The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Chapter 104

“How could a place like this go unnoticed?”

Claire spoke as she looked at the dungeon entrance.

True to her words, the entrance was substantial—a ruin in every sense.

A dilapidated temple lay before us, mostly crumbled beyond recognition. The ground that had once been a floor was now overgrown with thick vegetation, making it difficult to walk, while the temple itself, resembling a miniature Parthenon, was completely overtaken by ivy.

Still, it wasn’t exactly hidden. In the middle of the forest, it stood out like a clearing, and anyone approaching would immediately notice it had been constructed rather than naturally formed.

Even with the forest teeming with wild animals, it seemed unlikely that Northwood’s hunters wouldn’t be aware of its existence.

“Probably because of the relic’s power,” Alice remarked thoughtfully.

The relic’s glow had grown even brighter. There were no other obvious effects—no magical inscriptions or hidden symbols around it.

The relic itself looked like a fractured stone tablet. Etched with partial symbols, it seemed to be only a piece of a larger picture, though the nature of that image was unclear. It reminded me of the broken stone tablets often seen in horror games, where each piece was needed to unlock a door.

Given its position, it might have originally been the central fragment, but whether the complete tablet was meant to be square, triangular, or circular was impossible to tell.

I had seen this before.

In the original story, this was an item you obtained after defeating Verati.

Verati would become a prisoner of the Empire, serving as a bargaining chip between the kingdom and the Empire.

...Not a heroine. The heroine from the kingdom would make an appearance later.

But that aside...

“It likely has some form of perception-dampening magic. Even if it’s a forgotten place by the Empire’s standards, it would have been a significant site in past civilizations.”

“Perception-dampening magic? Does such a thing exist?”

“In an age when everything was solved with magic, it might have,” I replied.

Claire’s eyes widened in surprise, while Alice nodded, seeming convinced.

“That’s why the kingdom brought this relic here. At the very least, it suggests they know these sites are scattered across the world.”

“Doesn’t the Empire have relics, too?” Claire asked.

“Yes, but they don’t know how to use them or have maps marking their locations. They’re merely ‘treasured artifacts’ and nothing more.”

As Claire and Alice continued discussing, I approached the ruins slowly.

The closer I got, the brighter the blue light from the relic became.

As I moved forward on my own, I heard hurried footsteps following me.

“Do you know something we don’t?”

Bella asked as she caught up to me.

“...”

I didn’t answer.

Though my aim was hasty, the powerful blast of fire from the gun was more than enough to vaporize the slime on impact.

“...”

The others stared at me, slightly open-mouthed, as I casually reloaded a shell.

Well, I’d come prepared, after all.

At least I knew what types of creatures inhabited this place.

With a small sense of pride, I moved forward slowly.

---

“Sis, you’re amazing...”

...Hmm.

Perhaps I’d overdone it a bit?

The lack of traps, coupled with the creatures inside... I’d over-prepared to such an extent that we could deal with them effortlessly. Though I only carried a handgun and shotgun, slimes were weak to heat and magic.

Mia Crowfield would’ve been a big help, but she’d adamantly refused to come to the casino. Even if she had, bringing her down here wouldn’t have felt right. If anything, I’d likely have assigned her to support Charlotte’s side.

“Hm.”

Following closely behind, Bella let out a small hum of interest as we finally reached what seemed to be the deepest part of the dungeon. Her mask’s eyeholes were darkened, making her gaze unreadable, but I could sense a shift in the way she looked at me.

“This device...”

At the deepest point in the dungeon, in front of the room housing the boss monster, was an auto-healing device.

It was a design feature in the game. To avoid the absurdity of placing a merchant right before a boss fight, the developers had opted for an ancient, magical healing device instead. It wasn’t unique to this spot but appeared in various locations throughout the game. Still, it was the first time I’d encountered one in this world.

“It’s still active,” Alice said as she approached.

The strange, spiral-shaped pillar, wrapped in vividly glowing lights, illuminated the area.

Not surprisingly, it didn’t seem to offer any shop functions.

“What exactly is this device?”

Leo frowned as he examined it closely, and only then did I realize...

Ah, we hadn’t taken any damage.

In a world where being shot was fatal, this principle applied equally to animals and monsters. With enough penetration to pierce skin, a bear would die just as a person would.

...And slimes stood no chance.

Thanks to my thorough preparation, the others had taken little to no damage.

So there was no need to heal here, and they felt nothing from the device.

...Perhaps I had overdone it after all.

For a moment, I pondered that thought.