CH 51

There was no day or night in the labyrinth.

I slept soundly, so I think it was probably morning now, but I wasn’t sure. For some reason, the nightgown I had instructed Saleh to prepare was only enough for the three of us, so he and I had no choice but to sleep on a single blanket. I guess Saleh was being considerate, as this would certainly make our luggage lighter. (TLN: Decided to change Sareha to Saleh)

Saleh’s map also includes the location of yesterday’s high orc encounter. In addition, the subsequent escape route was also drawn. It seems that he remembered the path while running. I had been worried that he might be smarter than me for some time, but my worry usually turned out to be true.

When I came around a corner, I would sneak out and check to see if there were any demons. Sometimes there were high orcs with lanterns, so we waited for them so that they would not see us. Once the enemies were gone, we would run through the passageway as quickly as we could. We kept on searching for hours like this.

Saleh and Lilianne seemed to be having a hard time, since warriors and sorcerers tend to develop physically and mentally differently.

Sometimes we occasionally saw a lot of Slime filth-eaters in my sight. They live off the filth produced by demons and represent harmless demons. There was no need to defeat them, so I left them alone and moved on. The labyrinth had been kept clean to some extent because of their presence.

As we proceeded down the passageway, we saw another high orc walking alone, so we sneaked up on him from behind and assassinated him. In the royal palace, I had been working hard to reduce my presence to the utmost limit, so it took no effort at all to conceal myself.

“That sword’s not half as sharp as I thought it would be. Let me see it.”

“Oh.”

I handed the sword to Claude. My orichalcum shortsword was illuminated by the light of the lantern and being examined closely. It was probably one of the best swords in the kingdom. The equipment of the dungeon in the territory possessed a performance that went outside the bounds of common sense.

“The description on the handle says ‘ Orichalcum Short Sword +18’…….what’s this?”

“That’s what it is.”

“You’re very mischievous. I like that part of you. Stupid.”

The sword was returned to me and I put it back in its sheath. Personally, I would prefer orichalcum as an equipment material. Adamantite was sharp but not heavy enough. If I wanted, the equipment made of Hihirokane would be the best, but so far I only had the scythe, which was a farming tool. It was sharp but difficult to use in a narrow space, so I left it out of the list.

After that, we continued our search.

After last night’s conversation, we were a much stronger party as the “golden pioneers”. We were no match for the high orcs, but if we were careful, we would never be defeated. If we put aside our overconfidence and walk with confidence, we would be able to conquer this labyrinth with a single touch of our armored sleeves.

The future was bright.

***

“Guuee! Geho!”

I vomit water out of my mouth. Lilianne rubbed my back, but it didn’t stop the nausea and vomiting. I managed to stay conscious by having her apply [Heal] to my back at the same time.

“Gehhho!”

Along with the water, an unfamiliar insect popped out of my mouth. The sight of them bouncing around on the wet ground was painfully unpleasant. At the royal palace, I was often served soup with insects, but I didn’t eat it. I was not expecting to eat insects out here.

“Haa…… why …… did this …… happen?”

The first trap I encountered in this labyrinth. It was a pitfall trap. I thought I felt something click on the ground, and I was the only one who fell with a thud to the empty ground. As soon as I fell into the small room, the ceiling closed and a large amount of water poured into the room.

“Are you okay …… no, seriously ……”

“I’m glad you’re still alive…….”

A voice of Claude and Saleh exerting themselves.

The small room that became a secret room. Soon it was filled with water up to my waist. The ceiling was too high for me to slash with my sword, and the water level rose as if it was mocking me as I jumped as hard as I could. Thanks to Claude’s hammer, I was able to escape, but by then the water had reached the ceiling and I drank the water.

After the water level increased, I managed to break the thick hard stones with Claude’s help as I swam and slashed at the ceiling with my sword, but it seemed difficult for the general party to escape from this trap. The killing intent was high. So much so that it could compete with the dungeon in the territory.

“Submerged traps…. these were one of the most formidable enemies.”

It was different from the traps in the dungeon in the territory. It wasn’t a trap made magically, but a trap made with technology. They might have been made by temple priests as a countermeasure against intruders.

I could think, but my vision was a little blurry. My speech was also a little shaky. It was probably because I drank a lot of that water.

“Are you all right? Can you say my name so I can tell if you’re conscious?”

“Li…li…anne…”

“No, it’s Lily. You can call me your older sister. From a moral standpoint, it is safe to say that I am Henry-sama’s sister. Blood ties are trivial.”

“O…nee…cha.” 

I tried to reply vaguely, but Saleh interrupted me with a bloodthirsty look on his face.

“Don’t be deceived. Stay strong!”

Saleh raised his hand and then slapped my cheek furiously.

“Bubera!” (slapped sfx)

A dry sound – and then a scream. The slap made my consciousness clearer. What was I about to say? What was Lillianne trying to make me say in the first place? It was all so terrifying.

“You guys, come on, let’s stop fooling around …… and let’s get moving. It’s almost at the end of the labyrinth.” 

“Yes, the density of mana is extraordinary. The last thing we need to do is to go through that big door over there.”

Another big door. My cheeks ached. Lillianne stroked it and the pain went away immediately. This was her skill, which she called [God’s right hand]. She said it was very powerful when combined with healing magic.

“Saleh, I want you to block all the passages behind us with stone walls. We have to avoid a pincer attack.”

“I understand. Leave it to me.”

The stone wall might be a hindrance to escape, but if the need arose, Saleh could make it disappear, or I could kick it down if I wanted to. I doubt that the high orcs would be able to break down that stone wall with their physical strength.

“Let’s go. Basically, I’ll attract all the attacks. Claude protects Saleh and Lilianne and fights if there is room. Saleh will just attack with magic, and Lilianne will focus on support and healing. Understood?”

“Okay.”

“Yes!”

“Copy that.”

After hearing the three respond, I slowly opened the large door and peeked inside.

It was a large room. Statues of goddesses stood at the four corners of the room, guarding the altar in the center. Light was spilling from the broken ceiling, illuminating the altar.

Around the altar, high orcs were praying. Demons without intelligence cannot pray to God. In reality, however, they were praying to a crystal floating in the air, which emitted a blue light.

“Pray… that evolution… and the winds of mana… will rise… and that my glory will be yours in this world… once more.”

A large high orc was holding a staff and speaking. The light emitted from the crystal swells like a living creature and was absorbed into the high orc’s body.

“You have the power… to do anything you want.”

Then, light flew from the crystal and was sucked into the surrounding high orcs, and soon their bodies began to transform.

— To the appearance of the demons I saw in the dungeon of my territory.

“Throwing Stones Orc……? Why would they be here?”

Words leaked out of my mouth. The demons in the dungeon in the territory were supposed to be unique. There had been no records of such demons in the books of the past.

“Hey, there is people on the altar. Is that a …… sacrifice?”

Claude also looked in with me. There was a man lying on the altar. The plate around his neck was the sign of an adventurer. It might be for food, or it might be a magical sacrifice, but whatever it was, there was no doubt that his life was in danger.

“Let’s go, Henry.”

“I know. At the count of three seconds, I’ll kick down the door and charge through. Those orcs will throw rocks at us, so be careful when they start swinging.”

“Good, let’s kill them all. Don’t feel sorry for them just because they’re talking demons. They ate people.”

“I know.”

Looking back, I saw two people who had made up their minds.

I suppressed my elation and count to three seconds.

Then I kicked down the door and rushed into the crowd of demons.