There were three main types of places known as dungeons.
The first was a simple cave.
The second was a nest built by monsters or magic beasts.
And the third was ruins.
Simple caves and monster nests generally held nothing of value, unless the creature living there happened to have a habit of hoarding shiny objects. Ruins, on the other hand, offered the promise of ancient weapons and tools, and occasionally even cold, hard cash.
When an adventurer spoke of heading into a dungeon, they almost always meant ruins.
The site discovered in the North Forest had initially appeared to be a simple cave, but explorers had stumbled upon a set of ruins deep within. Since it was a previously undiscovered site, about twenty adventurer teams from the Royal Capital had already attempted to raid it. Immediately upon entering, however, they had been met with a barrage of traps. While there hadn't been any fatalities yet, the list of injuries was growing, and no one had been able to make any significant progress.
As I listened to these stories while trekking through the North Forest Dungeon, we eventually came upon a wide, open clearing. About thirty tents had been pitched there, and the entire area was bustling with activity.
"Are those all adventurers?" I asked.
"Half of them," Cokes replied. "The other half are merchants. They'll sell you just about anything, though the prices are steep."
"Do people actually pay those prices?"
"If they didn't, the merchants would have packed up and gone home long ago."
That made sense.
"Well then, that took longer than I expected."
We had left the Royal Capital after noon, so by the time we reached the dungeon's interior, the sun was already setting outside.
"The sun's position doesn't really matter once you're underground, but we have to keep our strength up. We'll camp here for the night."
With that, Cokes stepped into one of the tents. The other members of the party seemed to be heading elsewhere, so I followed close behind him.
"Welcome to the Adventurer Guild," a receptionist greeted us from behind a sturdy desk inside the tent.
"Is this a branch office?" I asked.
"That's right," Cokes said. "Are you registering our descent? We already did that back in the capital."
"I'm here for intel. I'm Cokes from Miagard's Axe. Have any new reports come in?"
"Two days ago, Bright Green brought back a magic tool from the North Side," the receptionist replied. "That area is currently the most popular destination."
"Bright Green... Lieber's group, huh? They certainly struck it lucky. What about the South Side?"
"There has been no change for ten days. It seems no one can break through that certain spot."
"Got it. We'll be heading South tomorrow. Keep an ear out for us."
"Understood. However... are you heading South because Master Bron is with you?"
The receptionist turned her gaze toward me.
"Yeah."
"And what about the Academy?" she asked.
"I've already sent word. Is there anything else?"
"No, nothing. I wish you a safe expedition. Should any trouble arise, please do your best to keep the Adventurer Guild out of it."
"Hahaha!"
Cokes laughed it off, but I found myself wondering if that was really a proper way for a guild official to speak.
After leaving the Guild Branch Office, Cokes led me to a large tent a short distance away.
"We've been waiting for you," a voice called out.
The rest of the Miagard's Axe members were gathered there. I had assumed we were staying at some sort of inn, but I was wrong. It turned out this was a private lodging tent managed by the party.
"Good spots are hard to come by, so we take turns staying here to hold the ground," Cokes explained.
"I see. But if your members are already stationed here, was there really a need to check in with the branch office for information?"
"If the guys staying here were actually paying attention to the rumors, then no, there wouldn't be a need."
Apparently, they weren't paying attention.
"Then what exactly have they been doing here?"
"Helping out other teams and picking up side work."
"I see."
"Anyway, some of you haven't met him yet, so let's do introductions. Listen up! This little guy here is Scholar Bron. Treat him well."
"Wait, what? What's with that 'Scholar' title?" I asked, caught off guard.
"You didn't know? Among the community, you guys are famous: Chef Gol, Womanizer Sil, and Scholar Bron."
"......Eh?"
The shock was so great that I couldn't even process the greetings from the new members.
The next morning, I did a final headcount. Ten members of Miagard's Axe, including Cokes, were on site. However, four of them were staying behind to provide support from the tent. That meant our exploration party consisted of me and six members of the team.
"Cokes, you mentioned the South Side," I said as we set out. "Is there something specific there?"
"Yeah. There's an Unopening Door with a bit of a riddle on it. Plenty of people have tried their hand at it, but no one's been able to get through."
"A riddle? If that's the case, I'm not sure if I'll be much help."
He had hinted yesterday that I was the reason they were going South, but I had my doubts.
"You're an Academy Instructor, aren't you?"
"......Instructors come in all shapes and sizes."
It was a bit overwhelming to have people place so much weight on that title. I figured I should at least see it before making any judgments.
As it turned out, it wasn't a riddle at all. It was just an explanation regarding the operation of the door. In fact, it was written quite thoroughly, even including emergency instructions on how to force the door open if the standard procedure failed.
"Incredible!"
"Well done!"
"We're the first ones into the South Side!"
The party erupted in cheers, but I just stood there, blinking.
"Is something wrong?" Cokes asked.
"Wait... you mean you actually couldn't read this?"
"What do you mean 'couldn't read it'? Of course we couldn't. It's just a bunch of circles, triangles, and squares, isn't it? It makes no sense."
"No, no, it's just standard High Elf Language."
"High Elf Language is anything but 'standard.' 'Standard' is the Common Tongue."
In the village, Ria and the others used it all the time. But now that I thought about it, whenever other races were around, Ria and her kin always switched to the Common Tongue. Was it because their language wasn't normal?
I see. It wasn't normal.
While I was still reeling from the realization that my upbringing was anything but ordinary, we didn't actually proceed into the unexplored territory. One of the members of Miagard's Axe held up a hand to stop us.
"There's a trap. Wait a second while I disarm it."
...Right. I needed to get my head back in the game.