━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

男を貪り食う者
devourer of men, the lamia.

-lamia, known as a female or hermaphroditic demon found in greek mythology that devoured children and seduced men.

殺人と美しさ
murder and beauty.

-two qualities that are deadly together.

逃亡冒険者
runaway adventurer.

-[name] [lastname]. an elf from olden times, lost and afraid. with the body of a monster, and the beauty of a lady.

恐怖と飢え
fear and hunger.

-fear drove her to madness, and hunger fueled her desire to slaughter.

this is all for survival. isn't that right, [name]?

don't you remember who you are?

wake up, [name]. they're here.

don't worry, the pain will go away soon.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

the third floor of the dungeon, after you go through the graveyard in the tallest tower's forests, you'll arrive in the golden castle.

once opulent, the interior is now covered in dust and mold, a shadow of its former glory.

deep within, footsteps echo through the halls, they could belong to another adventurer, or to a former resident, now dead.

"hmm, i hear a skeleton."

laios cups his ear as he listens to the noises around the dungeon, and the party hid behind a wall to avoid it.

"i hear a human."

laios says once again once they were out of the skeleton's perimeter, listening to another set of footsteps nearby.

and on cue, another group of adventurers passed by them, offering a friendly wave to the group as they walked away.

making sure the coast is clear, the group once again started walking the halls once again, laios still listening closely to their surroundings.

"that's a ghoul."

he says, hearing the sound of a ghoul somewhere nearby.

"you're weirdly accurate about all this!"

marcille accused the young man, stranged out by how easy it is for laios to figure out what's around them with just the noises they make.

"the footsteps of people, skeletons and zombies all sounds completely different from each other."

laios then cups his ear once again, listening closely before nodding to himself.

"we go left. there's golems down the other corridor."

before they could continue on their way however, senshi stops them.

"wait."

marcille and chilchuck tensed up, and the elf girl immediately when high alert mode as she points an accusing finger at the dwarf.

"before you say it, no we are not eating those golems! they are 99 percent rocks and dirt. they're not alive, they're magical. heck, even i can make one of them!"

"you can?! please, teach me!"

laios suddenly butts in, looking at marcille with an excited glint in his eyes.

"no."

the elf girl simply replied, crossing her arms.

"if she did end up teaching you, we all know what you're going to do with it."

chilchuck sighed, crossing his arms.

"if there are golems there, i need to get a few things from 'em. follow me."

senshi walks off without another word, prompting the group to follow him with no other choice.

after walking for a while, they finally arrived in front of a door with strange scratch marks on it. even senshi looked a bit confused, his face contorted as if he's deep in thought, trying to figure out what the hell just happened to the door of his base.

nonetheless, he welcomed the three inside, pushing his suspicions away for the moment.

the door creaked open as senshi ushered the three in, and they looked around the small room curiously.

"this is my base camp. it's not much, but make yourselves at home."

senshi began picking up some random things discarded on the floor, still looking a bit bothered. planks, scraps and even cloths were scattered around for some unknown reason, and senshi has his suspicions that his place had been ransacked by someone.

or maybe even something, considering the claw marks left on the door.

he knew that his base camp is not prone to curious monsters or adventurers exploring around, trying to scavenge for anything valuable.

in fact, there are plenty of adventurers that had stayed on his camp a few times while he was away, but almost all of them stayed respectful enough to not thrash his place after using it.

not in this case, apparently.

"i apologise for the mess. it doesn't usually look like this, but it seems like the last person didn't really know what basic courtesy is."

he sighs, stacking up the small box crates properly. he then slides the curtain aside, revealing his bed that looked like it has been used by a child. it's messy as heck.

senshi tidied up his sleeping quarters as marcille watched him curiously.

"woah, this place looks like it's been ransacked, senshi..."

"that seems to be the case."

laios hums in agreement, placing his hands on his hips.

"so senshi... you live in this camp?"

"nah, i don't sleep around here much. i do my hunting in the second and fourth floors. around about every month or so, i go to the village to get spice and other stuff i'm low on."

senshi explains as he picks up a broom and began sweeping the floor, getting rid of the small debris and dust on the floor.

"in fact, i ran into you on my way back from a supply run."

he then starts picking up some gardening tools from a box.

"there's not much to eat here on the third floor. most of the monsters you find are either rotten away or just bones walking around."

he stood back up straight, turning to the guys with his chest puffed out proudly.

"but... we got golems! whoo, boy, they're really something special! their bodies are filled with nutrients, and they maintain a consistent temperature and humidity. a useful critter, if there ever was one."

senshi held the tools and wooden buckets in his arms, and the three glanced at each other in confusion.

one moment, they were listening to the dwarf rant about how wonderful golems are, and the next thing they know the gardening tools he was holding are now in their hands.

"so what you're trying to say is..."

chilchuck trailed off, holding a small shovel in hand.

"you use them as a walking veggie patch?!? that's an affront to farming!"

the half-foot shouted in disbelief, followed by marcille's frantic questions.

"seriously?! senshi, you do know that's a violation to the magic scholaring too, right?!"

"what's the harm? i may not like magic that much, but i dang well appreciate golems. they're a whole lot better than your average cropland."

senshi responded in an oblivious tone, and the two looks at him in exasperation.

"bugs are never a problem because they kill 'em all. they deal with vegetable thieves too."

"who would even steal vegetables from a golem..."

"they keep their water levels perfect so they don't dry out. and anything you plant on 'em is guaranteed to grow, they do all the hard work for you."

despite senshi's thorough reasoning, they're still skeptical about the usage of golems as vegetable patches. not laios though. the young man is actually livid, excited to witness the greatness of golems up close.

although he couldn't help but notice something strange though. the claw marks on both the floor and wooden door were nothing from any sort of monster he's familiar with. they're unique, like human claw marks but bigger.

oh well. he'll voice his thoughts out to his party members later, he's too excited about seeing golems with his own eyes to care about something as "irrelevant" as that.

they eventually made their way to where the golems are at with senshi leading the way once again for them.

"although there is one thing that is quite difficult to handle when it comes to golems, and that is their similarities with any other field of crops. they require a generous amount of tending now and again. that's why i set up my base camp here."

"why are you spitting out random golem facts out of nowhere..."

chilchuck stares at senshi with a blank face as the dwarf spoke out of nowhere while they were walking.

upon reaching the destined room, senshi pulls a level that causes the wall to slide open, revealing an entrance for them.

he steps in and looks around for a bit before bringing his fingers up to his lips, whistling to call for something's attention.

a few seconds passed before the ground started shaking, and loud rumbling filled the room.

three golems had arisen and are now standing tall, their glowing eyes staring at the party.

"what are you gonna do now?!"

laios panicked, still holding a hoe in his arms as senshi picked up his shovel.

"should we help?"

marcille chimes in, and senshi immediately starts running full speed towards the golems.

"nope!"

he says, jumping up as one of the golems smashed its hand down, trying to squash him.

senshi landed on its hand and he ran up its arm until he reached its back, raised his shovel and dug through it, a totem of sorts flying out from beneath the dirt.

the golem roared before it fell to the ground, crumbling as senshi then jumps off to another golem, doing the same thing, effectively killing it.

"that's so amazing..."

laios says, and chilchuck agrees with him.

"he sure does know his stuff..."

"so he does know where the core of the golems are at. i wonder how?"

marcille's face sours as she realised what senshi was doing, not even bothering to glance at laios as she says;

"i think i know how."

"really??"

as senshi finished the last one, the group watched in amazement, their jaws dropped the whole time senshi was bodying three golems without even breaking a sweat.

"all done. you guys mind helping me harvest all the veggie patches off of 'em?"

"woah, i couldn't even tell these were gardens on their back at first."

chilchuck looks up at the veggie patches, holding his bucket and shovel.

"since the plants live in the golems, aren't they like parasites to them?"

"nope, it's a symbiotic kind of thing. once the plants take root, they hold the dirt together and make the golem's body stronger."

"huh, really?"

"give me a hand pulling these cabbages out of the dirt."

the two got started with the harvesting, and laios looks at marcille with an expectant smile.

the elf girl finally gave in with a sigh, rubbing her temples as she picked up her own gardening tool. oh well, might as well help harvesting the most normal looking food from the dungeon.

after clearing out all the vegetables from the patches, the party collected their harvest and placed them all together in one spot.

marcille exhaled with a delighted smile, clasping her dirty hands together as she looks down at the plentiful harvest.

"ah, now that's a wonderful harvest! finally, something more normal to eat from the dungeon."

"set the seeds over here so they can dry out please."

she perked up, turning to senshi who pointed on the pile of weed next to him.

"dead weeds make quite a good fertilizer. in fact, i already got a batch ready from last time that i'll bury in the golems now."

"huh..."

marcille blinks a few times, confused by senshi's statement.

"these jars over here are filled with a different kind of fertilizer."

senshi reached for one jar, pouring some brown liquid on his bucket and making his way back to the patch of dirt that was once a golem, climb in on top of it and throwing the liquid down with his scooper.

"i give the golem a splash of it... and it's good to go."

chilchuck jumps away in time before it could hit him.

something finally clicked in marcille's head and she looks at senshi in horror.

"i knew it!"

"knew what?"

laios asked in confusion, and marcille crossed her arms.

"that's how you knew where the cores of the golems were. you plant them back each time yourself!"

senshi approached the elf girl as they finished fertilizing the soil, and marcille gave him a scolding glare.

"you it's a crime, right? tampering with magical creatures without permission..."

"what crime? i'm just tilling soil and tending to a farm."

"yeah, an illegal golem farm."

chilchuck says, but senshi seems unbothered by their words.

despite their scoldings, they still ended up planting the seeds back in the golem soils per senshi's orders.

"ahh, that was tiring. i felt like that took a lot more effort than fighting monsters."

marcille washed her hands in the small fountain, getting rid of the dirt in her fingers as she released a heavy sigh.

"thanks for all your help. it went faster than when i usually do it by myself."

senshi thanked the three, still wearing his gardening hat. (what a cutie)

marcille wipes her hands dry before taking her staff, walking away from the group.

"i drank so much water i need to pee. be right back."

she steps out through the dark halls before anyone could say anything.

a few seconds of silence passed by when senshi suddenly turns to the other two.

"all right, while the elf girl is in the bathroom, do me a favour and help me sweep up these extra dirt."

laios and chilchuck obliged despite their confusion, sweeping the excess dirt up.

senshi climbs on top of the dirt, digging through it and pulling something out from his puffy beard. totems, to be exact.

"taro, jiro, saburo."

he says as he placed the totems in each of the golems.

"do they revive right away once you bury 'em in?"

laios asked, fascinated by the process of golem creation.

"no, it takes a little while. the roots need time to grow enough, so the dirt doesn't come apart when the golem gets up and move."

"you really do care about these golems a lot. that's so amazing. and you've been doing this all by yourself... hasn't it been difficult for you?"

laios asked in admiration, his eyes practically sparkling.

"nothing hard about it at all. it's something that i love doing."

this made the young man's jaw drop, as if he had just heard the most honourable thing ever. honestly, huge respect for senshi.

"we're all done. now, let's have a feast of all the stuff we worked so hard to get."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

as the group went back to senshi's base camp, laios couldn't help but wonder why marcille was taking so long in the bathroom.

"...be right back, i'll just check up on marcille."

"please do, she's taking too long out there."

chilchuck huffs as he started washing the potatoes.

"here, take this laios. it's pretty dark out there."

laios nods his head in thanks, taking the lantern from the dwarf.

"thanks, senshi. i'll be back shortly."

laios pushed the door open before closing it behind him, looking around the hall.

"which way is the bathroom again...?"

laios walks around for a while, looking in all directions in an attempt to locate where marcille is at.

there wasn't any sign footsteps around, but heard nothing at all. it was completely silent, for some strange reason.

finally after a long while, he found the way to the bathroom. laios raised his lantern up to light up the dark hall.

he perks up when he hears a few noises down the corridor, and he spots the glow of light around the corner.

he follows the light, and there he saw marcille. she was staring into the darkness with a troubled expression, gripping her staff so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

laios tried to see what she was looking at, squinting his eyes but seeing nothing but the dark void before them.

"marcille?"

the elf girl jumps as he calls her, and turned to him with wide eyes.

"laios! you scared me..."

"what are you doing? did you see something?"

marcille placed a hand on her chest as she tried to calm her racing heart down.

"well... i, uh... maybe i'm just imagining things but i thought i saw a weird monster down the hall."

she frowned, glancing at the dark corridor once again.

"i froze up out of fear... i didn't even notice i've been standing here for a while now."

"a monster? what kind?"

laios tilted his head curiously, and marcille quickly shook her head with a small glare.

"oh no, you don't! don't even think about it, laios!"

"i'm not trying anything. i was just curious."

he pouted, and marcille sighed before walking past him, patting his shoulder.

"let's just go back. if it's a scary one, i don't wanna deal with it."

"uh, actually- i need to use the bathroom."

laios quickly excused himself, turning to the bathroom door.

"you can go back first, marcille."

"huh? okay, if you say so..."

she raised a brow but brushed him off.

"don't take too long, and be careful on your way back... don't even think of searching for that monster!"

"yeah yeah, i know!"

laios shuts the door behind him, and he released a sigh as he heard marcille's footsteps fade away, his surroundings going silent once again.

he waited there for a while before stepping out of the bathroom and tip-toeing to the opposite direction that marcille went.

he may be stubborn for this, but he's a proud stubborn monster enthusiast!

if marcille says she saw a weird monster, then of course he'll sneak out just to catch a glimpse of it.

he used his lantern to light up the way, cupping his ear to try and listen for any sort of movement.

'what the heck did she even saw? a weird monster? from what senshi said, there are only ghouls and skeletons around this level.'

he peeks inside rooms, careful to not make too much noise as to not alert other monsters around him.

laios was about to give up, not really seeing anything worthwhile when suddenly, he came across a huge room with the metal doors pried open.

shivers ran down his spine, and he completely stops moving.

he could hear something very clearly, and it's huge.

'the red dragon? no, the breathing pattern is different from a gigantic reptile creature.... then...'

he takes one careful step, then another... and there he saw it.

a giantess with the lower half of a winged, albino python. she had her wings tucked, and her tail looped around itself.

but that wasn't the shocking part to laios.

'this is...!'

he rubbed his eyes, almost burning himself and dropping his lantern in the process, and took another good look at the sight before him.

"[name]..."

laios muttered breathlessly, stuck between his