Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

For the humans of the first cave of myths dungeon base aspiration, apart from having to consider how to shorten their title, they also had to consider when would the orc make a move.

They wanted to move bases but what happened if they got caught with their pants down? What would they do then? Under such a circumstance sending a few scouts was common sense.

Unfortunately, a few was really all they sent. If the messengers were killed they would still get the message. Plus, the scouts that were sent knew what they were getting into. They accepted their slim chances of surviving. 

After having suffered through so much already, what else was there to lose? The people that stayed behind were all older gentlemen and gentlewomen so they were also more accepting of death and mature than the ones sent to transport the drop item.

Still, sometimes getting no news was better than getting bad news.

"The orc settlement scouts have returned! One is heavily injured!" A person shouted. The alarm system had already been dismantled to be moved over to the new base.

Their voice still reached out far and wide though. Bob's heart chilled having too heard the announcement. Di- Did the orc Ed get injured as well? Bob was afraid that might have happened if the scouts managed to return alive.

"What happened?" Asked Stuart rapidly exiting from a tent. He had been looking through their written inventory when this commotion started.

"Cia is explaining at the ward tent" The man that had been acting as the announcer answered. Stuart nodded and hurried over.

"Cia, did you not encounter the strange orc?" Stuart inquired. He found it odd that both of them managed to survive. Almost everyone believed they would only get to see one return. But Cia nodded, much to everyone's surprise. It was also at this moment that Tarin came in.

"I heard there was a commotion" He had been going around between bases as the main man behind the construction.

"The- There were lizardmen…" Cia added not minding the new guest. The surprise of the listeners changed to confusion. Why were there lizardmen?

"...and the king" She added after a pause. It was really hard to believe that Brennan Bosque, the king, was being escorted by lizardmen! That's what it appeared to be but Cia was not certain. As soon as they were given the chance to escape they bolted.

"""The king!?!?!""" This time the reaction was far more extreme. The man had been deathly sick just a month or two ago, how could he already be up and running?!?

"Are you sure?" Stuart got closer and asked, his tone extremely solemn. The severity of this matter was not small.

"H- He was- He was very skinny but it was him!" Cia said now with conviction. She was confident in her own eyes, she was sent to scout after all.

Stuart swallowed a large gulp of saliva. No matter how he looked at it, this was bad.

"Are… Are we going to meet the king?" Someone within the ward asked with reservation.

"He might already be dead" Cia cut in and said. No one wanted to wish death upon their king, well, no one wanted to wish death upon a mediocre or greater king! Bad kings were not uncommon. But with Ed on the prowl the odds of his death were great.

Cia hadn't gotten the full picture but the injured man had.

"They were fighting…" The assassin scout Explorer said from within his rest bed. His escape was greatly aided by the lizardmen attacking Ed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even thought to sneak away!

Luckily, as an assassin, grabbing opportunities was one of his talents. Sadly, there was no opportunity to help the king.

It was at this moment that Bede entered the crowded injured ward. The tent could only accommodate so many gossipers but he entered all the same.

"I know what we can do" Bede said as soon as he walked in grabbing everyone's attention amidst the silence.

"Were you standing outside?" Someone asked. Bede nodded but quickly turned the focus back to his plan.

"We don't have to rescue the king, but I am sure we want to" Bede's words sounded dumb to some but the most important thing for a knight to have was their loyalty. Or at least that's what they would be made to believe. Their loyalty only benefitted the noble they served.

Whatever the case, the lessons for any Bosque knight in training was always the same. Protect, Prevent, Piety or the three p's. The order in which this was taught didn't matter but what was important to note was that they had to prevent dangers to those who they were protecting and remain pious to them through to the very end.

Did Bede believe in any of this? Not really. Most knights that were not trained from young didn't. Believing these 3 codes to be true was just an example of indoctrination and Bede was neither raised near the capital nor the sentimental type.

However, there was great merit in rescuing the king of a kingdom.

"We first need to identify if he has been killed" They could try inspecting the scene for traces of bloodshed but… it was a dungeon so the chances of that working were slim. The blood might be gone by the time they reached it.

The easiest way was to send an advanced force, not a scouting squad, to spot and understand the situation of the king. If they spotted the lizardmen that was just as well, they needed to know where they came from and think about why they might have appeared now.

In the worst case scenario, Space sage Eon was captured in the floor following and somehow lost the king. The lizardmen were now taking this human as a proof of alliance and they would soon find themselves facing the attacks of not just one very abnormal orc and strengthened minions, but the onslaught of B-class enemies.

"If not, we need to form a rescue plan. I think our best bet is the sky" There was one fatal flaw about the orcs as things stood. They lacked ranged capabilities. It was scary when they were up close and personal but from a distance they could only suffer.

"We need to prepare artillery and also launch some of ourselves into the settlement to personally rescue the king" With magic to soften their land and reinforcement to withstand the force of blasting out of a cannon barrel it wasn't impossible to drop in like that.

But… it was too bad they were now lacking in mages. The number of people capable of successfully landing in the settlement were too little then.

"Indiscriminate bombardment might kill the king" It might also kill them after they launched in. But they were jumping the cannon, they didn't even have the necessary artillery. 

"Discriminate then" Bede said making the issue seem like a non-problem.

"We need to build the cannons ourselves anyway" Bede said much to everyone's surprise. When did they become magic craftsmen?!?

"I'll give you all the instructions, just follow them to a t" Bede said confidently. The knights who had all been initially skeptical were now much more reassured. The man's strategy was not complicated, it was simple.

They could sum it into bombard the crap out of them. If there was more to it… As Bede didn't mention anything else, they certainly wouldn't be the ones doing it. This unrefined plan was enough for many of the knights to wrap their head around it.

***

Back In Sanctuary, Ed and the king of Bosque had just finished their conversation. Now knowing that Bloody was inside the human, Ed decided to send a command.

'Wait patiently until W returns' With the command skill and Bloody's personal affection to Ed, there was no chance of insubordination.

This offered W the chance to separate from both Brennan's body and Bloody. In the end, W ended up coming out like blood from a nose bleed, eventually forming a very small version of Bloody. It was more like a condensed Bloody.

Ed didn't hesitate to lower himself just enough to use spirit insertion in reverse and snatch little W out of the small bloody part.

'Free at last hahahaha!!!!' Ed could faintly hear a fading transmission as W returned to the system space. Ed could now merge with W, it was just a matter of gaining the opportunity.

<"He lost…"> The lizardmen were glum. Brennan's body had shaken when W first exited but most damming, it closed the one eye W was controlling. If one was not shameless they would never think to allow such breaks in a staring contest, not one with honor on the line.

Thus, they had expected Brennan to concede easily, but no! He straightened his posture and acted as if nothing had occurred. His stare somehow even seemed far more focused and intently.

To think that the person they were cheering on was so damn shameless! The enthusiasm quickly died down and the lizardmen were now in a daze. Weren't they supposed to be assessing the land they would be handing to Kurgher!?!

This realization came just in time as Ed needed to get rid of them asap. They were a danger to him.

'Follow me, I'll find you some lodging while you stay here' Ed transmitted to the lizardmen who froze upon receiving the message. The two beat up ones had heard his transmission before but they believed they were just knocked silly.

What was going on in this green place?!?!