Chapter 278 20th Floor
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 278
Chapter Title: 20th Floor
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Despite Jeong Yoo-shin's words…
The people's expressions didn’t change. Their faces were as stiff as stone. A few even began to slowly back away from him.
Luther gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
He didn't know why, but…
He didn't want to show weakness in front of the succubus Zevella.
"I-I've heard what kind of existence a ‘barbarian’ is in this city. I-It could happen. I understand."
Jeong Yoo-shin barely managed to return his contorting face to normal.
'Shit.'
He couldn't control his emotions.
A sense of unfairness rose to his throat.
However…
Jeong Yoo-shin burst into a hearty laugh while maintaining his poker face with all his might.
"Uhahahahaha!!! No!!! Do you think I'd mate with an ogre?! Luther, your delusions are going too far!!!"
"..."
"Then how were you able to get out of 'that room'?"
"When I went in, those two ogres were mating! So I killed them and came out! They didn't even know I came in! Those fools!"
"..."
The people still had doubtful expressions.
Seti shrugged.
"Let's just say that's true. Everyone's safe. We're lucky."
Not only Seti's party, but Cian's party was also fine.
However…
There was one thing that bothered her.
The expression of one of her party members, Ulga, was dark.
Though she understood the orc woman. The latter had just slept with a middle-aged man in his 40s with hollow eyes, after all.
Seti turned her head and looked at Jeong Yoo-shin.
"By the way, what floor are you guys going to?"
"The party leader is Cian!"
Jeong Yoo-shin immediately pointed at the hero.
Cian stood up.
"We're going to the 20th floor."
"Yeah? What a coincidence. We're going to the 20th floor too."
"That's strange!"
"So suddenly?"
"Don't monster parties go into the labyrinth in the morning?!"
"Ah. We came in after receiving a 'special' request."
"What request is it?!"
"I can't tell you. It's a personal request from a high-ranking person."
Seti lowered her gaze.
Sebastian, who had his arm around her shoulder, was opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish while looking at the top of Jeong Yoo-shin’s head.
"Mage, are you alright?"
"H-Hut! I-I'm fine!"
Sebastian felt like he was going to faint.
Others might not know, but he did.
The number above the barbarian's head had changed.
Cian's number too.
When he first saw Cian, he had suspected it.
Could the barbarian and Cian have had sex?
Because he and Seti had also come out quite late, he couldn't know why Cian's number had changed.
Luther and Gibson, who had already come out of their rooms, had kept their mouths shut.
The other monster women were the same.
However…
Now he could be certain. The two of them didn't have sex. Because that barbarian bastard came out last.
Then who did Cian sleep with?
Looking at that barbarian bastard, it was a situation where about three people could go into the same room.
Currently, there were four men, including himself.
Excluding the barbarian…
'It's not me either.'
Then two people were left.
Gibson or Luther.
One of the two was lying.
Sebastian's eyes flashed.
As expected…
'Is it Luther?'
There was no way that stubborn priest would have had sex with a monster.
"What’re you thinking so hard about?"
Seti whispered quietly in his ear. She still had her arm around his shoulder, as if she had no intention of letting him go.
"It's nothing."
Sebastian replied coldly.
Seti’s lips twisted.
"How cold. Even though you lost your virginity to me."
"..."
Sebastian was silent. He had nothing to say to that. In a sudden situation, without even having time to feel any attraction, they took off their pants and put their genitals together.
Because of Seti's threat, he had frantically moved his hips, but thinking about it now, it wasn't the worst outcome for him.
Because Seti was a cool beauty with short bob-cut hair.
Although her shaking large dick bothered him…
Seti's inside was soft, warm, and slippery.
Still…
'It would have been nice if my first time was with Cian.'
It was still difficult for him to erase his feelings for Cian.
"Tsk."
Seti smacked her lips. She thought she knew where the cute mage's gaze was directed at.
"Mage, from what I see, that holy knight slept with the barbarian."
"What!?"
At Seti's whisper, Sebastian's breathing became ragged.
"N-Nonsense!"
"It's strange, isn't it? Even if he's a barbarian, he's a half-breed and just one person, so how could that much semen come out of an ogre's hole? Even if you did it all day, you couldn't shoot out so much semen like that."
"T-Then how come he came out later than us?"
"He must have come out with a time difference. Or maybe he borrowed Eros' power to enter the room where the ogres were. It's a space in the other world, right? Anything can happen."
"..."
Sebastian, who had been thinking for a long time, shook his head.
Seti's explanation only confused him more.
He had grown up under the teaching that the simplest explanation was the best for anything.
"Seti, what do you really want to say?"
Seti stuck her tongue out and licked her lips.
'A mage should be like this.'
Cold, intellectual, and composed.
That way…
It would be satisfying for her to conquer him later.
Imagining such a delicate mage getting flustered while embracing her large cock made her lower body ache again.
Seti hid her excitement and whispered in Sebastian's ear once again.
"Mage, there's a saying in Labyrinth City."
Sebastian made a tired expression. He had asked her what she wanted to say, and suddenly she brought up some sort of proverb.
"What saying?"
"A 'person' who has been embraced by a barbarian once can never return to how they were before."
"...!"
Sebastian's eyes widened as if they would pop out.
"W-What does that...?"
"You didn't know? How naive. Barbarians are quite famous for that in Labyrinth City."
"W-Weren't they just black-haired savages? F-From what I've heard, they're born warriors..."
Seti chuckled and cut Sebastian off.
"And they're also cock outlaws who finish off both men and women as bottoms with their superior large dicks."
"Haaak!!! Haaaaaak!!!"
Sebastian's breathing became ragged.
"That half-breed man you're looking at right now is the most 'gentlemanly' barbarian, you know."
Sebastian clutched his chest.
'M-My Cian...!'
"Ah! And you shouldn't worry about that holy knight anymore."
"W-What do you mean by that?"
Seti's face got even closer to him.
"I just said it, didn't I? Regardless of gender or race. Do you think it’ll end with just Cian? Next could be your asshole."
"...!"
Sebastian hurriedly turned his head and looked at the barbarian.
The sight of him frantically gesturing and making excuses to the others…
Was that whole appearance a 'lie'?
That couldn't be…
It shouldn't be…
Seti's whispering didn't stop.
"Your barbarian is different? That's a big misunderstanding. How many party members do you think have been pinned under a barbarian in a secluded camp while shouting 'I trusted you?!'? Cian? She's probably already finished. Give up."
Sebastian gritted his teeth and pushed the goat woman away.
"Stop!"
Seti chuckled and allowed herself to be pushed back.
"Alright, Mage. You seem to be in great shock, so I'll stop here."
When the conversation between Sebastian and Seti ended, the chaotic situation with Jeong Yoo-shin was also somewhat resolved.
"I'll believe you for now."
Luther said while stroking his forehead.
"Uhahaha!!! Just believe it!!!"
"..."
Luther nodded, but the stain of suspicion still didn't disappear from his heart.
Jeong Yoo-shin inwardly gave up.
The priest was persistent, as expected of an inquisitor.
Seti smiled and approached Cian.
"Things here seem to be roughly over now, so let's dismantle the ogre corpses, pack up the loot, and go to the 20th floor."
Cian hesitated.
Because her request was to destroy the red orbs rather than just reaching the 20th floor.
"I have a separate request. I have to destroy the red orbs."
Seti shrugged.
"That much is fine. Even if we can't help you with that, we can help you clear the monsters."
Cian turned her head and looked around at her party members.
No one seemed against the idea.
'Priest Luther-nim also doesn't look too uncomfortable.'
Cian, who had made up her mind inwardly, nodded.
"Is that so? Then we'll accompany you."
She didn't have any big worries. Because she was the strongest person present. If they did anything funny, she could just punish them immediately.
The party members then dismantled the corpses of the three ogres.
They only took the ogres' skins, bones, and tendons, and just left the rest.
Of course, if they put them all in a subspace bag and took them to the monster dismantler shop, they could make a lot of money, but no one except for Jeong Yoo-shin had a subspace artifact.
After finishing their work…
The party members gathered near the cave entrance, lit a bonfire, sat around it, and started eating.
Jeong Yoo-shin was dumbfounded.
Because his party members except for Cian were sitting far away from him.
Sebastian, who usually grumbled, was especially quiet.
Seti chewed on jerky and looked at Cian.
"By the way, you guys said you were the hero's party from the Empire?"
Cian nodded.
"That's right."
"Fascinating. People from the Empire. You don't look much different from the humans of the Eastern Alliance."
"..."
Luther mumbled as if he had a lot to say, but he didn't speak up in the end.
"Hero, have you ever been to the 20th floor?"
At Seti's question, Cian shook her head.
"No."
"Yeah? That's good. We can rest there."
"Rest?"
Seti grinned and stood up.
"The meal’s over, and we've rested enough, so let's go. I'll explain on the way."
The party members packed their things and left the cave.
Gibson and the female orc Ulga became a team. Coincidentally, both were guides.
Because of Ulga's experience and Gibson's excellent pathfinding ability, the party was able to advance without much difficulty.
When the 'hideous thing' appeared above them, they rested in a shelter.
When the sky brightened, they hurried on their way.
They crossed the plateau that was covered in white fog.
They travelled through calf-high wild grass and rugged hills.
From the 17th floor to the 18th floor, and the 19th floor.
Cian's party found and destroyed all the red orbs on their way to the 20th floor.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Three days passed.
The group arrived at the edge of the 19th floor.
In front of a mountain range as steep as a cliff.
They saw a huge gate built of stone.
And right in front of the gate was a transfer stone.
The chilly wind of the plateau blew past the party members.
Cian stood in front of the transfer stone and opened her mouth.
"If we pass this place..."
Seti stood next to Cian.
"The 20th floor. The place where Ezdras' second seal is."
"I heard that no 'laws' exist there."
"That's right. There are no monsters there either, so we can rest comfortably."
"Is it similar to Ash Village on the 10th floor?"
"You can think of it that way. Of course, the prices of supplies and camping gear there are much more expensive. Probably several times more than the 10th floor?"
"..."
Cian stroked her chin with an expression as if she was thinking about something.
Seti smiled and placed her hand on the transfer stone.
"You'll know once we get there. Words aren't enough to explain everything."
Hwaaaaang!!!
A blue portal and a red portal were created.
Seti's party stepped into the red portal first.
Next was Cian's party.
Jeong Yoo-shin entered the portal last.
His vision flashed with light, and he felt dizzy for a moment.
Tap.
He landed on a hard stone floor.
Jeong Yoo-shin immediately opened his eyes.
"Hah."
Though only an exclamation came out of it.
He had read about it in books and had heard stories about it, but it was his first time seeing it with his own eyes.
The 20th floor.
The city where Ezdras' second seal slept.
'Dwarven Hold.'
Below was a large cave with light gray stone buildings that were lined up in a row.
It was a size that could be called a small city.
Though it was still far away and he could only see the faint afterimages of the buildings, he could tell for sure…
The buildings were straight, as if their angles had been measured.
Should he say that it was similar to the underground workshops in the Western District?
He thought he knew why it was named after the dwarves.
Naturally…
Comparing it to Ash Village was impossible.
Compared to the city he was looking at now, Ash Village was no different from a shantytown roughly built with crude stones.
If there was one strange thing…
'There are no torches.'
Magically created lights were flying around the city, but nothing resembling a torch could be seen at all.
At a noisy sound, Jeong Yoo-shin leveled his gaze.
"Stop!!!"
Heavily armed knights were shouting right in front of him.
Seti and Cian's parties stood with bewildered expressions.
Jeong Yoo-shin narrowed his eyes and looked at the knights.
He thought they looked familiar.
It was the Labyrinth City Knights.
Among them, a blond man walked out with an annoyed expression.
"We’re the Labyrinth City Knights. Leave your torches here and enter. No, wait a minute."
The blond man saw Jeong Yoo-shin, stopped talking, and slowly approached him.
"Skar? What’re you doing here?"
Jeong Yoo-shin kept his mouth shut.
How could he forget the face of this blond man?
The commander of the Labyrinth City Knights and a vicious sister-lover.
Mion's older brother, Cain.
Cain approached Jeong Yoo-shin and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What's with this fur? And where's your sword?"
"..."
Questions began to appear in the party members' pupils.
At this rate, his disguise would be exposed.
He had to keep up his acting at least until he killed Gibson, but a crisis had arrived at the last minute.
Jeong Yoo-shin swallowed dryly.
Gulp.
'What should I do?'
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T/N - Lol, brother-in-law is about to blow the MC’s cover. Though I find it interesting that the Labyrinth City Knights are stationed in the 20th floor. Aren’t they supposed to be protecting Labyrinth City’s central district? Though I guess that explains why Cain seems to be gone for long stretches of time despite his sis-con tendencies.
Also, as expected, Sebastian got bamboozled, but I didn’t expect Seti to gaslight him at the last second. Now the poor mage is guarding his anal virginity against real (Seti) and imaginary (MC) threats. 😂