The dungeon has been parasitized

Chapter 8 Cave World

"Klein, please take a look at these things."

For the first time, a bonfire was lit in the plantation, and two fish were being roasted on the fire.

She sat on the ground and took out three parchments, which were clearly stained with blood.

"What is this?"

"This parchment has a spell written on it, and this is a map of the area; I found it in the bag."

Klein extended a vine and approached a piece of parchment to examine it closely. Two of the parchment sheets were maps, most of their contents stained with blood. The other was a magic scroll, the bloodstains unable to conceal the black ink.

[Magic: Blade]

This is a spell that affects weapons; simply put, it temporarily makes the weapon sharper.

Uh... but I don't use any weapons at all. I fight by poking with vines or biting with the man-eating plants' big mouths.

But Klein had never studied magic, so he couldn't quite understand the principles behind this magic.

"Yanami, can you learn this magic?"

"Huh? Klein doesn't need it?"

Yanami, who had been waiting quietly for Klein, looked up in confusion.

"Although I want to try learning it, I can't understand it."

"Then... I'll learn it and then teach it to Klein?"

"OK."

One map was completely illegible, while the other was only partially legible, and the information on them was not detailed.

First is the Wild Dog Forest, the cave where Klein is located. It's a relatively small forest with the lowest level of danger.

Then there's the Flame Swamp north of Wilddog Forest, where all the information is obscured, but you can see that it's connected to Wilddog Forest.

To the east of Wild Dog Forest lies Tide Lake, a lake of medium to low danger level, which is connected to it.

To the south is a forest of stone statues, of medium danger level, and connected to it.

The last one that can be clearly seen is the Lava Cave, which is extremely dangerous, but it is located in the far corner of the map, and it is not clear whether it is connected to the Wild Dog Forest.

"Here are some medicines, and this sword."

Most other things were insignificant; Klein was just a plant, so it didn't matter if he got injured. But that magic sword looked pretty good.

But Klein doesn't need it for the time being.

"You keep it safe for me. You can take the sword for self-defense; I don't need it." Although the magic sword is a good thing, because the vines are fixed, if I want to take the magic sword around, I can only rely on the vine tentacles to pass it around in an assembly line.

That would be too much trouble; it would be better to let Yanami carry it with her.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

With a slight smile, Yanami picked up the magic sword and examined it closely. Only then did Klein notice that the magic sword, which should have been covered in blood, had been wiped clean by Yanami.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes, I really like magic and magical artifacts."

So it's called a magical artifact. Klein has stayed in this forest ever since he came to this world, and there are so many things he doesn't understand.

Moreover, Yanami is clearly in a difficult situation, yet she can use magic and a magic sword. Is this a basic skill for humans in this world?

But there was no point in dwelling on it; Klein decided to just ask the girl directly.

"Yanami, I have some questions for you."

"I will tell Klein anything I know."

Upon hearing Klein's request, Yanami put down the magic sword and waited earnestly for the puppet before her to ask its questions.

"Does everyone here know magic?"

Hearing Klein's question, Yanami tilted her head in surprise.

"I'm not too sure... I'm an outsider in this town, so I don't know much about things there. I guess most people here can use magic. But I learned magic from my father when I was little."

Since most people can do it, this is indeed a world where magic is common. Before today, Klein had only seen the Wind Demon Hounds in the Wild Dog Forest use magical wind blades.

However, when it came to Warcraft, Klein had one thing on his mind.

"What exactly did you mean by the demonic tide you mentioned earlier?"

Goblins and trolls—Klein had never seen them here before, but they suddenly appeared. Perhaps this is related to the so-called demonic tide.

Yanami's expression suddenly turned serious, with worry in her eyes.

"It is said that the demon dragon has awakened."

"A demonic dragon?"

She nodded and continued.

"The prophet said that the sealed dragon has awakened, and its rage will sweep everything away. The fearful monsters will turn into a horde of demons, leaving their territory and roaming like locusts, endangering nearby towns."

A demonic dragon...?

That was a creature Klein had only ever seen in legends; he never imagined it actually existed.

"Are you going to slay a dragon?"

Yanami shook her head, a hint of bitterness on her lips.

"I possess the power to soothe the soul, so I went to appease the raging dragon."

Is that so...? Three people? To appease a demonic dragon?

Klein felt that this was somewhat unreasonable.

"But why would they only send the three of you on something so important, and then have you all wiped out by trolls that appeared on the way?"

With such combat power, let alone successfully approaching the demonic dragon, even reaching the destination would be a problem, right?

"Because we were actually just used to buy time for others to leave; nobody wanted to face the terrifying dragon head-on."

"In other words, you were just fooled."

Yanami shook her head.

"Only I know these things. Someone secretly told me everything before I took on the mission."

As she spoke, her eyes were filled with complex emotions.

"Since you knew all this, why did you still agree to let them complete the mission?"

Yanami suddenly fell silent, but Klein noticed that the corners of her mouth couldn't help but droop slightly.

"Because I have nowhere else to go, I can only gamble on a tiny bit of hope. I don't have the ability to cross those monster-infested areas to reach the next town."

"The two people traveling with me are sinners in the town, and they need to atone for their sins through this mission, while I am a suspected outsider."

"My father and mother disappeared while protecting me. They sent me to that town, but my unusual appearance and ability to communicate with wild beasts made everyone fear me. They even worried that the demon tide came because of me, so I need to prove myself."

Yanami took a breath and then exhaled gently.

"However, I don't blame them."

Klein noticed that Yanami's hand was quietly clenching, and she continued speaking.

"I know everyone just wants to survive. After all, I've always been an outsider to them, and if they hadn't accepted me, I might have died long ago."

"Is that so..."

Klein sighed and then fell silent, perhaps because of the complexity of human nature, or perhaps because of the girl's clarity, which pained him.

While Klein remained silent, Yanami smiled.

"However, thanks to Klein, I can continue to live now."

"...provided you become my gardener."

"Hehehe, I'll do my best."

After that, Klein filled in a lot of common knowledge about this world for Yanami, such as magic and magical artifacts. Yanami was somewhat surprised that Klein didn't know these things.

But when Klein asked about Annami's background, she suddenly froze. Although she tried to remain calm, the sadness in her eyes couldn't be contained.

After a moment of silence, Klein realized that perhaps this was not the right question to ask.

Let's change the subject.

"By the way, Yanami, do you know how to get to the surface?"

"ground?"

What's wrong? She looked puzzled.

Then she shook her head.

"What is the ground?"

It wasn't until Anna explained that Klein realized everything in this world was hidden underground, and no one knew the way to the surface.

Underground are countless caves connected by long and short passages, forming an ant nest—that is, an underground city.

And all of this is sustained by those strange crystals.

Only now did Klein understand why humans feared the demonic tide and why Yanami had nowhere to go.

Because in the dungeons, the true rulers are not humans, but the monsters that inhabit the caves.

"Ah! The grilled fish is almost ready!"