“Quick! Surround it while it’s distracted! Tank, make sure to keep its attention on you!”
“Uwaaa! Watch for the wolf’s claws!”
“Be careful! Maintain your distance and strike at it with the spear!”
“Take this!!”
I watched as a group of four Dungeoneers were working together to take down a Dungeon Wolf.
[Name: Dungeon Wolf
Race: Monster
Stats:
15 Strength
20 Dexterity
15 Endurance
10 Magic]
It’s just a little bit weaker than a normal Hell Wolf and it was not able to cast Pyromancy like them, but it seems like these four were struggling quite a bit against it.
I checked their stats with [Screened] and I realised their stats were around the ten range on average. I guess with the four of them working together, they should be able to take it down with a bit of difficulty.
We’ve of course gone down a little deeper in the dungeon since the Dungeon rats were of no challenge to us, but when they said this dungeon was newbie friendly, it really was newbie friendly despite being an E rank Dungeon instead of an F rank.
I guess the top floors are filled with easy monsters while the monsters only start getting harder if you were to go deeper.
But I wonder… Wouldn’t that lull the new Dungeoneers into a false sense of security where they think they are able to go deeper than they can and then end up dying to the harder monsters?
Oh what do I know?
Anyway, despite the difference in stats, the group of four Dungeoneers in front of us were able to deal with the Dungeon Wolf using their teamwork, even though it did take them a few minutes to do so.
The Mahun who I assumed to be the leader of the party was using an arming sword as his main weapon and he delivered the final blow to the wolf by stabbing it through its neck while it was snapping at the shield user.
All of them breathed a sigh of relief when the monster crashed onto the ground lifeless before quickly tensing up again.
“Check for monsters!”
“There… There aren’t any— Eh? Who are you?! What do you want?!”
Whoops, looks like we’re spotted.
I waved at them, “Hi~ We’re just fellow Dungeoneers passing by! We thought to see if you needed help with that Dungeon Wolf but since you don’t, we’ll be on our way!”
“O… Oh, I see. Thank you for your concern but we’re fine. Sorry for being cautious.”
Lisa tilted her head, “Mmm… Is there a need to be cautious of others in a Dungeon?”
The four of them looked at Lisa as though she had said something ridiculous.
Katsuki spoke up from behind, “Please accept my apologies. This is the first time she has entered a Dungeon thus she is not yet familiar with the dangers and etiquette when inside of a Dungeon.”
That made them shift their sights to Katsuki and they immediately noticed the maid uniform she was wearing.
“Is that… A maid? In a Dungeon?”
“Why is there a maid in a Dungeon?”
“Does that mean those people are nobles?”
“What are nobles doing in a Dungeon?”
I turned to Lisa, “Do nobles not go to Dungeons around here?”
Lisa tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Hmm… I don’t actually know the answer to that since I never paid attention to them while I was last here. But I would say the attitudes of nobles here are different as compared to the nobles in the capital. This place is more focused on trade so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the norm for nobles to not have any combat skills and focus more on administrative skills.”
How interesting… I guess that after the Mahuns made peace, they needed civil servants more than they needed generals to build up this city, a role that the nobles took up and passed down through the generations.
I turned back to the group of Dungeoneers, “Well I’m just visiting from the capital, don’t worry about it. Anyway, good luck with your Dungeoneering!”
I led my group away from them before things could get more awkward than it already was. Our goal right now was to look for the stairs that would lead us to the next floor of the Dungeon.
Even this floor was too easy for us as the monsters here could be dealt with by just one of us without trouble, though at least Lisa was clearly enjoying herself with how she was humming beside me.
𝒐𝑣𝗅xt.𝑐𝑜𝐌
She has been able to handle herself well so far and it was clear to me that her skills in Assassination and her weapon skills were all legit. I don’t need to be a genius to figure out that she must have been involved in some really shady business back in the past in order to get those skills.
“So… Why were they so cautious of us?” Lisa asked as we got out of earshot from them.
Katsuki turned to her, “A Dungeon is no different from the outside, Miss Lisa. Just because we are all fellow Dungeoneers does not mean that everyone is suddenly friends with each other. There are Dungeoneers who hunt other Dungeoneers, as well as Dungeoneers who would try and steal the loot of their peers too. It’s difficult to catch such criminals since the Dungeon would absorb the corpses and their deaths can always be blamed on the monsters and traps. Thus, I do advise you to watch your back while you’re here.”
“Hmm… I see, I see. That makes sense. If only I had considered this earlier, it would have made some of my work much easier…”
I’m just going to pretend I didn’t hear that… Also… Was that a subtle threat to her, Katsuki?
“Oh, it seems like we have found the stairs to the next level, Mistress.”
I looked up and sure enough, a few steps away was the stairs that would lead us to the next level of the Dungeon.
We haven’t encountered any boss levels so far and I have a feeling the next one would be a boss fight.
Seeing that a door was present at the bottom of the stairs, it looks like I was right.
There were already a few groups of Dungeoneers waiting in front of the door, a few of them even taking the chance to take a break and were eating their meals in front of the boss room while they waited their turn.
We joined the back of the line and Lisa whispered to me, “Is this a boss room?”
“That’s right. Someone’s fighting the boss right now so after they’re done, the boss will respawn and the doors will open. That is… Unless they die then the door will simply open straight away.”
“Oh~ So what’s the boss that we will be facing?”
“Allow me, Mistress,” Katsuki spoke up before I could admit that I did not know.
My Inugami maid went to the group in front of us and did a curtsy, “Excuse my rudeness, but may I know if you are willing to share information about the boss monster’s identity ahead?”
The group was initially surprised by Katsuki’s appearance but they quickly recovered and simply told her that we would be facing a minotaur.
Oh, this would be the first time I’m seeing a real minotaur in this World!
No, the minotaur back at Emilia’s ship did not count since that was a Steel Minotaur or whatever it was called. I’m talking about just the normal, default minotaur that I never got to see.
Although… That Steel Minotaur had stats that were more than a hundred each… And since I doubt that the dungeon would just make a deliberate trap like this where they throw an incredibly hard boss that is ten times stronger than any of the monsters in the previous floor… I would guess that a normal minotaur would be much weaker than the steel variant of it.
“How exciting! My first Dungeon boss fight! I already can’t wait!” Lisa squealed.
“Miss Lisa, please be reminded that these are real, actual monsters that could kill people at a moment’s notice. It would be best to treat this at least with some seriousness.”
“Oh? What are you saying? I’m always serious! Look how serious I am!”
“You definitely look like you were just thinking about how to make yourself look cooler to attract Mistress.”
“Wha-wha-wha-what?! I… I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Perhaps we should discuss our formation to deal with the minotaur, Mistress. Especially since we know have an extra person following us instead of just the two of us like before.”
“Hey! Don’t ignore me! I wasn’t thinking about that at all, ok?! I’m being totally serious here!”
“Mistress, I suggest that you can leave the boss entirely to me. I will be able to handle it by myself. There’s no need for Miss Lisa or yourself to be involved.”
“Waaah! You’re really ignoring me?! And hey!! Don’t take away my prey! This is my chance to look coo– Ahem… I mean this is my chance to experience fighting a Dungeon boss on my own! Don’t you dare take that away from me, ok?!”
I couldn’t help but giggle at their interactions. The two of them are just so cute~