Chapter 210 - Leader (3)

Thick bones covered his entire body in an instant.

「Aveth Necrapethor has cast [Bone Armor].」

The man smirked as he looked ahead. The fire clinging to his bones soon went out, but the flames remaining in the passage formed a wall, blocking his way.

“Hmm, I didn’t expect them to run.”

Should he follow?

After gazing beyond the flames in contemplation, he decided against it. It wasn’t that he was curious about the second way to piss someone off, but...

[“... Commander, it’s a knight’s corpse.”]

[“So they’ve taken measures here too. Everyone, stay alert from now on. There must be enemies nearby.”]

Just then, explorers emerged from another passage connected to the second-floor portal. There were about twenty of them. Judging by the matching emblems attached to their tops, they seemed to be a small clan...

“Tch.”

The man clicked his tongue in irritation and started walking. His assignment in this operation was to stop anyone escaping through the second-floor portal—a task originally intended for the Dragonslayer.

“That snake-eyed bastard is no damn help. None.”

If only the bastard had recovered in time, he probably could have contributed to the mass slaughter in the center as planned. That was his specialty, after all.

“Well, they’ll take care of the one who ran off.”

Yes, there was no reason to go out of his way to chase the runaway down and kill him. Just thinking about it was already a hassle. All he had to do was his own job.

It was as he headed toward the second-floor portal with that thought that it happened.

BZZZZ.

The message stone in his pocket vibrated.

[“Necrapethor, what’s the situation over there? Have you reached your assigned position?”]

“Oh, Deputy Commander! Rest assured. I arrived ages ago, and I’ve sealed the place up tight. Not a single rat’s getting through. Pshishit!”

Despite his confident report, the reply came only after a long pause. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even a reply.

[“... What’s with that way of speaking? And what’s that strange laugh?”]

“Strange laugh?”

He tilted his head at first, then realized what the deputy commander meant and smirked.

“Oh, it’s just a habit. Don’t worry about it.”

[“A habit?”]

“Yeah, a habit that comes out when I wear a mask.”

[“... I have no idea what you mean. In any case, contact me immediately if anything goes wrong.”]

With that, the communication ended.

The man tapped the skull mask he’d been given as “supplies” with his index finger. Suddenly, the Round Table’s members came to mind.

‘Well, Fox and Goblin must have come in, at least.’

How many of them would make it to the next gathering alive and well?

He was already looking forward to it.

* * *

We were running at full speed, terrified that he might be chasing us.

“Hah, hah.”

We had been racing through the passages for over ten minutes when it happened.

“Did we lose him...?” Mister Bear muttered.

That sounded like tempting fate, which made me uneasy for a moment, but I didn’t say anything. I was thinking much the same thing.

‘Though, to be precise, it’s probably not that we lost him. He just didn’t follow us.’

Whatever the case, we definitely had a moment to catch our breath.

“We’ll slow down from here.”

“... We’re not running any farther?”

“He’s not the only one we need to watch out for.”

We were currently in the fog-filled Crystal Cave. If we moved too fast, it would be hard to react to unexpected dangers in time. It was fair to consider the entire first floor a minefield by now—

“Bjorn, shouldn’t we have stayed and fought after all?”

Huh?

“What do you mean, Aynar?”

“That was the Corpse Collector! It was a chance to spread your name even farther! And you ran away from it!”

Right. No wonder she’d been so quiet all this time. That was what had been bothering her.

She had a tendency to look up to me like some ancient barbarian hero. A chance to earn fame, my ass.

‘I’m just grateful nobody got hurt.’

A necromancer’s true power only came into play once they started pulling corpses out of subspace. On top of that, the Corpse Collector had the Numbered item that had earned him his reputation—a signature weapon much like the Dragonslayer’s Dragonslayer Sword.

If he’d brought that out too, some of us would definitely have died or been seriously injured.

But...

“Aynar, stop being unreasonable, nyah.”

Before I even had to step in, Misha’s icy rebuke made Aynar shrink back.

“I’m all right with it...! I’m an adult. I can understand. But wh-what am I supposed to tell the young warriors about this...?”

Ah, so that was the real problem.

Whenever Aynar went to the sanctuary, she told them about the expeditions she’d been on with me. Her accounts practically deified me, making me cringe with embarrassment, but I’d let her carry on, figuring it would build support for me within the tribe.

“Can’t you just make up some excuse, nyah?”

“Never! A warrior does not lie!”

“Hey! Are you going to keep talking back, nyah?!”

At Misha’s stern scolding, Aynar clamped her mouth shut.

Something about her slumped shoulders made my heart ache. A barbarian’s unfailing confidence was part of their charm.

After a moment’s thought, I spoke.

“Aynar, we didn’t run away.”

“Huh?”

“He saw us and ran away.”

A classic barbarian-style moral victory.

“Wh-what do you mean? Don’t make fun of me... I’m not that stupid!”

Hmm. That was news to me.

Keeping a straight face, I continued.

“I’m not making fun of you. Aynar, a wise warrior must know how to choose the battlefield. We charged backward to reach terrain that favored us, and he realized that and ran away.”

Aynar furrowed her brow as if wrestling with a difficult problem, then asked cautiously,

“Is that... really true?”

I’d been a little worried, but fortunately, it seemed to have worked. When I gave her a firm nod, she brightened back into her usual self.

“Mr. Jandel, you...”

“What? Something you want to say?”

“No. I just... thought this really is the sort of person a leader needs to be.”

Raven shook her head, giving me an odd look. Apparently, the way I’d comforted the despondent Aynar had made quite an impression.

“Then let’s keep moving.”

We ended the chatter there and proceeded cautiously through the passage, watching our surroundings again.

Our destination was the center of the first floor—the very place I’d judged would be in the middle of a bloodbath by now.

“Wouldn’t it be better to break through the other portal?”

“It probably won’t be much different over there.”

I’d abandoned the option of heading to the second floor entirely. Hadn’t the Corpse Collector been firmly stationed on the way to Goblin Forest?

‘He’s probably there to block the portal.’

If my prediction was right, there was a good chance someone just as powerful was waiting at the other portal.

“In that case, I’ll trust your judgment. You have good instincts for this sort of thing, Jandel.”

How long had we been pushing onward through the fog?

CLANK, CLANK.

About ten figures appeared ahead. By the time we sensed their presence, we were already within sight of each other.

Fortunately, they didn’t seem to be enemies.

“... Knights.”

Every one of them wore knight’s armor bearing the crest of the house they served. Of course, it wasn’t impossible to disguise themselves that way if they really wanted to, but...

“Explorers, raise your wrists so we can see your identification tags.”

That arrogant tone suggested they were the real deal.

So I showed them the tag on my wrist as instructed and asked,

“Do identification tags mean anything under the circumstances?”

This was the information I’d been most curious about. The knight answered briefly.

“To an extent.”

“I’d like to hear more.”

“Some attacked us by surprise while carrying our side’s identification tags. We suffered considerable losses as a result.”

“I see.”

“If that satisfies your curiosity, lower your weapons and stand against the wall until we’ve passed.”

His tone was overbearing, but I obediently complied. The atmosphere really was murderous. How many battles had they fought on their way here? Every knight was drenched in blood.

Still, I had more questions to ask.

“Can you tell me exactly what’s happening right now?”

“... A suspicious question.”

“We headed straight for the second floor as soon as it started. We have no information about what’s happening farther in.”

“Hmm.”

The knight stopped walking and stared at me, seemingly trying to determine whether I was telling the truth. His unsettling gaze was starting to make me regret asking when Raven stepped forward and introduced herself.

“Hello. I’m Allua Raven, a mage of the Altemion School.”

“If you doubt our identities, I can use magic to prove—”

“Stop. Come no closer, unless you want to die.”

“No, I—”

“Do you think Noark has no mages?”

At the murderous edge in his voice, Raven closed her mouth, unable to say another word.

“...”

A heavy silence had settled over us before we knew it.

“Sir Garphizel, there’s no chance they’re with Noark. You needn’t worry about that.”

A knight from the rear intervened, turning the situation around.

“How can you guarantee that?”

“He’s quite a famous explorer.”

“Hmm, this man?”

The apparent leader tilted his head as he looked at me. I was equally puzzled.

“... You know me?”

“Of course I do.”

The knight raised his visor in response to my question, revealing a familiar face.

His name was...

“Carls Erimore?”

“I’m honored you remember me. It’s been a while.”

Carls Erimore. A knight serving Baron Martoin’s Family whom I’d met at the count’s estate. Well, an apprentice knight, but still.

Unusually, he’d started out as an explorer, so we’d gotten along quite well.

I never expected to run into him here, though.

“So who is this man?”

“His name is Bjorn Jandel. In the city, he’s better known by the epithet Little Valcan.”

Once my connection with Carls verified my identity, the knight’s gaze changed.

“Little Valcan... I’ve heard that name in passing. They call you that ridiculous name, Knight Crusher, in high society, don’t they?”

His gaze was far from friendly. Still, at least he no longer suspected me of being an enemy, which was a considerable improvement.

“So can you tell me what’s happening now?”

The knight briefly explained the situation. Noark’s explorers had attacked all over the place as soon as they entered the Labyrinth. Some had infiltrated their ranks with identification tags, causing heavy losses early on. Since the fog appeared, they’d been gathering in the central Dark Region, protecting explorers and reorganizing their forces.

“By the central Dark Region, do you mean where the monument is?”

“Yes. Go there. If you can reach it, you’ll be safe.”

That was welcome news.

As he made to leave, I stopped him and cautiously asked another question.

“Are you heading for the portal, by any chance?”

“... Why do you want to know?”

Man, he was prickly.

“We’re coming from there.”

“Interesting.”

Now that I had his attention, I shared what I knew. We were on the same side, after all. I couldn’t let them die pointless deaths.

“The Corpse Collector is near the portal. Be on guard if you see corpses in the passages. It means he’s spotted you too.”

Unexpectedly, the knight listened carefully and nodded without questioning me.

“Every piece of information is precious in wartime. The Corpse Collector... Thank you for telling me.”

To my surprise, he even thanked me and handed me a ring.

“If a knight suspects you, show them this and mention me. That will vouch for your identity.”

“... I’ll put it to good use.”

“Then we’ll be off. There’s little time.”

As soon as I eagerly accepted the ring, the knight led his group away into the fog. He didn’t seem as irritating as before.

It turned out he knew how to do the decent thing.

‘Doesn’t look like it has a size-adjustment enchantment.’

After trying to fit the ring onto my little finger, I gave up and handed it to Misha.

“Huh? Me? You want me to wear it, nyah?”

“It doesn’t fit my fingers.”

“... Th-then I suppose it can’t be helped, nyah?”

Misha demurely held out her left hand.

What? Did she want me to put it on her?

“Ahem...”

I turned her hand palm-up and placed the ring on it.

“Put it on yourself.”

“Hmph, you’re just embarrassed, nyah.”

... What was she talking about?

* * *

After meeting the knights, we picked up the pace a little. The farther we traveled from the outskirts toward the center, the stronger the smell of blood grew.

“Here too...”

“Stop looking and keep moving.”

Wherever we went, we found corpses every few minutes. Almost all of them were naked.

Even in the middle of all this, people were taking everything worth taking. Not that I could complain, since we were doing the same.

“Jandel! Ambush!!”

We’d fought quite a few battles on our way here too. Was this the ninth?

Once, they’d jumped us the moment we turned our backs after checking identification tags. All the others drew their weapons and attacked as soon as we met.

Most were around rank five, like us, but we hadn’t run into any major problems yet.

“Behel—raaaaaa!!!”

Compared to the average team, we were quite strong. We’d grown enough to start considering the sixth floor, and not having a dedicated Scout gave us greater combat power too.

“Bjorn, what about the two who ran away, nyah?”

“Leave them. We don’t have time for that. Grab the equipment quickly, and we’ll move on.”

The farther we traveled, the more equipment piled up in our subspace. It felt like I’d entered a dungeon designed around endless player killing.

‘I never expected this much excitement on the first floor.’

My anxiety slowly grew. We’d been moving along without any real trouble, but how long could that last?

“Bjorn...”

“Don’t worry. We’re almost there.”

I kept leading the team onward, doing my best not to let my unease show.

How much time passed after that?

“Halt.”

At an intersection branching off in several directions, we encountered a group of unfamiliar explorers. There were around thirty of them.

They seemed to be resting after a grueling battle, but the moment they saw us, they warily drew their weapons.