Chapter 620 - Breaking Through the Trials
I climbed the staircase with Reginleif and ancestor-san.
We arrived in a big room like the high elves said.
And the children are not here as expected.
Instead, there were the three spiderlings.
The first group that climbed the stairs.
The others went ahead while they were waiting here for me like I ordered them to do.
Good good.
I’ll give you rewards later.
Steamed potatoes?
Good, eat as much as you like later.
Hahaha.
Ah, don’t.
We have to go after the children.
What about you?
You’re going to follow me to guard me from behind?
Got it.
Please watch my back.
-0-
The next place to go to is easy to see.
Just walk along the river.
When we went a little further, a narrow bridge was built on the river.
So, this is the “right path trial”?
It’s a narrow bridge about 15cm wide.
Pretty easy.
When I was crossing the bridge, I heard loud sounds of someone falling on water behind me.
Eh?
When I look back, I can no longer find Reginleif and ancestor-san.
………
Eh?
They both fell into the river?
Moreover, they are drowning?
Ah, darn!
It will be dangerous for me to jump into the river…
If I’m embraced by two drowning people, I’ll drown too.
I hesitated but the thin bridge at my feet disappeared so I fell into the river as well.
Just like I heard, whatever happens to one, the others will follow.
It can’t be helped.
Should I make a float using my clothes?
When I was thinking of that, something like a floating ring flowed from upstream.
Coincidence?
No, I have not heard from those who have fallen from the waterfall anything about a floating ring.
Did the dungeon send them when it found out that there were people drowning?
It’s kind.
I swim and secure the float.
I delivered the floating ring to the drowning Reginleif and ancestor-san.
-0-
And the three of us were washed away by the river downstream just like that.
The spiderlings behind us threw treads to help me earlier but the threads hit something and didn’t reach me.
Thanks.
Don’t worry about us. Go ahead…
The spiderlings jumped into the river and chased me.
I’m happy but there’s a waterfall ahead.
-0-
Yeah, it was pretty scary to fall from a waterfall.
While asking me if I want him to dry my clothes using magic, I asked ancestor-san why he fell.
「There was a strong magical force that made me unable to fly.」
Ancestor-san agreed to what Reginleif said.
I see, you can’t fly.
……
No, why do you even need to fly if you can walk normally?
「I’m sorry.」
「Forgive me.」
Reginleif and ancestor-san obediently apologized.
Both of them seem to be bad with thin bridges.
Ehto……
Anyway, don’t look at your feet.
Stand up straight.
Your line of sight should also be straight.
Given that width, you should be able to easily cross it like that.
Do your best.
I headed to rechallenge the trial again with the hesitant Reginleif and ancestor-san.
Behind us was the first group of spiderlings.
From now on, you don’t have to follow us if we fall into the river.
Don’t do anything dangerous.
-0-
We challenged the “right path trial” again.
Yeah, we did our best.
Even though I taught them to stand up straight, both of them are crooked.
It’s okay.
Let’s meet at the waterfall again.
-0-
We managed to overcome the “right path trial”and arrived at the “integrity trial”.
There’s a door at the end of the trial where 50cm square tiles are laid out.
Perhaps we should go to that door.
However, there are statues of devils lined up by the wall holding mud balls.
There’s a message left behind by those who went ahead. It seems like if you step on specific tiles, you’ll be thrown with mud balls.
You won’t be disqualified if you’ve been thrown at but if you were hit by mud balls, you’ll be disqualified.
The mechanism of this trial is that the tiles on the floor will disappear and you’ll fall into the river if you’re disqualified.
I did my best there.
We only fell four times.
「You’re the vampire’s true ancestor but why is your instincts so bad?」
「This angel lady said that the tiles with footprints are safe but that doesn’t seem to be the case.」
Both of you, stop fighting.
-0-
A small room with doors on all sides, the “hexagon trial”.
I heard that we can do this trial individually but, will the doors disappear when one of us manages to complete it?
This seems to be forcing the participants to act individually.
However, it’s not so difficult if you have a proper sense of direction because you can see the small rooms from a small hill before challenging it.
We only fell twice.
「I already checked and said that there’s no floor in the third room on the right.」
「You activated a strange trap. You probably thought it was a wonderful experience to be chased by a golem.」
Both of you, stop fighting.
-0-
The next trial…
We found the groups that challenged the dungeon ahead of us.
High elves, mountain elves, lizardmen, kuros, spiderlings.
I can’t find Loo’s group or the children.
Looks like they moved on.
Those who are here…are not resting. It seems like they are already doing the trial.
What kind of trial is it?
“Silence Trial”
There is a pond next to the river.
One person from the group must catch one fish.
Hohou.
If it is about fishing, just leave it to me.
Even without this trial, I find time to fish as a hobby.
Am I good at it?
……
Maa, let’s not talk about details.
Fishing gear and bait are available.
There is no time limit so you can just fish until you catch one.
Okay, let’s do our best.
………
Reginleif caught a twenty centimeters fish after five seconds.
………
The fish she caught was released.
If not, other people won’t be able to proceed.
Hurry up?
No, be patient.
I’ll be fishing a little bit more……
Reginleif and ancestor-san forced me to move forward.
I’ll be back.
-0-
There are trials waiting for us after that.
However, I, Reginleif, and ancestor-san challenged them boldly.
We fight.
We made up.
If there are three united people, any of the most challenging trials can be manageable.
By the way, we passed by Loo and Tier’s groups who were being washed away by the river a while ago.
Now, we are seeing Ursa, Alfred, and Tiselle being washed away.
I’m not worried about anyone drowning because they have floating rings.
The waterfall is higher than expected so be careful.
-0-
After seeing Gulf’s group being washed away, we cleared two more trials.
There’s a big sign that filled up my hope that we are about to reach our goal.
“Final Trial”
Fufufu.
Took us long enough.
However, we still managed to reach this point.
I, Reginleif, and ancestor-san went in slowly.
……
It’s a bright place.
Outside……it looks like we have gone out to the beach.
Is this place far away from where we came in?
I don’t remember seeing this place before.
And a group is waiting for us.
Who are they?
……
…………
I’m not familiar with this beach but I’m familiar with the person leading the group who’s waiting for us.
The representative of the seakin whom I’ve met earlier when there was a conflict with the seakins and Shashaato City.
The old merman.
He looked at us and opened his mouth.
「Hello challengers! You’ve done well to come this far! This is the final trial! Do you think you can overcome it!」
And seafood dishes were presented in front of us.
Octopus tentacles.
Yeah, delicious.
-0-
The coastal dungeon seems to be a dungeon that is managed by the seakins.
Ah, it was the seakins that gave floating rings to those who fell in the river?
Thanks.
But then, aren’t you the ones that discovered the entrance of the dungeon in the first place?
And you’re also the ones who guide us to the entrance, right?
Is this a trap to lure us in?
「No, we only know that it was the entrance to this dungeon. Even us don’t know what’s waiting inside. We only know the river part and this place.」
Is that so?
The chief of the seakins informed us that this dungeon is something they inherited.
It is still strange that you don’t know.
However, no one has challenged this dungeon for thousands of years and only the last trial was known to them.
Thus, it became their method of resolving disputes.
I see.
…………
I mean, what is this dungeon in the first place?
「We also have no idea. We are just managing it according to our ancestor’s will.」
That means……
「Those who have passed the “final trial” can move on. Over there.」
The place that the old merman points at is…a door of light that appeared.
I thought it looked like a teleportation gate and it was really a teleportation gate.
What is waiting ahead of us……
……
……………
Loo and the others will try again, so should I wait for them here?
No, it’s not like I can’t rely on Reginleif and ancestor-san.
It’s only reassuring to have more people.
-0-
By the way, the ones who arrived right after us were the first group of spiderlings.
You guys are amazing.
-0-
In the “silence trial” the kuros only group was working together with one holding the fishing pole, one checking if something had bitten, and one in charge of the bait.
They are struggling to put bait on the hook.
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