Rae had a feeling that Yva might know. She knew he killed the dire boar, and since she was at the auction, she must have seen how he lied about his attributes and skills. She probably deduced that there was no way he was able to kill the dire boar with only that and assumed he lied somehow. Coupled with his intelligence as a newly born being and his status as a mutated goblin, she had reasonable suspicion that he had subverted the slave collar.
Even so, the collar was one of his deepest secrets and was tied to the rate of his survival in this world.
Rae’s face quickly became stonefaced and he turned back around, resuming his steps.“What are you talking about?”
“Still playing hard to get, I see. I suppose that means you refuse to answer. Well, I already got my answer from your reaction anyways and since you didn’t answer, I’ll ask you something else.”
‘What a shrewd woman,’ complained Rae. He had the feeling that Yva wouldn’t quit until she found out all his secrets.
“Hmm, what should I ask…?” Her humming occupied Rae’s mind for a bit. He then heard the excitement. “Oh, I know! When we first met, you said your name was ‘Rae’. Who gave you that name? I’ve always wondered.”
Rae felt certain emotions surge up as he heard Yva’s question. Although he loved his name, he loved it because it was the name he had when Mary and Helen found him.
Still, even though he didn’t like bringing up ‘that woman’, he owed Yva for helping him out. Ironically, it was her who helped him keep his name in this world.
With much resistance, he answered. “The woman who gave birth to me.”
Hearing that, Yva felt even more curious now. “A goblin woman named you? How?”
Rae ignored her further questioning and walked up to the door. He could feel an ominous sensation looking at the black spider on it, unlike the previous doors. Especially the white skull on its abdomen.
He pushed the heavy door open and entered. They were greeted with an incredibly spacious passage. The height, nearly 70 feet tall with pillars dotted across the passage evenly. As for how far the room expanded, Rae could not tell.
Rae also felt an eerie atmosphere in the room. Before, lesser spiders rushed at him, but here – it was quiet. Too quiet…
He didn’t know what felt “off,” but since Landis told him to lead, he chose forward. Whether or not that was the right way, Rae had no clue.
As he walked on, an hour had already passed and there was no end in sight. Rae wondered if it was possible to get lost in a dungeon.
He was about to ask for Yva’s advice but remembered that he would owe her a question and decided against it. If something really went wrong, he believed they would step in, so he continued.
After a while, Rae did not notice anything aside from the towering pillars and empty space – that was until something entered his perception and hearing.
*Click* *Click*
He stopped and tried to get a look at it, but pillars were blocking his vision. ‘Tch, my「Perceptive Eyes」eyes don’t allow me to see through objects.’
Rae decided to stop walking to try and bait his enemy into attacking, but after waiting for about fifteen minutes, nothing happened. ‘What’s it doing?’
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He looked at the group behind him about 20-25 feet away, to see if they noticed, but they either didn’t know or were pretending not to know so he could deal with it himself. Judging by their abilities, he believed the latter to be more likely.
‘Looks like I’m not getting any help. Which makes sense since this is some kind of test.’ Rae began walking a few steps, and he started hearing noises in the direction of the spider.
*Click* *Click* *Click*
Rae stopped to get a better sense of the distance of the spider, but the clicking noises stopped. He commenced walking for a few more minutes.
*Click* *Click* *Click* *Click*
‘Annoying, little shit!’ he swore.
Rae took a breath to calm himself from his irritation. He reflected on how the spider was behaving, and after some thought was convinced that it was stalking them. He sat down and rubbed his chin in deliberation. After about ten minutes, an idea popped into his head. He didn’t know if it would work, but he wanted to experiment.
Rae got up and walked back to the group. “Master, Captain, may we take a rest now?”
“Up to you,” Landis said while looking at Selena.
Selena raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment. “Okay.”
She then pressed a finger toward her ring and a bedroll materialized. “Take this.”
Rae remembered Landis also using a ring like hers as well, from before they entered the dungeon. ‘I want a ring like that one day. Appraise!’
----------------------------------------
『Intermediate Gold Inventory Ring』
Made of gold and a「Space Magic」enchanted Mana Stone. Effect: An independent mobile space of 21000 cubic feet. May place and remove items from inventory. Restrictions: May not place living beings in inventory.
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‘「Space Magic」…? There’s such a thing? What is「Space Magic」? And what exactly is someone with 「Space Magic」capable of?’ Flooded with questions, Rae was again reminded of the fact he was ignorant of his new world.
After the realization, Rae decided it best to focus on the task at hand and took the bedroll. As he walked away, he was stopped by Landis.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I was going over there.” Rae pointed to an area 30 feet from them.
Landis thought that was strange. “Why –“
Selena waved her hand. “Father, it’s okay.” She looked at Rae with a stern face. “Be careful.”
Rae nodded and bowed with his right arm touching his stomach (Like how a butler bows) and then left.
As he was walking away, he heard a worried voice in his head. “Watch out. It’s strong – well, not compared to me, at least,” cautioned Yva.
Rae took the warning to heart. “Mm, will do.”
When he arrived at the designated spot, he set up the bedroll and put out his torch. Then he laid down and shut his eyes, patiently waiting…
********
“Why’d you let him stay over there?” questioned Landis.
“There’s a huntress lurking around. It seems he wants to take out himself,” replied Selena.
Landis let loose a big grin. “So he can even sense a huntress. I wanted him to be your personal bodyguard, but he’d make for an excellent scout.” He continued. “Well, it’s up to you what he becomes.”
He let loose a loud yawn and pulled out a bedroll from his ring. “Wake me up if something goes wrong.” Landis unpacked the bedroll and laid down on it. Seconds later, light snores could be heard.
Selena turned Yva. “What about you? Do you need to rest? I’m going to put out the torches so he has a higher chance of drawing it out.”
Yva shook her head. “Nope.” She smiled and licked her lips. “I’m going to be looking after the little guy."
Selena rolled her eyes. “Ugh, do you have to be so sexual?”
Yva stuck out her outstanding breasts toward Selena with a smug grin. “Aren’t you just jealous?”
Selena’s eyes couldn't help but be drawn to them, and a part – just a small part, deep inside of her, couldn’t help but resonate with what Yva said. Of course, she would never admit to any of it.
“Hmph, you’re just a salacious woman.” With blushed cheeks almost as red as her hair, she waved her hand toward their torches. The flames faded until they dimmed into nothing but a speck of light, and a stream of smoke.
Only darkness could be seen now.
********
Hours Later
On the ceiling of the room – directly above Rae, a pitch black spider only slightly bigger than the Giant Spider Rae faced earlier. It was dark as night, with a white skull on its abdomen. It eyed Rae as he lay there. It turned to the group trailing behind its ‘meal’, and they seemed to be resting as well.
It shot a web onto the ceiling and began setting itself down. It was almost salivating at the thought of sinking its fang into the delicious smelling meal below it.