The following morning.
Two parties entered the dungeon.
Our main party and Kuilan's band of five bandits.
"Wait, weren't we supposed to fight monsters on the fortress walls?"
Kuilan's face turned pale in an instant as we were dragged into the gloomy dungeon.
"It's damp! It's dark! It's creepy! Where the heck are we?"
"This is a dungeon, the very lair of monsters."
Lake Kingdom Dungeon, Section 3. [Outside the northern fortress].
I pointed towards the dark interior of the dungeon where the shadows seemed to stir.
"We're here to fight the next wave of defensive monsters in advance."
"There was no mention in the contract that we'd have to fight here!"
"Oh, come on~ It's written right here."
I'd brought the contract with me, anticipating his complaint, and I waved it back and forth.
"See this small text in the corner? It's clearly written here, right? And your signature's here too. Can you see it?"
"Urk... ugh?!"
Kuilan examined the contract with a defeated look. I chuckled wickedly in front of him. You should've read it carefully, my friend. Kekeke.
"Uh... ugh, ugh, ugh...!"
Kuilan looked back and forth between the dungeon's depths and the safe zone with a face as pale as death.
The other bandits who'd been watching Kuilan approached me, sighing.
"We apologize. Our leader is a bit of a coward..."
"He's more afraid than he looks. Please understand."
"How can the leader of a bandit gang, who's bold enough to defy Imperial generals, be a coward? That doesn't make sense."
Their answer to my question was simple.
"If his opponent is a person, even an Imperial general, our leader looks down on them... but ghosts or monsters, he's terrified of them."
"Ah..."
Right, that type. Particularly weak against occult things.
"And he hates tight, dark places. And this place is not only tight and dark, but also the lair of monsters..."
"So the guy over 2 meters tall and all muscle is shaking like a leaf, huh?"
I clicked my tongue in disbelief.
Even the shortest member of our party, Evangeline, and the thin Damien, who were younger and smaller, didn't shake in fear. You've got to live up to your size, King of Bandits. And your salary too.
"Don't worry. We'll take good care of him."
The other bandits groveled to me with sycophantic smiles, then ran to Kuilan and began berating him fiercely.
"Get a grip, boss! This is an embarrassment!"
"We're on probation in the punitive forces! If we don't do well here, we might be sent back to the execution ground!"
"We're up against the infamous Wastrel Prince!"
"We just need to hang on for six months and get a full-time position! If you're gonna get scared, do it later!"
As his subordinates scolded him, Kuilan finally seemed to muster the courage to step forward, though his face remained pale.
"Al, alright. Let's go."
"That's the spirit, boss!"
"We'll back you up! Let's wipe them out!"
With mutual encouragement, Kuilan and the bandits energetically took the lead and entered Section 3.
And not long after they started walking,
Slosh! Slosh!
Clank! Clank!
The slimes began to roll in.
[Outside the Northern Fortress - Room 1]
- Eliminate the enemies!
- Lv.12 Normal Slime: 20 bodies
Level 12 slimes without any special characteristics. About twenty of them.
This should have been enough for Kuilan's party to warm up. I watched them with a hint of anticipation.
And then,
"Yaaargh!"
"Monsters!"
The four bandits turned and started to run away all at once...
My blood pressure shot up. Unintentionally, I grabbed the back of my neck and let out a scream.
"Hey, you good-for-nothing bastards! What are you doing-!"
What was all that confident talk just a moment ago! You encouraged each other like you were going to do well!
"But, but! We've never seen such monsters before?!"
"Never heard or seen! A Soul Drinker that absorbs souls in the swamp?!"
"No! It must be the demon that sucks the brains out of its victims! Brain Drain!"
Don't scare everyone with such talk! They're just slimes, slimes! Level 12 ones! You're in your 30s, you could pop them with just a strike of a weapon!
But the bandits, panicked at the sight of unfamiliar monsters, scrambled and fled towards us.
"..."
The only one who didn't run away and stood his ground was the party leader, Kuilan.
I blinked in surprise. Acting like the biggest coward just a moment ago, it seemed the title of Bandit King wasn't in vain?
"Le..."
Just then, Kuilan slowly turned towards us, his face twisted in misery, and muttered,
"Legs... won't move..."
"You're frozen in fear, aren't you? You really are something else!"
A slime then approached Kuilan, making a dull noise as it lightly hit his body.
Thud.
"Kuaaaaack-!"
With that, Kuilan vomited blood and was blown away toward us. Seriously, was that a real body?!
Kuilan, who rolled all the way to me, gargled blood and muttered faintly,
"Today... bad luck..."
"Get a grip, you good-for-nothing! Don't faint from just one hit!"
But Kuilan lost consciousness right there. My word. Was this the stamina of a body with only 5 in stats?
"I told you this would happen if we recruited these baseless bandits, my lord."
Lucas, who had been watching this mess from behind, clicked his tongue.
"It seems this recruitment was a failure."
"Kk, Kkuh...!"
I felt like I understood a bit how professional sports teams' front offices feel when they're criticized for wrong scouting every year.
He performed well, okay! The data wasn't bad either! Did anyone expect this to happen in the first game?!
'I hadn't thought of it. These bandit guys might be used to PVP, but they're practically inexperienced with PVE!'
They might be used to swinging weapons at people and struggling against the Imperial forces.
But facing these genuine otherworldly monsters is a whole new ballgame for them.
It felt like throwing a party of 5 new soldiers into a level 3 dungeon.
Yes, this sticky darkness is new, and it's their first time seeing these monsters. It can happen, but...
'I was expecting a skilled party worthy of their level...'
The path to teaching them was rugged. I sighed internally as Lucas and Evangeline stepped forward.
"We'll take care of these creatures, my lord. Please take the time to recover."
"Yes, thank you. Knight Duo."
The two had hastily acquired blunt weaponry from the Crossroad's blacksmith.
Lucas had a one-handed iron mallet, while Evangeline wielded a war hammer with a long handle. Though not of high grade, they were sufficient to deal with the slimes.
Lucas stepped forward with a seemingly pleased expression, while Evangeline trailed behind, her face somber.
"Ugh... when will I realize my dream of owning a home..."
It seemed the thoughts of having ripped out all the interior decorations the previous day were still lingering in her mind.
Except for Evangeline's room and a few guest rooms, everything had been restored to its original state. Since then, she had remained disheartened.
'...I'll have to cheer her up later.'
But even in her dejected state, Evangeline's PVE proficiency was extraordinarily high. Lucas, needless to say, was just as skilled.
The Knight Duo swung their bludgeons, and the slimes began to be pulverized.
Thwack! Thump!
The battle was certainly different from yesterday.
Lucas's iron mallet crushed the slimes, and Evangeline's war hammer flattened them.
'Both of them are more skilled with their primary weapons, but they handle these bludgeons well.'
As they pummeled with impact weapons, the slimes burst with ease, unlike the struggle of the previous day.
The bandits watched, astounded.
"Wow... The knights are truly on another level."
"They so effortlessly take down those fearsome Soul Drinkers and Brain Drains..."
"It's like witnessing a mythical duel...!"
"No, it's just slimes, you cowardly weaklings."
I sighed heavily, retrieving a potion bottle and pouring it onto Kuilan's face, who had fainted.
"Wake up, flatfish."
"Cough! Gasp!"
Kuilan's eyes opened wide. His HP bar was absurdly low, so he revived instantly with just a splash of a regular potion.
"Hey, Penal Squad. Attention."
At my low growl, Kuilan and the bandits promptly lined up before me.
"Listen closely. This isn't kindergarten. This is the monster front line. I hired you to be immediate battle forces, not to act like recruits freshly conscripted."
"..."
"If you're going to act like green soldiers, huh? I have no reason to hire criminals like you, right?"
If I had to train them from A to Z, I'd just raise new recruits, not bother bringing convicts into a Penal Squad.
"If you're scared of the monsters, pack your bags and head back to prison. You can pay for your crimes justly under the empire's law."
"..."
"But if you don't want prison and prefer to earn money and serve your sentence honorably, do it properly. Show me the skill worthy of the name of Bandit King and his elite force."
I pointed at the flattened slimes with a click of my tongue.
"Those slimes are way weaker than the Imperial soldiers you fought before. Fight without fear. Got it?"
Two R-rated warriors, two R-rated rogues, and one SR-rated fighter.
With proper utilization, this could have been a decent party. They had messed up in the first battle, but the idea of giving up so soon had never crossed their minds.
'But at this rate, when will they become useful...?'
Despite my frustration, I could still see fear in the eyes of the Bandit King's party as they watched the monsters. What should I do with these cowardly bastards...?
Then, it happened.
Ding! Ding!
Suddenly, the system alert rang in succession. Huh? I opened the system window in curiosity.
[Outer Castle North - Room 1]
- Annihilate the enemies!
- Lv.14 Normal Slimes: 28
- Lv.15 Tricolored Slimes: 16
- Lv.15 Acidic Slimes: 24
- Lv.20 Normal Slimes: 30
Waves 2 to 5 were all updated at once.
"What..."
The [Northern Fortress] was a dungeon where monster waves had to be fended off in succession within an elongated room. Usually, the waves came one at a time.
Thump! Thump!
But now, four waves started rushing at us all at once.
Almost 100 slimes spilled over the fortress walls, a massive horde storming in. What the hell is this?
'Even if they are low-level slimes, this number...!'
Damien and Junior, who were standing by my sides, immediately prepared for battle.
Damien drew two Cerberus in his hands, and Junior began to chant magic.
Bang! Bang! Boom-!
Flash-!
The bullets pierced through the slimes, and lightning magic struck the swarm.
But there were too many slimes.
Furthermore, as the slimes crawled up from below the walls, the angle for magic bullets and spells wasn't right, allowing them to approach.
The slimes quickly surrounded us.
"My lord!"
Lucas and Evangeline, who had gone to clear wave 1, were trying to rush back but were isolated by the swarm of slimes.
I gritted my teeth and swung my staff, summoning a blade of magic power behind me. Damn, I had let my guard down, thinking it was an easy place...
Thwap!
The slimes leaped at us all at once.
Though they wouldn't absorb our souls or suck out our brains, it was clear that if we were engulfed by them, we would meet a horrible fate. Damn it!
Just then,
Whoosh-!
Kuilan flew through the air.
Bang!
Splatter!
Leaping into the air, Kuilan struck out with fists and feet like a whirlwind.
Wherever his fist power touched, slimes shattered like clay, and those hit by his kicks exploded like fireworks.
In the blink of an eye, Kuilan had destroyed over ten slimes and lightly landed back in position, his red mohawk spinning round as he came down.
"Shit...damn..."
Curses spilled from the Bandit King's mouth.
"No matter how scary it is, we must protect our paycheck...!"
Snap!
With one fist to his chest and the other stretched forward, and his body's weight lowered, Kuilan assumed his unique martial arts stance.
"Hey, guys, get ready! We need to make money! We need a lot of it!"
At the party leader's cry, the bandits' eyes flashed with determination as they brandished their clubs.
I chuckled at the sight.
They're not entirely useless after all.
"Let's get converted to full-time employees-!"
Yelling, the Bandit King's party rushed in all directions, and the horde of monsters swooped down on them.