“Erntal”

"Is this Erntal? Quite a few people here, huh?"

"Well, it's a ☆3 dungeon. Considering that the highest is ☆5, it's perfect for investigating dungeon difficulty right in the middle."

"…Although, I don't know if the actual difficulty maximum is equivalent to ☆5 just because it's the maximum value in notation."

Wayne, Gi1gamesh, and MentaList were in front of Erntal as planned.

After leaving the town of Carnemonte, they continued their leisurely journey, checking equipment performance and earning experience points. However, with the official implementation of the dungeon, they had immediately teleported here.

"Since the disaster-stricken Old Hiers capital is ☆5… If we tentatively assume the calamity is ☆5, I think our party at ☆3 might find it a bit tough, you know?"

"A bit tough might be good in terms of experience points, right?"

"Yeah, it might be. But before that, we don't really know if the actual maximum difficulty is ☆5. Even if the setting allows for difficulties beyond that, if the notation can only display up to ☆5, there might be a wide range of difficulties within ☆5. If that's the case, there's a possibility that the disaster is even higher than ☆5, and ☆3 might be a bit easier."

It was something Healthy had mentioned on social media. That possibility certainly existed.

Even if they were to face the disaster without artifacts, gathering the same members as back then wouldn't guarantee victory, even with their increased strength. They might not even be able to remove its armor. They had been lucky to cast MentaList's Mental Magic at that time, but it seemed to have been at the very edge. After emerging from the armor, it had been completely ineffective.

In any case, their focus was on Erntal for now. They didn't plan to conquer it immediately, but as Gil said, it would be a good opportunity to test their skills. If they couldn't handle it here, the dream of reaching the Hiers capital would be even more distant.

"…Oh, it seems like the difficulty of the La Colinne Forest has decreased. It's also ☆3, just like here."

"Oh, damn. If that's the case, maybe we should have gone there. It's closer to the Hiers capital too."

"Just go after finishing here. Hey, are you still checking social media? Come on, let's go."

Gil urged MentaList, and they entered the city of Erntal. Wayne followed suit.

The inside of the city was quiet, with nothing particularly strange except for the complete absence of residents.

Doors and windows of houses seemed to have been forced open, but everything had been repaired. Perhaps after the monsters attacked here, someone had fixed it.

"Let's be careful not to run into other players while exploring. It's okay if they're cooperative, but if not, it could be troublesome. Also, mistaking each other for monsters and attacking might happen, or be attacked."

Although Wayne didn't trust players as much as before, trusting them wouldn't reduce player killing (PK). Trusting and being cautious were completely different matters.

Avoiding clashes with other parties and not hindering them seemed to be a common understanding among the surrounding players, so fortunately, they didn't encounter other players. But they also didn't encounter any monsters.

"Just turned into a stroll in the town, huh?"

"Yeah. There may not be monsters, but there's no guarantee."

"That large building over there is probably the mansion where the lord originally lived. If that's the boss area, it's common to place monsters to prevent getting close."

"There are only houses. And no one around."

How were the other parties doing? Had they already headed to the lord's mansion? Or were they exploring inside houses?

"…No one around doesn't mean nobody's here. Come to think of it, I haven't checked inside the houses."

Maybe thinking the same thing, Gil opened the door of a nearby house and went inside.

"Whoa!? Zombies in the house!"

In a panic at Gil's voice, Wayne and MentaList also entered the house. There were several zombies inside, and on the floor, one had already been cut down by Gil.

Wayne rushed to one still standing, cutting it in half at the waist with his sword. Normally, hitting the spine would stop the sword, but with this Adamas sword, that wasn't an issue. It had been proven during their journey that this sword could cut through enemies of this level with a single blow.

After bisecting the zombies one after another, Gil stabbed the heart of the remaining one with his sword, and the battle ended.

"Hmm? They're certainly stronger than regular zombies… That's it, though."

"They don't look like regular zombies. More like… clean? Not rotten? I wonder if decay doesn't occur in dungeons? Even if they're a bit stronger, zombies are still zombies, and we probably won't get any significant items. And disassembling human corpses is a bit much."

"Well, let's leave them. If there's nothing valuable in the houses, exploring would just be a waste of time."

"…It's interesting that the trash mobs in a ☆3 dungeon are just regular zombies, though."

MentaList mentioned it, but since it was a fact, there was nothing they could do about it.

"It might also be possible that it was an exceptionally strong zombie, you know. Even though it was mostly a one-shot, our weapons are national treasure-class… or I won't go as far as saying that, but they are impressive enough to be considered as heirlooms of a noble family. Probably, even if it was a genuine match against someone of similar caliber, the difference with regular trash mobs would be indistinguishable."

Gil's words were on point. The feeling of being still manipulated by equipment hadn't disappeared. From the master blacksmith, he received a special whetstone as a service for proper maintenance, but the sharpness hadn't decreased at all, and there were no signs of blade dullness. The maintenance, in this case, was wiping off things like blood fat. While thinking about that, he looked at his sword.

"…Gil, it seems like the current zombies are not just ordinary zombies."

"Oh?"

"Look at this. It hasn't dulled to the point of blade dullness, but the tip is slightly tarnished. Probably, it wore down a bit when I cut through the bone."

Normally, cutting through a beast's bone with an iron sword would result in the blade breaking. While optimizing the angle, force, and speed of the blade entry could minimize wear, it couldn't be reduced to zero. The current state of the Adamas sword resembled the minimal wear that occurred on an iron sword after cutting.

It was unlikely that Wayne's skill level was high enough, so a master could probably cut without any wear. It was a case where the sword's performance came to their aid. If it were an iron sword, it might have broken when hitting the bone. No, if the bone of the monster was so sturdy, it was questionable whether they could cut through the flesh with iron in the first place.

"Seriously… My sword seems to be the same. The shield… there doesn't seem to be much change. Maybe because the opponent was unarmed."

It seemed that Gil had blocked attacks with the shield.

"☆3, huh? The map itself looks like an ordinary town, but the monsters are quite dangerous. If we hadn't updated our equipment, I think we would have had a tougher time. If the other parties were mostly mid-tier, nobody might have made it back alive."

Upon checking, they had gained a considerable amount of experience points. If Wayne and the others were considered top-tier players, it was the same acquisition as when they fought monsters of mid-tier or slightly lower strength. Because no enemies had appeared so far, they had penetrated deep into the city, but there was no guarantee that there were no stronger enemies ahead. Although on social media, ☆3 was speculated to be around mid-tier, it was uncertain if it was really the case. It was a delicate situation whether mid-tier parties without preparations could defeat these zombies. There was also the possibility that ☆3 fields at the current point were top-tier among players.

"If we're going to advance further, it might be better to secure a retreat first."

"Anyway, let's go outside. If the opponent is zombies, they probably wouldn't be wandering around the streets in broad daylight. Whether we move forward or retreat, it's better to go where the sun shines."

At Wayne's words, the group hurriedly left for the street.

The town was still silent, and there was no sign of living beings.

"Hm?"

"What's wrong, Gil?"

"No, I felt like I saw something over there… Nothing's there. Maybe it's my imagination?"

Nothing was there, or so it seemed in the field, and the trash mobs that seemed to be just ordinary zombies had turned out to be surprisingly strong. Wayne wanted to resolve even the slightest suspicion.

However, what Gil saw was in the further direction of the city, and it was hesitant to approach without a plan.

"No, maybe I just saw it wrong. It was a momentary thing. It was far away. Maybe the stone wall of that house over there briefly flashed."

The stone wall flashed.

At that moment, it was suspicious enough.

Even if it was a mistake, Wayne had never heard of a stone wall flashing.

"What do we do, Menta? It's more than suspicious…"

"…I think it's better to check it out. Even if we retreat here, in the end, we won't gain anything. Someday, we need to investigate, and, we might not think this ourselves, but among the players, we're considered top-tier. With the equipment, including NPCs, we might even be top-tier in this continent. A little danger should be manageable."

"…Alright, then let's go forward. Gil in the lead, with Menta in between, and I'll bring up the rear."

They advanced cautiously, but still, nothing appeared. Taking their time, they approached the stone wall where Gil claimed to have seen a flash. There was nothing particularly suspicious.

"Maybe there's nothing he…"

Suddenly, the surroundings were enveloped in light.

This was probably magic. Moreover, it was an area-of-effect spell of Lightning Magic.

Although they had earned a considerable amount of experience points since the decisive battle in the royal capital and had obtained new armor, the current blow had taken quite a toll on them. One more hit, and they probably wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Gil, acknowledging himself as a tank, had high defense and LP, probably among the top players, but against lightning-type magic, there was nothing to be done. This was an area that couldn't be avoided as long as he wore metal armor. It seemed to be effective, as Gil was staggering considerably. He seemed to have taken significant damage.

MentaList was lying on the ground. He was a magic user, and his defense and LP were correspondingly lower. What he raised was mainly MND, and the contributions of MND were [Mental Magic] and [Bestow Magic]. Apparently, he couldn't endure the current damage.

"…Menta…"

"I came to check because someone appeared in a very short time."

The voice came from above.

Apparently, the one who cast the current magic could fly.

There, a fair-skinned woman with long, glossy black hair flowed in the wind, sitting in the air as if on a chair.

"It seems like you're not a big deal. This much with just one shot?

Well, I'll give credit to your recklessness for stepping into this town. As a souvenir, you can take a trip to the afterlife."