Episode 50 The Identity of the Labyrinth
In a space surrounded by a wall of roses.
In the back, Arueno and 『Lyanancy』, now a vampire, engaged in battle.
On the altar in front of them, Kian and Serena were fighting the ghosts that were attacking them, as if to protect Esther and Robert, who were inside the warding.
The Night Wraiths, clad in black cloth and emitting poisonous breath from their skeletal mouths, are the embodiment of the word "Fear".
But even when dealing with these terrifying ghosts, Kian and Serena handle them with precision and swiftness.
「D-Dad ......」
「It's okay, Esther! Hey, Kian! Can't you do something!?」
「............」
Of course I'm going to do something about it.
Kian was observing the rose bushes where the Night Wraiths were springing up from earlier.
(I know where they've been coming out of since a while ago. ...... Probably because the vampire (thing) is not calling them out every single time, but because 『Lyanancy』 set it up with magic so that they would spring up automatically. Which means that the spawn point――)
Kian's eyes narrowed as he used his vampirism to drain the rag ghost's body of its magic power.
「Robert-san」
「What it is!?」
「You see Arueno-san's backpack right there?」
「Yeah, what do you want with that!?」
「There must have had "Burning Water" in it. It is a clear liquid in a glass bottle, at first glance it looks like water. But it has a peculiar smell. It's on the right side of the inside pocket. The size is about the same as the palm of your hand. There should be four in the bottle. Give them all to me.」
『How do you know what's in that old hag's backpack?』
(When I was traveling here in the Golem, I smelled "Burning Water" in the backpack. I then touched it with my arm to check its size and location.)
「Is this it!?」
「Yeah!」
After sucking the three ghosts together, Kian received a bottle of "Burning Water" from Robert.
「Serena. Hold them alone for ten seconds.」
「What!? Hey, Kian!?」
Serena screamed, but Kian was already moving in a "blink of an eye".
Holding a bottle of fuel, he rushes toward the crowd of ghosts.
The black ghosts attacked Kian en masse, but he dispersed them with a device that produced sparks, which he had attached to his teeth, and with the oil he contained in his mouth, which he used to fire a flare of flame.
Esther screamed at the street performance.
Kian stepped in and slammed the bottle of "Burning Water" under the wall of roses from which the ghosts were springing, and then ignited it with a flamethrower. As soon as it leaves in an "instant," the flames flare up all at once.
The ghosts screamed.
That's a good amount of firepower. With this, the amount of ghosts should be less than half.
(Hou, I knew it.)
Kian's eyes narrowed.
(The ghosts stopped coming. Bingo.)
The ghosts crawling out from under the roses were gone, and the number of ghosts around the place where the fire was burning was visibly decreasing.
Kian smiled thinly and used his "Blink" to destroy the six spring points in the same way.
By the time he had finished destroying them all, the number of ghosts had decreased considerably, partly because they had been hunted by Serena.
Robert whistled and Serena shouted, "Nice!"
「It's my oil.」
Kian threw his backpack under Serena's feet.
「Use it to crush the spring while you deal with the remnants. The place to contain the fire is where it's burning now. Do you understand? I'm――」
He saw Arueno, who was fighting in the back, pull the string at her waist and use the "Beastly Incense".
The vampire, who looked like a giant gorilla, drooled and howled.
The vampire leaped at her and rolled over, destroying the wall of roses in the back.
「I'm going to go join Arueno-san.」
「Wait, Kian.」
「I'll leave the rest to you.」
With that, the Pigfoot father and daughter moved away from the shrinking wards.
Serena's voice came from behind, but Kian didn't hear it anymore.
With the axe he borrowed (and took) from Robert in one hand, he leaps in one 'instant' beyond the wall of broken roses.
「―――!」
Beyond the broken rose, the wall was a space of about the same size, just a step lower.
I see, just because it is called a labyrinth, there are multiple similar places prepared.
「GAAAHHHHH!」
「Guhh......」
In front of Kian's eyes, Arueno and the vampire were fighting.
The High Elf Sister is still fighting with a long sword.
She is supposed to be good at magic, but she doesn't even show any pretense of using magic.
『Vampires eat magic.』
(Come to think of it, you said something like that when I first met you.)
Kian readjusts Robert's axe and mutters this in his mind while kneading his magic power.
『If you shoot magic at a vampire, it will be absorbed and strengthened. Therefore, vampires are the worst opponent for a magician. Without a vanguard to begin with, there is no time to formulate a formula.』
As Glasses was saying this, the vampire's powerful arm gouged out the ground of the labyrinth.
The impact shook the earth's axis, causing mud to erupt and blow away Arueno's thin body.
The vampire emerged from the muddy curtain and extended its ghastly claws into Arueno's chest.
「―――!」
Arueno's eyes widen.
But before the claws could gouge out her heart, Kian had aligned the blade of his axe with the vampire's massive arm.
「...... phew!」
He pulls the axe in front of him and reels it in a bit.
Twisting himself in the air, he changes the force vector with perfect timing.
And.
「Ha!」
With a spirit, he knocked the vampire to the ground.
It was a perfect move using the opponent's strength.
Arueno shifts and lands on the ground, and Kian kneels beside her.
Kian stood up and looked squarely at the vampire, who stood up with its bones creaking at the last minute.
「Whew ......」
「You saved me there. Thank you, Kian-kun.」
「As expected, you need a vanguard, don't you?」
Kian said and raised his voice at the vampire.
「Who are you? You're not Lyanancy, are you? We were going to solve the case and leave here. What reason would you have for trying to kill us?」
「―――」
The vampire rose from the small crater in the ground.
The limbs extending from the dress seemed to have more muscle than before.
(If I were to take that arm seriously, my body would burst like a piece of fruit.)
『Be careful of the foggy attack, as well as the strength of its arm. You won't be able to take that vampire's physical attacks.』
Kian held his axe in front of his eyes.
(If you are a vampire, your weaknesses are fire and silver. Let Arueno-san's weapon deal the killing blow. Robert's axe is probably not lethal.)
The vampire's mouth ripped open to the ear, opened thinly.
With a whoosh.
A sound like a snake exhaled, and a wild voice echoed in Kian's brain.
『Human in the skin of a fellow brethren. Your smell is unpleasant.』
「............」
(Apparently, it can talk.)
『Don't think you can escape from here. ......! Die!』
The vampire's body becomes a haze of black fog.
Kian's eyes widened and he lowered his posture to take a quick look around.
「Up there!」
At the sound of Arueno's voice, Kian jumped to the side without thinking.
A moment later, the black fog forms a giant arm and shoots a fist through the place where he was standing a moment ago.
The earth cracks, not figuratively, and mud erupts from the impact.
Kian took a passive stance and used his 'Blink' toward the mud with his axe at the ready.
Just past the curtain of mud, the vampire materialized and pulled its fist out of the ground.
「......, ......!」
Putting magic power into the axe.
Weapon enhancement 'Impulse'.
Kian bounced off the mud, stepped forward, and swung the blade of the axe at the vampire's arm.
*thud*, A heavy impact.
It did not reach the bone.
It felt like a shallow cut to the muscle.
But the vampire felt the pain, and the monster drooled and screamed in agony.
「―――!」
Arueno suddenly appeared in the air.
She swung her silvery white long sword as if carrying it with both hands and swooped down on the vampire from above.
「――――――!」
With a terrible metallic roar, the long claws cross and catch the silvery blade.
Again and again, they spar.
But now Kian is coming to join the fray.
「Huff――!」
Kian pulls a small amount of explosives from his pocket and throws them at the monster's feet.
Like fireworks, orange sparks scatter and color the muddy ground beautifully.
「......, ......!」
Again kneading his magic power.
He returns the axe blade faster than a frightened vampire.
「GAAAAAAHHHHH!?」
The axe that slashed down, this time deeply gouged the vampire's back.
The slashed monster is trying to escape the pain by bouncing back at Arueno with its firepower and swinging its stiff arms in a bullshit manner
Kian used the blade of his axe as a shield, and once away from the scene using "Blink".
But ― Arueno was different.
Perhaps it was the Elf's future vision.
She was able to predict the trajectory of the vampire's stiff arm and determine the space where the path of the attack would be impassable.
She twisted her body in the air and dodged the huge muscular arm with a thin line――
「―――!」
With a zap, she slit the enemy's throat.
The vampire's arm swings down as if to dispel a winged insect.
Arueno shifted and Kian attached himself to the monster from behind.
A sparking device in his teeth.
His mouth is filled with oil.
Kian clenches his teeth together and spurts a volley of flame at the back of the vampire's head.
Screaming.
A bloodcurdling scream of agony.
He put his weight on the huge, swaying body and pulled it backward.
The vampire's jaws slid back and he felt the blood vessels cut from its slit throat.
A red flower of blood bloomed.
The monster turned on its back and fell backward into the mud.
Kian switched positions of his body.
Riding on top of the vampire.
He seized the rigid arm with the blade of his axe and stomped on the bloody monster's throat with his knee.
(Now, Arueno-san!)
As if in response to the cry of Kian's heart, Arueno appeared near the vampire's head, which had fallen in the mud. She was already swinging her sword.
Her jewel-green eyes widen.
「I got――!」
With an exultant voice, the silver blade swings down.
The blade lands in the vampire's heart without missing a beat.
Immediately after, the blade was stopped as abruptly as the momentum of the swing down.
Arueno's eyes wavered.
The vampire's face had become that of a woman Kian did not know.
The woman's face sadly whispered to the Elven Sister.
『Arueno, are you going to kill me again?』
「――――!?」
「Arueno-san!」
Kian shouts in a strong voice.
Suddenly, the feeling of the vampire he was trampling on disappears.
It became a fog.
The black fog swirled behind Arueno like a swarm of flies.
「Ah, ......, Gaghh!?」
It pierced deep into her belly.
『GAAAAHHHH!』
The fangs bared, and the stiff arm creaked.
The body of the elven sister, shaken like a rag, was thrown vigorously into the air.
With a dull thud and a gurgling sound, her body tumbled to the muddy ground.
「Aruenoooo!」
『Tsk, that old hag, she's being tricked by a phantom』
A high metallic clang sounded.
This was no time to be looking at Arueno.
The vampire in front of him, facing Kian, spread out ten claws nearly one meter long and turned its red eyes full of murderous intent.
「............」
Gritting his teeth.
Hold the axe in front of his body.
One-on-one.
I have to subdue this monster by myself――
『That armor is not something a lowly creature like you should be wearing!』
The vampire exhaled with an animalistic breath.
The vampire closes in on Kian with ten claws extended.
(How am I going to kill this thing by myself?)
Kian kneaded his magic power.
The coat of the "Twilight," which had just been bathed in returning blood, rippled violently.
The blood is sucked and the ability of the armor is improved――
「I'm going all out ......!」
『GAAAAHHHH!』
Kian used "Blink" to avoid with all his might the stiff arm that swings down at him.
From above.
Swing up from below.
Left arm from the right.
A return blow comes from the left.
The monster approached Kian, attacking from all directions, up, down, left, and right.
Mud splattered and the sound of explosions was deafening.
Kian's enemy's attack was invisible.
However, the coat of "Twilight" was raising Kian's speed more than ever.
『Die! DIE! DIE! GAAAAAHH!』
「......! ......, ......!」
Kian will not retreat.
Fifteen years he has been banished and has been refining his martial arts.
The swordsmanship of Azrail, which he has trained with honesty, is faithfully reproduced.
He passed and dodged to the right as a huge arm swung down at him.
He changes the vector of his axe blade to match the five claws of its left arm, which swings away from him in a side swipe.
He slides his body into the gap created, takes a passive stance, and quickly readies his axe.
(Faster ......!)
Kian opened his eyes wide.
The whites of his eyes bleed as he follows the trajectory of his enemy's arm.
(More faster ......!)
With a buzz, he recognizes the vampire, who raises its arm.
A moment of super-speed.
His brain goes beyond comprehension.
Instinctively told Kian what to do.
A stiff arm swung down from Kian's shoulder in a kesa slash (slashing a sword diagonally from the shoulder).
The blades of the axes meet.
Impact.
A sharp scraping sound.
Its strong arms are passing by.
A spark ignites.
It hurt.
The arm holding the axe was distorted.
「―――!」
Kian put all his strength into his legs and leaped into the air.
『――――――!』
Kian put his left foot on top of its stiff arm.
The foothold is his enemy's arm.
Kian's full weight is placed on the stomping arm, and the vampire's arm sinks into the mud.
The vampire's red eyes widen.
Kian swung his axe in a single horizontal motion.
Chun――there was that sound.
Kian gouges and slashes once more with his axe on the neck of his bleeding enemy.
『GAHH ......!』
Kian brought his face close to the vampire, whose body was sprawled and clenched his teeth together.
Sparks sparked from the device on his teeth.
Another swirl of flames burned the vampire's face from zero distance.
「―――――――――――――――!!!!!!」
A shriek.
A scream.
The arm that had been used as Kian's foothold is swung, and his body is thrown into the air.
Kian re-positions his axe in mid-air without losing sight of his enemy.
『UUUUUUU......! GAAAAAAHHHHHH!』
The vampire roared in rage, as if it was near death.
Blood gushed from its neck, and its entire body dyed red.
Its muscular arms spread wide.
With a dofun and a shock, black hairs began to grow on the vampire's skin.
『Lesser mortals ......! Even if you tear me apart a hundred times, this rage would not subside......!』
A mekimeki sound was heard.
The moss-colored dress popped without a trace, and the black beast howled.
The muscles in its back trembled, and the bat's wings sprang out with a mighty leap.
Like Griffin's threat, the massive wings, several meters long, spread out in the dark sky.
Its hairy legs kicked the earth with great force.
The earth exploded and heaped up.
A vampire who had become a genuine monster was flying in the sky, overlapping with the white moon in the night sky
A hairy beast with the wings of a bat.
It resembled no creature Kian had ever known.
There was a mythical being, as told in folklore and paintings.
「The Demon ......!」
Kian muttered through clenched teeth as he looked up at the sky.
The vampire bared its fangs.
『Know the fury of this Burk Cain! You will regret turning on me in the depths of hell. ......!』
× × ×
Its evil majesty is still larger than the moon.
The gigantic beast, larger than a Griffin, spread its arms in the air.
「OOOHHHHHH!」
A pitter-pattering sound like something freezing was heard.
The air around the vampire was suddenly heated and distorted.
Behind the vampire, several blue-colored air crystals were formed.
They are several tens of centimeters in size.
They shone eerily like stars in the night sky.
(It uses magic too ......!?)
『It's over!』
A sharp reminder flew.
The air-crystal bullets floating in the night sky began to spin with the wind in their sails.
All of them have pointy ends.
The equipment of "Twilight" would probably not be able to catch them and they would be turned into honeycomb(full of holes).
Just as he was about to roll to the side, a silver gale suddenly swept past Kian.
It was Serena.
She stepped in front of Kian and used her running start to bend down.
Then she kicked the ground and leaped up at once.
「―――!」
The knife borrowed from Arueno arcs.
Serena, who leaped more than ten meters, plunged the knife deep into the vampire's right thigh.
The monster howls in pain.
The girl's thin body shook unreliably in the sky.
「Kuhh......」
Serena holds up a white staff with a twisted look in her eyes.
She aimed it at the vampire's right-wing membrane.
A flash of white light bursts out, and the huge bat-like wing burns away, leaving a hole in the wing.
Then a huge black arm flicked Serena's body from the side.
Sharp claws gouged the sides of her body, knocking Serena to the ground as if she were an insect being swatted down.
The silver wolf girl rolls over without screaming.
「Serena, san!」
A scream echoed.
It was Arueno, covered in blood.
She took her purse out of her pocket and threw it at the vampire staggering in midair.
「Explode!」
A dignified voice.
Arueno's right hand was gripped tightly, and the silver coins in the purse shatter and explode.
The silver bullets that exploded turned the vampire's body into a beehive.
『GGUUUAAHHHHHH!!』
All the air crystals floating in the night sky fall.
They fell to the ground and shattered like glass, reflecting the moonlight and shining.
「Ughh......」
Arueno falls suddenly after watching the vampire fall to the ground.
She seemed to have fainted this time.
By that time, Kian had already running.
『Curse you, curse you, curse you, curse you ......! My wings! You lowly, inferior small fry....!』
The vampire seemed to have lost a lot of its magic power after being hit by the silver bullets, its weakness, all over its body.
The vampire was covered in mud and its own blood and stood up, but it no longer had its initial strength and speed.
「......, ......!」
Kian kneads his magic power as he closes the gap.
A white wind swirled around his axe.
This is a killing blow.
(O Azrair! O Supreme God! Lend me your power now!)
The prayer is far away.
The banished warrior monk's arm muscles heaped up.
His black eyes sparkle as they bounce in the moonlight.
His step is instantaneous.
The vampire's left foot bounces off the mud with the force of a footstep.
『......!』
「Iyaaahhh――!」
Kian slashes up.
The joint of the vampire's right arm.
Aiming at the joint of the bone, he applies his all-out "Impulse" to the weapon, gouging out its flesh and bone.
The axe is raised and the stiff arm slashes away.
Without killing the momentum of the axe, Kian twisted his body and struck down the vampire's other arm from the wrist and beyond.
『―――』
「―――」
Their gazes crossed for a moment.
A boisterous dance.
A boisterous dance.
A boisterous dance.
The monster's face, which has become defenseless, is bombarded with a flowing barrage of blows.
「Fu.....Hahahaha!』
The monster's telepathy flew even though it was covered in blood.
Kian's eyes lit up with killing intent.
『It's useless! You and your meager weapons cannot slaughter this eternal life! It's your loss!』
「―――! OOOhhhhhhhh!」
The blade of the axe bit into the vampire's throat, which had been slit open so many times.
Tearing the flesh and dyeing it vermilion.
Kian heard the voice of the glasses.
『Eat that guy, Kian.』
「―――」
The mood was lifted by the blood.
Kian threw down his axe and pried open the wound in his enemy's neck with his hand.
The blood vessels inside were severed and a waterfall of blood sprayed out.
Kian inserted his hand into the wound.
He then activated his art of spirit absorption.
『――――!? Ah, aaaagghhhhhh!?』
Screaming.
The muscles of the huge body are trembling.
Kian ripped the head from the body with a snap.
Sucking the power out of this monster was completely different from sucking it out of others.
It was as if his body transformed with each sucking.
It was as if he himself was being strengthened.
It was an exhilarating experience, like being transformed into something of a higher level.
『You, bastard ......, how, come, .......』
Kian's strength had clearly increased.
It was as if he had gained the physical abilities of this vampire.
Kian twisted his lips and sank his hands down to its shoulders, clawing at its beating heart.
It, too, was ripped to shreds.
He pulled it out of the wound.
『―――, Kah .......』
The vampire's head, lying on the ground, crumbles like ashes.
Of course, Kian continues to suck without relaxing his hand.
『No way.....is that, xxx.....?』
Slurp, slurp, slurp.
Slurp, slurp, slurp.
Eating the vampire.
The vampire's strong body withers away, and the black hairs are scattered as ashes.
The glasses whispered something.
『............』
The vampire reacted with a gasp.
The hairy body was completely drained.
With a thud, its huge body turned to dust.
A naked girl came out from inside and collapsed.
It was not Lyanancy.
Chestnut hair.
Her skin was fair and shiny.
It was Sophie, the receptionist who had supposedly disappeared.
She lay on the ground in a swirl of mud and blood, motionless as if dead.
Kian withdraws the arm he was holding out.
At some point, the arm in the "Twilight" equipment had risen up like the sole of a ferocious beast.
Kian opened and closed his hand to check its strength.
The air gushed up from the back of his throat, and he burped a little bit.
He had devoured a vampire.
The labyrinth, where the black rose bloomed, was silent under the moon.
× x x x
It was not the time to sit there just because the battle was over.
「Arueno-san!」
Kian rushed to the elven sister who collapsed at the far left.
Serena was seriously injured, but Arueno's stomach has been gouged from her back.
From what he saw at the time, her internal organs must have been taken away in pieces.
However――
「Ugh......」
Arueno, who had collapsed in a pool of blood, slowly raised her upper body, shaking her shoulders.
(What the ......?)
In front of Kian, whose eyes widened, Arueno stood up alone, straining to her feet.
The robe of the Western Church was tattered, but there was not a scratch on her white limbs beneath them.
It was as if time had been rewound, revealing her jade-like skin.
「You must have beaten that vampire, didn't you?」
Arueno said as she held down her torn clothes.
「Y-yes」
「What about Serena? We need to patch her up right away.」
Saying so as if nothing had happened, Arueno rushed over to Serena, who was lying on the other side. Kian could only watch with a stunned face as Arueno used the healing technique on Serena.
「Guhh......, *cough*, *cough*!」
Soon after, Serena, who had been healed by Arueno, comes back to life.
Her clothes were in tatters, too, but her wounds were closed, revealing new pink skin.
「What about that guy ......?」
Serena muttered in pain as she opened her eyes with a wince.
「I beat it. Thanks to you crushing its right wing. After that, Arueno-san's silver bullet pierced it」
「You did? ......that's, *cough*!」
「Stop talking. You'd better go to the guild and get yourself checked out by the healers at the healing center. Your internal organs have just been repaired by brute force.」
「Heeeeey, Kiaaaaan!」
Kian heard a loud voice and turned to see the Pigfoot father and daughter in the ward running toward him.
Robert landed over the broken rose wall, held Esther in his arms, and set her down on the ground.
Esther covered her mouth when she saw Serena exhausted in Arueno's arms.
「Is she all right!?」
「She's fine, she's going to be okay. It's an emergency, so I'll fly to the healing hospital by transfer. ...... Now I'm going to get a penalty for this. And maybe they'll send observers from various quarters.」
Arueno's shoulders slumped as if she had given up.
She looked around at everyone's faces.
「I'll use my magic. Kian-kun, please take care of the naked and collapsed young lady over there. ...... Everyone, come around me!」
「Arueno-san, I'm staying here.」
「What?」
「Oi, oi, you're not going to go on a treasure hunt at this point, are you?」
Robert looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, and Kian nodded with a serious face.
「The quest is not over yet. If we don't find what we've been asked to find here, it will be a failure. No results. ...... That's not what Serena, my party member, would have wanted either.」
「Since she's your party member, shouldn't you be with her at the healing center?」
Arueno said this a little angrily, but Serena in her arms shook her head.
「Money, and party points, are needed. If this quest turns out to be a failure, it will be troublesome. ......」
「That doesn't mean you must act alone.」
「I'll be fine.」
Kian said and picked up Sophie, who was lying in the mud.
Cold as ice.
I thought she might be dead.
(But ......, what's going on with my strength? I can lift Sophie's body easily.)
『It's because you ate that vampire. Though you're a human, you seem to have taken on some of the vampire's power.』
「―――. Robert-san, please take care of this girl」
「Yeah, I've got it. ....... Heave-ho. Whoa, this girl is surprisingly heavy. ......」
「Dad, you're being rude.」
Esther said and wrapped her jacket around Sophie's body.
「...... So, Kian, you're going to stay here alone, aren't you?」
Arueno gives him a worried look.
Kian nodded.
「Yes. Dawn is almost upon us, I realize. I intend to find the designated items by noon and head back to the East End. The warding of the 『Rose Labyrinth』 has been lifted. There's no sign of any ghosts, and I'm sure everything will be fine.」
「Is that so ......」
Arueno's eyelashes were down as if she was a little lost, but she eventually nodded and began to deploy the art of transfer.
Kian watched on, keeping his distance from the girls.
At that moment, the rose wall of the labyrinth suddenly glowed purple.
「―――?」
Kian looked around carefully.
Arueno also aborted the art of transfer and looked around as if she were dumbfounded.
After a little while.
The wall of black roses that had surrounded the group had somehow turned all black.
The petals were originally black, but even the leaves and stems, which had been green, had all turned black.
Robert put Sophie down and approached the wall of roses.
When he touched the black leaves, he shouted in surprise.
「Are you kidding, hey! All this is obsidian!」
「............」
True to his word, the entire rose garden had turned to obsidian.
The obsidian was so artistically made to resemble roses that, for example, if you cut off a meter or so of the walls there and sold them off, a well-heeled man would buy them off for a lot of money.
「Obsidian to rose ......」
Arueno raised her eyebrows thoughtfully.
They all stiffened for a moment on the spot, but then naturally returned to their surroundings.
「Anyway, I'm going to the healing center now. Kian-kun, you sure you want to do this? Even if you have to spend the night in this labyrinth site.」
「It will be dawn in two hours. I'll be fine.」
「All right, then. Well, then――」
Arueno's art of transfer is activated.
Before Kian's eyes, a black gate opens on the ground.
The figures of Arueno and the others are swallowed up by it and disappear.
A moment later, silence returned to the 『Rose Labyrinth』.
Kian remained alone in the labyrinth site, except for the glasses.
「Glasses」
Kian called out in a voice devoid of any emotion.
「What is it?」
「What are you?」
『What do you mean, what are you?』
「You're actually a vampire, aren't you?」
『Now you just realize it?』
「You admit it?」
『Well, whether I'm a vampire or not, it doesn't matter to you.』
「It does matter. It matters because I need to know if you are a friend or not. ――Answer me, are you a vampire?」
『I am glasses. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm not even going to antagonize you, all right? You can tell that by looking at what I have said and done so far.』
「Even if you were a vampire, I wouldn't step on you right now. I'm just going to listen to you and see if you're going to be my enemy or not.」
『――――』
Kian raised an eyebrow.
「Another silent one, huh? Unless you tell me about yourself, I can't fully trust you. I don't want to put magic power in you.」
『I'm fine with that. I am a tool. If you need me, you will eventually trust me and put your magic power into me.』
「............」
For a moment, Kian thought about taking off the glasses and stomping on them with his boot.
But alas, the glasses were useful.
『If you no longer need me, then sell me to someone else. I probably don't have the taste to hang around with a former man.』
「......, tell me the whereabouts of the ancient equipment that is said to lie in this 『Rose Labyrinth』.」
『Very well. I will gladly tell you.』
「Is this the last piece of equipment buried in this labyrinth that you know of?」
Kian asked, and Glasses laughed.
『There's no way that could be. I'm introducing you to the weakest equipment so that you won't throw me away.』
「Why you ......」
『Don't be so angry. Was the "Twilight" equipment weak? It was very useful, wasn't it? I think you'll like this one too. It's specialized equipment against magicians.」
「――――. The balance of power suddenly changes.」
Kian muttered to himself, his eyes twisting.
「If you think you're safe, you'll be thrown out like garbage someday. I'll never trust you.」
『Kufufu, come to think of it―there is another piece of equipment lying dormant in the fortress of Ezerland. This time, it's the weapon you've been waiting for.』
「――――」
『I want it, you thought so, didn't you? So be it. You are greedier than anyone else.』
「I'm running on the rails you've laid out, and I don't like it.」
Kian looked up at the moon.
「Now then, why don't we play a game? I'll get a more powerful weapon than that one before I get that one. If I can't, I promise I won't be so impulsive as to stomp you in the future. But if the weapon I find is more powerful, you will have to answer one question, anything, without a lie.」
『No problem. Enough for a sideshow.』
「Deal.」
Kian said and began to walk away.
He began to explore the obsidian walls of the 『Rose Labyrinth』.
『Tonight is a good night.』
Kian was lost in thought as he listened to the voice of Glasses, who muttered gracefully.
(Obsidian to Roses ....... This phrase was uttered by the merchant who sold him the glasses. Is there any connection? Or am I thinking too much ......)
Two hours of pondering and exploring the labyrinth.
Kian successfully found the treasure specified in the request, and also obtained the ancient equipment with the guidance of the glasses.
The next thing he knew, the sun was shining brightly from across the eastern wilderness, illuminating the beautiful blue and white Western-style building that loomed over the obsidian labyrinth.
「Thank you――」
As Kian gazed at the Western-style house from a distance, a voice suddenly whispered in his ear.
Her brown hair swayed and he thought he could see her thin limbs.
「I thought she said she would kill me the next time she saw me.」
『She must have been released from her contract. Good for you.』
Kian looked up at the sky and saw red rose petals dancing in the wind.
Perhaps it was Lyanancy.
The petals clearly stood out among the obsidian roses.
Kian quickly gathered up the loot and left the 『Rose Labyrinth』.
(Now then, ......)
If Kian gets an S rating from the client for this, he will have accumulated all the points needed for a promotion, including the special party points.
Even if he doesn't get an S, he will surely accumulate enough points by completing the remaining quests.
The next step is the promotion test――
If he passes, he will be a junior adventurer.
He will have to pay more money to the guild and pay more taxes to the government, but the quests he can take and the places he can go on quests will expand at once.
「............」
Kian looked back from the old farm road.
The soft morning sun was shining in the blue sky, blessing the victors.
Volume 1 End.
TLN: Sorry if you're confused about the fighting scene, 'cause that's how the author wrote it.
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