Chapter 82: Causing a Stir (4)
Chapter 82: Causing a Stir (4)
At that moment.
The two slaves—now bearing the names Shiro and Kuro—were engaged in a serious conversation far away from the man who could be called their master.
"Let's run away."
"Are you crazy?"
"If we don't do it now, we'll never get another chance."
Kuro was a former human adventurer who had been turned into a half-cow by a curse.
Shiro, on the other hand, had been born a half.
"Are you really going to live the rest of your life being subjected to this nonsense?"
"B-but, we're slaves now..."
"We weren't slaves from the start!"
Kuro, once human but now a slave, clawed at her own stomach with sharpened nails.
"We're humans, not slaves! And besides, he's the Young Lord of Fermaton! You've heard enough rumors to know exactly how much of a piece of trash the Fermaton bloodline is...!"
"I-I don't really know..."
"Ugh, seriously...! Listen to me! That man is going to rape and murder us! He'll use us a few times, throw us into the Infinite Labyrinth, and then enjoy watching us get gang-raped by Kobolds!"
"N-no way...!"
Tears welled up in Shiro's eyes at Kuro's words.
"Surely he wouldn't go that far...!"
"The former Count Fermaton did exactly that! That man used the monsters of the Infinite Labyrinth to dispose of bodies. Why? Because in here, no corpses are left behind!"
"......."
Shiro's skin turned pale instantly.
"Listen. We just have to run into the Infinite Labyrinth. We'll leave this floor and escape completely. We can hold out here while we find a way to break the slave contract. It's safer in here than it is out there."
"B-but the Young Lord hasn't done anything bad to us yet, has he?"
"I'm telling you, he will soon!!"
Kuro pounded her chest in frustration.
Her breasts, which had grown several times larger due to the curse, still felt awkward, but she felt more nauseated by the indecisiveness of Shiro, who needed to act with her.
"Were you born a slave? Are you livestock? Are you going to live and die as the Young Lord's slave forever? Huh?"
"......."
"Listen. No matter what bullshit Fermaton says, it's a lie. It's all crap. He'll make us hold pickaxes and help him conquer the labyrinth, but the moment he thinks his own women are in danger, he's the kind of trash who'll order us to 'go out there and die!'"
"......But."
"Oh, you bitch! Say 'but' one more time! I'll rip your mouth open!"
At Kuro's violent outburst, Shiro shut her mouth tight.
"Got it? We run the moment we get a chance. Even if we have to lead those bastards into a trap. Do you understand me!"
"......."
"Ugh, fuck. Fine. I'd rather go alone than work with a slave-brained girl like you. You better watch your mouth. If we go back and you so much as chirp a word, I'll kill you and curse you even in death."
Kuro stormed off, huffing with rage.
Left alone, Shiro hesitated before following behind Kuro, fiddling with the identification tag fastened to her ear like an earring.
"...Still."
Shiro swallowed hard and took a step forward.
"If I work hard, maybe he'll treat me well, even if I am a slave..."
Though her shoulders slumped, Shiro trudged along after Kuro.
...
And then.
"As expected, humans really can't be trusted."
"...Tell me about it."
Yurdias and Serica quietly emerged from the darkness.
"What should we do? Should we report this to the Young Lord immediately?"
"We have to report it. I'll keep an eye on them. While I'm watching them, you go and report to the Young Lord."
"Understood. By the way..."
Yurdias shrugged as she looked at the footprints left by the two slaves.
"They're acting exactly like humans who've been transformed by a curse. Trying to escape slavery by any means necessary."
"Even though they're just slaves," Serica added.
Serica glared at their retreating backs with eyes as sharp as a honed blade.
"You know that even if someone has become a Main due to a curse, if they were an adventurer, there's usually some degree of extenuating circumstances, right?"
"...Was there?"
"You're the Thief Guild Master. You didn't know that?"
"If there were people who received such consideration, shouldn't there be Main in the Adventurer's Guild? There aren't any."
"There are. Those who live like humans normally but keep their curses hidden."
Step.
Yurdias moved a distance away from Serica.
"Could it be?"
"It's not me."
"Then who is it?"
"...I can't give you the details. Oh, and don't tell the Young Lord. He might be shocked if he hears it."
"I have no choice but to report it now that I've heard the information."
"......."
Whisper, whisper.
Serica leaned in and whispered softly into Yurdias's ear. Yurdias's eyes widened in shock.
"...Such a curse exists?"
"Yes. That's what I heard."
"Don't tell me that man you said you were close with..."
"...The Infinite Labyrinth is full of all sorts of diverse curses."
Serica gave a bitter smile and looked down.
"There's a curse that makes mushrooms sprout from you, and one that changes your gender entirely... In the first place, there are curses that turn humans into other races, so why wouldn't there be others?"
"......."
"We just have to do our best not to get cursed. A curse isn't something that seeps in like a poison. As long as we don't fall into any strange traps, we'll be fine. And."
Serica gripped the sword at her waist tightly.
"As long as we don't fall for those traps, there's no way to get cursed... unless someone forcibly pushes us into one."
* * *
A short while later.
After the group had reconvened and finished their rest, we spotted a pack of Kobolds suddenly running away from us.
[A crude trap.]
It was a very simple trap.
The moment we approached, the Kobolds were undoubtedly planning to pull some kind of stunt.
"Shall I handle it?"
[There's no need to walk into a trap on purpose.]
There were two ways.
A frontal breakthrough.
Or throwing out bait.
But was there really a need to throw bait on the 6th floor?
'I'm only taking breaks because I'm safety-oriented, but Laura has a point.'
Is there really a need to rest on the 6th floor?
Though our perspectives differed, I took it to mean: is there really a need to be afraid when a trap is right in front of us?
Scared?
'I'm not scared.'
Even if something happened to Paladin Sonata, I had Serica.
Serica would surely be able to lead the group and escape the Infinite Labyrinth safely.
Therefore.
I would break through the front myself.
[Wait here. Captain, I'll go ahead and check it out.]
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
[Trust me.]
"...Then let me check first."
Laura pulled out her Mythstone bow and aimed forward.
Her golden magic became the bowstring, and the mana transformed into an arrow that streaked forward.
Flash.
The path ahead was an empty corridor.
Aside from the traces of the startled Kobolds fleeing, there was nothing particularly unusual.
That was why it was a trap.
The Infinite Labyrinth was where those magical creatures lived.
I didn't know where they kept crawling out from.
No one yet understood the principle of how these creatures 'respawned' no matter how many were killed.
But the creatures living in the Infinite Labyrinth were constantly changing the maze every day to make their lives easier and to hunt humans more effectively.
[They fell for it. Captain, thank you. I've found the trap.]
"Uh... I only fired one arrow."
[I saw the trap. Right, Yurdias?]
"Yes."
Yurdias hooked her finger through the ring at the end of her dagger and spun it around.
"It's an angle that can't be seen from here, but you can't hide the shadow of light."
Swish!
Yurdias threw the dagger forward.
The dagger flew straight and horizontally, embedding itself in the wall.
Flash.
Magic shimmered at the hilt of the dagger.
That faint light illuminated the surroundings, and the opposite wall was reflected in the well-polished blade of the dagger.
"That's...!"
[They carved out the wall. At an angle invisible from this side. They were probably planning to ambush us from behind the moment we passed.]
What was momentarily reflected in the blade were Kobolds hiding in the passage.
If we were moving from the bottom up, they had carved the wall at an angle like the character '卜'—easy to appear from behind and stab us if we didn't notice.
It was a malicious passage.
The creatures of the Infinite Labyrinth were always using their heads to try and kill humans.
As if killing humans would grant them freedom from the labyrinth.
'I think I saw a hypothesis like that once.'
Was it on a blog, a gallery, or a cafe?
That all the mobs in the Infinite Labyrinth were beings bound by a soul contract with the Labyrinth Master.
That they were made so they could never leave the labyrinth unless they killed a certain number of humans, and that unless the 'Evil God' who created the labyrinth was eliminated, they would be trapped there forever.
'An Evil God is an Evil God.'
Just look at the state of this place.
In addition to the dwarf-like monsters that tried to jump humans at every turn, the deeper you went, the more grotesque monsters appeared to greet you.
Who else could have created this?
The Master of the Infinite Labyrinth, of course.
If the being who created these curses is defined as a Demon God or an Evil God, then he must surely be the ultimate master of twisted fetishes.
'Because that's what Laura said.'
Grip.
I tightened my hold on the Ohamma-Sledge Hammer.
After entrusting the safety of the group to Serica, I stepped forward myself.
Slowly.
I had no sense of hearing, but sounds reached me through something that could be called a sensation.
The sound of held breath.
The sound of knees bending.
And the low sound of laughter mocking the one approaching the trap.
Clink.
Stopping exactly where the dagger was embedded.
[Headshot!]
I swung the Ohamma to the side.
CRUNCH—!
Crushing the head of the Kobold that had lunged silently toward me, I turned my body toward the darkness.
[Next.]