第三十四話 班分け
周囲を徘徊するアンデッド達を避け、時に交戦し、ようやく〈嘆きの墓所〉の入り口へと辿り着いた。
「......いかにもってところだな」
今回探索する〈嘆きの墓所〉......そこは、鬱蒼と茂った森の奥にあった。
空は青黒い葉に覆われていて仄暗く、周囲には朽ちた墓石が不規則に立っている。
いるだけで気の滅入るような場所だった。
墓石の中央に虹色の渦が浮かんでいる。
お馴染みの〈
もっとも〈マジックワールド〉時代はそんなものただの演出で、フレーバーテキストくらいの意味しかなかったのだが。
「もう少し丁重にできなかったんですかねぇ......こんな〈
ルーチェが墓石を眺め、そう呟く。
「大昔は近くに村があったのかもしれないが、滅んだか......或いは、都市ラコリナに保護されて移住したんだろう」
高レベルの魔物の闊歩するこの地で、墓石を悠長に移すような真似は不可能だ。
それに仮にこの森に彷徨う霊魂の影響がなかったとしても、また別系統の〈
「〈嘆きの墓所〉の調査は四人前後の五つの班に分かれて行動してもらう。効率的な調査のために班ごとに別々の道筋で内部を進み奥で合流する」
ギルドから今回の指揮を任されているカロスが、俺達へと説明する。
手には地図の束があった。
〉は同じ名を冠するものでも内部の道筋は大きく異なっている。
いわゆるランダム自動生成という奴だ。
事前の調査と、他の冒険者達がギルドに売った情報から、既に〈嘆きの墓所〉の大まかな道筋は割れているらしい。
〉なのに異常発生の頻度が高い理由を、二十人掛かりで虱潰しに調査する、というわけだ。
調査が終わり次第、人海戦術で〈夢の主〉を叩く。
こうした都市からの依頼でもなければ実入りが悪すぎる。
それに、本来〈夢の主〉は数頼みの戦いがあまり有効ではない。
HPやMPより、攻撃力と防御力に素早さ、多彩なスキルが厄介であることが多いからだ。
無論それでも人数が多いに越したことはないのだが、レベルの及ばないものを引き連れていっても死体の山を築く結果になる。
今回は回復役以外はB級以上の冒険者ばかりなので、数で格上の〈夢の主〉を倒すというより、少しでも安全かつ確実に処理するというのが目的であるため、また話が違ってくるのだが。
「〈嘆きの墓所〉の〈夢の主〉は骨の騎士......ナイトボーン。【Lv:70】だから、ここにいる冒険者が徒党を組めばまず負ける相手じゃない。一人で倒せる者だっているかもしれないな」
カロスの説明が続く。
ナイトボーンは、鎧を纏った真っ赤な骸骨だ。
二メートル以上の背丈を持ち、重い大剣の一撃をお見舞いしてくる。
火力が高いのが厄介だが、遠距離攻撃のスキルは持たないのでその点では事故の心配も少ない。
集団で叩かずとも、俺とルーチェでもどうにかなりそうな相手だ。
「それでも、今この〈
は調査が第一なのだから、勝手にボス部屋まで行って〈夢の主〉であるナイトボーンを討伐されては敵わない。
「五つの班分けについては、クラスとレベル、既存の人間関係からこちらで考えさせてもらった」
カロスが各班を発表し、ルートの記された地図を手渡していく。
俺の班はルーチェに僧侶のメアベル......そして、狩人のケルトだった。
B級の新人二人に回復役と、場数を踏んできた熟練のB級冒険者を配置するのはまぁ妥当である。
メアベルはともかく、よりによってケルトか、というのが本音だが。
「おいおいさっきのガキ共かよ。足を引っ張ってくれるんじゃねえぞ」
ケルトは言葉とは裏腹に、余裕ありげな笑みを浮かべている。
一度本性を言い当てた俺と組むことになったというのに、全く気にしている素振りがない。
立場と経験の差があるため、俺程度なんとでもできると思っているのかもしれない。
ルーチェがケルトを威嚇するように腕を構え、キッとケルトを睨みつけていた。
「わぁ、さっき話した人達で嬉しいんよ。エルマさんらは優しそうだし、ケルトさんも頼り甲斐があるし。ウチらの方針はケルトさんに任せるんよ」
メアベルは向けられたケルトの背を、薄笑いを浮かべながら眺めていた。
「勿論ウチは、熟練者のケルトさんの言葉はしっかり聞かせてもらうんよ。さっきのお言葉の通りに、ケルトさんに使うMPはゆっくりゆっくり温存させてもらうんよ」
微かに笑って肩を揺らした後、ケルトの背を追い掛けていく。
ほ、本当にいい性格をしている......。
「......エルマさん、大丈夫なんでしょうか、あの子」
「......まぁ、こっちから裏切らなければ、滅多なことはされないだろう」
俺はルーチェの言葉にそう返す。
「師匠にお供させていただけて幸いです! やっぱりオレを認めてくれていたんですね!」
「だから君の師匠になった覚えはないのだが......。今の鎌装備の君は、他の班に押し付けるとただの足手纏いになってしまいかねないからね。押し付けるわけにはいかなかった」
ヒルデの大きな声に振り返れば、カロスがなかなか辛辣な言葉を彼女へぶつけていた。
「師匠、そう思っているのでしたら、あの、何か剣を......」
「戦力的には今回の依頼は余力があるからね。鎌装備で君が突っ走れなくなっていた方が丁度いい」
散々な評価である。
元々カロスは今回の
Volume 2 - Ch 34
After going around, or sometimes coming to blows with, the undead wandering the area, we finally reached the entrance of the Graveyard of Sorrows.
"....as expected, I suppose."
The Graveyard of Sorrows we came to investigate was deep within a dense forest.
The sky was covered with bluish black leaves and the ruined gravestones standing intermittently around us gave off a gloomy atmosphere.
A truly depressing place.
In the center of the gravestones a rainbow colored whirlpool was floating in the air.
It was the familiar entrance of a Dungeon.
Of course, in Magic World that was only set dressing and was strictly just flavor text.
"Couldn't they handle this place with a bit more care....? Even a Dungeon appeared because of it."
Luce said quietly while looking at the gravestones.
"Maybe there was a village nearby a long time ago, which was either destroyed....or perhaps the inhabitants were taken in by La Colina."
In a place like this where high level monsters tend to roam, it's all but impossible to move the graves.
Also, if this place wasn't affected by wandering souls of the forest, then all it would've done is change the type of Dungeon that appeared in the end.
"We will be investigating the Graveyard of Sorrows in five groups of four. To most efficiently search the place, each group will travel on a different route and rendezvous before the end."
Kalos, the leader appointed by the Guild for this time, explained to us.
He had a bundle of maps in his hand.
Even Dungeons that have the same name differ greatly in their internal structure.
A so-called procedurally generated content.
Apparently thanks to the previous investigation and the information sold to the Guild by other adventurers, the interior of the Graveyard of Sorrows was mostly known already.
What comes now is that these twenty people will scour the place for possible reasons as to why a still fresh Dungeon had an unusually large number of abnormal events happen to it.
Depending on what the investigation finds, we may also set out to take down the Dream Lord with human-wave tactics.
Without having the city put a reward on it, the profit ratio is simply awful.
Using numbers to take down a Dream Lord is not an efficient tactic to begin with.
Since most of the time it's not the HP or MP of the boss that's the most troublesome, but the Attack, Defense, and Agility, and also the various Skills it may have.
Of course, having more numbers is better, but bringing people who are not high enough level only makes it more likely that the battle will result in a mountain of corpses.
Although aside from the healers, most adventurers here are at least B rank, so rather than relying on numbers to take down a higher level Dream Lord, it's a situation where we try to maximize safety as best we can while making sure to defeat the boss, so it's a different story.
"The Dream Lord of the Graveyard of Sorrows is a bone knight called Knight Bone. It's a [(Lv:70)]  opponent, so it's very unlikely we could lose if we all work together to take it down. There may be people here that could even defeat it alone."
Kalos kept on explaining.
The Knight Bone is a crimson red skeleton covered in armor.
It's taller than two meters and fights with a large and heavy sword.
Although it has a high damage potential, what it doesn't have is a ranged attack Skill, so we don't have to worry too much about an accident happening.
Even without fighting it with a large group, even Luce and I alone could deal with it by ourselves.
"Even so, this Dungeon is in a state where anything could happen. I would like everyone to avoid running ahead by entering the Lord's room. If someone does that anyway, then I will have to report it to the Guild as intentionally disrupting this Raid Quest."
The main objective of this Raid Quest is the investigation itself, so it would be especially bad if someone were to just waltz into the Dream Lord's room and defeat the Knight Bone.
"As for choosing who belongs in each group, I've done that by considering everyone's Class, level, and previous relations."
Kalos announced the group composition and gave out a map with their route marked on it.
My group had Luce and Mabel, the Priestess. Also....Celt, the Hunter.
It makes a certain sense to pair an experienced B rank adventurer with two newly appointed B rank adventurers and a healer, I guess.
Leaving Mabel aside, I don't really like the fact that our last member turned out to be Celt of all people.
"Oi oi, if it isn't the brats from before. Try not to hold me back too much."
Contrary to Celt's words, he had a perfectly relaxed expression on his face.
He doesn't seem to be too bothered by the fact that he got grouped with me, someone who managed to see through him before.
Perhaps he is confident that due to the difference between our positions and life experiences, he could deal with me if it comes to that.
Meanwhile Luce was glaring at Celt with her arms crossed, trying to intimidate him.
"Yaay, I'm glad that I'm grouped with people who I've spoken with before. Elma-san and Luce-san seem nice and Celt-san seems reliable too. I will leave the decisions on what I should do to Celt-san."
Mabel kept looking at the back of Celt with a slight smile on her face.
"But of course I will do just as the experienced Celt-san said. I will make sure to keep in reserve the MP I would be using on Celt-san."
After a few quiet giggles she then hurried after Celt.
Truly, she has a delightful personality.....
"....Elma-san, is that girl really okay?"
"....well, as long as we don't betray her, she shouldn't do anything drastic."
I answered Luce's query.
"I'm happy that I can accompany Teacher! This must mean that you recognized me as your disciple!"
"As I said already, I don't remember ever becoming your teacher.... With you only armed with a sickle like this, I couldn't just saddle another group with you, since you would only be a hindrance like that."
As we turned back from hearing Hilde's loud voice, we heard Kalos saying some pretty scathing words to her.
"Teacher, if that's what you really think, then, uhm, a sword...."
"We have some leeway in terms of fighting strength during this Raid Quest, so it's best if you keep to your sickle like that, which is perfect for preventing you from rushing ahead."
A harsh assessment.
Although, since Kalos didn't want to bring her with us on this Raid Quest to begin with, it's somewhat understandable....
The Reincarnated Heavy Knight Who Was Exiled After A Supposed Big Miss Is Unparalleled With His Game Knowledge
大ハズレだと追放された転生重騎士はゲーム知識で無双する
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-reincarnated-heavy-knight-who-was-exiled-after-a-supposed-big-miss-is-unparalleled-with-his-game-knowledge/
Action Adventure Fantasy Romance Shounen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alchemy Arrogant Characters Artifacts Blacksmith Calm Protagonist Clever Protagonist Determined Protagonist Dungeons Fallen Nobility Fantasy World Game Elements Guilds Hot-blooded Protagonist Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Lucky Protagonist Male Protagonist Mystery Solving Naive Protagonist Nobles Poor to Rich Previous Life Talent Reincarnated in a Game World Romantic Subplot Skill Books Strategic Battles Strong Love Interests Strong to Stronger Sword Wielder Underestimated Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8465gx/
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