Chapter 217: How Bold
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 217: How Bold
“Are you leaving...?”
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Yeah... promise me....”
“Brother! Don’t get hurt! Okay?!”
“I’ll try not to.”
The next morning. The dive into the Labyrinth with the 50th floor as the goal was set. The party consisted of Father and me. Originally, I had planned to go alone, but for some reason, Father insisted on coming along.
“If you eat something else in the Labyrinth, make sure to tell me!”
“Haha, I understand, Ravi.”
Ravi finished her spirited send-off standing next to Terry and Sera. Come to think of it, I hadn't really told Ravi much lately when I ate something or when my skills changed.
The main reason was that Iris already knew my original form, so I didn't feel the need to tell Ravi. Still, she might feel left out, so I should probably give her a status report every now and then.
“Dad, you have to come back early.”
“Gasp! My sweet girl! Are you actually worried about your old man?!”
“If you’re late, Aven won’t come back either.”
“Aww.”
“I’m joking. I’ll miss you if you’re gone too long.”
“R-Really?! Aven! I’m not going to the Labyrinth!”
“Sure, suit yourself.”
“I was kidding... I still have to go. I’m the breadwinner who brings home the gold!”
And so, after everyone’s farewells were finished, just as we were about to depart for the Labyrinth—
“Roland.”
“Ah, Marta.”
Auntie Marta, who hadn't come out to the entrance but was sitting at the desk, called out to Father in a low voice. Father trotted over to her happily, nodding his head vigorously.
“Give me your forehead.”
“Why?! I haven't done anything wrong yet?!”
“Hurry up.”
“Ugh, fine....”
Mwah.
“Gasp....”
“Oh my.”
“Whoa.”
“Wow....”
Those were the reactions of Ravi, Sera, myself, and Terry, in that order. It was the first time since moving into the inn that we had witnessed such a display of affection between Father and Auntie Marta.
“I-I’m off!”
“Right.”
* * *
“A dive party for the 50th floor... Right, I’ve got it.”
“I’m sorry about last time.”
“No, I heard the news. I was told you suppressed a Labyrinth Opening early. I imagine the Guild Headquarters has a lot of questions for you.”
I met Katrina at the Southwest Branch of the Guild. It was to record our entry, and while I was at it, I apologized for being late to the Labyrinth Opening I had been mobilized for previously.
They said this was the first time anyone had directly charged into a portal where a Labyrinth Opening was occurring and ended a Labyrinth Wave prematurely. While there had been attempts, there was no precedent for actually succeeding. The news had likely reached the Guild Headquarters.
“Am I going to be summoned again?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why is that?”
“They’re reluctant to call for you.”
“...Is that so? That’s a relief.”
The two Orichalcum-grade explorers belonging to the Guild Headquarters accounted for about fifty percent of the Headquarters' total military power. Since I had openly stood my ground against one of them, the Guild Headquarters probably found it awkward to face me.
Even if just to save Adelaide Margarita’s face, they would want to minimize the chances of her and me crossing paths again.
“Dahlia, I’m heading out.”
“Explorer Aven. I’m rooting for you.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey, young lady! What about me?”
“Ah... you too, Mr. Roland Otmarie.”
“Bwahaha! Right!”
One way or another, we entered the Labyrinth. Since I had the teleportation artifact Aurora gave me that could be used inside the Labyrinth, we could jump straight to the 40th floor.
However, Iris had mentioned that I needed to hunt the Lich at least once more. While I was at it, I planned to devour the Orc Chieftain, of which I had only eaten some muscle and internal organs before. The one I missed last time was an Irregular entity, so its performance would have been superior. It was a shame.
“I see. So we’re going to the 10th and 20th floors first, then straight up to the 40th?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Alright! Let’s do that!”
That said, it wasn't like I had much to do on the 1st and 2nd strata.
—KWA-AAAA!!!!
On the 1st Stratum, I mostly just flew through the air, massacring monsters by firing beams from my Evil Eye at the ground.
“Oh, it’s a Goblin Shaman.”
“Oho? So it is.”
I remembered eating a Goblin Shaman once before and stealing its magic. They possess different spells depending on probability; the ones I stole from the previous Goblin Shaman were a weak binding spell and a fertility magic spell that sexually aroused women—something I had no particular use for.
“It doesn't seem very useful, so let’s just go.”
“Got it! Understood!”
It took only about two hours to reach the 10th floor. I flew around the entire area to take a look, but unfortunately, the Orc Chieftain was gone, likely having been killed and currently waiting to respawn.
It couldn't be helped. The Orc Chieftain, being the very first boss, was the one most frequently targeted by subjugation parties. It was usually hunted within a week of appearing.
“Y-You are....”
“Yes. That’s right.”
By now, the guards protecting the portals all recognized me. My combat form being so striking played a part, and the sparring match I had with Sir Dexter previously also had some influence.
“You’re... quite large in person....”
“I’m not like this in my human form.”
“Human form...?”
And most people who knew of me had this misunderstanding—the assumption that I looked like this all the time.
That wasn't quite right. Who would live their daily life with such a bizarre and monstrous appearance? Still, since this form was the reason I became famous, I just let it slide.
“Ah, you may enter the portal now!”
“Good work.”
“Keep it up!”
Seeing Father perched on my shoulder with his hand raised high, many people looked on with strange expressions. To an outsider, it looked like a Demon Species was kidnapping a child.
* * *
“So, what’s the reason you’re fighting the Antonio Brotherhood?”
“Do you know anything about the identity of Mystery Antoinette?”
“Hmm? That one... it’s probably been about five years now since the previous Antoinette stepped down and that one became the leader.”
“The previous Antoinette?”
“Yeah.”
Mystery Antoinette had once said that ‘Antoinette’ was merely a title and that her real name was ‘Terry.’
It seemed Antoinette was the name of the position given to the person acting as the head of the Antonio Brotherhood. The female version was Antoinette, and the male version was Antonio.
“Has there ever been a male leader?”
“Yeah. Apparently, there was one a long time ago. I don’t know the reason, but they say everyone except the very first ones has been female. Maybe it’s because they look a bit less threatening.”
“I see.”
That was likely when the Succubus Queen killed the real head of the Antonio Brotherhood and took over under a false identity.
“Mystery Antoinette... no, probably all the Antoinettes up until now haven't been human.”
“Well, those guys are trash. Of course they aren't human.”
“No, I don’t mean it like that. I mean they probably aren't actually of the Human Species. In fact, they might not even be different people.”
“...What do you mean by that?”
As we talked while walking through the corridors of the 11th floor dungeon zone, Father blinked his large eyelids and looked at me.
“You know that monsters come up to the surface when a Labyrinth Opening occurs, right?”
“Yeah, of course. I’ve been to several Labyrinth Openings myself.”
“Has there ever been a case where the defense against a Labyrinth Wave failed?”
“There have been a few times. But it wasn't that big of a problem.”
“Why is that?”
According to Father, the criteria for judging a Labyrinth Wave as a ‘failure’ was if the mana barricade was breached even once before all the Labyrinth Openings were finished.
It was a somewhat conservative standard, but once it was breached, it was difficult to repair, and some of the monsters from that day’s Labyrinth Wave would scatter into the surrounding area.
“But still, it’s not like monsters have wings on their feet, right?”
“Well, that’s true.”
In any case, those that breached the barricade and reached the surface didn't spread across the entire world in an instant. At most, they would wander around that general area.
If there were villages nearby that could be attacked, high-grade explorers would be deployed immediately, so it wasn't a major issue.
If there was a monster leak, they would simply take their time searching the area and deploy explorers to conduct patrols.
Boss entities were rarely missed, and how much trouble could a single monster really cause? Most of them needed to eat and sleep, so if there was nothing around, they would starve to death.
“And such things rarely happen anyway. Labyrinth Openings are usually for the 10th to 30th floors. If general entities from such low strata are acting alone, a Gold Grade is more than enough to handle them.”
“I see.”
But there were exceptions.
“Father, what if an intelligent demi-human came out?”
“Hmm? A demi-human? You mean like a Vampire or a Succubus?”
“Yes, the kind that can hide their true identity.”
“Hmm... Ah, I remember something like that happening once. A Succubus came out and enchanted an entire village.”
So there was a precedent.
“But they all die in the end! They have to go where people are, and if they keep moving to places with lots of people, they eventually get caught by those smart mages.”
“What if... a demi-human so strong that even a Great Mage couldn't notice them came out? And they’ve been hiding their identity for decades, pretending to be human while plotting something.”
“Hmm... is that possible? A Great Mage is a pretty big deal.”
Father seemed to think deeply for a moment, then, as if his head was starting to ache, he gave my side a light poke with his small hand.
“So, what are you trying to say?”
“Myste—”
—Swish!
“What the.”
In the middle of our conversation, a short dagger suddenly came flying. It was an attack aimed precisely at my heart. Of course, since I had three hearts beating in my chest, it wasn't particularly dangerous.
“Who’s there?”
Someone was walking toward us from the end of the dark alleyway.
—Click, clack....
The sound of high heels hitting the floor echoed. Judging by the lightness of the sound, the weight was that of an adult woman.
But for some reason, there was a sense of déjà vu.
‘Is it a perception inhibition artifact?’
It had the same effect as the Illusion Cloak Delbaheim had used before. It was an artifact that made it difficult to sense the opponent’s identity.
“Bad man.”
“Oh.”
“Huh?”
The voice was familiar, too.
“You came all the way to Calax and didn't even think of me?”
—Flutter...
As the woman standing before us threw back her hood, the effect of the perception inhibition artifact vanished, revealing her face.
“Haha....”
“I-It’s been a while....”
Father said as he looked at Theodora.
“Whoa, young lady, your outfit is quite... bold.”
“E-Elder....”
Theodora bowed her head politely.