Chapter 48. Picking Glowing Mushrooms (2)
Edward was confused if this was the right thing to do.
Radel had rummaged through his backpack, taken out some firewood, and was now making a campfire.
There was a boss room right in front of him, yet he didn't seem nervous at all.
On top of that, he was now grilling skewers.
"Here, try this."
Radel grilled the sausages he had brought and offered them to Edward.
"Th-thank you."
By now, thoughts of nobility or royalty had long since been erased from Edward's mind.
Once they entered the dungeon and started moving around, he had naturally found himself relying on Radel.
No matter how much of a prodigy Edward was said to be on the outside, in here, he was merely someone who knew how to use a little magic.
In contrast, Radel was showing the expertise of someone who had anticipated such a situation, even taking out firewood to cook food.
It was a situation where he couldn't help but rely on him.
"It's delicious, isn't it?"
"Yes. It's really delici……ous."
Honestly, he thought he would be too nervous to taste anything, but that wasn't the case.
The savory sausage was infused with a smoky flavor, making it incredibly tasty.
"Yeah, you have to eat to have strength."
Radel nodded as he also took a bite of a sausage.
They had to recover their stamina while they could rest so they could perform well when they entered the boss room.
Seeing Edward gobbling down the sausage as if he were very hungry, he thought he should grill another one.
Just then, an alert sound reached Radel's ear.
Ding.
[The target's Affinity has surpassed 20.]
It seemed he liked the sausage.
'Giving food is indeed a good way to raise Affinity.'
Hadn't Armandy also fallen for coffee and marshmallows?
Radel took out another sausage to grill and spoke to Edward.
"I'm asking just in case, but you didn't do it on purpose, did you?"
"Huh? On purpose?"
Edward, realizing Radel's intention, jumped up.
"Are you saying I dropped Your Highness here on purpose?"
"If not, then it's fine. It's just that there are some people after my life."
Radel had said it as a joke, but it felt different to Edward.
The story of the 8th Prince almost losing his life in an assassination attempt was well-known among the nobles.
And everyone knew that it was a power struggle among the royal family.
Because the 8th Prince had no faction to support him, the life-threatening incident was swept under the rug.
'But now that he has manifested his Ability and his skills are known to this extent, the tables could turn.'
A suspiciously calm personality.
An expertise unbefitting of his age.
Although his inner thoughts were unknowable, such aspects were also necessary for a monarch.
Edward, realizing he was seriously considering Radel's potential, quickly came to his senses.
'What am I thinking right now……? Get a grip. I have to take responsibility for my family's future!'
As the heir to the Paradik earldom, he couldn't make judgments based on a moment's emotion.
Edward tried to recall Radel's shortcomings.
An undignified appearance unbecoming of a royal.
A love for money.
A work ethic better than a commoner's.
Actions that tarnish the honor of the royal family!
His wavering heart seemed to calm down a little.
"Want this one too?"
However, when Radel offered him another grilled sausage, Edward's eyes wavered.
Whatever his reason said, Edward's mouth was honest.
"……Yes. I'll eat it well."
What did it matter if he was royalty!
Right now, the sausage in front of him, personally grilled by the prince, was more important.
* * *
Radel cleaned up the campfire and stood up.
He had waited while resting just in case, but it didn't seem like anyone was coming to rescue them.
That meant he and Edward had to defeat the hidden boss by themselves.
"Let's go in now."
"H-here?"
"Yeah. We can't stay here forever."
He had seen earlier that Edward's magic skills were quite good, so Radel wasn't too worried.
"It's okay. You were doing well earlier."
Edward felt a little more confident at Radel's words.
But as soon as he saw Radel push open the door to the boss room, his heart shrank again.
Dealing with monsters was already overwhelming, but a hidden boss in a dungeon!
However, Radel's actions were without hesitation.
Creak.
Radel opened the door and the two of them went inside.
It was dark inside, so they couldn't see what was there very well.
That made Edward even more scared.
Thud!
As soon as the two entered, the door of the huge stone chamber slammed shut.
Now, that door would not open again until either the boss was defeated or their lives came to an end.
Edward swallowed nervously.
"It's darker than I thought."
Radel muttered as he lit the magic lamp.
In any case, a boss room this dark was not a very good sign.
If Radel had been alone, he would have turned off the light and adapted to the darkness, but he couldn't expect such a response from Edward.
It was better to light up the surroundings.
"Edward, use light element magic."
At Radel's order to make the ball of light as large as possible, Edward swung his staff.
"Light!"
A ball of light was created, illuminating their surroundings.
However, it couldn't illuminate everything. It was because the boss room was larger than they thought.
Rustle!
Radel felt something moving in the darkness where the light did not reach.
"Be careful, there's something."
At Radel's words, Edward's face fell.
Of course there was something.
This was a dungeon's boss room!
Edward gripped his staff tightly and stared into the darkness.
But he couldn't see anything.
Edward unknowingly took a step back.
The emptiness behind him gave him a sense of psychological anxiety.
Behind him, four pairs of glowing red eyes appeared.
- Tszzzz
Radel, who had spotted the four pairs of eyes before Edward, quickly swung his staff.
"Light!"
The light that shot out from Radel's staff pierced the monster.
Swoosh!
The large monster that had been aiming for Edward bent its legs and struggled.
- Tszzt!
Edward, seeing the monster writhing behind him, ran to Radel's side.
"Aah! What is that!"
"Probably a spiderling."
Spiderling?
Edward was horrified to see the giant spider, the size of a person.
If the young was that big, how big was the mother?
"There's the queen spider over there too."
Just as Edward was thinking that, Radel pointed to the middle of the room.
There, a giant spider, the size of two spiderlings combined, was spewing webs in all directions.
"Ugh."
It's huge.
Unlike Edward, who was terrified by the size of the giant spider monster, Radel was inwardly relieved.
'This is manageable.'
Unlike their appearance, spider-type monsters' exoskeletons were not that tough.
It was just difficult to deal with them numerically because if there was a queen spider, there would be many spiderlings around, but the difficulty of the raid itself was on the lower side.
- Tszzzzt
As expected, once one was down, the spiderlings hiding in the darkness began to crawl out one by one.
Several pairs of red eyes glinted in the darkness.
Radel drew his sword and gave instructions to Edward.
"Those guys are weak to fire. I'll cut them down, so support me with flame magic."
Without further explanation, Radel immediately gripped his sword and rushed out.
Swish!
Every time Radel swung his sword, the spiders' legs flew through the air. Even to Edward, who didn't know much about swordsmanship, it was a fast and accurate movement.
It wasn't flashy or heavy, but it was without any unnecessary movements.
'Oops!'
Edward, who had been watching Radel's performance for a moment, came to his senses and chanted a spell.
"Burn!"
The quickly created flames followed Radel, burning the monsters.
It didn't take long for the dark boss room to be filled with surging flames.
* * *
"Edward, how much magic power do you have left?"
"I think I can manage one big one."
Radel smirked at Edward's words.
It was because he knew that statement was a bluff.
In reality, Edward's hands were trembling.
Radel had been more nervous than Edward when he first entered a dungeon in his past life.
It was a misconception to think that just because an ordinary person had awakened, they could immediately be active in a dungeon. Most people would panic and fail to even use a single skill properly when they first encountered a monster.
This was extremely well done.
It was partly because Radel had raised his Basic Swordsmanship and caught them easily, but without Edward's appropriate rear support, he might not have been able to finish so quickly.
"Now, if we just catch the boss, we can finally escape."
At Radel's words, Edward nodded his head vigorously.
The only monster left was the queen spider.
Around them, the carcasses of the spiderlings whose legs had been cut off by Radel and hit by Edward's magic were scattered everywhere.
Radel planned to burn the webs surrounding the queen spider and then finish it in one blow.
If he gave the queen spider time, it might summon new spiderlings.
But at that moment, a temptation welled up in Radel's heart.
'Wait. Isn't this a chance to upgrade the Troll's Heart?'
It felt like if he just took one hit, he would enter a near-death state.
Coincidentally, he was just 1 point of health short of upgrading the Troll's Heart.
But Radel steeled his resolve.
'No. Now is not the time for such thoughts.'
As Radel turned his head towards the queen spider, a suspicious scene caught his eye. The queen spider was moving its large legs, drawing a summoning circle on the floor.
It was undoubtedly trying to summon new spiderlings.
Before Radel, who had noticed it, could run, Edward, who was closer to the queen spider, raised his staff first.
"Burn!"
However, that magic only served to anger the queen spider.
- Kiiik!
The queen spider stopped drawing the summoning circle and rushed over, striking down at Edward with its leg.
It was obvious that Edward, a magician with weak health, would die instantly if he was hit.
'There's no time!'
He had no choice but to trust the Troll's Heart!
Radel threw his body forward, blocking Edward's path.
Stab!
The queen spider's leg pierced through Radel's body and came out the other side.
"Keuk!"
Radel endured the overwhelming pain and waited for the system window's notification sound.
Ding.
[A life-threatening crisis!]
[The user's body enters a near-death state.]
[The trait, Troll's Heart, overcomes the crisis of death.]
[Stats increase.]
[The additional ability of Troll's Heart (D) is unlocked!]
It's done.
Radel grabbed the queen spider's leg that had pierced his body and pulled it out in one go.
[The trait, Troll's Heart, is activated.]
[Caution! A strong wave of pain is coming!]
This level of pain was bearable compared to when he was hit by the Griffin.
Radel squeezed out his last bit of strength and delivered a final blow to the queen spider. After that, he could no longer hold on.
Thud!
As Radel collapsed, another notification sound rang in his ear.
Ding.
[The target's Affinity has surpassed 30.]
[The target's Affinity has become 50!]
And a strange voice was heard as well.
It was a very desperate and ominous scream.
- How could this be! Ah, my master……!
With that memory, Radel lost consciousness.