How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 45

50. Deyal Dungeon (9)

I hurriedly dove into a nearby thicket, hid myself, and slowly retreated with a low crawl.

A short while after I hid.

A group clad in armor appeared.

There was no need to ask who they were.

‘Those are the lord’s soldiers….’

Simple mercenaries or bandits couldn’t possibly equip themselves with such formal gear.

And looking closer, I saw a familiar figure in robes.

It was the mage, Raman, who had accompanied me on the escort mission to Deyal Territory.

‘…So that’s how it is. He was hired by the lord.’

I laid flat on the ground, assessing the situation.

Fortunately, they didn’t notice my presence.

Let’s observe for now.

“Line up!”

The soldiers lined up in front of the dungeon entrance.

The voice of a man, presumably a knight commanding them, rang out.

“From this moment on, we will begin exploring the dungeon under the lord’s orders!”

So, they were troops for exploring the dungeon.

They finished checking their numbers and equipment and immediately entered the dungeon.

Only after watching that scene to the end, and when I could no longer hear any signs of them, did I hurriedly slip away.

‘That was close….’

If I had been just a little late, I would have run into them inside the dungeon!

If that had happened, instead of returning to the city, I would have had to survive by escaping this territory.

There’s an unspoken rule that whoever clears a dungeon first gets to keep it, but there’s nothing you can do about retaliation out of jealousy.

I hurried back on the road to the city.

* * *

The lord’s direct dungeon exploration team.

The exploration team, composed of his private soldiers and talents brought in from outside, bravely entered the dungeon.

The goal was to conquer the dungeon and present the results to their lord.

The lord, who had already issued this order, promised to pay them handsomely if they could accomplish this conquest.

If they succeeded in this task, the knight could gain great trust.

The knight in charge of this operation barely suppressed his anticipation.

He couldn’t afford to mess things up by getting carried away.

The knight carefully called for the assistant in this conquest.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Hmm.”

The robed man who received the request nodded.

He was the mage, Raman, whom the lord had brought in for this conquest.

It was difficult to conquer the dungeon with ordinary knights and soldiers alone.

That’s why the lord had reluctantly lowered his head and hired a mage.

“Let’s start by finding the path. It seems quite complicated.”

He calmly tapped the floor lightly with his staff to activate the magic.

What he used was a spell to track the concentration of black magic scattered inside the dungeon.

He would use this to find the way.

The soldiers sent glances of trust towards the mage Raman, putting more strength into their steps.

With this much preparation, there was no way they could fail.

They were full of confidence that they would succeed.

However, they did not yet know the reality they would face behind this.

Dungeon exploration was not easy.

They bravely fought against the undead that appeared, and sometimes they almost lost their way, carefully advancing along the dangerous path.

And finally, they reached the end of the dungeon and finally realized.

That someone had already been here.

* * *

You have created an impact with your actions.

Acquired Influence Points: 27pt

Remaining Influence Points: 144pt

“Oh? Did they finally arrive?”

I was lazing around in the inn room when I thought it was about time, so I checked, and sure enough, this notification appeared.

The cause was predictable.

It must have been those soldiers from back then.

They reached the end of the dungeon and safely returned.

Well, of course, they came up empty.

But there’s no need to feel sorry.

‘If things had gone according to the original flow, they would have met Kiel.’

Considering Kiel’s behavior, there’s no way he would have let those soldiers go back alive.

He would have annihilated them, of course.

But thanks to me killing Kiel, they won’t be killed.

‘Yeah! I did a good job!’

Well, they made a wasted trip to the dungeon, so they’ll be scolded by the lord when they return, but it’s better than dying, right?

I nodded in agreement.

This is a good thing, I told myself.

This is what a happy ending is.

51. What You Need in Life is Money (1)

“You stupid fool!”

Duke Rupel couldn’t suppress his anger and threw the register.

The book containing the life and death records of the organization members flew violently, hitting the bookshelf and falling.

“…Master?”

His servant heard the commotion and came in, examining his master’s expression.

“Kiel… that damn bastard is dead. Damn it….”

He glared at the documents on the desk.

It was key information within the Selvas Kingdom that he had his subordinates collect.

Among that information was news that Deyal Dungeon had been conquered by someone.

But for some reason, there was no contact from that subordinate.

Feeling something was wrong, he hurriedly checked the register.

And he confirmed that Kiel was dead.

He had failed.

“…Could it be the work of Count Deyal?”

The servant, understanding the situation, cautiously offered his opinion, but Rupel immediately denied the possibility.

“There’s no way that idiot Deyal could do such a thing.”

He understood the abilities of each noble within the kingdom.

Count Deyal was just an incompetent local noble.

The most skilled of the knights he possessed was only at the Aura Practitioner level.

Deyal Dungeon was impossible for him to conquer.

Moreover, according to the information, he also seemed to have come up empty.

Some of Deyal’s subordinate knights were being reprimanded.

They must have been reprimanded for failing to conquer the dungeon.

“You fool, you can’t even manage your own territory!”

The Duke ground his teeth, cursing the innocent Count for no reason.

If so, things had become troublesome.

‘Things keep getting twisted….’

He was already fed up with the headache-inducing situation.

Just a while ago, the vampire who had been operating secretly in the royal capital had died.

Originally, that vampire was supposed to wreak havoc for at least another year.

He had deliberately left him alone as an element to disturb the public’s peace and incite anxiety among the people.

But that vampire was defeated in just one night.

Rupel quickly ordered his subordinates to secure the vampire, but all that remained was ash.

If he was so thoroughly defeated, revival was impossible, no matter how much knowledge within the organization was mobilized.

The scheme to use the vampire had failed.

And to make matters worse, the conquest of Deyal Dungeon had also failed.

‘Who the hell did this?’

He didn’t even have a clue who the culprit was.

He had investigated those who were suspicious, but they were all unrelated to this incident.

In other words, someone he didn’t know had done it.

“Damn it….”

Information!

He had to gather information again and grasp the situation!

“Sol! Send a message to a few useful guys….”

The Duke hurriedly tried to instruct his servant to take action.

Just then.

“…Ugh.”

Suddenly, his vision turned black.

The office where he had been was replaced with another place.

A pitch-black space.

He realized that he was standing alone in that vast and dark space, and a chill ran down his spine.

He already knew what the situation was.

Space movement.

Someone had forcibly summoned him to this place.

And he already knew who was behind this.

“…!”

Desperately suppressing a scream, he quickly turned around and prostrated himself.

He didn’t care if his forehead broke.

He bowed his head as he prostrated himself.

From some time ago, he had been prostrating himself before the man sitting on the throne in this space, looking down at him.

“Your Highness!”

He shouted at the top of his lungs.

The man sitting on the throne was silently resting his elbow on the armrest and propping up his chin, simply looking down at him.

Just sitting on the throne, his massive physique and taut muscles exuded a sense of doubt and intimidation, as if he were not the same human being but another creature.

Rupel, who had to bear the gaze of such a man with his whole body, couldn’t bring himself to say a proper word.

The man who had been staring at Rupel finally opened his mouth.

“…It seems the situation is not favorable.”

“There were just a few uncertain factors! There will be absolutely no setbacks in the plan….”

“Setbacks?”

“…There will absolutely be no setbacks. I can swear that on my name and the name of my family.”

“…….”

But his reaction was not very enthusiastic.

He simply raised the chin he had been propping up slightly.

“Selvas Kingdom. Elparc Empire. Rimen Alliance….”

What he suddenly began to recite were the names of each country that had raised its flag on the continent.

He continued to list those names as they were.

“Besides those, countless countries have been born and disappeared over countless years. Rupel, do you know what the commonality between them is?”

“…….”

Without waiting for Rupel’s answer, he gave the answer.

“It is that they are worthless.”

He continued, with a disgusted look as if he were looking at trash that he didn’t even want to step on.

“Nowhere is valuable. Their existence is nothing but an insult to the world. The glory they claim is more disgusting than the excrement of beasts.”

He asserts with conviction.

“I have seen their countless rises and falls for a long time and have become convinced. A permanently valuable country will never be born.”

His fist clenched.

Just that alone seemed to put pressure on the space here, as if directly strangling his neck.

“Then the only answer is to rebuild the only civilization that was valuable.”

“You are right, Your Highness.”

Rupel bowed several times.

His mission was to play a major role in achieving the goals of that man, disguised as the main power holder of the Selvas Kingdom.

“Deny all of the current disgusting world and return it to the era I remember. That is what I ordered your ancestor to do. Do you know that?”

“I know. I have never forgotten it even once.”

“Then do you also know this? No one after your ancestor has ever dared to say such things to me. ……Except for you.”

The Duke couldn’t even breathe properly in the worst situation.

But the next words he was worried about did not come from him.

Instead, what flowed out was.

His long sigh.

“…However, it was also my decision to take in your family 400 years ago. I can’t easily abandon you just because you’re a little unreliable.”

“I will never…… disappoint Your Highness.”

“You better not forget it. I am only giving you advice today.”

As he nodded, the scenery changed again.

“The next time will not be advice. Remember that.”

The voice echoed as if reverberating.

After that, Rupel realized that he had returned to his mansion office.

“Haa…… Haa…….”

He collapsed to the floor, pouring out cold sweat like a waterfall.

“Master!”

The servant, noticing the situation, hurriedly examined his master’s expression, but Rupel simply brushed him off, saying, “It’s nothing. It’s nothing,” and got up.

Now is not the time to act spoiled.

That word just now was definitely a warning.

There is no next time.

That fact made him anxious.

“Sol, send a message to everyone we can contact right now without exception!”

He urgently issued orders to his servant.

“And! Set aside those who are skilled in investigation separately!”

“Is there anything else you want to instruct separately?”

“Yes, there’s something I need to find out.”

It still bothered him.

“The vampire incident and the Deyal Dungeon incident. Have them investigate even the smallest details.”

The culprit of that incident, whoever it is.