Chapter 48 - Lord

“Come in.” Niko said, as he moved back towards the window.

The door slowly opened revealing Ivanic, who looked slightly different. His white beard and hair seemed much cleaner, the dirt on his body was gone and the purple robe he wore looked new. Seemed like there had been some improvements in their daily routine, assuming Niko was unconscious for some time.

This look took Niko by surprised, but his calm attitude prevented him from revealing the expression.

“You did it! You killed that monster Nik-... Lord.” Ivanic said with a smile as he scratched his beard. Although he had experienced many misfortunes, especially in this dungeon, the fact he was able to stay alive made him feel happy enough to enjoy life. One thing that Ivanic had learned while living in this world was that letting yourself be chained down by the occurrences of this world would only drag you down, and prevent your progress.

“Lord? You know?” Niko said with an awkward smile.

Nodding Ivanic said, “Of course! In fact a lot of people should know of this.”

Niko simply tilted his head in confusion, as he was unsure of what Ivanic meant.

Seeing the confused look on Niko’s face, Ivanic smiled and spoke once more, “Once you killed that damned thing, there was a strange wave that made the ground beneath our feet shake, and from what I know this trembling wave should've been felt by others around this territory as well. This trembling wave usually signifies the completion of a dungeon.”

Seeing Niko in deep thought, Ivanic continued, “Everyone who remained alive leveled up by a few levels after the death of the rat monster. After you fell down in pain, Me, Fumito, and Dharma took you and Zheng into separate rooms to make sure that you were both safe, and got enough rest.”

Hearing Zheng’s name Niko’s heart pained slightly, as he was the cause of his almost death experience, therefore, Niko asked, “How is he?”

Ivanic’s brown furrowed slightly as he said, “He… He is breathing, which is good but… You'll have to see it for yourself.”

Niko also furrowed his brows as he thought of his, but then shook his head as he didn't want to worry at this moment. The fact that those around this territory knows of his conquering of this dungeon could be extremely problematic and frustrating, therefore, he needed to deal with everything as fast as possible, and prepare for any occurrences.

Ivanic continued, “By the way we also took the dead outside and gave them a proper burial except for the monsters who I know you would like to use their bodies for things… As for the humans, unless you would like to use their spirits, then we can try to-”

“No.” Niko shooks his head, “First of all, their spirits would have no use for me as they would be rankless spirits, and second of all they are friends who deserves a proper burial, so lets let them rest in peace.”

Niko then continued, switching the subject,” Were the five of us the only survivors?”

Ivanic shook his head saying, “Veronica escaped the dungeon at the very beginning of the battle. Dharma said she quickly escaped. To be able to escape an active dungeon, she surely has some skills.”

Niko frowned again, as Veronica’s selfish actions displeased him a lot. Her skills could have been used to help them, and if she was there then maybe more of them would have survived.

As Niko was in deep thought, Ivanic joked, “And yes, yes Dharma talks now. Although in short sentences and sometimes even in a word, its a huge progress.”

Niko barely acknowledged what Ivanic had said as he was almost feeling a headache at this moment. He was trying so hard to remain calm and relaxed, but for a strange reason, he was feeling tense. He was a careful person, who would like to think of his next move whenever he could, however, currently he felt unable to due to so much things going on.

“How long did I sleep for?” Niko asked.

“A day and a half.” Ivanic answered.

“Hmm… Let's go see Zheng.” Niko said, as he turned his whole body towards Ivanic.

“Maybe you should check the loot first? No one touched it, however, there seemed to be a lot of loot.” Ivanic suggested, but Niko quickly shook his head in disagreement.

“Fine, but at least take a shower and out on new robes.” Ivanic said as he continued, “In one of these doors there is a bathroom that is surprisingly clean. There are also robes in the drawer so at least take care of yourself before doing anything else Also, I have settled in one of these rooms, so I hope your majesty don't mind.”

Ivanic smiled, as he joked with Niko.

Niko awkwardly asked, “Are all rooms this nice?”

“Not all, I chose the best room for the lord!” Ivanic replied as he bowed with a huge grin.

“Ok, ok, enough of the lord stuff, Niko is fine.” Niko shook his head as he sighed happily.

“So…? Are you gonna take care of yourself?” Ivanic said, covering his nostrils.

Thinking for a minute Niko nodded. He hasn't felt clean in a long time, and he was desperate to get rid of the grime on his body. His nails were black with dirt, his hair was a mess and extremely dirty, and although Niko couldn't smell it due to not paying much attention to his hygiene, he smelled terrible.