Volume 3 - CH 13

「Let me know as soon as you hear something!」

「Nemu got it-nya!」

Mars is running through the dungeon with Nemu.

His average speed is about fifty kilometers per hour due to the use of 【Body Strengthening】.

This is much faster than the top speed of the world's best short-distance runner.

Nemu's speed, which is a result of her beast blood, was able to keep up with Mars.

If there was a sign of a trap, they would run along the wall to avoid it, and they would jump over any golem they encountered along the way. There was no time to deal with them.

It was not that Mars underestimated Lilia and the others, but to stray from them in the dungeon would mean death.

At worst, they would still be safe if they fled to the treasure room, but that would make it impossible for Mars to find them from the outside.

So surely, Mars thought, Lilia and the others would have chosen to go on their own.

「Lilia, Lilia, Lilia!」

His whole body was sweating from the frustration of what he might lose.

Chills enveloped his entire body even though he was running faster than a human being.

He shouted loudly to get a response from Lilia, and if there was no response, he would continue on without searching.

Ignoring traps, monsters, and every other obstacle in his path, he continues down and down the layers.

Before he knew it, he had gone down about ten layers.

「M-Mars-nyan, Nemu is so tired-nya....」

「B-But Lilia is...!」

「――Calm down-nya! There's no point if you're just feeling impatient-nya!?」

Mars tries to pull Nemu's arm to make her run.

Nemu shakes off his hand, sandwiches both Mars's cheeks with a slap, and admonishes Mars while he is out of breath.

「Nemu-chan ......」

「It's okay-nya. Don't you see that Mars-nyan is not looking out for everyone-nya? Everyone is not so weak that you have to protect them all the time-nya. It would be more dangerous if Mars-nyan gets impatient and does something strange here, don't you think-nya?」

Nemu said to Mars in a tone like a mother lecturing her child, his mouth agape.

Then he stood up tall and hits his forehead.

There was the sweet smell of a girl and the milky smell of a child, with a hint of sweat mixed in.

――I never thought I would be taught by this girl.

Feeling the pain on his forehead, Mars is a little relieved.

「――Yep. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you. I wasn't calm enough.」

Mars can hardly use magic, so the light is as unreliable as a small bulb.

In a dark space with no other lights, it is impossible to search visually.

In other words, the search is almost entirely dependent on Nemu's hearing.

Nemu's burden is therefore overwhelmingly heavier. Naturally, Nemu is also more tired.

He would never have taken such a lead if he were a normal, calm person.

「As long as you understand-nya. We'll take a rest and look for them again-nya. Nemu is exhausted-nya. ......」

Nemu rolls over on the ground and breathes heavily, puffing out her chest.

Mars noticed that he is also breathing heavily.

Mars doesn't even know how many tens of kilometers they ran at fifty kilometers per hour.

It was natural to feel tired, and it would have been a disaster if they had encountered an enemy they could not escape under the circumstances.

Lack of composure would have killed them.

Mars was so upset that he forgot even such a basic rule.

「Let's take a short rest.」

「Nyaa」

Mars put his right arm into the treasure room, took out two bottles of water from inside, and handed one of them to Nemu, who was lying on the floor.

Nemu got up like a spring, grabbed the bottle with both hands, and gulped it down in one gulp.

「It's the most delicious water Nemu has ever tasted-nya. ......」

「I understand......We can't go into the treasury because Lilia and the others might search us too, but let's have something light to eat here. ――I wonder how far Lilia and the others have been dropped.」

「Their voice was very far away-nya. If they fall down and far away, it could be much, much lower-nya.」

Mars, who could not measure the distance from the sound, could not even guess.

He could not find them even after descending ten layers, so he only knew that they had been carried very deep.

「As Nemu-chan said, Lilia and the others are strong. They would not do anything reckless. I am sure they are not advancing toward the lowest layer. They must be coming back this way.」

「Nemu thinks Lilia-nyan would say so, and she thinks Hazuki-nyan would agree with her-nya. So if Nemu and Mars-nyan go down there, we'll see each other again-nya!」

「Fighting......I hope they didn't do that」

「That's not the case-nyaa. ――Maybe we'll all be good friends the next time we see each other-nya!」

Nemu lay down again and made a triumphant pose.

He could not help but think that he was too distracted in the dungeon, but Mars took out a blanket and laid it on the floor, guiding Nemu toward it.

Although her output is strong, Nemu's total energy level is low. He decided that it would be better for her to at least sleep a little.

He then pulls out something nutritious and digestible, and they both eat.

It would be quite a while before the other adventurers caught up.

They have left all the golems and traps they encountered along the way, so it shouldn't be an easy road.

――Well, with Onyx there, they'll be able to manage it.

The only reason Mars was able to neutralize Onyx was because Mars destroyed his weapon, and there is no way the golem would be that sluggish.

Then it should be possible for him to defeat the golem by simple brute force.

「Even if I was called "Aniki" out of the blue ......―Oh, crap, I'm destroying his weapon.」

――He at least has a replacement weapon, doesn't he?

Mars scratches his face with his fingers, feeling bad about what he has done.

◇

「It's rare to be alone with Nemu-chan, isn't it?」

「Nemu is always stuck with Lilia-nyan or Hazuki-nyan. ......」

With Nemu on his back, Mars moves through the dungeon.

This time, he moves at a reasonable speed, but he doesn't move as if he's in a hurry.

The reason he decided to carry Nemu on his back is to reduce Nemu's fatigue and to have her concentrate on the sound.

If they had descended ten layers, the distance between them should have shortened.

If that were the case, he would have to concentrate more on his search, or they might pass each other.

「――!」

「Nyaa.....Nemu believe she heard a voice-nya!」

Nemu's ears twitched and she leaned forward with her hand on Mars' shoulder.

「Lilia and the others!?」

「She doesn't know that much-nya. ......」

「Whatever it is, it means something making noise is close by! Let's hurry a little! Give me directions to the direction of the sound!」

Following Nemu's vague instructions, Mars runs.

Activating 【Body Strengthening】 again, he moves as if bouncing on the rough ground.

「I-I-I-It's shaking! N-Nemu is biting her tongue-nya!」

「Bear with me!」

Nyauuu, With a squealing cry, Nemu manages to point her finger at the ground.

Eventually―

「This time, Nemu heard it-nya! It's Lilia-nyan's voice-nya! ――She's fighting something-nya!」

「Is that true!? Which way!?」

Nemu jumps off of Mars and starts running as fast as she can, and Mars follows her.

As they run in that direction, a familiar voice reaches Mars' ears.

「Kuhh ......! This golem is bigger and stronger than the one we just saw! It is twice as big as the previous one! How can it be so fast with this mass!?」

「And magic don't work! Compared to previous dungeons, I feel so useless here!」

「Its whole body is silver ......, no, platinum! The core is as expected a Thardonix Magic Steel! And with that size, if we can get all of it, we'll have enough for what we want! I'll go for it, Lilia, you get the core!」

――What's that robot-looking thing!?

A slender golem shining silver. Mars' impression is that it's a robot.

In the middle of its chest was a rainbow-colored ore about the size of a child's head.

Lilia and the others scattered, trying not to clump together, and surrounded the golem.

Lucille was hitting it with a war hammer, and Lilia was aiming her bow at the core, but none of them were decisive.

――I don't know if that is the core, but the fact that Lilia and the others keep aiming at it means that they must be sure of something.

「Look out!」

Lucille's attack is dodged just as Lilia shouts, and the golem swings at her on the counter.

An unpleasant moment that sometimes occurs on the battlefield, a moment that is stretched out to seemingly endless lengths.

It is a monstrous phenomenon that occurs when death is imminent.

――I can still make it.

Inhaling a large lungful of oxygen, Mars activates multiple 『Body Strengthening』.

「Get down!」

Mars leans forward even more to reduce air resistance and steps forward with all his might.

With a shudder of air, he pulls out his sword, leaps, and thrusts it toward the golem's core.

Mars himself was like a spear.

He felt the entire blade plunging into the golem and swung it sideways with all his might, leaving it stuck.

He then took hold of Lucille, who slumped to the ground, and broke free from the golem's reach.

In less than a second, it was all over, and the golem stopped, slamming its fist into the empty ground.

「Th-thank you ......」

「You're our comrade. Of course, I'll save you.」

「Comrade ......」

He lowers Lucille to the ground and brings Lilia and Hazuki into view.

Mars finally found Lilia and hugged her so tightly that she almost break.

「Thank goodness......! You're all safe, right!?」

「Yes......! I believed you would definitely come!」

While patting Lilia's head, who hugged him back strongly with a few tears in her eyes, he looked at Hazuki and Lucille as well.

All of them are safe and sound, with only a few scratches at most.

「Let's all go into my treasure room for now. We're done for the day. I want to hear all about it.」

「There is also an adventure story of Useless Hazuki-chan, ...... who surprisingly couldn't do anything」

*sob* Hazuki cries lightly.

Mars could tell that the tension had relaxed and all the emotions had erupted at once.

It was like when a lost child meets their parents.

「No, no, no, this light is not useless. ――But more importantly, why aren't you wearing a skirt?」

「I lent her mine, but it didn't fit around her waist and ripped every time she moved ....... She lost three skirts.」

「I ......couldn't even put on a skirt! And my magic didn't work on the golem. ......!」

Hazuki bemoaned her inability to do anything while her lower body was bare underpants.

The same tension was relaxed in Mars, who couldn't help but laugh as well.