A Disaster-Level Assassin Has Been Freed

Chapter 122: Ancient Dungeon (5)

“How is it?”

“…”

“Could you possibly understand it?”

“…”

“Can you hear me?”

“Ah!”

Hearing the voice of the noble young man called Grantz, I snapped back to reality, albeit belatedly.

No, to be precise, I hadn’t fully come to my senses yet.

I looked at Grantz’s face.

Then at the stone tablet.

Then back at Grantz’s face.

Only then did I grasp the current situation and respond, albeit late.

“Yes, I can hear you. Sorry about that.”

“I see. You were staring at it for quite a while… Did you figure anything out?”

“…No.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I only know the continental common language…”

It was a lie.

But I had no choice but to lie.

With hundreds of competitors already swarming and tensions running high, there was no need to share the final path to the prize.

Moreover, the characters on the tablet were making my mind even more chaotic.

“Why can I read those characters?”

I had clearly heard it.

One of the nobles arguing with the mercenary had said that the ancient script on the tablet was identified as belonging to the long-extinct kingdom of Delkaro.

Of course, I had never heard of or studied any ancient languages.

The only thing I had learned besides the continental common language was the cipher used among Godok peers to communicate secretly, away from the village manager’s eyes.

So why were the two scripts so similar?

What kind of connection could there possibly be between them?

“…Hm.”

As I struggled to resolve the questions swirling in my mind, Ransel Grantz, the top graduate of the Nadan Kingdom Academy, narrowed his eyes.

It was a gaze filled with suspicion, unmistakable to anyone watching. Seeing this, the nobles and their entourages shook their heads disapprovingly.

“He’s too sensitive.”

“No matter how you look at it, he’s just a lucky newbie.”

“He’s not some scholar versed in academics. There’s no way a newbie like him could read the script of an ancient kingdom…”

“We should investigate the interior more thoroughly, and if that doesn’t work, it’d be better to quickly summon a scholar from the capital.”

Except for Ransel Grantz, no one placed any expectations on the black-haired young man.

That was fine by me.

Pausing my thoughts for a moment, I surveyed the atmosphere and muttered to myself.

“Right. That’s not what’s important right now.”

The connection between the cipher and the ancient script.

It was a fascinating topic, but there was no need to dwell on it at this moment.

More pressing was the need to slip past the eyes of those gathered in the dungeon’s deepest part and reach the “real treasure room.”

What was necessary to achieve that?

Naturally, it was “moving stealthily.”

Nodding slightly, I began to distance myself from the tablet, starting to “properly” erase my presence.

Swish…

My presence faded.

My breathing softened, my footsteps quieted. It was a mystical phenomenon, freeing myself from all senses that humans could perceive.

About ten minutes passed like that.

Everyone who had shown interest in me was gone.

As if an old acquaintance passing by had evaporated from memory, it happened naturally.

“…Except for one person, that is.”

Ransel Grantz.

The young swordsman I had sensed was extraordinary from the first glance was still holding onto his interest in me.

He wasn’t staring blatantly, but I could feel it. He was still conscious of me.

However, such vigilance couldn’t last forever.

Clatter!

“Alright! This time, it’s definitely the real treasure room… Huh?”

“What? Why are there so many people?”

“Damn… We weren’t the first ones here?”

Adventurers who had arrived late at the dungeon’s deepest part through another passage.

The moment everyone’s attention turned toward the noisy group bursting through the door…

Click.

I subtly twisted a protruding stone piece on the dungeon wall.

With a faint noise, a staircase leading underground revealed itself.

Calmly but quickly, I descended and manipulated the mechanism from below, and with another slight noise, the entrance vanished.

Thus, the black-haired young man completely disappeared into the darkness.

It was about ten seconds later that Ransel Grantz realized this.

“…Where is he?”

“Pardon? Who are you talking about?”

“That young man.”

“Young man? Who? Oh! Do you mean… the one dressed all in black earlier?”

“Yes. He was definitely here just a moment ago… Could you help me look for him?”

Ransel Grantz scanned the surroundings with a look that suggested he’d been outplayed. But no matter how much he focused his senses, he couldn’t detect my presence.

Of course, no one else took my disappearance seriously.

The others wore expressions that said, “Why bother with a guy like that?” and only halfheartedly pretended to look.

“He probably left because he couldn’t find any answers.”

“Or he’s investigating another room in the dungeon… Shouldn’t we be doing that too?”

“Anyway, this room is a bust until we decipher the tablet’s script.”

In the end, despite his request, people quickly lost interest in me.

But Ransel Grantz was an exception.

He focused his gaze.

For some reason, he didn’t want to forget the young man whose impression was already fading.

“…To move in a way that evades my eyes like that.”

And he looked so much younger than me.

It was utterly absurd.

“I should’ve at least asked his name.”

It was a pity.

I wanted to meet him again if I got the chance.

Feeling his interest in the young man grow even more than his interest in the dungeon exploration, Ransel Grantz muttered quietly.

He needed to train more.

To ensure he wouldn’t be left with this uneasy feeling again, he had to swing his sword harder.

***

“It’s dark.”

Having descended to the basement through the mechanism, I found myself surrounded by thick darkness, with something faintly glowing in the distance.

It was only natural that my steps moved toward the light.

Without much thought, I walked steadily—neither slow nor fast.

“It was farther than I thought.”

About ten minutes later, I reached the source of the light.

Surprisingly, the light was a person.

To be precise, it was something in the shape of an elderly man.

It felt like magic, or perhaps sorcery, or even something holy.

In any case, it wasn’t a living organism.

But it seemed to have its own will, as it broke into a delighted expression the moment it spotted me.

“Hello?”

“dkssudgktlsrk!”

“…”

“…”

“You don’t speak the continental common language?”

“sj, epfzkfh tkfkadl dkslsrpsi?”

“…”

“…”

“This is bad.”

I cursed inwardly.

It was obvious that this soul-like entity was the key to the treasure.

Wasn’t there something like this in old fairy tales?

A genie from a magic lamp that grants wishes…

It was probably something like that, but if we couldn’t communicate, it was all for nothing.

“No, it’s not completely for nothing.”

That’s right. That was too pessimistic a thought.

Even if we couldn’t speak, couldn’t it guess what I needed and offer me something?

Or, at the very least, couldn’t we communicate imprecisely through gestures?

Sure enough.

After muttering something incomprehensible, the elderly figure sighed deeply and began to move.

“dktnlqrnsk. epfzkfh tkfkadldjTekaus ej whgdkTdmf rjtdmf…”

“gkwlaks djWjf tn djqtwl. dlrjteh dlsdusdlsl, sork wnsqlgks tp rkwl tjsanf wnd gkskfmf rkwurkrjfk.”

He held up one finger, as if indicating the first option. I nodded, and realizing the gesture was understood, the elderly figure summoned a glowing book in the air. A pair of glasses now adorned his face, evoking the image of a scholar thirsting for knowledge.

“Hm… I don’t quite understand, but I don’t think this is what I want.”

I shook my head.

As if he’d expected that, the elderly figure held up two fingers and summoned a staff in his hand.

Boom!

Kaboom!

Dazzling projectiles and explosions shot out in all directions!

It was a spectacle straight out of a magician’s dreams, unfolding before my eyes.

I stared, momentarily entranced.

“If I choose this option, will I be able to use magic?”

Or perhaps I could obtain a great magician’s theory of magic?

The thought piqued my interest slightly.

It was true that modern magic had advanced beyond ancient magic, but I vaguely recalled hearing that some crucial spells from before the great war with the orcs had been lost.

If this elderly figure was offering to teach me those lost spells, I could gain immense wealth.

But after a moment’s consideration, I shook my head again.

“Is there another option?”

“rmfjf wnf dkfdkTek, sp sutjr. dkakeh… spshadms dlrjf rkwkd dnjsgkf rjt rkxrns.”

It was the same this time.

Muttering something incomprehensible, the elderly figure gave a knowing look and held up three fingers. He lingered like that for a while, giving off the impression that this was the final option.

A wave of worry suddenly washed over me.

“This is the last one… What if it’s something completely useless?”

“Should I have chosen the second option?”

“No, wait. Can’t I check the third option and then go back to the second one?”

My mind was a chaotic mess.

But the moment a sharp sword blade suddenly emerged from the elderly figure’s hand…

“That’s it!”

There was no need to think further.

A spark of life I hadn’t felt before ignited in my eyes.

“dlrj?”

“Yes, that one!”

“WlsWk rmrj?”

“That’s the one, I’m telling you! Let’s go with that!”

I pointed enthusiastically, nodding fervently.

The elderly figure nodded back, as if understanding.

For that moment, at least, it felt like the language barrier had collapsed.

The problem was…

Shing!

The elderly figure, holding the glowing sword, suddenly thrust it into my chest.

“…!”

I couldn’t block it.

I couldn’t dodge it.

It was terrifyingly fast. The moment I experienced the old man’s sword strike, even more fearsome than Sword Master Heitz’s attack, I lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor.

…

…

…

Some time later, I barely regained consciousness and surveyed my surroundings.

“…I’m outside?”

I was still dazed.

The old man’s astonishing swordsmanship.

The surroundings that had changed in an instant. Both left me bewildered.

I muttered with a blank expression.

“Is that it?”

…Honestly, I was a bit disappointed.

The single sword strike the old man had delivered.

I acknowledged that its impact was significant.

I acknowledged that the shocking experience would aid my growth…

But this was a dungeon, wasn’t it?

An ancient ruin I had reached by sacrificing a demonic sword.

If this was all I gained after reaching the treasure room, anyone—not just me—would feel disappointed…

“Hm?”

It was while I was caught in that sense of disappointment.

I touched my chest.

I felt something.

With a suddenly serious expression, I pulled something out from inside my clothing.

It was a book.

Nothing was written on the cover, but I had a feeling I knew what it was.

“An Aura Cultivation Method!”

And not just any method, but one passed down by the old man who had displayed terrifying swordsmanship!

I couldn’t wait any longer.

There was no reason to.

With excited eyes, I opened the first page of the book.