Chapter 44

Part 19: Dungeon Escape (2)

Assuming that monsters can't swim, I suggested setting up a 'back-to-the-wall' formation with the reservoir behind us to face the monsters.

However, my suggestion was immediately rejected.

"If we recklessly enter the cave, we might be surrounded and attacked."

I subtly brought up what happened when I died in the cave earlier, but her mind didn't change.

"Having water behind us only reduces one side of the encirclement. We could be more easily surrounded, and even if we try to escape into the water, they will eventually catch up."

I looked at the reservoir again.

The reservoir in the center of the underground plaza didn't seem to connect to anywhere else, and it wasn't close to any walls in any direction.

It did seem difficult to avoid the monsters by swimming, as she said.

I scratched my head.

The military tactics I had heard about in my previous life weren't very useful in this real combat situation.

No, it wasn't the fault of the tactics, but rather my lack of proper knowledge.

In my previous life, I had only a vague understanding of military tactics from novels and internet articles.

I had never actually fought or studied them properly, so my suggestions couldn't have been very sound.

"Still, the idea of using the cave to avoid being surrounded and the possibility that monsters can't swim is worth considering."

She listened to my suggestion and came up with a new plan.

It was much more plausible than the 'back-to-the-wall' formation I had suggested.

'What exactly is her background? This isn't something a mere mercenary would think of.'

With that thought, I followed her.

Interestingly, she entered the same cave where she had died.

I could have suggested going to a different cave, but I followed her silently.

There was no reason to change caves and risk getting stuck or encountering unexpected situations.

We ended up killing the monsters and walking into the same cave.

The situation was the same as before her death, but our movements were different.

We walked at half the speed and stopped periodically to listen carefully in all directions.

Both of us were much more cautious.

Swoosh.

Before long, we heard a sound.

By pressing my ear against the wall and focusing my mana, I could barely hear it. It was the sound of the monsters' footsteps.

The monsters' footsteps didn't get much closer, and when they did, the sound disappeared.

"Are the monsters really following us stealthily?"

She looked at me after hearing the footsteps.

"It seems so. There are probably other monsters waiting ahead."

She looked at the dark path ahead after hearing my words.

"You're right. Damn. So we're being hunted like prey? Are these things really that smart?"

She muttered to herself and then looked at me.

"It's really amazing. How did you know? I found it hard to believe until just a moment ago..."

I knew because I had experienced it, but I couldn't tell her that.

"I have good intuition."

"Intuition... You're not just smart, you're something else."

Looking at her expression, I felt that if we got out of here, rumors about her being a genius would spread, but not just that.

"Then, let's follow the plan, shall we?"

"Sure."

She and I turned around.

We started running back the way we came.

Running with mana infused in our legs, the cave quickly receded behind us. From behind, or rather from the direction we were running, we heard the hurried footsteps of the monsters.

Swoosh, swoosh.

Before long, we saw the monsters following us.

Being surrounded in a straight cave like this is very dangerous, but that's only after the encirclement is complete.

Before it's complete, the monsters are just easy targets for us to pick off one by one.

"We need to finish them quickly!"

"Don't worry!"

Her sword flickered as she ran forward, and the sword in my hand began to emit a faint light.

In front of us, the monsters were filling the cave and approaching.

There were four monsters in total.

There was one more than the ones we had killed earlier, but the number of monsters we had to face was smaller.

The monsters were so large that only two could stand side by side.

The cave wasn't very high, so the monsters at the back couldn't climb over.

We each faced one monster.

I infused mana into my legs and hands and swung my sword with all my might.

"Try to dodge if you can!"

The narrow cave made it difficult to swing a large sword, but it was even harder for the monsters to dodge.

Trapped by the walls and ceiling, and with other monsters on the sides and behind, they couldn't even move, let alone use their usual speed.

I thrust my sword and rammed into the monster's body.

Puuuuk.

The sword pierced the front legs and then the head of the rat-like monster.

"Grgrgr."

Indeed, in such a narrow cave, flashy sword techniques weren't necessary.

I kicked the monster to pull out my sword and ran forward again.

The next monster was also quickly dispatched.

As expected, the phoenix hunter took down the monsters faster than I did.

She was amazed at how I took down the monsters.

"Are you really ten years old? How can you have such skills at your age?"

"Thanks to my ability."

"A ten-year-old with a hereditary ability that can create knight-level powers?"

Tch, maybe I revealed too much. But hiding my skills would have made it hard to survive.

Fortunately, her curiosity ended there.

Grgrgr.

The sound of the monsters came from deep in the cave we were heading to.

They were waiting for us.

"Then, what should we do?"

Perhaps because things had unfolded as I predicted, she asked for my opinion.

Unlike before, she seemed willing to listen to any reasonable suggestion.

However, we already had a plan, and I didn't have a better idea.

"Let's retreat according to the plan. Try to reduce their numbers as much as possible."

"Great!"

She and I quickly retreated to the underground plaza with the reservoir.

While running through the cave, we discovered a hole we hadn't seen before.

"That hole wasn't there before, right?"

"Yes. It seems the monsters that chased us made it."

"I knew they could dig, but they can do it so easily?"

Well, if you didn't know, how could I have known?

Anyway, I understood why we were easily surrounded.

Moreover, the monsters' sharp claws were for digging, not for fighting.

They were incredibly hard, and that was the reason.

We ran through the cave, passing through the hole in the wall.

Fortunately, the monsters, despite their quick movements, didn't have high endurance.

The sound of the monsters didn't get any closer, and we reached the underground plaza with the reservoir.

We then entered another cave.

We moved through the caves, trying to stay close to the underground plaza with the reservoir, and dealt with the monsters.

We listened carefully and dealt with small groups of monsters first, and retreated to the underground plaza when there were too many.

There were times when our numbers were miscalculated and we faced dangerous enemies, and times when we went too deep and almost got surrounded.

However, we managed to deal with most of the monsters.

"Looks like we'll finish here."

I sat on the ground, drinking water from the reservoir, and said to her.

We were in the underground plaza where we had first fallen. Dead monsters were scattered around.

Once the monsters realized we were moving around this plaza, they gathered here.

We were surrounded, and we ended up setting up a 'back-to-the-wall' formation as I had suggested earlier.

However, unlike when I first suggested it, the number of monsters surrounding us was much smaller.

We had significantly reduced their numbers through individual battles.

Six in total.

After all the battles, this was a number we could handle.

And the final showdown.

She and I took down all the monsters.

After drinking water, I looked around.

"Still, it seems they don't want to come near the reservoir."

"Definitely. It doesn't seem to be because they can't swim..."

She knelt on one knee and carefully drank water from her hands.

I watched her drink and then looked at the reservoir.

It was a normal underground reservoir with a hole in the ceiling.

Well, an underground reservoir with drinkable water might not be so normal.

"There must be a reason, but now isn't the time to study the underground ecosystem of the monsters."

As my strength returned, I stood up.

No more monsters appeared, so it seemed safe now.

She thought the same. She put on her cloak and asked me.

"Shall we go?"

"Yes. Let's go back."

We headed back to the cave.

"Those monsters are worth some money, right?"

"That's true, but we don't have a good way to carry them, and it would be difficult to take them out."

Without any guarantee that the treasure room was intact, it would have been nice to sell the monsters for money, but unfortunately, we couldn't let anyone else know what happened in this underground place.

I found it hard to explain to the people at the mansion, and she didn't want to reveal this tomb to others.

'With all the monsters gone, there shouldn't be any problems for the estate.'

Since I wasn't the lord or the heir, there was no need to report unnecessary things.

Suppressing a bit of regret and concern, I continued walking.

From the battles, I confirmed that all the caves led upwards and eventually met each other.

The square where I had died earlier was where the caves met, and the number of caves decreased as we went up.

After climbing for a while, we noticed the cave had changed.

The cave we were walking through wasn't dug by monsters but was a man-made underground passage with stone walls and pillars supporting the ceiling.

"Could it be... Is there still something left?"

The thought that the secret storage might still be there made her eyes sparkle again.

She lifted the lamp on her waist and eagerly moved forward.

I drew my sword and followed her closely.

As we moved through the passage, we saw small rooms on the sides.

Unfortunately, the rooms only had broken tables and chairs left.

We briefly checked the rooms and continued walking until we reached the end of the passage.

At the end of the passage was an iron door.

The door had the same pattern engraved on it as the one on her sword.

It was clearly the door to the secret storage she was looking for.

She pushed the door with trembling hands.

Creak.

Fortunately, it wasn't locked.

The door slowly opened with a rough sound.