Sevens

Volume 9, Chapter 99 – Beim’s Baptism

Translated by: Reiji

「W-what’s this?」

──Erhart’s face was twitching. He was watching the adventurers who were going to challenge Beim’s dungeon.

Several parties were participating in the dungeon expedition spearheaded by Beim’s adventurer guild.

The scale of the expedition is so large that even the number of people on logistical support exceeded 3000.

A large gate was built at the dungeon’s entrance. The soldiers responsible for protecting the city of Beim were strictly guarding it.

His friends’ faces were also twitching.

「Our village wouldn’t have this many people, even if you gathered everyone up…」

「Oi, the guys over there are all wearing full plate armor.」

「What the hell’s with this number?」

There were adventurers that are dressed like a knight order, and there were also people whose appearances were so overflowing with wildness that they could be mistaken as bandits.

There was an adventurer equipped with full plate armor, but an adventurer wearing fur and equipped with a battle axe could be seen standing right next to him.

The group had no sense of unity at all, but the adventurers here all had proper equipment.

Erhart felt that the greatsword on his back was seedy after being compared to them.

A guild staff approached the dumbfounded Erhart and his friends.

「Are you guys the party taking the test? Your name is──what messy handwriting. These letters, is your party called Griffon Cavalry?」

「That’s right.」

The adventurers around them laughed when Erhart answered so.

One of them was a young man with orange hair that was short but a bit quirky. It seemed that he was a leader of a group with uniform light equipment.

Although they were equipped lightly, various tools were hanging from their belt. Their equipment could be said to be more complete than Erhart’s group.

「Griffon Cavalryyy? I’m not seeing any griffon here. I don’t even see a horse.」

Erhart glared at the laughing man.

「You bastard, do you want to say something to us, huh!?」

The man raised his hands in a surrendering gesture.

「Oops, my apologies. I didn’t have enough sleep yesterday, but thanks to you guys being such a riot, my sleepiness has been blown away. My name is Albano(アルバーノ). I’m leading these guys.」

The young man laughed flippantly. He looked a bit older than Erhart’s group.

He looked frivolous, but he had a trained body and his weapon was also well-maintained.

Erhart was about to throw himself at that Albano, but a man wearing full plate armor got in his way.

「Albano, it’s you guys again!」

That man looked overly serious. His black hair was swept all the way back.

He was also tall, and seriousness could be seen oozing out of his face.

The members of the party that he was leading were all dressed like knights.

They were wearing metal armor and even brought horses with them.

Erhart made a face of detest upon seeing that person.

「Creit, huh? You guys are so stuffy even in the morning.」

Creit’s group looked the complete opposite of the frivolous looking group. Creit’s voice was also loud and gathered the attention of the surroundings.

He stood imposingly with his fists clenched and began to preach at Albano.

「You guys are making trouble with the rookies again! You would provoke them to pick a fight with you before turning the table on them, stop doing something like that. They are our fellow comrades in this expedition.」

That Creit──Creit Benini(クレート・ベニーニ)’s claim made Albano, who was sitting on a wooden box, point to Erhart’s group with a jerk of his chin as he replied.

「Look carefully at these guys. Do you think that in their getup they’ll be able to do the same work as us? They smell like garbage, and they also don’t have any decent equipment. They’re just some stupid newbies taking the guild’s proficiency test. It’d be better for them to run back home quickly.」

Creit turned his gaze toward Erhart’s group before he closed his eyes with a slightly troubled look.

「The guild has allowed their participation. Surely, they too are promising adventurers.」

Albano started laughing while holding his stomach.

「Promising!? Ain’t no way that’s the case. The guild’s just getting rid of nuisances.」

The two of them were apparently acquainted with each other, but their personalities were the complete opposite of one another’s.

Because of that, they always disagreed with each other.

Although such a thing didn’t matter to Erhart.

Erhart felt that he was made fun of and gripped his sword’s handle.

「──Who are you calling nuisances to be rid of? Then how about you have a taste of me here?」

Seeing the action of the young and ignorant Erhart, the eyes of Creit who was covering up for him until now turned cold.

「Take your hand off your weapon. You won’t be able to win against Albano.」

Erhart got enraged by those words. His face went red, and he started throwing a tantrum.

「What the hell do you know, huh!? I’m someone who has three Arts. No one could beat me at my village. Even my father lost against me!」

Creit tilted his head hearing Erhart’s words.

「Three Arts? Forgive me but, I’m not seeing any magic tool on your body?」

「Magic tool? What the hell is that! Don’t say any nonsense you bastard!」

Albano scratched his head with a troubled look when he heard that.

「Which country stick did you come from, huh? Or rather, what kind of Arts do you got?」

Erhart activated his Arts and his arm muscles swelled up.

There was ripping sound from his arms. Even his height got slightly taller.

Blood veins pulsed all over his body.

「How’s that? Amazing, right?」

It was a transformation that was clearly a body strengthening Art at a glance.

Albano’s face turned serious seeing that.

「H~m, ain’t that amazing. I’ll apologize for my words just now. Seems like you’ll be useful for carrying our luggage after all.」

Erhart felt something snapping inside himself.

「I’ll kill you!」

He forgot himself in his rage and grabbed his great sword. He then charged toward Albano──and fell hard on the ground.

「Buh!?」

He fell into a daze because of a strong hit to his face. THen, a man came upon hearing the commotion.

The man looked like he was in his late thirties. His blonde hair was parted on one side, making him look very straight-laced.

In fact, the way he talked was also serious.

「What are you guys doing?」

Both Albano and Creit , the ones being addressed, were nervous.

「Geh! It’s boss Neu. A troublesome one came.」

「Albano, you’re being rude to Neu-dono!」

His name was Neu Neumann(ノイ・ノイマン).

His name was entered to be the vice captain of the expedition group and he was treated as leader in this group.

That was just how high the guild’s evaluation for him is.

That Neu helped Erhart to stand up.

「Albano, I told you before to not pick any quarrels before the departure.」

「I know.」

Even Albano became obedient when Neu arrived.

Neu talked to Erhart.

「You’re──a rookie who is taking the test?」

「That’s right!」

Erhart wiped his nosebleed with his hand while replying.

「I’m telling you this for your own good. Don’t get into any fights. This is a test. The guild staff is watching your actions. If you cause trouble, you will fail the test no matter how strong you are.」

After being told that, even Erhart could only lower his raised fist.

He didn’t want to go back to back-alley living.

He wanted to be recognized as a fully fledged adventurer right away and take actual proper quests.

「I-I get it.」

Neu watched Albano and Creit leave this place, and then he also left.

Before he left, he didn’t forget to give Erhart a word of advice.

「Also, if you’re going to fight then pick your opponent correctly. Albano is strong.」

Erhart thought as his friends were asking him if he was alright.

(I’ll defeat him right away and show who’s stronger here.)

──Beim’s dungeon was very mysterious.

There was a large hole that opened up with a spiraling path along the side.

But it would be more accurate to call the path a town.

Dilapidated houses that looked like they could crumble any moment were filling the path. Those buildings formed small alleyways that ended up creating a maze.

There was the dazzling light that shined from the central hole, but it was still dim no matter what due tothe ceiling.

Because of the spiraling structure, when one looked up the place that they had previously passed through would also look like the ceiling. Mysteriously, at the reverse side of the ground, there was also a townscape that was covered with buildings just like on the surface.

When night came, the torches inside the dungeon would light up with a bluish white flame. It made the place needlessly scary.

To begin with, the hole itself was huge. Its diameter was more than 3000 meters. When one looked at the opposite side, the place they had just passed some time ago would look really small.

They were going down a spiraling road on a hill, but the width of the road itself was really wide.

It had a width of three meters.

Erhart was looking down from the edge of the path, but the bottom was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything.

「S-so this is a dungeon.」

They were placed at the center of the column, so they still hadn’t gone through any battles.

But sometimes he could hear the yells of humans and the roars of monsters from the front.

This was an eerie place.

When Erhart turned around, his friends were walking using wooden sticks as canes.

「Erhart, I’m feeling painful for some reason.」

「It feels unpleasant.」

「Are the guys around us alright?」

Erhart acted tough when he saw his comrades looking drunk.

「Just this much ain’t any problem at all! Forget about that, isn’t there an easier way if we’re just going down?」

One of his comrades looked up at the ceiling with a puzzled look.

It was already strange that there was an upside down city above them, but the dim place with dilapidated buildings felt ominous.

「H-hey, even though there is a hole this deep, why isn’t it that Beim, which is on top of this hole, falling? It makes me scared.」

Erhart couldn’t answer even if he was asked that question.

「T-that’s, you know! There’s a super thick plank on the hole and the city is built on top of it.」

Then Neu who was keeping an eye on the surroundings safety from the center told Erhart the answer.

「Is this your first time in a dungeon?」

「Neu──san.」

Erhart wasn’t good at all when facing a calm adult like Neu.

「According to a famous scholar, it seems dungeons are located inside a different space. We’re only entering into that space. That’s why, no matter how far you dig down in Beim, you’ll only find more dirt.」

He told Erhart the answer, but Erhart was unable to understand the meaning at all.

「I, I see, is that so.」

Neu laughed with a troubled face.

「That means Beim will never fall into the hole. More importantly it’s time to rest. We’re going to rest here for one day, so help us out.」

When Erhart looked around, people were starting to prepare the campsite.

Erhart scratched his head.

「Say, Neu-san.」

「What is it?」

「There is a device in the dungeon to travel through floors, isn’t there? Wouldn’t it be faster to use that to go until we reached our destination?」

Neu understood what Erhart wanted to say and showed an exasperated expression.

「Haven’t you heard? We have multiple objectives this time. One of them is to challenge the dungeon from the surface and exterminate the monsters near the entrance. That objective won’t be achieved if we skip floors.」

「Aa~, is that so? But, it’s still better to go down quickly. Then, if we use some rope to go down, that’ll also make it faster, won’t it?」

When he peered down, he could see the same town that they had passed through until now here at the nearby level.

Neu sighed.

「Absolutely don’t try that. Every year there will be adventurers who try something like that, but they will get sucked in by the hole and never come back. It’s like that saying, don’t search for the shortcut.」

Erhart’s group made a fed up face after Neu left.

「──We won’t be able to show our stuff off if we keep staying here. You guys, no need to help out and just rest your body. Our job is defeating monsters after all.」

Erhart’s group, dissatisfied since they didn’t have a chance to raise any achievements, went to hide and rested without helping to set up the campsite──

──About two weeks have passed since the start of the expedition.

The treatment that Erhart’s group received was still the same.

They entered a single dilapidated house and sat around a wobbly table while eating the soup meant to be their lunch.

The soup was accompanied with hard bread.

It was nice that they could eat three times a day just by participating in the expedition, but Erhart’s group was still dissatisfied.

「The food is the same every day.」

「Even though the guys who fight can eat meat, we’re only given vegetable scraps and hard bread.」

「This is because they won’t allow us to go to the front even when we ask.」

At this rate the chance to raise achievements wouldn’t arrive no matter how long they waited.

Erhart resolved himself.

「You guys, listen. Tonight we’re going to sneak out and go to the front.」

「So we’re finally going to do it!」

The young men’s eyes were shining in anticipation of finally being able to defeat monsters just like real adventurers.

「It’s useless no matter how much we ask Neu-san. As I thought, it’ll be better here if we proactively go to the front and show our strength.」

When the night came and they confirmed that everyone had gone to sleep, Erhart’s group started moving in order to join the group at the front.

Sometimes there would also be a patrol, but in this place they had no lack of hiding places.

Erhart’s group sneaked out like that and moved through the path that had become darker than when it was afternoon.

They created torches and moved with Erhart at the front──then they heard an animal’s voice.

Erhart drew out his greatsword and held it at the ready.

「Oi, use the torch to search for the enemy! I’ll hack it apart.」

The nervous young men illuminated the surrounding with their torches, and then an injured monster with a wolf-like appearance became visible.

Its red eyes were shining with an eerie light.

「O-oi!」

「I never saw this kind of monster!」

「S-someone help」

Erhart’s friends were surprised by the monster’s appearance and fell into chaos.

It couldn’t be helped. That wolf was bigger than themselves.

Its size was too different than the monsters that they saw near their village.

Erhart took a stance with his greatsword and bulged his muscles up.

「Don’t get scared, you guys! Only this monster’s appearance is scary! I’ll take it down in one go!」

Erhart brandished his greatsword and then he swung it down.

Erhart had defeated monsters in this way many times.

He swung the lump of iron with his inflated muscles──with his Arts’ power as hard as he possibly could.

Erhart had never even once seen a monster that could endure this attack.

But, the wolf in front of him became the first monster that managed that.

「Wha-!?」

The wolf quickly stepped back to dodge Erhart’s greatsword. The sword tip thrust into the ground deeply.

When he tried to pull the sword out quickly, the wolf bit at the greatsword as though to ridicule Erhart’s lack of composure.

「L-let go!」

Erhart struggled to take back his great sword, but the wolf didn’t let go and crunched it into pieces.

The young men screamed when they saw that.

「I-IT’S HOPELESSSS!」

「AIN’T NO WAY WE CAN WIN AGAINST SOMETHING LIKE THIS!」

「THAT’S WHY I SAID THAT I DIDN’T WANT TO COME HERE!」

The young man ran away.

Erhart who lost his comrades and also lost the light of the torches was trembling all over within the darkness.

The wolf seemed amused by Erhart’s state. It was moving around Erhart while growling, as though it were trying to stir up his fear.

「Dammit. Dammit. DAMMITTTTTTT!」

Erhart was yelling while his body trembles. He ran to the direction of where the wolf’s footstep came from.

He wanted to punch the wolf, but he collided on a dilapidated house’s wall and bounced back, falling on the ground.

The wolf placed its front leg on Erhart’s chest, who was lying down facce up.

And then it brought its face close. Its drool was trickling down onto Erhart’s face.

「S-sto──」

The wolf opened its mouth wide and its smelly breath reached his nose.

Tears were trickling out of his eyes due to the terror. The area between his legs became warm and damp. The smell of ammonia was spreading to the surroundings.

Then──.

「Haa, so it’s you.」

──He heard an annoyed voice. The wolf raised its face and looked back.

What Erhart saw was multiple lights that had approached near them without him noticing.

With a lantern’s light illuminating the surrounding, he faintly saw a young man with orange hair jumping down from a house’s rooftop holding a one-handed sword.

The wolf didn’t even have the time to notice the young man. Its neck was cut off right away by the one-handed sword.

Erhart was showered by the blood that spurted out of the wolf’s neck as he watched what happened in a daze.

The wolf’s body slowly fell down.

「Hih!」

His body finally became able to move again, together with the shock. He backed away with his butt still touching the ground. Then he noticed that it was Albano who severed the head of the wolf.

He defeated a monster that he couldn’t win against with a weapon that was smaller than his.

He couldn’t believe that.

Albano’s comrades came holding lanterns after that and surrounded Erhart.

「Geh, this guy is covered in blood.」

「It’s the monster’s blood. More importantly, it stinks here.」

「Did he wet his pants?」

Erhart then fainted in front of the laughing adventurers──.

──The next day.

Erhart’s group used the floor transfer device in the dungeon to return to the surface.

They were dragged to the adventurer guild. Waiting for them there was Marianne and her superior. That superior talked to Erhart’s group with a condescending attitude.

「So──you guys ignored orders, and on top of that you almost died because of that. The evaluation of all of you is written on this paper. It said, you guys only ate for free without even helping out with anything.」

They weren’t useful at all in battle.

Not only that, they were completely uncooperative. They didn’t even help with preparing the campsite. And yet they never missed asking for food. What would the people around them think of such adventurers?

Naturally their evaluation result was the worst.

The male staff in his forties looked at the depressed Erhart’s group and snorted.

「It looks like all of you understand now just how powerless you are. You all don’t even have any decent equipment and can only talk big, that’s the reality of your current situation. How about you all just go back home quietly?」

Erhart lifted his face and glared at the guild staff, but there were armed guards behind him and Marianne.

Erhart could only keep his mouth shut. He casted his gaze down and clenched his fist.

His other friends were also doing the same.

There was also how they ran away and left Erhart behind. They kept quiet without saying anything.

Rather, there were even some among them who looked relieved, wanting to return back to their village.

Erhart didn’t miss the faces of several of his friends that let out a sigh of relief, thinking they’d be able to return home with this.

「I won’t understand anything if you don’t say anything. Why did all of you do such thing──」

「Please wait. These kids have also tried their best.」

Marianne cut off her superior’s words and stood up for Erhart’s group.

「Certainly they might be reckless, but an adventurer should at least have that much guts. Wouldn’t it be fine for us to watch over these kids for just a bit longer?」

The superior made a troubled face by Marianne’s appeal.

「──Will you take responsibility for them? They have caused trouble for the guild, you know?」

Would you look after these guys?

Marianne nodded with a serious expression at that question.

「Please allow me to be in charge of these kids. If they still wish to remain in Beim even after this, I will firmly take care of them as their exclusive advisor. I swear I will turn them into fully fledged adventurers no matter what.」

Erhart raised his face when he heard those earnest words of Marianne.

He felt so happy that tears came out.

No one had ever treated him this kindly since he had come to this metropolis.

「Marianne-san, I──I,」

Marianne comforted the crying Erhart.

「It’s alright. But, I will be strict with you from here on. Will you listen to my words properly?」

Erhart nodded.

「Y-yes! I’ll do my best for Marianne-san’s sake!」

Marianne smiled to hear that. Her superior shrugged.

「Let’s do our best together.」

「Yes!」

Like this, Erhart’s group ended their test in failure.