The Runesmith
chapter-359

“Watch out!”

An arrow connected with a large skeleton’s head and shattered it instantly. The monster lost its balance and fell down from the wall it was climbing. On the way, it took a few similar-looking skeletons together as there were multiple of them right behind it. All of these could be seen climbing up a sidewall of a large chamber, chasing what looked to be an adventurer party.

“Use the potion!”

“But it’s the last one…”

“Just use it, do you want them to get up here?”

“...”

A man holding two blades shouted at one of the archers that were shooting. Two men were still climbing the wall, one of them was wearing quite heavy-looking armor along with a shield on his back. The other one was close to the ledge as he was not as encumbered as his heavier party member. If nothing was done about it, the skeletons would surely reach the slow-moving man.

It was a group of Infernal Skeleton Berserkers that was after them. Their large hands that had sharp claws made it easy for them to climb hard rock walls like this one. They could casually stick those pointy digits into the rocks without needing to find a good spot for their footing. They were climbing at twice the speed of the armored man that was barely keeping himself from falling.

One of the monsters approached, and even when getting bumped by the falling skeleton it still persisted. Its massive mitts moved for the man’s ankles in an attempt to grasp them. Luckily before it could sink those claws into his flesh a flail of golden liquid connected with its face. This concoction produced a sizzling sound as it burned the unholy creature and caused it to fall and drench some of the other pursuing monsters.

“Now, kill them all!”

The Archers listened to their leader that was in the process of helping the spear user up to the ledge they were standing on. With many arrows still remaining and skills to guide them to the undead cores, it was possible to cause enough damage. With the help of all this support the heavily armored man managed to make it up to the top where he was pulled up by to of his party members.

“We need to get out of here, we’ll run to that tunnel!”

“But what about the skeletons?”

“I’ll collapse the path, just get into the tunnel first.”

Everyone nodded as they quickly decided to leave this place. They were able to destroy some of the undead that were after them but this wasn’t over. Their leader came prepared as he took out a circular magical bomb that could cause the ledge they were previously standing on to collapse. Just like planned the magical explosion sent a mass of rocks down towards the group of skeletons.

Following the group would not be as easy anymore and by the time they got to the tunnel the adventurers escaped into, their presence would be lost. Even though the animosity rating would persist for a while, the monsters had no way of tracking their enemies. The adventurers knew this and would use it to their advantage. It would only take them a few forks to probably lose the monsters and cancel out the aggro.

“Who was that guy?”

“I don’t know, but do you think that Gnome is still alive?”

“Shit, what if that fucker reports us to the guild?”

The party leader cursed out his luck while thinking about the biggest problem they were facing. They had tried to sacrifice the temporary party member that had actually hired them to perform a task. For adventurers like them who lived from taking missions, trying to sacrifice the person that hired them was unforgivable. It would be enough for them to lose their adventurer cards and being platinum rank would not save them.

Biting the hand that fed them was one of the things that the guild could not stomach. However, this was probably the least of their problems. There was a strange witness with the gnome and the bigger the case the more in hot water they became. Losing their cards or being demoted was bad but they could be turned into criminals. Considering that they were tier 3 adventurers there would be only one thing left for them, becoming battle slaves.

Tier 3 class holders had a lot of worth and this worth could be brought out in various ways. Usually, people like them would be wined and dined. They brought in too much money for the guild that would rather protect them as the money makers that they were. There was always a limit to this generosity and they could still be profited off by being sold as slaves. They would be sent to either work for the army as cannon fodder or work in dungeons until they died. With a slave collar around their neck they would have all their rights stripped and used for all they were worth.

“Hey Jack, didn’t you notice something strange about that guy?”

“Yeah, that armor, I’ve seen it somewhere…Oh shit, could it have been…”

“Who is it?”

The two archers started talking as their eyes were the only ones good enough to see through the dark caverns. It was a badly lit place but for them with various skills to help, seeing in the dark was rather easy.

“I think it was the new Knight Commander from the city, I’ve seen him parading through the city in the same thing, he was missing the cape but the noble crest was still on his breastplate…”

“The fucking Knight Commander from those shitty nobles? What the fuck is he doing down here?”

“How should I know? It was him for sure, that thing that grabbed the gnome was a wolf monster.”

“I heard he had one of those…”

The other archer nodded as the two came to an agreement. They had not been long in this city but long enough to gather all the important information. It was good to know who the powerhouses of each city were and the Valerian noble house could not be denied. All of them knew about the duel but were not really aware of the levels the knights had.

“This looks bad, weren’t those people at the entrance also part of those noble bastards? If it was only the gnome then we might have had a chance of explaining ourselves…”

Now it was the spearman that voiced his opinion. If it was the word of one alchemist against a party of adventurers then they could have perhaps gotten away with it. However, if someone like a knight from a noble household backed up those claims, it would be over for them.

“Leader, what should we do?”

“What can we do?”

The leader stopped in his tracks as the group left the skeletal chamber in the dust. There was no danger of them catching up to them and a decision needed to be made. All of them were in it together, putting the blame on the leader was an option but would probably not work. No one lifted a finger as they just abandoned the gnome that had all the right to blame everyone for it.

“If that Knight makes it to the exit, then I see only two options. Either we leave the city before they can report it or…”

“Or what… Do you seriously want us… He is part of the nobles and the Valerians, you know how those bastards are!”

Everyone here knew what the leader insinuated. People died in the dungeon constantly and if a knight vanished in these unexplored depths, then it wouldn’t be that suspicious. If they played their cards right, it would be possible to get away with murder.

“Then what do you want us to do instead? Turn ourselves in Jack? Do you want to be a slave? I’d rather join the thieves guild! But do we have to? It’s only one Knight, he might have won one duel but there are five of us and two of them.”

“He is right, if the Knight bastard vanishes here no one will blame us nor will they know how he died. The lord of this city isn’t even a real noble, he doesn’t have enough leverage to launch a full investigation, and even if he does…”

“We’ll be long gone!”

“Yeah… I’m in, what about you?”

Jack, who was the only one that voiced another opinion, was shocked by his party members. Yet, he knew what all of them were getting at. If they allowed them to escape then their lives would be over. The only option would be to give themselves up to the nobles or escape somewhere. Their future would then involve becoming bandits or attempting to leave the Kingdom itself.

“I’m… in too.”

“Good, we need to see the bigger picture here. If it wasn’t for that shitty gnome bastard, we wouldn’t be in this shitty situation to begin with.”

“Yeah, it’s all that midget's fault!”

Soon the group started pointing their blades in the direction of the gnome. It was easy to make him the reason for their current situation. If he never came along then they would probably be enjoying themselves in the city's pleasure district instead. As platinum adventures, they had already reached a point that most people could only dream about. A lot of hard work had gone into attaining this position and this would not be the first time that they had to get their hands bloody…

…

‘I thought my luck should have gotten better, is there even a point in increasing this stat?’

Roland glanced at the gnome that was being dangled around by Agni. His wolf companion had performed his task rather well by grabbing the small man by his backpack. This left him wobbling around with his arms and legs flailing around with Agni’s stride. The five adventurers that tried killing this man had wondered out of the range of his mapping device, which was only one part of the bigger issue.

‘Will they just let me leave like this?’

There were a few scenarios running through his head. When taking into consideration his previous experiences, the situation looked grim. He witnessed an attempted murder by the platinum adventurer party on this alchemist here. Both parties were at tier 3 and would be considered equals if they ever made it to court. It was probable for the group to account for this and come to a conclusion that was to their benefit.

‘I have to assume that they’ll try to finish the job while we are still in the dungeon.’

He knew quite well how easy bodies disappeared in these dungeons. Even his position wouldn’t save him from getting hunted here. What went on in the dungeons usually stayed in them. Even if Arthur died here his father that was the duke would have trouble unearthing the mysteries of his death. Getting an oracle down here to look for some evidence would also be problematic. The magical nature of a dungeon usually interfered with their magic and required an exceptional individual to work.

‘I should contact those five at the entrance but can I really trust them?’

Roland had his own party of platinum adventurers waiting at the mine area. They could act as reinforcements and perhaps arrive here before anything dire happened. However, there was a minor problem as trust was not something he gave out that easily. There was a tiny possibility of another betrayal but it was somewhat unlikely.

After signing several contracts that team of adventurers was fully invested in the development of the city. If something happened to him during that time, they would not be able to receive some of the promised bonuses. The clauses were added to give the group incentive to work hard. If the city prospered, so would they.

“U-unhand me you beast!”

“Hm?”

While Roland was using his runic armor to connect to Myrtle, the gnome had finally awoken. The small man had passed out somewhere around the time he was grabbed by Agni. Perhaps he thought the giant wolf was there to eat him and just couldn’t take it. Now, on the other hand, he looked quite energetic. His legs and feet were moving around but he couldn’t do anything about his current predicament.

“Agni, let him go.”

Agni snorted with his nose and then quickly opened up his muzzle. The gnome was around a hundred and ten centimeters in height. He was wearing a backpack with a lot of ripped side pockets. Around his waist, he had many smaller satchels that looked to have been emptied in the fight against the undead monsters earlier. His face was covered by a somewhat shorter beard when compared to other gnomes.

“Argh… what are you doing, you damn beast!”

“Awooo!”

“Aghh… D-don’t come near me, stay back I say!”

It didn’t seem that the gnome had noticed the armored man that was standing directly behind him. His eyes were focused on the huge dire ruby wolf that was as big as a horse. Roland could only imagine how someone almost half his height felt when looking at a big creature like this. However, there was no time for this as all of them needed to start their tactical retreat sooner than later.

“Agni stop playing around and you, get up we need to go.”

“Huh? W-what are you!”

“Just a man? Your legs don’t look injured so can you stand up already?”

Finally, the gnome turned around to look his way. His gaze was met by a metallic helmet with glowing eyes and his first reaction was to jolt at attention. There were armored monsters in dungeons called Living Armors that could be found in crips like this. With little light in the corridor and the glowing eyes that were caused by his usage of the helmet display inside, could confuse almost anyone.

“A man?”

“Yes, as you can see, I’m not your enemy.”

To make things go a bit faster Roland decided to produce a bit of light to illuminate the area. His finger then pointed to the Valerian household crest that was engraved on his breastplate. This crest gave him an added layer of protection as even hardened criminals would think twice about attacking a Valerian Knight.

In this case, it could be used to calm down this person. Roland knew that after getting himself almost murdered by a group of adventurers, trusting would be hard to come by. Luckily, he was not an adventurer but a knight who was sworn to protect the citizens of this kingdom. To this gnome, it was a true blessing and his eyes changed as he realized this.

“The Valerian crest? So you are…”

“Yes, I’m a Knight and I’ve witnessed all of it. Now, we must move those five men might decide to seek us out.”

“Seek us out, for what purpose?”

“What else? To silence us, forever… now excuse me, we can talk along the way. Agni, I’ll leave him to you so try not to drop him.”

“Woof…”

“Hey, what are you…”

“There is no time to explain, get a good grip and try not to fall off.”

Roland didn’t really know who this person was nor did he care at the moment. What the two needed to do was to make a run for it. He had already achieved everything that he needed to do here. Perhaps the group of platinum adventurers would make a different decision and just run from the city. Perhaps they would attempt to bribe him instead but he felt that they wouldn’t. They clearly saw him in that cavern and it was possible for them to be aware of his true identity.

‘They had to pass through the checkpoint. There is only one exit there so they will want to get me before I can get to it…’

“Woah, hey.”

“Excuse me…”

Roland grabbed the confused gnome off the ground with one hand. His weight was non-existent to someone with his stats. It was probably embarrassing for the adult male to be treated like a child as he was yanked up and then deposited onto Agni’s back. There was no working saddle but the wolf armor had a few places that the small man could cling onto.

“Hold tight.”

“Hey, now listen here, I’m thankful to you Sir Knight but who are…. aghhhh…”

Before the gnome could finish the sentence Agni started running. His agility stat was quite high and he could easily outrun a regular horse. Roland wasn’t slow either as with the help of some spells to lower the weight of his armor and haste, he could keep up with Agni’s pace. His map wasn’t finished but he knew where he came from, with some luck the adventurer party would be busy with the skeletons for long enough for him to reach the higher levels…