kscans

Chapter 67 - Crossbow

Relying on the glow of the roses and the light from my LED lantern, we proceeded through the dungeon.

My eyes darted around, staying vigilant. Amidst the echo of my own footsteps, I refocused, tightening my grip on my sword, which had started to loosen as I concentrated too much on what I was seeing.

"We’ve reached the dead end."

‘Good. Turn left, then right at the next T-junction.’

"Roger."

"You got it."

Just as I was about to step to the left as instructed...

"Kyouta-chan!"

"!?"

I had a vision of something hitting my calf at almost the exact same moment Erina-san cried out sharply.

I slowly retracted the foot I was about to step forward with and looked down.

It was an anomaly difficult to see with the naked eye, but visible to my skill-enhanced vision.

It was a thin thread.

Stretching from between the iron bars on both sides, it connected the hedgerows. It was as thin as a spider’s thread and located where the light from the mysterious roses struggled to reach.

It was clearly placed with some sort of intent. Without a doubt, it was a trap.

‘What’s wrong? What happened?’

"We’ve discovered what appears to be a trap. ...Erina-san found it."

"That’s right."

Erina-san placed her hands on her hips with a smug look.

For a moment, I had the urge to say, ‘I want to punch that smile,’ but she had done her job and warned me. I swallowed the thought.

"I’m impressed."

"Heh! But you noticed it too, right, Kyouta-chan?"

"Only because of my future sight."

It was entirely my own carelessness.

Since the Masquerades basically float, my gaze had been aimed slightly upward. As a result, I had almost fallen right into their trap.

I’ve heard people say you should look at the whole picture, but it’s harder than you’d think. Apparently, even trained soldiers sometimes miss traps, which is probably why these things are still effective outside of dungeons.

However, if I’m going to make a living as a dungeon adventurer, I need to get better at it.

"Hmm, but what kind of trap is this? The classic trip-wire bow?"

"There’s no mana reaction, so I don’t think it’s magic or anything like that."

"Then it’s probably a bow. Let’s back up and disarm it. Oh, and watch out for other traps."

"Roger."

Come to think of it, I remember seeing a movie where avoiding one trap led right into another.

It’s a classic, but effective, move. It might be here too, so this time I made sure to scan everything.

"...I don’t think there’s anything suspicious."

"Okay. Then I’ll disarm this."

Erina-san casually threw a throwing spike and cut the taut thread. Immediately, something shot out from within the hedgerow at high speed.

My `Spirit Eye` caught it—a small bolt. Too short to be fired from a regular bow, so it must have been from a crossbow.

"It was a trip-wire bow. Probably a small crossbow."

"I see. Pulling it out to collect it... seems a little risky, so let’s not."

"Yeah."

I remembered from the info at the Dungeon Store that clumsily disarming one trap could sometimes trigger another.

There were multiple types of traps, so I didn’t know what might happen, and we were currently in an exam. I wanted to avoid unnecessary risks.

Crossbows from traps like these could be sold for money if recovered, but sometimes they turned to ‘salt’ the moment you removed them. It wasn’t worth the effort for nothing.

"Aira-san. Please record the trap’s location. It’s right after the left turn at the dead end."

‘Right. I’ve written it down. Make sure to get the reporting reward at the store.’

"Yes. Thank you."

"Alrighty. Let’s head out!"

I nodded at Erina-san’s words and we resumed our exploration.

I proceeded cautiously, keeping my eyes peeled. Acting as the main scout like this was surprisingly nerve-wracking.

It really made me appreciate Erina-san. I knew intellectually that it was impossible to maintain concentration constantly, but I didn’t know when to relax. That made me anxious that my scouting accuracy was dropping.

I felt an unpleasant sweat trickle down my chin. Even if my body wasn’t tired, my mind was being worn down.

Then, about three minutes’ walk from where the trap had been, my `Spirit Eye` detected moving mana.

"Two corners ahead. Three targets on the right. Moving toward us."

"Roger."

I whispered the information, stopped, and placed my left hand on my knife.

But I stopped myself. The monsters here would just knock away a thrown knife. In that case, I should let Erina-san use her projectiles to keep them busy while I charged in.

The lead Masquerade appeared from around the corner. In that instant, it noticed us too. A black mask with gold decorations turned to face us.

At the same time, I started running. A throwing spike flew parallel to me. I maintained a slight distance from it, and we attacked from both sides in a pincer-like maneuver.

The Masquerade immediately turned its mask toward me and swung its rapier in a diagonal slash.

Perhaps because of the influence of manga and games, rapiers have an image of being piercing weapons, but they can also be used to slash. Its sharp blade knocked down the throwing spike as it came down on me.

But it was too slow. By trying to deal with both of us at once, its sword speed was lacking.

As I ran past, I slashed its torso in a single motion. Visually, it looked like I had only torn its cape, but a sixth sense told me I had definitely cut its spiritual body.

The wide field of view from my `Spirit Eye` detected a thrust from my right. I bent my knees and ducked; the tip of a rapier grazed the top of my head, creating a small spark and a shockwave.

Twisting my body, I swung my sword up in a reverse diagonal slash. The other one’s rapier moved to block it.

Its blade pressed down from above. Considering our postures, it had the advantage, but unfortunately for it, this body of mine was high-performance.

With brute force, I sent the slender blade flying upward.

Immediately after, before the Masquerade in front could launch a thrust, I shattered its mask with my left fist. It broke easily, and its spiritual form dispersed.

One left. It was pulling back the rapier that had been knocked upward and was now swinging the blade at my neck.

Just as I blocked it with my hand-and-a-half sword, a ninja sword thrust up from below and shattered its mask.

"You okay, Kyouta-chan?"

"No problems at all."

I replied while maintaining my guard. After confirming that all the enemies had turned to salt and scanning our surroundings, I collected the coins.

The currency that dropped here must have a high gold content. Stronger monsters drop more valuable items, but the shine of these was clearly different from what we’d found before.

In fact, the research lab always bought the coins from here at a higher price. It was a welcome bonus.

According to Aira-san, anything not used for research was given as gifts to the professor’s connoisseur friends. I had no say in what happened after they were bought, but it was quite generous.

In any case, the fact that we could handle three at once without any issues was a big confidence boost, mainly mentally.

The Masquerade’s direct combat ability, aside from its reaction speed, was lower than a centaur’s. It was what you’d expect for its rank, but it gave me a little breathing room.

As long as that breathing room didn't turn into overconfidence.

After taking a small, deep breath, I looked at Erina-san.

"Here you go."

"You got it!"

I handed her the coins and started walking again.

About an hour and a half had passed since we started exploring. We had long since marked the exit and were now focused on securing drops and earning experience.

Perhaps it was about time to finish the exam itself... so I thought.

"Geh."

An involuntary, strange noise escaped my lips.

"What’s up, Kyouta-chan?"

"...That corner over there. The one that turns right in an L-shape. There are multiple mana signatures on the other side. Probably five or six."

"Oh my. That’s quite a few."

‘Hmm. The path ahead is a straight shot for over fifty meters. Ending the exploration here is an option, you know.’

"...I’ll just take a quick look, at least."

"Good idea."

We had fought over a dozen battles so far, and I knew that defeating normal Masquerades wasn’t difficult.

The experience gain also felt pretty good, so if it didn’t look too risky, I wanted to take them down.

With that in mind, I peeked my head out for a second and immediately pulled it back.

I felt a frown form on my face.

"How was it?"

"Six Masquerades in ambush. They’ve got bows and crossbows set up, and even have shields."

A pavise, was it? A shield large enough to reach my chest was propped up from behind by some kind of stand.

Long ago, archers and crossbowmen used those to protect themselves. It seemed the Masquerades were doing the same.

The distance from the corner to the enemy was about forty meters. I could cover that in a run, and I thought I could deflect arrows with wind, but the crossbows worried me.

I tried peeking from a spot about three heads lower than where I had before.

"Whoa."

With a whistling sound, several bolts came flying.

The ones from the bows seemed like they could be deflected by the wind as expected, but the crossbow bolts were bad news. They ricocheted off a part of the iron bars with a high-pitched clang, passed through the corner hedgerow, and disappeared from sight.

They were terrifyingly fast. This was definitely not a weapon a person could carry and run with. It looked like something you’d mount on a castle wall.

"...Looks like four with bows and two with crossbows. Only one crossbow was fired. They might be planning to fire in volleys to account for reloading time."

"A three-stage volley!"

"It’s only two stages."

And as if for backup, the archers were also loosing arrows.

They seemed to be firing them one after another, at a considerable pace. I couldn’t tell their accuracy, but their draw speed was top-notch.

"What do you want to do? Go back?"

"Hmm, wait a second."

With that, Erina-san took out three red tubes with fuses from her `Item Box`.

For a second I thought it was dynamite, but I quickly realized it wasn't.

"Smoke fireworks...?"

"Yup! But these are the powerful kind they sell at the Dungeon Store. You’d probably get arrested if you used them in the city."

Erina-san smiled, lit the fireworks with a lighter, and tossed them around the corner.

Of course, arrows came flying, but none of them hit her hand, which was exposed for only an instant, or the fireworks rolling on the floor.

—FWOOOSH!

There was a sound like a fire extinguisher going off, and in an instant, the corridor was filled with gray smoke.

Masquerades are spiritual beings. Common sense would suggest that a physical smokescreen wouldn’t be effective, but...

Arrows came flying, embedding themselves in the hedgerow.

The effect was obvious. Fearing we would charge through the smoke, they were firing even more arrows than before.

"Just like the SDF intel said."

"Yup. Thank goodness for the SDF!"

This too was according to information we got at the store. It was probably part of the test, but preliminary information gathering was truly important.

Masquerades generally have higher mobility and attack power compared to normal `Wraiths`, but on the other hand, they have un-ghostly traits like having trouble passing through walls.

I didn’t know if it was due to the clothes they wore, but their scouting also seemed to rely on sound and sight.

"Their arrows don’t get replenished after they use them, right?"

"I think it takes a while, yeah."

"But if we wait for them to run out, another group might come from behind."

I glanced behind us. There were no enemies in sight right now, but another group could try to pincer us.

The smoke was starting to thin. This was our chance to attack.

After exchanging a nod with Erina-san, I kept low and lunged out, thrusting my left hand forward.

"Go...!"

The released wind gathered the thinning smoke and pushed it toward the enemy, forcibly thickening it again. Just as they were likely letting their guard down as the smoke cleared, their vision was once again obscured.

With their arrows stopped by the wind pressure and poor visibility, I charged. I could roughly see the enemy positions through the flow of mana.

I ignored the arrows they shot in an attempt to keep me at bay, brushing them aside with wind, and focused only on the crossbowmen.

The mana wavered. It’s coming...!

—WHOOSH!

Whether it was their luck or their skill, the spear-like bolt came straight for me.

Was it imbued with poltergeist energy? The bolt's speed was faster than before. Its power was likely amplified accordingly.

But since it was cloaked in mana, my eyes could see it clearly.

I met the approaching projectile, which was accompanied by a loud whistling sound, with a slash of my own. I cut it down with a reverse diagonal slash. And then, I was within my sword’s reach.

There was a pavise for each enemy. Four archers in the front row, two crossbowmen in the back.

Sweeping away the smoke, I swung my sword in a wide arc. I cut down two Masquerades in the front row, shields and all, and pushed deeper.

With the same momentum, I kicked the rightmost pavise to pieces, and a crossbowman leaped out from above. It seemed to have given up on loading another bolt, as it came at me swinging its weapon like a club.

But it was too slow. Dodging the crossbow as it came down on my head, I pierced the crimson cape with the tip of my sword.

Three left. The last crossbowman was backpedaling with all its might, trying to take aim at me.

Just as a shadow ran past my side, two rapiers closed in from the left and right. I blocked the slash from the right with my sword and twisted my body to evade the thrust from the left.

Without looking back, I stretched out my left arm, grabbed the collar of one Masquerade, and slammed it into the one on my right. With them overlapping, I cut them down together.

Two capes fluttered powerlessly to the ground. When I looked forward again, the crossbowman was in the process of collapsing.

A red cape spread out on the floor. Beside it stood a blonde girl holding a ninja sword.

"And that’s a clean cut!!"

It was Erina-san, who had turned invisible to get close. I could see her running past me just fine, but the Masquerades, despite being ghosts, seemed to rely on sight and didn’t notice her approach.

I readied my sword and watched the scattered red capes warily, but they all turned to salt. I collected the coins.

"Good work."

"Good work, Kyouta-chan!"

I handed her the coins and touched my earring.

"We’ve defeated all enemies that were past the corner."

‘Excellent. Now... it seems the enemy was positioned as if to guard what lies beyond...’

"Of course, we won’t be going any further."

"The store intel said ‘it’s a trap,’ after all."

‘Very good.’

It’s human nature to want to check a place that’s being guarded. To wonder if there’s some treasure there, something worth protecting.

However, as if to exploit that psychology, beyond the waiting Masquerades were vicious traps like ‘teleportation traps’ and ‘pitfalls.’

And to make it even more annoying, there was nothing waiting at the end for those who managed to get through them.

"Well then, we’ll be heading back soon."

‘Right. But don’t let your guard down until the very end, okay?’

"The excursion isn’t over until you get home!"

‘Exactly!’

"The way you say that already sounds like you’ve let your guard down..."

And with that, we teleported near the exit. We passed through the gate without incident and returned to the store.

"Welcome back. I’m glad to see you’re both safe."

The SDF officer at the reception greeted us with a smile. Unlike when we entered, not only his expression but also his eyes were gentle.

＊　　　　＊　　　　　＊

We reported the pre-sale coin count, as well as the discovery and disarming of the trap, and then waited for the bus in front of the store.

We defeated 35 monsters. The research lab’s coin buyout came to about ‘1.2 million yen’ per person. I also gained a level, reaching LV: 22.

Without a doubt, it was a profitable dungeon exploration. In exchange, I was pretty tired.

"Kyouta-chan, I’m going to start training."

"Huh?"

As I was vaguely looking at the bus schedule, Erina-san made a fist and looked up at the sky with a determined ‘hmph.’

Even though the days were getting longer, the sky was already growing dark. In the distance, the red sun was setting.

"Training for what?"

"I realized it in this dungeon... If I can’t scout properly, I get bored."

"Maybe choose your words better, like ‘frustrated’?"

"My teeth hurt!"

"Should you see a dentist?"

"I brush my teeth every day."

"I see."

"I’m going to do my best! I have a plan! But my stealth will drop a little, so I’m worried from a ninja perspective...! I feel like my ninja power will decrease...!"

What the heck is ninja power?

Erina-san spouting nonsense was nothing new, so I decided to ignore that term, but if she was going to be ‘training,’ there was something I wanted to do too.

"In that case, could you help me out with something?"

"With what? Training?"

"Training, or rather, practice. It’s difficult to do alone."

I was currently trying to learn a technique that I might not even use in a dungeon.

It might be a waste of time. But when I thought about the ‘dragon,’ there was something I wanted to be able to do.

When I looked at Erina-san...

"Leave it to me, Kyouta-chan! Let’s train together!!"

Her eyes were sparkling brightly.

Please don’t. When you look at me with such pure eyes, I feel like disappearing for no reason...!

"Um..."

"The two of us will aim for the pinnacle of the ninja way! We’ve only just begun to climb this long and arduous ninja path!!"

"Yeah, I don’t care about the ninja stuff."

‘That makes three of us, then.’

"Oh, the telepathy was still connected."

‘Ouch, that kinda hurts! I’m here too, you know. Pay attention to me, you two.’

The pathetic voice of the hopeless college girl came through the earring.

"Excellent! Then the three of us will do ninja training!!"

‘Ah, but I don’t do outdoorsy stuff. You two do your best.’

"Then why did you join in...?"

‘Because I was lonely!!’

"I get that!!"

"...Well, I agree, but..."

‘Right! I knew you’d understand, Kyouta-kun! As a socially anxious loner introvert, I believed you would understand the pain of having two friends talk without including you!!’

"Was it really necessary to throw in all those insults?"

‘HAHAHA! Kyouta-kun, I can hear your fists clenching, it’s scary!’

"I’m making sure you can hear it."

"I know this one! It’s the application of ‘I’m aiming at you,’ right?"

‘That doesn’t make me happy at all!?’

We waited for the bus while having our stupid conversation.

With this, the practical side of the C-Rank promotion exam was complete. All that was left was to take the paperwork to the city hall and wait for the date of the written exam and interview to be held at the prefectural office.

I heard it could take a week, or even two weeks, after applying.

As I’d thought before, in modern society, brute force alone isn’t enough.