Rookie Hunter Hunting

The matter of the two rookie hunters was settled by saying they'd been dealt with and their remains abandoned deep in the dungeon.

When I submitted the skewered guild cards they'd had as proof, I was met with considerable gratitude.

By the way, regarding their "collections," I had Niku become Succubus Wanko and [Charm] them, making them spill everything.

I hadn't found them when we turned their ambush around, but naturally they also had skewers of the lowest G-Rank cards. About three skewers' worth.

… Also, what was the guy doing collecting body parts from corpses? Things like ears and fingers, protruding bits. I cremated and gave them a proper burial.

"… Judging from the older cards, it seems they traveled through the Holy Kingdom and Daido before coming to the Raverio Empire. The total numbers are quite substantial. However, at a glance, there don't appear to be any children of problematic nobility among them. That's a relief."

So that's what the guild was worried about…? Or perhaps, as long as there were no nobles among the victims, they could say everything was fine.

Since no aristocratic victims had been confirmed, they could essentially declare there were none.

In other words, if there had been nobles involved, it would have meant a lot of extra work for them.

Apparently I'd even be getting a reward… Well, if they're offering, I'll take it.

I'd have to split some with my collaborators, Maiodoru and Shikina. As adventurers.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Well, with that settled, it was time to decide the fate of the captured rookie hunters.

I'd told the guild I'd killed them and fed them to the dungeon, but they were obviously still alive.

"So, Kehma, how are you going to dispose of them? You're not letting them live, right?"

"Obviously. They targeted my body pillow. They'll atone with their lives."

"Then will you put them in that human ranch we made before?"

Come to think of it, we did have one of those. I think I left Rei in charge of managing it…? Are they even still alive? Now that we have the village, we don't really need it anymore, right?

"I'll have them become dungeon testers."

"Testers?"

"Basically, I'll use those two for dungeon boss combat training and trap experiments."

The only ones who had penetrated deep into the dungeon so far were the black wolf Rin and the Saintess. Outside of the first four floors meant for beginners and intermediate adventurers, this dungeon was severely lacking in experience against actual people.

The Haniwa Golem, the Iron Haniwa Golem, and the most recent boss, a Golem Dragon with traps built in.

We'd been testing them with Niku and Ichika as a stopgap, but they inevitably held back. Or rather, they'd die if they didn't hold back.

I was also testing with golems that I didn't need to hold back against… but for experience against humans, you really needed humans.

On top of that, things like the passage with broken glass hidden under an oil pool hadn't been tested even once to see how effective they really were.

Since they're C-Rank adventurers, let's make good use of them.

"Plus, I can train Niku and Neru's [Possession] Succubus technique too."

The dungeon's ultimate weapon, Succubus Wanko. I couldn't just test it recklessly, but against death row criminals I had no qualms.

Ideally, they'd keep challenging without their legs freezing up in fear, always with a fresh mindset. If memory manipulation through [Charm] made that possible, there was no reason not to use it.

Even in the worst case scenario where they attacked, Niku could easily deal with opponents of their level.

I'd already used it once to confiscate the evidence, and the effect was remarkable.

They'd also handed over their money and items, so I'd inspect everything before adding it to the dungeon's treasure.

I could also use them to practice how far I could push [Healing] and other recovery magic.

I'd squeeze every bit of experience I could out of this.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Gradually raising the difficulty, I had them face the Golem Dragon and Haniwas, test the traps, and while I was at it, practice group battles against golems and goblins.

Things got quite grotesque, but I got plenty of practice with recovery magic. I learned that even if an arm was torn off, as long as it wasn't lost, I could reattach and heal it. It consumed quite a bit of mana, but I could even regrow fingers.

The parts that hadn't been moved properly afterward would normally need rehabilitation, but amazingly, using [Charm] to imprint "it's healed properly" into their brains actually made them work.

This was getting dangerous. [Charm]'s versatility was approaching the level of [Create Golem].

Since I couldn't regrow an entire arm, the man's left arm became a Clay Golem prosthetic.

He himself was convinced through [Charm] that it was his real arm, and though it rattled a bit, he could actually use it. That was both impressive and terrifying.

Since it was Clay Golem, it was only this good, but if I made a prosthetic out of orichalcum, it could be better than the real thing. Not that I'd waste orichalcum on these guys.

Well, after all that… I'd been planning to do the half-kill, heal, and memory erasure cycle once for each guild card on those skewers, but it was looking like I'd hit the limits of recovery magic before reaching that count.

Now then, how much longer could they last… oh.

Ah. The woman just took the Golem Dragon's breath (fire trap) dead on.

Whoa, she's really burning. Was it because her clothes were soaked in oil? Even so, there's nothing left but bone. She's dead for sure… it would be terrifying if she were still alive after that.

I must have miscalibrated the power… well, she was already falling apart from having her memory erased too many times. Can't be helped.

"Uwaaaaaah! No, no, I don't want to diiiie! Blegh… wh, wha… my arm came o… hiiiii, a golem arm!? Where's my real aaaaarm!?"

Looks like this one had reached his limit too. I had the Golem Dragon finish him off.

A small pop of DP income came in. After having defeated them so many times, the Golem Dragon made quick work of it.

This one was cremated by breath too, so all that remained were bones… Well then.

"Even in death, there's still something I can use you for."

And so I collected their bones.

I'd been seeing a lot of grotesque stuff during the recovery magic practice, so my senses had probably gone numb. Yeah, that must be it.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Hyah! Take this!"

"Uoh!"

A few days later, at the Golen Village Adventurer Guild's training plaza.

There, two skeletons were serving as sparring partners for rookies.

Equipped with foam weapons and armor. Yes. These were Gesunoh and Kiwami's bones, turned into golems. I'd made iron bones to replace Gesunoh's missing left arm.

They were currently being treated as temporary guild staff, serving as combat training skeletons for rookies.

The back-and-forth with foam weapons was laughably soft by veteran standards, but for rookies, it was valuable combat training.

Our dungeon had a stable supply of goblins, so rookies looking to get combat experience gathered here. Thanks to that, these skeletons had become quite popular.

I don't know who named them, but apparently they're called "Puji" and "Rodaa." I don't know what the names mean or which is which. Maybe they're standard names like Pochi, Tama, or John Doe?

I spoke to the Receptionist-san, who was watching the training.

"How are those two doing?"

"Oh, Kehma-san. You've gone and found something strange again… Slave skeletons, was it?"

"Yes, I found them deep in the dungeon. It matches one of the punishments for criminals described in the Beddhism scriptures."

And so, skeletons enslaved to labor endlessly without rest or pay became one of the harshest punishments in Beddhism scripture. How frightening indeed.

"Their teamwork is good, too. They sometimes land surprisingly sharp blows, so there's a real sense of tension. In adventurer terms, I'd say D-Rank, occasionally C-Rank."

"I see, sounds like they can hold their own."

"Yes. They make for good training… However, those movements… they couldn't be those rookie hunters, could they? It's just, I get this feeling…"

As expected of Receptionist-san. Sharp as ever. That gave me a bit of a chill.

I watched for a while longer, and the skeletons continued trading blows with the rookies, getting hit and hitting back.

Well, whatever. Having people who hunted rookies now work for rookies' sake was probably fitting.

Work yourselves to the bone.