Volume 6 - CH 14

The soldier led us to a room downstairs, but .......

"Oh, I'm so glad you guys are okay."

A knight in white armor gets up from her chair and walks over to us.

It is that female knight who held back Luka's revenge by telling her in passing to explain the situation first.

I see. So this is the knight of the Ufa Holy Kingdom.

No wonder the king is grinning.

She has beautiful shiny blond hair, a good-looking face, and sky-blue eyes. She was still young. She's probably around twenty years old.

"I'm glad to hear that you're safe as well."

Serina said what she thought, but the white knight looked troubled.

"Sarcasm? It's not that I stopped you guys with bad intentions. I was not aware of the situation at the time, and it looked like you was attacking an unresisting priest, forgive me."

"Ahh, no, no, that's not it, right? Luka."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I couldn't explain it better way, my head was all over the place."

Luka bowed her head.

"I can't stand it. ......"

The white knight turned her face away with a helpless expression. It seems that she has already been told or guessed the situation regarding the fake Erwin. Well, now that we've been exonerated, we'll know that the fake Erwin is 'black'.

"She's not being sarcastic, she's just not used to talking to superiors."

I'll clear up the misunderstanding.

"Then you can speak normally. I'm a knight of a certain country, but I was born as commoner, and I don't give a damn about status."

"That's a rather formal term for..."

Seirina said to us in a whisper, perhaps alarmed by her earlier exchange with the king.

"This is the way the Holy Kingdom speaks. I can also speak normally if I want to, so don't worry about it. More importantly, that girl there, is she feeling okay? I heard you were put in jail. ......"

Elisa was concerned, so I turned to look at her, but Meena was slumped over, looking listless.

I checked her status and found no problem with her HP. But the state of affairs was disheartening.

"What's the matter, Meena?"

"I couldn't protect my master earlier. ......"

"Hmm? Oh, you mean the time when a got a sword to my neck?"

I said something sarcastic like, "Aren't you going to let the reward go by without knowing anything about it?" I had angered the king with a sarcastic remark.

Well, even though she was going to protect me, her weapons had been confiscated and her level and skill with the sword was far beyond that of the king, so it couldn't be helped.

If Meena, the slave, were to compete with him, the talk of rudeness would be blown away.

"What! Nununu!"

On the other hand, Elisa's conscience seems to be aching like that.

I'm going to have to take advantage of this by using【Speaking Lv5】. I'll take advantage of Elisa's weakness in order to accomplish my mission. Hi-hi.

"Well, I've been through some torture that I can't talk about here."

"What!"

"Ahh, well, it was a kind of torture, wasn't it? I'm a little mentally tired."

Serina also laughed and took advantage of the situation.

"I'm so sorry! It was my fault that I was PK'd and falsely accused and thrown in jail. If there's anything I can do, please let me know. I'll do anything."

Anything?

"Well, then, let's have se――fugohh!"

When I tried to make a light joke, I was hit by Serina's goofy punch in the stomach. The breastplate should have protected my midsection, but how did she just do that?

"What are you thinking at a time like this! What are you thinking!"

Serina is also very sharp.

"Okay, okay, I'll be serious. I'm Alec, the adventurer and leader of this party, and you are?"

We haven't introduced ourselves to each other yet. But since we already know each other's names, we should do so as soon as possible.

This woman seems to have a quick mind, so it's no use crying over spilt milk.

"Ah, I'm Elisa-Michelle, Templar Knight of the Holy Kingdom."

"Hmm. What brings a knight of such stature to this country?"

"No more sarcasm, please. I'm not a great knight. I was given a mission by my country. I'm investigating the Labyrinth of No Return."

"I see. Incidentally, is it normal for a Templar Knight to conduct such investigations?"

"I heard there was a precedent for it a long time ago, but they haven't done it recently at all. Well, it's an honor."

It's positive, but that would definitely be a left turn or harassment.

Serina and I both shrugged lightly.

"That's just fine. We're working on that labyrinth now, too. How about you help us for a week or so?"

"Hmm, what's layer are you now?"

"The third layer."

"Well, I've already finished my research there. The fourth layer would be more convenient."

"All right. Then the fourth layer is fine."

"That's all right. Then, ......, I'll let you have a good rest today, and we'll start tomorrow, okay?　I'm staying at an inn called the 'White Waterfowl Mansion'."

"Do you have any plans to go out today?"

"No, not particularly. ...... Why?"

Elisa looks at me suspiciously. She has been wary of me.

"No, I was just asking if you had something to do. We can start tomorrow as well."

I'm still worried about the security of Elisa while she's staying at the inn, but she's probably staying at a good inn, so we can expect security from the innkeeper.

It would be unnatural for us to stay with Elisa all day, so we decided to give up on that.

The enemy will probably try to take care of things in the dungeon anyway, to make it look like an accidental death.

"I see."

"Ah, it's just a coincidence that I'd like to have dinner with you."

Serina suggested.

"Of course, sure. It's a small price to pay. I'll buy you a drink."

"Well, then, Serina, I've already had my lunch, so I'll leave you guys to it."

"Yeah, I understand."

If the assassins come, this group of people, Serina, Ione, Meena, and Luka, will be able to handle it.

"I'll go talk to the rest of the team."

"Yeah."

I went back to the 'Dragon's Dwelling' and told the other party members that Elisa's party would be joining us temporarily.

Jouga is not the type of person who can lie. It's better to just tell them that there will be more friends.

"Also, PKing seems to be all the rage these days. Don't worry about Elisa's identity, but be wary of any other adventurers."

"All right, brother!"

Now, while we're at it ......, let's do a little more prep work.

I went to the tool shop and bought some more potions, and then headed to the tavern.

It was still early afternoon and the place was sparsely populated, but that didn't matter.

I sat down at the counter and ordered an ale.

"Oh, it's Alec, the slaveholder. How are you doing?"

The man next to me started talking to me.

I don't show up at the tavern often, but it seems that the other adventurers have learned to recognize me from the dungeon, and they don't make fun of me anymore.

I guess an adventurer who repeatedly conquers the third layer of the Labyrinth of No Return is difficult enough to be greeted with a certain amount of respect.

"All good. How's it going over there?"

"Not so good. One of the vanguards got badly injured on the fourth layer, so I'm off today."

"That's unfortunate. By the way, what was the situation on the fourth layer? I'm going to start the fourth layer tomorrow, so I'd like to know what happened."

"Sure. I got stirred up by a strong wind on the suspension bridge and slipped."

"What?"

"Fufu, I knew you'd look at me like that. Well, go to the fourth layer, you'll be surprised, you know"

The smirking warrior looks like he knows what he's talking about.

"Alec, if you're going to the fourth layer, make sure you bring your cloak. It's the middle of winter there. Midwinter."

"You'll need gloves, too."

"Oh, that's right. The first time I went there, my hand got stuck to my shield and I was stuck."

The other adventurers started to talk about the fourth layer, but it didn't seem like they were joking about carrying me.

Well, I'd better be prepared.

"Do you have any interesting stories about recent rookies?"

Once the fourth layer of the conversation had died down, I tried to find out more about the assassin.

"I don't know. A group of noblemen from Portiana was wiped out in one day, but it's a rare story."

"Nobles from other places die quickly."

"Yeah, they don't get it, do they? That dungeon is a real bitch."

I agree that the dungeon is a vicious bitch, but in a day, the third or fourth layer is probably the best, even if it goes smoothly.

Would a spider kill a party of nobles? I'd think they'd have at least a magician with them.

"That's not true. The more capable you are, the more likely you are to die. In the fourth layer."

"Yeah, that's the death layer."

"Alec, you might as well just go play quietly in the third layer. I'm not mocking you. There's plenty of other people like that."

"That's none of your business. I'll go down to fourth layer."

"Kehh, you're all dressed up, you stupid bastard."

I don't think I'm gonna hear about the assassin. Well, it's rare for an assassin to stand out.

"Old man, I'm gonna leave the check here."

"Yeah."

I put the copper coins on the counter and left the tavern.