The Invaders of the Great Tomb

by Kugane Maruyama

  After looking around for a little while, Hekkeran and Roberdyck’s faces weren’t grim, but they weren’t cheerful, either.

  “Nothing, huh?”

  “Nothing.”

  The items on sale were ones their owners didn’t need, so naturally Hekkeran and his team didn’t need most of them, either. If they had been lower-rank adventurers or green workers, they might have bought some things, but unfortunately, there was nothing they wanted, even with the needs of their two other teammates in mind.

  “That’s too bad. Maybe it would have been faster to just buy things normally.”

  “Well, we came hoping for deals. Can’t help it if there aren’t any. This sort of persistent frugality is step one of saving money, you know.”

  “Saving money, hmm…? What do you think will happen, Hekkeran?”

  “I’d be a super-elite caster if I knew what you were talking about just from that… Arché, right?”

  “See, you know.”

  “Well, I was kinda able to guess from the thread of our conversation…”

  “So you know what I’m trying to say then, right?”

  “You mean that this might be our last adventure?”

  “Please don’t say it in such a depressing way.” Roberdyck winced. “But I suppose you’re not far off. Arché was talking about taking in her little sisters. If that happens, it won’t be very easy for her to go adventuring.”

  “Yeah, guess not. She’ll have to pick up a trade or find some job where she can make money without traveling.”

  “I’m sure she’ll find a job fast enough. She’s a caster who can use tier-three spells. I don’t know how many little sisters she has, but she should be able to make enough to support a family of three or four.”

  “Yes, most likely. She wouldn’t say she would take them in if she didn’t have the means.”

  “So then we’re the ones with the problem. If our wizard leaves the team, what’ll we do to get a new member?”

  “Wonder if there are any free tier-three arcane casters around.”

  “Please save the dreams for bedtime… If we were adventurers, we could have the guild find someone for us, but looking on our own…it will mainly come down to luck.”

  The pair looked at each other and sighed in unison.

  The death of a friend, being unable to keep up, or being more capable than the rest of the team—those were the types of reasons adventurers and workers quit their teams. It certainly wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. On the contrary, being with the same team for one’s entire career was quite rare, and most people switched two or three times.

  That went for Hekkeran, Roberdyck, and Imina as well.

  But that was an entirely different issue from whether they would be able to easily find an arcane caster, not to mention one who could use tier-three spells.

  “We could get someone who can use tier two and train them up?”

  “Shouldn’t that be our last resort? I’d rather not train someone if we can help it.”

  “Poaching someone would be tricky. And so many workers are morally bankrupt to begin with; we really need to be careful who we team up with. No combat maniacs or whatnot…”

  “In that sense, our team is kind of a miracle.”

  “The unusual case of a team that came together simply because we all just wanted money. Well, I guess we found out about Arché’s issues after the fact, so not quite.”

  “Miss Arché showed up right as we were trying to figure out what to do about our final member…” Roberdyck was looking off into the distance.

  Hekkeran figured his eyes must have been doing the same thing.

  “I even remember what I was drinking that day… Her appearance was so timely it made me think that perhaps the gods formed our team.”

  “Really? Wow. I don’t remember it as well as you, Rober. What were you drinking?”

  “Water.”

  “That’s what you always drink! You basically never touch the hard stuff. I’d hate it if you drank as much as Imina, but…”

  “Imina sure is a handful when she’s drunk. Anyhow, it’s not my fault I can’t stomach it.”

  “Well, yeah, you turn red, blue, and then white from just one glass. I wonder how it would have been if you hadn’t protected yourself against poison the first time you drank.”

  “Maybe you’d have a different teammate standing here instead of me. Some people die from alcohol, you know.” Roberdyck shrugged. “Let’s get back to the topic at hand. What should we do if Arché leaves? Is there a chance we’ll disband?”

  “If we can’t find another member, that’ll be our only choice, won’t it? It’s too dangerous to take jobs with only three of us… Maybe we could go back to being adventurers?”

  “I absolutely refuse to follow the shrines’ rules when all I want to do is save people. If it came to that, I would just retire.”

  “Retire…? That wouldn’t be so bad, either.”

  “I have some money saved up. I’d like to do some kind of work that is useful, that helps the weak. I wouldn’t mind working the fields in a frontier village and acting as a pseudo-priest. What would your plan be, Hekkeran?”

  “Hmm, what would I do?”

  The corners of Roberdyck’s mouth tweaked upward. “…Is it all right for you to decide that all on your own?”

  It took a little while for Hekkeran to see what Roberdyck was getting at. Finally the implication sunk in, and his face twitched. “What?!”

  “Heh-heh.” It was a wicked laugh. “Did you think we wouldn’t notice?”

  “Ahh, ahh. Ahh! Ahh! But it’s not like we were trying to hide it. It just wasn’t the right time, you know? …So that’s what you were talking about with the gift.”

  “Who made the first move?”

  “Hey, Roberdyck! Look over there!”

  Hekkeran was pointing to a pair of people browsing items in a splendid tent.

  One was a warrior clad in raven-black armor. A crimson cape hung down the figure’s back, draped over huge swords.

  “Quite a contrived way to change the subject… Well, that’s fine. I’ll have you tell me all about it later. Mhmm, that is some impressive gear. If the person inside is worthy of it, they would be one skilled warrior. Maybe someone we know got new armor?”

  “I’m not positive, but I don’t think it’s anyone I’ve seen around the imperial capital before. And besides, see that woman standing there kind of hidden? She’s a new face.”

  “I don’t have a good angle. Who’s more beautiful, her or Miss Imina?”

  “Don’t go there, man. I can’t be answering a question like that… But honestly, the lady standing over there is prettier.”

  “Miss Imina is quite a pretty lady. If you, head over heels in love, would say that, then… I see. They must be travelers or adventurers who ended up here. Or maybe they’re going to start with a fresh base in the city.”

  “But they’re shopping around the daily-use magic items. Isn’t that weird?”

  There were all sorts of enchanted goods inside the splendid tent but not the kind adventurers or workers would use—more just for everyday use. For example, one was a Refrigerator—a box that could be filled with chill to protect items held inside. There was also a Fan, which created a nice breeze.

  Most of these items had been thought up two hundred years ago by the minotaur known as the All-Talk Sage.

  He was a warrior, and the nickname came from the fact that he proposed lots of items but didn’t have the ability to make them, nor could he explain why they were shaped like they were or by what logic he’d arrived at them.

  Supposedly, he was a first-rate warrior, though, to the point where there were still fishy-sounding legends being told, saying he could whip up tornados with a swing of his ax and split the earth if he struck it. He was also known for mobilizing the large country of minotaurs, who thought of humans only as food, to elevate the human race to the status of slave laborers.

  Adventurers usuall
y lived in inns, so it was rare to see one interested in buying household items thought up by that subhuman. They were difficult to take on adventures.

  “It’s not so strange. The empire’s magic technology is fairly advanced. You can buy things cheaper than in other countries, so perhaps they estimate shopping is worth it even figuring in the effort of taking their purchases home.”

  “Ahh, I see. That could be.”

  “Certainly if you figured us as the standard customer, it’d be odd, but I don’t think it’s so weird for someone passing through.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense. When I think of it that way, I understand why they look so invested.”

  The warrior in the armor was inspecting all the magic items very thoroughly—opening and closing the doors, holding things up, flipping them over. Hekkeran thought he could see beads of sweat forming on the merchant’s forehead.

  “Maybe we should get that invested in our own search.”

  “Yeah.”

  Chapter 2 | Butterflies Caught in a Spider’s Web

  1

  A number of workers gathered at the count’s place before dawn. Including Hekkeran and the rest of Foresight, who were the last to arrive, there were eighteen. They were all skilled workers from the imperial capital who had been rounded up for this job.

  The teams observed one another with appraising eyes, keeping a short distance between groups. The way they all turned simultaneously to look at Foresight when they arrived was quite a sight, in a way.

  “Ah, I’ve seen a few of these faces around. Or actually, didn’t we just run into Mr. Beetle over there on the Katze Plain?”

  “Huh? Didn’t I tell you at the inn? Gringham’s team got the request, too. Did I not say that? I’m pretty sure I said something to that effect… But anyhow, behold this concentration of the empire’s most famous workers! A round of applause for our requester’s deep pockets!”

  “We can do without the applause. More importantly, it looks like the team leaders are over there.”

  Though the workers were split up by team, three people had gathered to exchange information.

  “Gringham’s there, so yeah. Okay, I’ll go say hello.”

  “…What the—! Ugh. He’s here, too? Ahh, I see. So those elf girls are… He’s the worst. Drop dead, shitbag,” Imina snapped. She was only murmuring in a low voice but with enough hostility that Hekkeran and the others quickly looked around.

  “Miss Imina!”

  “I know, Rober. We’re teammates for this job… I just don’t want to see his face.”

  “I don’t like that guy, either.”

  “When it comes to like or dislike, I’m not fond of him, but we still have to watch our attitudes.”

  Hekkeran got in between Imina, whose face said, Oh, be quiet, and Roberdyck, and he playfully shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, hey, I gotta go say hi, so don’t talk like that now. I won’t be able to keep it off my face!”

  “Good luck, leader.”

  At Roberdyck’s cheer, he pulled a face and said, “Ya, sure, it’s just me.” Then he approached the other three leaders.

  The first one to greet him as he neared was a worker in silver full plate armor. Since the armor was bizarrely rounded and had huge shoulders, it made the man look less like a person and more like an upright rhinoceros beetle.

  Judging from the horn jutting out from the forehead of his close helmet, that’s what he was going for.

  However, one thing he probably wasn’t going for was the impression that a child had stood a rhinoceros beetle up on two feet—his legs were short. To put it kindly, he stood with his short, stout legs planted firmly on the ground—like a dwarf warrior might.

  “As I suspected, thou hast come, Hekkeran.”

  “Hey, Gringham. Yeah, the terms were pretty good.”

  He raised a hand to wave at the other two. The greeting was a bit relaxed for the situation, but they didn’t seem to be offended. The four of them were wildly different ages and experience levels, but they were all capable workers.

  “If you only brought”—Hekkeran looked at Gringham’s team and counted before continuing—“five people, where are the rest of your members?”

  “They’re resting, washing away their fatigue. And due to the injuries incurred during the recent work in which thou also participated, various repairs and purchases need be made.”

  This man, Gringham, was the leader of Heavy Masher, a large worker team of fourteen.

  Naturally, there were benefits to having so many members. Since they could take a number of different approaches to any given job, Heavy Masher could act very practically. It was a major strength to be able to customize the team to fit individual requests.

  But there were also drawbacks. Since rewards were shared, each member’s take was smaller. And it also took more time to make decisions, so they were less agile.

  With those pros and cons, depending on the workers’ personalities, it wouldn’t be surprising for a team that big to split apart, so the fact that Gringham could hold them all together was an indication of his excellent management ability.

  “Hmm. Sounds tough. Maybe you should join our team; then you won’t have to get cursed for making so much without them.”

  “What a daft proposal. A leader must reward his team when their work is done. So, albeit unfortunately for thee, we’ll take the liberty of achieving excellent results.”

  “C’mon, gimme a break. And you can totally talk like normal, you know!”

  Gringham flashed a smile.

  Sensing some negative sentiment, Hekkeran shrugged his shoulders and turned to another man. “I think this is the first time we’ve properly met.”

  When Hekkeran offered his hand and greeting, the man took it.

  He had strong, firm hands.

  His tapered eyes moved to focus on Hekkeran.

  “Foresight. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  His voice was cool, like the clear ringing of a bell. Well, it did go with his looks.

  “You too, Tenbu.”

  There were probably no workers who hadn’t heard of this genius warrior. He was undefeated at the arena. In one sense, his team, Tenbu, was made up of just himself—which is why Imina had made such a face when she saw him.

  “I’m happy to be teaming up with a genius swordsman said to be equal to the kingdom’s strongest, Gazef Stronoff.”

  “Thank you. But perhaps you meant that soon he will be equal to me, Elya Uzruth.”

  “Ohhh, well then!”

  Elya smiled faintly, producing an expression that could be read as arrogance. In response, Hekkeran blinked several times to conceal the emotion that threatened to appear in his eyes.

  “I’ll be expecting a lot out of your sword in the ruins.”

  “Yes, please do. I just hope there are some monsters in there who will put up a fight.” He patted the weapon on his hip.

  “We don’t know what kind of monsters are in there. Could be dragons!”

  “How terrible. If something as powerful as a dragon showed up, we might be in for a tough battle, but I’ll show you how to win.”

  Hekkeran smiled with his mouth only, saying, “I see, I see,” and continued to suppress his emotions while observing the reaction of the remaining leader in his peripheral vision.

  Given the rumor that Elya could win against an orichalcum-rank adventurer in a duel of blades, it wasn’t so simple to declare his response simple bragging. Besides, it was good to have confidence in one’s skills and crucial for workers to emphasize their abilities.

  Of course, that was only if one didn’t try too hard and fail.

  Dragons were the most powerful race in the world.

  They flew through the sky and loosed their “breath.” Their scales were hard, and their physical ability was unequaled. As they aged, they learned to use magic. They boasted life spans to which those of humans could never be compared, and the wisdom they accumulated was enough to make even sages prostrate themselves before them.<
br />
  It was precisely because they were so strong that they appeared in stories so often, whether as an evil enemy or an ally to the hero.

  The Thirteen Heroes’ adversary in their last adventure had been a divine dragon. Heroes’ ultimate opponents were often dragons.

  If Elya was arrogant enough to suggest that they take on a dragon just because it came up in conversation, the only possible response was shock. His theatrical delivery might have indicated a joke, but unfortunately his eyes were dead serious. How inflated could his ego possibly get?

  Considering that they didn’t know what kind of monsters were in the ruins, Hekkeran was sure judging Elya’s mentality a liability to the team was the right move. I should keep my distance from him.

  Collapsing is his prerogative, but if he leans on us, he’ll be a burden, Hekkeran noted with a faint smile, and he decided to amend their handling of him—they would use him and dump him.

  “So those are the members of Foresight, huh? Ohh?” Contempt and prejudice appeared in Elya’s eyes when he saw Imina.

  It was rumored that Elya was from the Slane Theocracy, a religious nation where they believed humans were most sacred. Its citizens tended to consider those with nonhuman blood to be a notch inferior.

  To a man like that, the idea that the half-elf Imina was participating in this job on the same level as him was probably offensive. This is why people think that rumor is true… But if he was from the Theocracy, he’d have a baptismal name. Oh, right, but some people say he discarded it…

  Grumbling in his head, he made sure to say something, as well. “…Hey, make sure you keep your hands off my teammates!”

  “Of course. We’re comrades for this job. I’ll be good.”

  “I want to believe you.”

  Elya was like a child with power who had only matured in size, or rather, his mental unbalance was palpable. Hekkeran had given his warning, but he still got bad vibes that didn’t let him rest easy.

  “What? Please do. Then, getting back to our original topic, I’d like to pass on taking command during our trip. Barring extremes, I’ll follow the orders of whoever leads the group, and I don’t mind being the vanguard in a fight. I’ll conquer everything with my katana.”