CH 22

Chapter 22 – Yorha and Her Hardships

“…A floor boss who is skilled with the sword and is intelligent, huh…”

Normally, the only difference between a floor boss and the average monster, was their strength.

If you took that away, there was no real notable difference. On rare occasions, a monster might have something resembling intelligence, but nothing close to what Loki was suggesting.

…On top of that, being skilled in terms of swordsmanship…

“Indeed, that is one thing I will have to see in order to believe it.”

If one considered everything that had been established as fact, then their reaction would be that it was ‘impossible.’

Still, this was the dungeon city of Fezel.

And deep down. The 64th floor.

So it should not be too strange if there was something here that was different from the norm. If anything, perhaps it should be expected.

…But there was another thing to consider.

“Hey, Yorha. To be honest, how much can we even trust him?”

He seemed to have business with Clashia next, as he had taken her to the side and seemed to be whispering the next part of his plan to her.

Clashia did not hide her distaste, but as always, Loki seemed like he barely noticed.

I took the opportunity to then ask Yorha about him.

“In terms of his personality, he cannot be believed. But he can be relied on…I suppose.”

“What do you mean?”

“Two years ago, he was the leader during a raid in the Arkana dungeon. And he did not let a single person die. That’s why I think he can be relied on.”

The Arkana dungeon.

It was a special dungeon with one floor that appeared somewhere in the world just once every year. It was said that in terms of difficulty, it would be the same as the 80th floor of the Fezel dungeon. That is, if an 80th floor even existed.

Because of this, multiple parties joined for a ‘Raid.’ In other words, they were special dungeons where these large scale attacks were recommended.

Even I knew of the existence of the Arkana dungeons.

I also knew that most of the people who participated in them were from S-Rank parties that tended to be rather unique. And in spite of them being called raids, there was not much unity among the parties.

And yet not a single person had died.

That was why Yorha trusted him in a way.

“Besides, the leader of Loki’s party has a good reputation. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons that the Guild Master was quick to assemble a rescue party.”

So even if Loki could not be trusted, the leader could.

“S-Rank party Reculoma. I’m sure you’ve heard of the name, Alec.”

Indeed, I had heard it before. Particularly the story as to how the party was formed. It was quite famous.

How their members were a surprisingly good match, and they formed a party on the spot… The name of the party was even taken from the first part of their names.

Unfortunately, I had never met the leader, but the name alone made me think of someone with human empathy.

“…Well, it’s not like he told me to go and die, and if you agree with him, Yorha, then I will just follow orders.”

Besides, this was still much more tolerable compared to the times I worked in dungeons as a Court Magician.

The worst enemy was an inept ally.

I had experienced this first hand, and so I even felt a little lucky in the current situation.

“Hey, Ornest.”

“Eh?”

I called to Ornest, who was folding his arms and standing some distance away.

For a moment, I had thought he was sleeping, as his eyes were closed.

“Well, it looks like I’ll be fighting with a sword. And so…though it’s been awhile, why don’t we do ‘that’?”

“Hah!”

In spite of not saying it clearly, Ornest understood what I meant in an instant. And he burst into a smile.

“Hey, hey. Don’t be reckless, Alec. You haven’t done this for awhile, right? If we do it, then I won’t hold back, alright?”

“Of course. That’s what I expect.”

I said matter-of-factly as Ornest slowly walked towards me while chuckling.

“…Even after four years, you’re still going to do it.”

Yorha said with a sigh. However, in spite of her exasperation, there was no strength in her voice.

I suppose she had given up.

“I heard that, Yorha. You do realize we’re in a dungeon?”

Yorha glared at him angrily, but Ornest just shrugged.

“Since we’re here, we might as well have some fun.”

Even though I had started it, he could be a little more serious.

Were I in his position, I would have hesitated at least.

Then Yorha turned to me.

“It will turn into a competition, that way.”

She grumbled.

Ornest wanted to use all of his power and enjoy his time here. He would insist that he worked best when competitive. For this reason, whenever there was a reason for me to use a melee weapon, we would ‘compete.’

Or make a wager.

“That’s our Alec. He knows how to enjoy a dungeon!”

The rules were simple.

Whoever collapsed first was the loser.

A meathead rule measuring endurance alone.

As for the winner, they could decide what the loser’s punishment would be.

In the past, I had always asked Clashia to decide when Ornest lost. The results of this could be rather extreme. It was a high risk, high reward kind of game.

I could still hear Ornest’s screams.

However, it was true that there was some part of me that wanted to see it again.

After all, since I was the one who suggested it, I had to win no matter what.

“You better be ready, Ornest.”

“Hehe. Well, in spite of what I said earlier, I could be generous with you, since you’ve been out of action for a while. Just say that I win by default.”

“…Huh. How would that benefit me?”

“Tsk. You noticed.”

“Hah…”

Yorha shrugged her shoulders and sighed. But it was quickly erased by Ornest’s gleeful laughter.