Chapter XVI - Double Dungeon (part 2)

"Anything to add? Or questions?"

"None from here."

"Nope."

Glasses asked the team leaders, and everyone seemed to be agreeing with the idea. Even beard is agreeing, and now he and glasses did a little handshake to symbolize their teamwork. 

But...

"I have a question."

Everyone looked at me, and I stared at them seriously.

"Your plan involves a fourth group to look for the captured adventurers. But this plan relies fully on the three other groups to perfectly take the attention of the goblin army, so that the fourth group will be able to move around.

But, what if the hostages are… right next to the goblin king?"

I conveyed my confusion to them, and everyone thought about that situation deeply. If, in the end, we will have to fight the goblin king, that would pose a huge problem.

It's like fighting a regular person as a cat. We are just ants challenging a king of a monster kingdom. We'll lose.

"... We don't have to fight the king."

Everyone looked at glasses, and I found him staring at me seriously as well.

"We just have to save the hostages. If we can just trick the goblin king, or maybe lure him out in some… way, we can save the captured adventurers without even encountering him."

Everyone nods to that idea, but deep down I know. 

By the time the captured adventurers are saved, the one distracting the king will lose their lives. Plus, we don't know how long those that were captured will be kept alive.

It looks like… there can only be one option for us, that is to just do it.

Wasting any more time dawdling around like this will only endanger those that were captured. Besides, if things do get south like that, I have already prepared from the start that I would do anything to keep everyone alive.

"... Fine."

I said to them, and glasses nodded before turning to the other team leaders.

"All right. Then in total, we will split into five. The first three teams will have a battle with the goblins to completely take their attention away. During that period, one squad of four will silently sneak in and save the hostage. We can also have one more group to go outside to call for backup, as well as carrying the injured to safety. How does that sound?"

We all nodded at him, and glasses nodded back at us.

"Okay. Let's go!"

The plan is now in motion. Everyone who can still fight stood up and joined the groups. Meanwhile, I returned to the team and briefed them about the plan. 

Brown and Heckle have agreed to join the assault squad, and Joyle also agreed to join them. However, Brown and Heckle immediately stopped him, and they began to have a long discussion about it.

Brown and Heckle knows what kind of person Joyle is. He is a noble who decided to become an adventurer, and he was never that adventurous of a person to begin with. He just happens to be the most outgoing person of the three, which was why Brown and Heckle agreed to have him become the team leader.

But when it comes to adventuring stuff, he was mostly carried by Brown and Heckle. His combat skills were good enough, but his knowledge fell short, not to mention he is afraid of blood and gore.

After the long talk, Joyle finally accepted his friends' wishes. Brown and Heckle will join the assault squad, while Joyle will be joining the team that will go outside to call for backup.

And now, it's just me.

"Sorry, but I won't go with the assault squad."

"""Huh???"""

Everyone looked so confused… hahah.

"W-Why don't you join?"

Heckle asked, and I hummed for a while.

"My stomach hurts."

Everyone became speechless… I really want to laugh at their faces. But, I had to lie if I wanted to go with what I had planned.

Because, I have a plan.

Things are getting out of hand. Naturally, I will have to do something.

Now, the teams are set. The three assault squads consisted of 7 people each. Even some of the slightly injured adventurers are joining the assault squad, since the situation was so dire.

The first assault squad is going to be led by Glasses, since it mostly consisted of his teammates. The second assault squad will be led by Beard, and the third will be led by one of the team leaders from the discussion before.

The hostage squad, consisting of 4 people, is led by the swordswoman from before. Meanwhile, I will be with the backup squad, along with Joyle.

Our duty is to find backup from the testers outside the dungeon, as well as carry the heavily injured people like Jeremy to safety. 

There are 6 of us, but only 4 that could walk. One guy had their leg bitten by a lizard and can barely walk, and another got thrown far away whilst fighting the orc. He's still unconscious. And there's Jeremy, who lost an arm and got stabbed on the back.

The teams gathered with one another, and I grouped up with my other teammates alongside Joyle. Joyle has volunteered to carry Jeremy on his back, while my other teammate volunteered to carry the guy who's unconscious. I tried helping the guy with the injured leg to walk, but he said he can still walk by himself, so I let him.

Before the mission starts, all the teams gathered right by the exit. Brown and Heckle are joining the second assault group, under Beard's leadership. And before we departed, Joyle was literally crying while hugging them.

"Guys... Please be safe!!!"

He hugged Brown while crying, and Brown just happily accepted it.

"Hey, hey. You are the team leader. Don't come crying to me now. You have to be strong for us, remember?"

"Right... hiks..."

The whole emotional scene was happening all around the exit, and not just Brown and Joyle were hugging one another. 

Joyle then hugged Heckle once before letting those two join Beard alongside his team. He then turned to me for a hug, but I simply lifted my palms before he could hug me.

"We have to find backup, Rize!"

He said to me, and I nodded.

"Don't worry. Once Jrake is coming, we have nothing to worry about. He is far stronger than any of those goblins."

"I know. We all know."

How would he know?

But before I could ask that, the glasses guy started shouting things.

"Everyone, let's go save the others!!"

"""Yeah!!"""

Everyone replied loudly, which easily made my ears go ringing.

Damn, I feel goosebumps. This feels like going to a war. Then again, this is technically like a war already.

After that shout, the teams began to make their moves. Glasses led the first assault group towards the right path, while the other two groups went to the left. They knew exactly where the branches were leading, and they also knew where the entrances were. 

Damn adventurers, even I couldn't remember them properly.

The hostage saving squad picked a fourth route. But since their numbers are small, my team goes along with them, so we can at least assist each other at least until the fourth entrance where we will then split up. 

Everyone else already moved to their path. The nearest group to the entrance is the second group, so they will be the one sounding the trumpets of war, to mark when the operation will begin.

The hostage saving squad and the backup squad are now walking on their own, on this path that not only leads to the fourth entrance but also to the exit.

The hostage saving squad consisted of only four healthy people. Three of them are male, and each had their own weapons ready on their hands. On the other hand, their leader, the sword lady with the black hair, still had her sword sheathed behind her.

During the walk, she randomly moved closer to me, and suddenly spoke.

"It's not everyday I see a strong woman, you know."

She said unexpectedly, and I chuckled at her words.

Haha… yeah, strong woman! Yeah…

"Haha... Right."

"I can tell that deep down you are strong. So why did you choose to be the backup team?"

She must be thinking I'm a pussy. Yikes!

"... I have my own reasons."

"Ah... I see."

After hearing that answer, she turned her gaze to the path. Simply from her grinning expression, I already knew what she thinks of me.

"You know, we are all risking our lives here, and our goal is to save others. I just hope that you know that."

"Yeah... I know. Don't worry, I'm not going as the backup team because I chickened out."

She grinned after hearing my answer. Looks like she did think I was chickening out, but that just wasn't the case at all.

"I'm glad you aren't. For a second there, I thought you were like those two guys."

She looked at Joyle and the other guy who was carrying the collapsed dude right in front of us, and I had a hunch that this cave isn't exactly hiding our voices that well.

"Was he your teammate?"

"Yeah, he is a little chicken. He was crying earlier, too."

"Haha, same goes with that other guy."

I pointed at Joyle in front of us, and we both laughed silently. I'm pretty sure Joyle and the other guy heard us clearly, and I can see them lowering their heads slightly.

"So you are a swordswoman?"

She asked as she turned her gaze at the sword sheathed on my hip.

"Yes, I am. Jrake trained me, that guy."

"Ahh, then you must be a very good sword user!"

"Yeah… Why does everyone keep saying that?"

I was genuinely confused, but the lady turned to me with heavy confusion, as if she couldn't believe that I asked that.

"Don't tell me… You don't know who Jrake is??"

"Well, I do. But..."

"Then, you must have not known him. Back in the day, he was one of the most talented Gray ranked adventurers. He did so many achievements as a Gray ranked, but he refuses to rank up. His famous line was: 'If I focus on ranking up, I can't keep becoming stronger!'."

"Haha! Sounds like him all right."

"Yeah, and that is exactly what made him stronger. By doing cheap missions, he can focus on making himself stronger. There was once a Blue ranked adventurer who bullied a villager. He defeated him and won."

"Woah… A hero from the bottom."

"They did call him 'The Bald Hero'."

I laughed, so-so hard hearing that. Even the lady here laughed as well.

I like her. Not romantically, though.

"My name is Rize. Nice to meet you."

"Berrily. Same here."

We shook hands, and then we kept on chatting.

After the walk that felt only seconds, we finally arrived at the fourth entrance. There were two goblins at the entrance, but Miss Berrily took care of it quickly. 

She rushed towards the goblins and in one slash, she killed both the goblins at once. Everyone who watched had their eyes open.

"You are... Good!"

I loudly said to her while she sheathed her weapon, and she laughed a little after hearing my compliment.

"Even with this skill, I couldn't stand against a goblin king, you know?"

"Haha… Right."

After sheathing her weapon again, her teammates headed towards the fourth entrance and began to prepare. Seeing her teammates doing work, she turned back to me and nodded.

"I guess this is where we part."

She let out her hand to me for a handshake. I firmly accepted it and shook her hand heavily.

"Don't die, and wait for backup if necessary."

I said to her, and she laughed again.

"No worries!"

After bidding farewell, we both went our separate ways. Her squad was preparing by the entrance, while my squad kept on going to the top at a rather slow pace.

Meanwhile, on the other team, at the first assault squad.

"Go to the second squad and confirm."

Glasses told an adventurer from the second squad to go back as the messenger, and he began leaving the area. 

The first and the third squad started with one extra squad member as a messenger, so that they could go and regroup at the second squad to mark that both teams are ready. 

Once both teams were ready, the messengers from both teams immediately ran towards the second squad at the other side of the dungeon. They ran towards the second squad at the same time. Meanwhile, the hostage team is waiting, and the backup squad still has a long way to go.

The two messengers arrived at the same time, which startled the second assault squad a little. The two are still catching their breaths after that long run, but they are ready to tell the message.

"Well?"

Beard asked them, and they were very ready to answer. The two nodded at each other before answering at the same time.

""All Squads is in position!""

"Good."

One of the squad members of the second squad immediately lifted the box and walked quite far from the squad's location. After putting the box in the spot right by the empty wall at the end of the path, he immediately ran back to the squad.

"Bomb, ready!"

"Everyone. Prepare for attack."

While the second squad is preparing, the first and the third squad are waiting for the assault mark. They all waited in patience, until the command to start the battle was given.

"Hit it."

Beard commanded his teammate with the detonation controller, and the guy clicked the button without hesitation.

BOOOOOMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The loud boom can be heard throughout the entire dungeon. The explosion was heard loud and clear by the first and third squad, and everyone shouted the screams of war as they entered the lair of the goblins. The hostage team was supposed to wait for a while before they entered the lair.

Meanwhile, the backup squad paused their walk for a while to look back.

"Let's keep moving."

I commanded the others while they all turned their gazes back, towards the path behind us. After a while, they started to move again. 

We are still moving slowly due to one of the guys that can't walk properly and the other two are lifting people. I'm the only one who is not doing anything, since I will be acting as the combat adventurer in case we encounter a monster.

But, this slow pace is perfect.

"Ugh!!"

I suddenly lowered my body, and acted as if I'm losing my balance. I almost fell to the ground and immediately reached for the wall, and I held my stomach as if I got stabbed by a spear.

"R-Rize!?"

Joyle let Jeremy down for a second by the wall and walked to me, while I simply had my face facing downwards.

"Are you okay?"

"Sorry. My stomach isn't feeling right. I... Akk!!!"

Joyle remembered what I said earlier, about me having stomach issues. Seeing me in pain like this, he immediately panicked.

Of course… this is all just an act.

"Hold... Just hold on, okay!? You stay here. I will call for backup. Just don't move!"

H-Huh?

Is he leaving us?

I watched as Joyle decided to leave me and run all alone to the top, leaving the others.

Though, it wasn't as I planned. I thought he would just leave me alone here while he and the others rushed for the exit to call for backup. But instead, he left me with these injured fellows while he rushed towards the exit to look for backup. Only one of them here isn't injured, so I have to get past him.

"Ugh…!".

I slowly got up, but he couldn't watch anymore.

"Hey, stay down..."

"I... have to... take a dump... I'll be right back..."

I slowly left the group while writhing, back towards the dungeon. Meanwhile, that guy can only watch as I left them here all by themselves.

"T-Tell... J-Joyle to leave me. I-I'll be fine!"

And just like that, he was left in confusion as I slowly walked back to the dungeon.

After leaving his sight, I immediately ran and found a perfect hiding spot. It was in one of the safe zones that the testers prepared for us. 

A grin formed on my face as I took out the necessary items from my space ring.

Time to begin.