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“Gah…?!”

■■■■■ stared at the bloodstained sword sticking out from his stomach.

Only after he vomited blood did he finally realize that he had been stabbed from behind.

“Don’t think badly of us, ■■■■■.”

He heard a voice from behind, the tone suggesting that the owner held not a shred of guilt over what he had done.

“Instead of all five of us dying, it’s better for the four of us to survive and obtain the treasure. Don’t you think it’s a logical decision? The mountain monsters are sensitive to the smell of human blood, so they’ll gather at your corpse, and we’ll be able to survive.”

Gemel spoke and kicked ■■■■■ in the back as he pulled out his sword.

“Is this really okay?”
“Hah?! Isn’t this guy to blame for everything anyway? It’ll be harder to survive with this baggage with us. But no one says a word about this, you hear? We’re all accomplices once we return back.”

The other three that were with Gemel didn’t stop or blame him either.

Adventurers.

They were people who made a living by diving into the monster-infested hills and fields to exterminate the monsters and collect the resources.

Gemel’s group had formed a party named “Seventh Dice” and made a living as adventurers.

■■■■■ was also part of the “Seventh Dice.”

However, strictly speaking, he wasn’t an adventurer.

He was registered as one at the guild for convenience, but he was a ‘manager’ in charge of the administrative work.

They were currently in the innermost parts of Mount Kuguse where a dragon lived. Monsters loitering here were frighteningly strong. A place where even inhumanly strong adventurers could lose their lives.

The “Seventh Dice” had snuck into this mountain that had a ban on entry. But as expected, they were cornered by the gradually increasing monsters, until eventually, Gemel came up with the ‘breakthrough plan’ and implemented it.

“Don’t forget his adventurer card.”
“Oh, right, almost forgot.”

Gemel snatched ■■■■■’s luggage after the other member reminded him of it.

He rummaged through the bag and grinned when he found a silver plate inside.

“Now, even if someone finds you, they’ll just think you’re some dumbass poacher that sneaked into the forbidden mountain.”

Then, Gemel drew close to ■■■■■’s ear and whispered, accompanied by foul breath.

“You…son of a…”
“Well, you were quite a good handyman, I’ll give you that. But we don’t need you anymore. I’m much obliged.”

Once he had his fill of malicious remarks, Gemel took the other three and disappeared beyond the trees in a sneaky manner to avoid monsters.

And that was the last time he saw them.

“T-Those b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲…! F̲u̲c̲k̲, I can’t die! I can’t…! I can’t die in a place like this…!”

Screeching cries, hard to tell whether a bird’s or a monster’s, resounded through the place.

■■■■■ grabbed the undergrowths and crawled through the untouched, verdant mountain.

Deep red blood oozed out of the hole in his abdomen and dyed the grasses as it pulsated.

His breathing was trembling and he was gradually getting colder.

His hands grew weaker, and his crawling speed that would’ve barely outpaced a turtle would now lose out to a slug’s.

But even so, his mind was filled with the thought that he could not die, he must not die.

When he lost the sensation of the ground below and felt as if he was floating up, he thought that was it.

He thought that his spirit had broken free from his body and started the ascension.

However, that wasn’t quite correct.

Something big and rugged had seized ■■■■■’s body and carried him away somewhere.