Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Ant Nest? (6)
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"Guh... hah... haaah..."
It had been an hour since Zeke abandoned Monaka and fled.
Even while running, he had run into swarms of Bee Spiders that popped up here and there.
Each time they appeared, he changed his path and ran even faster.
Without a thought for his swordsman's honor, until his breath gave out.
The confidence he'd once held as a C-rank veteran adventurer had long since shattered—back when he'd encountered a swarm of Big Spiders while carrying Monaka on his back.
"Shit! Why... why does this... only happen to me!!"
All he could see ahead was an endless expanse of cavern tunnel and darkness.
Feeling like he couldn't run any farther, Zeke finally stopped and caught his breath.
"Hah... hah..."
His heart pounded as if it might burst. He gulped in ragged breaths.
And that's when it happened.
-Tap. Tap.
Footsteps began echoing from the opposite tunnel—the one Zeke had been fleeing through.
"Damn it! Another monster?! Fuck!"
Zeke steeled himself to run for his life once more.
Just as he turned to bolt...
"...! Zeke?!"
"......!"
A familiar voice reached his ears.
It was deep and masculine, laced with a dull, metallic rasp.
Victor's voice.
"V-Victor-?!"
"It's really you!"
Color bloomed on Zeke's face.
He rushed toward Victor with a grin twisted like a newborn seeing its parents.
"Victor! You're... alive?!"
"Kahaha! Dying in a labyrinth like this? My pride wouldn't allow it!"
Zeke felt a wave of psychological relief wash over him at Victor's ever-confident demeanor.
"By the way, Zeke. You alone? What about the others?"
"Uh..."
Monaka, left behind in that Big Spider swarm, flashed through Zeke's mind.
"No... idea. I was by myself when we got teleported."
Zeke rolled his eyes to the side, mumbling his answer.
Victor seemed to accept it without question.
"Hmm, this is a headache. Guess we'll have to search for them one by one..."
"......"
"Let's find everyone quick and get out. Any more delays, and Monaka and Sian's lives'll be up in the air."
"-?! There's a way out?!"
Zeke's eyes widened at Victor.
"Kahaha! Of course! Who do you think I am? I found another teleport stone on the way here."
"R-Really?!"
"Why would I lie? It's on the wall at the end of the path I just came from."
"......!"
Zeke's heart raced at the thought of escape.
This labyrinth was pure nightmare fuel for him.
No sounds but your own echoes, pitch-black and damp, deadly monsters lurking if you took a wrong turn.
To Zeke, this place was hell itself.
"No one's come from the way I did, so let's head your way. Can't waste time—let's go."
"A-Alright."
Victor strode past Zeke, taking the lead.
Zeke followed in a daze.
-Tap. Tap.
Only the footsteps of Victor and Zeke echoed through the cave.
No words passed between them as they walked.
A sign they were on high alert.
After what felt like a long trek...
"Hm?"
"......?"
Victor held up a hand, stopping Zeke.
"Hold. I sense a presence."
"P-Presence...?"
Zeke recalled the terrifying Big Spider swarm from before.
Just moments after Victor blocked Zeke's path, shapes emerged from the darkness, just as he'd feared.
"Hiss... hiss..."
"Hiss... hiss."
"Hiss... hiss..."
The labyrinth's scavengers: three Big Spiders traveling in a pack.
"Ugh, troublesome. Three's a bit much... Zeke! Get beside me and cover my flank!"
"G-Got it!"
Victor drew his long greatsword from the sheath on his back and assumed a stance.
Zeke, caught off guard, drew his sword and took position next to him.
Victor swung his greatsword down on the two charging Big Spiders, holding the line.
Zeke, stamina nearly depleted, could barely fend off his single opponent.
"Nngh! Two at once is rough! Hey, Zeke..."
But then—
-Shiiing!
-Thuk!
"Graaak!"
An arrow struck Victor's arm mid-swing.
He groaned in pain and glanced toward the shot.
"Wh-What...!"
"Kieek."
"Keek. Kieeek."
There, several Goblin Archers nocked arrows at Victor.
"Goblins...? Where the hell did goblins come from...?"
Victor was stunned.
He'd never imagined goblins in a cave labyrinth like this.
Goblins were humanoid monsters that dwelled in forests.
Even as a seasoned adventurer, Victor couldn't have predicted this.
"Kieeek!"
The Goblin Archers took aim at Victor again.
Growing desperate, Victor shouted,
"Hey, Zeke! Deal with those goblins first!"
"Th-Those goblins?! No way...! Big Spiders are surrounding us up front...!"
"Then what? We die here?!"
"......"
Mid-conversation, a Big Spider lunged at Victor.
He forced his arrow-pierced arm to block it with his greatsword.
Another arrow flew from the Goblin Archers.
-Pabat!
"Nngh!"
Victor dodged just in time.
Bleeding from his arm, he knew dragging this out would only worsen his odds.
"Damn it! What are you doing?! Zeke...!"
Victor whipped around to yell at Zeke.
"Huh...?"
Something was off.
Zeke was gone.
Stunned, Victor peered down the path they'd come from.
And froze.
"Z-Zeke...?"
Zeke was running away.
His figure already shrinking to a dot in the distance.
"Zekeeee-!"
Victor bellowed after him, but Zeke didn't look back—he just kept running.
*
"Hah... hah... huff..."
His stamina was on the verge of bottoming out.
The moment the Goblin Archers appeared and Victor took a hit, Zeke knew.
No chance of winning.
Of course, if he'd covered Victor and fought on, who knows what might've happened.
But Zeke didn't even consider it.
He'd planned to bail at the first opportunity anyway.
Monaka was probably dead by now.
He'd left her to that monster swarm.
No delusions of Hollywood-style survival.
If not for that, he might've stuck with Victor to search for her.
But with Monaka gone, hunting for comrades felt pointless.
Andrei was already dead. The only one left to find was that damn brat Sian.
Zeke had zero reason to risk his neck for Sian.
...He even despised the kid.
Growing up hating rich nobles in this stratified society, Zeke loathed Sian.
He figured Sian was just some spoiled noble brat, swimming in money and love, tagging along on the party for pocket change without a care.
Decent skill, maybe—but the cockiness grated.
Probably some half-assed academy tricks picked up slacking off with other rich kids.
"Fucking brat...! Fat pig of a worthless little shit!!"
And crucially, despite his plain looks, Zeke suspected Sian was hitting on his Monaka using his face.
"This is all that damn brat's fault! Couldn't even save Monaka! Fuck! Fuuuuck!!"
Zeke ground his teeth as he ran.
Soon, he reached a narrow chamber.
"This is the spot...!"
He groped along the wall.
A texture different from regular stone met his fingers.
"Found it!"
Brushing away debris revealed a colorless magic stone embedded in the cave wall.
Zeke grinned twistedly and hurried over.
"Activate... activate..."
He pawed at it desperately with both hands.
"......"
Nothing happened.
"Wh-What?! Activate...! Activate, damn it!!"
He pounded the stone with his fists in futile rage.
Still nothing.
"Sniff... Why... why won't it...? Huh?"
Then it hit him.
Overheard at the Adventurer's Guild while drinking: some stones activate on touch, others need mana infused.
"Mana...?"
But Zeke couldn't handle mana.
Never could, never thought he would.
Andrei had always covered that for him.
"......"
Zeke let go of the stone and muttered,
"The brat... gotta find that damn brat..."
He'd eavesdropped Monaka asking about his rank—Zeke had claimed 3-star.
Bluff or not, it was his only shot now.
Zeke leaned one hand on the wall, clutched his limping leg—strained from overexertion—and trudged back the way he'd come.
"...Where the hell are they going?"
I'd spotted another Big Spider swarm while wandering the tunnels.
Didn't engage.
Spotted them from afar. Fresh off my last fight, I was recovering—and their movements seemed off, so I decided to tail them.
Definitely weird.
Goblins in an underground labyrinth was odd enough, but Big Spiders teaming up with them...?
Couldn't explain it as anything but deliberate.
"Hiss? Hiss."
"Hiss."
The swarm buzzed about, seemingly communicating as they hurried along.
I kept following.
Five minutes. Ten. Thirty.
Whatever their destination, shadowing them undetected was exhausting.
Finally, the Big Spiders filed into a cave.
'...That the end of the line?'
I silenced my steps and waited until they'd all entered.
Just as I pressed against the wall to pursue...
"Gasp...!"
"......!"
Startled.
At the entrance, I bumped into someone.
...Not a monster.
Human. A girl my age.
Why was someone my age in this labyrinth?
No, that wasn't the issue.
"......"
"......"
...Our eyes met first—hers from where she'd been hiding.
"Gang leader delinquent...? What are you doing here?"
She recognized me too, eyes widening as she approached.
Caught off guard in the moment, I couldn't speak right away.
Why was she here?
Her presence eased my tension so much, I nearly forgot this was an underground hellhole.
"Why are you here?"
She existed in my memories only in comfortable places.
Navy hair to her shoulders, purple eyes, sharply rounded gaze...
"Don't tell me you followed me? Nah, unlikely..."
...You can probably guess by now.
Hedi Merrigold.