「Suu, NOW! 」


  「Here it comes. Magic bullet! 」


  The light bullet emanating from the cane in Suu’s hand hit the zombies. The neck of the zombie gets smashed and crumbles down as such.

  「It’s the last one」


  「Yes. Though they’re terrifying, we somehow managed to defeat them」


  The fallen corpses of the zombies are present in front of us.

  We finally meet the monsters of this dungeon.

  「As I thought, so many undead are loitering around this place. The first type is a zombie. There are bone type monsters, too」


  「Yeah. Tons of skeletons. There’re too many variants of their type even without considering the powerful skeleton variants. The other types include zombie dog, zombie rabbit, and zombie crow」


  By the way, I have some misgivings with the one who thought about the names for the undead monsters when it comes to zombies. I wish they could have given a slightly stylish name to them.

  「Even so, now I have understood the characteristics of the monsters around this area. Suu is also with us」


  「Yes. Even so, as expected, both of you are amazing. Both of you are not flustered at all, it’s as if you guys are simply taking notes in the academy. I know about them in my head, but seeing them in reality is a completely different experience」


  「Well, it’s because we’re used to it. I was also frightened at first, and anyone would only be able to take a breath after trying several times」


  After hearing my words, Suu takes a look at the defeated zombie.

  「Now that you said it, it was certainly hard for me to use magic first, but now, I can execute it almost without any problems」


  「Yeah, it’s similar to that. Then, let’s get going」


  We continue advancing forward while remaining vigilant about potential incoming monsters.

  「Come to think of it, what is that Six Wonders you were talking about a while ago? 」


  I ask Suu about the thing that’s been in my mind as we advance forward.

  It’s about his words from before – this dungeon being dubbed as one of the six wonders.

  It’s been quite a while, but I am simply unable to suppress my curiosity anymore.

  Suu looks at me with a surprised face after listening to my question.

  「Eh, y-you don’t know about that!? And yet, you’re an adventurer!?」


  He’s extremely surprised.

  「I’m sorry. I’m ignorant about the ways of the world」


  「Ah, no, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. But, it’s quite the famous story, after all. It seems even people who aren’t aware of that does exist, huh」


  「Well, it’s as you say, so will you tell me about it? 」


  「Yes, naturally」


  Suu and Jackrosa narrated that story. Jackrosa also joined in since he knew about it, too. According to the story, there are six dungeons called Six Wonders in this world called Holm.

  These six dungeons are dubbed as the biggest, most dangerous, and most precious in this world. And then, it said that six extremely powerful monsters called six great demon sovereigns live in these places.

  Unholywoods is one of these six dungeons.

  Amongst the many dungeons existing in this world, the easiest ones can be conquered within one hour, and it’s not bafflingly ginormous like this dungeon.

  「So many people go to such dangerous dungeo-…. No, the number of dungeon explorers would be scarce in accordance with the perils, right?」


  「Yes, it is. Since it’s a kind of high risk-high return dungeon, some people go there hoping to reap great returns, while some don’t due to the risk. Since raw materials for magic and magic tools are indispensable for magic research, the researchers buy these kinds of materials from veteran adventurers at times, and occasionally venture into the dungeon to pick it themselves」


  I see.

  It has helped in utmost utilization of the adventurers thanks to these dangerous factors.

  We are yet to find important looking items since we’re still close to the entrance, but we might discover amazing items if we continue to dive deeper.

  It’s already spectacular for several reasons, but I have high expectations for the lower floors of this dungeon.

  We keep advancing non-stop, since we rarely met monsters along the way.

  Since we basically have no problems with defeating monsters except for the zombies, we are advancing without a hitch.

  And then, just when I thought we had dived deep enough, an adventurer came to greet us from a different path.

  「Oy! Are you guys exploring this place, too? 」


  「Yes. You guys are adventurers, too?」


  The team that came toward us was a three men adventurer party like ours. I can feel the depth of their skills from surveying their proper equipment.

  「Ah, I think we’ll get a treasure in that direction. OH? Aren’t you Jackrosa! 」


  「Yeah. It’s been a while, Rudolf-san」


  「Ah, I’ll be troubled if you’re using your usual stiff tone. I never expected for you to come to this place. And those guys are?! 」


  The one leading them – Rudolph, a man at the prime of his life, brings his face closer to mine.

  「Somehow…. I get this feeling that I have seen your face before…」


  The next moment, he vigorously strikes on my shoulder.

  「AREN’T YOU THE INTRUDER WHO DEFEATED THAT DANGEROUS TSUJIGIRI FELLOW?」 [TL : A person who kills people for testing new weapons]

  「Y-Yeesh. That’s right」


  「Hahahaha, to think that I’ll be able to meet the hero of the arena here; you will give me your autograph, right?」


  When Rudolph speaks about it to his comrades, his comrades nod at him with wry smiles.

  It seems this person tends to run wildly inside this party.

  「Yeah, are you aiming for treasures like us? 」


  「Yes. However, it’s more like we are here for sightseeing such an amazing dungeon」


  「Sightseeing this kind of dangerous dungeon, as expected from you. But then, sightseeing beyond this point is just impossible. Please stop right now」


  「What is there?」


  Hearing my question, Rudolph replied while placing his hands on my shoulders.

  「Let me tell you a story. In fact, we had also travelled beyond this point, but then we lost our strength」


  「Lost your strength?」


  「Ah. It was as if we were sapped of our power; it worsened when we tried to use our skills. That place lowers all of our status values. And not just status, it made our body heavier, and we easily lost our focus – it’s that kind of ominous place. I thought that it’ll get better as we travelled forward. However, there’s that dark miasma from those undead, too」


  We are exchanging glances with puzzled faces.

  It’s the appearance of unexpected obstacles. Again.

  We hold a brief meeting.

  「That’s some pivotal information. However, we’ll try to determine the situation with our own eyes. We will be careful during that time. Thank you for informing us about this」


  「So you really will go ahead, huh. I mean, whether as an adventurer or as a man, I have no qualification to stop the other person. As expected of a guy who brazenly invaded the arena. Well then, please be careful. See ya!」


  We left that place after Rudolph’s party bid their farewell.

  We are grateful for their information, but we have no intention to stop our exploration at this point. We can return later if we deem that the situation ahead is too much for us.

  「Yosh, shall we go then?」


  We continued to traverse deeper into the forest.

  We experience the anomalies almost immediately.

  My legs become heavier just by taking a single step forward.

  My body feels heavy, and it’s feels like there’s a thin membrane that’s hindering my vision and hearing.

  「This effect is too much, indeed」


  「Yeah. My body feels heavy」


  「It’s harder to gather magical power, too. Not just our body, it’s also limiting our magic」


  「Maybe you can say that this is some kind of special restriction of this area」


  Though the others nod after hearing what I said, it seems they don’t understand what I mean exactly.

  It’s not like I know about that perfectly either, but I have a hunch about what it is.

  「Isn’t this like some kind of sorcery?」


  「Sorcery? The one where you place a curse on someone?」


  「Yeah. I know a little about sorcery, but I don’t know whether it’s similar to it. My sorcery also involves weakening my opponent’s strength; moreover, the effect is superb, too. I don’t know the principle behind this sorcery, but I think it’s a kind of curse that’s effective throughout this entire area」


  It’s different from the one that I use on a single target, this curse seems to apply on anyone who enters this area.

  It seems like this area can become a deadly trap depending on how you utilize it.

  I really want to understand how it works.

  Yup, let’s mark this as one of my objectives.

  …. Nevertheless, the question now is how to leave this place safely.

  「We’ll be in deep sh*t if monsters rush toward us when we are stuck in this kind of situation」


  「Right. It’ll be alright if those monsters are also weakened, but in case they aren’t, we’ll be forced to fight against them with a serious handicap」


  But, I might be able to do something if this is somekind of sorcery.

  The skills of a priest can counter this kind of sorcery.

  I should be able to use dispel or a spell-proof barrier to negate or minimize the effects.

  「Hup, ha. How do you feel now?」


  「My body became lighter」


  「Yeah, my senses have become clear. What did you do?」


  「I see, I’m glad then. I cast a spell-proof barrier and a negate sorcery skill. I had a feeling that it’ll work in case we’re suffering from something similar to sorcery」


  It seems the priest skills would play a big role in this area.

  So, I keep going while having that kind of expectation―― Or so I expected we would, but Suu noticed something and turned around.

  「What’s the matter, Suu?」


  「It’s nothing. I just think that the way you used various skills to break the deadlock before is just too amazing, Eiji」


  「Geez, even if you say that much….」


  Yes, the result isn’t that bad.

  「But, why do you have all of those skills? The person who can exhibit that kind of extremely amazing power by himself should be a master; so to say, people who can exhibit so many skills are almost non-existent, yet you’re able to do it via some strange means」


  Suu pinches the bridge of his nose with an astonished face and subsequently looks at my face. Crap. Did I just overdo it?

  But I have to do so since we want to advance deeper.

  「Hey, the magic academy taught you the way to memorize magic, didn’t it?」


  「Yeah, we can cast any kind of magic as long as we use that method」


  「The skills other than magic can also be learnt that way, and you can learn it as long as you use a similar method」


  「Is that true?」


  「Yeah. Even so, I won’t be able to divulge details about the method due to various circumstances and something similar to limited privileges, but there are various other means to learn them」


  With parasitism, of course.

  ….Though I’m not telling you to do your best, I’m also not lying to you since I never said『I』 did my best.

  It seems I’m safe for the time being since Suu’s the kind of person who won’t ask further if the other party doesn’t wish to talk about it, but despite not acquiring any information, it seems his curiosity has been piqued from watching all the things I’ve been doing.

  Though it doesn’t seem to be of any use currently, let’s think about a reasonable story for the future from now.

  So, I secretly decided to make a fabricated but funny story.

  Do I need to make it interesting?