Book 3: Chapter 24
Book 3: Chapter 24
There seemed to be a slight relief in Dante-san’s eyes when he heard my choice to go on the left path.
…As expected, he is indeed worried about the Golden Brigade. If the scattered adventurers came upon this room, they most likely would choose the route on the left to avoid danger.
「Are you fine with that, Reiji?」
「Yes, I am.」
The shortest route to capture the dungeon may be to choose “Truth”, but there is no evidence that “Truth” equals “labyrinth capture”. Besides, the “Worldly Goods” route says “Without Fear”, which is quite suspicious in a labyrinth called the Labyrinth of Fear.
Thus, it can be said that the route on the left “Plea For Life” is a safe option.
「My choice is also the left path. I am curious about the front and right path, but for now, let’s check out the left path.」Dante-san said.
There was no dissenting opinion. Though, only Zerry-san seemed just a little disappointed.
We stood in front of the huge face again.
Dante-san readied his shield and Zerry-san pulled out her dagger. Non-san and Mimino-san stood alert at the back.
「I’m going to touch it.」
The role of touching it falls on either me or Zerry-san, as we’re both nimble. But since I have【World Ruler】, it would be easier to detect anything unusual.
I reached for the huge lips while keeping an eye on the mana circulation of the dungeon. I also ingested Mimino-san’s “Mana Neutralizer”, so it should be okay.
I touched the surface of the lips where the letters were engraved on.
But… nothing happened. It just felt cold and hard. It’s wet but also dry.
Then, what about the lower lip?
The moment when my fingertips came in contact with the lower lip.
「!?」
The mouth opened suddenly. I quickly distanced myself.
『KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!』
A jarring, high-pitched laughter was heard.
「Get ready, Zerry!」
Dante-san screamed sharply. Zerry-san crouched into a pouncing stance. I also pulled out my dagger and stood next to Dante-san.
「…………………………」
The laughter stopped immediately. And an eerie silence came.
The mouth was open, revealing a passage just wide enough for one person to pass through, but it was too dark to see what lay ahead.
「Is that all?」Dante-san asked.
「Seems to be so… there is no change in mana.」I said.
「Phew~ I was quite surprised.」Zerry-san sighed, shrugging her shoulder.
「Zerry, don’t let down your guard yet.」
「Aye-aye, sir.」
Dante-san slowly approached the face with his shield at the ready. It was pitch black inside the mouth.
「Non, light.」
「Okay.」
As Non-san illuminated the passage with the magic lamp from the side–
「Leon!?」Dante-san exclaimed.
Inside the mouth—at a dead end about 10 meters ahead, Leon was slumped over.
**
Leon did not suffer any external wounds, but was in a weakened state. It seems that his water had ran out yesterday and he was dehydrated.
Mimino-san used【Convenience】to conjure water and gave it to him. As he chomped down on a softened bread, he suddenly stood up and ran out — ah, I understand, I understand you very well… Toilet, right?
The problem of pooping is quite severe. A dungeon, which is not a natural cave, has the characteristic of taking in all sorts of organic matter – whether it is related to the circulation of mana or not is unknown – thus, it is okay to poop anywhere in the dungeon.
Yeah… Back at the Sixth Mine, both Lark and I secretly did it in places hidden from view, didn’t we?
The Labyrinth of Fear is probably the same. We try to do it quietly in a distant passage, and sometimes when there is an empty passage to the left and right, we will finish our “business” there. The women have it especially hard. Dante-san has also said previously with a straight face that being an adventurer also means to fight against cystitis.
「Phew〜 I really thought I’d die.」
Leon came back with a refreshed look, but he still staggered as he walked.
As Leon flumps down on the floor of the room surrounded by the faces, Mimino-san said.
「You owe a great debt now.」
「Huh? I haven’t forgotten that you took away our party money, either.」
「You abandoned Dante when he was petrified.」
「That is that and this is this. Besides, Dante didn’t rely on me.」
「Okay, stop, both of you.」
There wasn’t a hint of anger on Dante-san’s face at all. He just seemed to be done with it all.
「If you can talk back with that much vigour, I guess you’re fine now, Leon. And Mimino, no need to snap at him. We are longer members of the same party.」
「…………」
「…………」
The two were silent.
Did they recall the memories of when they were one party?
Speaking of which, Joseph-san, a trainer in the Adventurers’ Guild in the Achenbach Dukedom, mentioned before that he subjugated a goblin horde together with Dante-san. Was Leon together with them at that time?
「Do you mean that we have become total strangers with no relation whatsoever to owe favours, Dante?」
「I didn’t say that, but our paths have changed. Isn’t that so?」
「I haven’t changed. You’re the one who has changed.」
「Perhaps so. When the petrification was slowly eroding my body, I thought about life a lot, you see.」Dante-san said, in a heart-to-heart tone.
I still remember what Dante-san said back when he was still petrified. Not because I remember it perfectly because of【World Ruler】, but because it left a deep impression in my heart.
——That is why I want to do my best, not only for Non, but also for Mimino, who has taken part in this journey. And due to some mysterious fate, Raikira and you happened to join us. That is why I give away my knowledge freely, and I would lay down my life to protect you guys. I hope you don’t blame yourself if that happens. This is just my selfishness. I just want to do some good with my life.
Upon hearing that, I thought that this person was “prepared for death”. As a result, I was able to save him from the petrification, but I could guess what Dante-san was thinking of every day back then.
Did he think that the night he went out to drink with Joseph-san was the last drink he could drink with his friend?
I do not know.
But I think Dante-san hasn’t changed since then. He was a man with a sense of responsibility long before being petrified, someone who always protects others.
「…My bad then. I was also worried about what had happened to you.」
「Is that really so? I actually thought you would have long since forgotten an old man like me, and would be having fun inviting young girls into the party.」
「Hey! Isn’t that going too far!? I’m only aiming for the top as an Adventurer!」
「That was a joke. More importantly, will you tell us what happened before we came here?」
「…Okay.」
Leon had a bitter look. Probably recalling the events that led to this.
「It’s not a fun story. We fell into a trap…」
It was information that we also knew, so Dante-san nodded and said.
「Yeah, the colorful rocks.」
「—After that, it was betrayal.」
Betrayal…?
「Nn? Dante, how do you know about the rock trap?」
「No, before that– what do you mean ‘betrayal’?」
「As it sounds, betrayal. We got caught in a trap. Nothing much we could do. It was an amateur mistake. But we were still Gold-rank adventurers, a small trap like a pitfall isn’t going to rattle us. However, one of the members brought an automaton to us as we were trying to help our trapped companions.」
「What?」
It’s different from the story we know.
「At first, she sounded like she found the automaton in the back of the passage by chance, but I was watching her. She took the trouble to go down the passage after we got caught in the trap. In the first place, it doesn’t make sense to go down the passage instead of helping our friends get out from the pit, right? A few people fell into the pitfall in the battle that ensued, and in the end, I did too. I don’t know what happened to the remaining members and the employers.」
Certainly, what Leon is saying has some logic.
Regardless of their personality, I really doubt a top-class gold-rank adventurer party would be so easily broken by a simple pitfall trap. They must’ve been careful when checking for traps, too.
「I thought it was weird, too. When I first invited her to the party, she completely ignored us, but the moment we decided to go to the Lev Magic Empire, she pressed to join our party. This is exactly why elves can’t be trusted.」Leon said.
「…Hey, Leon. Is the person who betrayed you… Polina?」Dante-san asked.
Leon raised his eyebrows in astonishment and asked,「How do you know that?」