Defense*2
Shhhhhh, water was pouring down. There was no panic among the adventurers or the villagers fleeing. After all, I’d told them, “Water’s gonna suddenly start falling, but it’s for extinguishing and fire prevention, so don’t worry about it!”
But the Holy Knights, who knew nothing of this, were shocked and bewildered. Well, of course. In this world, there aren’t any fire hydrants or anything like that yet…
“Wh-what is this…? Rain, all of a sudden…?”
“Damn it, it’s too damp, I can’t get a fire started!”
The sudden downpour was giving them a real hard time. The fires they’d lit fizzled out in disappointment, and even if they tried to start a new one, the waterlogged houses weren’t about to catch fire.
“W-what’s happening here!?”
“Could it be… the power of the Dungeon’s Evil God…!?”
And, being the devout sorts they were, they somehow looped all the way around to the right answer. Well, I’m not an evil god. Or a god at all, really.
“So this village does belong to the Dungeon…?”
And that’s also correct. This area around the village technically falls within the Dungeon’s domain.
… Well, figuring that out doesn’t really change anything. But hey, if it makes them a little more spooked by this miraculous Dungeon event, then all the better.
“Even without fire it’s no problem! Wipe out this heretic village!”
Seeing this, the Holy Knights seemed to sense—correctly—that if they didn’t act quickly, they’d be at a disadvantage. Unfortunately for me, that gut feeling of theirs was spot-on…
They swung their swords around, smashing house walls and breaking down the fences around fields. Are you really Holy Knights!?
And then they went so far as to grab an old granny who was too slow to escape and tried to cut her down… But the adventurers blocked them.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing to our granny!?”
“C’mon, Granny! I’ll carry you on my back, let’s get you outta here! Hold on tight! I’m gonna dash!”
… and with that, Granny was carried off to safety on an adventurer’s back. Meanwhile, the knights were now outnumbered, surrounded by multiple adventurers.
“Oi. No way in hell a real Holy Knight would raise his sword against a granny, yeah!?”
“They gotta be fakes! Take ‘em down!”
And so the adventurers moved to chase the knights off, without laying a hand on them directly, just like we agreed. Good. If we can just herd the knights into the Dungeon…!
… But then, something unexpected happened.
“Ah.”
One of the Holy Knights slipped on the mud created by the cheerful fire hydrants, and fell. Splash.
… Three more got caught up in it and went down too.
“… Got ‘em!”
“Don’t forgive the ones who tried to set fire to our village!”
And the adventurers jumped in to restrain them. Disarming them came easy, too. Smooth as anything.
Honestly… I hadn’t predicted this at all. Should I be thinking about installing a muddy zone inside the Dungeon, maybe? Yeah. I’ll consider it seriously.
With three Holy Knights eliminated, the others finally decided their gut feeling—“if we don’t move now, we’ll be at a disadvantage”—meant they had to head into the Dungeon.
“Into the Dungeon! We’ll deal with the heretics chasing us inside! Once we’re in the cave, the rain won’t matter!”
At the leader-like man’s command, the Holy Knights abandoned their fallen comrades and rushed into the Dungeon.
“Hey! What do you think you’re gonna do in the Dungeon!?”
“After them!!”
… and the adventurers chased after them, just as planned. But right then, I dismantled one of the chains.
The instant the knights rushed inside the cave—
Thud! With a heavy sound, a rock door slammed down over the entrance. That made the knights flinch, sure… but really, I just wanted to stop the adventurers from following, and also, I had no intention of letting the knights escape. No need to overthink it.
Anyway, they’d entered the Dungeon.
Welcome! Sit tight, I’ll make sure you’re neutralized and captured nice and proper!
While I was confirming that, my hand was gently squeezed. It was Misishia’s way of asking, “Are you alright?”
So I squeezed back, “Yeah, I’m good,” and turned my attention back to the knights’ movements.
… From here on, until they got close to the second floor, my sight and hearing would be locked onto them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know when to trigger the traps.
Just in the early parts of floor one, using only traps they already knew about… I wanted to take out about 7 of the 17.
That meant timing was everything.
The Holy Knights, panicked at “the Dungeon door closed!”, soon calmed down, reassured that “at least no pursuers are coming.” I mean, is that really something to relax over? Well, I hope they keep that attitude—it helps me out.
… So, they tried lighting a fire to dry themselves. But sorry, there’s nothing burnable down here. This cave really is nothing but rocks, rocks, and more rocks.
On top of that, their fire-starting kit had gotten soaked, so they even struggled to light their lamps. Seriously, at least manage that much. Heading into a Dungeon with no light would just be idiotic. Even I had designed the Dungeon on the assumption that people would have lamps, you know?
After some effort, they did finally succeed in lighting up. The cave shone bright… and at last, the Holy Knights began moving.
“Damn, I want to dry my body, but… no luck.”
“Truly, what nonsense! Rain falling out of nowhere…!”
“Three of ours got captured. Those heretics are savages indeed…”
Grumbling like that, they pressed forward. Fine by me. Keep moving, or the traps won’t do their job.
Now then.
As they advanced, the 17 knights carefully mapped the paths. They seemed experienced, like they’d conquered Dungeons before.
Still, I overheard them muttering, “So it’s true there are no monsters here…?”
“Don’t assume rumors are truth. Stay cautious.”
They seemed almost disappointed there weren’t any monsters to fight. Sorry, fellas. No monsters here. Just mazes and traps.
This Dungeon does have one other specialty, though.
“Whoa… look at that! Crystals!”
Yep. Crystals. That’s what keeps adventurers coming back for more. The Churchman even said they use them for purification rituals, so I figured these knights would like them too. I’ve even been running a little “increased drop rate” campaign.
“Crystals, huh? But still, so transparent and beautiful as this…”
“Wait! Don’t rush in! It could be a trap!”
As expected of Holy Knights. Even with a big crystal sitting at the end of a dead-end path, they didn’t jump on it right away.
… Well, that was part of the plan. They examined the area thoroughly, confirmed no traps, and only then picked up the crystal.
“… To think such a fine piece would just lie here unguarded.”
“Hmph… too fine a treasure to hand to mere adventurers. This should be offered to the Church.”
Each one took turns admiring it…
… And while all their attention was fixed on the crystal, I dismantled the chains and stone slabs over 100 meters away.
And then—the entire floor beneath them collapsed.
A dynamic pitfall!
Would all of them fall, I wondered… but sadly, no.
Damn fantasy folks. They leapt away from the collapsing rock mid-jump and escaped. Even in full armor. In full armor!!
Seriously, how? I already knew physics were no match for fantasy logic, but still, moments like this really drive it home. I don’t get it anymore…
Anyway, about half of them—let’s see, one, two… yeah, seven of them—did fall. Within expectations. I’d been worried none of them would.
“Hey! Are you alright!?”
“Answer us!”
The ones still above called down to the pit.
“Seven of us here! Safe!”
Came the reply from below.
“Should we lower a rope?”
“No, get away from there! The floor could be unstable!”
A rational, sensible answer. And I had to agree, “Exactly!”
Of course, I’d built the pit with no handholds or footholds around it. From below, all they’d see is a hole gaping in the ceiling.
“We’ve got injuries, but potions can handle it! We see a passage ahead! We’ll keep going!”
“Got it! Then we’ll meet later!”
As expected, they decided to split into two groups. Perfect.
So, the ones left up top moved away from the pit, discussing what to do next…
… Meanwhile, from below came voices.
“Whoa! Such huge crystals down here!”
“Look at this! Such richly colored, translucent amethyst is rare indeed!”
Yeah, the pit’s bottom was basically a jackpot. And the guys above could hear it.
“Guess they lucked out down there…”
“Still, falling in full armor could break bones.”
Yet, their faces clearly said, “Man, I’m jealous…”
Before long, the voices from below grew faint, then vanished altogether.
The ones above shrugged and said, “Let’s get moving too,” and backtracked to another branching path.
… As for the ones who fell—
They stumbled right into a room packed full of nitrogen, and collapsed where they stood.
Uh… can we call nitrogen saturation a “poison”? Yeah? Yeah, let’s go with that.
What do you think about this chapter?
