To Them Who Risked it all

"To win is to simply overcome a challenge. To be victorious is to overcome adversity and become better than who you were before. In life, everyone will eventually and repeatedly win, but only a few will be victorious."

- Joseph Hiryuu E. Bougainvillea, Baronet of the Bougainvillea territory.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"…And basically, that's why we left the village and are 'ere with ya'."

"You absolute dumbass. Did all your years of living never taught you anything about not being reckless?"

"Whaddiya say, ya brat?!"

After I heard his narration, I can't help but roll my eyes in annoyance and he quickly retorted with a reaction. In any case, old man Anthony wasn't alone with following me. He came with the two people I asked for a favor back in the village, as well as the old man's drinking buddy, the village wheelwright.

"A-Anyways, we were surprised that you already got this deep into the forest in just one day, lad. Not even Arak and his son got this deep into the forest while they're hunting and trapping." Ralf-san, the blacksmith, told me what I already suspected given that I've lost any use for the map by the time I encountered the Sling Serpent.

"That's right, I haven't even heard about a place like this beyond the hill and this far into the dark woods." Neil-san, the baker, seconded Ralf-san's words.

"In any case, you sure work efficiently and effectively, kid. I don't know anyone who can carve up those monsters this quickly."

"It's a matter of experience, I guess. I've been doing this in the Imperial academy and during my vacations too. So far, I've cleared three dungeons along with some friends, but those are in the lower categories like F and E-rank." After I mentioned my previous experience and achievements, Cobert-san naively asked a question that I can't even fault him for asking.

"Woah! Does that mean you can clear our dungeon too?"

"Erm… Hard to say, but I have no choice if I wanna go home. If your folklore is right, this dungeon is likely a double, maybe even triple-S rank."

"Huh? Ain't that easier? Uesu (T/N: the world language's equivalent to "S") is way lower than the other letters, ain't it?"

"T-That's pretty hard to explain, but to put it simply, anything within S or above it is an absolutely monstrous task to fulfill. I'm not confident that we can clear this dungeon even if we conscripted and trained everyone in the village to their fullest potential."

"I-Is it really that hard?" the old woodcutter blurted out that question which I responded to with an approving nod.

While I did say those things, I haven't lost my desire to get out yet. I still have a fight to win and a home to get back to.

"In any case, I haven't brought enough supplies for everyone, and it seems like you four didn't think too much about this either." I commented regarding the fact that they only brought their usual daily working tools such as the old man's axe, Cobert's mallet, Ralf's crowbar and Neil's spear that seems to just be his oven scooper with a different head on its end. "Well then, I wish you a have an iron stomach to get to eat this thing without puking your guts out."

I led them to the spot where I fought the Rampage Boar, and they asked me if it was even edible.

"C-Can we even eat that thing? That's a monster, lad."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing… I'll prepare the edible parts of this monster properly, so you won't taste any gamey flavor or the unpleasant texture of the dish. Also, I found this from a mineral outcropping earlier." I spoke and showed them a large piece of pale orange rock salt. "With this, we can get rid of a lot of the disgusting aftertaste, but still, learn to portion it into bite-sized pieces and swallow quickly."

As the Dungeon didn't really have a proper day-night cycle, only a varying intensity of light that filters through its false sky, I originally didn't have any plan to rest, but since I have companions now, I decided to camp out and leave the conclusion of my attempt for tomorrow.

With the help of Ralf-san, I set up a firepit while Anthony-san was gathering fallen sticks from nearby for it. As for Cobert-san, he set up a few hammocks at the tree branches above us while Neil-san was slaughtering the Boar monster according to my instructions. An hour later, I opened the small ceramic pot filled with our humble supper.

"Incredible… is that really monster meat?"

"I'm impressed! This aroma is certainly something!"

Anthony and Cobert mumbled as I portioned out the food and they took their first bites. A second after they gulped down, the old man jumped up in excitement.

"WOOO!!! This taste awesome!"

"Quiet down, old man! You're ruining dinner for us."

While I did tell them that it may not be so savory, it seems like for these people who haven't had any change in their diet for the past hundred or so years, anything new would taste like a miracle.

Later, we climbed up the trees and laid down on our hammocks with the campfire still lit up beneath us for both warmth and to ward off monsters. Ralf-san was smoking using his pipe, Neil-san was writing on his diary and both old man Anthony and Cobert-san were already knocked out from having a drink after dinner, apparently, even though they didn't bring supplies, they still managed to bring enough ale and grog to get drunk.

As for me, I was about to start my breathing exercises to calm down my body and mind and force it to fall asleep when the rugged blacksmith asked me a question.

"Hey kid, do you mind me asking about your life?"

"Sure thing. Shoot."

"Erm… What's gotten you so hung up with getting out as soon as possible? I mean, do you have a family out there?"

"Yeah… I have both my parents, an elder brother and a little sister. Their names are Joseph, Selena, Joshua and Syrene."

"I didn't hear all about it from this doofus, but he said that you're some kind of bigshot out there. A noble, as he said."

Hearing that made me feel a tad proud as I don't get to hear a lot of people acknowledge that aspect of our identity, but I replied with humility, given that it really isn't as important to my family as it would be for others.

"Yeah, I belong to the noble family of House Bougainvillea. We have a Baronetcy in the East Serafina region where this dungeon is located."

"Does that mean you're rich or something?" he asked and it made me chuckle a bit.

"Haha! No, not really. To be honest, we don't even have enough to properly govern our lands to the point that my mother and elder brother have to personally go around to manage it instead of us hiring fiefs and bailiffs."

"Is that so?"

"Yep, it's just like that."

Once our conversation seems to have been finished, it was Neil-san who interceded with a question of his own.

"It seems to me that instead of lamenting it, you're quite glad that you don't have much of excess. Why so?"

"While I'm not lamenting it, it would be a lie if I said that I'm glad that we're destitute. To tell you the truth, the reason why I ended up here was to look for a dungeon to conquer and plunder all of its riches. I literally got into this situation while I'm looking for a quick buck… but you're right in a way, Neil-san. I'm glad that we don't have much excess in life simply because I know that it would have changed my family to the kind of people that I don't want us to become."

As I said that, I thought back to the memories of my time in the Imperial Academy where I saw for myself the maltreatment faced by the have-nots from those who are well-off.

"Pick up the pace, servant! Do you want me to be late in my first day of classes!?"

"These seats are for the upper nobility only! Do you think commoners like you can sit with us just because you are scholarship-grantees? Pweh! Get lost!"

"What's wrong, barony girl? This is a chance of a lifetime, ya know? Just hang around with me and I'll lift you out of that dump you call home."

While I cannot say that I haven't used my noble stature to my advantage before, I didn't do it for a malevolent end. My parents taught all of us what is right from what is wrong and that our noble title is not a privilege over everyone else but instead, a duty to serve those who need us.

"Hey kid…"

"Yeah?"

"You're a good kid. Don't lose your way and change from that life you've been living."

Receiving those words of praise from Ralf-san made me smile a bit before I resigned for the night. For some reason, the false sky of the dungeon that didn't ever turn dark seemed comforting instead of disturbing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tomorrow morning, or at least at a time when the filtered light from above became bright enough to keep one awake, I led them deeper into the forest and into the valley where I tracked the strong monsters to be circling around.

While still not verified, the adventurer seminars I attended before said that this behavior from the dungeon's strongest monsters is an instinctive desire to protect the place of their birth, which in this case, is the dungeon's core.

After disposing of the few monsters surrounding that place, mainly Grey Wolves and Sling Serpents, we arrived at the cusp of the valley where an enormous gate placed smack in the middle of the two mountains towered over us.

"""W-What the…""" The four men stood in awe at the sight in front of us. I would've mumbled those words alongside them if not for the fact that I saw something in there that I should not see anywhere else.

"T-This is…"

"Hey kid, that symbol in the circle of the doors! Ain't that the same thing as the one in your thingamajig?" the old man's exclamation gathered the attention of the other three who also looked at my pocket watch which has my family's crest.

"A wreath of flowers with three blossoms and three thorns… It is!"

"What's the meaning of this, kid?"

"I… I have no idea either." I can only reply as such as I approached the door that might be as tall as 10 meters.

"Well, forget about that symbol or whatever for now. How are we gonna get inside in the first place?"

"Now that you say that… Hey Ralf, you're the one who has a crowbar, get going already."

"M-My crowbar ain't doing squat on those doors! It's like putting a toothpick to go against a flood!"

While they are talking amongst themselves, I debated whether I should use the bomb here or to find another way in. I examined the door properly, looking for a weak spot where we can possibly use Anthony's axe to hack open a hole to get inside, but the door wasn't just made with good, solid lumber, it even looks like it was just made recently.

"Darn it… If I use this here, it would be such a waste. Should I--- Wu-AHHH!!!"

"""KID!!!"""

As I leaned on the door while thinking if I should use the bomb, all of a sudden, the gate shook and slowly opened, much to everyone's surprise.

"It opened!"

"W-What the…?"

"H-how?!"

Three of them had different expressions and outburst after seeing the two doors open up. For the old man, he simply helped me up before asking me a question.

"What now, kiddo?"

"…Well, we're here already. Might as well just continue with it."

To say that the interior of the dungeon's cavern was unnaturally artificial would be a lie. Once we got inside, we saw that instead of rough stone, the tunnel's walls, ceiling and floor are made of smooth, uncut stone like Romarian cement. It was like this was manmade instead of being a part of a naturally-occurring dungeon.

"Anything from behind us, Ralf-san?"

"…None so far."

"Nothing above us either, kid."

"Mm."

With our torches, we lit the tunnel as we walked and just a few tens of meters from the door, a fork on the cavern appeared. The path was split in half and we had to stop.

"Which way, young man?" Cobert-san asked and I raised my hand as I replied.

"Shhh… Listen…"

Once we stopped walking and kept our breath still, there were no other sounds other than the crackling of our torches… and a moment later, the soft howl from the left path. The right path on the other hand, just had silence.

"Grey wolf on this one. Let's go over here." I spoke and led them to the path on the right.

"Good ear, lad. Let's get goin' then."

We encountered three more splitting paths which we successfully overcame before we got into a risky situation.

"Kh…"

"I ain't rushin' you kid, but we can't stay here for too long…"

"R-right, the monsters we avoided earlier seems to have sniffed us out. We have to get moving soon!"

With the monsters that we avoided earlier behind us, it introduced an element of interference with the method we were using to avoid confronting them. Add to that the fact that there are now four split paths to get into, the old man and Cobert began to grill me to make a decision already.

"…Alright."

As there were no other way to safely and surely make a decision, I did the one thing that the adventurer's rulebook said should never be done no matter what happens.

"We're going through the center-right path."

I took a gamble, one that I am not sure we would win.

"H-Hey kid… are you sure on this one?"

"No."

"W-What?!" Cobert shouted out through a whisper.

"With those monsters behind us, I can't hear which path is clear or not. I just chose this because this is where my torch's fire was blowing towards."

"And that means what?"

"There's air and nothing is blocking it… might be bogus but it was the best alternative way that I got on me."

We continued to walk carefully, still covering every angle of our formation until a sound echoed through the corridor.

*AWOOOOOOO---!!!*

"That-!"

"Direwolves!"

H-How… HOW---?!!

How did they get here?!?!?!

"You heard those howls, they're nearby! Let's get going!"

"O-Oi, kid!"

"You heard him, you three! Let's haul ass!"

Breaking our protocol of carefully keeping tabs of our surroundings, we ran through the tunnel which thankfully didn't fork off into more caverns. I looked back at them regularly to see if they're keeping up and they were.

"Where are we going now, kid?!"

"I don't know, but I'm sensing that the concentration of mana is getting denser and denser! I think the dungeon core is just around the corner!"

I looked at my pocket watch and the small magic gem on its back began to faintly glow at the presence of the surrounding density of mana. I knew that the dungeon core is getting near and because of that, I knew that we should be more wary now.

"Everyone, stop!"

"Oof!"

"Are we there now?"

"What's up, kid?"

"Huff… huff… haah…!"

After a sharp turn, I stopped running and held out my hand to signal to the others that they can stop running too. While Neil-san was catching his breath, I showed to the others what made us stop in our tracks.

"W-what's that…?"

"A dead end? A cave-in?"

"No. Look at this…"

As they examined the absolute darkness beyond the cave opening where we are standing on, I took out one of the leftover manastones from my pocket and threw it off the darkness where it spontaneously combusted in mid-flight like a flare and lit up its surroundings for a few seconds.

"S-S-SH*T!!!"

"WHAT THE F***!?"

"H-H-HOW… What the hell is that?!"

Their reactions were justified as what they saw was something out of this world. Beneath the ravine, there are all kinds of monsters from the dinky Mandrake Mice to the highly dangerous Rush Rhino, and if their variety wasn't enough of a danger, there were their sheer numbers to worry about.

"This is the dungeon's gestation grounds. A gathering point for the swirling mana that the core emits and where it forms the bodies of the monsters that roam this place… which means that somewhere within that layer upon layer of monsters, the dungeon core is located."

"Damn… there must be hundreds, no, thousands of them down there!"

"Can we even fight that? All the monsters we faced so far were outnumbered by us!"

"Heh! They paid us back a thousand-fold now, haven't they?"

I analyzed the situation and the answers I have to their monologues were all bad news. May it be numbers, combat power and even stamina, we are in the losing side.

"No… There's still some hope."

However, I didn't come this far just to admit defeat or jump to my death.

"There is still a way to achieve this."

"Everyone, I want you to listen to me…" I gathered the four's attention and told them the hard truth. "I cannot guarantee our survival here nor can I tell you that we would win for sure."

Once they heard that, I instantly saw the faces of these grown men become sullen even if they immediately bit their lip to hide it.

"However, I can increase our chances of getting through them and destroying the dungeon core. I don't think I've said this before, but these manastones that are right beside their hearts are something like a receiver of mana from that core. It gives them energy and life, and once we destroy it, all of them would die too."

"So, we really just have to look for it and destroy it?"

"Yeah. That's all that we need to do… but as you can see, they're piled up like cow dung down there and we can't find where it is until we thin out their numbers… With that, I brought these with me."

I took out the gunpowder musket that I made before I left the old man's cottage along with the thirty bullets that I made with it.

"What's that? A gun? Is that even accurate?"

"Kind of. I've only fired it thrice and found where the shot would sort of land. I'll be using it to get rid of the strongest ones first." With that part of the plan clear, they then asked what they would do.

"Alright, what about us then?"

"For you guys, we've gonna make firebombs that you'd throw down to light everything on fire. For that, I'd need Anthony and Cobert-san to part with their liquor for now."

Once I said that, the two drunkards' faces scrunched up before they sighed and gave up their remaining bottles of alcohol.

"We'd probably need about 6 of it to light up the entire place. Fill it halfway and place a piece of cloth on the spout."

"Aye."

"About this much?"

"Right. That's enough."

Ten minutes later, we had those 6 firebombs and one leftover bottle of grog that I gave up to the two for them to share.

"Alright, you shoot them and we light the rest up. However, I don't think that's enough to kill them. What's next?" Ralf asked and I admitted another unsavory truth to them.

"Well… that's the ugly side of it. If everything went well, which I'm going to be honest, is not likely to happen, we'd have to go down and fight what's left of them."

"…How many would they be, you reckon?"

I paused for a moment to make my predictions and I arrived at a fairly average number.

"Given that the stronger and more complex monsters are not the majority of their numbers, I'd say that we'd have to face off against maybe 600 or so monsters in the end."

"Six hundred…"

"Still a damn huge number…"

"Hey, look at the brighter side. At least we won't be going down there and be overwhelmed by them in the thousands."

"…"

All four of them knew that this is clearly a one-way trip to death, and I can see in their faces how they seem to rationalize our current situation. However, none of them looked like they were agonizing through it nor are they going through anxiety over it.

"Well… f*** it all. We're here already."

"You're right, buddy… might as well die while proving something."

"Took the words right off my mouth, Cobert…"

"Should we start now, boy?"

I don't know what possessed these men that I barely even knew for a day… what made them believe in me so much that they're ready to die by my word? Why are they doing this? What kind of lives have they led so far that they're throwing it all out of the drain just to follow me to their deaths here?

That's when I realized something…

"Haha… We're all idiots in the end, aren't we?"

…like me, they have something to prove that is worth every effort and sacrifice to them.

"Before we go down there, let's share this last bottle of grog we are left." Anthony's suggestion gained our approving nods, and he poured a cup for all of us five.

"To our victory…"

"To our freedom…"

"To our ambitions…"

"To our legacy…"

All four of them honored their cups of liquor and when my turn came, I only had one thing to say.

"To our short yet unforgettable brotherhood…"

"""CHEERS!!!"""

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

In the Bougainvillea manor, a convoy of horsemen arrived at the courtyard of the mansion. These horsemen, although not wearing customary cavalry uniforms, all bore the aura of veteran knights who has stared down hell for more than once in their careers.

"Welcome back, Joshua-sama…"

"Mm. Thank you for welcoming me back, Martha."

This is Joshua Souryuu H. Bougainvillea, heir of the Baronetcy and firstborn of the three children of the noble family. After his trip around their lands and even leading a raid against a roving band of bandits, he finally arrived home.

"ONII-CHAN!" suddenly, a child's voice came from the living room and next came its source who would've pounced Joshua if not for Martha's quick action.

"Y-Young lady!"

"WAH-!"

She caught the young girl and quickly took her into her arms.

"I wanna hug, Joshua-nii! C'mon, Martha…!"

"I'm sorry, young lady. But you can't do that yet." Even with the child's complaints and tantrums, Martha kept a solid hold on her.

"Eeeeh?! Why?!"

"Because---"

Before Martha can tell her the truth, Joshua raised his hand to stop her and feign a smile on his face before facing his little sister.

"I'm sorry, Syrene. But Joshua-nii is dirty from his trip, I don't want you getting sick because of me. I'll clean up and we can cuddle and play later, alright?"

"Muu… As long as it's a promise."

"Mm! It's a promise!"

As soon as he said that, his eyes went to the stairwell where he saw his mother who had a telling expression on her face that signified that she wants to talk about in private.

Joshua handed his saber and coat to the maid waiting by the stairs and followed his mother to the study room where he got what happened these past few days.

"…And that's where we are now." With the conclusion of Selena's explanation, Joshua's outburst immediately followed with him hitting his fist on the wall.

*BYAG-!*

"F****** SNAKES! ALL OF THEM!!!"

"Joshua, mind your tongue… Syrene already heard one curse from me and she'll never let us hear the end of it now."

To put it simply, the already complicated and degrading situation of House Bougainvillea went to another level of hopelessness.

"Of all the noble houses… why us…? WHY ONLY US?!!"

"…They convinced the imperial magistrate that this would teach us a lesson about serving the empire wholeheartedly. They said that we're clearly not going to make enough grain and cattle to pay our taxes this year, so we could at least send someone to represent East Serafina in the war at Irma Island… and they specifically named you."

"Me? No… no way… Damn it mother, please don't tell me that this is another trick of that swine-"

"It is. Signed order by the imperial magistrate and seconded by the Demesne association chairman Earl Kaltka Penne."

"F***!"

After a few minutes of pacing around and mumbling curses for that particular person, Joshua finally calmed down enough to ask his mother about the other pressing matter.

"What's with this about Jonathan missing? Where did that idiot go now?"

"Martha told me that he headed for Mt. Akira, probably hunting monsters to make some quick buck with whatever materials he can glean from them."

"And it's been five days? Why aren't you sending Captain Huey to search for him?" Joshua asked his mother and got an immediate reply.

"They already searched the tree line and even the deep woods. There isn't a trace of him there nor are there any sign that something happened to him."

"Then where is he?" this question of his just got a shake of her mother's head, telling him that they don't know.

"That idiot… disappearing now of all times."

"We at least know that he's not in harm since there were no traces of struggle anywhere in the woods. Wherever he is, he's probably just not contented yet with his haul and would come home eventually… More importantly, since we can't fight against the order to have you fight in the war anyway without a counter-order from the imperial court or the ministry of war, I want you to go to Marin and have this mailed to Musashi." Upon saying that, Selena took out a letter from the bookshelf and with its vertical envelope as well as its destined address, Joshua understood what it was for.

"Musashi… Mother! You cannot-"

"This is a decision that I made by myself with all of you in mind…"

"B-But still… mother…"

Seeing the eyes of her son who once promised her that he'll never shed a tear again out of self-pity, now barely holding back those tears, Selena's composure wavered for a moment, but she steeled herself, telling herself that this is for the best.

"…If I need to beg them and kiss the soles of their feet, I am ready to do it… so long as none of you would ever face this pain and anguish again."

Such resolution has made the Bougainvillea family so resilient and tenacious even in the face of great danger… and as almost all of them bore their own hardships, one of them were confronted by it more so than the others.