Chapter 89 : Chapter 89
Chapter 89
My ending, changed yet again.
With a heavy heart, I slowly read through that ending.
…….
The seal of the Minotaur, broken once every 1,000 years.
To re-seal that seal, which would soon be broken, I came to the Minotaur's dungeon with four companions.
The composition of the five who challenged the dungeon was as follows.
Royalty: Me
One who trusts deeply in their heart (Knight): Jereuth
One who trusts deeply in their heart (Knight): Hagen
One who trusts deeply in their heart (Mage): Seria
One who trusts deeply in their heart (Giant): Grondar
Jereuth said that this composition was not optimized for conquering the dungeon. It was because there were no specialists like an ‘archer’ who specialized in bows or a ‘rogue’ who could dismantle traps.
However, it was difficult to find a better composition than this one. It might have been possible if we could hire mercenaries or adventurers from other kingdoms or empires with money, but the dungeon's restriction, ‘those who trust each other deep in their hearts’, was the problem.
But there was a far more serious problem than the composition of the members. It was the fact that a pathetic ‘problem child’ was included among these party members.
And that was me. Despite training for the past six years, I was weak.
—Ting! Chaeng!
A dark dungeon where I couldn't even see an inch ahead. A spark flew before my eyes. A spark created by the clash of iron and iron.
Jereuth had deflected an unknown ‘weapon’ swung at me by some monster with his sword.
“Your Highness! You must concentrate! We're not done yet!”
“Ah…… yes!”
Jereuth spoke politely, but his voice was tinged with urgency, trouble, and an undeniable bewilderment. The dungeon was too dark to see Jereuth's expression, but for some reason, I could hear him muttering.
“……I'm not what I used to be. To be out of breath from just this level of monster.”
Not what I used to be.
That meant Jereuth himself was getting old and his strength was failing.
‘When Jereuth challenged this dungeon in the past, it was when he was young. It was when he was much stronger than now. And his companions were all heroes who could rival Jereuth. So it must have been easy to conquer back then.’
Such thoughts vaguely crossed my mind. However, that didn't mean I wasn't concentrating on the battle.
Shwaaak—!
I was swinging my sword in a trance. But my skills were ridiculously insufficient to pull my own weight.
Honestly, I couldn't even take care of my own body. Just as Jereuth had done a moment ago, I had to receive countless help from my other companions.
“……Hurry! Hurry up and finish it! This thing is heavy!!”
From behind, the Giant, Grondar, shouted. He had been holding up the massive iron gate since the moment we entered the dungeon. His figure was not clearly visible because the passage was dark, but his whole body must have been on the verge of its muscles bursting.
‘I trained quite hard for the past six years…… was my combat experience too lacking? Would it have been okay if I had more time?’
If I had more time and could have trained more, I might have been able to play a decent role in this dungeon.
But I had no more time to train.
Because the ‘Minotaur’ would be resurrected next month.
‘Should I have trained harder during the time I was given? But would it have gotten any better if I had trained harder……?’
As I was regretting the past.
“Get down!!!!”
Seria's sharp, edgy voice came from behind. Since entering the dungeon, she had stopped using honorifics even with me and was spamming magic like a true ‘witch’.
‘Get down? Why?’
As I was blankly thinking, Hagen roughly pushed the back of my head and shouted.
“Your Highness! Get down!”
“Ugh!”
The moment I was pushed to the floor by Hagen's strength.
Fwoooooosh—!
Flames passed over my head. It seemed to be Seria's magic. A moment ago it was Jereuth, and this time Hagen had saved my life.
Fwoooooooosh—!
Seria's flames overwhelmed the dungeon passage for over 30 seconds. And a moment later.
“Huuht……”
With Seria's faint moan, the flames ‘snapped’ out.
Fires remained in various parts of the dungeon where the flames had swept past, and in that light, Seria's face was faintly visible.
‘Seria's face is incredibly pale. Did she use up all her mana?’
Perhaps the spell Seria had just used was her last.
Still, after Seria's magic swept through the passage, the sounds of monsters were no longer heard.
“……Did we get them all?”
—the moment those words, which should not have come out of my mouth, were spoken.
“Your Highness! You must get up and fight again!!”
—Kuaaaaaaaak!
—Kieeeeeeeek!
—Kiruuuuuk!
—Chweeeek!
The sounds of all sorts of monsters were heard. Jereuth was already at the front, slaying monsters by himself. The blood of the monsters he cut down splattered on my face.
I tried to get up and fight too.
But at that moment.
—Kiyaaaaaaaak!!
A sharp sound was heard from above. It was a sound that felt like it would tear my eardrums.
“Keuk……!”
Forgetting that monsters were pouring down on me, I covered my ears with both hands. I couldn't even hold my sword.
But even with my ears covered, that terrible sound continued to pierce my eardrums. It felt as if the sound was coming from inside my head.
‘Where on earth is this sound coming from……?!’
The moment I had that question.
“……It's a ‘Gargoyle’! Why is there a Gargoyle in this narrow cave, it wasn't here before……?! Damn it. Hagen, protect His Highness—!”
Jereuth's urgent voice was heard from the darkness. However, I couldn't hear the rest of his words.
Because something had pierced my neck.
Puk—!
“……?”
I didn't even know what had hit me. The last thing my eyes saw were the two eyes of a certain monster that shone particularly brightly in the darkness.
A giant bat-like monster with a head similar to a goblin.
That thing, despite having wings, had rushed at me by climbing the walls.
Grin—.
That thing was definitely smiling.
And so I died.
……This was the newly written ending this time.
Honestly, I had expected my ending wouldn't be good. I had anticipated to some extent that it would be an ending where I die.
But no matter how I look at it, I can't get used to this kind of ending.
Then again, who could get used to it? Having their own death written in a diary where the future is foretold.
“……This sucks.”
Still, I couldn't just be annoyed, so I forced myself to continue thinking calmly.
‘So, I went to the Minotaur's dungeon with the Giants, but in the end, I failed to conquer the dungeon?’
Until now, I had thought that if I just recruited the Giants, I would be able to conquer the Minotaur's dungeon. Because Jereuth had boasted about it.
Jereuth had clearly said that in the past, he couldn't seal the Minotaur for ‘some reason’, but if given another chance, he could definitely succeed.
He had also said that the only thing needed for that was a Giant to lift the massive iron gate inside the Minotaur's dungeon.
I had only believed his words and had only been worrying about how to bring the Giants to my side.
But the <Future Diary> is telling me that my life doesn't work out that easily.
‘……First, let's think calmly. Anyway, it seems I succeeded in bringing the Giants to my side. The method of approaching the Giants directly without things like gifts must have been right.’
However, the problem is that I failed to conquer the Minotaur's dungeon even after recruiting the Giants.
‘The fortunate thing is…… the <Future Diary> roughly stated when the Minotaur would be resurrected, and the reason why I failed to conquer the dungeon was clearly stated.’
My future self had trained for '6 years', and it said the Minotaur would be resurrected 'next month'. I don't know how my future self found out that fact, but the important thing is that the Minotaur will be resurrected in about 6 years from now.
Hoo—.
Sighing, I slowly examined the ending of the <Future Diary> again.
There were three main reasons I could think of for the failure to conquer the Minotaur's dungeon.
First, the party composition was not right. For conquering a dungeon, an ‘archer’ and a ‘rogue’ were needed, but they were missing from my future self's party.
The reason they weren't included, even though I knew it was a problem, was said to be because of the Minotaur dungeon's entry condition, ‘those who trust each other deep in their hearts’.
Second, Jereuth had grown old. As if even a hero couldn't overcome the passage of time, the <Future Diary> clearly stated that Jereuth had said, 「“I'm not what I used to be.”」, 6 years later.
‘Well…… Jereuth is already an old man now, so.’
However, the two problems above were only secondary.
The real problem was something else.
‘It's the fact that I'm weak.’
According to the <Future Diary>, I entered the dungeon and just kept receiving help from Jereuth and Hagen. It was so severe that my future self described himself with the extreme expression ‘pathetic problem child’.
‘I have to seal the Minotaur before it's resurrected. Within 6 years. ……Can I become strong enough in that time? Strong enough to challenge that outrageous dungeon where a mythical monster is sealed?’
My future self must have trained diligently, no, to the best of his ability, before entering the Minotaur's dungeon. Nevertheless, in the dungeon, he was a ‘problem child’.
Can I become stronger than my future self? I don't know.
Anyway, there's only one thing I have to do.
‘I will train like hell for the next 6 years. I don't know if I can become strong enough to shed my problem child status in the Minotaur's dungeon with that, but I have to become strong enough not to be a nuisance.’
Until now, I had relied on strategy to overcome the crises given to me.
But this time, it seems I have no choice but to rely on my body.
Honestly, using my body is not my style. I've done manual labor while doing various part-time jobs, but honestly, physical labor—activity is not my cup of tea.
Still, I decided to think positively.
‘To become a king, I need to become physically strong myself. The knights and soldiers are following me well now, but if I become strong enough to succeed in conquering the Minotaur's dungeon, their loyalty will become even stronger.’
No matter how good the loyalty of the knights and soldiers is, it's never enough. Since the army is the core of this kingdom, I need their absolute support.
For that reason, it would be good for me to become strong myself.
As I was thinking about various things, something came to my mind.
‘Wait. Jereuth said the King also entered the Minotaur's dungeon with him when he was young.’
That means.
‘……Was the King as skilled as Jereuth when he was young?’