CH 48

In the midst of the stench of dead orcs, I exchanged a few words with the saint.

“We can discuss the details……after we find a safe place. At least until we have finished our search for the day.”

“I understand. I’ll tell you more about it later. I’m also very curious about the strange magic your brother was using.”

There was no need to tell the saint everything.

In the first place, I wasn’t convinced that this saint was trustworthy. She might be related to the spies of the Domir Order, or perhaps she was trying to gain profit from the information of the royal family.

“Hey, let’s just get to the other side of that big door.”

Claude urged us to go.

The hall was where the orcs were. The large door in there was the only way in and out of the labyrinth. It was so old that it could be easily kicked down.

If you push open the great door, a labyrinth-like passage continued.

The light from the lanterns could not reach the far end of the passage, and with the side passages, it seemed to be quite complicated. We would have to give up trying to conquer it in a day and spend several more instead.

Sareha softly whispered to me so that they would not hear us. A little further back, Claude and the saint were following us, keeping an eye on the rear.

“She’s a saint, but I don’t think she can be trusted……. What do you think?”

“I don’t think so either. I think she’s one of Domir’s spies… or at least she could be.”

“A spy? No, that woman……might be after you. She’s dangerous.”

It was true that there was no denying the possibility that my life was being threatened. With the equipment and physical abilities that I had trained in the dungeon, I didn’t think there was any way that I could lose to the saint in the rear.

The insolent woman who approaches my brother…… I will choose the right person to be my brother’s wife. Besides, it’s cruel of her to just to bring up Marie-sama out of the blue.”

The conversation was getting out of sync. Sareha, who was mumbling and spilling his words while looking down, gave me a slight fright. I couldn’t quite figure out what he was thinking.

“I don’t care, and I don’t think the saint has any intentions of marrying me. And I have no intention of marrying anyone, not in the near future. Because any more royal blood would be a nuisance to the world.”

“What will happen to my plan to…… be called ‘uncle’ by my brother’s son? I was going to do my best to teach them magic……”

“Teach it to your own children.”

It would be good for Sareha to have a child. After returning to his hometown in Dalmusk, Sareha could hide his identity there and live among the masses. Becoming a parent and having children would be another form of life.

I needed to get my mind back on track and paid attention to my surroundings.

We were at a crossroads and needed to choose a direction to go. Sareha was drawing a map with great dexterity, while I was thinking about where to go.

The well-developed front road. The left and right forked paths dug by demons. Which way to go? After thinking for a while, I made a suggestion.

“The request is to exterminate demons. Let’s go to the left where the demons are likely to be. The right should be done later.”

The three of them nodded.

After a short while after the turn, we saw a group of goblins. In their hands were crude weapons including knives and clubs carved out of stone.

“Gugaaa!!”

One of the goblins threatened us. His eyes full of murderous intent. We could tell that he saw us as food. His green skin was the sign of being a demon. They were evil beings that ate people.

I picked up a large stone from the ground near my feet.

I crushed it to create a sharp pieces and threw it with all my might. With a loud sound, the pieces of stone hit the goblin.

“Gyii!!”

The goblins scream as they were cut to pieces. With a single blow, many of the goblins were killed or wounded, and the remaining goblins were disposed of separately.

“I don’t remember……you having such a strong grip. It was almost inhuman.”

“I trained in a certain way. If you want, why don’t you train yourself too, Claude? If you are going to make a living as an adventurer, you might as well have all the power you can get.”

“I’d still like to be human. And I have a bad feeling, or……I can see an evil plot in your eyes.”

“Don’t be afraid. You’ll have an experience like you’ve never had before.”

Claude was still adamant after that, so I gave up on trying to persuade him. I was sure that Claude would come to the territory again, so I could invite him again at that time.

After making sure there were no goblins left out, we returned to our search. Although the structure was quite complicated, we proceeded with the map from Sareha. Thanks to the information that was being added to the map at the same time, the overall structure was becoming clearer.

Most of the encounters along the way were with goblins and orcs. We had not yet seen the high orcs we had been informed of.

Currently, we were resting in a small room. The entrance was closed with a stone wall made by Sareha’s magic, so that it couldn’t be easily entered from the outside.

“The request said the high orcs were breeding extensively, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“Yes. Perhaps the villagers mistook the orcs for high orcs out of fear. Fear and agitation can lead to misidentification of the enemy.”

The saint answered. It was true that high orcs were bigger than orcs, but it was difficult for villagers who were not accustomed to demons to distinguish between the two.

“Then I wonder why there was an announcement of the annihilation of the Fourth-rank party. Was there a trap? Or was there something else?”

“Certainly. Let’s be on our guard.”

Even in conversation, the saint was holding a stone statue and looking at it with interest.

“Do you not find this stone statue interesting, Ash Swordman-sama?”

It only looked like a mere stone statue. It was a statue that represented a god of some kind. It was a sculpture of a goddess wearing a thin robe.

“This is a statue of the goddess of magic who was worshipped in this region. In the temples on the surface, however, statues of other gods were worshipped. Why is there a statue of the goddess in the underground temple?　My guess is that either they were performing magical rituals here, or this was a magically important site…I think”

“I hope they didn’t seal up any demons or evil gods or anything like that.”

Claude bluntly looked disgusted. It would certainly be a problem if an evil god were to appear. We didn’t know if the god could be cut with a sword, and if we killed him/her, there would be a possibility that we would be cursed.

“I too…..have been feeling a little sick since entering this labyrinth. The mana is unusually thick and I feel like I’m getting drunk. I think it’s a good environment from a magical point of view.”

“Ara ara, are you okay?”

The saint reaches out her hand to Sareha. However, the hand that tried to stroke Sareha’s back was heartlessly rejected. Because Sareha brushed it away with his hand.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Fufu…I’m going to cry if you don’t like me…”

She really seemed to be on the verge of crying, rather than imitating crying, which was the Saint’s specialty. Her eyes moistened with tears were very miserable. I feel so sorry for her.

I pretend I didn’t see it and fill my stomach with bites of dried meat and black bread. After a short rest, the search began again. We need to get a little bit of energy.

“I’m fine……I’m not hated…I’m not hated…”

I could hear the saint talking to herself.

I wouldn’t think Sareha really hated the saints either. He just remembered the royal palace from the saint’s words and was a little nervous. There would still be opportunities to talk to each other, so it should be easy for them to make up.

Whatever her true intentions were, there was no harm in getting along with her.

Until she made her decision.