Chapter 11 – Aria

Chapter 11 – Aria

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Shortly after leaving the inn, the behemoth found his elf savior without issue.

Her high-exposure attire. An easy smell to follow. There was no problem pinpointing her in a crowd.

「Oi, check her out…」

「Ahh, she’s so cute. And those tits…」

Men passing her by couldn’t help voicing their impressions.

Bastards… How dare they ogle my master with those disgusting eyes of theirs,.. If this was the labyrinth I’d have made them goblin food.

The behemoth was spouting abuse in his thoughts while notably neglecting the fact that he’d been dumbly enjoying the sight of his master changing only minutes ago, not to mention the softness of her breasts all night.

After some time tailing her from a safe distance, the girl stopped at a canal.

Several gondolas were docked nearby.

「Yo, “Aria”! Out for a quest today?」

「Good morning, Mr. Boatman. That’s right, so please take me to the labyrinth district.」

The girl—Aria—approached the gondolier who called her, smiling as she showed him the bronze tag on her chest.

The men on the other gondolas collectively clicked their tongues, evidently having wanted Aria to ride theirs instead.

So, Master’s name is Aria. A name as beautiful as the girl herself. And it seems like you can ride the gondolas as long as you have an adventurer tag here…

A little more information. There’s a character engraved on one side of an adventurer’s tag.

Adventurers are given tags made of material appropriate to their rank, from E to S, and broken down from lowest to highest as such:E Rank = Stone

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- D Rank = Bronze

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- C Rank = Silver

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- B Rank = Gold

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- A Rank = Platinum

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- S Rank = Diamond

Put simply, Aria is D rank. Having shown sufficient competence as an adventurer, she’s officially recognized as having graduated from being a novice.

「Here, give me your hand…」

「Ah, that’s fine. I can get on myself.」

Though he tried to lend a hand, Aria swiftly rejected him with her lovely smile. A quiet “hup” escaped her lips when she hopped onto the boat.

Hm. Despite her… eccentric taste in clothes, Master’s actually quite tough. That’s a relief.

The behemoth heaved a relieved sigh, learning that Aria wasn’t a prim-looking slut.

「Ah, ahahaha..」

The driver laughed dryly, scratching the back of his head, but he didn’t look all that down. After all, the moment Aria landed on the boat his eyes were locked onto her bouncing mounds. The creature known as man was truly simple.

「We’re heading out then, Aria.」

「I’ll be in your care.」

The man shoved his oar against the dock, and the gondola began to move. But the behemoth wasn’t going to let himself be left behind. He snuck into a blind spot, jumping onto the gondola and hiding in the shadow of some bags.

◆

「Haaaaa—!」

Inside the labyrinth, a woman gave off a war cry that echoed off the walls.

In a flash—

A knife sliced through the throat of a goblin. Blood sprayed from its neck as it fell back, and Aria was on the move to her next target.

『Gugya?』

『Gigii…?!』

She was already on the two in the back, catching them off guard with her speed. Of course, they weren’t going to sit around and die. They both readied their crude weapons.

But before she entered their attack range, Aria slammed her foot down and came to a stop. When the behemoth blinked, her daggers were already back in their sheath, and her hands were against the belts strapped to her thighs.

In a single motion, she pulled against the belts and threw some objects at the goblins.

It was too quick for them to react, the weapons digging into their torsos.

『『GHGHYAAAAA?!』』

He took a closer look while the goblins squealed.

Aria had thrown knives with ring-shaped handles, two each lodged in the goblins’ bodies.

「It’s over!」

In their pain, the goblins didn’t notice Aria closing in again, daggers in hand. At her speed, her weapons had no trouble penetrating the goblins’ diminutive forms, and she cut clean through their hearts. At the other end of the exchange, the goblins dropped, and Aria stood tall over them.

W-What did I just watch…?

Her dagger handling wasn’t a problem, nor the throwing knives.

It was pretty rough, but it was obvious Aria had mastered the basics of using them.

It was her speed that stood out. Her footwork. Her weapon swapping. Even how quickly the knives flew when she let them loose.

They were well beyond the norm.

That speed of hers is on a whole other level. Maybe it’s due to one of her skills...

?Acceleration?.

The only skill that came to mind. For a few minutes after its activation, it doubled the caster’s agility.

Aria’s weapons were nothing if not normal, but thanks to that skill she was able to hunt alone in the upper floors of the labyrinth.

Her high exposure clothing was probably chosen for her skill, too.

The behemoth was glad it wasn’t some kind of hobby of hers to dress like that. It was meant to minimize her carry weight and maximize her mobility.

Well, her choice in underwear is completely unrelated… but I’ll leave that aside for now.