The Deciding Factor Was a Whim of the Gods

“Heh, h-heh... You people... h-heh... who the hell... h-heh... are you?! H-heh, h-heh... What... h-ha, h-heh... what did you do to me?!”

As for who we were... I was the one who wanted to ask that. In the first place, where had he even been hiding? I’d checked to make sure the room was empty before throwing the dice. If he’d been lurking there through some magical means, he was the only suspicious person here.

“Tort!”

While I stood there in a daze, Halfa and Shiroru rushed to my side.

“Who is that? What’s going on?” Halfa asked.

“I’m not really sure myself.”

『Mumu... This guy reeks of the dungeon! Is he the source of that scent?』

Shiroru glared at the old man and let out a series of muffled barks. I didn't quite understand what a "dungeon smell" was, but it seemed to be related to the "scent density" that had led us to this hidden spot. He was definitely shady.

I didn't want to get involved with him if I could help it, but it didn't look like I had much of a choice. The old man glared back at us, his face contorted by fits of laughter.

“H-heh, I see... h-ha, this presence... h-heh, I get it now. So you’re the ones...”

“Presence? What are you talking about?”

“H-heh, I have... h-heh, no obligation... h-ha, to tell you.”

The laughter interrupting every other word was incredibly distracting; the tempo of the conversation was terrible. I mean, I knew I was the one who caused it, so I wasn't really in a position to complain, but still.

Regardless, the old man seemed to recognize us. I, however, had absolutely no memory of him. I glanced at Halfa, but she looked just as bewildered; she clearly didn't know him either.

I wondered if it was just a case of mistaken identity, but I doubted he’d listen even if I tried to explain.

“H-heh, h-heh... This... h-heh... saves me the trouble... h-heh... h-heh. You all... h-heh... are going to... h-heh... die!”

Die?!

This old man was way more dangerous than I’d anticipated!

No, now wasn't the time to be overthinking things. Even while struggling against the laughter, the old man shifted into a combat stance. If his words were anything to go by, he genuinely intended to murder us.

I had no intention of letting that happen. I was a C-Rank Adventurer, after all. Besides, it was three against one. I wasn't going to go down easily.

However, just as I braced myself to fight, an intensely bad premonition flashed through my mind. There was no logical basis for it, but I felt instinctively that fighting him head-on was a mistake.

It was pure intuition, but my body moved before my brain could catch up. I flicked one of the dice I was holding toward him. Thinking about it a second later, it wasn't a bad move. Most of the effects from those dice were duds, but they could be quite effective if forced onto an enemy.

Perhaps he underestimated the power of the item, or maybe he thought he was fine as long as it didn't touch him. The old man retreated just enough to dodge the die by a hair’s breadth.

Too bad for him. Many of the dice's effects targeted the entire surrounding area.

“What?!”

He must have rolled a six. In an instant, the old man transformed into a frog. His eye level dropped so suddenly that he looked completely dazed.

“H-ha... What... h-heh... what just happened?!”

“Oh, he turned into a frog.”

“A frog... h-heh... you say?!”

『A frog, huh? Can I eat it?』

“Don't you dare eat him!”

That was actually a pretty good effect. Still, I couldn't afford to be careless. He could still speak even in that form, which meant he could likely still use magic.

If that was the case, I needed to keep the pressure on. My best chance was to strike while he was still struggling to process the situation.

“Both of you, get back! Hya!”

I threw the remaining two dice at him. One stopped almost immediately, landing on a three. High above near the ceiling of the crag, a treasure chest materialized and plummeted downward... straight toward the old man.

“Ah!”

“Gugeh?!”

The chest scored a clean hit. The old man let out a pathetic shriek—the kind you’d expect from a crushed frog. Well, considering his current form, that’s exactly what it was.

Wait... is this bad?

Dungeon treasure chests were incredibly heavy. They were so heavy that even an adventurer who specialized in strength could barely carry one. If he was pinned under that as a tiny frog... he’d be nothing more than a frog cracker.

D-Did I kill him?

I mean, he was trying to kill us, so this counted as self-defense, right?

My heart hammered in my chest, but my worries were short-lived. It turned out the old man was still alive despite being flattened by the chest.

“This... I can't believe... such a stupid thing... I can't afford to die here! I didn't plan on using this in a place like this... but I have no choice.”

As the old man muttered to himself, my sense of dread began to swell again.

This was bad. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the final die—which had been spinning non-stop—finally came to a halt. Even from a distance, I could see the red pips. It was a one. The effect: Whims of the Gods.

“Kukuku... Things didn't go as planned, but if I can take the Apostles of the Destiny God down with me—”

Apostle of the Destiny God. I’d heard that phrase somewhere before. Was this old man a member of that evil cult?

I didn't get a chance to interrogate him, though.

Before I could say a word, he vanished. The frog legs that had been peeking out from under the edge of the treasure chest were gone. He must have teleported away.

“What was that all about?” Halfa asked, looking utterly perplexed.

“I have no idea...”

By the way, the treasure chest that had fallen from the ceiling turned out to be completely empty. The description never actually said there’d be loot inside... but it was pretty cruel to get our hopes up like that.

For a moment, I’d actually started to think they might be useful, but I was wrong. The Whimsical Dice were definitely dud items. No doubt about it.