Chapter 415: Uphill Road (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 415: Uphill Road (2)
That was how we returned to Ice Rock on the seventh floor—namely to Glacier Eye, its innermost zone.
[You have entered a special area. Field Effect – Glacier Eye is now active. All healing and recovery effects are now reversed.]
[Status effect Whisper of Immortality is now active. In the event of death, the character will be resurrected as an Undead.]
The frozen air bit into my lungs. It felt like the warm sunlight on the eighth floor had been a mere illusion. We didn't even have time to adapt to the change in environment, as we had to move quickly.
"Naria, summon the Trolls!"
The three Ice Trolls each took a sled and began to pull. There were about thirteen days' worth of food on the sleds. If we had requisitioned all the food stored in our personal sub-spaces, we could have sustained ourselves here for months, but I deliberately only pulled out enough to make it until closing day. We had to fill the remaining space with as many combat and expedition supplies as possible.
"Travel formation!"
Our unit currently had twenty-five members. Though this may sound cold, I judged that we'd be unlikely to run into a food shortage issue even with thirteen days' worth of food.
"Depart!"
As soon as we were in formation, we headed back up Glacier Eye, which we had previously taken ten days to travel down. It was like climbing a narrow, spiral-shaped, uphill road on the edge of a cliff, but we made better time than before. Since the portal was open, no monsters spawned here. At most, we'd be able to leave this area in five days. The problem would be the people pursuing us.
Any sane person would just let us go.
That was because entering Ice Rock required a lot of preparation. You needed thick fur clothing to block the cold, insulating stones, which were a type of magical device, food, and a sled to carry all these things. An adventurer in the habit of only carrying items in their sub-space would end up in huge trouble the moment they entered this place.
But if it's him... he'll definitely come.
It was too soon to let my guard down. It wasn't just my life at stake here—it was the lives of my comrades and the rest of our squadron. I had to assume the worst and react accordingly.
Step, step.
I forced the crew, who were still tired even after the break we took in the Land of Dawn, to pick up the pace.
About eight hours later, the wizard on Kaislan's team came to me, urgently shouting my name. "Mr. Schuitz!" She was from the Second Division of the Magic Corps. I'd only spoken to her a few times but I remembered her clearly because of her un-soldier-like voice. "Mr. Schuitz! Mr. Schuitz! There's a big problem! A really, really big problem!"
She was much taller than Raven and looked normal enough, so I didn't know why she talked like that. Well, that wasn't important right now.
"Big problem? Is it that thing?"
"Yes! The detection spell installed in front of the portal went off!"
"I see..." That meant the enemy had followed us into Ice Rock. I'd sort of been expecting it, but they really did it. "How many?"
"I switched to astral projection mode as soon as the detection spell was triggered and I counted at least more than twenty people!"
"What do you mean 'at least'?"
"Well... the enemy noticed the spell sooner than I expected. The Magic Eye was destroyed, so I wasn't able to see who else entered."
I clicked my tongue at those words. That was incredibly disappointing. Knowing how many troops our enemy had would've been a big help in making future decisions. "Their appearance—how did they look?"
"Hehe, you want to know if they were as thoroughly prepared as we are, right?"
"Yes."
When I nodded, the wizard grinned. "They looked totally sloppy! All they had were thin capes over their equipment. They were carrying big backpacks which probably contained food. Since they can't be expandable backpacks, maybe they'll starve soon and leave?"
She looked like she was going to cry when she first came up to me but based on the way she was smiling now, I guessed she thought this was good news. In truth, it was good news.
Capes, fine, but the backpacks...? Well, to be fair, what adventurer carries around a sled or cart on their person at all times?
Backpacks had an obvious limit to their carrying capacity. In a place where hunger was worsened threefold, it was impossible to stow thirteen days' worth of food in backpacks alone. They were even disadvantageous during combat. The weight was one thing, but they restricted movement, too. On the early floors where it was hard to pull together enough mana stones to afford a sub-space, some parties even brought a porter around to avoid the inconvenience of lugging their backpacks everywhere.
"Okay. Anyway, since we confirmed someone is tracking us, let's install another one of those spells here before we go. We need to get a more accurate sense of how many there are."
"Okay!"
We stopped for a moment to install another detection spell. As soon as that was done, we resumed our journey, increasing our speed to make up for the break.
***
"Mr. Schuitz! Mr. Schuitz!" Six hours later, the wizard came running up to me again. "The detection spell activated!" As was obvious from the tremble in the wizard's voice, this was bad news.
"...That's much sooner than I thought." The spell, which had been installed at a point on the map that should take about eight hours to travel to, had been triggered in just six hours. That meant they were faster than us. If things continued like this, they'd catch up to us within two days.
"I-I guess it's because they don't have to pull a sled or anything... I-I think that's why."
I was starting to understand the mindset they were chasing us with. Since they didn't have enough food, they were probably trying to catch up as soon as possible and finish this while they still had supplies.
"How many of them are there?"
"Ah! I confirmed that. F-forty-six people."
"That's good news. Thanks."
"Of course, that's my job!" The wizard gave a playful salute and turned around, but I guessed she suddenly remembered something else she had to report. "Oh, right. Um..." She did another 180, looking cautious. "There were some unusual people among them. Based on equipment alone, they were different from the others... The dark wizard who first noticed my detection spell was one of them. O-Of course, that's just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt!"
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind."
"Right... Oh, and one more thing! What should I do about the spell? Cast another one?"
"Please. Now that we know roughly how many there are, we need to know when they pass by."
"Okay!"
Once the wizard finished delivering the message and returned to her position, Goblin let out a strange sigh from beside me. "Miss Marrone is always so full of life," he said, his voice low.
What the hell is this prick talking about? You have time to care about stuff like that in a situation like this?
I was going to scold him and tell him to focus, but I was stopped in my tracks by the next thing out of his mouth. "It would be so nice if she could get home alive..." he said sadly, staring at the wizard's back.
"Hehe, you want to know if they were as thoroughly prepared as we are, right?"
"Yes."
When I nodded, the wizard grinned. "They looked totally sloppy! All they had were thin capes over their equipment. They were carrying big backpacks which probably contained food. Since they can't be expandable backpacks, maybe they'll starve soon and leave?"
She looked like she was going to cry when she first came up to me but based on the way she was smiling now, I guessed she thought this was good news. In truth, it was good news.
Capes, fine, but the backpacks...? Well, to be fair, what adventurer carries around a sled or cart on their person at all times?
Backpacks had an obvious limit to their carrying capacity. In a place where hunger was worsened threefold, it was impossible to stow thirteen days' worth of food in backpacks alone. They were even disadvantageous during combat. The weight was one thing, but they restricted movement, too. On the early floors where it was hard to pull together enough mana stones to afford a sub-space, some parties even brought a porter around to avoid the inconvenience of lugging their backpacks everywhere.
"Okay. Anyway, since we confirmed someone is tracking us, let's install another one of those spells here before we go. We need to get a more accurate sense of how many there are."
"Okay!"
We stopped for a moment to install another detection spell. As soon as that was done, we resumed our journey, increasing our speed to make up for the break.
***
"Mr. Schuitz! Mr. Schuitz!" Six hours later, the wizard came running up to me again. "The detection spell activated!" As was obvious from the tremble in the wizard's voice, this was bad news.
"...That's much sooner than I thought." The spell, which had been installed at a point on the map that should take about eight hours to travel to, had been triggered in just six hours. That meant they were faster than us. If things continued like this, they'd catch up to us within two days.
"I-I guess it's because they don't have to pull a sled or anything... I-I think that's why."
I was starting to understand the mindset they were chasing us with. Since they didn't have enough food, they were probably trying to catch up as soon as possible and finish this while they still had supplies.
"How many of them are there?"
"Ah! I confirmed that. F-forty-six people."
"That's good news. Thanks."
"Of course, that's my job!" The wizard gave a playful salute and turned around, but I guessed she suddenly remembered something else she had to report. "Oh, right. Um..." She did another 180, looking cautious. "There were some unusual people among them. Based on equipment alone, they were different from the others... The dark wizard who first noticed my detection spell was one of them. O-Of course, that's just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt!"
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind."
"Right... Oh, and one more thing! What should I do about the spell? Cast another one?"
"Please. Now that we know roughly how many there are, we need to know when they pass by."
"Okay!"
Once the wizard finished delivering the message and returned to her position, Goblin let out a strange sigh from beside me. "Miss Marrone is always so full of life," he said, his voice low.
What the hell is this prick talking about? You have time to care about stuff like that in a situation like this?
I was going to scold him and tell him to focus, but I was stopped in my tracks by the next thing out of his mouth. "It would be so nice if she could get home alive..." he said sadly, staring at the wizard's back.
I couldn't help but agree with him. "Yeah, it would be great if she could." A silence fell between me and Goblin.
At this, Ravien spoke up from beside us. "In that sense, Mr. Parav, how are you feeling now?"
Jeez, and you treated me like a nutjob earlier.
Now she was the one asking him for his opinion first. Well, she had also gotten to see Parav's scarily accurate intuition in action with her own two eyes while traveling beside me.
"Well... I'm not sure anymore. All I know is that we need to keep moving forward no matter how tired we are."
"...I see." The mood instantly darkened. I cleared my throat and changed the subject. "Parav, why did you join this unit?"
"...Sorry?"
"With your good intuition, shouldn't you have been able to avoid something like this?"
I'd actually been curious about this for a while now. He told me that he had avoided the war that broke out on the first floor entirely by not entering the labyrinth that month, so why did he end up coming this time around?
"Well, to be honest... I never wanted to join."
"What?"
"You're not just saying that in hindsight, are you?" asked Ravien.
"It's the truth. The archbishop kept trying to persuade me with the rewards but I still didn't feel like it. So I tried using a lot of excuses to get out of it, but..."
"But?" Ravien asked.
"The archbishop looked at me and sighed. I felt a chill run down my spine so I quickly said I'd go. After all... it's better to walk a thorny path than to walk myself right onto the execution scaffold, right?"
"...I'm sorry?" said Ravien. "Execution scaffold? I don't understand."
"Well... this will probably sound strange, but for some reason, it felt like I'd be killed on the spot if I refused. That was the sense I got. Enough so that I figured my best bet was to go into the labyrinth instead."
"Ah..."
"Well, I'm regretting it now. There's no way the archbishop would really have tried to kill me. Hahaha..." Goblin let out an awkward laugh and Ravien, still skeptical about his intuition, accepted his words at face value.
But that's kind of weird.
Something about this felt off. I couldn't say for sure what it was, though. "Parav, do you have any idea why you got that feeling from the archbishop?"
"Hmm, I don't know. I haven't thought about it... I wonder if he was planning to send me on another, more dangerous mission..."
We continued to converse as we marched but we never managed to pinpoint the exact nature of his discomfort. At some point, we stopped talking entirely to preserve our stamina and continued our journey in silence. I had plenty of things to think about already.
At this rate, the enemy will catch up to us in two days.
Speeding up wouldn't make a difference. Either way, they would catch up to us before we left Glacier Eye.
Then what do I have to do? What can I do to make my teammates, my squad, and myself a little safer?
Thump, thump, thump.
Right now, that question was enough to overwhelm me.
***
Shink, shink.
The sound of a sword being sharpened on a whetstone.
Chew, chew.
The sound of someone filling their stomach with beef jerky.
"Haha, is that true?"
"Yes. Let's head there together once we're back in the city. I didn't believe it at first, either."
Some people conversed with friends, and others sat upright and exhaled at regular intervals. Everyone had their way of resting.
"...Mister, why don't you get some rest too?"
"I'll rest here. You go back to your position."
"But..."
"Go on."
At my firm command, Erwen returned to her spot with slumped shoulders, leaving me to gaze down the dark road below.
"She was only being considerate. Did you really need to be so cold?"
"Ravien, don't overstep."
"...Okay." Ravien, who had been about to say something else, immediately shut up when she saw the look on my face. I ignored her and stared out into the endless darkness.
Our current location was the middle of Glacier Eye. As soon as we arrived here, our endless uphill slog halted, not by our own free will, but by someone else's. According to my simple calculations, our pursuers would arrive here in one hour.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart raced, not with anticipation for the battle ahead, but with anxiety. I'd tried brainstorming countless ways to avoid a fight but had been unable to come up with any clever methods. The battle itself was an inevitability. I ordered a break so the crew could get a short rest before then. But was that why?
"Haha!"
Step, step.
Chew, chew.
Those peaceful, everyday sounds felt like the calm breeze before a coming storm. That was probably why I could not properly relax and instead stared into the darkness. There were forty-six enemies, about twice as many people as our squadron currently had. According to the wizard's report, ten of the enemies were particularly strong. Judging by equipment alone, they were on a similar level to the Dragon Slayer.
Maybe they brought along some of the people raiding the eighth-floor rift.
If so, this situation had gotten a lot more dangerous. To pull your weight on the eighth floor, you had to be on at least Amelia's level. We had no chance of beating them in an all-out war. But there was no other way. The battle was already going to happen whether we liked it or not. However strong the enemy was, we had no choice but to do our best.
Well, if we fail, everyone will die.
Whip, whip.
I shook my head to dislodge the distracting thoughts. From now on, I decided to think as positively as possible. For example, the enemy might end up being weaker than expected. In that case, it'd actually be possible for us to defeat them here. Of course, there would still be sacrifices... but the moment we won, this quest would be over. With no need to make any more difficult climbs, we could just sit here, eat our remaining food, and wait this out.
Squeeze.
Yeah, that possibility definitely existed.
"The detection spell! The detection spell went off!"
Let's do this.
"Everyone in formation!"
Though we didn't yet know what would remain of us after the storm contained in that ominous, quiet darkness passed, there was only one thing we could do.
"...The enemy is coming!"
"Prepare for battle!"
I couldn't help but agree with him. "Yeah, it would be great if she could." A silence fell between me and Goblin.
At this, Ravien spoke up from beside us. "In that sense, Mr. Parav, how are you feeling now?"
Jeez, and you treated me like a nutjob earlier.
Now she was the one asking him for his opinion first. Well, she had also gotten to see Parav's scarily accurate intuition in action with her own two eyes while traveling beside me.
"Well... I'm not sure anymore. All I know is that we need to keep moving forward no matter how tired we are."
"...I see." The mood instantly darkened. I cleared my throat and changed the subject. "Parav, why did you join this unit?"
"...Sorry?"
"With your good intuition, shouldn't you have been able to avoid something like this?"
I'd actually been curious about this for a while now. He told me that he had avoided the war that broke out on the first floor entirely by not entering the labyrinth that month, so why did he end up coming this time around?
"Well, to be honest... I never wanted to join."
"What?"
"You're not just saying that in hindsight, are you?" asked Ravien.
"It's the truth. The archbishop kept trying to persuade me with the rewards but I still didn't feel like it. So I tried using a lot of excuses to get out of it, but..."
"But?" Ravien asked.
"The archbishop looked at me and sighed. I felt a chill run down my spine so I quickly said I'd go. After all... it's better to walk a thorny path than to walk myself right onto the execution scaffold, right?"
"...I'm sorry?" said Ravien. "Execution scaffold? I don't understand."
"Well... this will probably sound strange, but for some reason, it felt like I'd be killed on the spot if I refused. That was the sense I got. Enough so that I figured my best bet was to go into the labyrinth instead."
"Ah..."
"Well, I'm regretting it now. There's no way the archbishop would really have tried to kill me. Hahaha..." Goblin let out an awkward laugh and Ravien, still skeptical about his intuition, accepted his words at face value.
But that's kind of weird.
Something about this felt off. I couldn't say for sure what it was, though. "Parav, do you have any idea why you got that feeling from the archbishop?"
"Hmm, I don't know. I haven't thought about it... I wonder if he was planning to send me on another, more dangerous mission..."
We continued to converse as we marched but we never managed to pinpoint the exact nature of his discomfort. At some point, we stopped talking entirely to preserve our stamina and continued our journey in silence. I had plenty of things to think about already.
At this rate, the enemy will catch up to us in two days.
Speeding up wouldn't make a difference. Either way, they would catch up to us before we left Glacier Eye.
Then what do I have to do? What can I do to make my teammates, my squad, and myself a little safer?
Thump, thump, thump.
Right now, that question was enough to overwhelm me.
***
Shink, shink.
The sound of a sword being sharpened on a whetstone.
Chew, chew.
The sound of someone filling their stomach with beef jerky.
"Haha, is that true?"
"Yes. Let's head there together once we're back in the city. I didn't believe it at first, either."
Some people conversed with friends, and others sat upright and exhaled at regular intervals. Everyone had their way of resting.
"...Mister, why don't you get some rest too?"
"I'll rest here. You go back to your position."
"But..."
"Go on."
At my firm command, Erwen returned to her spot with slumped shoulders, leaving me to gaze down the dark road below.
"She was only being considerate. Did you really need to be so cold?"
"Ravien, don't overstep."
"...Okay." Ravien, who had been about to say something else, immediately shut up when she saw the look on my face. I ignored her and stared out into the endless darkness.
Our current location was the middle of Glacier Eye. As soon as we arrived here, our endless uphill slog halted, not by our own free will, but by someone else's. According to my simple calculations, our pursuers would arrive here in one hour.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart raced, not with anticipation for the battle ahead, but with anxiety. I'd tried brainstorming countless ways to avoid a fight but had been unable to come up with any clever methods. The battle itself was an inevitability. I ordered a break so the crew could get a short rest before then. But was that why?
"Haha!"
Step, step.
Chew, chew.
Those peaceful, everyday sounds felt like the calm breeze before a coming storm. That was probably why I could not properly relax and instead stared into the darkness. There were forty-six enemies, about twice as many people as our squadron currently had. According to the wizard's report, ten of the enemies were particularly strong. Judging by equipment alone, they were on a similar level to the Dragon Slayer.
Maybe they brought along some of the people raiding the eighth-floor rift.
If so, this situation had gotten a lot more dangerous. To pull your weight on the eighth floor, you had to be on at least Amelia's level. We had no chance of beating them in an all-out war. But there was no other way. The battle was already going to happen whether we liked it or not. However strong the enemy was, we had no choice but to do our best.
Well, if we fail, everyone will die.
Whip, whip.
I shook my head to dislodge the distracting thoughts. From now on, I decided to think as positively as possible. For example, the enemy might end up being weaker than expected. In that case, it'd actually be possible for us to defeat them here. Of course, there would still be sacrifices... but the moment we won, this quest would be over. With no need to make any more difficult climbs, we could just sit here, eat our remaining food, and wait this out.
Squeeze.
Yeah, that possibility definitely existed.
"The detection spell! The detection spell went off!"
Let's do this.
"Everyone in formation!"
Though we didn't yet know what would remain of us after the storm contained in that ominous, quiet darkness passed, there was only one thing we could do.
"...The enemy is coming!"
"Prepare for battle!"