WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster ◈
Chapter 49: No Way That’s True
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Long ago, the Vampires lost their queen, and every member of the bloodline she left behind passed from the world.
Reduced to a weak race, the Vampires scattered across the continent, each seeking a way to survive.
There was no royal line from which to raise a queen, nor any unified group that could pursue a revival.
Only a fate of gradual decline and disappearance into the pages of history awaited them.
Then, the Lord of the newly born Rank 8 Dungeon turned out to be a Vampire.
Isabella, who had wandered the forest before settling in a cave, had been chosen as the new Lord.
Of course, she had no legitimate claim. She had simply been selected by the Dungeon Core.
Still, Isabella carried the blood of a True-Blood Vampire.
As a True-Blood, she had every right to establish a new dynasty.
To the Vampire race, Isabella was rain after a long drought.
If this news spread, Vampires scattered across the continent would gather around Isabella.
On top of that, her dungeon was an Eight-Entity Dungeon.
Normally, a dungeon produced hundreds or thousands of monsters alongside its boss, and its ranking was determined by the total strength of all those forces.
Isabella's dungeon was different. Including Lord Isabella herself, it consisted of only eight people.
It wasn't a numerical disadvantage. It meant the strength of hundreds or thousands had been concentrated into eight.
“What will you do, Sister?”
Gather the scattered Vampires and establish a new dynasty.
For the revival of their race, that was the right choice.
Still, Isabella thought the order was wrong.
“Repaying the Boss comes first.”
If the Dungeon Core had a purpose, it was surely the revival of their people.
The survival of her race mattered to Isabella as well, but only after she repaid the Boss.
“A sound command.”
“Of course!”
The other seven Vampires agreed with Isabella's decision.
They had claimed the Rank 8 position solely because of the Boss.
If the Boss had not saved Isabella and awakened her as a True-Blood Vampire, none of them would be here now.
“You know, I want to offer the Dungeon Core to the Boss. But I can't decide that on my own. I'd like to hear what all of you think, too.”
Everyone shared the same opinion.
United in heart and purpose, the Vampires of the dungeon went to Faith’s Tomb.
After setting aside their long-awaited reunion, Isabella requested a private audience with the Boss.
Once they were alone in the Boss Room, Isabella took out the Dungeon Core she had prepared.
“No. I can't accept it.”
The answer betrayed her expectations.
...Why?
It wasn't absorption, but fusion. It would create an absolute lord-and-vassal relationship, one even stronger than a Blood Oath.
It also meant gaining a powerful ally ranked eighth.
There was even the justification of repaying past kindness, so it shouldn't have been a burden.
And yet the Boss rejected it without a moment's hesitation. Why?
‘Does that mean the Boss doesn't need us...?’
Nothing else came to mind.
The Boss must have coldly rejected the offer because the Boss thought Isabella and her followers would only get in the way.
“Isabella. What do you think of fusion between dungeons?”
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Isabella tilted her head.
“Um... Isn't it a relationship where both sides can trust each other?”
“The opposite.”
“What?”
“Fusion itself is proof of distrust. If two sides can truly trust one another, a covenant alone is enough.”
The Boss picked up the Dungeon Core and placed it back in Isabella's arms.
Then the Boss clasped Isabella's empty hand.
“Isabella. I trust you.”
“....”
“So you should trust me, too.”
For a moment, Isabella felt dizzy and stood there with her mouth open.
The words she wanted to say wouldn't come out. Only a faint breath escaped her lips.
At last, her voice returned.
“You're right. The Boss has... always been this kind of person.”
She had been foolish. Only now did she understand what the Boss was truly like.
Kind, and the only Boss she could trust without reservation.
Tears welled up, making her blink again and again.
Swallowing back the emotion surging within her, Isabella rubbed her reddened eyes with her sleeve.
She wasn't trying to hide her tears. She simply felt unworthy to even look upon the Boss's face.
Using that excuse, Isabella pressed hard against both eyes.
Not a Blood Oath, not fusion, but a simple covenant.
It was paradoxical, but that was why they could trust one another completely.
Isabella took the Boss's hand again.
“You know True-Blood Vampires live forever, right?”
“I do.”
“Undead do too.”
“Yeah.”
With her vision clearer than before, she looked at the Boss.
Now that she could see clearly, she knew for certain.
“I'll serve you for the rest of my life.”
The Boss was my eternal master.
* * *
“From now on, Isabella will be with us.”
“Kirik! Isabella's back!”
Balutak was the first to react to my words.
Buzz, buzz. Balutak fluttered around Isabella.
Does Balutak like Isabella that much?
Estigel clapped, while Charlotte simply lowered her head without expression.
“Welcome, my Lord.”
“Hehe. I hope you'll take good care of me from now on.”
“Big Isabella. Let me introduce you. This is Little Isabella.”
“Huh? I'm Estigel...?”
“Let me introduce you to Little Isabella too. This is Big Isabella.”
“I'm just Isabella, though?”
I could understand why Balutak acted like that.
The two of them did look somewhat alike.
At Balutak's urging, they shook hands. Isabella then slyly eyed the nape of Estigel's neck.
“You're a half-human, half-demon person, right?”
“Uh... right?”
“Just one bite.”
“...What?”
“Just once. Let me drink your blood.”
“Uh, um, that's really scary....”
“Kirik. Isabella, will you drink Balutak's blood?”
“Ah, no thanks. ...Your name was Estigel, right? No more, no less. Just one bite.”
After that, Estigel let out a short scream and ran away, while Isabella chased after her with a smile.
For some reason, Balutak was fluttering after them too.
Hellbok, who I had no idea had arrived, was also chasing after the three.
As I watched that ridiculous scene, I glanced at Charlotte beside me.
“It won't be easy keeping them in line. Will you be all right?”
“Yes. Leave it to me.”
It would be hard, but Charlotte would handle it.
In any case, Isabella joining us gave me confidence about clearing the Ancient Dungeon.
Charlotte and Isabella would be enough, and they both had humanoid forms.
Charlotte's Demon Eyes could be hidden with disguise magic.
Isabella's red eyes and fangs could be handled the same way.
‘For now, I'll let them rest today and tomorrow.’
I couldn't interrupt them while they enjoyed their reunion.
Unlike the trip with Balutak, this one looked like it would be quite difficult.
The distance was one problem, but I also had to prepare food for the two of them, ways to keep them warm, and plenty of other supplies.
The first Ancient Dungeon I'd picked out was in the Empire's northwestern polar region.
It lay hidden in the Land of Extinction, a place so remote that even human footprints had vanished from it.
‘The Ancient Dragon’s Tomb.’
According to the setting, the beings that ruled this world thousands of years ago were Dragons and Giants.
The place I was going was the tomb of an Ancient Dragon who had stood at the peak of the Dragons, who had divided the world in two at the time.
* * *
Sloth, ennui, boredom.
All living things wished for eternity, but in reality, it was unbearably boring.
Roxanne spent another dull day killing time.
“I'm getting sick of this too.”
Whoosh!
What Roxanne threw was a treasured sword passed down through the kings of the Ancient Milia Kingdom.
Such treasures were common throughout the Dragon Lair, the Boss Room of the Tenfold Abyss.
Collecting glittering treasures was really a hobby for Hatchlings.
Recently, she had been so bored that she tried collecting treasures again to relive old memories, but all she felt was emptiness.
Roxanne was currently using Polymorph.
Her true form was far too large. Everything around her would get knocked about, and even a slight movement had tremendous consequences.
That was why she kept Polymorph active unless there was a special reason not to.
“My Lord.”
Roxanne, lying atop a pile of treasure, raised her head.
A Dragonian stood below, looking up at her.
It was Dmitrich, who served as both the adjutant and Keeper of the Tenfold Abyss.
“You called?”
As Roxanne spoke, she relaxed the tension in the back of her neck.
Thud. The back of her head sank into the pile of treasure.
“I have an urgent report.”
“An urgent report?”
“As you know, the Rank 8 Dungeon has been updated.”
Roxanne already knew that much.
Then, at the next words, she abruptly raised her upper body.
“...At Faith’s Tomb?”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Why?”
“It appears to have declared itself a subordinate dungeon.”
Roxanne's nose wrinkled.
That damned Faith’s Tomb, that damned Rank 7, that damned single entity.
Whenever news of that bastard reached her, Roxanne had to force herself to swallow her Breath.
“What is so special about that bastard? Why would a newly born Rank 8 declare itself that bastard's subordinate?”
“I regret that I do not know, my Lord.”
Boom!
Roxanne’s punch sent the treasures surging into the air.
Roxanne glared at Dmitrich as though she wanted to kill him, her narrow slit pupils sharp.
Dmitrich's body flinched beneath a Dragon's Fear (Fear) that far surpassed killing intent.
Roxanne soon let out a deep sigh and squeezed her eyes shut.
As she reined in her Fear, Dmitrich released the breath he had been holding.
“What is so special about that bastard...?”
As Roxanne muttered under her breath, her eyes fell on the pile of treasure.
Self-loathing rose within her at the sight of herself lashing out in anger because she couldn't control it.
“...I'm not even a Hatchling.”
She knew she was caught up in childish, impulsive agitation.
Still, she only ever recognized it. She never fixed it.
Roxanne had long since lost every trace of a Dragon's wisdom.
“Haa.”
She heaved an exceptionally deep sigh, then lay back down.
With the back of her hand covering her forehead, she thought back to what had happened that day.
She had tried to remain calm, but whenever she remembered it, she trembled with rage.
Roxanne's friendship with the Seven Palaces of the Abyss had lasted well over a thousand years.
Shouldn't they have defended her out of consideration for that friendship?
Yet at the meeting, every one of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss had taken Vargoer's side.
Intellectually, she understood. At the time, she had stubbornly insisted on getting her own way.
She understood it, but the more she thought about it, the more unsettled she felt.
Why was everyone so crazy about that bastard?
“Instead of taking my side....”
Crunch. She unconsciously ground her teeth.
Everyone liked that bastard and turned away from her.
She had found that bastard insufferable from the moment she first heard the rumors.
The way it strutted around after killing two Heroes, the way a Rank 7 held its head high, all of it.
“....”
The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
No matter if it was a single entity, it was still Rank 7.
How could it possibly kill her?
Even though Heaven-Gifted Insight had verified it was true, she still couldn't let go of her doubts.
...Then again, maybe it was possible.
They said Vargoer had killed Balm Monk in a single blow without even lifting a finger.
Even Roxanne couldn't accomplish such a feat.
“A mere Death Knight.”
Even the Lich King was like an insect to her, so how could a Death Knight be capable of that?
Maybe the very premise that Vargoer was a Death Knight was wrong.
As one speculation led to another, Roxanne quickly shook her head.
Thinking about that bastard any longer would only make her angrier.
“Dmitrich. Has there been any progress?”
Roxanne had entrusted the task entirely to her adjutant.
But once again, Dmitrich bowed.
“I am sorry, my Lord.”
“...Am I really the only one left?”
Roxanne, the Dragon Lord.
That had once been her proud reputation, but now the title of Lord barely suited her.
Every Dragon she had led was dead, and Roxanne alone remained as the last Dragon.
There might still be a Dragon somewhere, having shut itself away in its lair and turned its back on the world.
Clinging to that faint hope, she had ordered her subordinates to search for her kin a full century ago.
Dragons had a strong sense of kinship. Roxanne's was especially strong.
She desperately needed the warmth of her own kind to ease her ennui and boredom.
But she was the only Dragon left in the world.
Gargoyles, Wyverns, Dragonians, Drakes, Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
Only things that had failed to become Dragons existed in the Tenfold Abyss.
Roxanne eagerly awaited the arrival of a true member of her kind.
At the very least, a Bone Dragon might somehow ease her loneliness.
But Bone Dragons that had become undead had neither wit nor reason left.
What Roxanne wanted was conversation and connection with her own kind.
A Bone Dragon that couldn't even speak could never be someone she could connect with.
“...A Bone Dragon.”
A thought suddenly crossed her mind.
Death Knight Vargoer was absolutely not a Death Knight.
An Abyssal Palace’s Dungeon Core could never have selected some mere Death Knight.
Irregular or not, it was nearly impossible for a Death Knight to become the Lord of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.
In terms of individual strength, Vargoer was certainly stronger than other Dragons.
“Come to think of it.”
Vargoer had antlers.
There had been an Ancient Dragon with antlers like those of a deer.
A question naturally arose.
What would happen if a Dragon died while using Polymorph?
If the corpse remained in that form, it would obviously retain that form after becoming undead as well. Judging by its appearance, it wouldn't be a Bone Dragon, so it might retain its intelligence.
Still, there had never been such a case, so she couldn't be certain. She could only speculate.
After thinking for a moment, Roxanne let out a hollow laugh.
“What a ridiculous conclusion.”
Just because it was strong and had antlers, she thought it might be one of her kind.
Did that make every undead as strong as a Dragon with horns a Bone Dragon?
Even by her own reckoning, it was an exceptionally stupid speculation.
Footnotes:
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