Volume 2 Chapter 6 Can't Remove The Curse
"Can we really get through here?"
Randy, with a sack on his shoulder, looks up at the old clock tower in the royal capital. It looks like a smaller version of Big Ben. This historic building was said to have been built around the same time as the cathedral, and the park at its base is famous as a place for citizens to relax.
It's hard to believe they can reach the underground church from a place like this, but the ancient great magician seemed very confident.
(If this doesn't work, maybe I'll try a nearby dungeon.)
Thinking it might be worth a shot, Randy sneaks up to the top of the clock tower, avoiding the eyes of patrolling soldiers under the still dark sky.
At the top, he looks around the small tower, but there doesn't seem to be any entrance...
"I'm sure this is where I need to use this──."
As he holds up the magical stone given to him by Ellie, it suddenly creates a door-like space in the wall.
(Is this some kind of magic concealment?)
Randy doesn't fully understand how it works, but if he can get in, that's all that matters. He steps onto a ladder for inspection. He quickly climbs down and finds himself in a musty space. The ladder he came down from is surrounded by various cleaning tools. It seems like a space the caretaker uses occasionally.
It looks like just a storage room, but there's said to be a hidden door that leads further down in one corner of the floor.
Randy starts waving the magic stone made by Ellie around. Before long, a door leading underground appears in a corner buried under cleaning tools. As Randy opens the hidden door, he pulls out a lantern from his sack and lights it. The lantern illuminates a staircase leading into the darkness.
"This is way too atmospheric."
With a wry smile, Randy descends the stairs, holding the lantern in one hand.
Just as Ellie said, when he opens the door to the space he reaches, a corridor half-buried in dirt comes into view. According to Ellie, the clock tower and the church were originally one building.
For some unknown reason, it was buried underground by magic. The dirt flowing in is definitely because the barrier covering the church has weakened.
Various coincidences have led to this access to the dungeon, but Randy is feeling quite down.
"A corridor, huh... It really is just a corridor."
Randy has a reason for feeling down about the dungeon he has reached. He was drawn to the ancient church said to be underground, but what he found was not what he expected.
(I was hoping for a towering church underground...)
Having expected a hidden church in a giant cave, it's no wonder Randy feels disappointed to find just a corridor.
That said, if he thinks about it, it's impossible to see the whole structure since a church is built on top of ancient ruins.
"Let's shake it off and keep going."
Determined to finish quickly, Randy starts moving through the dirt and opens the door at the end of the corridor. What he sees beyond is a dimly lit hallway that could be called 'The Dungeon.'
"Alright, let's see if it's monsters or snakes that come out."
Randy sighed as he stepped into the hallway and placed the lantern on the floor. Luckily, thanks to the dungeon-like environment, he could see well enough even without the lantern.
"It's nice to have a free hand," Randy thought as he pulled out a mapping tool from his burlap sack. The mapping tool was basically a small drawing board he made himself.
By hanging it around his neck, he could easily write on it whenever he needed. He planned to sell this little gadget to the Adventurer's Guild someday.
With a burlap sack on his shoulder and a small drawing board around his neck, Randy had a lot of stuff, but he didn't seem to mind at all as he walked straight down the hallway.
Suddenly, a ghoul appeared around the corner.
"This won't make good lotion ingredients!"
Randy frowned and delivered a high kick that knocked the ghoul's head off. The splattered fluids and guts definitely couldn't be used as a base for lotion or cream.
It was a bad start, but there was nothing he could do about it, so Randy decided to head in the opposite direction from where the ghoul had come. However, the path he took also ended in a dead end, making him feel even more unlucky. But then he noticed a straight sword hanging at the end of the hallway, faintly glowing.
"Oh, it's starting to feel more like a dungeon!"
While there weren't as many obvious treasure chests like in games, finding items hidden in places like this was the real thrill of dungeon exploration.
When Randy picked up the glowing straight sword, he thought, "It looks like a toy." It was a rather rude thought.
He swung it around a couple of times, but it felt too light to be very useful. Still, there was something about that faint glow that attracted him.
"Usually, you find weapons that are useful in dungeons in places like this."
Not knowing much about the monsters' behaviors, Randy decided to take it with him as he headed back the way he came.
(If it has undead-slaying properties, that would be helpful.)
Randy thought this, but he wasn't particularly afraid of undead creatures. Just like he had taken down the ghoul with a single kick, he could handle undead without any issues.
However, for incorporeal types like wraiths and ghosts, he needed to imbue his weapon with magical power. For Randy, who had average magical power, conserving it was the most important thing while he planned to keep exploring the dungeon.
As he swung the straight sword around while walking, a wraith appeared in front of him.
"How convenient."
The wraith was stronger than a ghost, but to Randy, it was still weak. Without realizing it, he threw the straight sword at the wraith.
The wraith was pierced by the sword and let out a dying scream before dissipating into mist.
"Bingo! Undead-slaying!"
In a good mood, Randy retrieved the straight sword but then turned back to where the wraith had been.
"Nothing left behind!"
In terms of gathering materials, it was a complete failure. Still, since he was there, Randy felt the urge to explore more.
With the undead-slaying weapon in one hand, he slashed the ghoul, sent the wraith to rest, and smashed the skeleton orc's head.
"Since there's a skeleton of an orc, does that mean there are orcs too?"
Talking to himself, Randy went downstairs and encountered an orc that must have bred in the dungeon. Finally meeting a beast that wasn't undead, Randy felt a strong urge to hug the orc and thought, "This is great!"
But the orc was a beast.
As soon as it saw Randy, its pig-like face twisted, and it charged at him.
In front of the jumping orcs, Randy threw his straight sword straight up into the air.
With his free right hand, he grabbed the large beloved sword stored in his small magic bag.
Grabbing the hilt, he pulled it out in one swift motion.
He smashed through the flesh and bones of multiple orcs, sending them flying all at once.
Blood and guts splattered everywhere, staining the floor a dark blue-black.
Shaking off the blood on the blade, Randy stabbed the greatsword into the floor... just as his straight sword returned to his right hand.
Randy pushed the returned straight sword into the magic bag and grabbed the greatsword.
"Alright, let's go all out──."
With a fierce grin, Randy lowered the burlap sack from his left shoulder and accelerated.
He trampled the group of orcs in front of him, turning the area into a sea of blood.
Among the orc horde, there must have been higher-ranked ones, but none could escape Randy's storm-like sword strikes.
The thick smell of blood surrounding him was proof of how many beasts there were.
(They say orcs grow quickly and have many offspring.)
Randy searched through the remaining orcs for useful parts, but most were just meat. Orc meat is very similar to pork and is quite a valuable food source in this world.
However, he didn't have the luxury to take the meat back. All he could do was hope for what the orcs had collected, so Randy stepped into the room where the orcs had come from. It looked like an orc pantry.
While rummaging through whatever caught his eye, Randy found something interesting.
"This is a scroll, isn't it?"
As expected of a dungeon. He discovered an ancient magic scroll. Moreover, its content was...
"Subspace Storage (Miniature), that's the one, right?"
...Just as Randy's mouth curled up, it was the so-called 'item box.' He was about to use it right away, but after thinking for a moment, he stuffed the scroll into the burlap sack.
After considering various things, he decided it would be better to use it for Liz.
If the item box increased, it would definitely mean more tabs. Then, she might be able to craft through the item box. If that happened, Liz, who uses crafting more, would benefit more from it.
Just this alone made coming to this dungeon worthwhile, Randy thought proudly as he left the orc room and started walking down the hallway again.
The undead he encountered seemed to be congratulating him, or so it appeared... though it was just a misunderstanding.
He slashed through the undead and crushed the occasional normal beast, finally reaching a place that looked like a terrace.
It seemed to face a courtyard, and beyond the terrace, he could see a courtyard wrapped in a somewhat ominous atmosphere.
(A courtyard underground, huh...)
Looking up, Randy saw a huge rock above in the open space. Was it stuck there, or was it some kind of barrier? Either way, the courtyard was safe for now.
In front of Randy, who jumped down from the terrace into the courtyard, there was a staff radiating a dark purple aura.
"What is this staff?"
Randy had let his guard down. He had been doing well up to this point and completely forgot what Ellie had told him before he left.
──If you find a suspicious staff, first sprinkle it with the holy water I made.
The staff looked very suspicious, but Randy had completely forgotten about the holy water Ellie had tucked away in his bag. So, without thinking, he reached out for the staff...
"Whoa, what is this?"
As Randy exclaimed, the dark purple aura wrapped around his arm. But that wasn't all. Randy's hand couldn't pull away from the staff.
He struggled to free himself, but his hand felt like it wasn't even his own.
"Wait, what the──."
What's happening? Just as Randy was about to ask, he bent down.
A giant scythe passed overhead.
"Hey, hey, hey. I didn't sign up for this!"
In front of Randy, who forced a smile, was a beast that looked like a grim reaper──a lich──laughing loudly.
Randy couldn't let go of the staff.
The lich swung the scythe, trying to kill him.
"Wait! Let's talk this out!"
Randy's plea was ignored by the lich, who only laughed triumphantly in response.
With each ignored plea, a vein popped out on Randy's temple.
"Okay. I'm trying to talk here──whoa!"
Putting all his strength into it, Randy tried to pull the staff out. Still, it wouldn't budge... but Randy wasn't about to give up.
He covered his body with magical power and pushed with all his might...
With a sound like something tearing, a loud "BONG" echoed as Randy pulled the staff out along with the ground beneath it.
At the end of the delicate staff was a massive rock.
It was a strange sight, but Randy, resting it on his shoulder, had a mischievous grin.
Oddly enough, even the lich's triumphant laughter sounded strained.
"You refused to talk first."
Randy pulled out a bottle of holy water from his bag.
He threw the bottle and hit it with the rock hammer as it fell.
The shattered holy water splattered everywhere, and the lich hurriedly flew up──where Randy was already in the air.
"You fool. Die──."
With the rock covered in holy water, Randy slammed it down onto the lich.
The lich vanished without even a laugh.
Watching it disappear, Randy snorted, "I mean, it's more like it was already dead."
Though the danger had passed for Randy...
"I really have to take this back with me."
...he sighed heavily at the staff still stuck to his hand.
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