Act Like a Boss, Mr. Swallow

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[Translator – FartKing]

[Proofreader – Demon God]

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The room was narrow. The feeble flame of the lamp hanging from the low ceiling of the cramped room flickered sadly.

With each flicker, a gentle cascade of fine white dust settled like snow on the lid.

The fallen dust quietly descended onto the pale bones of the person beneath the lamp, who silently read a newspaper.

“It’s troublesome.”

In the silent room, Patrick, known as ‘Death Knight,’ muttered softly while reading the newspaper.

No matter how much he searched, it was nowhere to be found.

After leisurely flipping through the page he was reading, quickly scanning the next page of the newspaper, he confirmed the absence of the desired content and turned to the next one. Still nothing. It was the same. There was no need to bother meticulously. As an undead without any need to sleep, time had always been available, and during that lingering time, he had repeatedly read the same contents over and over again.

Three weeks had passed since the incident of the ‘Advent of the Black Calamity,’ and by now, Patrick had collected every newspaper he could find, proudly claiming to have “gathered them all.”

And he had read them all. It took time to be sure, repeating it several times over, with the remaining time at his disposal.

None. Still nothing.

So, I guess there’s no need to dwell on it now.

Having made up his mind internally, Patrick folded the newspaper. Contrary to the restrained sound, the newspaper fluttered weakly. Patrick, rising from his seat, stretched. Perhaps due to the awkward posture, creaking sounds echoed from various joints.

After loosening up, Patrick’s gaze was directed towards the entrance of the dungeon – outside the cave.

As he retraced his steps, the 5th room, where the Antropophagous dwelled, came into view. Just three weeks ago, it was filled with the corpses of carnivorous plants, but now, the air in Room 5 was filled with the eerie pollen of strange plants, showing how quickly they had recovered.

Stepping on the stems of Antropophagous that had multiplied into dozens, Patrick headed towards Room 4.

Originally guarded by a massive twin skeleton, Room 4 had turned into an empty space without an owner for the third week. The same fate befell Room 3 and Room 2. Room 1 was so empty that even the smell of the monsters that used to inhabit it had dissipated.

Taking a breath and raising his head, spider webs scattered around the cave entrance touched Patrick’s nerves.

[Patrick, since we still have some time, let’s take a little break.]

– As someone else suggested, if we take too much of a break, it seems like the dungeon might close down, Boss.

If other monsters knew that the renowned dungeon Primordial Core was falling apart like this, they would all be terrified.

Muttering to himself about Devourer’s excuses, Patrick walked until the light tinged with nostalgia illuminated his sight. He lifted his head, and as always, the peaceful forest of Grephenia greeted Patrick.

Having confirmed the absence of human presence, Patrick continued walking a bit further.

Encountering a stag so massive that anyone could call it a mythical creature was during the time when he walked and walked, heading towards the center of Grephenia’s forest. Despite the approaching stag hidden among the trees, Patrick showed no particular reaction. He had anticipated it. He merely nodded slightly, showing courtesy.

The stag, a manifestation of the witch Grephenia, approached Patrick. When Patrick asked if there were humans in the forest, the distinct high-pitched voice returned as a response. The stag-shaped manifestation of the witch extended its back toward Patrick.

The stag carrying Death Knight moved leisurely towards the outskirts of the forest. The destination was the highest hill in the forest.

Too low to be called a mountain, and a bit high to be just a hill.

The sun was crossing the midday point, heading towards the horizon. In a couple of hours, the sun would completely set, and darkness would envelop the surroundings.

Patrick turned his head. Between the giant antlers of the stag, the silhouette of Hastin’s fortress, backlit by the sun, came into view.

Hastin looked quiet from a distance. No smoke rose from within the castle.

“It might already be too late.”

The Death Knight muttered. The Witch’s avatar turned her gaze without saying a word.

* * *

And so─

“I’ll go to Hastin for a bit.”

With that, Patrick uttered a single word that filled the once ‘peaceful’ dungeon, now brimming with Renee’s shout and Melje’s scream. Although not loud, his sharp voice timely interrupted the conversation between Renee and Melje.

Frozen in their dynamic postures, Renee and Melje looked somewhat ridiculous.

A moment of stillness. To break the tension, Patrick deliberately cleared his throat, prompting both the maid and the demon queen to simultaneously inquire if there was some kind of agreement with Hastin.

“Hastin, you say?”

“…Hastin?”

“Yes, it seems like we shouldn’t delay it any longer.”

Blurring the end of his words, Patrick glanced at Devourer. On the surface, it seemed like he was addressing Renee and Melje, and the response also reached them. However, Patrick was actually waiting for Devourer’s answer.

Perhaps sensing the intention, Devourer, who had been groaning and tossing, subtly let out a sigh.

“…Are you declaring your resignation?”

“I’ve been singing about going to Hastin for weeks. How much do you have to mishear to come up with that kind of response?”

As he spoke, a sound of a surprised hiccup could be heard from behind. Without turning his head, Patrick knew what it was. It was the surprised hiccup from Renee in response to the mention of escape.

Despite being a newspaper, the text was too small and densely packed, making it challenging to read. Devourer, already large in size, just smirked without bothering to read.

It didn’t matter. Devourer wouldn’t read it properly even if it was presented clearly.

He brought it just for the sake of showing, saying, “Here’s something! I brought evidence, so just listen without arguing!” It had already fulfilled its purpose.

“Let me explain one by one. Do you remember the things I’ve been complaining to the boss about for the past few weeks? Like how Raize strengthened its defense or how the third princess of the empire is in a coma or how Hastin’s lord committed suicide. Do you remember?”

“Uh… Yeah.”

It takes quite a while for an answer.

Do you really remember? No, did you even listen properly before? Various suspicious thoughts crossed Patrick’s mind, but let’s put them aside for now. Patrick, brushing off the situation with a spirit of tolerance, continued speaking.

“This is a compilation of news related to Hastin from human newspapers over the past few weeks. As you can see, there’s hardly anything. Excluding news from before the boss left… Well, there are only three left. There are only four articles in total. Four in three weeks. That’s the current coverage of Hastin in the newspapers.”

Hastin is a viscount. Even if Etark is not considered the real power of the empire, it is still a fairly large village. And most of what Patrick picked up were newspapers mainly covering news about Raize and the third princess of the empire. In spite of such a significant event, there were only four articles.

“Moreover, among the three, there’s not a single piece of news within the past two weeks. Besides this, I’ve searched through all the human newspapers I could find in the past three weeks, but there was no mention of Hastin. Do you understand what this means?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you even thinking before you speak?”

There was a sound from Patrick that felt like bones being crushed, as if getting hit in the back of the head. Having received a verbal blow to the back of the head, either his head was aching or his patience was running thin.

“Sorry.”

Devourer briefly apologized to Patrick, as if something between a sigh and a soul was escaping through his wide-open mouth.

However, that apology didn’t seem to console Patrick. Perhaps if he were a living being and not undead, it might have triggered a fit of rage.

You have to endure. You have to endure. To operate the primordial core, you must stay alive. No, do you have to operate it? Can’t you give up? After agonizing for tens of seconds, Patrick, who eventually found solace through self-indoctrination, staggered and suddenly lifted his head. His eye sockets glowed a faint blue.

“All… alright. You might not know. Haha. I’ll…I’ll explain one by one, slowly, so listen carefully, Boss….”

In Patrick’s trembling voice, there was a hidden recitation. Behind him, Melje’s stifled sound of distress could be heard.

“Firstly… as I mentioned before, the Lord of Hastin committed suicide. Boss, you roughly understand how much absolute power a lord has within his territory, right? That count died. It’s normal for mourning to continue for a few weeks. The most powerful figure in the territory has died, after all. However, there are only three articles. And two out of the three are about mourning. Isn’t that strange?”

In essence, one could say there were practically no articles about Hastin. Yes, there were no articles in the newspapers about Hastin.

As if the territory of Hastin didn’t exist in the Empire.

“Patrick, what are your thoughts?”

“I don’t know. Without information, there’s nothing to know. The most likely situation is that Hastin completely cut off communication with the outside world… that’s about it. Whether Hastin voluntarily cut ties or if it was cut off from the outside, I don’t know. But if it’s a situation like the former, where Hastin refuses interaction with other towns, there would be articles about it. So, the latter is more likely. Considering the Empire’s history, there’s a high probability that even the imperial family intervened.”

Why they intervened isn’t really important. Devourer has no intention of destroying the Empire.

─ Not only that, he just doesn’t have any thoughts. That’s why he didn’t need to know the Empire’s goals or weaknesses.

However,

“We need Hastin for the operation of the primordial core, don’t we?”

When conquering a dungeon above a certain level, humans must obtain approval and report to the lord of the nearby village before entering the dungeon. In the case of a conquering party challenging the Primordial Core, there might even be direct intervention from the royal family.

This means that by monitoring Hastin well, one can know ‘the size of the conquering party and when they plan to challenge the primordial core.’

If you can know, you can prepare. It’s a simple logic-driven necessity.

Hastin is necessary for the operation of the primordial core.

Strictly speaking, it was Devourer himself who created the unwritten rule, ‘Let’s not mess with Hastin if possible.’ Of course, the one who stated that was mostly demolished.

“Since you’re the one who completely destroyed the village, you roughly know how much damage you caused. A silent village is a hundred percent bad news. If we continue to delay, we won’t know what might happen. We have to go to Hastin.”

At the mention of ‘completely destroying the village,’ Devourer deliberately avoided eye contact. Whether it was a serious matter or not, there was a brief groan.

“Moreover, winter is coming soon.”

Patrick made a brief comment to Devourer, who was contemplating. Even without further explanation, everyone, including Melje, understood the seriousness of the situation.

For humans, winter is synonymous with hardship. In a village that primarily focuses on agriculture rather than training, it’s imperative to prepare thoroughly; otherwise, they won’t be able to endure.

It’s uncertain whether hundreds or thousands will die in Hastin this winter.

“If we urgently prioritize, rescuing the monsters in rooms 1 to 4 that suffered complete annihilation takes precedence. However, the chances of a new conquering party entering our dungeon, which has been blocked twice by the previous one, are low. Besides, rescuing monsters isn’t a priority during the winter when humans are weakened. Moreover, it’s around this time that monsters expelled from the northwestern region are likely to migrate south.”

He pressed on. Patrick had no intention of giving Devourer time to think. Whether it was Patrick’s intentional overload or if Devourer’s mind was overburdened, Devourer stumbled through his words several times.

“Th-then, I guess you should go.”

“If we keep delaying, Hastin will turn into complete ruins, making things even more complicated.”

“Y-yeah, that’s true… Well then, take care. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I’ll go and investigate firsthand, and depending on the situation, we’ll need to plan our response. I’ll try to return as quickly as possible. Well then.”

A few seconds of silence followed. Patrick turned as if the business was concluded. A small sigh was heard from behind Patrick. It sounded like a sigh of relief, judging by its length.

‘What, was it that simple to just say, “Go and come back”?’ Devourer must be thinking along those lines.

“Well, you got caught, Boss.”

Patrick smirked, then, after resuming a casual expression, abruptly turned around.

“But seriously, even if I think about it, going alone seems impossible. It would be good if someone could accompany me.”

He grinned, a smile quite different from the devilish one he had displayed when turning around. And to Devourer, it seemed like the most sinister smile he had ever seen.

Only now realizing the situation, Devourer cringed. Providing an answer to a vague question of how an ancient monster would react in fear, he rolled his eyes busily. Rolling his four pupils, he alternated between looking at Renee and Melje.

Devourer’s initial gaze landed on Melje. Meeting her eyes, Melje raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner, as if asking, ‘What’s going on?’

‘For now, Melje seems… feasible.’

She’s not yet a monster belonging to the Core. Even excluding that, how could he send the Demon King, who had indulged heavily in alcohol in Riaze, and couldn’t even handle her own body?

Melje is dangerous. To put it in magical terms, she’s like a level of explosion magic. Having silently concluded that, Devourer turned his head towards Renee. At the same time, Renee also asked Devourer a question.

“Wouldn’t it be fine if Renee goes, Mr Devourer?”

‘No. No, no, no, no, it’s okay. You’re okay. Really, you’re okay.’

If Melje’s Explosion magic, Renee would be a Giant Explosion magic. Her not doing anything is her helping. It’s a request, so please just stay still.

“If Melje or Renee wants to go, they can, but considering it’s an unpredictable situation and we don’t know how long it will take, what if the Boss goes with me? What do you think, Boss?”

The expression of the black monster froze. Excluding Renee and Melje, there was only Devourer himself left. Given the excuses like ‘We have to protect the dungeon’ won’t work, and it might even lead to a counterattack, staying silent might be the best option.

He completely fell into Patrick’s trap. Regret surged. There was no way out. He was being dragged.

A situation teetering on the brink of defeat. Suddenly, Devourer, recalling something, widened his eyes.

“…Yeah, it seems like it’s a situation where I should go. But Patrick, what about it? Last time, I couldn’t use Polymorph because I accidentally demolished Demeura.”

“Oh.”

Listening attentively to Devourer’s words, Patrick stiffened his expression. The voice muttering, ‘That’s right,’ carried a perplexity that he hadn’t expected.

“Indeed… If there’s no Demeura, I guess you can’t come with me.”

Until that moment, Devourer was convinced of his victory.

* * *

“You really won’t die gracefully.”

“Even though you went through the trouble of cursing me, I’m sorry, but my body is already dead.”

The lushness of the forest was green, but the eyes that accepted it were the eyes of a rotted fish, so there was no chance of looking beautiful.

If you had to express ‘rotting away’ with your body, this would be the exemplary answer—Devourer, walking through the plain, was expressing despair with his whole body.

On the other hand, Patrick, who was walking beside him, fully armed, was laughing. Although his expression couldn’t be seen through the helmet, he was undoubtedly smiling with great joy. He might be laughing to the point of straining his jaw. Devourer could vouch for it based on his symptoms alone.

“Boss, after being cooped up in the dungeon all the time, it must be refreshing to step outside after a long time, isn’t it?

You must be feeling refreshed.

He swallowed the words that reached up to his throat. Then he blamed himself. It was his own fault for underestimating Patrick. He was much more wicked than a simple skull.

“And as the boss said, it’s a situation where we have to go, but we can’t because there’s no Demeura.”

Hearing Patrick’s words, Devourer raised his left arm. The crimson gem-studded bracelet on his wrist sparkled in the sunlight. It was a bracelet full of resentment. It was the second Demeura Patrick had given him.

“On the contrary, didn’t you say that if you had Demeura, you’d set off immediately?”

“…Didn’t you say this was expensive?”

“I did say it was expensive, but I didn’t say there’s only one.”

“Not just one, but several. Where did you even get them from?”

“I picked them up.”

Are you pushing forward steadily for that reason?

I want to go back. I’m tired already. Although various thoughts crowded his mind, he couldn’t turn back.

Devourer, slightly straightening his slumped shoulders, raised his head. The walls of Hastin were getting closer.

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[Translator – FartKing]

[Proofreader – Demon God]

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