How to Survive as a Dungeon Manager in Another World

46 – Ruins of Marsica (1)

“Ru… ke…”

A parched sigh escaped her lips.

Breath, as hot as Delle, scattered into the air.

Just watching her was enough to make my temperature spike.

Rudine lifted her face upwards.

The dishevelled silver strands of her hair, the lushly drooping eyelashes, the cracked voice, as though locked shut – in many ways, it was quite the provocation.

I stood still, staring at Rudine, half out of her mind.

‘…This is a mess.’

The round swell of her breasts, the slender waist, the lustrous, smooth, white skin.

For the average man, the moment a woman possessed by the Heavenly Star of Slaughter deliberately seduced him like this, reason would fly away on the wings of boiling desire.

Truth be told, I too felt a momentary dizziness.

A Heavenly Star of Slaughter, deliberately oozing beauty for the sake of carnage, wasn’t something a man could endure.

But I had to endure.

Her lust, fundamentally, was accompanied by a bloodlust, and if I let my guard down, the moment flesh met flesh, I could very well meet my end, my head and body separated in a gruesome finale.

“Rudine.”

“……”

“Tch, can’t you even hear me?”

Bashfully.

Rudine began to approach me with a suggestive smile.

Having come right to my feet, Rudine pressed her body against me, rubbing herself close.

She brought her face close, as if our noses were about to touch, and the atmosphere was, in many ways, hazy beyond description.

My body was already within a separated space, so I couldn’t feel the squishy sensation or the sweet fragrance, but for some reason, my face felt like it was burning up.

I whipped my head around, surveying my surroundings.

I didn’t sense any presence, but just in case, I checked once more to confirm that there was no one else around.

Having confirmed that it was just Rudine and I here.

“Hoo.”

A short sigh escaped.

I murmured the activation phrase.

“Reverse.”

Kiiing—!

A golden haze erupted, enveloping the panting Rudine, and everything slowed to a near standstill.

A moment of awkward silence descended.

I gazed at Rudine, frozen in mid-air, before stroking my chin, lost in thought.

“…”

With the Ring of Ifrasia gone, a new means of controlling the Heavenly Star of Calamity had to be found.

The situation was entirely different from the original plot.

I had never imagined that the ring would be lost due to an encounter with an Outer God in the first place.

If divine power could offer a solution, I would have sought help from Elfriede, but even that was impossible.

The unexpected crisis left me with a strange feeling, when a sudden idea struck me like a lightning bolt.

‘…There might be a way.’

The ability to purify chaos and transform it into mental energy was a unique characteristic of the Ring of Ifrasia.

This was an absolute truth clearly stated in the original setting book.

However, if we narrowed the scope to simply sealing chaos, another option existed.

‘The Cursed Blade, the Gluttonous Sword.’

The Cursed Blade Gluttonous Sword, also known as the Chaos-Eating Sword.

One of the three Great Cursed Blades forged by Rentia Bellator, the God of Artisans, the Great Master Craftsman.

Unlike the Ring of Ifrasia, it didn’t have the ability to purify chaos, but it possessed a unique ability to absorb and seal the user’s chaos within the blade, and then release it.

Forged from Demon Steel, this blade was notorious for corrupting the user’s mind, but that was an insignificant disadvantage for Rudine, who was already consumed by chaos.

On the contrary, the very characteristic of the sword—that it only truly shone when absorbing chaos—made it a useless weapon for other swordsmen, but potentially perfect for Rudine.

By sealing the uncontrollable energy of the Heavenly Star of Calamity within the sword and then releasing it, not only could Rudine’s combat power be enhanced, but her current berserk state could also be controlled… truly killing two birds with one stone.

In the current situation, it was an item that absolutely needed to be acquired.

‘Its location is probably…’

The continent in this world was shaped like wings spread out on either side of the Imperial Territory, which lay in the center.

The Duchy belonged to the Eastern Continent, and the place where the Gluttonous Sword was buried was also located in the Eastern Continent.

Marscia’s Ruins.

One of the seven ruins left behind by the Grand Artisan Rentia Bellator in the twilight of his life.

In terms of distance, it wasn’t so far removed.

However, there was but a single, looming problem.

‘If memory serves, Marscia’s Ruins should be within the Second Lord’s domain…’

The Second Lord, Blackhand Myungak’s territory, was nestled on the eastern edge of the Eastern Continent, and Marscia’s Ruins resided within his grasp.

The reason I hesitated to enter the Second Lord’s domain lay in that fellow’s temperament—a byword for baseness and depravity.

‘Best to skirt around him as much as possible.’

Though I wouldn’t be overpowered in a direct confrontation, his tenacity rivaled that of a star cluster, making unnecessary conflict unwise.

Subtle infiltration, concealing my identity, completing my business, and slipping away seemed, by all accounts, the optimal strategy.

Concluding my musings, I lifted my gaze, only to meet Ludine’s eyes, frozen in mid-air, watching me.

With irises dyed crimson, she scrutinized my form, sending a spine-chilling look my way.

Her gaze was that of a famished predator, eyeing its prey.

I met her stare head-on and sighed.

“…We should hurry.”

…But what to do with this one.

As I had forewarned the Head Butler, I finished my preparations to depart as soon as the sun’s first rays broke.

The company was small.

Myself, Ludine, Adina, and Head Butler Chiron, serving as coachman and guide, totaled four souls.

Arkan had departed, claiming urgent business, promising to meet us in the Duchy, while Elfriede remained in Shaylok to continue her proselytizing.

The carriage Chiron provided was unremarkable.

Employing a Lord Council carriage would attract unwanted attention, so he’d deliberately chosen a low-key, unostentatious one.

I, too, had exchanged my official attire for a black robe.

Pulling the hood down low, obscuring my face, I was about to climb into the carriage when…

“This…isn’t this uncomfortable?”

Adina touched the robe’s hem with a displeased expression.

Due to her beastkin nature, concealing her tail and ears seemed to be causing some discomfort.

“Bear with it. It’d be problematic if your identity was exposed too, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s true, but…”

I turned my head towards Rudine.

The moment her gaze met mine, she startled, a flush rising on her cheeks as she lowered her head.

Perhaps it was because of what had happened yesterday; from earlier until now, she had been assiduously avoiding my eyes.

I didn’t particularly mind, but Adina, observing Rudine and me, asked, sounding rather curious,

“Did something happen?”

“…Nothing.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I cut the conversation short and boarded the carriage.

Outside the window, the entirety of the Sovereign’s faction stood aligned in formation.

Each and every one of them, with gazes fixed keenly forward, saluted the carriage.

Clunk-clunk.

The jolting, always unfamiliar even after all this time, made my rear lift from the seat.

The scenery whizzing past the window changed by the moment.

At first, it was Blackmore’s characteristic, bleak forest with its endless, skeletal branches, but as the desolate land ended and we passed the entrance, Shylock’s territory began to appear.

The city, which had been so pathetic not long ago, now seemed to have regained a considerable amount of vitality.

New buildings, erected with the Imperial Family’s support, were visible everywhere, and the number of people moving about the streets was far greater than before.

The figures of those presumed to be adventurers were also frequently seen.

As time passed and we neared the boundary of the Eastern Continent, dense greenery filled the view, and in the distance, the silhouette of a city with soaring spires began to emerge.

Lazern.

The appearance of the city, called the gateway to the Eastern Continent, came into sight.

But our destination was not the official road.

‘It would be difficult to evade the Second Sovereign’s surveillance via the standard route.’

On the western outskirts of the city, there was a clandestine path known among merchants as the ‘Shadow Road’.

It was a route mainly used by syndicates dealing in all sorts of illicit goods to enter the Second Sovereign’s territory.

A slow but safe route that skirted diagonally around the periphery of the Second Sovereign’s domain.

“It’s this way.”

Siron, who was driving the carriage, pointed to a narrow passage.

There, a trade caravan was packing their goods.

The carriage entered the narrow path.

The path, straying from the ordinary road, felt as though swallowed whole by the forest. Lush trees, so dense they seemed to conceal the carriage, and the ground, marked only by the faint traces of wagon wheels.

One could almost mistake it for a smuggler’s route, with hiding places scattered along the way, and detours prepared for any unforeseen circumstance.

Slowly, I turned my gaze to the side.

Rudine, her head bowed low, blushed as if recalling the events of the previous night.

A subtle tension filled the carriage.

Fearing a repeat of yesterday’s outburst, I watched her carefully, opening my mouth with caution.

“Rudine.”

“…?”

“Perhaps again?”

“…What?”

“No, just, if you feel hot again, or anything strange…”

Rudine, as if suddenly struck by the memory of yesterday, turned her head away sharply, her face even redder.

“Are you truly alright?”

“……Yes.”

“If your body feels strange again, tell me…”

“……”

It was then.

Screech!

With the harsh sound of the reins being pulled, the carriage came to an abrupt, jolting halt.

— Halt! Unless you wish to meet a wretched end, every last one of you, out of the carriage!

A cacophony of male voices erupted from outside the window.

Each voice was rough and boisterous, instantly betraying them as bandits.

Shadowpath had long been a route used secretly by merchant guilds.

But such clandestine routes always attract unwanted guests.

Seeing the bandits blocking our carriage, I clicked my tongue softly.

— Kkhaha! To dare traverse this path without guards? You must not value your lives!

Truly, lines familiar to a fault.

I intended to leave the matter to Ceylon to handle with dispatch, but Rudine, her face a burning crimson, rushed out in haste.

— Hmm? And what is this?

Curious, I cautiously opened the window and peered my head out.

*Sskhh—*

A single slice.

The moment crimson eyes flashed, the ringleader at the forefront was carved away, thin as pressed meat.

Cleanly severed, without so much as a scream to mark his passing.

The bandits behind him froze, caught in a sudden chaos.

Regardless, the flush on Ludine’s face hadn’t faded.

And then, a moment later, her eyes met mine as I peered out the window—

“!!!”

She whirled away again, seemingly mortified.

*Sskhh, sskhh, sskhh.*

One by one, in turn, she carved through the remaining villains.

Watching this spectacle, Adina scoffed.

“Hmph, how messy.”

“……”

Seemed Shiron wouldn’t need to intervene.