Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: 1st Floor (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tanya, who had said she'd only cuddle for a bit before heading back to her own sleeping bag, must have dozed off midway because when I opened my eyes, she was still nestled right in my arms.
As expected, you gotta sleep with a woman in your arms.
To avoid getting caught by Roy and Robin, I slipped down inside the sleeping bag, kneading Tanya's body as she clung to me, then poked my head out to scan the surroundings.
"Krrrk... phew..."
Turning my head to check around, Robin was snoring loudly, and Roy had apparently drifted off too, his weak snores coming from the direction he'd been facing toward us.
Glancing at the hourglass on the ground, the 8-hour one was nearly empty at the bottom, so we'd slept about six hours.
Brrr—
After sweating it all out and spending the night naked in the chilly air, Tanya's body shivered lightly from the cold.
We still had twelve hours until the goblins usually dozed off, so there wasn't much to do, and since I planned to bring all three back alive, no need to push it. Time to take it easy.
"Hng..."
I gently massaged Tanya's body, chilled by the cool air, and soon it twitched, her crotch growing slick and wet.
Reaching down, I circled her anal wrinkles with my fingertip, teasing them, and Tanya let out a pleased moan. Her body shuddered hard once, then she buried her face in my chest and started sucking noisily on my skin.
Slurp— schluurp—
"Awake?"
"Chuuup... mmph..."
Her voice was thick with sleep as she kept sucking at my skin.
She didn't show any disgust at my finger near her ass like she did during sex, so when I'd slipped it in yesterday, she must've been surprised at first but found it wasn't so bad after all.
I toyed with her puckering anal wrinkles without pushing inside, just playfully fiddling.
"Huuung... heek!"
Once her body had warmed up nicely, I whispered to her.
"Eight hours gone. Head back before the others wake."
"Hiiing..."
She whined petulantly, but when I softly kneaded the back of her neck, her body went limp.
I caressed her reluctant form a bit more, soothing her carefully, and soon she slipped cautiously out of the sleeping bag.
Swish—
Confirming she was crawling into her own sleeping bag with her clothes, I climbed out, rummaged through my pack for underwear and spare clothes, got dressed, and packed up my sleeping bag.
Tanya's sleeping bag wriggled as she dressed inside, and after a while, she popped just her face out, pretending she'd just woken up, and started shaking Robin and Roy awake.
"Robin! Get up!"
"Groooan... ugh... my back!!"
"Roy!!"
"...Nngh..."
Roy groaned and cracked his eyes open, turning his head until he met my gaze.
Flinch!
"..."
He jolted in shock but quickly whipped his head away.
Hitomi.
[Roy]
[Tanya] - 100%
Impressive. Even after that, she's still at 100%?
Well, in my past life, I got gaslit for years and lived like an idiot, so in a world without media or smartphones, once a woman sinks her hooks into you... you're done for.
They look like childhood friends, so she's probably been gaslighting him for over ten years?
"Sis, turn on the lantern and everyone pack up your sleeping bags."
"Got it!!"
Tanya hopped up first beside me, packing her sleeping bag, while Robin, clutching his aching back, shouted.
"Ack...! Sis, what the hell? What's that smell...? You spray perfume?"
"Nooo... I think a perfume bottle got mixed in my sleeping bag and broke inside... Hiiing... my favorite one..."
Tanya must've smashed her own perfume bottle inside to mask the blatant scent of sex wafting out.
She shook out her sleeping bag dramatically, and the overpowering perfume made Robin cough and pack up beside her.
Tanya stuck out her tongue sheepishly, scratching her head, while Roy stretched his stiff body and packed his sleeping bag.
Once we'd all packed up and sat in a circle, I proposed the plan.
"For now... let's confirm when they fall asleep today too. If it's around the same time, we go for it."
"Bro... uh... you said twenty-three of 'em, right? Even if we ambush while they're sleeping, can we handle that?"
"Just don't trip. They're big, sure, but only the leader's much larger—the rest barely come up to your waist. We've got a solid shot."
"But the numbers..."
Robin glanced at me with a face full of eager hope for a chance at a kill in the chaos, while Tanya, her mind changed, stayed quiet, waiting to react to my words.
And Roy was...
Clack—clack...! Clack!!
Separate from realizing what went down last night, he was trembling in terror.
"I'm fine just killing five days here and heading back to the city. The mentoring program's meant to link seasoned explorers with newbie parties to lower first-dive death rates anyway."
"Ah..."
"But if we come back from the Labyrinth without doing jack, your stats won't budge, and you'll just pick up some mania on the way out?"
Mania—the monsterization mania we'd seen before entering popped into their heads, and they all hunched their shoulders, heads down.
"Choose to fight, survive your first real combat in the Labyrinth, and each stat has a high chance of going up by one when you get back to the city."
Tanya snuck a glance up at me, recalling my warning that my ridiculously huge dick and her low stats might kill her during sex.
"We've got plenty of time before we move for real, so think it over and let me know."
I checked my dagger and gear, mentally simulating what to do if they bailed on fighting.
"Roy, let's do it, yeah?"
"But..."
"This place ain't got great public order either. Don't we need to grow enough to at least fend off trouble?"
"Yeah, Roy, money doesn't solve everything."
"Sigh..."
From the conversation nearby, Robin and Tanya seemed set on fighting.
Robin to drag Roy into goblin combat and get him killed or handle him herself if needed.
Tanya had shifted from offing Roy to raising her stats to impress me, convincing him at length before suddenly turning to me and approaching.
"Cain."
"Yeah? What's up, sis."
"Um, is hunting those monsters really that tough?"
Robin and Roy instantly looked my way, waiting for my answer.
"You all decided?"
"Yeah! Right, Roy?"
"...Yeah."
"See? Tell us quick~"
"Alright? Then, have any of you ever killed a person? Or even an animal?"
"""......"""
Figures. Tanya seemed geared to off Roy with Robin's help, but it didn't look like she'd planned to bring him here to kill from the start.
After sex in the sleeping bag, before drifting off while holding her, she'd spilled that originally it was just her and Roy, but Robin tagged along.
The rest is obvious: Robin's got better looks than Roy, just turned adult this year, so she gave him a taste and he liked it more than expected?
Anyway, per Tanya, Robin had long known she and Roy were secretly dating.
Reason for the secrecy? Probably to enjoy all the guys hitting on her. Still, Robin didn't seem too fond of Roy having the "boyfriend" title.
Makes sense—in the Parom Alliance, a federation of explorer-founded nations near Labyrinth cities, they tend to dump all inheritance on the eldest son.
Younger ones get just enough to scrape by independently.
Tanya poked at Robin's jealousy, nudging her along—worst case, no harm done—and Robin jumped at killing him, dragging them here?
If it worked, jackpot either way.
Tanya figured she could control either Roy or Robin, so low risk.
Chatting with her, she didn't seem as cunning or vicious as that past-life insurance-killer wife.
Just your standard dimwit gold-digger high on her own looks.
Roy seemed too soft-hearted to harm anyone.
"Robin."
"Yes, bro."
"If we're hunting them, you and I have the key roles. Can you handle it?"
"Uh... well..."
"One slip and the others could get hurt, so be sure before you answer."
"...Yes!"
Look at this guy's eyes spinning.
Robin answered vigorously, eyes burning with eerie fervor.
"Alright, then here's how we do it..."
The plan I laid out wasn't anything fancy.
Confirm if the goblins sleep at the same time, account for their 2-hour patrols not returning during sleep, wait an extra hour, enter the clearing where I go berserk killing as many as possible.
Meanwhile, the three team up to handle any one or two that slip out.
Simple.
"What about gear?"
"Yeah, gear up with weapons and shields, slip into the gaps quietly. Confident you can do it silent?"
"Hmm... yeah, that works."
"Wear chest plates and greaves. I'll move the weapons to the clearing edge beforehand when they sleep."
"And then?"
"Once I start on the leader and others, approach the clearing a bit, form up in the formation I showed. Just hold the formation—no need to get too close."
"Ah..."
"I'll rampage and thin them out, so focus on stragglers on the outskirts."
"Cool?"
"Yeah. For now, Robin, Roy—come here."
Then I taught Robin and Roy how to handle weapons and shields.