Chapter 126

“There are no demons here yet, so you can rest assured.”

Sayuri explained to Lydina and Arcana, who was accompanying her, as they passed through the entrance of the “Labyrinth” on the ground and descended the long staircase leading to the first basement floor.

“Yes, I know, I’ve seen the broadcast. We have to go through the metal door at the end of the stairs, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Sayuri nodded in response to Lydina’s words.

There are many buildings in the city of Ulysses that have basements. In order not to be covered by those spaces, the “Labyrinth” is built from the first basement level to a reasonably deep place.

So between going under the gate on the ground and reaching the first basement level, you have to go down almost 200 steps. This is nothing for those who have grown a few levels, but for those who have not, it can be a bit difficult.

“… I’m afraid of the stairs because my senses are so different”

Sayuri going down the stairs at a slower pace than the two, because she was carefully descending each step.

Because she was almost 40cm smaller than usual, she couldn’t go down the stairs very smoothly because her body felt too different in many ways.

“Will we be alright for the battle?”

“For the first few battles, you might want to fight a little more carefully…”

If your pace changes, your movement speed will be different, and if your arms become shorter, your overall reach will be reduced.

In the beginning, it would be wise to fight calmly, checking how different your stance and weapon handling are from usual with this body.

“There’s no sign of the enemy in the immediate area ahead.”

Arcana reported this to me as I reached the metal door on the first basement floor.

With her vocation as a〔Hunter〕, she can detect the presence of demons in the vicinity. It’s a great advantage to be able to tell in advance whether or not the enemy is ahead of you when you pass through a gate like this.

“If we pass through here, we could encounter a demon at any time, so be prepared.”

As she said this, Sayuri took out a hammer and spear from her <Food Box>.

It’s a spear, but it’s a bit smaller than the one Lydina is carrying, with a wooden handle. It’s not like Sayuri has the muscle strength to handle a heavy weapon like the all-metal maul that Lydina carries.

(TN: The MTL result always says “hammering-mace”, after quick googling, a maul is the closest weapon I find. Comment if you have better suggestions.)<br />

When I opened the metal door, I found myself in a room that was about 20 tatami mats in size.

There were no demons in the room, and passageways were extending in three directions from the room. There was also a staircase in the middle of the room that could take you down further.

“Um, which way shall we go?”

“Since our goal, for now, is to raise our level, I think it would be better if we go in the direction that the Arcana sense that there might be enemies.”

“That’s right. I have no objection to that.”

At Sayuri’s words, Lydina also nodded.

With that suggestion, Arcana began to walk, leading the way.

“I think there are two of them up ahead, maybe three?”

“You don’t know exactly how many there are, do you?”

“With my current skill level, I can only vaguely identify them.”

Arcana smiled a little apologetically as she answered. From Sayuri’s and Lydina’s point of view, just being able to vaguely detect the presence of a demon is enough to be reliable and grateful.

Well―――in Sayuri’s case, she knows the exact location of all of her beasts. I’m not going to tell Lydina or Arcana about this because it would only spoil the fun of the exploration.

“I think we’re about to encounter them.”

Arcana stopped in the middle of a passage that curved slightly to the right and told me this.

When I looked at the end of the passage with Lydina, peeking in. There were two demons with yellow body color and big ears, about twice the size of a rabbit.

“That’s ‘Piti’. That’s a good thing because it’s the weakest demon here.”

“What are its weaknesses?”

“They’re weak against fire, but… It’s better not to attack it with fire magic because it will lower the quality of its fur.”

Despite being the weakest, Piti is a highly cashable demon that drops edible meat and fur.

However, it’s not limited to Pities. If you don’t have a way to damage the demon, the quality value of the material you get after defeating it may decrease. In particular, fire magic is a bad idea because it can damage the fur significantly.

“It attacks with a thrust, but it doesn’t have horns, so it doesn’t hurt much. If you use a metal shield or something like that, the enemy will take more damage than you. It’s a weak demon, so I think it’s best to save your magic for it.”

“Understood. Then I’ll just go with the bow.”

“As you know, there’s one backup coming, so just be careful with that.”

In the Ulysses “Labyrinth”, the number of explorers and the number of demons are always adjusted to be the same. If there are three of you and two demons, then as soon as the battle begins, one of the nearest demons will come running to support, and it will be a three-on-three battle.

At this time, you don’t know what kind of demon will come to support. Also, it’s important to note that you don’t know whether the supporting demon will come from the front or the back.

If you don’t take enough precautions, there is a good chance that the Arcana in the rear guard will be taken by surprise by the demons that rushed to support from behind.

“You can shoot at any time, Arcana.”

“Yes, Sayuri Sister.”

As Arcana shoots arrows from her short bow, Sayuri also shoots arrows from her short bow, which she had taken from the cooking box and replaced.

The arrow that Arcana fired pierced Piti’s head, while Sayuri’s shot pierced the other side of Piti’s torso. As soon as Piti moaned in pain, it immediately rushed towards the side where Sayuri and the others were.

“Lydina, let’s take out one of them before the backup comes.”

“Yes, I am aware of that.”

Sayuri switched her weapon to a short spear and used her momentum to pierce the torso of the Piti with the tip.”

Lydina’s maul hit Piti’s brain, which stopped the attack. Immediately, one of Piti’s bodies disappeared with a dazzling light.

“Ah, by the way, you said that the demons you defeated were retrieved by themselves.”

“Yes, that’s how the wards are set up.”

The reason why the corpses of the dead demons immediately disappeared is because of the effect of the 【Recovery Ward】that the children of the <Red Plum> set up. This is a very convenient ward that automatically dismantles and recovers any demons that have been killed within the area.

You can receive the materials from the defeated demons later by requesting them at the Explorers’ Guild. So while you’re in the “Labyrinth”, you don’t have to worry about the materials from the demons you’ve defeated becoming a bulky part of your luggage.

“There’s one coming up behind us!”

“Lydina, you should go. I’ll take care of Piti.”

“Okay.”

Sayuri stored her short spear in the <Food Box> and took out a short sword in her right hand and a small shield in her left.

Piti’s only attack is a thrust, which is easy to deal with if you have a shield. Every time it stops moving, Sayuri uses her shortsword to slash at Piti.

“One snake is coming!”

“It’s poisonous, so be careful! Use your shield first!”

After making three solid slashes at Piti and defeating it. Sayuri joins Lydina in dealing with the demon that came from behind.

Arcana has already fired several arrows at the snake, but none of them seem to have hit it.

That’s not too surprising, I suppose. It’s not easy to hit a demon with a long, slender body like a snake with a pointed attack using arrows or a spear.

Sayuri switched her weapon to a hand ax and sneaked around to the side where Lydina and the snake were facing each other.

The snake’s bite was blocked by Lydina’s shield, and she aimed for the moment when the snake was stiffening in a leaning position. Just below the snake’s head, Yuri used her hand ax to cut off the snake.

The snake, its head and body separated by the cleave, disappeared with a dazzling light.

The snake’s thin body made it difficult to hit, but it was a weak demon that even someone as weak as Sayuri could easily defeat.

“You’re good, Sayuri.”

“It was easy for me because you blocked it.”

The reason Sayuri was able to attack so successfully was that the snake was completely focused on Lydina.

If the snake had been on Sayuri’s side, it would not have been able to attack so successfully from the side.

“But then again… there are already poisonous demons coming out of the basement floor.”

“Ah… about that. I’m sorry. This snake is a demon called the ‘Shimmering Snake,’ and when it bites you, you get a poison that shakes your vision, or in other words, makes you dizzy. It’s a poison that wears itself in ten seconds, so it’s not that harmful.”

“I see. There are many kinds of poison.”

Because it is impossible to fight properly while dizzy, it is a demon that you need to be a little cautious about when challenging the Labyrinth alone.

However, if you’re at a party, a few seconds of dizziness is unlikely to cause that much damage. There is no such thing as a strong attacker among the demons at this level.

“They attack from a low position, trying to bite my legs, so it’s hard to prevent them with my shield unless I focus on defense.”

“In such a case, it might be a good idea to equip yourself with some metal shin guards. Even if only the area below the knees is protected, the area to be protected by the shield will be greatly reduced.”

“I see…”

Of course, if the snake bites the part that is protected by the metal, the snake will suffer more damage.

If you only have to protect your knees, it will be a lot easier to protect yourself with a shield.

“I can’t get my arrows to hit it. What should I do…”

“It might be easier to use magic to deal with demons that are hard to hit.”

The projectiles flown by magic or sorcery are guided towards the target to some extent, so although the speed of the projectiles is slower than with arrows, they are easier to hit.

In particular, magic that can attack with lines rather than points, such as [Wind Blade] that flies and attacks with wind blades, is useful because it is easy to hit even long, thin monsters like snakes. 

“It’s a good idea to leave the hard to defeat demons to your allies. That’s one of the advantages of having a party.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Yes, that’s how it works.”

Everyone doesn’t need to be able to deal with all kinds of demons.

Leave the things to the people who are good at them. It’s not only in “Labyrinth”, but it’s a common practice in real life as well.