Book 3: Chapter 19

The effect of Mimino-san’s remedy was tremendous. The wound of the woman who was pierced through the belly was closing up every passing second… I imagine. “I imagine” because I was told, “Turn around, Reiji-kun”, “That’s right, bocchan. It’s still too early for you,” by Mimino-san and Zerry-san as they treated the women. Thus, I didn’t actually see the wound closing up.

「Thank you… for your help…」

When I turned around, the woman’s body had been bandaged and her clothes had been mended. Her face was pale and drenched with sweat, so I also helped her with【Healing Magic】. However, the blood she lost cannot be restored, so she still had to rest for a while.

「Reiji-kun, follow me for a sec.」Mimino-san called me.

I followed her and headed slightly to the back of the passage.

「Err, ahem. That thing from earlier, uhm, it was an emergency, so it can’t be helped, but…」

「Thing from earlier?」

When I asked, Mimino-san’s cheeks turned red– ah, is she angry?

「When you, uhm… c-carried me!」

「S-Sorry. It was an emergency.」

「Eh, ah, yes, it couldn’t be helped since it was an emergency, no, I mean, I’m not saying this because I didn’t like it. If it’s me, then I don’t mind. Anytime is fine. However, you mustn’t do that to other woman so easily.」

「…Mimino-san?」

Hmm? Is she angry…? Am I wrong? Tell me,【World Ruler】!

Blood circulation is increasing, heart rate is high, body temperature is rising—Is she angry after all?!

「Anyway, what I mean is…」

Mimino-san said, staring at me.

「Reiji-kun, your hands moved like you had a lot of experience. Do you do this often?」

「Is that so? That’s not true.」

「I wonder… I doubt nothing happened in the last four years.」

「N-Nothing happened!」

As I was trying to think of a way to persuade Mimino-san who was staring at me,

「—Bocchan, Mimino-san, I don’t think we can afford to stay here any longer.」

Zerry-san! Zerry-san of all people! Brought up a sound reasoning.

Mimino-san and I looked at each other—Ah, Mimino-san has a completely unconvinced look—and we returned to the woman.

The woman was raising her upper body with Zerry-san’s help.

「So what happened to Leon?」Mimino-san asked.

「…We got caught in a trap and were separated.」the woman answered.

According to the woman, the Golden Brigade and the Lev company that hired them arrived at a large room. Unlike the dreary dungeon atmosphere so far, nine colorfully painted “rocks” were arranged in that room.

In the center of the floor, it was written「Thou art before God. Offer thy Fear.」When they were examining the rocks without knowing its meaning, Leon shouted, “There is a gem buried in the rock.” And when the woman looked closely, she saw a fist-sized garnet blended together with the painting on the rock.

But before she could take it out, the floor disappeared.

On the verge of falling, when she looked around, half of them were swarmed by rocks and sucked into the floor, and the rest, who were in the center of the room, were astonished.

「…I was prepared to die, but the hole was connected to a different passage. I was able to get away with only minor damage and lost my weapon from the fall. When I looked back, the hole I fell from had already closed up and gone, but I remembered that the passage was near the entrance to the labyrinth, so I tried to go out to call for help.」

「And that’s when you were attacked by the stone statues?」

「Yes… I had let my guard down because there was nothing when we first entered.」

「It’s strange.」I noticed.「We exited with the Labyrinth Capture Division 4, but the stone statues didn’t move at that time, right?」

「That’s right. I was searching for any enemy movement while we were retreating, but I didn’t feel like anything was moving.」Zerry-san said.

「Reiji-kun, there is something written over there.」Mimino-san said.

Words were written near the ceiling leading from the current passage to the stone statue passage. Even the light from the magic lamp was barely reaching it, so I hadn’t noticed it until now.

『Fear moving alone.』

It means precisely what it says, huh.

「If you pass through here alone, a trap will be activated. The stone statue will move… Wait! I see now!」

「What is it, Reiji-kun?」

「The contacts sent by Lulusha-san! Usually you would only send one contact who can move fast. If that person came here alone without knowing anything–」

「Ah, the stone statues will start moving!」Mimino-san said.

「The contacts were attacked by the stone statues, and they… all seven are probably dead.」

It was a harsh prediction. But I have to make sure.

「…Bocchan. Then where are the remains?」

「It is either hidden somewhere or swallowed into the depths of the labyrinth. We need to find out. Before that, you are…?」

「I am Polina. A member of the Golden Brigade and…」

She removed her hood. Her beautiful golden hair stretched down and long ears popped out.

「I’m an archer from the Elf race.」

Elves are said to be beautiful men and beautiful women. Looking at this person, I suppose that is true. However, Polina-san seemed somewhat hard to approach, like the type of beauty you just admire from a distance.

Since there were now 4 people, Mimino-san, Zerry-san, Polina-san, and I, the trap did not activate. We searched all over the stone statuesー Polina-san was scared and constantly looked up at the statuesーbut nothing unusual was found.

「Hmm.」

The rope I used to restrict the statues was ripped, but one of them seemed to be stuck behind the statue, near the wall. The upper part was dim since the light of the magic lamp did not reach that far.

「I’ll go up to the stone statue for a moment.」

「Eh……」

Polina-san looked at me like, “Is this guy sane?” But a trap is nothing more than a mechanism. If it is not activated, it is just a stone statue.

Though, I don’t think I should trust this dungeon too much.

I picked up a rope on the ground, stretched it with【Flower Magic】, and twined it around the neck of a stone statue. As I climbed up along it, I saw the upper part of the wall sunken in. Almost like a loft.

I couldn’t see how deep it went. If it’s me, I could probably get in if I got on all fours… I, who have climbed inside numerous Raccoon holes in Sixth Mine. A pride I’m not happy to feel.

「Mimino-san! There seems to be an interior, so I’ll go take a look!」

「–Hey, Reiji-kun!? Don’t do anything crazy!」

I jumped from the stone statue into the gap. It was hard to stand, but crawling was easy.

I crawled forward, straining my eyes and relying on the faint light emitted by the dungeon.

The path was taking me down a slope. When I sniffed the air, I caught the smell of blood as expected.

「…But there is no blood.」

Does the surface of the dungeon suck blood? Come to think of it, even dust doesn’t collect. Is there a bacteria that eats organic matter…?

I looked at the palm of my hand which had been on the ground. Nothing at all was sticking to it. It’s kind of creepy.

Let’s explore a little further……

「That is–」

After moving for a short while, I saw a dead-end wall about 10 meters ahead down the slope. And there was an open space underneath, like a cliff. Something like a leather bag can be seen down the slope—I remember that bag.

It is the shoulder bag used by the people of the Labyrinth Capture Division.

While I was remembering that, the belt of the bag moved, as if it was pulled from below the cliff. What’s going on down there? It moved due to a slight rumble from my steps and fell down, huhーNah, I’m not that much of an optimist.

I was surprised. It was a disposal chute. A place to throw trash. The dungeon collects all the trash in one place and– don’t tell me it’s eating it?

If there is an ecosystem in this dungeon as a whole, it wouldn’t be weird to think that the dungeon itself is alive, right?

「Kuh–」

The bag moved slightly again.

I directed both hands behind me and squatted.

And then, activated【Fire Magic】in my hand.

「GOOOOOOOO!」

The act of firing magic becomes more difficult the more you think about it. The laws of physics state that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, but that does not apply to magic. Even if you wish to use【Wind Magic】like a jet, there is no reaction, so your body will not be propelled forward.

That’s why Crysta, the half-elf Mithril-ranked adventurer, used【Fire Magic】to create a blast near his body to gain propulsion.

The narrow passage brightened up like it was noon.

My body propelled forward with the explosion—and the bag was within arms reach.

The moment I thought so, the bag disappeared under the cliff, as if someone had pulled it.

「Did you think I would give up– Oh crap!」

My body, which was gaining momentum, was about to collide with the front wall, but I thrust my right hand into the wall and stopped my body. There was a bottomless space directly below me, and it seemed like it could easily swallow me.

And there it was. The bag.

I reached out my left hand and grabbed the bag. It was being pulled away—Who is there?

When I released my right hand off the wall, my body floated in mid-air. I activated【Fire Magic】as is.

The inside of the disposal chute became brighter.