Chapter 36: Veyra In Action (part 1)

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Veyra In Action (part 1)

For several seconds, nobody said a word.

One of the adventurers finally whispered,

"...What are those?"

"I don’t know."

"Are they even monsters?"

Another adventurer swallowed.

"They have to be."

Darian’s eyes remained fixed on the throne.

He had encountered countless monsters throughout his career.

Goblins.

Wolves.

Ogres.

Magical beasts.

Even some rare humanoid monsters. But he had never seen anything like these two.

And the most disturbing part was that neither of them looked remotely concerned about the thirteen armed adventurers standing before them.

The enormous creature simply sat there.

Calm, composed, and almost bored.

The woman sitting on its lap, meanwhile, looked completely relaxed.

She even seemed amused. Darian slowly glanced toward Eric.

"Eric."

The mage didn’t answer.

"Eric."

The second call finally broke him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

Darian frowned.

"You’re the mage. Tell me what we’re looking at."

Eric stared at the two figures.

His lips moved slightly as he tried to recall everything he had ever learned.

Then he slowly shook his head.

"I don’t know."

Darian’s expression darkened.

"You don’t know?"

"I’ve never seen anything like them."

Eric’s grip around his staff tightened.

"I’ve read records about intelligent magical beasts, but..."

He stared at the enormous creature.

"That isn’t enough."

His forehead was already covered in sweat, Darian noticed it.

The mage swallowed.

"Something is wrong."

"What?"

Eric’s voice dropped.

"That woman."

Everyone looked at him.

"What about her?"

"She’s watching us."

Darian frowned.

"Yeah, I feel unease."

Eric shook his head.

"You don’t understand."

He pointed slightly toward Veyra.

"She’s not looking at us like a predator looking at prey."

Darian stared at Veyra again.

Eric continued.

"She’s observing us."

His voice trembled.

"She’s judging us."

The words made several adventurers uncomfortable.

Then Veyra finally moved.

She gently adjusted herself on Ragnar’s lap, making herself more comfortable before looking directly at the humans.

A playful smile appeared on her face.

"Humans."

Her voice echoed throughout the throne room.

Every adventurer froze. Someone’s eyes widened.

"...She talked."

Another adventurer stared at her in disbelief.

"She actually talked."

Darian’s expression changed completely. He had heard monsters make noises.

He had heard goblins shout simple words.

But this was different, she had spoken clearly.

Naturally.

There was intelligence behind her voice, and confidence.

Veyra looked over the adventurers one by one before her gaze finally settled on Darian.

"Before you can fight my Lord..."

She smiled.

"You will have to defeat me first."

Silence.

One adventurer slowly looked toward Darian.

"Leader..."

"I heard her."

Darian’s voice was unusually quiet. His eyes remained locked onto Veyra.

"She’s intelligent."

Eric suddenly took a step backward. Sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"No."

Darian glanced at him.

"Eric?"

"No, no, no..."

The mage’s breathing became heavier.

"There’s no way."

Darian frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

Eric looked terrified.

"I remember reading about this."

"About talking monsters?"

"Yes."

He swallowed hard.

"There are records of them."

Darian’s expression became serious.

"Then tell us."

Eric took a deep breath.

"Most ordinary monsters are governed by instinct. Even powerful magical beasts can possess considerable intelligence, but true speech is different."

His eyes remained fixed on Veyra.

"Monsters that can speak fluently, understand human language, and display intelligence comparable to humans are extremely rare."

One of the adventurers asked,

"How rare?"

Eric hesitated.

His fingers tightened around his staff until his knuckles turned white.

"Rare enough that most adventurers will never encounter one in their entire lives."

The words immediately made everyone more uneasy.

Darian’s eyes narrowed.

"Then why have you encountered records about them?"

"I studied them."

"You studied them?"

Eric nodded quickly.

"When I joined the Adventurer’s Guild, I spent several years studying monster classifications. Not because I was particularly interested in monsters, but because a mage needs to understand what he’s fighting. There are creatures that can resist magic, creatures that can imitate spells, creatures that can communicate with humans, and creatures that can even command other monsters."

He took a shaky breath.

"But the records were very clear about one thing."

Darian waited.

Eric looked directly at Veyra.

"Intelligent monsters capable of speaking aren’t normally found in low-tier dungeons."

One of the adventurers frowned.

"How low are we talking?"

Eric swallowed.

"Tier Four and below."

The room became quiet.

"So what about Tier Five?" Darian asked.

Eric’s expression became even more grim.

"Tier Five."

He paused.

"And above."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"That’s where things like this start appearing."

Several adventurers exchanged uneasy glances.

One of them forced a laugh.

"Wait. You’re saying that just because she can talk, this dungeon is Tier Five?"

"I’m saying it’s possible."

Eric’s eyes remained fixed on Veyra.

"But that’s exactly why I’m afraid."

Darian stared at him.

"Explain."

Eric wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"There is no way this is a Tier Five dungeon."

The certainty in his voice surprised everyone.

Darian frowned.

"You just said Tier Five and above can have monsters like her."

"I know what I said."

"Then why are you saying it can’t be Tier Five?"

"Because we wouldn’t be standing here."

Eric’s voice suddenly rose.

"If this were really a Tier Five dungeon, we would have been dead the moment we entered!"

Nobody spoke.

Eric pointed toward the corridor behind them.

"Think about what we’ve fought. The rats, the bats, the wolves, the spiders, the traps, and those two wind creatures. They were dangerous, yes, but none of them were strong enough to explain a genuine Tier Five dungeon."

He looked around at the surviving adventurers.

"We’ve lost ten people, but thirteen of us are still alive."

His hand trembled slightly.

"If this were truly a Tier Five dungeon, we wouldn’t have made it to the boss room."

One of the adventurers slowly nodded.

"He’s right."

Another adventurer looked uneasy.

"We’ve been through several sections already."

"Exactly," Eric said. "And that’s what scares me."

Darian’s expression hardened. His eyes moved from Ragnar to Veyra.

"What are you two?"

She glanced at Ragnar.

"My Lord, they’ve never even heard of demons."