The inside of the room was, from the lack of a more suitable words, a total mess. The blood of the Bandit, and even his bits and pieces, were literally scattered all over the place. The same could be said about his equipment, or at least the one that wasnt damaged by him erupting into a bloody smear on the floor and nearby walls. The only thing that was in good enough condition to be salvaged was the Copper Sword. I already have one of those myself and dont need a copy, but hey, a deals a deal, so Im going to take whatever I can. I will probably go sell it later when I will have some free time on my hands.
As per our agreement, I will be holding onto this.
Now that everything has been settled, all three of us left the room. Due to the loss of MP from using Equivalent Exchange my body was still in a lot of pain, and now that I have used up the only two MP Recovery Medicines that I bought the only way to fill it back up was to go to the Labyrinth and kill some monsters with Durandal. A hassle for sure, but this time it is a necessary one.
Before you go, please wait a moment.
Alan-san said to us before he went and disappeared inro one of the rooms.
Uhm, master?
Yeah?
I am deeply sorry. Due to my selfishness, you ended up getting badly hurt like that.
No, thats not a problem at all. Besides, what happened to me was not your fault, Roxanne.
The closest group of monsters should be this way.
Roxanne pointed with her finger.
Master? Are you not feeling well?
No, its nothing. I I will fight those monsters, so you just stay behind me, alright?
Damn it all to hell! Roxanne is right in assuming that I am not feeling well in the slightest, but the only way out of this sorry state is for me to kick myself back into high gear and kill as many monsters as I can with Durandal, but is it really going to be safe? I mean, there are monsters roaming the halls out there, so who decided that they wont suddenly charge in here to murder me if they sense me? To be honest, I dont even know what Im thinking anymore. This is the Labyrinth, dangerous, and filled with enemies at every turn. No place is completely safe in here. There is no escaping them, and there is no escaping death. So thats it, huh? Well, if Im going to die, then at least I will die standing.
Mustering every last ounce of energy I had, I left the entrance room.
No! Go the fuck back! Do you have a death wish? You want to die that badly?! No. Whether I go back there or not does not matter. The monsters will eventually come to the entrance room, and since I wont be able to beat them, that place will become my graveyard. And suddenly, as if it heard my internal turmoil, a single Needlewood appeared at the back of the passageway. Run away. Its not too late to run, you can still do it! Just go back to the entrance room and stay there, where no one will be able to harm you! No, theres no time! Even if I run right now, I wont make it in time! I am going to be killed by this basic monster and die a horrible, meaningless death! The patrolling Needlewood is approaching, and it is definitely out for my blood!
But then
I dont even know when it happened, but at some point I must have swung my Durandal at it, killing it in one blow. Was it survival instinct, or perhaps a motion that my body got so used to that it was performing the moves on its own? Well, it does not matter. What matters is that with a bit of MP I have regained, my head got a little bit clearer, and that was a start of my return to full mental health!