The Summoner's Perspective Of all the rotten luck.
That was my honest reaction when I received this assignment.
Tame the mysterious monster that appeared in the Great Ello Dungeon.
If that proved impossible, eliminate it immediately.
That was the mission I'd been given.
It all started when a support request came in from Outz, a small nation where the entrance to the Great Ello Dungeon was located.
The Great Ello Dungeon was practically the only means of travel connecting one continent to another.
Transportation circles existed as an exception, but only important state figures or the obscenely wealthy could use them.
Everyone else had to hire a professional known as a Dungeon Guide and spend days traversing the Great Ello Dungeon.
Of course, the kind of people willing to deliberately pass through the dangerous Great Ello Dungeon weren't exactly your average citizens — they were merchants conducting cross-continental trade, adventurers confident in their abilities, or people who had no choice but to move between continents for one reason or another.
Still, the Guide profession existed because a steady number of people used the Great Ello Dungeon.
And then an anomaly occurred within it.
Monsters had begun appearing in greater numbers than normal.
Naturally, for those traversing the dungeon, this was an unwelcome development.
But Outz was a small country.
It only had enough military force to barely defend its own borders — certainly not enough personnel to resolve an anomaly deep within the dungeon.
Yet if left unchecked, the monsters spilling out of the dungeon could ravage Outz's territory.
Left with no other option, Outz had sent a support request to our Empire.
The Empire accepted without hesitation.
A unit that had been stationed near the border was immediately dispatched into Outz.
The unit had originally been assembled from the second and third sons of noble families, but its capabilities were on par with any other.
It was expected that they would identify the cause of the anomaly and return in due course.
And indeed, they did identify the cause and return.
Just not in the way anyone had predicted.
They had fled back.
From a mysterious spider-type monster.
According to their report, the creature radiated a threat so overwhelming that a single glance was enough to steel oneself for total annihilation.
They recommended an immediate withdrawal and the formation of a special subjugation force.
At first, the report was dismissed with laughter. "What utter nonsense."
But as detailed reports and testimony from local Guides trickled in, the danger of that monster gradually became clear.
At minimum, A-rank in threat level.
At worst, it could reach S-rank.
If a monster that dangerous made it out of the dungeon, the damage would be catastrophic.
But at the same time, a strange rumor began to spread.
There was a spider monster in the Great Ello Dungeon that saved people.
Local investigators immediately traced the rumor to its source.
Apparently, a party of adventurers had been attacked by a dangerous monster called Elurobaradroad in the Upper Layer of the dungeon. The spider monster had not only defeated the Elurobaradroad but had also healed their gravely wounded and near-death companion.
Yeah, right.
That was my reaction.
As a monster tamer, I considered myself more knowledgeable about monsters than most.
Monsters might have low intelligence, but that didn't mean they acted entirely without thought.
However, a monster that performed acts of altruism — one that acted with clear, deliberate intent to help others — that was the stuff of legends, something only the highest-tier mythical monsters were ever said to do.
If the story was true, then that spider monster was a legendary-class creature of considerable intellect.
Subduing something like that? Impossible.
On the other hand, if it had truly saved people, perhaps it was friendly toward humans.
With a bit of luck, maybe it could even be tamed.
And somehow, that task ended up on my desk.
What rotten luck.
If that spider monster really was the legendary-class creature the rumors claimed, I'd have no chance of winning.
Even if it wasn't, it was confirmed to be at least A-rank.
Taming it would be extremely difficult.
The Skill-based contracts used in taming required either the monster's willing consent or for you to crush it with superior force before coercing it into submission.
Monsters almost never willingly accepted servitude, so you had to break them with overwhelming power first.
That meant beating an A-rank monster into a state of incapacitation — without killing it.
Against an opponent that was already a struggle just to defeat, this was, to put it mildly, a tall order.
And this time, the target was A-rank at minimum.
If it turned out to be anything higher, winning might not even be feasible.
Caution was essential.
And yet.
"Haaah. Honestly, sending an old man like me dungeon crawling. What terrible luck."
Beside me walked Ronant — the Empire's greatest mage.
He was undoubtedly an exceptional mage, but his personality left something to be desired.
In a word: unrestrained and selfish.
He had no qualms about ignoring orders and kept everyone around him on a leash.
"Ronant, sir. If the target turns out to be S-rank or above, we'll need a combat asset like you. Please, just be patient."
"I know, I know. Regardless of what shows up, as long as I'm here, everything will be fine. Just sit back and enjoy the ride."
Normally, he was a laid-back and entertaining sort of man. The problem was that he stayed exactly the same way on the battlefield.
That said, his strength was the real deal.
He earned the title of humanity's greatest mage with solid, undeniable power.
Our party consisted of thirty Imperial warriors — myself and Ronant included — plus four Guides.
Ideally, I would have liked the veteran Guide from the previous expedition to lead us while sharing what he knew, but he flatly refused.
No way he was going back to a place with something that terrifying in it.
A shame, but nothing could be done.
I'd just have to consider it a silver lining that even a Guide of apparently formidable ability had been reduced to saying that. It confirmed just how dangerous this monster was.
Not exactly comforting information.
In any case, the first step was finding the thing.