Chapter 4: Making friends

"Just looking at them makes chills run down my spine. It's your first time seeing one so I won't blame you. For now, you should eat and have energy. I have to go..."

Glenn said and get bread in his bag. He tosses one toward me and he gets one for himself. He seated on the big rock and started eating.

I stared at the bread and sniff it.

"There's no poison on it... I won't poison a fellow human."

"I'm sorry for my behavior earlier... I was confused. Many terrible things happened today."

I apologize with my head lowered to the ground.

"It's the same as me... I understand you, the first time I woke up in this dungeon. I was at loss. I don't even know what I'm going to do... Your reaction is just normal..."

Glenn looks so calm and ignored my action earlier. He acted cool on it and started chatting with me.

"... What's your name?"

"My name..."

"Introduction... Since we're already talking to each other. Let's call each other by our names. It's easier that way. It is a great way to build trust with each other."

"I'm Retto... I'm from Alluren Town. It's a town away from the kingdom. Many people don't know about it."

"I knew that place... My wife and I visited that place before. Chief Mekuro treated us kindly."

"You know Chief?"

"I've met him before... It's been seven... No, ten years already."

If Chief knows this man. That means he's a nice person. I'm glad that I'm able to meet someone like him in this kind of place.

I took a bite of the bread.

It's tasteless.

I don't have the right to complain.

"Earlier you woke up and started screaming the name Yunis... What exactly happened before you woke up here?"

"..."

I think deeply about it.

Just thinking about it darkens my vision. My chest was on fire remembering all those horrific events. Many knights are killed, my friends died and the girl I love the most was raped before my very own eyes.

"I apologize... I should not pry on other's problems."

"No, it's fine. You help me out and look after me while I'm unconscious. I wanted to build trust with you. Since you're the only person I can rely on in this place. I will tell you the story of the event before I woke up..."

After that, I told Glenn my story. The story of the knights' mission in taking down the demon king. The tragic events that befallen me. I have no idea what happened to other knights on another squad. Did they succeed or did they fail?

"I guess they failed... Three Commander knights were taken down by one Minotaur. Demon king's title is not just for a show."

"We're too naive... I thought we were an advantage, but we all fall to our deaths. I'm not suited to be a hero."

"You're not dead yet... This dungeon saved you. Your soul was sucked into these places and reincarnated. Don't be dishearted. A hero is someone who can sacrifice himself for the greater good of people. No one wanted to be a hero. In my eyes, Heroes have just sacrificed the need for some ungrateful shits living in this world."

"You're wrong! Heroes are..."

"What?"

"Heroes are cool and amazing... They are powerful and respected."

"I don't want to argue with you... But my perspective won't change. For now, let's get moving. We need to reach another safe place. The extraterrestrials are walking in this location."

Glenn said and stood up. He turned his head and used a telescope to locate the giant creature around us.

'What exactly are those things? Are they bad?"

"Not exactly... They won't kill you if you didn't do anything funny to them. We, humans, called them extraterrestrials because they are out of this world. The demon king won't even have a snowball of a chance of defeating these creatures."

"Really?"

"This creature was godly... Don't bother them or else you'll fall into the void."

I finished eating my bread and followed Glenn in walking. I got a larger view of the dungeon. the darkness is never-ending. Flames and nightmare creatures.

This place resembles hell.

Maybe, I'm dead and sent into hell.

I kill many people in my work. Maybe this is my punishment.

"You look pale... Perhaps you're thinking you're in hell?"

"Do you have an esper ability?"

"I can just relate... I think that at first, but believe it or not. This dungeon was located somewhere in our world. It's unknown to everyone."

"You look so calm."

"I got used to it."

"You told me about your wife earlier... Can you tell me about your story while we're walking?"

"You told yours... It's time to tell mine... My story is simple. I'm a merchant. Just an ordinary man. My wife Vell is a true dragon."

"A dragon? I heard some dragons can take the form of humans. I didn't know because  never encounter one."

"We live in peace and were lovey-dovey to each other. One daylight falls on the sky and breaks the land. It was too sudden and unexpected. The last thing I remember was my wife kissing me and smiling in front of me. I woke up drifting in this dark place like you."

"What's your goal? Are you planning on going back?"

"Nope, I'm planning to die."

Upon hearing Glenn. I stopped walking. I was in shock after hearing him.

He planned to die.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm searching for a way to die... mY wife dies in that tragedy, and I'm planning to die to reunite with her. But it's impossible because I can't die. It's a curse, I'm immortal."

"That's bluff... Not even the demon king can call himself immortal."

Glenn gets a dagger in his bag and cuts his own throat in front of me. Blood was sprayed on the ground. The wound closed on its own. It's completely healed.

After that, Glenn get a gun and blasted his head.

His body fell to the ground.

After a few seconds. He gets up and rises as if nothing happened.

What's wrong with this man?

"Do you still not believe my story?"

"Are you immortal?"

"That's right, that's the main reason I'm still alive in this place. Thanks to my immortality I learned many things. I should not bother these creatures. The ores and minerals. I also traveled a long way deep in this dungeon... If you still don't believe I will chop my head."

"That's enough! I don't want to see it. Still, I can't believe an immortal is staying in front of me... Your goal is different from mine. Maybe we're not suited to travel together."

"That's not true... I planned to die, but I promised to fulfill my wife. My wife wanted to make a better place. I will do that before I reunited with her. To do that. I need to get the hell out of here."

A better place.

Just like my promise to Yunis.

I smile briefly and walked beside Glenn.

"I see you're an aspiring Hero like me."

"I'm not interested in your Hero play."

While we're walking. Right beside us, a giant spent like a creature passed through. It turned its head on us and open widely. Its head resembles a squid's mouth with many sharp tooths alines beneath its tentacles. Its countless gleaming scarlet eye's turned toward Glenn and me.

This is bad.

"This is bad... Real Bad."

"Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeechhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

What the hell was that?!

It released a screech that nearly destroyed my eardrums. The supersonic wave it released was enough to destroy the rock walls around us.

Taking advantage of the smokescreen made from the destruction of rocks. Glenn and I both fled away.