The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon

According to the book, a D-rank mercenary card meant they were considered a competent combatant anywhere.

”Rank, huh...” I said absentmindedly.

I wondered what rank I might’ve had. It had been quite some time since I defeated him. I thought I might be at least a C by now.

I called out to the woman. ”You.”

”Yes!” she answered in a desperate voice.

Her body trembled.

I understood why she seemed overly eager. She had been hanging there for two days, starving.

”Humans need to eat, after all.”

It must have been painful. I had hung her in the spider web, but I was also her only hope. Only I could give her a sip of water.

I asked, ”What rank are you as a mercenary?”

”Yes!” she responded immediately, then quickly added, ”In terms of mercenary rank... I’m a little above E+.”

”What about the others?”

”The dead woman was an E, the dead man was around a D-.”

She only referred to them as others, but I immediately understood she was talking about her dead companions. There was no need to ask again.

The woman said dryly, ”I, Rena, am telling you this honestly. I truly want to help. I don’t want to die like this.”

She seemed desperate.

Thud.

I set the book I was reading down on the sarcophagus and walked slowly toward the spider web.

The woman babbled nervously upon sensing my approach.

”The truth is, I was planning to kill the man with the poisoned dagger. The other woman was just as much of an obstacle. I intended to kill them both and take everything.”

Her story was predictable.

”Do you always kill your kind like that?”

With an easygoing attitude, she answered, ”I only kill when necessary, like those who try to harm me or are too much of a nuisance.”

She talked about killing her own kind rather lightly. I didn’t dislike that attitude. There was no reason for me to object.

”I think we could make a good partnership. I want to accompany you. I want to help.”

The woman had been hanging for two days without food, but she was quite polite and eager.

”Why?”

”I hate humans.”

A human who hated humans. That wasn’t rare. I remembered the past, when the Demon King had descended. Many humans had sided with the Demon King’s army and abandoned humanity.

There were various types. Some despised humanity. They were proud of their misanthropy, considered it a noble sentiment, and joined the Demon King’s army to attack humanity. Others were consumed by a vague desire for revenge against all of humanity.

Some had a more specific and clear sense of vengeance. They joined the Demon King’s army to achieve that goal. I didn’t know how successful they were.

What type is this woman?

In truth, she was probably just wearing a mask to survive.

”Really? You want to be on my side?”

”Yes. Please use me. I will do my best. No, I will excel.”

It seemed as if she would do anything, but this was the same woman who would kill her kind without hesitation. If I let her go, she would surely run away. Chasing and killing her would be a hassle, a difficult task.

She would spread rumors among humans about a strange skeleton. They would try to hunt me down somehow.

Clack, clack.

I ground my teeth. I had no intention of releasing this woman right away. I pondered what to ask her, then opened the quest list in the status window.

”This should work.”

The words I needed to ask were right there.

”Tell me about the Necron Society.”

The hunters with the hammer and crossbow pursuing Rubia belonged to that organization. They had tried to kill me multiple times. I needed to learn about them first.

As if it was not a hassle, the woman answered my question willingly.

”So you know about them. The Necron Society is a human trafficking group.”

I had suspected as much.

”Is that their main business?”

”They also do contract killings and manufacture drugs, but human trafficking is their main trade. They capture weak humans and turn them into slaves.”

”That must lead to a lot of resistance.”

”Hmm, it’s easy to break someone’s spirit if you really want to,” she said casually, almost as if it were obvious.

”Do they break easily?”

Thinking about Rubia possibly suffering that fate made my mood sink. I stayed silent. She watched me carefully and continued speaking on her own.

”There is something odd about them. Human trafficking is certainly a troublesome business, and there are many things to consider. With their organization and manpower, there are other ways to make money, but they seem particularly obsessed with human trafficking.”

”Who?”

”Well... I don’t know who.”

It was natural that she couldn’t answer such a difficult question about who led the Necron Society.

”Go on.”

”They’ve also established a good distribution network everywhere. They have branches in every major city.”

Something crossed my mind, so I asked, ”Are they in Yubram too?”

”Of course, they probably are. Law enforcement either turns a blind eye or is directly involved. In Yubram’s case... it’s probably the latter. They’re known for doing all kinds of dirty work.”

I organized my thoughts.

”They’re not separate, then.”

The two people chasing us and the five in the guard uniforms were either part of the same organization or closely related. The targets I needed to destroy grew clearer.

”Do you have a grudge against them?” the woman curiously asked.

I nodded.

A grudge? Of course.

She rolled her eyes, examining me carefully as she tried to appease me.

”I’ll help you.”

I wondered why I detected a hint of sincerity in her tone.

”Why?”

”Heh, I also dislike those bastards. I heard they even sell children. Wouldn’t it be best to burn them alive?”

She was an amusing human female. Even though she had killed her companions in front of me just to survive, she was subtly speaking of justice.

”Do you think it’s worth fighting them?”

”Hmm... It won’t be easy. Their roots run deep. There’s a rumor that even some of the higher-ups are involved.”

”Those are all just rumors. You don’t seem to know much.”

”You’re hitting a sore spot. But I can find out.”

”How?”

Suddenly, her tone became more energetic.

”There are two ways. One is to buy the information. I’m a member of T&T. I know where to buy information.”

That was interesting. I thought I might play along for a bit.

”How much money would it take?”

”Price matters, but... T&T tracks information buyers. If the people tracking us offer enough money, we might be exposed.”

She seemed to be trying hard to earn my trust. It was rather cute.

”Is there no code of ethics?”

”Of course not. Where is there such a thing as ethics in this world?”

I crossed my legs while sitting on the sarcophagus.

”Then what do you suggest?”

She was about to get to the point.

”Heh...”

The woman grinned. Despite having gone hungry for an entire day, she still managed a smile. It was impressive.

”We can make the guild investigate them.”

”Stop beating around the bush.”

”Heh, if I rise in the guild ranks.”

”How high?”

”Branch leader. T&T branch leaders can access records without restrictions.”

”Are there many branch leaders?”

”There’s at least one in every major city, so around a hundred, I think.”

”And how many guild members are there?”

”I think there are between five thousand and ten thousand.”

It was an outrageous story. The woman appeared to be a low-ranking member at a glance. She clearly didn’t even know the exact number of members in her organization. Yet, she was asking to be made a branch leader.

Hanging in a spider web, starved for a day, and speaking like this in front of a walking skeleton... If ever there was a time to use laughter, this was it.

”You seem to like negotiating, so fine. Let’s start negotiating. I’ll just leave you hanging and continue my training.”

I turned away, leaving the woman behind. She was amusing for forgetting her situation and trying to climb out of it. There were probably plenty of informants like her. I could catch as many as I wanted while waiting here or exploring other dungeons.

***

”Please, I was wrong! Spare me...”

The woman starved for another day, and I continued reading more books. During that time, no one else entered the dungeon, which was boring.

I turned to look at the woman. She was hanging from the spider web, sticking out her tongue, catching droplets of water falling from the stalactites on the ceiling. If a human drank something like that, it would cause severe stomach issues. She must have been dehydrated to the point where she couldn’t think rationally. Her hollow eyes shone pathetically.

Tap, tap.

I approached the woman. She had been hanging on the web for three days without food. If I didn’t intend to kill her, it was time to let her down.

At that moment, a message appeared.

Ding!

[Dungeon message: An intruder has entered!]

The familiar, semi-transparent hologram appeared. It was the second time I had seen the dungeon message. Humans had broken in again. They were probably F-rank adventurers suited for an F-rank dungeon.

”Should I go catch them?”

But I quickly decided to wait. I planned to interrogate them when we met. Besides, I wanted to see something. There was a woman who had been starving for three days, tied up in a spider web here. I was curious how the human adventurers would react. I decided to watch.

I did not release the woman and turned back. I hid behind the sarcophagus. Before long, I heard loud voices from outside.

”Hey, why is there nothing here?”

”Looks like someone already cleared the place.”

”Aw, that’s no fun.”

I heard footsteps and voices. It was a party of three male adventurers. Naturally, there were no sounds of fighting. The broken skeletons outside had not yet been reassembled, so the adventurers walked in without encountering any resistance.

I’ll calmly capture them one by one and interrogate them. The more sources of information, the better.

However, they were blocked on the other side of the stone wall.

”Hey, what’s going on here?”

”Do we need to push it?”

”There should be some kind of control...”

They had foolishly entered without any information about the mechanism.

”That’s what a novice party is like.”

They were truly a clueless bunch if they couldn’t solve that mechanism. I had briefly hoped they might be useful as informants, but it seemed unlikely. I snapped back to reality.

”Got my hopes up for nothing.”

Dungeon exploration was, after all, a matter of life and death. If they entered without even that level of preparation, their capabilities were obvious.

”Still, I could give them a chance.”

I thought I might as well take a look at their faces.

Clunk!

I operated the mechanism to open the door for them. Then I hid on the other side.

”Oh! It’s opening! It’s opening!”

”Whoa!”

”Does it open automatically when you stand in front of it?”

The adventurers entered. They looked rugged and unpretentious, like they were from the countryside. They seemed like they would be more at home cutting grass or chopping wood. Of course, the simplicity of humans was just a sanitized term for a kind that made a person’s skin crawl. Humans alienated everything else around them to a startling degree. The simple ones were the worst.

Moreover, these individuals had chosen the life of adventurers, a lifestyle marked by vagrancy and pillage. They had chosen to take, steal, and destroy. They would desecrate peaceful dungeons and attack the villages of different races.

”We found it!”

”Let’s raid it!”

Life already exists in those places. What exactly did they discover? What exactly did they raid?

Boom!

The stone wall opened up at the perfect time. As soon as the adventurers entered, the skeletons inside the hall began to slowly rise.

”Are they already recovering?”

Clatter!

”Th-there it is!”

”Let’s get them!”

The biggest man shouted some nonsensical words at the skeletons.

”Kehaha... Give up now!”

What more can they surrender? What does he think they’re still holding on to?

These beings had already given up everything. But, when I thought about it, the man’s words were normal. The more a person surrendered, the more they were asked to give up. That was how the world worked.