The abilities of those who had come along as porters and dissectors were outstanding.
Although kobolds were small in size, the three technicians dismantled each corpse in less than ten minutes, quickly sorting out the mana stones and other by-products.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries formed rotating squads to stand guard while eating and resting.
"One man sprained his ankle, another broke his arm. Fortunately it's the left arm, so it shouldn't greatly affect his fighting."
"One guy got bitten by a kobold, but we gave him first aid, so he'll be fine."
"The one who got hit in the head died a little while ago."
Out of the total twenty-six mercenaries, they were divided into four teams. The leaders of the three teams other than Partek reported in turn.
"Tch! Take care of the dead man's gear yourselves and bury him roughly."
Since they had already suffered a death just a couple of hours after entering the dungeon, Galfredic frowned.
Still, it was some consolation that the number of kobolds they had killed far exceeded the casualties.
"How about you?""We're fine.""Hah! As expected of the men Sir Eugene picked, huh?"
At Partek's answer, Galfredic grinned.
It might have been because they were fewer in number, but since he liked Eugene, the mercenaries he brought along also looked good to him.
"Anyway, if you screw around one more time in battle and fail to keep formation, I'll smash your heads. And from now on, whenever Sir Eugene charges forward, the team at the front will follow and support him no matter what. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!"
The eyes of the mercenary leaders who answered in unison naturally turned toward one person.
Their gazes, filled with reverence, settled on Eugene, who was sitting alone, silently lost in thought.
In particular, Brin, the bald man from the Black Sheep Mercenary Corps, gulped nervously inside.
'To think I picked a fight with a knight like that. You hardly ever see someone like him even in Kalsbeggin. I really almost screwed myself.'
Not only Brin, but the evaluation of Eugene in the minds of all the mercenary leaders skyrocketed.
"Oh Look at them sending those burning gazes. They've totally fallen for our Sir Eugene, haven't they? So cute. Ohohoho!"
Listening to Mirian's arrogant laughter, Eugene looked down at the thickened leather pouch in his hand.
Monster by-products were carried by the porters, but mana stones were always kept by the knights.
More precisely, by the raid leader or the strongest person.
In other words, Galfredic should normally have kept all of them—but he had handed half over to Eugene.
And that action was a kind of declaration to the mercenaries.
A formal announcement that Eugene's position in the expedition was equal to his own.
'So the mana stone I consumed really was enormous.'
The mana stones obtained from the kobolds were all no bigger than beans.
The mana stones of mid-tier monsters were said to be much larger than this, but even so, they probably wouldn't compare to the red mana stone Eugene had consumed.
'I must kill a high-tier monster.'
Whether the low- or mid-tier ones lived or died didn't really matter.
Eugene's most important reason for entering the dungeon was to hunt a high-tier monster that might possess a red mana stone.
"A high-tier monster…"
As Eugene muttered unconsciously, Mirian fluttered over and landed on his shoulder.
"There's definitely one. It'll be stronger than that crocodile brat, but with your current strength, you could probably take it. You drank kobold blood earlier too, didn't you?"
As Mirian said, Eugene had secretly drunk the kobolds' blood while slaughtering them alone.
After he had gorged himself on the swamp monster's blood, he hadn't felt any urge to drink blood for a while.
Still, since quite some time had passed, he tried kobold blood just in case.
And the result was—
'It's nowhere near the swamp monster's, but even monster blood is pretty efficient.'
He almost regretted not thinking of drinking monster blood in his previous life.
If even the blood of low-tier kobolds could restore his stamina this much, then the effects of mid-tier or higher monsters would be even greater.
As Eugene resolved to try it for sure when the opportunity arose, Galfredic's booming voice rang in his ears.
"Break time's over! Everyone, move out!"
The remaining monster remains were burned, and the expedition resumed its advance.
"Sir Eugene, take the lead with me.""Let's do that."
The formation changed slightly from the initial entry. Eugene, who had been positioned near the middle with Partek's team, moved up to the front alongside Galfredic.
"The monsters you run into first after entering a dungeon are usually the weakest ones. They're the ones pushed out toward the edges. So…"
Having participated in several dungeon raids with the knight he once served as a squire, Galfredic freely shared his knowledge about dungeon hunting.
"…In the end, the deeper you go, the stronger the monsters get. Still, for someone like you, it probably won't be much of a problem. Seriously, where did a knight like you even come from? Hahaha!"
Galfradic truly liked Eugene.
Not just because of his skill in slaughtering kobolds, but because he valued even more the bravery Eugene had shown by charging in without fear.
"But you should still take care of your stamina. We'll be staying here for three or four days.""Thanks for the advice."
Although Eugene had already fully recovered his stamina by drinking kobold blood, he nodded.
Just as Galfredic said, the dungeon raid had only just begun.
About a day and half had passed since they opened the dungeon and entered.
Since they couldn't see sunlight at all, they didn't know the exact time, but one of the porters frequently checked an hourglass so they had a rough sense of the passage of time.
During that period, the expedition fought several more battles.
A pack of over thirty kobolds larger and stronger than those they had first encountered.
And a pack of "gnolls," which resembled shaggy-haired dogs.
Gnolls were bigger and more intelligent than kobolds, but they too were no match for the expedition.
However, unlike kobolds, they didn't fight recklessly. They used hit-and-run tactics, and the number of mercenaries with minor injuries steadily increased.
Moreover, since the monsters could be lying in ambush in the darkness at any time, the mercenaries' nerves were stretched to the limit.
"The mercenaries' morale has dropped a lot. Are you all right, sir?""I'm fine.""Well, you do have good night vision, so it probably doesn't bother you. I wish I had some elf ancestors too."
Eugene had explained his unique appearance and his ability to see far through the darkness by claiming that one of his distant ancestors had been an elf.
Though not extremely common, elves who had mingled with humans were not unheard of, so Galfredic and the mercenaries all accepted it without much suspicion.
"Since we haven't been attacked by gnolls for several hours, it seems they got scared of us and retreated deeper inside. Which means it's about time we start seeing mid-tier monsters."
Eugene listened attentively to Galfredic, who said he had participated in three dungeon raids in the past with the knight he once served.
"The fact that there are gnolls and kobolds means there are definitely goblins in this dungeon too. They're the ones who love burrows more than anyone. But we haven't even seen the tip of a goblin's nose. Do you know what that means?"
There was no way Eugene, who was entering a dungeon for the first time, could know that.
Galfradic grinned like a teacher instructing a student and continued his explanation.
"It means that mid-tier or higher monsters are using the goblins. As labor and as food. There are probably hundreds of them swarming inside, serving their master."
Eugene agreed with that assessment.
Because from the depths of the dungeon, beyond the reach of their vision, a different kind of stench—unlike that of kobolds or gnolls—was beginning to waft faintly toward them.
'About two hundred meters away, I'd say? More than thirty with similar footsteps, and three heavier ones.'
Using his fully heightened senses, Eugene estimated the rough number and size of the monsters and casually suggested:
"Then how about we let the mercenaries handle the goblins, and we take care of the mid-tier monsters?"
"That's exactly what we should do. Oh, by the way, can you use a spear?""If it's for throwing.""Take one. Against mid-tier monsters, a spear is better than a shortsword. Hey."
At Galfredic's gesture, one porter ran over quickly.
He was a dedicated porter assigned by the Tywin family to Galfredic, who did not yet have a squire, and he was carrying five spears slightly longer than longswords.
"Just in case, I also brought a javelin thrower. Use it if you need to. You know how to use it, right?"
Eugene nodded.
Of course he knew how to use it. Even back in Broadwyn, when hunting beasts, he had used wooden spears he carved himself along with a spear-thrower.
Using a thrower allowed a spear to be hurled far faster and with much greater force than throwing by hand alone.
"I had this spear custom-made to suit my strength, so it's on the heavier side. Still, with your power, it shouldn't be a problem."
Even as they spoke, the monsters continued to close the distance. Eugene took the spear-thrower into his hands.
"About sixty meters… and…"
He slightly turned his head.
Far beyond what the mercenaries could see, goblins were just beginning to emerge from around a crooked corner at the edge of his vision.
"Goblins."
"What?"
Galfredik whirled around.
Since there was no glowing grass in the area, all he could see was darkness.
But true to a knight with keen instincts far sharper than an ordinary man's, he sensed something and shouted to the mercenaries.
"Monsters incoming! Everyone prepare for battle!"
The mercenaries quickly re-formed their formation.
Sensing that the subjugation force was ready for combat, the monsters abandoned their quiet approach and suddenly charged.
"Kyaaak! Kak-kak!"
"Uwooooo!"
Mixed in with the goblins' shrill cries was the thunderous roar of a troll, echoing through the dungeon.
"Ugh!"
"Ghk…"
Intermediate monsters weren't terrifying merely because of their size.
Their gaze and their roars carried a strange power known as fear.
Those with weak willpower could become paralyzed just from hearing them.
"They're coming!"
"Kyakyak!"
Goblins just over one meter tall came flooding in.
As the mercenaries pushed them back with shields and cut them down with shortswords, Eugene and Galfredik loaded their spears into the throwers.
"Throw the torches!"
Several mercenaries in the rear hurled prepared torches forward.
As the torches flew, they briefly illuminated the trolls. The instant they saw them, Eugene and Galfredik leaned back sharply.
"Hraaaah!"
With fierce battle cries, the spears tore through the darkness.
Thud!Krooooar!Graagh!
The moment the trolls roared in pain, Eugene sprang forward first.
Slashing through the charging goblins with his shortsword, he leapt toward the smallest of the three trolls—the one whose chest had been pierced by his spear.
The wounded troll swung its massive club wildly, but the vampire's reflexes easily evaded the attack.
Eugene then latched onto the troll's back and slit its throat with his shortsword.
"Kreeeegh!"
The troll thrashed in madness, but Eugene was strong enough to withstand even the struggles of the swamp monster he had once fought.
And now he was far stronger than back then—far beyond what a half-grown troll could handle.
Crack!Crunch!
With its cervical spine nearly severed, the troll's strength rapidly drained away.
Eugene secretly drank the blood gushing from its neck. At once, power far stronger than what he had gained from kobold blood surged through his body.
"Kroooooar!"
Were they its parents?
The two fully grown trolls—each looking at least a meter taller than the one Eugene had killed—glared at him with murderous fury.
The slightly smaller of the two could not contain its rage and immediately charged at Eugene.
Eugene shoved the nearly lifeless offspring toward it.
Instinctively, the smaller troll caught the body. Eugene didn't miss that opening.
With its shoulder already pierced by Galfredik's spear and both hands occupied, the troll couldn't defend itself as Eugene vaulted over its shoulder. He clung to its back, slashing its throat as before while plunging his elongated claws deep into its chest.
"Graaagh!"
As the smaller troll let out a scream, the larger one prepared to charge.
But a spear that flew in from nowhere pierced straight into the larger troll's abdomen.
"Sir!"
As soon as he saw Galfredik, Eugene quickly retracted his claws and continued hacking at the smaller troll's neck with his shortsword—no, carving it apart.
"Graaaargh!"
The creature struggled violently, but Eugene did not budge.
"Take the other one!"
Before Eugene even finished speaking, Galfredik raced toward the larger troll, which had just begun to pull the spear from its belly.
Almost simultaneously, the smaller one dropped to one knee, and Eugene tore its neck completely free.
Crunch!
Its entire head was ripped off, a portion of the spine coming with it.
"…!"
The mercenaries who had been cutting down goblins and advancing toward the knights all flinched as one.
In the dim dungeon, the red-eyed knight holding a troll's severed head did not look human for a moment.
A demon king.
No one dared to say it out loud, but every mercenary was thinking the same thing.
(To be continued in the next installment.)