TERNLF Vol. 1 Chapter 2 Part 5

Full title: The Exiled Reincarnated Noble Lives Freely

Note: If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.

Translator: Canon

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I, Toa, had parted ways with Opos and the others, continuing deeper into the forest while carrying Nikka in my arms.

Although a path existed for adventurers to pass through, it was neither paved nor well maintained. Had Nikka been walking on her own, she would have tripped countless times over the protruding roots and uneven ground. But so long as I held her like this, I didn’t have to worry about that.

For someone like me—who had trained and fought monsters repeatedly within the Demon Forest—this sort of terrain barely qualified as rough.

“We finally made it.”

A clearing opened up in the forest like a gaping hole where no trees stood. At its center, a scattering of camping gear lay abandoned, likely left there by Windfang for use as a rest spot.

“Um…”

“Hm?”

“Could you… put me down?”

I had become so preoccupied with surveying the area that I’d completely forgotten I was still holding Nikka. I hurriedly set her down.

“Th-The dungeon… where do you suppose it is?”

Blushing, Nikka turned away and darted toward the equipment, hiding her face while glancing around nervously.

Based on what Opos and the others had said, the dungeon in question shouldn’t have been far from this clearing.

“There should be some kind of marker around here.”

I said this to Nikka and began scanning the area. But she was the one who spotted it first.

“Could that be the sign?”

It was hardly worthy of being called a sign; just a crude wooden board, worn and rotting from years of exposure to the elements. Two of them had been driven into the ground at the edge of the clearing where it met the forest.

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”

Just to be sure, I looked around for anything else, but nothing else stood out. I nodded to Nikka, and together we headed for the markers.

As we drew closer, we noticed a faint trail between the two signs, just enough to suggest that people had passed through and tamped down the earth. We exchanged a silent nod.

But the path ahead looked far more treacherous than the one we’d followed to get here. I moved in front of Nikka and crouched down.

“Huh? Mr. Toa, did you drop something?”

“Nope.”

I gave my back a light pat and said, “Get on. I’ll carry you.”

“Ehh?!”

“Unless you’d prefer I carry you in my arms again like before?”

“N-No! The back is fine!”

I stood once I felt her slight weight settle on my back and her thin arms wrap around my neck. Her warmth spread through my back as I looped my arms beneath her legs for support. I had thought this method would simply make it easier to run, but now I couldn’t ignore the sensation of her body pressed against me.

Not that I could bring myself to suggest carrying her in my arms again now.

“I-I’m going full speed, so hold on tight.”

Shaking off the stray thoughts, I said this aloud and began moving.

“Here we go!”

As I mentioned earlier, much of my training and battles at the frontier outpost had taken place in the forest, untamed and untouched by human hands. Compared to that, this path posed little challenge for me.

“Kyaaah!”

I leapt over roots that curled across the path with minimal movement, dodging branches and leaves that jutted out from either side without breaking stride, ensuring none of it touched Nikka.

“We’re almost there.”

“O-Okay!”

Roughly ten minutes after we entered the path, we arrived at what appeared to be our destination. Through the gaps in the trees, a space even more open than the previous clearing came into view.

I burst into the clearing, still carrying Nikka, and immediately searched for the “marker” Opos had described. Unlike the rotting wooden signs from earlier, this one was far more obvious: an arrow-shaped marker made by arranging stones and tools.

It had been prepared in advance so that the rescue team would recognize the spot when they arrived.

—

“Almost there.”

“Huhii...”

Nikka’s reply was feeble.

Being carried on someone’s back while they sprint at full speed was far more exhausting—both mentally and physically—than one might expect. I understood that all too well.

Even so, Nikka would have to endure just a bit longer.

Following the direction indicated by the arrow, I bolted ahead and this time dove straight into untamed underbrush.

The dungeon I was aiming for lay beyond.

It couldn’t be seen from the landmark clearing due to the surrounding trees, but just past that point was a small open area, roughly the size of a single house. At its center stood a low mound only a few meters tall and beside it, the entrance to the dungeon.

And right in front of that entrance, I spotted a gaping hole about two meters in diameter.

That must be the dungeon trap Edra and Grassa had fallen into.

“Who goes there!?”

A sharp voice called out a challenge as we burst into view.

The one who spoke was a slender young man wearing glasses, presumably Redroal.

Without letting his guard down for a moment, he raised the staff in his hand and aimed it directly at us.

Magic had already begun gathering at the tip of the staff, clearly ready to unleash a spell at any moment.

“I’m Toa, an adventurer! I came to rescue Grassa at Nikka’s request, she’s her friend!”

I kept it brief and, as I spoke, pulled the familiar pendant from my pocket and tossed it toward Redroal’s staff.

“Wha—”

Startled, Redroal instinctively attempted to fire, but a look of confusion flickered across his face.

Of course it would.

The spell he was just about to cast had suddenly unraveled and vanished.

“We’re allies. We don’t have time, ask this girl for the details.”

I gently set Nikka down beside Redroal.

Then, slipping past him and his still-bewildered expression, I threw myself straight into the hole.

—

“【Physical Shield】! 【Blessing Wind】! 【Light Magic】!”

As I fell into the hole, I activated three spells simultaneously.

The physical reinforcement and wind magic neutralized the impact of the fall, while the light spell illuminated the dungeon to secure visibility.

“So this part of the tunnel slopes downward?”

After dropping a certain distance, the hole angled into a diagonal chute with slick walls, like a stone slide.

It was probably designed to carry prey deeper into the dungeon.

On the other hand, that design also assured me that the two who had fallen earlier were likely still alive.

If this tunnel had formed naturally—or if it had been created to kill and absorb its prey—the walls would have been jagged or spiked. They wouldn’t have been this smooth.

That was why I became certain that this dungeon aimed to siphon off life energy from living creatures that entered its body, rather than killing them outright.

“The real problem is the monsters already nesting here; they won’t be so forgiving.”

Sliding down the slope, I analyzed the situation.

This dungeon was located near a place frequented by adventurers, yet it had remained undiscovered until now. That could only mean it was a newly formed dungeon, one that had only just come into existence.

Still, I had descended quite a distance and hadn’t reached the bottom yet.

In other words, this dungeon extended far deeper than usual.

Typically, a newborn dungeon only developed up to three levels deep—about the equivalent of a four- or five-story building.

But I had already descended the equivalent of ten floors.

“There’s something down here, no doubt.”

I recalled something told to me by one of my mentors back at the frontier outpost—Glencadam, the most knowledgeable about dungeons.

He was a Gnome and had built his reputation as a dungeon excavator before coming to the outpost.

Glencadam once said that among the many new dungeons born throughout the world, a rare few came into being with powerful magic already sealed within them.

The cause was unknown, but those dungeons used their innate magic to immediately generate a powerful “Guardian” to protect their heart, the dungeon’s core.

And one of the defining features of such dungeons was that, even at birth, they possessed deep levels.

Which meant—at the heart of this dungeon—

“GRAAAAAAH!”

“Gwah!”

Just as my feet landed on solid ground, a monstrous roar rang out from the corridor ahead, accompanied by a crash and a girl’s scream.

“So I was right. There is a Guardian, but I can still make it in time! 【Quick】!”

I instantly cast an acceleration spell, lighting the path with magic as I sprinted down the corridor toward the source of the noise.

Signs of fierce combat lined the way.

I leapt over the mutilated corpses of goblins scattered across the floor and pushed deeper in.

The girl’s voice had stopped after that initial scream.

Praying she was still alive, I rushed toward the source.

“There!”

Ahead, in the light I’d sent forward, the massive silhouette of a monster appeared, barely illuminated.

GAGAGAGA!!

The creature hadn’t noticed me yet.

No, it was probably too fixated on its prey to even consider someone coming from behind.

If I attacked it from behind now, I could—

“Someone! Help meee!”

In my vision, I saw the monster—Tauros—raising a giant club toward a lone girl.

Even if I struck now, the club would still crush her.

I quickly changed the spell I was about to cast and shouted to draw Tauros’s attention to me.

“I’ve got you!! 【Blessing Earth】!”

Just before the club could crush her, a wall of earth surged upward from beneath her, intercepting the blow.

CRACK!

A deafening crash echoed through the narrow corridor as the club was deflected by the sudden wall, slamming into the ceiling and embedding itself deep into the stone above.

“GUMOHH!”

“Now’s my chance!”

As Tauros struggled to pull his club free, I dashed between its legs.

Simultaneously—

“【Blessing Wind Cutter】!”

As I passed underneath, I unleashed a wind-element attack spell upward.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

The blades of wind sliced through Tauros from below.

The towering beast let out a death cry as flesh and blood scattered throughout the passage.

“That looked painful, even though I was the one who did it.”

Tauros, now split from groin to stomach, collapsed in a gruesome heap.

I didn’t know if it had a gender, but if it had been male, then… yeah. That was probably excessive.

In my panic to save Grassa, I went all in without thinking too much. But either way, it would’ve died, so maybe it didn’t matter.

“Who… are you?”

As Tauros fell, clutching its ruined midsection, a trembling voice came from behind me.

“What… just happened? And who are you?”

After confirming that Tauros was truly dead, I turned and answered.

“You’re Grassa, right?”

At a glance, she seemed mostly unharmed, just a few scrapes and bruises.

But the other one—Edra—was in worse shape.

I approached where she lay motionless on the ground.

“She’s badly hurt, but still breathing… Thank goodness I made it.”

Edra’s body bore the marks of a fierce battle.

Most notably, her right arm was mangled beyond recognition below the wrist.

“I need to stop the bleeding first. 【High Heal】.”

I cast an advanced healing spell on Edra’s right hand.

Healing magic enhanced the target’s natural recovery using mana.

The higher the tier—beginner, intermediate, advanced—the stronger the healing effect.

Unlike the basic healing spells Nikka could use, advanced healing could mend most wounds almost instantly, so long as they weren’t fatal.

But—

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