Chapter 32: 32. Suspect the Pinkie

The young lady of the house never stopped talking for even a moment, as if she had a motor installed in her mouth.

"I looked into you, and I heard that was your first time entering a dungeon? How are you so strong? Is there really something in the Eastern Continent? Aren't you actually some kind of weapon secretly raised by a high-ranking Eastern family?"

"When you say you looked into me..."

Perhaps she did have some sense of propriety, because the young lady cautiously watched my reaction.

"I-I couldn't help it... There were people trying to assassinate me, so I had no choice but to investigate thoroughly... And you killed Ethan, too..."

"I'm fine with it, my lady. I only asked because I heard the news rather late."

"Right? I'll tell you everything!"

...Could a person's mood really swing around this much?

In an instant, the young lady brightened up and began chattering again.

"I never imagined Ethan was a traitor! He'd been my attendant for years..."

"Ethan would be...?"

"The one with the small eyes!"

Would it kill her to explain things this simply all the time?

I understood immediately.

"Did you find out who this Ethan person really was?"

The young lady's expression darkened again.

"No... No matter how thoroughly we investigated, his past and the records from when he began working are exactly the same. A high-ranking noble guaranteed his identity, too. He's definitely the same person, but..."

Even with the duke's household resources, they couldn't find anything suspicious...

I had a feeling I had gotten tangled up in something enormous.

Still, nothing would change even if the young lady and I racked our brains over it right now.

Once both of us fell silent, the Guildmaster cautiously spoke up.

"My lady, may I explain the operation outline?"

The young lady came to her senses and nodded.

"Hah! Ahem! Begin!"

"Yes, understood."

The Guildmaster cleared her throat once and spoke.

"Welcome, future heroes selected for the 214th Lumen Labyrinth Assault Team trials. My name is Sylvia Lumenin. As Guildmaster and the representative of Lady Hilda Ain Velatus, I will be guiding you."

When the Guildmaster opened the door, armored knights filed into the room.

Step, step. Snap!

The knights lined up at ease and stared forward with solemn expressions.

Among them, a female knight with pink hair happily waved at me.

...What? She's waving at me?

Despite standing out all by herself like that, nobody reprimanded her.

As I stared closely at her, struck by a sense of familiarity, the Guildmaster continued her explanation.

"The apprentice knights standing here will attend to your needs during your labyrinth expedition. That is the first benefit."

The apprentice knights pulled boxes out of their subspace storage and neatly lined them up beside us.

"The House of Duke Velatus will sponsor all essential supplies and equipment."

The Guildmaster took out beads one by one from her subspace storage and handed them to us.

"These are Dark Goblin Essences. Their skill is [LV.1 Night Vision]. They allow you to see through darkness."

...I'd expected something when they said they were giving us essences, but this was an even more useful skill than I had imagined.

They were handing these out before we had even begun?

The young lady, gazing indifferently at the essence beside me, suddenly looked very different.

Turns out, if you're going to be a servant, you should serve a rich household.

"These benefits will remain in effect through the twentieth floor, and additional compensation will be paid based on your performance. Magic crystals, corpses, and essences acquired within the dungeon may be divided freely. An emergency rescue team will remain on standby until you finish your expedition. From the twenty-ninth onward, if you fail to return, they will deploy immediately."

Finally, the Guildmaster gave a bitter smile.

"One last message from the young lady. Ahem. 'Don't disappoint me.'"

Watching the Guildmaster imitate even her flat tone of voice, I thought:

...Of course, my lady.

**

[You have acquired the skill [LV.1 Night Vision]!]

I felt stuffed... Like the first time I'd gone to an all-you-can-eat buffet, I swept resources into my subspace storage.

Clink...

A sword, too, along with a skill.

Then another yellow bead flew toward me.

Whoosh! Tap!

The young lady grinned at me.

"You eat it! I've already eaten lots of them!"

In other subculture media, the rich friend was always the villain, but our young lady was different.

As though she intended to squeeze every last drop out of the debt she owed me for saving her life, she was taking an immense interest in me.

She was adorable... I could barely hold back a smile.

"Thank you very much, my lady."

"Hah... Hmph! I only ate too many essences, that's all!"

How could our young lady even deliver the perfect closing line?

The moment I smiled and swallowed another essence...

[LV.2 Night Vision]

Starting today, the young lady and I were no longer merely in a patron-client relationship...

Zenin looked at us and muttered quietly.

"Grrr... My lady..."

Magna, meanwhile, looked as though she wasn't thinking about anything at all...

And so, we set off for the labyrinth.

**

When we entered the restricted labyrinth entrance, everyone's attention turned toward us.

"Hey, isn't that person...?"

"Shh, shh! Blonde hair! Blue eyes! Velatus, Velatus!"

"A barbarian? But those priest's robes..."

"The one who used to go around with Arin... Huh? That's him, right? That face!"

It seemed the rumors had already spread far and wide. Quite a lot of people recognized me.

I'd already informed the Blue Tower Lord, so I had nothing to feel guilty about.

I simply walked forward with my head held high. Then, once everyone joined hands and entered the dungeon...

"Hah! Fireball!!!"

Whoosh! Boom~

...?

Zenin made a huge fuss as he blasted a Horn Rabbit to pieces.

Looking at the Horn Rabbit, evenly roasted inside and out, Zenin jingled his accessories and held his nose high.

Jingle~

"The way ahead is safe, my lady~ Haha!"

"What? I can handle something like that too! Are you looking down on me?"

"N-no, that's not it..."

What I wanted to say at times like this was...

"What a fucking mess."

I had a feeling Magna and I would get along well.

**

[Level Up!]

Needless to say, this overpowered party reached the portal to the fifth floor with absurd ease.

I marveled at my vision. It wasn't bright, but I could see without any inconvenience.

They're giving out this skill for free?

The incredible newbie growth-support package sent a thrill through me.

Nothing had ever gotten off to a smooth start for me in my original world...

We reached the portal leading to the sixth floor in just seven hours.

Traps didn't begin until the seventh floor, and this was the result of clearing the previous floors at top speed.

This speed without even cutting through walls... and the monsters were even in a heightened berserk state.

There was a reason the duke's household had picked these people.

Our teamwork was a little lacking, though...

"We need to rest."

"Huh? Barbarian! You're already dragging your feet on just the fifth floor?! What a pathetic woman~"

"Shut your mouth, you mangy dog, unless you want to be flattened into the floor."

Zenin's brow creased.

"I'll kill you, you uncouth brute!"

"You'll be sleeping with a corpse..."

She really was damn unpleasant to look at.

Apparently, the young lady felt the same way.

"Hey! Will you two shut up already?!"

"M-my lady..."

"Phew..."

The young lady looked up at me.

"What do you think? Should we rest first?"

We had reached the fifth floor incredibly quickly anyway.

There was plenty of time left until the thirtieth. Wouldn't it be better to avoid unnecessary variables?

"I think resting would be best."

The young lady planted a hand on her hip.

"You heard him, Je...ral? Jeral! We're resting first!"

"Grrr!"

"Phew..."

With the matter swiftly settled, Zenin vented his temper on the apprentice knight assigned to him.

"Why are you just standing there? Move out of the way, now! Just you wait if this isn't level!"

"...Yes."

I helped the knight setting up a folding chair at my spot.

"Let me help you."

"Haha, thank you~"

The pink-haired knight who had waved at me earlier had been assigned to me.

It felt like she alone had been drawn in a slightly different art style.

When I glanced at her again...

"Hm? You're making me embarrassed by staring like that!"

"Ah, sorry."

What was this unsettling feeling?

For now, I helped the knight set up two spots.

"Rest here for a bit."

"Hm? Oh... Thank you!"

The young lady looked curiously at the knight and me.

"Hee, you're really kind, aren't you?"

"Haha..."

The only reason I helped was because I'd heard this was a selection trial earlier.

I doubted they'd mark someone as an assault team member from their very first labyrinth expedition.

Wouldn't these knights be evaluating us? That was why I was just making a little effort to earn their favor.

I handed some dried rations to the knight sitting beside me.

"This is jerky made in the Eastern Continent. Would you like some?"

"Oh~ It looks really delicious."

Was she just someone whose way of speaking was a little frivolous?

Thinking that might be all it was, I nodded. Then the young lady hopped in front of me.

"Jang Ryu-o! Me too, me too!"

Since things had come to this, I gave jerky to everyone except Zenin, who was still in a foul mood.

Chewing on the jerky, Magna spoke.

"Good male."

Should I not have told her to speak casually?

I didn't have the courage to tell her that she was a good female too, so I merely nodded.

"Uh... thank you."

"That's right! Jang Ryu-o is a good man!"

"Grrr!"

...I held some jerky out to Zenin as well.

"Have some. Don't just sit there like that."

"Hah, something like that..."

"What? Something like that?"

"I-I'll eat it gladly! Hoho~"

Zenin changed his attitude in an instant.

Elementary schoolers could never stand up to middle schoolers.

Still, seeing him try so hard, he didn't seem like a bad person by nature...

Was this the difference education made?

Anyway...

Peaceful and nice...

Feeling glad that things were peaceful inside a labyrinth... What a ridiculous thought.

And so, we restored our stamina.

In a genuinely pleasant atmosphere.

**

In the bustling streets of the Eastern Continent stood a shop that looked as if it had a sign saying, We're Open for Business as Usual.

"Oh, woe is me~ Woe is me!"

It was already ruining the street's appearance, and with those mournful cries added in, passersby frowned.

But she looked so pitiful that everyone simply ignored her.

Sima Yeon, proprietor of Chwihyangru, was crying again today...

"My three-inch tongue is what brought Chwihyangru to this state! Oh, woe is me~"

If she had the energy to howl like that, she ought to clean up some of the scattered wreckage... Tsk, tsk.

Then, the people clicking their tongues began retreating into nearby shops as though they had seen the Grim Reaper.

The surroundings fell silent in an instant, and a shadow fell across Sima Yeon's face.

Gulp, gulp!

"Eeeek!!!"

With the skin beneath her eyes darkened black, Cheon Hwayeong stood before Sima Yeon while chugging straight from a bottle.

As always, Sima Yeon immediately prostrated herself and awaited judgment.

First the Goddess of Calamity, and now the King of Hell... Sima Yeon was truly cursed with terrible luck.

"H-Heavenly Demon..."

A tired voice reached Sima Yeon's trembling ears.

"Phew... Where is that bastard?"

Sima Yeon instantly understood who that bastard was.

Where else would he be? By now, he would be at Arin's residence...

No... Mister Yu from the oil shop definitely said...

Mister Yu had been delighted when he said that the man who worked as a server had bought a huge amount of oil.

Therefore...

"The labyrinth! He went to the labyrinth!!"

When it mattered, Sima Yeon's mind worked quickly, and she roughly deduced Ryu-o's location.

Believing that if she survived this time, somehow everything would work out.

Calling upon Yuanshi Tianzun, Sima Yeon prayed and prayed that she would get away with only losing one wrist.

As she slightly held out her left hand, squeezed her eyes shut, and waited...

"...?"

When she cautiously raised her head, the King of Hell was gone. Only dust drifted through the air.

"Gasp... I-I lived."

Was it Sima Yeon's victory, since she had survived?

Perhaps nobody knew.

**

After our brief rest ended...

"Then we'll get going. I'll enter first."

I took the lead with a sword in my right hand.

Before entering, I planned to secretly cut off the portal and steal it away.

Then the pink-haired knight stepped in front of me.

"I'll do it~"

I couldn't allow that. I simply grabbed the knight's hand and pulled her back.

Whoosh.

"???"

"It's for concentration training."

"? Yes?"

I just nodded with a solemn expression, and the knight moved to the back on her own.

Perhaps she assumed that was simply how Easterners were.

Naturally, we formed a line with me at the front...

"We're going in."

Plunge!

I thrust in the hand holding my sword and counted four seconds.

Two, one... now.

The instant a portal fragment entered my inventory, we arrived on the sixth floor.

I wanted to take the return portal with me, but... taking this much for now was enough.

There were no enemies directly in front of us, at least.

When I turned around, no one seemed to find it strange...

"What did you just do?"

The pink-haired knight called out my action.

At times like this...

"Pardon?"

"You swung your arm just now, didn't you?"

"Ah~ I thought there might be monsters."

"Ah! You're very thorough!"

"Jang Ryu-o! You even thought of that! Amazing!"

"Thorough male."

"Grrr!"

O-okay... It seemed to have passed.

Then the pink-haired female knight smiled as she looked at her wrist.

"Then did you prepare for this too?"

"What are you talking about all of a sudden..."

Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!

A vibration suddenly shook the area. The others descended into confusion, while the knight smiled brightly.

I immediately thrust my sword at the pink-haired woman.

Swoosh!

"Oopsie~"

The pink-haired woman lightly stepped back, then waved just as she had when we first met.

"Ryu-o, you've got good instincts~ Everyone else is panicking... I like you so much!"

"What's your relationship with that bastard Ethan?"

At my words, everyone looked around in a panic.

"Huh? Huh?"

"...What is that sound?"

"If a Dungeon Break overlaps with berserk mode... Eek! R-rescue signal! Rescue!"

Looking at our panicked companions, Pinkie spoke with a bright smile.

"Just, you know... coworkers?"

I knew it.

Just like that Ethan bastard, this pink-haired woman checked her wrist, and then a Dungeon Break occurred.

"Whew, that was tiring... See you all later!"

"Everyone, attack! Attack the pink-haired woman!"

Magna, her assigned knight, and I charged her, but...

Whooong.

The pink-haired woman vanished in an instant. The tremors continued. We were on the sixth floor, and...

"The rescue signal... isn't working!"

Zenin's words jolted me fully awake.

"Everyone, run at full speed to the tenth floor!"

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