Volume 13 - CH 1

Our departure was delayed a bit due to the meeting with the king, but we headed to the 『Labyrinth of No Retur』" as usual.

―No, Letty and Jouga's faces are getting loose, and we need to tighten up or we're in trouble.

「Anyone who makes a trivial mistake today will be expelled, so keep that in mind.」

「Aahhn!? Brother, that's not true, right, we've come this far together.」

「That's riiight! Hahaa, we're getting in the way because we're starting to feel like we can become aristocrats, aren't we? That's not the way it works.」

Letty made a troublesome assumption.

「It's noisy. The nobleman's invitation came up, but I formally refused.」

「Wha!? Ueeh―What a waste. Why would you turn it down?」

「You felt like screaming in the throne room today, didn't you?　I think that happens every month when you're a nobleman.」

「Ah, that's impossible.」

「I don't want to be so formal either.」

「Me neither.」

「Besides, I'm the one who's always saying that. You'll die if you get carried away in the dungeon.」

「Yes, yes, I know.」

「Okay, let's keep our heads up!」

「Okay!」

Just as I regained my usual energy, the soldier guarding the entrance to the labyrinth called out to me.

「Hey, Alec. Isn't there anywhere else to go here?」

「There's some treasure I missed on the way. I'm going to pick it up.」

「I see. But I never thought you'd make it to the top. Everyone was surprised.」

「I'm sure they were. You were betting on it?」

「Yeah, I had to buy you two drinks.」

The soldier shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

「'Cause you wouldn't bet against me.」

「Not at all. Well, be careful there.」

「Yeah」

「That old man was always talking like he was favoring you, but he didn't bet on you? I don't get it.」

As Jouga said, it's one thing to hope that this guy will win, but it's another thing to predict the real winner.

I like that soldier for his honesty. It would be nice to give him a few gold coins as a parting gift.

We're going down the stairs.

「Master, behind you. The two parties that were waiting for us earlier are coming with us.」

Meena tells me in a whisper.

「Yeah. That's right.」

I've noticed it too. When they saw us, they got up and started moving. And they didn't call out to us. So we're thinking they are is an assassin.

「What do we do?」

Serina asks me.

「Just keep go――」

Just as I was about to say, "Just keep going," the party attacked us.

「Alec, brace yourself!」

「I got that black armor!」

I thought the nobles had sent them, but it looks like they're just PKs looking for treasure.

「All right, Meena, I'll handle this.」

「Sure, Master.」

I stopped Meena from trying to stop the warrior from slashing at me, and I took the sword head on.

However, there is no defense.

There was a slash sound, and blood flowed from my neck. You're pretty good at hitting the vital points, aren't you? Well, there's also the fact that I haven't moved an inch.

「I got it! All right! I've got the A-ranked bastard! Hahahahahaha! "The Black Cat of the Wind" is nothing special! It's easy to catch 'em off guard!」

The warrior who's using the crescent moon (scimitar) shows an excited smile.

「Congrats.」

I give him a quick word of praise.

「W-What is it? No, why doesn't he fall down!? Damn, this guy!」

As expected, it hurts for me to be slashed continuously, so I use the [Ice Javelin] to freeze the warrior's arms.

「Uwahh, E-eeekkk! M-My arm, my arm is!」

The warrior screamed when he saw his iced arm.

I did a quick [appraisal], and it looks like there's no connection. It's just a C-rank party.

But how did they think that a level 22 could defeat a top ranker?

「Not many C-rankers have ever hurt me, Collins. I commend you. Now your party, the Iron Hyenas, will be famous.」

「Well, all of your friends are already dead, though.」

Saki said coldly, and Collins looked around.

All the other warriors were slumped over on the spot, bleeding. It was an instant kill by my party members.

「A-Ah, no, ...... this is more of a joke.」

「Oh. You kill people with a joke? That sounds like a pretty fun joke. I'll go along with you.」

With a refreshing smile.

「N-no, no, thank you.! You don't have to go along with me. Please forgive me.」

「Like I'll do that, asshole.」

I stabbed him roughly with my sword. I'm not going to let you kill me when you're trying to kill me.

This is a problem that can't be solved with an apology.

「Hey Alec! Are you......safe?」

A soldier running down the stairs to check on me stopped and looks at me suspiciously and asks me if I'm okay.

「I'm fine. I'll deal with these guys, but ......」

「Yeah. It would have been nice if they'd attacked us on the surface, anyway.」

The soldiers grimaced looking at the corpses below.

I guess it's too much trouble to carry the bodies up to the surface.

「The name of the party is "Iron Hyenas". You know the situation, right?」

「Don't worry. I saw and heard them come after you. It's their fault, no matter how you look at it.」

「So I'm gonna burn this place to the ground, Is that all right?」

「Oh, that'll be easier if you clean it up. Go ahead, Alec.」

I have him carry the corpse to the end of the passageway and set it on fire with【Firewall Lv5】.

This is a wide passage, so it won't interfere with the other adventurers.

「Okay, let's go!」

The other party of pursuers is looking at the flames burning there with a creepy look on their faces.

「I guess it's a not good idea to be famous. It's a little depressing to see something like that pop up every now and then, isn't it?」

「I guess so.」

We'll have to think of a security system, maybe we'll assign a guard to watch the surrounding of the inn, and have the second guard take turns. Well, even if we're up against a strong enemy, as long as they warn us or Ada that they're coming! That's all we need.

「I'll take the night watch.」

Hannah said, but even vampires need to sleep during the day.

「I'll have the second team take turns keeping watch. Don't worry, Hannah.」

「Okay.」

「Yeah, but I'd love it if you'd take a special look around my bedroom.」

「I'll have to pass on that, Alec.」

Smiling Hannah is too flawless.

「Geez, you're really pervert.」

「Well, It's Alec.」

「Ah, I'll... I'll... I'll look around Alec's room.」

「No, Luka-san, just on the days you're on duty. I'll keep an eye on him.」

With Meena watching over me, I'll be safe in my room.

「Master, the other party from earlier is coming after us.」

As Meena announced, we drew our swords and took up our fighting stance.

A warrior came running at us with a *clank, clank* sound, but he didn't draw his sword and I didn't feel any killing intent.

「Hey, don't do that, Hank, it's annoying.」

His companions who were chasing him were also shouting.

「Uhm, Alec-san, wait, I'm not the enemy! My name is Hank! *inhale*, *exhale*」

Hank stopped right there and then, but if he can't catch his breath after something like that, he's not ready yet. He's not even equipped yet.

「What do you want?」

「Congratulations on reaching the ninth layer! I also heard about the "Immortal King" and the "Calamity"! Alec-san is the adventurer of my dreams. I want to be like you someday! Ah, uhh, I-I'm rooting for you!」

The serious-looking Hank was nervous, but he said it all the way through.

「Oh. Good luck to you too, Hank. Don't let your guard down.」

「Yes! Thank you very much!」

With Hank and his friends bowing, we walked off.

「Hmm, being famous wasn't all bad.」

「Yeah, it was.」

I'm a little tickled.

Yeah, it's not all bad.