I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated

転生したら剣でした Reincarnated as a Sword

Author: 棚架ユウ

Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n6006cw/336/

335. Off to the Dungeon

After hearing the story about Murellia's past, we continued to interrogate Johan.

"To where did Murellia disappear?"

"The Dungeon Master called her back to the Dungeon."

"I see. Then—"

Over the course of the subsequent interrogation, one of the most important questions we asked were the location of the Dungeon and its strength. Originally, it was a dungeon with an entrance to the Bashar Kingdom side of the Border Mountains, however, an entrance was also created on the side of the Beastkin country. As this latter exit was meant for the army of Evil Beings and demonic beasts, it seems it is quite large.

The entrance is cave-shaped, but the interior is practically a fortress. Fortunately, Johan says there are few traps set. The Dungeon Master is a male ex-human, but he seems to be an exceedingly vile small fry type character. His personal fighting power is nothing to be worried about though. As for the strength of the dungeon itself, Johan didn't know very much. However, it seems that a considerable number of monsters still remain.

"The dungeon, is it…? I can barely wait." Kiara muttered on the side with an excited expression.

"Lady Kiara, your body isn't fully recovered. Please don't strain yourself." Mianoa scolded Kiara, who had only just recovered enough to walk.

"Yet Murellia may not be allowed to go free, no? Neither am I able to call in reinforcements. We have no choice but to go."

"That may be so, however…." Neither Kiara nor Mia sound confident. With a worried look, I can't help but agree.

"What, she is the sub-master of the Dungeon, is she not? If need be, we can split into groups to destroy the labyrinth." Kiara said.

"I do not think it will be so simple." Mia.

"Even so, it must be done. An old woman of my station, over the fate of the Beastkin Empire? To compare the two would be impudence." Kiara.

"…. I will accept Teacher's resolve." Guendalfa.

"I just wanted a reason to fight, don't worry yourself." Kiara.

Kiara laughed mischievously, but Mia remained solemn. Despite Kiara's attitude, Mia probably knows that Kiara's words were completely serious. The only one with a faint expression is Guendalfa.

"What's wrong? Don't make such pathetic faces." Kiara scowled, noticing his face.

"No, Teacher, if you heard that story, then—" Guendalfa.

"Are you feeling sympathetic? How foolish." Kiara cut off Guendalfa.

"Don't let yourself worry about the genuineness of such stories. Besides, if you call yourself a warrior, then be more thankful." Kiara.

"Wh-, what do you mean?" Guendalfa.

"Your opponent is a legendary figure, you know? If you're going to fight anyways, then it might as well be a worthy fight." Kiara.

"The only one that thinks that way is you, Teacher." Guendalfa remarked, stunned. In this case, he's in the minority, as almost everyone here are battle maniacs.

"Mia and Fran think so too, right?" Kiara.

"It's more fun to challenge strong opponents than to bully weaklings." Mia agreed.

"Nn." Fran nodded as well.

Battle maniacs are simple. But I agree as well. Anyways, Murellia is clearly Fran's enemy. In that case, we should just defeat her. Guendalfa, who is naive and young, seems to find it the hardest to swallow; although, Quina and Mianoa also look like they agree with Kiara.

"Don't be so naive. Thanks to them, the Beastkin Empire is in an unprecedented crisis, isn't it?" Kiara.

"….Yes." Guendalfa still looked uncomfortable, but this is something he has to overcome himself. Though it might be okay to leave it be.

"Well then, next I will have you tell me about the aim of the Bashar Kingdom." Mia turned to Johan. As it turned out, Murellia and the Bashar Kingdom have some connection with each other. I don't know how much of it is based on truth or not, but it's there. However, does that make it alright to work with the wicked? Even a 500 year old debt should be nothing compared to politics.

"What is the king of Bashar thinking, joining hands with such evil? Although it is aimed at clearing domestic resentment towards the Beastkin Empire, I can't believe a sane man would do this. Is there perhaps some other reason for this?"

"His Majesty the King said he was acting upon the debt of 500 years ago."

"Do you believe that?"

"Naturally."

"… There's no way a king would endanger his country for the sake of some obligation. He must be plotting something else!"

"You animals may be that way, but this is to be expected of my people in Bashar."

Do they think nothing wrong of this king who joined forces with evil? It sometimes makes me think that these people are willing to throw their lives away to protect Murellia, so it's kind of scary. I get the feeling that their loyalty to her is way too extreme, or maybe too blind or something.

Not all of the Bashar Kingdom's knights are like this, right? In the first place, do the other knights know they're working with Evil Beings? When we asked this, we found that only those of the highest authority were permitted this knowledge, much less have the chance to meet Murellia. Just as I thought, they wouldn't let just anyone know about this matter… There isn't any evidence anyways, so even if it's leaked, no one would believe it.

Later, the hypnosis technique applied to Johan eventually faded and no further information could be acquired. Mia and the others looked like they wanted a little more information, but it can't be helped.

"Shall we chase after Murellia now?"

"Yes. However, we only heard the rough location of the Dungeon. How will we get there? Not everyone can ride the Linde…" Mia put her finger on her chin and muttered in thought.

Certainly, it would take too long on foot to reach the Border Mountains. Kiara and Mia have recovered and should be able to run on their own, but that would also leave them exhausted again. Ideally, we would take a carriage, but unfortunately, we don't have something like that lying around at the moment.

"Fufu. I thought something like this might happen, so I brought this just in case." Seeing Kiara and Mia looking troubled, Quina reached into her skirt with her hand.

"Don't act cool in a situation like this." Mia.

Ignoring Mia's retort, Quina took out a canopied carriage with a flip of her skirt. It even had a horse made of stone attached to it….

"It's a six-seater golem carriage." Quina.

"Senpai is amazing. To say that line in a situation like this!"

"That is because I am a maid." Quina.

I understand Quina's expression now. It's a perfect doyagao isn't it? Guendalfa and the other adventurers looked at Quina with shocked faces.

Though, it's apparently nothing special for Mia and Kiara. They're already getting into the carriage…

(Aren't you surprised too, Fran?) I asked her.

(It's the same as Dimensional Storage that's why.) Fran responded telepathically.

(Well, yeah, but…) I trailed off. The collapse of common sense is inevitable, it seems…

"That being said, not everyone can ride. Master Kiara should—"

"I am definitely going." Kiara.

"I already know. Will Quina, Mianoa, and Fran go as well, or shall we ask others to escort the knights?"

The captured knights can't be left alone after all, and there's surely more information we can get from them too. It seems that Mia intends to leave the escort of the knights in the adventurers hands. I also agree with Mia. Even if there's more people than Murellia, if they can't resist her, they will only end up being manipulated. A small but elite force would be better instead. As for Guendalfa, bringing him along or not is a difficult choice to make, but a person struggling with hesitation will only be a burden.

"Please wait! I will go too." After we told him that, Guendalfa hurriedly replied.

"…. You want to go?" Kiara.

"Of course!" Guendalfa.

"If it looks like you will become a burden, we will leave you behind though?" Kiara asked him in a warning tone.

"Naturally." Guendalfa nodded solemnly.

"Understood. Very well, then." Kiara

"Teacher, is that alright?" Mia asked Kiara. At any rate, even if he wants to go, Guendalfa's fighting ability isn't anything special.

Kiara shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Persuading you otherwise would take too much time. In that case, you would be more useful coming along with us in place of a shield."

"Then please use me as a shield, or whichever way you like." Guendalfa.

"You damn idiot! Who would use a beanstalk like you as a shield!?" Kiara.

"No, wasn't it Master who just said so…?"

"That was a figure of speech! Can you wipe your own ass, or not? Get it?"

"Yes!"

Anyways… the ones headed into the Dungeon are Fran, Mia, Quina, Kiara, Mianoa, and Guendalfa. Also, Urushi, Lind, and I are going in as hidden members. This team would be reassuring normally, but the opponents this time are Murellia and the Dungeon. I can't let my guard down.