Volume 4 Chapter 15 - The old man challenges the Gate of Trials (2/2)

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It has been about two hours since we entered the dungeon.

We’ve been running about the dungeon at a speed where we wouldn’t be exhausted. Thanks to that, our exploration has been going smoothly.

[Ah! Understand.. Luna understands now!] (Luna)

[Truth is I already got the answer awhile ago.] (Til)

[Eh, lies!? Was Luna the only one who didn’t know? Luna definitely solved !] (Luna)

Although it was bad to be distracted during an exploration, it looked like they are properly paying attention to their surroundings so it was fine to let them be. Although we were prioritizing our clear speed over unnecessary battles, there were several battles that couldn’t be avoided.

… Just like now.

There was a new enemy awaiting for us, a Shadow Cat. Just as it’s name implies, it’s a black cat monster which was capable of diving into the shadows which allowed it to hide even from Luna’s Presence Detection. The monster was currently hiding in the shadow of a pillar, waiting to launch a surprise attack. Since it was a cat, it had large and sharp fangs and claws and often targeted a person’s vital spots, however it didn’t mean that it’s prey were just sitting ducks.

Although Presence Detection was a convenient ability, if you relied on it too much and lowered your guard, you would be eventually fall prey to this type of monsters. As if to prove my point, it attacked Luna.

However Luna responded immediately as she launched a counter towards the beast.

[Uhn. Luna was prepared.] (Luna)

A short dagger was penetrated into the mouth which was wide open, attempting to rip into Luna’s neck.

Luna’s growth was progressing smoothly as she was properly watching her surroundings even while utilizing her abilities. Even if that wasn’t the case, at this short of a distance the rest of us would be able to react accordingly. An arrow pierced the Shadow Cat which was on the verge of death, sticking it’s body onto the pillar as it’s body slowly turned into blue particles.

[This is my first time seeing such a monster. As expected of the royal dungeon.] (Phil)

[I know right. There are many monsters here that you can’t find anywhere else. If it’s possible I hope to collect some materials here, however our priority is to clear the dungeon as soon as possible.] (Yuuya)

The Gate of Trials contained monsters and materials which I hoped to obtain however in this situation we didn’t have the time for it.

[Ahh, Yuuya-niisan. It dropped something over there.] (Til)

[It’s a rare drop, Chrysobell. It’s a jewel that’s used for staff. It’ll sell for a large price.] (Yuuya)

Chrysobell was also known as the Cat’s Eye Jewel. This jewel would fetch a large price from anyone who required a magical staff.

[Hurray, this is a huge haul!] (Luna)

[We have to go and search for a good restaurant in Laluzulu.] (Til)

Since we were in a rush, we continued to run as soon as the battle ended. However Luna and Til began to dance even while we were running.

They were just wasting their energy.

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We had finally solved the third puzzle as well as the test of courage. We entered finally arrived at our goal as we exited a corridor.

[Once we reach the end of this road and enter the audience chamber, we’ll be done with the dungeon.] (Yuuya)

Our exploration went extremely smoothly as we took full advantage of my prior knowledge. The final riddle was extremely brutal as we would have been hard pressed if we couldn’t answer it. We had to distribute eleven horses according to a will.

The eldest son is to receive one third.

The second son is to receive one quarter

The eldest daughter and second daughter receives one sixth.

Is it possible to follow the will?

That was the question.

[The previous question, I understand it. It’s impossible because it was eleven. If you assumed there was an additional horse from the beginning then there wouldn’t be a problem.] (Lutra)

[That’s amazing. Even I couldn’t solve it the first time I saw it.] (Yuuya)

After reading how the will was designed, you would assume that it was impossible with eleven horses but as Lutra mentioned, you had to assume the number of horses to be twelve instead of eleven.

Solving the question with twelve horses, the eldest son receives four horses, the second son receives three and the two daughters receives two horses each, totalling eleven horses. If you knew the answer then it’ll be easy to notice, however the difficult part was thinking of dividing according to twelve horses instead of eleven.

[However I’m relieved. We made it to the goal unscathed.] (Lutra)

[That’s true.] (Yuuya)

She was relieved due to the fact that our suspicion towards her sister was cleared as we had reached the goal without any troubles. Contrary to my expectation, we did end up arriving at the goal without any assailants.

Luna’s fox ears began to jerk.

[Ahead of us, two monsters. Eh.. It’s a gorilla and a goblin.] (Luna)

A gorilla and goblin? That’s weird, there shouldn’t be any in the Gate of Trials.

[Fufun, I can see it. I don’t even have to get closer!] (Til)

Til fired an arrow towards the heart of the two monsters more than a hundred metres away, inflicting a lethal wound as the two monsters turned into blue particles.

At that moment, I was sure of it.

The moment the gorilla and goblin received their lethal wounds, they continued to run towards us as their muscles began to swell, pushing the arrows out of their body and closing the wounds. Not only that, their magical power jumps drastically as they seem to enter a frenzy. Their body became bigger, their colour changed and their expressions became excessively aggressive.

Til fired a second arrow as Phil supported her attack with her own arrows, however the monsters merely grabbed the arrows with their hands.

[I can’t believe it!? How did that monster!?] (Til)

[If it’s able to stop an attack at this level,… It must be a high-rank monster.] (Phil)

When Til struck their hearts with her arrows, they were definitely upper level thirties monster corresponding to the dungeon. However, it grew into a level 50ish monster… No, it evolved.

This was something we had experience before, similar to the Killer Ape which I fought back in Rumberg.

After looking at this phenomenon, everything began to make sense. Princess Aure had tried to control Lutra back then because she needed an important tool to defeat Prince Aleck. The reason she tried to eliminate Lutra back in Greenwood, was because she didn’t need a useless piece that couldn’t achieve her goal. If she was confident of defeating Prince Aleck on her own, then the popular Lutra would merely be a nuisance.

Her new trump card must have been the evolving monsters.

The moment Lutra entered the dungeon, two evolving monsters coincidentally appeared at the end of the dungeon. Although Prince Aleck was strong, he wasn’t strong enough to defeat even a single one of these monsters.

Furthermore, the presence of these monsters answered another major question.

… Nobody could enter this dungeon unless you possessed the royal blood.

Which meant that someone from the royal family came along with these monsters.

Since Prince Aleck wasn’t around nor did he condone allowing Lutra into the dungeon, he was innocent. On the contrary, my suspicion towards Princess Aure who was encouraging Lutra to enter the dungeon grew even stronger. Lutra is a smart person, after witnessing this situation there is too much evidence supporting this no matter how much her heart rejected this.

[Firstly, let’s put these monsters down.] (Yuuya)

[Uhn. We’ll defeat them.] (Luna)

[It’s a chance to show off my triple shoot that oneechan taught me!] (Til)

[Til, they are dangerous opponents. This isn’t the time for jokes.] (Phil)

[….Anueue, this isn’t the case right.] (Lutra)

If the five of us are here, then we won’t lose.

No matter how strong these monsters are, we’ll show you how naive you are, thinking that these two were enough to kill us.