Chapter 51

This time, there are some graphic descriptions, so please be cautious if you're sensitive to such content.

"Uu..."

Nina, looking like she was about to cry, sat in seiza and glanced up at me.

"Is there any excuse?"

I was in the middle of lecturing Nina, who had been stripped of her equipment and item pouch during the rookie hunt and had stood frozen during the battle.

"Because that dwarf grabbed Yu's arm..."

"Standing frozen during a battle is like asking to be killed."

While lecturing her, I used a healing spell to recover from Nina's injuries.

I couldn't tell what the elf had intended, but despite having the opportunity to kill Nina while she was frozen, her injuries were concentrated on her arms and legs.

"I'm sorry..."

"At least if you had died, there would have been no way to deal with it..."

"Ah..."

From my words and expression, Nina realized I was thinking about grandma and started crying.

As I waited for her to stop crying, Joseph couldn't wait and started talking to me.

"Hey, don't you have something to say to me? Huh? Hmm?"

His smirking face was annoying.

"You look like a gorilla."

"Gorilla? What's that supposed to mean! Besides, since I saved you, you should at least say thank you!"

"Gorilla, that's just an animal like you. And I never asked for your help."

"Grr... So... that gorilla must be a really cool animal, huh?"

"You're so noisy. Anyway, because of you, we couldn't get the elf's equipment. Apologize!"

"What!? What kind of thing to say! Ah! By the way, I did recover the elf's staff, I was the one who defeated it!"

We had recovered all the equipment from the dragon and dwarf, but the elf's equipment had been turned to ashes by Joseph's attacks.

The elf's equipment had magic resistance and fire resistance, but it was completely burned, showing the extraordinary power of Joseph's holy sword.

"Let's make a trade. You mentioned a quest, right? You were probably asked to complete a rookie hunt quest.

So, I'll give the dragon's corpse to you. The elf's equipment is ashes, so you can't prove you defeated it."

"Who are you calling an old man! I'm only 34 years old. Alright, I'll take the dragon's corpse and the dwarf."

"The dwarf is off-limits. I have some questions for him."

Yu muttered this while looking at Bol, who was using a combat skill to stop the bleeding from his severed limbs.

"Nina, carry Rena and go back with the old man."

Nina was hesitant at first, but considering Rena's condition, she eventually agreed. The old man also severed the dragon's head and put it in his item pouch.

"Hey, don't kill that dwarf. I still have use for him."

Ignoring Joseph, Yu headed towards the dwarf. Joseph, saying that being ignored hurts, followed Nina and the others back to the upper floor.

"Ugh... Haa haa, hurry... reconnect... my arms and legs..."

"I'll reconnect them if you answer my questions. Did you have a reason for targeting only the arms and legs?"

"Haha... We cut off the limbs... to immobilize them and then play with them."

"So, you're just a bunch of sadists. Next, about the Undying Mercenary Corps—"

Yu continued asking questions while taking away the dwarf's remaining skills.

Nina and Joseph returned to the 24th floor underground and used a transfer stone to return to the surface.

Rena briefly regained consciousness when using the transfer stone but lost it again once outside the dungeon.

"Miss, that was a close call. Well, as an adventurer, you might encounter such situations in the future, but don't worry about it."

Saying this, Joseph tried to touch Nina's chest, but—

"Joseph is a Seven Sword, right? I believe Seven Sword is a title for particularly distinguished warriors in the Delim Empire, isn't it?"

"Miss, are you smitten with me?"

"I'm glad Joseph is from the Delim Empire. If you were from the Holy Kingdom Jardal, I would have had to—"

"Huh? What did you just say?"

Joseph couldn't quite hear, but he was sure Nina had said something. He was about to ask her to repeat it, but seeing Nina's beaming face, he decided it must have been a misunderstanding.

"Hey, what's up?"

The one who spoke was the enchanter at the entrance to the Gorgo Dungeon, who was casting enchantment spells.

"Hey, have you heard about the rookie hunts?"

"Of course! Recently, several adventurers have fallen victim to them in this Gorgo Dungeon.

Since it's just the girls here, does that mean the boy—"

"The boy is also safe. Still, we were lucky this time."

"That's good, that's good. If you hadn't come by chance, it could have been a disaster."

"By chance? Yes, by chance, a summoning beast brought a letter to the Adventurer's Guild with information about the rookie hunts, and the timing of the girls entering the dungeon was matched with another message from the summoning beast. Was it really by chance?"

As Joseph closed the distance, the enchanter remained calm and responded as usual.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Who are you, and which country do you belong to?"

"Hehe, I'm just a former adventurer."

"You only started this enchantment business a few months ago, right? What's your name? You're not registered as an adventurer in the city of Kama, are you?"

In the next moment, Joseph swung his sword horizontally. He intended to stop it just short of the enchanter's neck, but—

"Hey, what are you doing all of a sudden?"

Even though it wasn't a serious attack, it was stopped by the enchanter's barrier. Nina, surprised by Joseph's sudden action, kept her distance while carrying Rena.

"Hey, who are you really?"

"I was just asked to do this."

"By whom?"

"Hehe, I can't say."

"Suspicious old man."

"Hehe, I'm only 33 years old."

"Ah, that's bad. You're still young."

While making light conversation, Joseph tried to close the distance, but the enchanter skillfully kept his distance.

"Hey, cut it out. I'm not stupid enough to take on a Seven Sword... I mean, a former Seven Sword?"

"Free State Hameln? Or the Set Republic... Could it be Jardal?"

The moment Jardal was mentioned, a killing aura emanated from Nina. It was so intense that Joseph turned around. He quickly refocused on the enchanter, but the enchanter was already gone, having summoned a bird monster and fled into the sky.

"Everything I know... I've told you. Please... heal me quickly."

"A mercenary corps composed of demi-humans."

The Undying Mercenary Corps, a group of demi-humans who had been discriminated against by humans and formed to fight against them.

The leader is a female dragon, named Merit, known as "Barehanded Merit" for fighting without weapons.

The corps has about 1,000 members, with the top 10 ranking members being comparable to high-level adventurers.

Yu organized the information while gathering Bol's limbs and casting a Fireball.

"Aaah!? What are you doing to me! My arms, my legs!!"

"Shut up, it's an experiment."

Yu cast a healing spell on Bol to stop the bleeding. Generally, it's believed that white magic can't heal fully healed scars or missing body parts, and only high-level holy magic users can do so.

Yu believed the reason white magic couldn't heal such conditions was due to the user's perception. If the user doesn't recognize the scar or missing part as an injury, the white magic won't take effect.

Yu cast a healing spell on Bol's right shoulder, infusing it with an unprecedented amount of magic power.

"Wh-what... are you... doing... Give me back... my arms and legs..."

After a while, an arm began to grow from Bol's right shoulder.

"What! This is... my arm!!"

Yu stopped the healing spell when the arm had grown to the elbow.

Bol, confused by the sudden stop, watched as Yu picked up stones and moved about 10 meters away.

"The experiment was a success. Now, I'll repay the debt to Rena. I wanted to get back at the elf too, but Joseph killed it and the body was turned to ashes, so I can't use necromancy."

"What are you—Gyah!"

Yu's thrown stone embedded itself in Bol's right chest, easily piercing through his well-trained muscles and the combat skill covering his body.

"I deliberately left the combat skill intact. Use it well. I used to kill goblins with thrown stones in the beginning. How does it feel?"

Yu continued throwing stones. With the strength of his arm enhanced by "Brute Strength," "Powerful Arm," "Enhanced Physical Abilities," "Throwing," and "Combat Skill," even with Bol using the combat skill to block, the stones easily pierced his body, leaving it riddled with holes.

The smell of blood attracted Benandos.

"Guh... Stop... this... please..."

"Even the normally docile Benandos become different when it's feeding time."

A swarm of Benandos gathered around Bol, their long tongues entering the holes in his body and sucking out blood and flesh.

"Ahahahaha! It hurts! It hurts! Stop it!!!"

"The adventurers you toyed with and killed probably wanted to be saved too."

After watching Bol being devoured by the Benandos, Yu left the scene.