I Have Tamed a Spider Monster - Chapter 281, 282, 283

Dungeon Fifth Floor: Guest Rooms in the Ancient Castle Area
The courtyard exploration yielded quite a harvest.
After all, we were searching areas that everyone else avoided, resulting in a bounty of treasure chests.
To be precise, we gathered five golden treasure chests and eight silver ones.

As evening began to fall, we decided to head inside the castle to find a place to rest.
According to Melanie, there was a guest room area.
Not only were there no monster spawns, but the rooms were also designed so that other adventurers couldn’t enter from the outside.
Truly a well-prepared camping spot.

Upon reaching the floor with the guest rooms, Melanie took the lead, guiding us deeper into the hallway.
Most of the doors had white gemstones embedded in them, but occasionally there were blue or red ones as well.
What could those mean?

"Oh, the gemstone colors indicate the room’s status. White means vacant, blue means in use, and red means the door is locked from the inside."

"I see. But wouldn’t it be meaningless if someone didn’t lock the door?"

"Well, that’s true, but there’s an unspoken rule not to enter occupied rooms."

Melanie scratched her cheek with an awkward smile.
So, people just trust this unspoken rule for safety? That seems risky.

Melanie walked to the far end of the hallway, checked that the room wasn’t in use, and opened the door.
The room was spacious enough to comfortably accommodate all of us. It even had a small kitchen—a truly impressive room.
Once we were all inside, Melanie shut the door and locked it from within.
This should ensure our safety.

"Phew, I’m glad this room was available. Since we brought ingredients with us, we really wanted a room where we could cook."

"Are there rooms where cooking isn’t allowed?"

"Ah, well..."

Melanie paused dramatically, as if to tease us.
Is there some kind of issue with the other rooms?

"In the standard rooms, fire is strictly prohibited. They’re made entirely of highly flammable materials, so if you use fire inside, it spreads rapidly. Even the door burns, trapping you inside with no escape, leaving you to burn to death."

Melanie shrugged, but wait a moment—can’t water magic put out the fire?

"Oh no, it doesn’t work. That’s likely another trap," she added.

Even the rest areas have traps? This dungeon has a truly wicked design.

Now for the fun part—opening the treasure chests!
From one of the golden chests, we obtained a Skill Crystal. The skill was "Paralysis Infliction," which creates paralysis traps.
However, by combining it with the mist magic we acquired earlier, it’s possible to create a paralyzing mist that activates upon contact.
This might be a valuable find after all!

As for the silver chests, they mostly contained summoning cards and magic weapons—worth noting but not as exciting.

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Dungeon Fifth Floor: A Few Days in the Ancient Castle Area
Using the bedroom we stayed in on the first night as our base, we spent several days exploring the ancient castle area.
One thing became clear: treasure chests in easily accessible locations were bronze.
It seems the more difficult a chest is to reach, the more valuable its contents.
Thanks to this, most of the untouched treasure chests we found in hard-to-reach spots were golden, which was a huge help.
That said, even after opening a fair number of golden chests, we only gained one more Skill Crystal.

The new skill crystal was for "Purification Magic."
As its name suggests, it’s a magic that purifies and cleanses everything.
Its intended use is for countering undead, but since I learned it, it’s primarily been used for washing dishes and armor or purifying the air.
Yes, this is another example of effectively utilizing magic.
Plum remarked, "That’s a feat only possible with tremendous mana," but if I can do it, there’s no issue. If it works, it works.

With that, we’ve explored most of the uncharted areas.
Now, where else should we investigate?
The courtyard’s treasure chests hadn’t respawned yet.

"Sigh. Your combat abilities are truly astonishing," said Melanie, exasperation evident on her face.
But there’s no helping it—we’re just that strong.
Most of the monsters were instantly defeated by Plum or Talat.
It’s the fault of the dungeon for only housing such weak enemies.

"Well, it’s fine. This means we can now venture into the final unexplored area."

"The final unexplored area?"

"It’s the section sealed off by the large monsters known as the Six Fiends. Specifically, their locations are the audience chamber, the underground sections of the four spires at the corners of the castle, and the prison beneath the castle."

"Have they ever been defeated?"

"I haven’t heard any reports of their defeat. While people often attempt to test their strength, they usually flee the room before being killed. No one has claimed victory. If someone had succeeded, they’d surely boast about it over drinks as a heroic tale."

So, there are such formidable opponents lurking here.
But can we take them down?

"Hmm? Are you worried about whether we can defeat them?"

"Yes, Plum. Isn’t it natural to feel concerned?"

"If Talat is with us, I believe most of the problems can be resolved. And even if Talat can’t handle them, I’ll take them down myself."

What a reassuring declaration!
With that confidence, the so-called Six Fiends don’t seem so intimidating.
Starting tomorrow, we’ll challenge the Six Fiends and see what kind of loot we can get!

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Dungeon Fifth Floor: Defeating the Ancient Castle Bosses
The day after Melanie provided us with information, we set out to defeat the monsters said to have never been conquered.
Our first opponent was the Flame Knight, located in one of the spires.
Despite being called a knight, it stood about three meters tall, with arms and shoulders proportionally broad and massive.
I could see why no one had managed to defeat it before.

"Talat, take care of it!"

(Got it!)

At my command, Talat bound the Flame Knight tightly with threads of ice.
I could hear the ice melting, but it didn’t seem like the knight’s heat was enough to completely melt Talat’s threads.
When we followed up with a torrent of water magic, the Flame Knight was defeated with ease.
Yep, that was surprisingly simple.

"Let’s see what we’ve got… five golden chests and one rainbow-colored chest!"

"Hoh, isn’t this the first rainbow-colored chest we’ve come across?"

"It is! I’m opening it right now!"

I eagerly opened the rainbow chest, which emitted a dazzling array of colors, illuminating its contents.
Wait… is this just a piece of paper?

"… The reward for a rainbow chest is a single torn piece of paper?"

"Hold on, Lily. That paper emanates mana. Don’t throw it away.”

"Huh? Alright, Plum."

A piece of mana paper, huh. I wonder if there are more pieces elsewhere.

Over the next few days, we scoured the entire castle and defeated all the bosses.
Each boss consistently rewarded us with five golden chests and one rainbow chest.
The rainbow chests always contained torn pieces of paper.
When we pieced them together, they formed part of a larger design, but it was incomplete.
We must have missed some areas. I decided to ask Melanie, who had the map.

"Let’s see… the remaining unexplored areas would be the deeper part of the audience chamber and the far end of the prison."

"I see. Come to think of it, we didn’t examine those much.”

"Since we’re near the audience chamber now, shall we head there?"

We made our way toward the audience chamber.
Before its entrance stood knights that hadn’t been there earlier.
They were fending off adventurers who seemed to have deduced something valuable was inside.
Of course, the knights were overwhelming them.

"What should we do, Plum? Should we force our way through?"

"Hmm… wait. Something seems off."

As we approached, the knights subdued the other adventurers and cleared a path for us to the audience chamber.
Were they inviting us in?

"What will you do, Lily?"

"It might be a trap, but we won’t know unless we go in, right?"

"True. Let’s proceed."

Guided by the knights, we entered the audience chamber.
Inside, a throne that wasn’t there earlier now stood, occupied by a semi-transparent man.
Was he a monster?

(Welcome, guests who have freed us.)

"Freed you?"

(You’ve defeated the six knights who held dominion over this castle, haven’t you? Isn’t that correct?)

"Yes, we did. But what does that have to do with anything?"

(As I thought. Then I shall also reward you.)

Before me appeared a rainbow chest and a sword.
The sword lacked a blade.
How are we supposed to fight with this?

(This is the Rune Sword. By channeling your mana, it forms a blade of energy capable of cutting through magic barriers and even ordinary physical defenses.)

Hmm, this all sounded too good to be true.
Was it safe to accept this?

(Ah, it seems too convenient, doesn’t it? Then I have a favor to ask of you.)

"A favor?"

(Deep within the catacombs connected to the castle’s prison, our ancestors' spirits have begun to stir violently. I need you to quell them.)

Ah, so there’s another rainbow chest waiting there.
We have no choice but to accept!

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