WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

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◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈

Chapter 28: Secret (1)

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The situation was clearly abnormal. Sensing danger, Jensen turned to his companions and asked whether they should continue exploring.

"Can't you smell the money?"

"..."

From long experience, everyone in the party knew there was a good chance danger lay ahead.

At the same time, though, the powerful scent of gold promised by a secret door clouded their judgment.

"We've come this far. Should we go a little farther? We've secured a way out, after all."

There was only one route, so as long as they kept the rear under control, they could retreat without much trouble.

There had also been no sign of Rat Men appearing behind them after the fierce battle earlier. Driven by greed, Bruno addressed the party.

"...I'm in favor."

The words of agreement came from Tarian, who had maintained the most critical attitude all day.

Perhaps her attitude was contagious. Not one of them objected, and without another word, they silently headed through the secret door.

'That's exactly the sort of thing adventurers would do.'

Gerik watched Bruno's party in silence and came to that conclusion.

He wanted to say he would sit this one out, but the atmosphere made it seem like the other four would attack and kill him on the spot if he did. So he kept quiet instead.

'And I do want to learn that adventurer mindset, that risks have to be accepted for the sake of profit.'

Gerik had no choice but to admit that his way of thinking was still far too modern.

With several fairly dependable fighters at his side, he decided to take the risk.

"Look! Signs of Rat Men."

The moment they entered the passage beyond the secret door, Jensen excitedly pointed out signs of Rat Men.

Unlike the chamber from before, where there had been little dung and other traces in an effort to hide their presence, the passage beyond the hidden door was full of signs of Rat Men, as if they no longer saw any need to conceal them.

"There must be a Colony here."

"Whatever it is, I hope there's more stuff worth money...!!"

Convinced there was a Colony nearby, they hoped there would be something more profitable beyond the secret door.

Not long after they resumed walking, the party found a chamber far larger than any they had seen before.

"...What is this place?"

Like the chamber Gerik had led them to before, it had several sewer tunnels opening into it.

Unlike that place, though, a staircase about three stories high stood at the front of the chamber, and flames burned atop a brazier that had clearly been placed there by someone.

"Who the hell are you...!!"

While the party exchanged guesses about the chamber, an enraged male voice burst out from above the stairs.

Everyone looked up in surprise, and a man appeared.

He was a young man in a brown robe made from fine cloth, holding a staff carved from aged wood.

He looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties, and for some reason, his eyes were slightly bloodshot.

Apparently displeased by Bruno's party entering this place, he repeatedly shouted at them in anger.

"How dare you invade my workshop?! Do you want to die!? Insolent fools...!!"

"...And who might you be, buddy?"

The man's manner of speaking and clothing made it clear he was no ordinary person. Even after being verbally abused, Bruno did not get angry and cautiously asked who he was.

When the man only continued raging instead of answering, Bruno explained that they had accepted a Guild commission and were exploring the Sewer.

"You know the Stonecreek Adventurers’ Guild, right? We took a commission from them and came down here to exterminate Rat Men. We're exploring here under legitimate authority!"

"...Exterminate Rat Men?"

For the first time, the man who had only hurled insults and curses gave an actual answer.

Perhaps feeling they could finally communicate, Bruno pulled out both the certificate bearing the Guild's seal and the Rat Man tails.

"The Sewer's been overrun with Rat Men. That's why we're down here."

"...You dare hunt my minions!!"

'Minions?!'

Hearing the man use that word, Gerik naturally recalled a setting from the Tabletop Role-Playing Game he had played not long ago.

That ominous word, used for monsters enslaved and commanded by another, made Gerik realize that the man before them was the culprit behind all of this.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, the man flew into a rage, pulled something from his robes, and began chanting a bizarre spell.

"...He's a mad mage! Fire!!"

Bruno had tried to settle things peacefully through conversation, but the madman suddenly produced an unknown object and began casting a spell. Startled, Bruno shouted.

'A skull...?!'

Unlike Tarian and Jensen, who immediately fired arrows at the man, Gerik had no ranged means of attack. He watched the mage instead and realized he was holding an ominous object resembling the skull of a large rat while chanting.

Squeee!! Squeak...!!

Not long after he began chanting, the familiar sounds of rats came from every direction.

Bruno was about to order a retreat when he saw Rat Men dropping one after another from the sewer tunnel above the entrance they had come through.

"Damn it..."

In an instant, the exit was blocked by a dozen or so Rat Men. They had advanced while carefully observing their surroundings, but they had never imagined Rat Men would leap down from the sewer tunnel above the chamber entrance. Despite all their caution, their escape route had been cut off.

"Not content with killing my minions and invading my secret workshop, you dare attack me!? Kill them at once!!"

The mage had not been hit, but he seemed thoroughly enraged by the party firing arrows at him. With bloodshot eyes, he screamed at the Rat Men to eliminate Bruno's party. Rat Men poured out from every direction and began surrounding them.

"...Get over there and put your backs to the wall!!"

Bruno pointed to an area with obstacles caused by a collapse and ordered his allies to run there.

Following his command, the party put their backs to the wall. A pile of collapsed stone firmly blocked their right side, so unlike their earlier battle, they avoided the worst-case scenario of being surrounded on three sides.

"Kagosh!! The front!!"

At Bruno's shout, Kagosh drew his bastard sword and blocked the front.

Collapsed stone filled his right side, while Bruno, a heavily armored shield-bearing Warrior, stood on his left. Thanks to the veteran leader's orders, a solid defensive formation formed in an instant.

"Arcanum vinculum... Servi mei..."

Instead of the strange, eerie language he had used to call the Rat Men earlier, the mage began chanting something in a relatively familiar tongue.

Bruno, standing at the front and preparing for the Rat Men's charge, paled at the sight.

"That damned spellcaster's casting! Stop him, now!!"

At Bruno's urgent shout, Tarian and Jensen, who had been firing arrows at the Rat Men, looked startled and began shooting at the mage again.

Baaang!!

A Rat Man's vicious body slam crashed into Bruno's tower shield with a deafening roar.

Driven mad by their master's orders, the creatures attacked the party fiercely without caring whether they lived or died.

"Uwoooaaah!!"

Wanting to reduce as many variables as possible before the mage finished casting, Kagosh and Bruno swung their weapons like mad, even at the cost of injury.

With the two companions in the rear keeping the mage in check, the battle should have been harder than their previous one. Yet unexpectedly, the pressure was lighter thanks to their newly recruited wild card in the rear.

Slash...!!

Squeeeek!!!!

Sensing danger, Gerik seized an opening and unleashed Slash at the torso of the Rat Man struggling against Bruno.

The Rat Man let out a miserable scream after taking a devastating blow while completely defenseless.

After subduing one enemy, Gerik did not even spare it a glance. Instead, he ran toward Kagosh, who was locked in a chaotic melee with the Rat Men.

'Slash!'

Gerik approached a Rat Man wildly attacking Kagosh and unleashed Slash after Slash.

The strikes had not been meant to inflict fatal wounds. Their purpose was simply to lessen the pressure on Kagosh, so they were not particularly powerful.

Still, Rat Men had poor equipment. Even when Gerik only slashed a nonlethal area like the shoulder, the pain made them stiffen.

The veteran Warrior Kagosh did not miss that opening, driving his heavy bastard sword into another Rat Man's skull.

"Brat! You're doing well! Just a little more! Keep it up!!"

Bruno shouted himself hoarse in encouragement at Gerik, who ran around the chamber while scattering vicious flashes of sword light.

That shout was also proof that the frontliners were holding firm, allowing the archers in the rear to rain arrows on the mage without holding back.

Slash...!!

"!!"

Perhaps their concentration improved once their urgency faded, because an arrow finally grazed the mage's robe.

For the first time, the mage's face stiffened as he chanted while watching the party.

"You're doing great! It doesn't matter if you can't hit him, just keep him from casting! Buy us time!!"

Thanks to Gerik's outstanding support, they had already subdued around five of the thirty Rat Men.

Bruno knew that once they dealt with the Rat Men, he could drive his mace into that damned mage's head. He shouted for the archers to buy them time.

"You lot! Protect me!!"

The mage appeared to have reached the same conclusion. He shouted at the Rat Men awkwardly waiting in the rear because of the bottleneck, ordering them to protect him.

Then, perhaps to shield himself from arrows, he took cover behind a nearby pillar.

"Armatura spiritus... Tege me nocte..."

The mage began chanting another spell from behind the pillar. Jensen shouted to Bruno that his view was blocked, asking how he was supposed to keep the mage in check.

"It doesn't matter as long as he isn't looking at us!!"

Tarian lowered her longbow, readied her spear again, and drove it into a Rat Man's head as she spoke to Jensen.

Magic generally required the caster to keep their target in sight to attack, so she reassured him that the spell the mage was chanting could not be an offensive one.

Jensen nodded with a grim expression and began firing his crossbow at the Rat Men.

Slash...!! Slash!!

With Tarian and Jensen joining the fight, the Rat Men's pressure weakened. Gerik did not miss the chance. He swung his sword like mad and struck Rat Men, and pain-filled rat cries began echoing throughout the chamber.

"I'll stab them and make an opening!"

Tarian and the others realized that the brat they had looked down on was the key to overcoming their current situation. They actively tried to create opportunities for Gerik to show what he could do.

Living up to their expectations, Gerik began swiftly hunting down the Rat Men one by one with Slash.

"Calibis magica... Corpus indundu..."

During that time, the mage finished chanting.

A blazing light flared around him, and five or six shields began floating in the air.

"A defensive spell! Everyone, hurry!!"

Bruno grew impatient as he realized the mage was casting a defensive spell to block ranged attacks.

Sensing danger closing in, his allies swung their weapons like mad, disregarding their own injuries.

Footnotes:

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