Chapter 75. We’re Already Inside

Chapter 75. We’re Already Inside

Finally, we’re setting out—toward the dungeon. But before we left, I had to pay the inn compensation for the damage I’d caused. It cost me 35 gold coins. Not that much… although it seems my sense of money’s value has gotten a little broken, because Sherial said an ordinary civilian earns about 60 silver coins a month. Meaning I just paid an amount equal to roughly five years of a regular person’s income. Considering how much one night in that room cost, I probably should’ve expected it.

Whatever.

The Rank-5 dungeon was about sixty kilometers from the city. Usually adventurers travel there by horse-drawn carriage to conserve their strength. Those who can’t afford it walk, and it takes about a day and a half to two days.

But that’s for normal people and low-ranked adventurers. Since the road was straight, the three of us—me, Rem, and Sherial—decided to go on foot. All our food and equipment were stored in Rem’s storage, so we didn’t have any extra baggage to worry about.

We didn’t just walk—we ran toward the dungeon. With our levels, we were fast. Really fast: we overtook not only carriages, but even lone riders on horseback. Of course, it wasn’t anywhere near our top speed. Even with high levels, if you sprint at your limit, you’ll get tired quickly. And we still had sixty kilometers to cover.

In the distance, I spotted some kind of tall wall. As we got closer, I saw a whole cluster of buildings on this side of it. The place looked more like a small town. I’d thought we were heading to a dungeon, not some settlement.

"We’re here," Sherial said.

We got there pretty quickly—about an hour, maybe even less.

Rem and Sherial slowed down.

Here? I looked at the town again. One side of it was enclosed by a high wall, but the other three sides weren’t protected at all. What was the point of building a wall on only one side? Maybe they simply hadn’t finished it yet… I’d find out later. Right now, the important thing was the dungeon itself. The entrance was probably in one of those buildings.

As we walked closer, I realized this was clearly not an ordinary town. Most people here were armed—adventurers. Many had guild badges hanging around their necks. The streets were full of weapons, supplies, meat, and all kinds of travel goods. The atmosphere was nothing like a normal city—though, to be fair, I’d only visited one city in this world so far. Still, it was obvious: everything here existed for the dungeon.

We headed straight for the wall. Rem and Sherial didn’t stop anywhere, but I found myself studying everything around us. Then I noticed an interesting stall. On display were vials filled with colorful liquids. Were those different kinds of potions? They didn’t look anything like the ones I usually made.

"Sherial, those things over there—are they potions?" I asked.

"Yes, those are potions. But it’s better if you don’t pay attention to them," Sherial replied.

"Why?" I was surprised. "If they’re potions, I want to know what effects they have."

"Nothing special. Health potion, mana potion, stamina potion… a few other kinds," she said.

I glanced back again. We’d already passed the stall by quite a distance, yet I kept looking over my shoulder. Those potions looked completely different from the ones I used. And the stamina potion, in particular, caught my attention.

"You’d just be wasting time. They might be called, for example, a health potion, but the effect is even weaker than a Rank-1 health potion you can get from a dungeon," Sherial said.

"And they can have a lot of negative side effects—depends on who made them. An experienced alchemist, or just an apprentice," she added.

So they were potions made the traditional way, using different ingredients… No wonder they could have side effects.

We reached the wall. It was tall—around twenty meters, I’d guess—and it had huge gates where armed adventurers were constantly coming and going. It looked like the dungeon was on the other side of that wall.

We passed through the gates without any trouble, and once we stepped beyond the wall, I saw a beautiful forest.

Though… could you really call it a forest? There were roads branching in different directions, and the trees didn’t grow in one solid mass. They stood in separate clusters—about forty to fifty trees in each.

I noticed adventurers splitting up, heading in different directions.

Why were they going different ways? Shouldn’t everyone be moving toward a single dungeon entrance? Why wasn’t anyone going straight ahead?

Crack!

"A-A-A-A-A!!!"

I turned. A man was clutching one arm with his other hand, but the injured arm hung limply—looks like it had just been broken.

"Bitch, you broke my arm…" the man said, his voice twisted with pain and threat.

"I warned you. Touch me and I’ll break your arm," a female voice snapped back.

It was a girl around Rem and Sherial’s age, with bright ginger hair—almost red.

"What the hell are you doing?! We were just trying to help you!" another guy cut in.

"You’re probably some rich man’s daughter. But this isn’t your home, and your parents won’t protect you here. So get on your knees and apologize for breaking my friend’s arm. Otherwise I won’t be gentle with you, even if you’re a girl. This is your last chance," the man said, drawing his sword.

"Get out of my way," the girl said coldly. "Get out of my path."

"You fucking bitch…" the guy raised his sword.

What the— I was already about to dash forward to stop him, but someone grabbed my arm sharply. Rem.

"Don’t interfere," she said calmly.

"But… I think I should help her," I whispered.

"Just watch," Rem replied quietly.

I looked back. The guy was swinging his sword wildly, and the girl dodged every strike with ease.

Damn… he’d completely lost it! If she let even one hit through, she could die…

But the thought vanished in the next instant.

The guy’s sword—and his right arm—fell to the ground, severed almost at the shoulder.

"A-A-A!" he screamed.

In the next moment, her blade was at the throat of the man with the broken arm. A second ago he’d been cursing at her, but now, with cold steel touching his neck, he fell silent instantly. His face said it all—he was terrified.

The people around them just watched. Other adventurers didn’t intervene, as if what was happening was normal. It felt strange. For a moment I thought the girl was about to behead him… but she didn’t.

A potion appeared in her hand—a health potion. She tossed the vial at the feet of the guy with the broken arm.

"Help your friend set the arm, or he’ll lose it. And if you get in my way again with your ‘offers’—join your group, accept your help… next time I won’t leave you alive," the girl said coldly.

Then she sheathed her sword and headed into the forest.

Yeah… she was strong. And insanely fast.

"Let’s go," Rem said.

And we headed toward the forest too, along with most of the adventurers who had watched the scene. It seemed Rem had known from the start the girl didn’t need any help.

Still… what exactly had they said to her to make her that angry? I didn’t think a simple offer to join a party—or something like that—could cause such rage.

"Rem, can I ask one question?" I said.

"Go ahead," she replied.

"Can you reattach a severed arm with a health potion?" I asked, remembering what the girl had said.

"You can. But only if the arm was cut off very recently," Rem answered calmly. "You just press it back into place and either pour a health potion over the wound or drink it. But it only works while the wound is still fresh. The more time passes, the lower the chance the arm will take."

"I see…" I muttered. "So even a severed arm can be restored with a health potion."

I’d wondered about that many times before. Whether it was even possible at all. Turns out it is.

Though… I really hope I never have to test that on myself.

"Rem, what level was that girl?" Sherial asked.

"Sixty-one," Rem answered shortly.

"Do you think that was her real level?" Sherial pressed.

"I don’t know…" Rem said uncertainly.

"Was something off about her level?" I asked, not understanding what they meant. Rem has the Evaluation skill—she usually sees people’s levels accurately. So why was she doubting now?

"Her mana reserves were too high for Level 61," Sherial said.

"And she moved faster than someone at that level should," Rem added.

"Can someone hide their level? Trick the Evaluation skill and show a lower level?" I asked.

"Yes, that’s possible…" Rem replied after a pause. "But there might be another reason, too."

"What reason?" I asked.

"Given how strong she is for Level 61… she might be from a wealthy family. Maybe even an aristocrat. Though that’s unlikely—she was alone," Sherial said. "Or she uses rare items, like source mushrooms… Or she has a skill that distorts evaluation results and shows a lower level. But we won’t know for sure."

"I thought source mushrooms were extremely rare and expensive," I said.

"They are. But sometimes people just get lucky," Sherial replied, flicking a brief glance at me.

I got the hint. Yeah, I’d gotten my source mushrooms only because I was incredibly lucky too… Though to be honest, I really didn’t want to be ‘that’ lucky again, considering the circumstances.

"So when do we reach the dungeon?" I asked.

"We’re already inside it," Sherial answered calmly.

"Inside?.."

I looked around. Forest. Trees. Sky. Clouds. Sun.

This definitely didn’t look like a dungeon.

Maybe I misunderstood something?

"No, it looks like you misunderstood me. I meant—when do we reach the entrance to the dungeon?" I clarified.

"I told you: we’re already inside the dungeon," Sherial repeated.