Chapter 10. Exploring the Dungeon

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"Ha, of course it's me,"

Jiang Cheng chuckled softly and nodded.

"If not me, who else could it be? Do you think anyone else would come to a godforsaken place like this and know so much?"

Renata fell silent. Indeed, she had previously thought the Saintess was someone sent by the elves, but now realized how naive that was.

In contrast, the answer that the Saintess was the elf herself, though equally absurd, seemed even more believable.

"Let's go~"

Jiang Cheng said with a squinting smile.

"To meet your...what was it called? Grand Elder?"

"Alright,"

Renata nodded and led Jiang Cheng to a certain area of the dungeon.

"You're here?"

Pushing open the door, an old man with the same black-mud-like patterns on his skin sat waiting on a chair.

"Of course,"

Jiang Cheng smiled and nodded, casually pulling out a chair to sit.

"Your personality really has changed a lot," the Grand Elder commented, looking at Jiang Cheng's smile.

"I really don't understand why humans whose personalities can change so much have the nerve to reject us, the so-called 'new humans', whose personalities don't change at all."

"Ha, I don't get it either,"

Jiang Cheng shook her head and raised an eyebrow.

"New humans, is that what you call yourselves?"

"That's right."

The Elder nodded.

"After all, the greatest dream of our people is to become human."

"Really,"

Jiang Cheng's smile faded.

"What a boring dream."

"Boring?"

The Grand Elder replied with an ambiguous smile.

"You actually don't dislike humans as much as you think, do you."

"Maybe?"

Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow.

"Ha, but why should I care?"

"Isn't it enough to just kill whatever disgusts me?"

"Is that really what you think?" the Grand Elder laughed upon hearing this. "That's just your style."

"Oh right, the hero who came with you today—is he your apprentice?"

Suddenly, the Grand Elder asked.

"Yes."

Jiang Cheng gave a slight nod.

"He's just a troublesome brat. If it weren't for the mission, he would've died long ago."

"Ha!"

The Grand Elder burst out laughing.

"You're actually being contradictory!"

"You obviously care a lot about your apprentice."

"Whatever,"

Jiang Cheng rolled her eyes, not bothering to entertain the Grand Elder's nonsense.

"As long as the job gets done, I don't care about anything else,"

Jiang Cheng said offhandedly.

"If you do get involved, I'll just kill you all. I really could,"

Jiang Cheng stated casually as she shifted back to her original form and vanished from sight.

The Grand Elder's expression grew much more serious. He knew Jiang Cheng was not lying.

For the sake of Lyle or her own bottom lines, she might be unable to hurt humans,

But that did not include these 'new humans'.

At the very least, Jiang Cheng still saw them as monsters.

"Fully cooperate with Her Holiness the Saintess—complete all her requests," the Grand Elder turned to Renata and said.

............

Elsewhere in the dungeon, Lyle and Ferran were advancing. Every so often, strange monsters would appear out of nowhere.

Lyle took them down effortlessly. As these monsters died, slivers of energy seeped into Lyle's body, strengthening him.

"This is..."

Lyle frowned. Was this the real dungeon?

No wonder there was always a dungeon in every adventure novel.

So this was the true miracle of the god of adventurers: becoming stronger by killing monsters. How tempting for any adventurer.

With a "boom," the next large door opened, but instead of revealing a new area or monsters,

What greeted them was... a new sign.

It looked exactly like the one standing at the entrance to the depths of the corrupted zone!

There was the same warning of danger ahead written on this sign,

But unlike the previous sign, this one looked brand new and couldn't be compared at all to that filthy, ruined sign.

Furthermore, at the bottom of the sign was a line of attribution: "With regards from the Adventurer Association."

Wait a second.

Suddenly, Lyle's brows knitted further together. Magic gathered in his sapphire eyes as he examined the sign again.

This sign... was actually quite old? At least decades older than that tattered one.

What was going on?

Lyle frowned and led Ferran forward.

Only then did Lyle realize how important Jiang Cheng was—a person who knew everything was just too valuable.

Meanwhile, out of Lyle's sight, Ferran stared at those words from the Adventurer Association with a trace of sadness in his eyes.

Moving on, not far ahead, a small house came into their view.

Knocking on the door, it was answered by an old man in a somewhat battered military uniform.

However, the black-mud-like marks on his bare arms showed his true identity as a monster.

"This..."

Lyle gripped his sword tightly, hesitating, unsure if he should question this old man.

Unexpectedly, the old man suddenly rushed over, grabbing Lyle's shoulder, startling him so much he drew his sword.

"Brother! You're human—I can tell!"

The old man said excitedly.

"The Adventurer Association has finally responded. They sent you, didn't they!" the old man said.

"Hurry, go to the depths of the corrupted zone and kill that beast—otherwise, the black mud will erupt!"

He grew more agitated as he spoke, clutching Lyle's shoulders and shaking him.

"Hurry! If the black mud erupts, not just the dungeon, but the whole cave system will fall! Do something!"

Seeing that Lyle hadn't moved, the old man finally calmed down.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. I'm a monster now; of course you don't trust me."

"That's it—just because of this, I'm a monster, comrade."

The old man looked at Lyle again.

"If my suicide attempt fails, please kill me, comrade. I don't want to go on living as a monster."

"All these years, just to keep that warning sign clean, I've scraped by as a monster for a year, two years...can't remember, too many years."

"The Adventurer Association finally responded, sent you over, so I don't have to struggle on any longer."

After saying this, the old man saluted Lyle and declared,

"Adventurer Association, Pioneer Squad, 3rd Squad: seven should have reported, present—one. Task complete."

With that, he raised the dagger in his hand, ready to stab his own throat.

"Wait!"

Lyle hurried to stop the old man.

He was a little bewildered, not understanding what this old man was rambling about or why he was suddenly trying to kill himself.

But one thing Lyle did know—he needed more information, so the old man couldn't die yet.

"Sir, I still have some questions for you,"

Lyle said seriously under Ferran's strange gaze.

"What is it?" the old man asked, frowning.

"The Adventurer Association, what is it exactly? In Adventurer City...isn't there only the Mechanist Association?"

"What?"

The old man exclaimed in shock.

"Ha," from the distant shadows, Jiang Cheng curled her lips into a smile. "The real plot begins."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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