The Ultimate Glitch ～One Man Conquers a Dungeon That Humanity Couldn’t Conquer for Hundreds of Years, in Only Two Hours～ - Chapter 7

The Lost Forest

Chapter 7

Some time went by.

Before Reid had conquered the dungeon of the Lost Forest, there was a serious problem at the royal castle – within its center, the leader of Black Sword.

“You know why you were called in for, right?” “Yeah,” replied Gustave, “I made a quick guess.”

The one who was waiting for Gustave was the commander of the royal army, Orus. Due to their strong build, they drew attention. Everyone held their breath, ready for a fight to break.

But instead, they shook hands happily. “It’s been a while, Gustave!”

“It has! You look well!”

Before Gustave became the leader of Black Sword, he was in the military with Orus. Even as time flew by, their friendship hadn’t faltered.

“I guess you’ve heard but the Prime Minister Demitrius wishes to talk to you. If you have nothing to hide, everything should be fine.”

“I don’t. I’ll tell him everything as I saw it.”

The other members of Black Sword had come as well but they were waiting in a separate room.

As Gustave and Orus headed toward Demitrius’ office, the air around them shifted from cheerful to heavy and awkward.

“Gustave,” Orus started, “you really aren’t the one who conquered the dungeon?” “No, but I wish I was.”

Orus thought his old friend was lying. Demitrius would think so, too.

He was nervous as he knocked on the Prime Minister’s door. “It’s Orus. Gustave from Black Sword is with me.”

“Please, enter.”

Demitrius wasn’t alone. Around him stood several people from the Guild. “Thanks for coming. Please have a seat.”

Gustave sat on the leather-coated sofa, with Orus standing behind him. He was

soon joined by Demitrius, who sat on the sofa in front of him.

“Gustave, there’s something I need to ask you,” he started, “of course, it’s about the dungeon.”

“Of course.”

“When the dungeon changed, your party was on the bottom levels, right?” “Yes, we were.”

“Are you sure no one else was down there?”

“Well, I can’t say that for sure but my party and I haven’t seen anyone else. ” Demitrius hummed.

He thought about the whole situation. It was possible that Gustave had been the one to conquer the dungeon, but he didn’t understand why he’d hide it.

The country wished to buy the treasure, but it didn’t mean the Conqueror had to sell it to them.

Besides, Conquerors were heroes. Gustave would be praised by the whole world.

So Demitrius didn’t understand why he’d keep it a secret.

Maybe he wants to hide the treasure because it holds great powers?, Demitrius thought, maybe he wants to use that power against us…

Demitrius was now very concerned about the Black Sword’s leader.

****

“What? We have the right to be angry – you guys are accusing me of something I didn’t do!,” said the vice-leader of Black Sword, Carl, who was really unsatisfied with the way he was being treated.

“Please calm down, Carl. Your anger won’t change the situation,” replied Daya, a veteran of the party, trying to soothe him. The rookies, Marco and Daitos watched them from where they sat, silent.

“They’re saying we stole the damn treasure,” continued Carl, “doesn’t that annoy you? Who’d keep such a thing a secret?!”

“Again, Carl, your anger won’t change that.”

“I f*cking hate this,” Carl answered while he paced, his cheeks red with anger. In contrast, Daya was seating calmly with her legs crossed. The two rookies couldn’t help but exchange a look, noting the contrast.

“Apparently, the reward for the treasure has been changed to 80 million Riggles,” said Daya, flatly.

“80 million?!,” Carl shouted. Marco and Daitos watched the two with wide eyes. “I heard a military guy talk about it earlier. It’s the Castle’s new hot topic.”

“If I had that kind of money, I’d quit being an adventurer and live a nice and chill life,” said Carl, “that damn Dungeon Conqueror better come and pick up his money!”

“This sudden raise also shows how desperate the King is. Hopefully, with such a reward, this whole situation should be over soon.”

****

After his meeting with Demitrius, Gustave had been asked to stay for a few more days. He knew he couldn’t refuse.

Gustave and Orus walked around the castle with grave expressions.

“What do you think, Gustave,” Orus started, “who could this mystery Dungeon Conqueror be?”

“A dog owner, who might be around 170cm (5,6ft).” “And how the hell do you know that?”

“There were two sets of footprints on the ground of the bottom level – one of a

man, and another of a dog. From the distance between the man’s footprints, I could determine an estimated height. The real issue here is that they don’t lead anywhere – the marks just stop.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, it’s as if they disappeared into thin air, leaving no traces behind

them.”

“And the plot thickens.”

Gustave left Orus’ side to join his fellow party members to discuss their meeting.

They shared everything, including the fact that they were in a really bad position. They didn’t like what was happening, but they had no choice but to swallow their complaints.

As it turned out, the other members of Black Sword had been asked to stay at the Castle, too. They all had guards in front of their rooms. There was no other way to put it – they were being held. Demitrius wasn’t going to let them out until he got the truth.

But the next day he got some crazy news, as the Chief Executive who was in charge of managing the dungeons rushed into his office.

“What happened? You look flustered.”

“The dungeon-” the man paused and looked at Demitrius. He was awfully pale. “The Lost Forest’s dungeon has been conquered.”

“What?!”

If the members of Black Sword are still in my castle, he thought, it means that someone else conquered it…

His face was as pale as the man before him. He slouched in his chair.