Chapter 26

Chapter 26 \nVol 3: Chapter 26\n

「Mimino, Non, quickly!」

Dante-san ran behind them. I was at the very back, riding on Neko-chan.

Immediately after Non-san and Mimino-san jumped into the next passage, the first one of the feeler geckos jumped at me.

I hit it with【Fire Magic】on the snout. It fell to the ground, screaming and squirming.

「Ugh, disgusting.」

Leon had also pulled out his longsword before I realised, and with a gentle swing, a gecko’s body was cut in half. Pebbles poured out of its long intestine track and the stomach. Are they eating the cliff perhaps?

At any rate, Leon’s swordsmanship was amazing. He pierced the top of the head of one gecko and with a flowing motion he slashed another that jumped at him.

The flow of his movements seemed almost like steps in a dance—I realised that this was the strength of a Gold-rank.

And of course, the strength of his weapon also played a part. A sharp-bladed longsword that slices a body cleanly in half even if it contains stones. The sword doesn’t seem to contain Mithril, but it’s not any ordinary metal, either.

「Reiji, hurry!」Dante-san called.

「Neko-chan is doing its best!」

Spreading out【Fire Magic】all around as I proceeded through made me feel as if I were a pyromaniac. A crowd of geckos just stared at Neko-chan from a long distance, probably because they learned that they would be hit with fire.

Dante-san stood at the entrance of the passage with his shield. I slipped through the side and entered the passage with Neko-chan.

「UOOOOHH!」

Dante-san swung down the heavy mace on the ground. Some of the geckos were overturned by the impact. The tremors of the ground travelled across, causing even the geckos on the wall to fall.

「Dante-san, should I block the passage?」

「Let’s proceed further. If they keep following, then please do!」

「Roger that!」\n

I can erect a wall by using【Earth Magic】, but if I do so, it will get in the way when we backtrack.

The passage had already turned from the natural cave back to a dungeon. I watched the passage for a while, but the geckos did not follow after us.

「Phew… What the hell were those things? And that car… it’s too slow.」

Leon said with a half smile, so I made 10 fireballs appear in both hands in response.

「Hey, hey, that’s just a joke! Dante, this kid is crazy!」

「Didn’t I tell you before, that Reiji is stronger than me?」

I doubt I’m stronger than Dante-san, but regardless of that, it seems that those words had an effect on Leon, as he was slowly distancing himself from me. I don’t care if it’s me, but making fun of Neko-chan is not something I will let slide.

「Come here. There’s something written on the wall.」

Zerry-san, who was at the forefront, noticed first.

Like a picture at an exhibition, there were small line arts on the wall and writings underneath.

The first picture was of two women with their backs to each other…I think? I couldn’t read the writings. It seemed like ancient language, but I have never learned that.

(…But thinking carefully, I can remember everything with【World Ruler】, so if I try earnestly to decipher ancient language, I might be able to do it. Muge-san can read a little, so let’s ask him when we return.)

While thinking about that, I looked at the next picture.

The second picture was 8 circles arranged at equal intervals, and since there were 2 sets, it was 16 circles in total.

Next – A man who goes through a door.

Next – A man who is at a loss about what to do.

Next – 9 doors.

Next – 9 doors which seemed to be open.

And the final one, the first two women faced each other this time, and their extended hands were touching.\n「Doesn’t make one bit of sense to me.」

Dante-san said decisively. I agree. I don’t understand, either.

No one here could read the ancient language, so we just skimmed through the pictures.

「Hmm… I had high hopes for the “Truth”, but this doesn’t make any sense.」Mimino-san said.

「Mimino-san, do you want me to copy the contents here?」

「Mhm… It does not seem like the secrets of automatons, but more so like history, so I don’t think this knowledge will be useful to me.」

Certainly. We can’t know if this was the “Truth” that was written on the “lip”.

After that, we proceeded through the labyrinth. Although Leon’s addition took more out of the food reserve, we originally prepared enough preserved foods to last for more than a week, and we also have the water from【Convenience】, so we should be able to survive for another week.

The labyrinths in the past took 3 days at the shortest and 5 days at the longest to explore all over.

When the pocket watch indicated it was nighttime, it was time to go to bed. The lookout was the same as when we were back in the forest, we slept and looked out on a rotation basis.

「ーThat said… Dante, I…」

「—You have always been… and even now…」

I woke up in the middle of the night. It was time for me to take turns as the lookout. I overheard Dante-san and Leon talking about something at a distance. Even with【Hearing Enhancement】, I couldn’t hear it, so they were probably speaking in a fairly quiet voice.

「Kuwaa… Dante-san?」

I yawned on purpose and called out.

「…Is it time to change?」

「That’s right.」

Then Leon went away and lied down.

「…………」\n\n「Like hell I will! This woman has previously cheated me off my money in gambling!」

「Gambling and labyrinth exploration are different. You can’t even differentiate something so simple, that’s why you suck at gambling.」Zerry-san snapped in response.

「What did you say!?」

「Stop, both of you.」

Zerry-san was also fanning the flames, so Dante-san had to intervene.

「Reiji, what will you do?」Dante-san asked, with a troubled look.

I studied Zerry-san’s face in an attempt to find out what her true intentions were.

「Hmm? Oh my, bocchan. Haven’t I already told you that my body belongs to you?」

She said such a gross thing. This cat beastman is now certified as evil.

「If it’s just scouting ahead, then I will go take a look. At any rate, my purpose here is not some dubious treasure, but to capture the labyrinth.」

「Hmm… you’re right. Then, you both go ahead.」

「Oi, Dante!」

Leon barked out, but in the meantime, I got off from Neko-chan and entrusted it to Mimino-san – who seemed to have wanted to ride Neko-chan, as she happily climbed in – and moved forward with Zerry-san.

As we proceeded through the fog, I couldn’t even hear Leon’s voice, who should have been yelling back there. How strange… this fog was supposed to be a normal fog. I wonder if it has a mechanism to mute the surrounding sound by circulating mana.

「Bocchan.」

I heard Zerry-san call out from beside me.

「What is it?」

「We can’t trust Leon.」

Zerry-san looked down at me as I stopped walking. No matter how tall I grow, Zerry-san is still taller.

「I know. Leon is lying.」I replied.