Graveyard of the Arrogant, First Floor I

[The goddess 'Artemisia' wishes for you to step back so she can take out the trash.]

Seeing the diaphanous notification that appeared in front of his vision, Evan chuckled lightly. However, to the adventurers in front of him, it was as if he was laughing at them.

"Ha, didn't see that coming. Worry not, I'd take out the trash myself."

[The goddess 'Artemisia' thanks you for ridding her world of two pieces of trash in advance.]

[The goddess 'Artemisia' promises to reward you if you succeed in your quest tomorrow]

"Hmm, that's good."

He wasn't surprised she knew of his plans; she could read his thoughts after all. It was only natural she was aware he planned to form a contract with the demon, Pride.

Evan had completely ignored the two adventurers in front of him, which infuriated them further, with one of them punching him in a fit of rage.

Easily dodging and sending a punch of his own, the poor F-Ranked adventurer was sent flying by a few meters. This shocked both his companion and the rest of the people in the guild building who were watching.

He took advantage of the second one's shock to send him flying with a punch too, he then left a statement that shocked the onlookers even more.

"Come to think of it, wasn't it a crime to attack a noble?"

It was then that most of the onlookers who had been minding their businesses and ignoring the ruckus took a look at Evan's clothes, seeing they were obviously high-quality clothes and had to be expensive.

He was about to say another word when the door opened and two people walked in, both familiar faces to Evan.

"Hey, Laurene! You came to register too?"

"Obviously, you can't enter the dungeon without registering."

"Oh yeah, that was true. Anyway, is it a crime to attack a noble? And what's the punishment?"

"Huh? Yeah, it is why are you aski-!"

It was then Laurene finally noticed the two men lying on the floor, she sighed in exasperation as she stepped over them and walked up to Evan only to give him a knock on the head.

"What was that for?!"

"Knowing you, I bet you said or did something insulting to them that made them react that way. Seriously Evan, when would you start acting like the Duke's son you are."

Her casual words revealed his identity to the onlookers, they had already guessed he was a noble, but to think he was the son of a Duke.

The next thought that came to everyone's mind was the identity of Laurene, who just knocked the Duke's son on the head.

Martha looked at the two sceptically, she then remembered what Evan called her.

'He said 'Laurene', I heard that Princess Laurene arrived at the city this morning and there's only one Duke's son named Evan.

He's the one who's rumoured to be engaged to Princess Laurene. If that's the case then these two are definitely the princess and the heir to the Dukedom.'

Her thoughts were then confirmed when the guild master came running down the stairs.

"Your Highness, Young Duke, Sir Ralphie, forgive my tardiness."

'Sir Ralphie! That's one of the ten great swordsmen of the empire.'

There was a small Uproar as he said that, many began to feel pity for the two adventurers who were lying on the ground.

Evan just walked over the bodies and greeted the guild master, he then followed Laurene and Ralphie to his office, not before waving Martha goodbye.

"See you later Miss Martha!"

The guild master took note of this and decided to make Martha the exclusive receptionist for Evan whenever he came to their guild.

The registrations were completed without a hitch and the trio returned to the residence of Count Merdin, to rest and prepare for the dungeon exploration scheduled for the next day.

◇　◇　◇

On the Last floor of the 'Graveyard of the Arrogant', a troll seated on a throne of bones opened up its eyes.

It foresaw danger coming towards it and decided to ready itself to face the threat.

Standing up from its throne, it looked at the door to the last room of the dungeon behind it, where a lone sword resided.

◇　◇　◇

Dungeon City Merdin

Great Western Empire

April 9th

Year 1051

Evan was already up as early as 6 am the next morning. He had been doing this for the past seven months so his body was already used to it. He readied himself for his first dungeon expedition on Aidos, putting on armour and arming himself.

The armour he had chosen to use on this maiden expedition, was an enchanted one that allowed him to eject blades of various lengths from all over his body—an effect he had seen in a fantasy novel he read on his home world.

Whilst putting on the armour, he pondered upon the fact that he was about to take the lives of other living beings—besides the insects on the dungeon's first floor that he detested with his entire being.

However, he discovered he did not feel anything towards this, due to the memories of his predecessor who had killed heaven knows how many humans and demons alike, the previous 'Second'.

'I should be more nervous or freaked out but I'm calm…so calm it's creeping me out.'

Those were his thoughts as he made his way out of the count's mansion to wait for Ralphie and Laurene.

About 30 minutes later, the duo emerged from the residence and they all made their way to the dungeon, carrying along supplies in magic bags with them for the possibility of the group spending more than one day in the dungeon.

But Evan had no thoughts of sleeping in the dungeon. He planned to achieve all his goals—getting his mystic eyes to stage one and gaining the sword of pride—in one day.

Arriving at the dungeon entrance by around 8 am, they were met with a structure that was like a naturally formed cave in a rock.

There was a gate with a guard in front of it who checked that they had the permit to enter the dungeon and let them through afterwards.

The trio entered the dungeon and were sent to a random spot on the first floor.

The dungeon floors were very large and sometimes the floors could be as large as small towns. Upon entering the dungeon, each party was sent to a random point on the first floor.

There was a floor master every five floors and if one had previously cleared the floor, they could take the stairs down to the next without having to fight the floor master again.

It was also impossible for one to descend to a floor they had not cleared without clearing the floor above it—the mechanics behind this involved searching one's existential records and some other things Evan found a tad bit complicated.

The monsters one faced on the first floor of the dungeon varied depending on the area one was sent to, but since the floor was mostly populated by insect-type monsters, one had a higher chance of being sent to their territory.

This was the case for the trio as the first monster they encountered, was a human-sized praying mantis. Evan once again declared his hatred for bugs internally before kicking off the ground and speeding towards it with two swords in hand.

"CHIREEK?!"

The Mantis let out a strange noise upon noticing the incoming young hero, but it was too late for it to react as the boy's razor-sharp kick had already landed on the monster's head and blasted it to bits.

Upon seeing this randomly appearing human killing one of their comrades instantly, the area went silent as all the monsters gazed at him with light confusion.

But that was only for a moment as their confusion turned to hostility and they charged at him with their sharp forelimbs extended forward and mandibles clicking.

**SKREETCH!

**SKRRREEEK!!!

**SKREEL!!

Evan didn't know if it was because of their comradery or some other reason, but even the ones who had been attacking Laurene changed targets to him as if he had used some sort of taunting skill.

Looking at the dozen-plus creatures charging towards him, Evan spoke with a calm voice.

"Now that I think about it. I didn't learn how to fight groups."

"You're saying that now of all times?!"

The young hero used Laurene's words as a signal to dash out, instantly reaching his first target—a pill bug-based monster that lunged forward, curling into a fast-rolling ball before striking with swift, armoured impact.

Not too far from it was a large, iridescent insect with shimmering wings, a monster that Evan recognized from the game as one of the most unpleasant of them all.

He targeted that one first, throwing one of the swords in his hand at it before infusing the other with a bit of magic power and slashing towards the pill bug.

And with a noise that sounded like splitting watermelons, the pill bug's armoured carapace burst into pieces.

"Above you!"