Volume 11 - CH 5

A voice from the other side of the door.

"Oh, we're――"

"Wait, Jouga."

He was about to reply, but I stopped Jouga with my hand and silenced him.

Because next to him, Luka had completely stopped moving. She had even stopped breathing.

"Luka, Luka!"

I called out in a whisper.

"Ah, aah."

"You're sure this voice is Hannah, right?"

I check with Luka.

It's the person who called out from behind the door.

"I'm pretty sure it's her. But ......"

"Alright, I'll let you talk to her, as promised. But don't open the door yet. Okay?"

"Ok."

I put Luka in front of me, and let her be flanked by Serina and Ione. Both of them, of course, have their swords drawn and are ready for battle.

Meena and Jouga are placed behind Luka.

This way, if she opens the door and rushes in, we can surround her and fight her.

"Hey, is there someone there?"

"...... Ah, yeah, I'm here!"

Luka replied. She seemed to be quite nervous, but she was able to give a good answer. I think I can trust her with this.

"I'm glad. Suddenly encountering a battle can make you panic. But that voice, ......, are you Luka?"

The woman on the other side asks.

"Yeah. It's me, Hannah."

"...... Yes, you're alive"

"I'm glad you're okay, too. Ugh, I thought ......"

Luca rubs her eyes with tears in her eyes.

"What about Lloyd? Do you know where he is?"

Hannah asked.

"I know. He's fine. But he's retired."

"Yeah. Of course."

"Hannah, Irving and everyone else is ......."

"No, you and Lloyd are the only ones who made it out. Everyone else is dead."

"...... Is that so. I see."

"Hey, can you open this up for me? I want to see your face."

"Y-yeah."

Luka turned and looked at me, but I shook my head.

"Before that, ask her what's going on with Hannah."

I whispered to her.

"Okay. Hannah, what did you do after that?"

"That's ...... you, what have you been up to?"

"I waited at the rendezvous point for three days, and when no one showed up, Lloyd and I went up to the surface, asked a friend to help me organize a party, and went back down. But we couldn't find anyone. I had no choice but to form a new party, and now I'm in the Black Cat of the Wind."

""Black Cat of the Wind"? I've never heard that name before."

Luka bit her lower lip when she heard that. We're a well-known clan now, and the only adventurers who don't know us are newcomers or people who don't pay attention to information.

Hannah was the leader of the Silver Scorpions, a cautious party, and there was no way she could have neglected to gather information about us.

I knew her well, because Luka had told me about her.

In other words, the current Hannah is not Hannah that Luka known.

"Luka? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything bad."

"I-I know. they're a good party. They have a ability, and they're all really nice people. There are a few weirdos, though."

"Is the leader reliable?"

"Yeah, he's reliable. Alec is."

I held up my index finger to signal her to keep it to herself. I don't want to give away too much information.

"What's the arrangement?"

"Uh, let's see."

"Ah, ...... well, it's a little late for that, isn't it? All right, let's just split up here. Tell Lloyd I'm sorry. I'll leave some gold here for you. We'll split it between you and Lloyd. Okay, bye."

"Wait, Hannah!"

Tsk, Luka's opened the door.

"Luka: ......"

On the other side of the door was a lightly armored rapier user.

She looks like a normal human. She had long, golden hair and a well-defined face. A pale face.

The gentle-eyed woman sheathed her rapier, smiled, and held out her hands.　

As if to say, "Come on, come here."

"Don't go! Luka!"

I said to Luka, who took a step toward her as if she were being drawn to her.

She jumped and stopped. It doesn't look like she's in a state of fascination. I checked her status, and it's normal.

"You must be Alec."

"That's right, but who are you now, Hannah?"

I ask quietly.

"I'm, well, I'm just Hannah for free now. Hannah with the Twin Sword. I'm a solo."

"I heard from a source that there is a solo adventurer who is PKing in this eighth layer. Is that you?"

"No."

Hannah immediately denied it.

"Don't play dumb. You must have been ranked B. You think you've become good enough to solo in a short period of time?"

"Yeah, I don't know how to explain that. .....Can I come in?"

"No, you can't. You'll have to explain it to me first."

"Hmmm, okay. As you've probably heard from Luka by now, I was ready to die that day when our party was "destroyed". But I managed to escape. I got away with it."

"That's good. But why don't you come up to the surface?"

"I tried to get up there. But I'm not good in the sunlight. I thought you already understood that.　I'm a vampire――"

"Bullshit!"

Luka shouted, interrupting Hannah's words.

"How can that be! Hanna is the strongest adventurer. There's no way you can lose to a vampire!"

"Yeah, calm down, Luka. I'm not defeated by a vampire, and I'm not the strongest."

"T-then."

"No, I've been vampirized. I found the golden treasure chest, and I knew it was trap, but I opened it anyway."

There's even a trap to turn you into a vampire.

That's scary. I'll have to get Saki the Thief to take the resistance skill later.

"Why!? You'd never do that. ...... Were you planning to die?"

"Yes. I sent my friends to their deaths. I didn't want to be the only one left alive."

"No way. I'm still alive!"

"Yes, you are. But I've become a resident of the world of death. Alec, take care of Luka for me."

Hannah looked me in the eye and asked.

"I understand. I'll take care of her."

"Bye, Luka. It was really nice to see your face. Take care."

"W-wait."

"Luka, it's promise."

"Kkhh, I-I haven't done that yet."

Promise with Luka.

If Hannah doesn't respond to her persuasion, we'll fight.

Hannah is about to leave, and part of me wants to just let her go.

But I'm dealing with PK Solo, who the king is concerned about.

If we leave her like this, another adventurer might lose their life at any moment.

"Combat ready! That's an order."

"Alec!"

If we're not careful, Luka might join Hannah's side, which is not a good situation.

But it's not a good situation if we take our time.

"It can't be helped......"

Hannah also pulled out the rapier of her twin swords.

"Back off, Luka."

"Khhh."

Just when I was about to order the battle to begin.

"Oi! Get that woman! Don't let her get away!"

I could hear Esclados shouting from the passage behind Hannah.

Well, if Esclados can take care of it, then there's no harm done.

I was about to leave it to him, but a female swordsman in green robes appeared and suddenly slashed Hannah.

"Agkhh!"

"Hannah!"