The Twilight Queen
Once a prominent count's household. But a few years ago, the sudden death of the family head due to illness sent Hedy's entire family crashing into ruin in an instant. The fortune they had amassed was poured into the head's medical treatments. Even the businesses he had been running were snatched away by royal advisors who seized the opportunity. Every single day became a living hell for the family.
Yet Hedy didn't care. She had long since severed any emotional ties to her family in her heart. Family or not, what does it matter…
She had always been treated differently. Her parents poured all their affection onto her younger brother, Rohan Marigold, simply because he was a boy. She, on the other hand, had been raised solely as a tool for political marriage to another noble house, valued only for her face.
Even on days when her feet were blistered, she was forced to practice dancing with a tutor because she had to "shine at social gatherings." Every day was filled with lessons on etiquette and "how to captivate men." There was never a moment's freedom. She wasn't allowed to play when she wanted, and even during breaks she was handed thick books to memorize for her "social studies."
That damned family. It was better off destroyed.
After the family collapsed, she had to earn money through the Adventurer's Guild, but she was far happier. It was the first taste of freedom she had ever known, away from the expectations placed on her as a woman. The male students who approached her because of her looks, only to get thoroughly rejected and then pick fights with her under the guise of revenge—she could beat them senseless with the combat skills she had learned as an adventurer. It was refreshing. She also enjoyed swinging her beloved sword in real battles and honing her skills, something her family had strictly forbidden.
Perhaps out of rebellion, she had made up her mind back then. She wanted to become a Sword Master. She refused to live the life her parents wanted. She had no desire to become some woman who married well and lived a mediocre life. She wanted to become a Sword Master, rise to a high position, and prove that a woman could stand on her own.
With that resolve, she had once again gone to the academy for field training to earn money, just like always. While heading to the Ant Hill with the female adventurers she often partied with to hunt bat-type monsters, something happened.
"Huh? What's this? A mana stone?"
The incident began when one of her party members touched a mana stone embedded in the wall. The moment she did, a massive tremor shook the ground and a teleportation magic circle activated, sending Hedy somewhere else entirely. The place she arrived in seemed to be a deep underground labyrinth. It was an accident.
While wandering around to assess the situation, she encountered monsters that were no pushovers. Based on her experience, their estimated rank was B or higher. Realizing it would be too dangerous to keep killing monsters one by one, she tried to avoid them instead—and that was when she noticed something strange. Among the groups of monsters she observed while hiding, there were goblins mixed in.
Goblins were creatures that belonged in forests. Even more bizarrely, these goblins were traveling together with big spiders, a completely different type of monster. Normally, different monster species would fight to the death if one invaded the other's territory. But these ones didn't.
…What the hell is going on?
So she decided to follow them. She believed that tracking their movements would eventually lead her to clues about this labyrinth. Her plan was to uncover the truth behind the teleportation magic and report what had happened here to the Adventurer's Guild.
She had been chasing the big spider packs for several hours when it happened.
"Delinquent Leader…? What are you doing here?"
She was stunned. She had run into someone. Not just anyone—an acquaintance. Someone she never expected to see in a place like this. Jet-black hair and golden eyes. The so-called "Delinquent Leader" of the group of troublemakers she had beaten up at the academy, the one she had coincidentally run into afterward.
She couldn't understand why he was in this labyrinth. He seemed surprised too, hesitating before finally speaking.
"…I'm not the Delinquent Leader. I have nothing to do with those guys. I told you that back then too."
Like that mattered right now. She was worried about losing track of the big spider pack if she wasted time. So Hedy pressed him in a slightly urgent tone.
"No, what does that have to do with anything? I'm asking why you're here."
"It's a long story. We finished hunting monsters, and one of my party members touched a mana stone with a teleportation spell… That's how I ended up here."
He finished hunting monsters? So he was an adventurer? This kid who looked about her age? Hedy was puzzled. She herself hunted monsters as an adventurer, but she had assumed there were no other academy students in her situation.
…I guess there are all kinds of circumstances in this world. She could attend the academy for free because her family had earned merits for the empire. Others probably had to pay proper tuition. Maybe his family situation wasn't great either. Well, it didn't matter now. Time was of the essence. If she delayed any longer, the big spider pack would get away.
Hedy spoke to him. "Got it, Delinquent Leader. Just a warning—if you follow me from here, it'll be dangerous. I recommend you don't."
"No, like I said, I'm not the Delinquent Leader…"
Before he could finish, Hedy stepped into the cave entrance.
The monster pack definitely went this way.
Ignoring whatever he was saying behind her, she walked straight ahead. As she moved forward, she heard a voice from behind.
"What? Why are you following me?"
The Delinquent Leader was trailing after her.
"I'm not following you."
"Then what are you doing?"
"I was just heading this way too."
Not following her? Anyone could see he was clearly tailing her. What had he made of her earlier advice? How stupid was he to follow her? Did he think she knew the escape route from the labyrinth?
"Just so you know, I don't know how to get out of here."
"Yeah, got it."
"Did you even hear me? I said I don't know the way out."
"…? I said I got it."
"Then why do you keep following me?"
"I'm not following you, I told you."
"……?"
Was he really not following her? Had this guy also noticed the strange monster movements?
Wait a second…
Suddenly, Hedy remembered something as she walked. Now that she thought about it, this Delinquent Leader had occasionally made eye contact with her during academy classes too.
Don't tell me this guy also…?
Hedy suddenly felt a surge of displeasure toward the Delinquent Leader following her. Frowning, she turned to him.
"Hey. No matter how much you follow me, I can't give you what you want. So stop following me."
The Delinquent Leader raised one eyebrow, looking confused.
"What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden?"
Was he playing dumb? …The Delinquent Leader didn't seem to realize how dangerous it was up ahead. From now on, Hedy decided, she wouldn't care what happened to him. Whether he followed and died or not was his problem. She tried to ignore the Delinquent Leader and kept walking forward.
"Hmm."
"……?"
Even though she tried not to pay attention, his behavior kept bothering her. This guy… something was off. They were walking through such a dangerous labyrinth, yet he had this relaxed expression on his face. Was it just her imagination, or did he simply not know how perilous this place was because he hadn't encountered any monsters yet?
Swallowing her doubts, she continued onward until they reached a cave the monsters had passed through.
……!
Suddenly, a rotten stench assaulted her nose. It was an incredibly foul odor she had never smelled in her life.
"Ugh… What is this smell…!"
Hedy took a step back. But the Delinquent Leader, for some reason, kept walking straight toward the cave.
W-what? Does he not smell it?
Hedy also covered her nose and approached the cave. Then she peered inside the entrance.
"……!"
It was shocking. Inside the entrance… were a massive number of corpses. Hundreds of bodies that appeared to be human were piled up haphazardly. Some had broken necks, others had holes in their stomachs, all rotting. A few looked like they had only recently begun to decay.
"W-what is this…"
"…Something's strange."
The Delinquent Leader stepped closer to the corpses. He began examining them carefully. Hedy, equally puzzled, looked at the bodies too. Then—
"Hic…!"
She was startled. She spotted a familiar piece of clothing sticking out from among the corpses. Praying it wasn't what she feared, she pulled it out. The face she uncovered was one she knew.
"W-what…"
Eyes staring blankly into space, unfocused. A neck twisted grotesquely at a 180-degree angle. It was one of the female party members who had been teleported into the labyrinth with her. The party member who had been moving alongside her just moments ago had been reduced to a horrifying lump of meat, buried beneath the pile of corpses.
"Ugh!"
Overwhelmed by the shock, Hedy stumbled backward and retched. She tried to steady her trembling heart with deep breaths.
"…Someone you knew?"
"……"
He asked worriedly, but she had no composure to answer. Her pupils were shaking violently from the sheer horror of it all. The Delinquent Leader spoke quietly to her.
"Sorry to say this while you're in shock, but something about this is strange. Monsters usually eat humans as soon as they hunt them… But here they're deliberately piling up human bodies so you can still recognize their shapes? Doesn't that seem odd?"
"……?"
Hearing his words, Hedy covered her mouth and felt the same doubt. Now that he mentioned it, he was right. Monsters had no intelligence and no concept of storage. Yet they were intentionally stockpiling prey? There had to be dozens, maybe hundreds of monsters in this cave labyrinth… Why go to such lengths?
Just as she was pondering this—
Rumble rumble rumble…
The ground suddenly began to shake violently. Small rocks crumbled from the cave walls. A-an earthquake all of a sudden…!
While Hedy crouched near the entrance in surprise, something happened.
"…Ugh?!"
The Delinquent Leader suddenly lunged at her, knocking her flat on her back. His face pressed against her stomach, and his arms wrapped around her back.
"Y-you, what are you doing?! I knew you were…!"
"Shh—!"
"……?"
He silenced her with a serious expression, then pointed outside the entrance they had just come through.
"……!"
When Hedy looked where he was pointing, she was shocked once again. There was a creature. It was on a completely different level from the big spiders or goblins she had seen earlier. Though it had the shape of a spider, its pitch-black segmented body was over ten meters long. It had eight massive legs and razor-sharp, enormous pincers that looked like they could kill instantly. Upper B-rank? No, probably A-rank or higher, Hedy thought. Its threatening physique and overwhelming presence made it clear that most adventurers wouldn't stand a chance against it.
From beside her, the Delinquent Leader muttered under his breath.
"Twilight Queen…?"
The Queen of Spiders stood outside the entrance, facing the rest of the spiders.