Chapter 8

Defeated in battle with Mercedes, the ogre showed no sign of resistance.

Instead, he knelt as if accepting death, offering his neck.

It was as if he were a vassal serving his lord, which left Mercedes bewildered.

"You're quite honorable. I said I won, but I didn't expect you to offer no resistance at all."

"We, the ogres, believe that strength is the only and absolute law. And we show respect and loyalty to those who defeat us.

You are the victor. Therefore, you have the right to do as you please with me... of course, including the right to kill me.

I will adhere to the law of my people."

Mercedes, without letting her guard down, mulled over the ogre's words.

She recalled reading something similar in a book about ogres.

"Ogres are dangerous monsters, but if you can defeat one in a one-on-one battle, it will become a loyal and faithful servant for life."

The book also mentioned:

"However, an ogre will only be loyal to one person in its lifetime. It recognizes the first person who defeats it in a one-on-one battle as its master, and this loyalty never changes.

Therefore, even if you defeat an ogre, it will not become your servant if it already has a master."

(...It might be a lucky find.)

Loyalty from a human is not worth trusting. People betray for their desires.

But the loyalty of a monster, backed by instinct, might be worth considering, Mercedes thought.

The loyalty a human swears to another is different from the instinctive obedience an animal shows to its leader.

The former can betray, but the latter will not.

Animals might fight for leadership, but they won't suddenly turn and betray during a hunt.

Humans, however, do this because they have the wisdom and desire to do so.

Mercedes drew her sword and looked at the ogre.

He was showing no signs of movement, making it easy to kill him, but if his loyalty is genuine, it would be a waste.

"Then, will you serve me as my hands and feet from now on?"

"If that is your wish."

"Good. Then wait there."

"As you wish, my lord."

Unexpectedly, she had secured a porter.

She couldn't trust him yet, but she would observe him for a while.

First, she needed to check on the merchant and his guards.

The guards... were all dead. Even a vampire with superior regenerative and life force is not immortal.

In the stories she read in her past life, vampires would say things like "Cut off my head? Pierced my heart? So what?" and come back to life, but the vampires in this world don't seem to be that overpowered.

The only one still alive, unfortunately, was the merchant.

"It's over. Can you stand?"

"Y-Yes... thank you... really, thank you...

I thought I was done for..."

The merchant, trembling, repeatedly thanked Mercedes.

He was in a terrible state.

His body was emaciated, almost skeletal, clearly having not eaten for days.

"From what I can see, you seem to be a merchant and your hired guards... all of them are dead."

"Yes... as you might guess, I run a merchant guild. The Train Guild... have you heard of it?"

"Of course, it's one of the largest guilds in this country."

The Train Guild... based in the large city of Broot, it is one of the top guilds in the vampire kingdom.

The large general store where Mercedes recently shopped was also part of the Train Guild.

If his story is true, he is the head of this major guild.

What could have happened to bring such a big shot to the brink of death in this dungeon?

"What happened?"

"Our guild has been falling behind other guilds in recent years... so when I heard that those who conquer the dungeon are given immense wealth, I hired top-tier seekers to conquer this dungeon."

Those who conquer the dungeon are given wealth.

This is a fairy tale-like dream for seekers.

There are actual examples of seekers returning with gems and treasures, so it's not entirely a myth.

Seekers believe that mountains of treasure lie deep within the dungeon.

"I hired three teams of B-rank seekers.

Each team consisted of four members, all with proven track records and experience."

B-rank is the highest rank of seekers that can be hired normally.

A-rank, which is higher, is mostly exclusive to the state and nobility, who prioritize the requests that come down from above, making them hard to hire even for a major merchant.

That's why B-rank is the best, and he hired three teams, a total of twelve people, to conquer the dungeon.

"Things went smoothly at first... but the monsters became much stronger around the tenth floor, and even though we managed to reach the bottom, it was a mistake.

The guards, who had used up all their strength and equipment, died one after another."

The merchant shuddered, as if remembering.

"Still possible, but it's dangerous." Who said this first?

They thought they still had the strength to continue.

This was already a red flag. They should have retreated when they reached this point.

He made the wrong decision.

"We decided to retreat immediately with the survivors.

But the bags with our food became a burden during our escape, and we had to abandon them when we were about to be caught."

Mercedes was about to ask if they didn't have bottles of blood but stopped.

In such chaos, it would be a miracle if any bottles of blood survived.

They are fragile and take up space, so they were likely damaged.

In Earth's history, before canned food, the storage method invented by Frenchman Nicolas Appert was valuable, but it had the problem of easily breaking containers.

Bottles are fragile and not suitable for long-term storage or transportation, which is why canned food was invented.

"We fought hunger and tried to make our way back up.

And we finally made it back here... but the monsters from the bottom floor were chasing us."

"Was that the ogre?"

"Yes... the already strong ogre easily defeated the weakened seekers.

If you hadn't come, I would be a corpse by now."

Twelve seekers were all killed. Hearing this, Mercedes realized the importance of gaining more allies.

In that sense, it was fortunate that she defeated the ogre.

It might be one of the weaker ones in the bottom floor, but it should still be a valuable asset.

"Let's head back to the surface. I'll go with you.

And... what's your name, ogre?"

"I have no name. Call me as you wish."

Being told to call him anything was confusing.

Mercedes thought she would have to come up with a name.

The first name that came to mind was Ashura, but since he was already an Ashura-type ogre, it seemed too straightforward.

(What should I do? An ogre with many weapons... many weapons...

It reminds me of Musashibō Benkei.)

Mercedes thought for a moment and, not coming up with a better name, decided to use this one.

It was a simple idea based on his size and many weapons.

"Then your name from now on is Benkei."

"Benkei... a good name. I will remember it well."

"Good, Benkei. Carry the fallen seekers."

They were already dead, but she wanted to at least bring them back to the surface.

Mercedes decided to have the ogre—Benkei—carry the bodies.

The seekers probably wouldn't want to be carried by the one who killed them, but it was better than rotting in this place.

"Can you stand? Uh..."

"Train."

"Mr. Train. If you can't stand, I'll help you."

The merchant's name was apparently Train. He had named his guild after himself.

Mercedes encouraged him to stand, but as expected, he showed no signs of doing so.

The escape and hunger had drained him of the strength to stand.

If this continued, he would starve to death before reaching the surface. Thinking this, Mercedes took out a few chocolate crunch bars from her bag, unwrapped them, and handed them to him.

The paper used in this country is parchment.

However, it is not made from sheepskin but from monster skin, which is mass-produced.

This makes sense. There's no need to strip valuable livestock when there are infinite monsters to use.

There is also paper made from plants in this world, but it is more expensive and rare compared to parchment.

"Eat this. It will help."

"Um... is this, by any chance, animal droppings?"

"Don't worry, it's not."

Despite the poor first impression, it was understandable.

The chocolate crunch bars she made with her limited knowledge did not look good and resembled hardened animal droppings.

Train sniffed it and, after a moment, decided to put the chocolate in his mouth.

His expression changed from suspicion to surprise.

"This is... a strange taste.

It's sweet yet bitter. I've never tasted anything like this... no, this taste...?"

Train quickly ate the chocolates one after another and finished all of them.

It seemed he enjoyed them.

"Um, well..."

"My name is Mercedes."

"Oh, thank you. Mercedes, where did you get this?"

"I made it. There were no high-calorie emergency rations in the store, so I made them myself."

"You made this!? That's amazing. I would love to learn how to make it... of course, I won't ask for free. I'll give you 50% of the profits..."

"That's a good offer, but let's talk about it outside."

True to his nature as a merchant, his eyes lit up at the prospect of profit.

However, they were still in the dungeon, where monsters could appear at any time.

It was better to have this conversation outside.

Mercedes helped Train to his feet and led him out.

She had secured a porter and a chocolate mass-producer.

Benkei, being very large and having six arms, could carry about ten times as much as Mercedes.