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Chapter 18




Chapter 18 \nVol 3: Chapter 18\n
Mimino-san and I left the Foreign Affairs Bureau, and decided to hurry to Rororo Company.
However, as we rushed down the path to the company, Muge-san came from the other side.
「Ngh! Do you know what happened!」Muge-san cried.
While soothing Muge-san who was crying, we returned to his company and met up with Dante-san and Non-san there.
As soon as we returned, Muge-san pointed to the knee part of his boiler suit. It was dirty with red.
「When I went to the Rororo company, this is what happened! They suddenly threw tomatoes at me! While saying, “We won’t pay a single coin to a scammer!” They must have taken apart the automaton and studied the internals before paying the money.」
「But, I’m just glad things didn’t get violent.」
「Wasting tomatoes is pretty much violence!」
「Eh?」
According to Muge-san, he was angry not because his clothes were soiled, but because food was treated poorly. Food is limited in the closed off Empire, and although there are plenty of mushrooms as staple food, vegetables are a luxury item.
Muge-san mainly sells dried meat and vegetables in his caravan, so it seems that they made fun of that and threw tomatoes at him.
「But isn’t it sly to disassemble the product before paying?」Mimino-san asked.
Muge-san nodded greatly.
「That’s right. This goes beyond getting a trade advantage. Since they decided to go down this path, it’s only fair I pay them back for it… Nufufufu…」
A dark flame was lit in Muge-san’s eyes.\n
「Well, all right. So, how did things go on your end, Reiji?」
「About that… I need your help Dante-san.」
「Help?」
I told him about what we heard from Abba. Lulusha-san is suspected of treason and needs proof that she did not neglect the required regular contact.
「Hmm… something smells suspicious.」
「I think so too. But we can’t poke around at the moment. We have to hurry up and find the contacts. Those contacts are the most reliable evidence. I want to dive into the Labyrinth of Fear once again.」
「You think the contacts are still in the labyrinth? Why?」
There is one of two possibilities. The contacts are either outside the labyrinth, or inside the labyrinth.
But I have a feeling they are inside.
Supposing that there is indeed someone behind the shadows trying to frame Lulusha-san, would they do the troublesome thing of calling out to all the contacts who came out of the labyrinth and then hiding them? Even if they did that, it is a roundabout way of doing. Moreover, it would just be “insufficient communication” and would not result in “national treason”. If Lulusha-san had come out of the labyrinth victorious and returned the military force to the state, it wouldn’t have become such a big problem.
The charge of “national treason” was due to the addition of being defeated by an automaton and depleting the military force in vain. It makes sense if you think that those who dislike Lulusha-san took advantage of this situation in the name of having her take responsibility and to try to eliminate her altogether.
If so– the contacts should still be in the labyrinth for some reason.
「But can we still enter the labyrinth again? Muge-san?」
「We can. In fact, other companies may still be diving into the labyrinth.」
「Ah!」\nCome to think of it, we haven’t seen the Golden Brigade after that. Are they still inside the labyrinth?
We discussed and decided to explore the Labyrinth of Fear again tomorrow. …Hmm, I should stop Zerry-san from going to gambling tonight.
**
We acted early the next morning.
Muge-san seems to have stayed up all night, as he was sleeping in Neko-chan’s load carrying tray. I was to drive Neko-chan instead. Muge-san seems to have incorporated some sorcery that he removed from the automaton into Neko-chan.
「She has transformed into “Super Neko-chan”!」he exclaimed proudly.
In addition to the steam engine, auxiliary motive power from magic stones was also added, resulting in an improved torque – but I didn’t really understand the difference.
Driving Neko-chan was surprisingly fun, though she moved slowly as usual.
We took the elevator up the cliff to the entrance of the Labyrinth of Fear. As usual, Mimino-san was afraid of high places and clung to my arm. She didn’t even ask this time… Not that I mind at all.
When we arrived at the human-faced entrance—I remembered.
「That’s right… the smell of blood.」
「What’s wrong, Reiji?」Dante-san asked.
When we entered last time, I remembered that I sensed the smell of blood from the stone statues ahead of us.
「Do you smell it, Zerry-san?」
「Hmm〜 yes, just slightly.」
As soon as Zerry-san said that, her cat ears perked up.\n\n「Mimino-san, rope!」
「Here!」
Mimino-san threw a rope made of ivy from her pocket. I deployed 10【Flower Magic】and branched out the rope into 10 so that it can be entwined around the arms of the stone statues holding the weapons. However, I could only stop 4 statues at most.
「Hoh!」
Zerry-san, who was taking the lead, dodged around the spear and staff that came down from the left and right, and headed for the fallen woman.
「NUOOOOOO!」
Behind us, while protecting Non-san, Dante-san parried a stone statue that was trying to crush him with a shield with his own shield, and repelled a spear blow with a blow of his mace.
「Go through, Reiji!」
「Yes!」
Dante-san, who was closer to the entrance, turned back with Non-san, and at the end of my line of sight, Zerry-san was getting off the passage on the other side while dragging along the fallen woman.
The sound of something tight, like a rope, snapping was heard. The stone statue was probably trying to tear off the rope I used to restrict it with its brute strength.
「Excuse me, Mimino-san.」
「Hah— Wha!?」
I carried Mimino-san with the princess carry pose and started running. I improved my physical ability with【Support Magic】, so the additional weight didn’t hinder my speed.
When I started running, the spear and staff that Zerry-san had evaded through were swung down again, but I slipped through them. The dance practice I had to undertake during my escort job proved useful here. But of course, I never danced while princess-carrying someone.
Mimino-san and I slipped into the passage in the back.