as solid as it was before it died, boasting its beefiness.

“If it is that rare, would you mind carrying it around?”

I don’t care if it is rare or not. I don’t want to touch it.

“You have nothing you can’t say to a woman. If you don’t want to touch it, why don’t you ask the young lady?”

Diana said as she pointed at Sarah who was collecting the drops.

“Do you want to attend a funeral or something? If I asked her she’d stab me with her arrow.”

“You two are a very entertaining pair.”

Entertaining? Meh.

I had no choice but to grab it with the tip of my fingers, so the area of contact is minimized, and shove it into my inventory.

“What in the hell am I supposed to use this for? Do you happen to know it?”

“……Hmm. Well, for various purposes.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s the most common way to use it?”

“W-what is it good for you to know? Wouldn’t it be out of your hands when you sell it?”

That’s the first time she’s being perplexed.

“That just makes me feel more curious. What is it? What is it used for? Come on. Tell me. Will you? Won’t you?”

“Silence! You really have nothing you can’t say to a woman! Do you even realize wrong diction can be a sexual harassment?!”

“I’m just asking and why is it a sexual harassment?! Do they use it as a dildo or something?”

“…….”

Wait. Really?

“S-sorry.”

“…Quiet.”

Diana didn’t say a word to me after that, so I started collecting the items in silence. Man, now that she’s silent after talking this and that, that makes me feel so uncomfortable.

“So, what now?”

When we were done collecting loots, I broke the heavy silence. There were so many wolfdogs, so it took some time collecting them all. We’d look for a way down or follow the route the guild recommends, but my HP is not in a good shape after that fight. No matter how good my natural regeneration rate is, it’ll take some time for me to fully regenerate. And we can’t go to a new place without being in the best shape.

More than everything, we’re just a bit too late. After all, we came to the dungeon at a late hour, so it’s too late to go back to the town, reset? and come back. But it’s too early to call it a day.

“If you wish to go deeper, you will have to visit the town. You should get some basic defense gears. The young lady stands in the backline so it may be fine but for you? A man taking the frontline doesn’t even equip a weapon, not to mention the lack of armor. Do you have a death wish?”

Diana seemed she was still upset, but she gave the best advice for the current situation. I suppose she likes to care for others.

“She’s right, you know? Seeing how you fight makes me feel nervous.”

And even Sarah who had her in check agreed on that. Armor, you say. I do have some money to spare, so I could buy one if I want. But they are burdensome. I prefer functionality over anything so the only clothing I wore in the original world was training clothes. I hate to wear metal plates all over my body that make rattling noises. But she’s right. With the right equipment, Sarah and I could have managed to defeat the wolfdogs on the last fight without Diana lending her hand. I can’t hunt the wolfdogs forever. I suppose I’ll have to wear them at some point.

“Okay. Let’s head back for now.”

We’ve earned enough for today with that fight. Come to think of it, I didn’t even plan to come to the dungeon today! I suppose we can return early for a day.

============================ Author’s Comments ============================

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[TL: if this wasn’t obvious, these are the author’s reply to others’ comments.]

쓰굴 // Thank you.

카르디오스 // Thank you?! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

아린 // I write when I’m not myself after the work, so that happens.

향향공주 // It’s the best taunt ever.

붉은정의 // The size may be normal buy the shape is pretty!

ifo // When his chastity is endangered, he’ll fight more desperately, granting him the strengths he didn’t have.

qkzks135 // Guwon isn’t a virgin, so even if he loses his childhood, I suppose he won’t be a dark mage. [TL: Not sure if western culture has a similar meme; apparently a 25-years-old virgin man can become a mage.]

kodks // Thank you. I’m glad you liked it.

마녀서윤 // Don’t tell me you want him to be….

sodooril // It’s okay! It didn’t even brush!

말살 // Male wolfdogs are weak! Even the boss!

무꾸914 // I suppose it’s about the time to get her robe off.

완글아 // You’re underestimating the strength of the monster’s back which can penetrate through a piece of cloth.

마왕을위한지침서 // In this episode he’s dealing with females, so his childhood wasn’t in danger.

칼데라린 // Do not let your guard down yet. Stay alert. Over.

illya // He’s got an item he wouldn’t use.