Volume 22 - CH 23

「N-Noo! I don't want to go!」

「H-help me!」

In front of the entrance, the roped off criminals, probably driven by fear, started to rampage.

「Hehe, you'll have to be quiet.」

Damien, the warrior who held the rope as if it were a reel, pulled hard. That was enough to make the criminals stumble and fall.

「Uohh」「Guahh!」「Kyaa!」

「Damien, stop that. If they get hurt before we get there, we'll have to carry them.」

I didn't need to warn him, but Camilla calmly warned him.

「Oops, I shouldn't have do that.」

「Hmph, they're probably sinners and slaves anyway. You should be able to behead them on the way. The people in the castle don't know anyway.」

The little thief guy starts cheating on his job. As soon as he did, the tip of Camilla spear glinted off the tip of his nose.

「Eekkkk!」

「You said your name was Hage. I'm the leader of this party, so remember that. This Camilla of a Thousand Hands will never fail to honor her contract with her client. There will be no such cheating. Is that clear?」

「I-I get it.」

With a drawn face, the little thief man hurriedly nodded his head. In this sense, he's a C-rank at best. I'm a little worried about his ability.

But Camilla has the map, and if we don't get lost, we can make it.

「That's right~. You can't cheat.」

Damien nodded his head happily.

「So, Camilla, what are we going to do about the formation?」

I'll check it out before we enter the dungeon.

「I and Hage the Thief will lead the way, and Damien will be in the second row. Alec, can you take the last row?」

「All right.」

I was thinking the same thing. It would be most natural if the sinners were placed in the middle as guards. It would be troublesome if they were pinned down from both sides, but Camilla and I could cover that.

「Then I'll lower the drawbridge.」

Camilla approached one side of the chain that suspended the drawbridge, the handle around which it was wound, and turned it in a circular motion. There was a thud, and the log bridge hung over the other side.

「Now for the big game of a thousand gold coins! Let's get into it!」

Hage was the first to dash across the bridge, but there was no way he was going to survive.

「Hage! Don't get ahead of yourself! We've got a long way to go, and I've heard there are plenty of traps here. The reward is divided, not first come, first served.」

「Aahh, I know, hehe」

I'd like to punch the guy who's smiling after being scolded in the face to wake him up. Camilla warned him because she was worried about his life, but I don't know if Hage knows that.

「Good grief」.

「Hmmm... That guy needs to be careful.」

Damien seemed to think the same thing as I did, and his smile disappeared, but then, our side of the is just fine.

「H-Hey, you guys know this, right? Once you enter this labyrinth, no one comes back alive. It's better to escape while we can than to die together.」

The sinner in a cold sweat said, but it's no use being an adventurer if you're going to throw away the mission.

「You guys, once you step into the labyrinth, you'd better keep quiet for your own good. You'll attract monsters, I doesn't matter how injured you are, as long as we get you to our destination, our mission is complete.」

When Camilla said this coldly without looking at them, the sinners closed their mouths quietly, though they looked like they were about to cry.

We all finished crossing the drawbridge, but then I heard a presence behind me, so I turned around in alarm. But it wasn't a monster that showed up, but soldiers who were keeping the drawbridge up. They quickly turned the handle and started to raise the drawbridge.

「It's fine to keep the drawbridge up, but when we come back, make sure you put it up properly, okay?」

Camilla also turned around and called out to the soldiers.

「Oh. Don't worry, I'll be back to check on you first thing in the morning.」

The soldier who replied was, despite his words, a bit curt.

Well, with my 【Instantaneous Movement】 and 【Levitation】, this level of digging is manageable.

「If you don't come take a look, I won't let you go for free」

After calling out to the other side of the river, Camilla removed the thick brackets from the door in front of her.

It was a sturdy steel door. It must be very heavy.

The height of the door was about ten meters. It's oddly large for a person to use, isn't it?

「Kghh, what's with this door? It doesn't even budge.」

Camilla, who pushed the iron door, kicked it with her foot in frustration.

「Haha, Camilla, leave the heavy lifting to me! Nnnnngh!」

When Damien stepped forward and pushed the door, it slowly moved open. The iron door scraped and made a deafening metallic sound that sounded like a mixture of a predator's roar and a woman's scream.

「That's enough, Damien. Open it up that far and we can get through.」

「Yeah, sure, phew.」

Beyond the open door, a dimly lit cobblestone passageway stretched straight ahead, the back of which was too dark to see clearly.　

I thought it was quiet, but a warm breeze blew softly from the back, caressing my hair as if to welcome us.

「Then, Let's go in.」

Camilla said, and we took our first steps into the Daedalus's Labyrinth.

We continued down the passage, but there was no sign of monsters.

When we came to a crossroads, Hage said,

「I'll check the traps. You guys wait in the back a bit.」

It's good to see that you know your roles. It's safer for me to go, but, well, I don't want him to get in a bad mood. Let's see what Hage has in store for us.

「Hehe, I knew it. When in doubt, look. If you're suspicious, look, there's a poisoned arrowhead right here.」

Hage proudly pointed to the hole in the wall he had found.

「So, do you think you can disarm it?」

「I'll take care of it. A trap like this would be a piece of cake.」

Hage picked up a white stone that had fallen nearby and tried to push it into the hole, but then he clicked his tongue.

「Tsk, damn, I thought it was light, but it's hard. It's not strong enough. This is it then.」

He picked up the stone again and pushed it into the hole.

「All right! Good.」

「Let's go.」

Camilla seems to have already memorized the map and doesn't hesitate to go to the right of the crossroad.

「There are so few monsters here.」

Hage, who is walking in the lead, murmurs.

We've just reached the end of the road and turned left, but we haven't encountered any monsters yet.

「But I hear they're out there. Don't let your guard down.」

Camilla said, but it's a good idea to have little information.

「What kind of monsters are out there?」

I decided to check it out in detail.

「A slime and a serpent. But I haven't heard their color or type.」

「I can handle a slime. Good for you, guys.」

Damien turned around with a smiling face and said to the sinners tied to the ropes, but some of them seemed to be in the dungeon for the first time, and they were walking around looking around cautiously.

「Hyaahh!」

The loli girl at the end of the line almost fell down, so I used 【Instantaneous Movement】 to support her body.

「Be careful.」

「Y-yes.」

「Oh, man, you're not trying to fall down in an empty space. If you're trying to slow me down, you're going to have to give up, org you're going to get hurt.」

Camilla looked annoyed.

「Well, don't say that, Camilla. That was just her being distracted by her surroundings and not looking carefully at her feet.」

Being on the side of the cute little loli, I said in a gentlemanly manner.

「Hmph, I wouldn't want to be dragged down by her when the time comes.」

「But why would a prince be in a place like this ......」

Hage questioned, and Damien said with a grin.

「You don't know, do you? It's said that the queen had an affair with a cow. I don't know if it's true or not, though, gahaha」

The son of a cow and a human. If that's the case, then that guy is in the back here. ...... No, I think it's best to shut out the earth myths from my mind and forget about them all. If you think it's the same thing and then find out it's actually something else, you'll be too late to deal with it.

Remember "The Labyrinth of No Return" from Grandsword.

There was a time in the first layer when I accidentally assumed that the enemies here were weak and got hurt badly. I'm at a different level now, so I should be able to handle most things, but I still need to keep my adventurer's instincts in check.

「To the right of there, another pair of scissors. But it's a lousy trick. Who would fall for a trap this obvious?」

Hage made fun of it, but sometimes there are iron scissors about fifty centimeters long that are placed on the floor in the passage. If you step on it, it will bite you in the leg and kill you.

The scissors were easy to spot because they were left bare on the cobblestone walkway, but they were quite large and looked sturdy, so we had to be careful not to step on them.

The difficulty of such traps rises as soon as they are combined with combat.

「Hage, don't worry about the trap, just look around for enemies nearby.」

Camilla also said, worried about the possibility of a battle.

「Got it. But I haven't seen a single monster since――」

「Shh!」

Camilla's sharp voice silenced Hage. Everyone stopped and listened carefully, but from the end of the corridor came a sound that sounded like a gee ...... and a maracas that kept rolling.」

「Damn, what the hell is that sound? There's something in there!」

Hage hurriedly pulled out the dagger at his waist and took a stance, but because the passage was dimly lit, he couldn't seem to see the enemy.　

Then I'll give you a hand.