Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!

Using the Force to guide us toward the large, life signature I was seeing, we stopped a few yards away from an ominous-looking cave. Throwing a few rocks into the entryway, the stones vanished from sight like they had entered a different space. Confirming that I had led us to a dungeon, I was ecstatic that we now had a solid way to earn money.

"Son of a bitch, not only did you discover an uncharted island, but you also found an undocumented dungeon!", Lucoa congratulated us, "Now, do you think you could find us a treasure horde too? We can all retire in comfort if you find that!"

"Haha, I wish it was that easy.", I chuckled, observing the rock face the cave was in, "My dungeon knowledge is a bit limited, is there a way to tell what rank it is on the outside?"

"Unfortunately, no.", Lucoa apologized, "The only way to tell their rank is to head inside and poke around a bit. That said, given that there were only a few Orcs here and this place is completely uninhabited, it is probably only a Rank 1."

In this world, dungeons were based on a ranking system of 1 to 5. Going in order from weakest to deadliest:

Rank 1
Twenty Floors

One Boss on the Twentieth Floor

Rank 2
Forty Floors
One Boss on the Fortieth Floor

Rank 3

Sixty Floors
One Boss on the Sixtieth Floor

Rank 4

Eighty Floors

Two Bosses, one on the Fortieth Floor and the other on the Eightieth Floor

Rank 5

One Hundred Floors

Two Bosses, one on the Fiftieth Floor and the other on the Hundredth Floor

In the Holfort Kingdom, Ranks 1 through 3 were open to adventurers and the public. While they were publicly accessible, the Kingdom allowed the nobles whose territory the dungeon(s) sat in to charge a small fee to enter the space. These fees generally went to maintaining public order around the immediate vicinity, but the money went toward funding the military in more prominent areas of the country.

Rank 4 and 5 dungeons were exclusively operated and monitored by the Adventurer's Guild. Due to the dangers they posed to the public, the Guild strictly regulated who entered these spaces and usually had trespassers arrested and thrown in jail. The current regulations were that only C-Rank and above adventurers could enter Rank 4 and only S-Rank could enter Rank 5. There were exceptions to this rule but the Guild rarely broke from their standard guidelines. In the time since the Guild was founded, they had only granted three exceptions and all three groups were never seen again.

"My aunt and uncle told me that dungeons are ranked by the number of floors they have. Are there any other differences?", Roxanne inquired.

"Ranks 1 to 3 are just floor count differences; Rank 4 spawns double the number of monsters; and Rank 5 spawns only high-ranking monsters like Kobold Lords, Goblin Knights, and Orc Kings. In addition, rumor has it that Rank 4 and 5 potentially have an Extra Boss on the bottom floor but we have not been able to confirm that.", Lucoa told her.

Since our nation's founding, only one Rank 5 and a handful of Rank 4 had been cleared. Most of this was completed by a single group, the First King's Adventuring Party. After founding our nation, he led the charge to rid our country of dungeons. Following his example, dozens of parties joined his cause hoping to create a monster-free nation. Unfortunately, when the First King and his party went missing in the Rank 5 Flying Dutchman's Dungeon, the urge to continue diving into higher-ranked dungeons was snuffed out. Since then, no one had cleared a Rank 4 or 5 dungeon.

'Roxanne and I will change that thought.', I thought, with an excited grin, 'We will carve our names into the history books before setting off into the stars together!'

As I was about to suggest we head into the dungeon, Roxanne's stomach growled loudly in protest. Covering her stomach with a bright red face, I chuckled and suggested we have lunch before heading inside.

"No use fighting on an empty stomach.", I remarked, pulling some sandwiches and tea out of my Item Box.

"That is a good idea, Safe Zones are few and far between in dungeons.", Lucoa agreed, plopping down to eat.

Passing out a few sandwiches to each of us, we slowly ate our meal and took a break.

—Thirty Minutes Later—

Cautiously entering the dungeon, I immediately used the spell Find Trap to locate any potential hidden dangers. Confirming that the area was safe, I stuck my hand back outside and waved the women in.

"Oh wow, this is so cool!!", Roxanne proclaimed, staring at the orbs of light floating in the dirt corridor, "Where do those things come from?"

"Dungeons create them to illuminate all the corridors and caverns. Even though this place is trying to kill us, it does try to make things a bit easier on us. You will find that all dungeons are illuminated in some fashion, some will be brighter while others are a bit darker.", Lucoa informed her.

"I see, so we do not need to bring lanterns or a light source in here.", Roxanne said, nodding her head, "Alright, let us get going!!"

Grabbing her by the collar, I yanked her back and looked her in the eyes.

"Roxanne, before charging into battle here, confirm that I have checked for potential hidden traps. If you are not careful, you could end up skewered, flattened, poisoned, or experience many other ways of dying.", I warned her.

"Oops, sorry!", Roxanne giggled, with an apologetic smile.

"As long as you are aware of that, it is fine.", I chuckled, letting go of her collar, "This corridor is clear, we are good to proceed."

Tearing off down the hallway, Roxanne began looking for any signs of a hidden room or secret pathways. Eager to find bonus chests or a quicker route to the next floor, I found her excitement and eagerness cute. Catching up to her after a few minutes, the three of us pressed forward till we reached our first intersection. Poking my head around both corners, I was unable to see any monsters but it did not mean they were not there.

"If you could, please put that wonderful nose of yours to work.", I asked Roxanne, with a smile.

"You got it!", Roxanne replied, immediately sniffing the air voraciously, "There are two slimes and three goblins to the left, and six kobolds to the right."

"I can understand identifying the monsters by scent, but how can you be certain of the amount?", Lucoa inquired, having never heard of someone being able to do that.

"Oh, that is easy! All you have to do is go by the amount of scent in the air.", Roxanne said, as if it was common knowledge, "Depending on the volume of monster scent I can smell in the air, I can tell how many there are in any direction. That said, it is a lot easier to do in here than out in the wild."

Taken aback by this revelation, Lucoa understood the principle behind her method but could not believe it was possible. Deciding to put her to the test, Lucoa gave us her opinion on what we should do from here.

"We should go right, goblins and slimes do not drop anything of value in dungeons. Kobolds usually drop Kobold Pocket Knives, but on rare occasions drop a gemstone called a Kobold Crystal. If you are lucky enough to get one, they start at one hundred thousand dia and go up from there depending on their size.", Lucoa told us, "That said, the drop rate on those is like one in two million."

Taking Lucoa's advice, our party went right and continued down the hall till six Kobold came into view. Praising Roxanne for her ability, Lucoa assured her that she would become a top-ranked adventurer in no time once we registered.

"With those sharp senses, any adventuring party would be thrilled to have you.", Lucoa remarked.

"Leon and I are already a team!", Roxanne insisted, "So, Leon, how should we attack them?"

"I am dying to try my new weapon out so let me handle this.", I said, removing the lightsaber from my belt, 'Time to kill some monsters with my new tech!'

Flicking the power switch on, I gave the weapon a moment to power on but it never did. Holding it to listen for any signs of life, my frustration immediately began mounting as I heard nothing happening inside. Flicking the power switch off, I smacked it against the wall a few times then tried again.

"Hehe, it is okay Leon. It is normal to have issues getting it up sometimes.", Lucoa giggled, with a teasing smile.

"...shut up…", I sighed, 'Jeez Lucoa, I am not that old and I do not have ED!'

Deciding to repair the lightsaber this evening, I flipped the unit off and reattached it to my belt. Drawing my Steel Sword from its scabbard, the three of us quietly approached the kobolds and surrounded them. Once we were in place, all of us attacked in unison and promptly dispatched all of them. Watching their corpses turn into particles, six Kobold Pocket Knives appeared where they had been lying.

"So this is a Kobold Pocket Knife, interesting.", I commented, picking one up, "They are pretty small to be useful in combat. I assume blacksmiths and armorers melt them down to make other equipment?"

"That is correct, the steel is of a higher quality than most of what you see in the market. It is lighter, stronger, and more durable than normal steel produced by normal tradesmen.", Lucoa explained, as I stowed the blades away, "In this specific case, you may find craftsmen that will pay you a few more than the Guild would."

"What is the going rate?", I inquired.

"Fifty dia a knife.", Lucoa answered.

Surprised by how much these small switchblades could fetch, I looked at Roxanne with a smile. Already knowing what I was thinking, she began sniffing the air to locate more of them for us to hunt.

—Evening—

Leaving the dungeon, after reaching the 7th floor, when we poked our heads outside to find the sun had almost completely set. As we were starving and in dire need of a bath, we promptly returned to our ship while collecting wild edibles along our way. Illuminating our path with Magelight, the two women were relieved that they could see properly. Unlike me, Lucoa and Roxanne had issues with walking around in the dark. From what I could tell, they did not have a high Rod count as humans and cats do.

(Note: I am referring to the photoreceptors in the human eye that allow nocturnal animals and us to see at night.)

"So what are we eating tonight?", Lucoa asked, as the ship came into view.

"I was thinking of making a stew with the mushrooms we collected and the dried meat we have. Before we go dungeon crawling tomorrow, we will need to catch some fish or hunt some wild animals to resupply.", I remarked.

"Fair enough, while you cook the food we will take a bath!", Lucoa said, patting Roxanne on the head.

Looking at her with a concerned look, I inquired why it had to be me doing the cooking.

"Why am I the designated chef?", I questioned, "I am sure you are just as skilled as me."

"I wish I was, the best I can do is make sandwiches.", she laughed dryly, "In my former party, we hired a novice chef to cook for us. Even though they were a non-combatant, they were worth the added cost to our party. Having only dried meat and stale bread to eat sucks…"

"Do you two have towels and soap?", I asked, reaching into my Item Box.

Confused by what I was asking, they intended to just rinse off in the river. Shaking my head in disappointment, I handed them homemade soap and washcloths to use. Sniffling them curiously, the scent the soap gave off intrigued them.

"It is a new product I am planning on selling to earn additional money.", I told them, "I will have different scents when it hits the market, but for the moment I only have lavender-scented soap."

"That is fine…it just seems like a waste for us to use it.", Lucoa stated, "It feels and smells like a luxury item."

"Haha, this is just the mass-producible version. When it goes public, I will make unique scents exclusively for the nobility.", I chuckled, 'Believe me, I have thought far ahead on this one. Constructing starships and a starbase is not going to be cheap, sourcing materials is going to cost a fortune. Since I do not care for the nobility, I will milk their coffers dry with all the luxury goods they could ever want!'

Graciously accepting the soap and washcloths, I left bath towels for them by the river before gathering wood to start a fire.