#544 What’s Unknown Brings Delight

“Please forgive them, Lord Saint. They are selfish people who only care about their interests...!” frantically says Silver Wolf as he gets downs on his knees, sweating profusely.

Er...I’m not quite sure about the sweating profusely part with all that fur covering his face.

“It’s all right. I was the one who called you here, after all.”

It’s only reasonable for the one who requested to proceed with the deal first.

Pink Tonton and Kato are focused on something else, so I decided to leave them alone and guide the rest.

“Hmph, what good is an adventurer if they are invested in things other than adventuring? I expected no more from people who suddenly got promoted to S-class.”

“Tell ‘em, Golden Bat! All an adventurer has to be purreoccupied with are dungeons and nothing else!”

I suppose these two represent the adventurer’s standard more.

Adventuring: a profession meant for dungeon exploration.

If they have reached the top of this career as S-class adventurers, it’s only logical that they would place dungeons first on their priority list.

They applied that logic and succeeded in getting this far, after all.

And so...

* * *

“Here we are.”

“WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” elatedly exclaim the bat and the cat.

They’re already this excited just by looking at the entrance?

“There really is a dungeon here!”

“Hngh...! There really was an undiscovered dungeon that I didn’t know about! I feel a bit ashamed, but I’m also exciteddddd!”

They’re all squirming in place.

A dungeon fetish, is that it? 

Is that the requirement for an S-class adventurer?

“Oh? Looks like I’ve got lively visitors today.”

A human corpse, dried up like a mummy, emerges from the dungeon’s depths.

Although a corpse, he can move and speak just fine.

I’m talking about Sensei, the Lifeless King, the strongest and most sinister type of undead.

“It’s a Lifeless Kingggggggg!”

“It’s a dungeon with a guardiannnnnn! That’s, like, super-duper rareeeeee!!!”

Calm down.

Their amazement is so overwhelming that I’m almost taken aback by it.

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry! These idiots don’t show any restraint in their behavior...!!!”

Silver Wolf feels ashamed for his companions, but it’s all right.

Besides, he reacted similarly during his first visit. 

“The condition for their visit was permission to explore the dungeons near the farm. I wouldn’t have achieved our goal if they weren't this pleased.”

I need to satisfy them to take this plan a step further.

“Hehehe...”

Exploring dungeons is the work and raison d’etre of adventurers.

It wouldn’t be strange if this manifests in them as part of their behavior.

As I would’ve guessed, the two adventurers—Golden Bat and Black Cat— can’t help but check out an undiscovered dungeon upon hearing the invitation.

Not to mention, it was an ultra-rare dungeon with a guardian in it.

“A dungeon with a guardian no doubt gets a five-star rating immediately! How could you, Silver Wolf! It’s not fair that you knew about the existence of such an amazing dungeon and hid it from us!”

“She’s right! Adventurers are obligated to report the unknown dungeons they discover! This is a treacherous act on the part of an S-class adventurer!”

Silver Wolf, bitterly criticized by his peers, responds, “That rule only applies within the guild. This dungeon is already under the control of someone far more powerful than them, so it makes sense to follow the rules here.”

Nevertheless, he was a gentleman(wolf?) with the dignity of a veteran, as he rebuffed the criticism head-on.

“Bastard. And you call yourself an adventurer?!”

“As S-class, I have to consider the interests and safety of all adventurers. I beg you to consider that as well.”

“Nyo! I will think only of myself until the day I die!!!”

“I can’t believe you guys...”

These self-centered people are orthodox S-class adventurers, so I can only imagine the trouble Silver Wolf goes through just to put up with them.  

No wonder he’s part of the “Selfless Workaholics.”

“I see now why Alexander made him a guest lecturer.”

Silver Wolf was invited to the farm before so that he could give a lecture on dungeon exploration to our students.

It is with confidence that I say Golden Bat and Black Cat wouldn’t have been fit for the role. 

“No time to mess around! If there is an undiscovered dungeon in front of us, we must explore it at any cost!”

“If there’s a hole, it’s an adventurer’s purrimal instinct to go inside it!!!”

These no-good standard-bearers have their minds filled with satisfying only their own desires without regard for the people around them.

“Sorry for the ruckus, Sensei!!”

“Think nothing of it, Silver Wolf. My students have learned greatly from you.” 

“But are you sure about this?”

“Huh?” “Nya?”

“There is another dungeon just a short distance away.”

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!”

“That one is a mountain-type dungeon ruled by a dragon named Veil.”

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!”

Sensei sure is good at taking people by surprise. 

Meanwhile, our first-rate adventurers got even more excited by the bombshell announcement.

“A dungeon ruled by a dragon?! Does that mean it’s the guardian?!”

“Just its outline alone is enough to give it a five-star rating! How can there be two dungeons with a guardian in close purroximity to each other? And they’re of different types!!!”

“If a proper dungeon management branch is built in this area, it will surpass the royal capital in terms of activity! A super dungeon city! A new era of dungeons is upon usssssssssssss!”

Golden Bat and Black Cat have gotten ahead of themselves just by standing in front of the entrance. 

It’s virtually impossible to keep up with their enthusiasm now.

“It’s all well and good to be excited, but do you mind if we go inside now? It’s the interior that counts, right?” says Silver Wolf smoothly.

“You’re absolutely right! A dungeon is only as good as its interior!”

“A dungeon with nothing to loot is purractically trash! Let’s see what this dungeon has got in store for us!”

They sound like children who have just received a new video game.

They were excited about taking their first step into the dungeon as if turning on a game console, but...

“Wait.”

“Oh, what now?!”

Silver Wolf suddenly stops the two.

“Think about it for a second. This dungeon has a Lifeless King as its guardian.”

“That is correct,” agrees Sensei himself.  

“Usually, such a dungeon is the most dangerous. After all, just encountering a Lifeless King or a dragon could lead to your demise.”

“Hmph. And here I was wondering what you’re gonna blabber about this time. You think you’re talking to novices still wet behind their ears?”

“I can’t be an S-class adventurer because I’m afraid of the guardian.”

The dungeon guardian is essentially the greatest fear for adventurers.

Encountering their almighty existence is directly linked to death. And for adventurers who make their living exploring dungeons, a dungeon guardian is an obstacle they cannot avoid.

“Only those who overcome that obstacle can become S-class adventurers!”

“Hear, hearrrrr! You only die if you encounter them, so purray we don’t! If we do, we just run away!”

They are the ones who have risen to become S-class adventurers by doing so.

Of course, no adventurer has ever defeated a guardian, be it a Lifeless King or a dragon. If you can’t beat them, you simply run away. 

That was the plan. 

“We S-class adventurers have been chased around by dungeon guardians more than once!”

“But we got away with it all! With our ears and noses, detecting their purresence and keeping our distance before we encountered them was a cinch!”

It’s no coincidence that almost all of the members of this group are therianthropes who have been saved by their highly acute senses.

As long as they don’t encounter the dreaded guardian, there would be no problem.

They had conquered dungeons with such a mindset.

“But that won’t be the case this time around.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because we’ve already encountered the guardian.”

As Silver Wolf points this out, everyone’s eyes are drawn to the cheerful Sensei.

“Welcome once again.”

“The guardian is already right in front of us?!” “We’re done forrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!”

If encountering the guardian meant death, they were long dead.

A dungeon where the last boss greets you at the entrance.

It may sound like a thorough execution leaving nothing to be desired, but from a different perspective, it could be said that the game was over the moment it began.

Talk about a novel dungeon setting.