Amelia PoV:
It’s been a week since Karland and her friends visited, and to be honest not much has happened since. I mean yeah there were a couple of adventurers that entered which resulted in me gaining a nice amount of xp, I am SO close to leveling up!
Also I found out why the artillery wasn’t firing and well I’m gonna be honest here and say that I forgot to enable it, that was pretty dumb huh? Well the mistake has since been rectified… I hope so.
Anyways I decided to go out and visit the city, you know since it’s been a while, and oh man the city has changed drastically, gone are the tents replaced with actual buildings, it’s like I’ve been taken to a medieval fantasy city. Oh and I’m somewhat of a local celebrity here, yeah I don’t know how I should feel about that.
Anyways, I am currently sitting at this nice little cafe just two blocks from my dungeon. I think the place is called ‘The Cozy Brew’, and boy let me tell you their coffee is amazing. Too bad caffeine doesn’t affect me, which is a shame. Sitting beside me are Jeannette and Keamaris, the former did not hesitate to volunteer when I asked for a second volunteer to accompany me, while the latter was um voluntold? Yeah that’s right Kaylin approached me with the girl in tow saying that she “volunteered” to join. And you know I was initially worried but uh looks like the Elf girl has thus far enjoyed our little outing.
Jeannette is currently deep into reading a book that we bought from a book store, actually she has a stack of books and would occasionally either take a bite out of her sandwich and or take a sip of coffee. Keamaris on the other hand is deeply enjoying the cafe’s turkey sandwich, this is her third one thus far.
Things were quiet. I like the calm vibes here. I like the floral wallpaper and the view overlooking the street. The staff is nice and their menu is great too. I’m going to be a regular here, that is a fact!
The door swings open and a tall dark red skinned muscular man with a set of black horns protruding from his forehead and on his back is I think some kind of big bat wings alongside a heart tipped tail and his outfit consists of the standard leather armor, really nothing special. He walks in, approaches the front counter and I think he’s eyeing up the male barista at the back. Alright that’s enough of that moving on. My gaze lands outside where I spot a group of individuals. I'd say about eight with seven girls and one guy with said guy walking at the front, I’m going to guess based on a random whim that this guy is the leader, I don’t know it’s just a hunch.
It’s something about his appearance that is familiar… I mean jet black hair with noticeable bangs, almost messy in an organized way, he’s sporting basic leather armor, and he has a large sword on his back, and to top it all off the dude looks like he’s a highschooler, probably a senior. But eh it’s probably nothing.
Um anyways all together they were nothing special except maybe the two of the seven girls sporting some big assets, but other than that no not really. Until a short girl wearing some kind of priest robes wielding a staff that has a star at the end suddenly stares at the muscular man still talking to the cashier lady.
Alright, something tells me that things are gonna go down, “Hey Jeannette, Keamaris, stay alert and prepare, a fight MAY occur, in particular that red man and the group standing outside.” Keamaris swallows her sandwich before glancing at both the man and the group, before grabbing her musket that was propped up beside the table. Jeannette on the other hand continued to be engrossed in her book and gave a thumbs up in response.
The red man now holding a paper bag, waved at the cashier with a smile on his face, turned around only to be met with the guy now with his sword pointing at the man’s neck, behind him is his entourage of girls all with weapons drawn.
“So a demon? Out in the open with no disguise, how very brave… or perhaps stupid.” The Guy said, locking eyes with the red man who has visible sweat dripping down the sides of his head.
He put on a smile, albeit an awkward one, “Hey now let’s not get too hasty here, I ain't done nothin besides buy my boyfriend a coffee with extra milk and a ham sandwich, and yeah I’m a demon, so what? I’m not ashamed to admit it.”
“A likely story since you're a demon, and hah! He even openly admitted it! Now release these people from whatever mind tricks you placed!” The Highschooler looking guy said, squinting his eyes all while pressing his sword to the Red man’s chest.
Alright man, this is getting ridiculous. I'm gonna intervene at this blatant harassment towards an innocent man! Just as I was about to get up, a gruff old man dressed pretty similarly to a merchant in the Renaissance.
“Alright what’s this commotion about?” The man said in an irritated tone, as he approached the group arms crossed.
“Eh, who are you?” The familiar boy said. His appearance and general aura is so very familiar that I swear I’ve seen him before. I just can’t place it, you know. It’s in the back of my head I just can’t recall.
“I’m the owner of this establishment, and from what I see here you're harassing and threatening a customer, so either you stop right here right now or I’ll call the guard.” The gruff old who revealed himself as the owner sternly responded.
Oh boy he looks really angry after hearing that response, he was about to open his mouth when one of the girls finally stepped and whispered something in his ear, and the guy huffed sheathed his sword and motioned for his entourage to follow him as he left. The owner apologized and bowed to the Red man.
“Man those punks showing up killed the mood of this place.” I sighed and got up followed by Jeannette closing her book.
“Oh oh! Can I get another turkey sandwich? Please!” Keamaris asked, staring at me expectantly, hands clasped together.
“Sure.” I replied.
“Yay!”
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The PoV of the dude who just got kicked out of ‘Cozy Brew’
Tch, I can’t believe the owner threatened to call the guard on me! That guy was an Incubus, a DEMON honestly speaking, if that was anywhere else I would’ve cut him down, but alas he must’ve put a spell on him otherwise he would’ve definitely sided with me!
But what can you do? They’ll eventually learn about the dangers they pose… I look up into the great blue sky. It’s been four months since my class and I got summoned, back then I was just a high school student in Japan. I remember now, we were summoned by the Methyr Theocracy and all of us were given a divine mission to save this world from the cruel reign of the Demon Lord and stop the expansion of their demonic empire! And it is a mission I shall fulfill by ridding this world of demons!
And it seems the fears of the Theocracy’s bishops rang true, the influence of demons has seeped so deeply into this country to the point where some are brazenly walking the streets without any fear, but before I make my report, where’s the local dungeon? I must continue to increase my strength and to see what the fuss is about with this dungeon.
Wait a minute, why do those outfits that those three girls are wearing look familiar?
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Amelia PoV:
Yeah so the three of us are walking the crowded streets, occasionally we were approached by people, especially children, who all wanted autographs, so of course I accepted, man it feels good seeing them walk away with bright smiles.
Another thing, apparently Keamaris has placed all of Jeannette’s borrowed books into a pocket dimension of some kind, which actually explains how she got so many books.
But uhh that’s not the only thing, lately as in for the past minute or so I’ve been noticing that someone or something is how shall I say this, following us? No stalking us, yes one hundred percent. Everytime I turn behind me this sensation of being watched vanishes instantly, it’s kinda unnerving, I even relayed this to both Jeannette and Keamaris who’ve got their muskets on hand and have been intensely scanning our surroundings.
But still this feeling hasn’t gone away! And it’s freaking me out, Keamaris suggested that we make a report to the guard, and I agreed with her suggestion, though I have no idea how much help they’ll be. So after asking for directions we’re off to the guard HQ which is that big stone brick building with a tower attached to its left.
“You see anything Keamaris?” I asked, turning to the Elf girl.
“She shook her head, “No. Other than that group that’s been trailing behind us, otherwise I haven’t seen any suspicious individuals.”
Speaking of that group, it’s odd how that group from the cafe has been following behind us for a while now. I initially thought that they just so happen to be going in the same direction as us, but maybe they’re the one stalking us? Best keep a distance and continue onwards to the guard HQ.
Suddenly a short blonde haired girl wearing a black clok ran past us, stopping just in front of us, she was clearly out of breath. I of course ignored and walked past her while my two companions eyed her like a hawk.
“WAIT MISS DON'T GO!.” She cried out.
I stopped and turned behind me to face that girl. “Yes?”
“Um, my party leader wants to chat with you!” She said, even going as far as doing the dogeza.
“Uhh sorry but I have to report an incident of stalking to the city guard. Maybe after I talk to the guard.” I plainly stated, look I'm a dungeon, and there's people that want to kill me, so of course I’m not going to take any risks, and so I motioned for my companions to continue walking.
By now the group had caught up to us, and that familiar looking boy who was at the front approached us. ARRGGHH! Stupid brain! Why can’t I recall who this guy is! Ugh whatever.
“Miss If I may ask, what are you and your companions wearing?” He asked, giving me a serious expression.
Err, this is the first time anyone has asked us that but uhhhh sure I'll answer. “My entire outfit is basically an, let’s say an officer’s uniform and the hat I’m wearing is called a bicorne. Now my two lovely companions to summarize they’re wearing trousers and coats or if we’re being technical here, then coatees with crossbelts. As for their head headgear, well they’re wearing a shako and the other a bearskin.”
Suffice to say I had to catch myself from exposing the names of my companions, I don’t trust these guys and like what if he’s carrying a notebook that kills people by writing their name. Or something like that I dunno.
I smiled, “I am sorry for being rude, but the three of us must get going, I have something that I need to report to the guard.”
“R-right, sure yeah s-sorry for bothering you miss, we’ll get going.” He stammered.
God this guy is giving me the wrong vibes, gulp why are those seven girls suddenly staring daggers at me, like I’m directly competing for something? Oh whatever, it's not like I care.
And we went our own separate ways.
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Amelia PoV one hour later.
We’re now chilling at the park after visiting the guard HQ and making that report, they told me that they’ll increase patrols for the rest of the week just in case. Good, I actually feel safer now knowing that the presence of guards has increased.
But you know what’s interesting, the feeling of being stalked disappeared as soon as I got talking to those guys earlier. Surely that can’t be a coincidence right? RIGHT!?
Anyways I digress, moving on we stayed about an hour or two at a park, Jeannette accidentally spilt the remains of her coffee on the book she was reading, um rather unfortunate, but she just shrugged and closed the coffee stained book.
Currently I am now back inside my dungeon specifically in my first floor, I overhauled the whatchamacallit? The bulletin area? Okay well I removed all the signs, enlarged the bulletin, and moved all the contents from the signs into the board, I replaced the sign informing adventurers of my alternative with a new one stating they must survive at least wave twenty or higher in order to beat my dungeon. I even added a scoreboard to the right for waves! Right now I’m just adding more decoration to liven up the place, especially since this is the first area people are gonna be visiting.
Fufufu I can’t wait to see people compete to survive the longest and - WHAT IS THAT COMMOTION OUTSIDE IT'S SO LOUD THAT I CAN HEAR IT INSIDE MY DUNGEON!!!
I angrily stomp outside, “Alright, what’s -” I ducked below narrowly avoiding a fire bolt which left a scorch mark on the marble door behind me. Wait since when did the entrance door turn into sapphire? Oh my god Amelia now is not the time! I’ll question it later.
Ahh I see the culprits, standing not too far in front of me was that group I ran into earlier and they all have their weapons drawn… out in the middle of the street mind you. They’re engaging with a group of two guys, who might I add don’t even fit the stereotypical demon look. I have no idea how a group of eight just fails to defeat two guys wearing monk robes. Great now the two groups are engaged in a shouting match.
“Those old farts at the Theocracy are just mad that they didn’t bring down the ‘Demon’ Empire of Azrathal which for your information collapsed as a result of internal conflicts and rebellions, because running an empire the size of an entire continent is difficult, Azrathal only controls their northern ancestral lands, which is small compared to some of the other much larger nations they share the continent with.”
“Hah vile demon supporters, that's what they MAKE you think, I guarantee you now that they're amassing an army big enough to conquer not just their continent but also Maryura, NAY the whole planet!”
“Uhh, I don’t think they're in the position to make anymore conquests beyond their lands, and certainly both the Demon Lord and her husband have certainly learned their lesson. Plus the nations of Clauvara are more powerful today than they were a thousand years ago. Did you know the reign of Azrathal only lasted for a measly two years? The Abercellian Empire which once controlled all of Maryura two thousand years ago have only slowly declined, and the territory they still control, and yes I’m counting both empires here, essentially splits the continent in half, a complete far cry of what they used to be. Though perhaps the eight of you should open a history book.
And I’m just gonna tune them out, I am actually losing brain cells just by listening to their shouting match. I then turned to the two guards beside me, “Oi why aren’t you two stopping them!” I demanded.
The guard on my left scratched the back of his head, “Well ma’am as you can see it’s just the two of us, ain't no way we can handle those ten hooligans on our own. Plus we’ve called for backup so they should arrive any minute now with heavy firepower.”
I opened my mouth briefly, before closing. Damn he makes a good point, especially considering that they’re just recklessly hurling spells, yeah I’d do the same thing as these guys.
Well in any case I’m gonna put a stop to this madness before they actually hurt someone, “guys stop!”
Tch, their screaming drowns out my own scream. I’ll have to increase my volume, “GUYS STOP!” No use, they still can’t hear me.
That's it, I didn't wanna do this, but I’m left with no other choice. I equipped my flintlock pistol, took two steps forward, pointing the pistol high into the air, and I fired.
The resulting gunshot put a halt to whatever it is they’re doing as all ten were now focused on me. “CAN ALL OF YOU JUST CEASE YOUR ACT-”
Just then numerous guards on horseback arrived on scene.
A guard without a helmet dismounts from his horse, examines the scene, which also includes the abundant amount of scorch marks that litter the area. “You know what, EVERYBODY TO THE STATION NOW!”
Erm, officer I can explain!
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Amelia PoV:
We’re at a nearby guard station, we’re sitting in this large spacious room all separated in three different sections, I’m sitting alone on the left, those two guys are at the middle, and that group of eight are sitting on the right looking pretty cramped, clearly the space isn’t big enough for eight people.
Just up ahead is a man with a burly mustache standing beside a desk, in half plate hands behind his back. He doesn’t look angry, or rather he has a disappointed look on his face.
Nobody has said a word, not even when we were being escorted here, well aside from our escort telling us that we’re under arrest for quote ‘disturbing the peace, assault, discharge of a firearm within residential buildings, damage to public, private, and personal property’ etc which was followed by reading us what was essentially our Miranda Rights.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Then the boy stood up and opened his mouth to speak, but the officer glared at him.
“Save it for the judge boy.” The officer barked, then he turned to the two monks, “Now then I’ll start with you two. What’s your defense? Actually I don’t care, it's not my job, I’m here to tell all of you that you're all placed under surveillance until your trial, which is next week. Failure to appear in court will result in one week jail time followed by one week of community service. Or alternatively you can pay the fine, we’re still evaluating the damages and cost of repairs, but we will send you the fine tomorrow. Other than that all of you are free to leave.”
Monk One stood up, glared at the group of eight, “Ah screw the fine, we’re taking those bastards to court!” Then the two monks walked out.
“Right back at you!” The boy said following them, until it's just me and the officer left, he turned his attention toward me.
“Ma’am you are free to leave, just that you’ll be monitored.” He states.
“Oh I know that, but uhh you see what if I told you that I live in a dungeon.” I said, smiling awkwardly.
“Huh? What do you-” His eyes widened and almost popped out of their sockets, then he slammed his hands against his desk. “You're the avatar of the dungeon aren’t you.”
“Yep, that's me!” I said, forming the V hand gesture on my hands. “Also I would like the charges against me to be dropped, since I fired my gun to stop them from escalating. Those two guards posted at my dungeon entrance can vouch for me!”
“Hmm, well regardless that is for the judge to decide, but since the only charge against you is the discharge of a firearm within residential buildings. Which totals to thirty five gold coins, and that is the highest.” He explained.
Darn it! But, I mean eh, I’ll just convert the shillings into gold coins, on the other hand I feel I was justified, no you know what? I’m taking this to court. “Do you know of any lawyers?”
“I don’t know, you could try asking at the adventurers guild. Good lord adventurers always find themselves in legal trouble, seriously you’d be surprised. But if you can’t find one, then one will be provided for you.”
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Dragdville Adventurers Guild, Receptionist Anna PoV:
It’s been pretty busy today at the guild, ever since the so called ‘Hero’ Party arrived, there’s no shortage of foreigners or more specifically tourists. Not that it’s a bad thing mind you, I just wish they didn’t just come here to only see the newest ‘Hero’ Party that the Methyr Theocracy summoned. There’s more to this country than just someone who calls himself a hero!
Uwaaah, my anger slipped through at the end, anyways the front door opens and! It’s the dungeon avatar eeeeeeeeee! Okay Anna don’t panic, just smile, and wave.
She sprinted to my counter. “Please, I need your help!”
“M-my help?” Huh? What does a dungeon even need? In fact, how can a mere mortal such as I help a dungeon!
She looked me straight into my eyes as if she was staring at my soul, “Do you know any lawyers?I don’t care about the cost that’s trivial to me, I just don’t trust the public defenders!”
Eh, EH! I. I. I. I am utterly speechless right now, I’ve never heard of ANY dungeon in my entire life abiding by any laws let alone hire a lawyer!
“U-u-um lawyer firms usually post advertisements at every adventurer’s guild, d-due to how often and easy it is for them to get clients.” I stammered, “The adverts are right by the quest board.”
The Avatar sprinted towards the quest board, almost knocking someone over, took a piece of paper “Alright, thanks bye!” She said in a gleeful tone, before running out.
Whatever the case may be, this will be the most interesting and weirdest court case to have ever occurred in the history of the Union, maybe even the whole world. I'll uhh keep an eye out in the local paper…
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(Back inside her dungeon, Core room) Amelia PoV:
Alright score! Let's see here, oh wow there’s a lot of different advertisements from a lot of businesses, guess adventurers must make them a lot of money. Oh yeah I gotta remind myself to remove the scorch mark.
Westerton Clothing Emporium, nope. Periwinkle Chariot and Horse Race, might be worth a watch but nope. Wait hold on Maxies Bros, and they’re a circus! Oh I’ve gotta watch them when I get the chance, still nope. Ah here it is, good gracious there’s a lot of firms listed, ahah! Here’s one that caught my eye ‘Goodwinson & Whitaker’. Let's see contact info, uhh how am I gonna contact them? Oh it says so at the bottom of their page.
Ah okay so basically tap the firm’s seal twice, then um a box? Will project itself over the seal and I just fill in the blanks and it’ll appear to them as a written letter. Oh so it’s like a fax machine if I’m not mistaken, well let’s see, First Name Amelia, Middle Name NA, Last Name Yokakko, Occupation Dungeon Core…
Aaand done, whew that was rather quick, now I’ll just wait for a response, and oh? Some challengers enter, and eight of them no less! Oh lord please don’t tell me, if they’re who I think they are, please let them be a different group of eight…
Avatar unmanifest! Time to go see. And oh my god it's those same eight hooligans! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THEM, THEY’RE REASON WHY I’M GOING TO COURT NEXT WEEK! Looks like they're being followed by some city guards. I'll instruct my creatures not to attack them since they’re just doing their jobs.
And wait a minute that boy, I remember now he looks like a generic anime isekai protagonist, no wonder why he looked so familiar, this means that he is just like me and he’s also from Earth, except I’m a dungeon and he’s someone summoned to allegedly ‘save the world’. I think I understand what Guardian meant now, just by my interactions with him outside. Those girls following him aren’t his party members, but actually his harem…
“Alright let's just see what makes this dungeon so special that everybody in this city seemed to nonstop fawn over.” Isekai Protag said. “Can’t believe we’re dragged to court! We’re the Legendary Hero Party for crying out loud!”
Uh okay not sure what he meant there with that comment, but still that was kinda rude. Second, you were literally harassing random people on the street, and oh my god did he really just say ‘Hero Party’? Man I’m dying here… from laughter.
“Don’t worry Takano we’ll make it through!”
“Yeah they’ll see that we’re in the right, we have the goddess watching over us!”
And there goes his harem telling him what he wants to hear, dude just get this over with quickly, and if the first floor militias kill you then good! Also his name is Takano. If I didn’t piece together the fact that he’s from Earth I would have assumed he’s from the Hoyashi Shogunate and not Japan, yes I’ve been studying this world’s history and geography in my downtime… I’m still gonna call him Isekai Protag.
Oh, oh, they’re finally moving, I almost thought that they were just gonna stand there, okay they see the Prussian Landwehr forming a line. They really did skip the ‘puzzle’, honestly they’re actually the first group to skip it, my second puzzle on the second floor from what I’ve seen has a fifty-fifty split of people skipping it or making an attempt to solve it.
They fired a volley, which really didn’t do much since somebody erected a protective barrier over them. Darn it, one of them would’ve died.
The group continued to advance, albeit slowly. My guess is they can’t shoot back while the barrier is active, but they’re doing so under the hail of gunfire, come on that barrier is gonna break at some poi- Oh speak of the devil the barrier broke after the third volley and Protag ordered a frontal assault right into a fourth volley, while Ellen ordered a counter charge.
Soon the two sides met, bayonets clashed against swords and I saw spears in the mix. Wait, is one of the shall I say girls with big ‘assets’ wielding what looks like a naginata? And why is she dressed in what’s essentially a bikini made of steel? Scratch all eight girls are scantily clad in some form. How did I NOT notice this earlier?
Ah whatever, I don’t care though I am pretty that they got me in trouble with law, and taking them down in court is gonna be so satisfying!
Yo one of the Landwehr girls looked like she’s drooling… she is staring at the toned abs of a bow wielding Wood Elf girl. FOCUS ON THE FIGHT DAMN YOU OR IT'S OFF TO HORNY JAIL!
And she died when an arrow hit her in the head when said elf shot her. Other than achem her, the Landwehr hasn’t suffered any casualties, in fact the only person actually doing damage was Isekai Protag himself the only reason why he hasn’t killed anyone is because he’s fighting multiple opponents at once without support, and none of his harem has died because he’s actively covering for them.
This is so odd considering everyone thus far had breezed through the first floor. It’s almost like he’s the only powerful one while his teammates are so pathetically weak. I’ve seen, no joke, a team of level one adventurers sporting only the cheapest equipment do better, granted they would only reach the bridge before dying, but still.
Oh? Oh? Isekai Protag is glowing, and he just killed everyone with one swing, great so bro had to use his ‘cheat’ skill against what’s essentially a citizen militia.
I-I-I-I- I’m at a loss of words, my god man I’d hate to see their performance against the Young Guard and my Grenadier Regiment, my two elite units currently deployed. Actually scratch that I’d hate to see their performance against the 42nd Regiment of Foot, actual trained soldiers.
“Tanaka-kun are you okay? You’re awfully quiet.” Human Harem Girl One said.
“It’s just… those black uniforms, and those guns they were using… it feels as though I’ve seen them before.” Isekai Protag responded, kneeling down to pick up a musket. If we’re being specific here it’s a Potsdam 1809 Musket.
“Those firearms look similar, yet not at the same time, I mean jeez guns that can fire without magic crystals! What kind of sorcery is that?” Wood Elf Harem One observed, intensely staring at the musket that Protag is holding.
Isekai Protag shook his head, then dropped the musket. “Whatever, let's just continue on.”
You know what I’m gonna manifest my avatar and wait for them at the floor two entrance door with the National Guard, why? Cause I want to tell him that his hare- I mean his party members are weak.
“Ah madame, it's a surprise to see you with us!” Emile exclaimed, when I appeared out of thin air. Of course I gave them the heads up before I showed up. Man I don’t want to get shot at because I startled some folks!
“ I don’t normally show myself to adventurers in my dungeon, unless I requested something from them.” I explained, getting some nods from the assembled guardswomen. “I’m here because I want to tell those eight, specifically those seven girls that they’re weak and that they should permanently quit being adventurers.”
Emile winced at my words, “Yeah, watching that fight against Ellen’s Landwehr was really bad, and it only ended because one of them pulled some kind of ability. Still ouch. Speaking of which, are they really adventurers? Those seven are practically naked, while the only one who's wearing armor is that boy.”
I raised my hands. “I’m only saying the cold hard truth. Speaking of which, here they come.”
“Defensive positions! After the first volley then fire at will!” Emile ordered as everyone formed a line behind their dirt breastwork.
While I stood to the side, arms crossed. Welp they have no barrier to protect themselves and a girl wearing the skimpiest leotard I have ever seen, had died, she received three bullet holes.
Oh yep they’re sprinting, that boy is ten times faster than them, he’s gonna reach here by the time the National Guard has finished reloading, but the thing is he really gonna fight thirteen people while his party catches up with him? Oh my god he is.
He very quickly found out that taking on thirteen people at once was a bad idea. There's almost ten bayonets poking and prodding at every opportunity ensuring that he can’t counter attack in any way whatsoever.
“Hey dude go back with your party, stop acting like the main character and do a 1 v 13 this ain't a video game!” I hollered, he stared at me with a shocked look on his face. Bet he wasn’t expecting anyone else to mention video games. Well guess you’re not the only one who's been reincarnated here!
This proved to be a mistake as a bayonet pierced his armor and stabbed him in the back, and he responded by backflipping a couple of meters back, and was soon joined by his har- his party.
“Quick! FIRE!” Emile, as the guardswomen hastily fired a volley at point blank range at about FIVE METERS. Oof man, this is just devastating to Protag’s party, as three dropped to the floor dead and survivors hid behind Protag as the bullets just bounced off him.
Now this isn’t really Napoleonic Wars, but the Swedish Caroleans would only discharge their muskets at ranges between fifty to twenty metres, later on during the Great Northern War, the distance was shortened to between twenty and fifteen metres! A musket volley is devastating at those close ranges.
Oh my god I’m getting ahead of myself achem. So now the four of them have attacked, no casualties sustained on my side, it’s even gotten to the point where some of my girls had taken pity on them and stepped back…
They’re not really seeing it, but I’m facepalming right now. This lack of coordination and cohesion from them is making me question how they even became adventurers. I mean look at this, I’ve seen teams of three reach the fifth floor.
Oh, it seems like Isekai Protag’s cheat skill has recharged, is he gonna use it? The answer is yes, because his sword is glowing a radiant white glow and one swing from his sword and all thirteen guardswomen are dead… does his har- I mean party even receive any xp for participating? Or is it just him? Because technically speaking none of the girls did anything.
“Hold it right there buckos, and before you do anything, I’m the avatar of this dungeon.” I said walking to the floor two entrance doors, as I received curious looks from them. “Takano or whatever your name is I’m gonna be addressing your hare- party members so disregard what I’m about to say. Y'ALL ARE GARBAGE ADVENTURERS, I mean look at this you’re like piggy backing off of Tekena here, making him do all the WORK, the only person who got a kill so far is that bow lady and that was because my creature was DISTRACTED. Seriously man I’ve seen level one parties with the cheapest gear breeze through this first floor with ease-”
I could feel heat rising from within me as I continued my tirade, “- And frankly speaking y'all should just quit being adventurers permanently and find a different job, this was a pathetic display, zero teamwork, zero cohesion, did such a piss poor job at fighting TWO regiments of citizen militias who are essentially part time soldiers, yes your boy over here had to use his skill just to defeat part time soldiers let that sink in, and I’m gonna say it one last time, these guys are PART TIME SOLDIERS. Because beyond this door past floor one, you will be exclusively facing professionally trained full time regular career soldiers. And judging from what I’ve witnessed, the regiment guarding the bridge may as well be a full on boss fight that’ll require Takana’s skill. In fact, a Dungeon Core can be a better adventure than y’all! And I’m not even that good at fighting.”
I then turn to Isekai Protag and my gaze softens, of course I’m not gonna say that to his face, “And you, ditch these girls, they’re holding you back from your TRUE potential. If you want to ‘save’ the world, start by ditching your current party and join a better party. I can point you towards the Manarias Party, they’re a really good party, now granted they died at the second floor, but that was because it was their first time at my dungeon, now they can reach floor five easily. Hey if they don’t allow you to join their party but maybe they can point you to others, but right now you ain’t ‘saving’ the world at this rate.”
Was I too harsh? Of course I was, they needed to hear this and nobody’s gonna tell them because let’s be real here who’s gonna try and piss off the so called ‘Hero Party’ by saying what I’ve just said. Nobody, that's who.
Isekai Protag just glares at me as if I’ve just insulted his mother along with insulting three generations of his family.
“Listen here lady! I don’t care who or what you are BUT I’m NOT gonna abandon my friends who’ve been with me ever since I was summoned. You made Sofia cry, you will apologize right now!” Isekai Protag spat in my face, as he glared at me.
“Okay and? They all needed to hear it. Either get better and stop relying on you to do everything or rely on you and stagnate.” I responded, staring him down.
“You know what, I'm not gonna argue anymore, I’ll be waiting on floor three.” I said, snapping fingers and I appeared at the camp, god man that whole interaction wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t previously pissed off that I’m dragged to court because of them. Now I could just easily pay the fine, but I’m gonna be very petty and take them on in court.
I walk around camp as everyone is running around me preparing for the party to arrive, and my gaze lands on a cannon and suddenly an idea forms in my head. I rub my hands as I could feel a devious smile forming in my head.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Tanaka PoV:
“Hey it’s okay Sofia don’t listen to what that avatar said. We’ll get the justice that we deserve as the Legendary Hero Party, they’ll all see!”
I said, in a vain attempt at calming the poor girl, she’s a mess.
“Grr HOW DARE THAT GIRL CALL US GARBAGE!!! It’s her fault for deploying strong creatures on the first floor no less. THAT'S IT I’M GOING IN!” Anya said with vitriolic rage, clutching her spear she opened the door and rushed.
“Hey Wait! Damn it Girls after her!” I desperately ran after her, we’ve entered what appears to be a heavily forested area, there’s a dirt path that goes straight.
“Eyes on the trees, there could be monsters that’ll ambush us.” I said, urging my teammates caution, I turned to Marigold, a priestess assigned to me by the Theocracy, “you see anything on your monster tracker?”
She shook her head.
“Alright let's continue slowly, we can’t afford to lose anyone, seriously I want to teach that girl a lesson.” I said, muttering the last part to myself.
After about an hour of walking we happened upon a clearing on the side of the road. Sofia really wanted to check it, but I advised against it. We can’t stay here any longer. Seriously this dungeon weirds me out, like how did muskets end up here? Furthermore those girls at the floor two entrance were definitely French dressed in military clothing of the Napoleonic Wars. Yeah I learned that in my world history class. Those bicornes of the era are unmistakable, even that girl who calls herself the ‘dungeon core’ wore a bicorne.
Actually now that I think about it, those girls wearing the black uniforms look German, or maybe Prussian is a more apt description.
My musings were interrupted when Marigold suddenly placed a hand on my chest, forcing me to dramatically stop.
Before I could say she pointed at what looked to be a corpse - Oh my lord it’s Anya! Then, I heard gunshots and two bodies dropping, I unsheath my sword, and frantically turned behind me, but as soon as I did so, something hit me in the back of my head and darkness soon overtook me.
“Uhh ma’am I don’t think the cannon is big enough…”
“Nonsense! Just take the ramrod and force him down the barrel and besides we’re already halfway there.”
Wha…? Voices… I hear voices...
“Yes ma’am”
“Is the gunpowder already loaded? I’d hate to lose all this progress…”
“Yes ma’am, the gunpowder is loaded.”
What are they talking about? I opened my eyes halfway only to find the end of some kind of stick pushing down on my forehead!?
I am instantly awake, and found that not only am I tied up, but half of my body is inside a cannon!?
“He’s awake, hold him down!”
I feel two pairs of hands grab hold of me thus preventing me from struggling anymore.
“Ma’am I think this is as far as we can go.”
Then the stick that was previously pushing on my forehead was removed and in front of me stood that same girl who insulted my teammates, and by extension me, suddenly rage began to fill.
“Hey let me go!” I screamed, to which I was met with a smug smirk from her.
“Hey, you’re finally awake, got caught in that guerrilla ambush, same us and uhh, that thief over there?” The girl said, “Achem, sorry about that, and no I’m letting you go, considering that you're in no position to make demands.”
Damnit, “Why are you doing this!”
She placed a hand on her chin for a moment and shrugged, “I dunno because I can and also, see you in court. Alright that’s enough stalling, girls light em up!” She proceeded to step aside as I heard something sizzling behind me.
“Hey wai- AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH.” The next thing I knew I was launched way up high in the air before blacking out.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Amelia.
Yeowch, he definitely hit the ceiling, and oh, looks the law firm has sent me a reply, just in time to! Let’s see, it read:
Dear Miss Yokakko, this is Paul Goodwinson writing to you on behalf of Goodwinson & Whitaker, as soon as our secretary received the application, and once we had the magic residue confirmed to have come from a dungeon. We were in complete shock that a Dungeon Core of all people were looking to hire us, as such I left my office and rushed straight over to your dungeon as soon as possible. We’ll discuss the details of the case when we meet.
Sincerely - Paul Goodwinson
Oh wow, hey that’s great I don’t have to wait weeks for a reply! Oh crap I gotta meet him now!
“Uhh excuse me ladies but I gotta go okayseeyabye!” I snapped my fingers and I appeared, startled a group of adventurers at my sudden appearance, I quickly apologized and rushed outside. To meet a man with short black hair combed to the back, wearing a three piece suit and holding a briefcase. Also he looks out of breath.
He straightened out his waistcoat and smiled, “Are you perchance, Miss Amelia Yokakko?” He asked and offered a hand.
I nodded, “Indeed I am nice to meet you, Paul Goodwinson.” I replied as I firmly shook his hand, afterwards I opened the door and gestured for him to come inside. “Please come inside, I know a perfect spot where we can talk.”
“Thank you, oh and before you ask, don’t worry about the payment, the bragging rights of my firm having represented a Dungeon Core is all the payment we want.”