Dark Fantasy Guide for the Summoner - Chapter 55

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 55.
Abandoned Cemetery V
Initial Soul Summoning is the first gate required to summon Elite or higher-ranked monsters.
Literally, it means temporarily calling forth the soul of something in life, and with each increase in monster rank, the difficulty rises exponentially.
‘For Named Monsters, it was three percent or less?’
Excluding event mobs like the Flame Mage, that’s about the rate.
Of course, there’s a correction based on Talent stat, but… truthfully, from the Landfill onward, Flame Magic becomes difficult to rely on. The cold energy here is far stronger than in the Outer Region.
‘Besides, the matchup wasn’t that favorable to begin with.’
Ghouls and zombie-type monsters burn well enough, but these skulls are different.
Since they’re basically nothing but bone, they have high resistance to fire-attribute attacks.
Naturally, Kria’s role in our party could only shift toward combat support.
‘But if Ailone is around, things change.’
With that, the rear damage output our party was lacking would be filled to a decent degree.
“Phew… There. Done.”
Having completed the Initial Soul Summoning and secured the Skull, Kria looked at me with a bright face.
“I can summon them whenever now.”
“Good. Keep the Skull safe.”
“Um… but this is really big.”
“…I’ll buy you an expanded bag later. For now, just carry it around. Besides, you’ll need to summon Ailone frequently anyway.”
“Got it.”
The Skull was bulky and not pleasant to look at, but there was no helping it.
It was the medium through which saved Undead were called forth.
“Be careful not to break it.”
“Of course…!”
Kria thumped her chest confidently, but… hmm.
Why did I have so little faith in her?
* * *
After a brief regrouping, we pushed forward again.
We encountered three more groups of Undead afterward, but fortunately none had Named Monsters mixed in.
[Aged Steel Longsword acquired.]
[Rusted Ruby Necklace acquired.]
[Unknown Fang acquired.]
Compared to the Outer Region, items dropped at a decent rate here. Experience went up, and Seeds flowed much more generously.
The problem was rest.
I didn’t pause for more than five minutes after each fight before pushing forward.
“Hey, wait… couldn’t we rest just a little longer?”
“No.”
“Why?”
I gave the explanation—I’d lost count of how many times now.
“If you stay in one spot too long, the Grave Keeper comes.”
The Grave Keeper, a high-tier Undead, is a grim reaper-like entity that appears in the Landfill if you break certain rules.
Absurdly strong and stubborn; even if you somehow kill it through sheer suffering, it gives no reward—not even experience. A real bastard.
Encountering it is nothing but a waste of time and stamina, so the only sensible move is to avoid it at all costs.
“Then when can we rest?”
“When we find a safe location.”
“Does such a place even exist?”
“Right? About time one showed up, honestly…”
As I looked around, the destination came into view.
“There.”
A mound.
Countless mounds seen every time I came to this place.
The difference was that this one had an incense burner in front of the grave, and smoke was rising from it.
‘Just like in the game.’
Upon reaching the mound, Kazen looked around and tilted his head.
“Who lit it, do you suppose?”
“Who knows.”
That much I couldn’t say—it didn’t appear in the game either. I stood before the mound and spoke.
“From here on, watch my movements carefully and memorize them. You’ll need to do the same. And don’t speak while I’m moving.”
“Yes, understood.”
I picked up an incense stick that wasn’t lit, kindled it, then waved it gently to coax the smoke to rise.
Then he placed it in the incense holder and bowed his head in silent prayer.
“…….”
Lighting incense is the Eastern equivalent of a modern funeral rite. These creatures wouldn’t be familiar with it, but fortunately it’s not a difficult gesture—my companions followed suit without trouble.
The moment Kria finished her turn, it happened.
“Ah…….”
A pale form rose from beneath the burial mound.
[…….]
Similar to when Ailone emerged from the Skull—a spirit had manifested.
[…….]
But unlike Ailone, who had murmured something, this spirit simply observed us in silence.
I offered a slight bow to the departed, then glanced around my party. One by one, they lowered their heads or bent at the waist, offering their respects.
[An unnamed spirit observes you.]
[You have shown the departed proper reverence.]
[For as long as the incense burns, none shall disturb your mourning.]
“Phew…….”
Only after the message appeared did I exhale and settle into a comfortable spot.
“We’re safe for now. Let’s rest while we can.”
“Ah, yes.”
Kazen, who had quietly taken a seat nearby, spoke up.
“So we’re safe only until that incense burns out?”
“That’s right.”
“Mm…… judging by its length, I’d say roughly thirty minutes.”
That sounded about right.
Kazen asked with interest.
“Did you learn this from a book as well?”
“……well, more or less.”
When hunting, you rest in intervals like this, and come morning the spawn rate of undead plummets—so you keep watch and catch sleep between patrols.
Of course, I couldn’t waste this time either. I unfolded the map and spoke.
“I gave a rough explanation before we set out, but let’s go over the objective of this expedition once more.”
“Can’t we actually rest while resting…….”
“Listen while you rest.”
I continued, ignoring Seigerna’s complaint.
“First, our destination is the Royal Tomb, the final sector of the Abandoned Cemetery. The goal is to reach here before our supplies run dry, then clear the Royal Tomb.”
“The Royal Tomb…… you mean an actual king is buried there?”
“Not a real king. There was a figure called the king among Delvers in ancient times—a title of respect, you understand.”
“Even so, a king? Doesn’t that seem rather irreverent?”
True to her noble bearing, Seigerna expressed her discomfort, but there was a reason for this too.
“It doesn’t matter. The king was no human—he was a fairy.”
“A fairy……. Ah, I see.”
In the Popop worldsetting, fairies had no concept of kingship.
Kazen spoke.
“I’ve heard some accounts of the Fairy King Lukbara. Apparently it started as a joke among his companions—Lukbara inherited deep ancient fairy blood and conducted himself in an archaic manner, so his comrades jokingly called him ‘Your Majesty’…….”
Kazen, as expected. He knew the sorts of lore that only Popop setting enthusiasts would care about, speaking of it as though it were common knowledge.
“Right. And so he became known as ‘Fairy King Lukbara.’ Because of that, the Royal Tomb isn’t entirely the tomb of a single king—it’s a burial site where Lukbara and his followers rest together. Our objective is to find the Secret Chamber said to exist somewhere in that tomb.”
“The Secret Chamber?”
“A place where valuable artifacts or materials the Fairy King discovered in life are said to be stored. There’s rumor it even contains a First.”
“……!”
At those words, the eyes of both Kazen and Kria brightened.
For the record, this statement was half truth and half falsehood. The probability of a First existing in the Secret Chamber was random.
“But if such a place exists, wouldn’t other Delvers have looted it long ago?”
“It’s called the Secret Chamber precisely because it can’t be found easily. From what I’ve heard, there are certain conditions that must be satisfied to enter.”
“Do you know what those conditions are?”
“Roughly. Though I’m not certain of the details.”
The key lies with the Gatekeepers.
The dungeon’s mid-bosses, in other words.
To open the entrance to the Royal Tomb, you must defeat five high-ranking undead that guard each region—and what matters is the order in which you defeat them.
The internal structure of the Royal Tomb is determined by that sequence.
‘In the game, that’s how it worked—but reality might be different.’
The dungeon isn’t alive, and its internal structure won’t shift in real time.
As I gathered my thoughts and settled back, I noticed the incense was nearly consumed.
“……It’ll be out soon. Time to move.”
* * *
The first Gatekeeper I’d be hunting was a creature called the Corpse Snail.
Among five Gatekeepers, it ranked third in difficulty. Not especially hard, but far from a pushover either.
‘At our party’s current level, we should be able to handle it.’
The only issue was distance.
We’d beaten down several packs of undead along the way, and with the hour growing ambiguous, we’d camped for a night.
It wasn’t until the following evening that we finally reached our destination.
But then.
“Kaindel. Is this the right place?”
“It is.”
“However…….”
Kazen glanced around and spoke.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything here……?”
He was right. In the Corpse Snail’s habitat, there was no shadow of the creature to be found.
Had my memory failed me? Had I led us to the wrong place?
‘That can’t be it.’
If I didn’t have the map, I might’ve entertained such doubts. But I did. This location was certain.
Besides, I could see traces of the viscous secretion the snail would’ve left behind in life.
So then…….
“Kaindel.”
A barely audible voice called to me. It was Laurent.
“What?”
“Come here a moment.”
Laurent wasn’t the type to call someone over for trifles, so I went to where he stood.
“…….”
Shattered gravestones, trees severed at the trunk. The earth was gouged, scratched, even scorched by flame.
Kazen let out a whistle, muttering to himself.
“Someone’s fought here…….”
Now this one had grasped it clearly too.
That in the Abandoned Cemetery, there was another party besides ours.
“Come to think of it, Kaindel, when we first entered the Landfill, you said there might be marauders. Could it be…….”
“Hard to say.”
Jumping to conclusions was dangerous. I’d had a miserable time at the Landfill’s entrance, but I hadn’t found solid evidence yet—it was still suspicion.
‘Meeting another Delver in the forest isn’t exactly unusual either.’
In other words, I couldn’t be certain that the party which’d fought the Corpse Snail here were marauders.
But.
‘That’s……?’
The moment I saw the scraps of a robe lying on the ground, my eyes narrowed.
“What is it?”
I picked up the robe fragment and showed it to Kazen.
“See this robe scrap? It’s been burned.”
“Indeed, but……?”
So even a sharp mind shows this kind of reaction without experience.
Or perhaps there were still gardens blooming in this one’s head.
“The Corpse Snail isn’t a creature that breathes fire.”
“Ah, you mean to say…….”
“Someone attacked them while they were fighting.”
So this burned robe scrap wasn’t conjecture—it was evidence.
Not yet at the stage of certainty, but from here on, I’d operate under the premise that marauders were present in this place.
‘Herding monsters, stealing kills, and direct assault on top of it all.’
A sigh escaped me.
For mere marauders from the forest’s early reaches, their tactics were far too varied.
‘Could it really be them?’
The name of a single organization flashed through my mind.
‘Wild Hunt.’
Wild Hunt was the most notorious marauder faction in Popop.
Naturally, marauders don’t earn their names through charity work, so their reputation was a direct measure of infamy.
Among all the marauder groups, Wild Hunt was particularly dangerous because they’d formed a rather substantial organization.
‘Creatures whose very identity gets them dragged straight to the gallows.’
Such creatures forming organized groups, bearing credible organizational names, spreading sinister reputations—it was surreal.
In other words, these were the sort of beings so secretive and formidable that you wouldn’t find them even if you turned the Royal Capital inside out searching.
‘……But still, surely not.’
The odds of encountering Wild Hunt in the early reaches of the forest were slim.
For them, a Delver floundering through such a beginner zone hardly qualified as appetizing prey.
That should be the case, and yet……
Why did his spine feel so cold?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————