Rookie Hunting (1)

A certain man and woman adventurer pair arrived at Golen Village.

They were a two-person C-Rank team. The man was named Gesunoh, and the woman was Kiwami.

Gesunoh and Kiwami took pleasure in hunting those weaker than themselves.

Hunting, of course, meaning killing people and taking everything they had.

It was both their hobby and their livelihood — though the ratio was about 8:2.

Their targets were mostly people who had just become adventurers or those who had grown comfortable in the role. There was no easier prey than a rookie blinded by ignorance or carelessness.

And above all, young ones were the best. They didn't have much money, but there were various other ways to have fun with them.

In a word, these two were scum.

They had been staying in Pavera before this, but they'd played around a bit too much and were about to be tracked down, so they fled. They'd decided to limit themselves to two or three groups per location — to the pair, it was simply time to migrate to the next hunting ground, like migratory birds following the seasons.

"So, darling, what should we do next?"

"Hmm, well, honey… first it'd be nice if there were some young ones who'd become our 'companions.'"

Their method was to join parties of three or fewer beginners, teach them a few things to earn their trust, then kill them. Sometimes they'd take a few days, other times they couldn't hold back and would attack on the first day.

The reason for three or fewer was so they could ambush and take out or incapacitate one, hold another hostage, and have their fun with the third.

Depending on the situation, they might take out two at once, or poison all three into paralysis and do them one by one, but—

—Having their fun before the kill was this pair's style… The specific details will be omitted.

Which is why they had come to Golen Village in search of suitable adventurers.

After all, there was apparently a beginner-friendly dungeon here, plus the Iron Golems served as a mining deposit, drawing a steady flow of people.

Being a new village, there wasn't even a gatekeeper yet. It was perfect for criminals to hide in.

Lots of delicious prey, no suspicion when new faces came and went, and disposing of bodies inside the dungeon was easy.

The more they heard about Golen Village, the more appealing it seemed. It was a village practically made for Gesunoh and Kiwami, the two thought.

The first thing they did upon arriving at the village was head to the guild branch office.

Besides the veteran adventurers aiming for Iron Golems, there were plenty of delicious-looking rookies here and there.

However, their current objective was to scout the dungeon. They would look at the dungeon map and find places with few people around — places where they could have their fun.

The two split up to gather information. Gesunoh would gather info on the hunting grounds, while Kiwami would gather info on the prey.

Gesunoh went to the more inexperienced-looking of the two counters, simply because it was open. He showed his C-Rank guild card and spoke to the receptionist politely.

"Hey there, Receptionist-san. Do you have a dungeon map?"

"We only have a map for the first floor. Viewing costs five copper, purchasing costs ten copper."

"Just the first floor?"

He paid eleven copper. One was a tip.

Five copper as an information fee for viewing a map was cheap. In other words, even though the first floor probably wasn't that big, what was going on with the floors beyond?

"The second and third floors are mazes, and since the paths change frequently, maps cannot be made. We have a general idea of the stairway direction, but it's difficult to pinpoint."

"Huh…"

"If you want a map showing only the stairway positions and notable fixed trap locations, that's ten copper to view. Thirty copper to purchase."

This time he paid thirty copper to purchase the map.

… The map drawn on quality paper showed only a rough perimeter, a protruding room, and the stairway locations.

The protruding room was marked with a warning symbol.

"What's this room? It says Safety Zone… trap?"

"That's the [Greed Trap]. Um—"

This information apparently didn't cost anything, as she readily told him. Internally, Gesunoh grumbled that this should have been written on the map in the first place.

The [Greed Trap] was apparently a room that was itself entirely a trap.

There was a pedestal with a magic sword stuck in it. Pulling out the sword would lock you in. —However, you could leave by returning the magic sword to the pedestal. Only greedy people who couldn't let go of the magic sword would be trapped here.

… Hearing this, Gesunoh couldn't help but smile.

A room that locked — in other words, a room where they could do whatever they wanted inside.

"Ah, thanks. I'll head in right away then."

"Take care."

Having gotten sufficient information from the guild receptionist, Gesunoh ended the conversation and met up with Kiwami, who had been gathering information from other adventurers separately.

"How'd it go, honey? Find any interesting info?"

"Yes, darling. I heard that a blue-haired child was brought by a blonde elf to register as an adventurer. There was a dog beastkin slave too."

"Any good men among them?"

"They were all women, all cute enough to eat up. —Plus, they were all well-dressed, even the slave, so it's probably some rich girl, her escort, and her pet. How about you, darling?"

"Yeah, I heard about an interesting place. I was thinking we should go scout it out right away."

And so the two promptly entered the dungeon.

The goblins were no match for them. Their destination was the [Greed Trap].

Having memorized the map thoroughly, they quickly found it despite walls blocking their way.

Just as they'd heard, there was a sword stuck in a pedestal — and when they pulled it out, the entrance was tightly sealed with spikes.

"What do you think? Nice place, isn't it, honey?"

"What a wonderful room! But it looks like sound might leak through that door. Screams might get out."

"Girls' screams do carry pretty far… yeah, we'll crush their throats first!"

"If we bring them here, we can even watch the dungeon consume them after we kill them."

The two snickered.

"Since we're here, how about a little exercise?"

"Fufu, I'd love to, darling… is what I'd like to say, but let's save it for our prey, shall we?"

"Too bad, but if you say so… I can't wait. I'm getting excited. Ah, I'd love to treat that rich young lady to some slave-piss ale. She should be able to drink it if it's from her cute pet, right?"

"Ufufu, I'm sure she'll weep tears of joy."

With just a kiss, the two began planning their hunt.

For the time being, a plan to hunt three women who would warm their pockets — and moreover, prime catches they could thoroughly enjoy.

The child and slave were obviously beginners, no problem there. The bottleneck was the blonde elf.

The blue-haired girl and elf were probably in an aristocrat-and-escort relationship. If so, that elf likely had considerable skill.

They'd need to join as companions first and investigate in detail.

"Now then — shall we work out the details? For our fun future together."

"For our luxurious future together."

And so Gesunoh and Kiwami discussed their setup for infiltrating as companions.

… Making sure no one could hear them, they sealed the entrance and talked in the back of the room.