The Villainous Noble Tried His Hardest to Break the Original Storyline, and Now the Heroines Are Acting Weird - 12

Chapter 12

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While I was practicing magic and chatting with the goddess, my father and a group of knights arrived. All of them were clad in armor. The sunlight glinted off their gleaming suits.

As they approached me, Father gently patted my head. His expression was slightly more stern than usual, likely because we were about to head into the dungeon.

“Alright then, Rubest. Are you ready?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“This will be your first dungeon. You might feel nervous, but just stay relaxed. If you go about it like usual, there won’t be any problems.”

“Understood!”

When I replied, Father gave a satisfied nod. I followed him and the others out of the mansion. We exited the garden and walked along the cobbled road. As we made our way into town, we passed by people going about their daily lives as if nothing was unusual.

Looking at this scene alone, it would be hard to believe the town was under the control of the demon race. Merchants displayed their goods, and children ran around playing cheerfully. When the townsfolk noticed us, they bowed their heads politely. We returned the gesture with light nods as we continued on toward the outskirts.

After walking for a while outside the town, we saw a small rise in the land—like a hill. Within it yawned the entrance to a cave. That was the entrance to the dungeon. Just like in the game 

The mouth of the cave was cloaked in dim shadows, and a darkness so deep stretched beyond that the inside was impossible to see. A cold wind blew out from within, brushing against my cheek.

“Rubest, are you ready?”

“Of course, Father.”

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I had no idea what kind of monsters were waiting inside this dungeon, but I had lightning magic and healing magic. I was confident that I could take down any monster for sure.

“Rubest, this will be your first real combat. I picked a dungeon that isn’t too difficult. You can relax.”

Father gave me a gentle smile. That smile was probably meant to reassure me. In the game, dungeon difficulty was represented by stars. The more stars, the harder the dungeon. This one was probably around one or two stars at most.

I didn’t think I had any reason to be nervous, but unlike in the game, this time I’d be fighting with my actual body… So I couldn’t help feeling a little anxious. We decided to rest once outside the dungeon before going in. I appreciated Father’s thoughtfulness, although I didn’t think he had to go that far. Still, I supposed it was only natural for a parent to worry.

After we finished our break, we carefully descended the stairs that led from the dungeon entrance, eventually reaching the first level. The knights surrounded Father and me, taking positions in front and behind us for protection, while a few scouts went ahead. The inside of the dungeon was quite bright.

Magic stones embedded in the walls emitted light like electric bulbs. As the light reflected off their armor, the knights moved forward slowly. Their footsteps echoed through the quiet dungeon.

“In the dungeon, the most important thing is to never let your guard down.”

Along the way, Father continued to offer various pieces of advice. “Stay alert here,” “Always check your surroundings”—he relayed everything I needed to be careful about inside the dungeon.

His voice was calm, but carried a sense of tension as well. This really reminded me of the first time I entered a dungeon in the game.

Right now, it felt like I was going through a tutorial. That said, I already had the knowledge I gained from the game, so I was mostly just checking for differences between reality and the game world. Moss grew on the surrounding walls, and the air was damp. The stone floor underfoot was slippery, so we had to watch our step carefully.

So far, we hadn’t seen any monsters. Even so, the knights looked more alert than usual. Their eyes were sharp, their ears attentive.

Well, the current lord and his heir are both here. Of course they’re on high alert.

They kept watch in every direction in case a monster appeared at any moment. Some already had hands on their sword hilts, ready to enter battle at a second’s notice. My gaze drifted to my own weapon.

The knights all carried fine swords, and I had one as well. However, neither the knights’ weapons nor mine were anything particularly special. If I used Final Quest as the standard, the weapons made in this world were not very reliable.

Maybe I should unlock blacksmithing magic later. The equipment from Final Quest had far higher attack power than anything in this world. The problem would be how to gather the materials needed for forging in this world.

That said, since the same game company made this world, and some of the monsters and material names were the same, I might be able to make do using those.

Giving it a try wouldn’t hurt. If I could forge a powerful weapon, it would give me a huge advantage.

As I was thinking that and walking along, I spotted what looked like a goblin ahead in the corridor. It was small, with green skin and bared, sharp fangs. When it saw the knights tense up, the monster noticed us as well and began to approach slowly. Father stepped in front of me protectively, glaring sharply at the goblin.

“Don’t let your guard down, Rubest. This is the real thing.”

“Rubest. For now, just watch the fight.”

“Understood.”

…Since Father said so, I suppressed the urge to unleash a spell and decided to step back and observe the battle for now.

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