CH 16

How much time had passed since then?

At the same time as the sounds of struggle ceased, the bloody tip of the spear drew an arc. It left behind a sound of slashing wind, and once made a shaking motion as if it was brushing off water left on the umbrella.

Ornest looked back over his shoulder, his spear “ancient relic artifact” on his shoulder, as if he had finished sweeping up the demons.

“—- Hey, Alec. Why do you only use Thunderbolt?”

Without moving an eyebrow in response to the nose-curling smell of death, the question was posed in a matter-of-fact manner.

“Huh?”

“You can use all kinds of offensive magic, but you only use Thunderbolt.”

……言われてもみれば、そんな気もした。

Subconsciously, I feel like I’m using Thunderbolt magic if anything.

When I was at the Academy of Magic, I used many different kinds of magic to be able to deal with any situation.

And then.

For some reason, the face of a certain person suddenly appeared in my mind.

It was the face of the Dauphin of some time ago.

He is a confident prince, but despite his excessive self-confidence, he is not very good at what he does.

—- I’ll take this guy down! So you guys stay out of it!

I guess he wanted to take credit for something he could see. I’m not sure how much I struggled to protect the crown prince as he talked like that and ran into demons that were beyond his control.

This is why I had to learn auxiliary magic from scratch, which I couldn’t even use, and why I had to learn the fastest way to activate Thunderbolt …… so that I could help in case of emergency.

Just as I was thinking about it, I felt a hard clicking sound. It was as if a missing piece of the puzzle had been filled in.

“…”

I remembered that I had only trained in the magic of the Thunderbolt in order to save the crown prince in times of need.

However, I was afraid to just say that it was a remnant of the training I had done to protect the Dauphin.

…… I’m pretty sure Ornest would laugh at me if I said that.

So I turned my face away with a pout, and then shifted my gaze from Ornest to the appropriate place.

“It’s ……. Let’s get a move on.”

He acted as if the previous exchange had never happened, and then tried to continue on his way.

“What are you hiding from me? Tell me.”

With a reproachful look in my eyes, I was blocked from going.

“……, you’re imagining things.”

“Oh… You’ve got a lot of nerve keeping secrets from me, don’t you!? Oi!?”

“You’ve been hiding things from me for a while now, haven’t you!?”

I’m not going to say I forgot.

I mean, what kind of a mouthful is that?

But Ornest has the thickest skin in the world.

I’ve forgotten all about the past! It’s not my fault that I felt the will to kill Ornest.

“…… I don’t care if you make a fuss, just don’t go caving in on your own before you’ve even checked inside the thing.”

It should have been Ornest’s fault, but for some reason, Jorja’s stare of dismay was even directed at me.

It’s a terrible inconvenience.

“…… What’s that thing, what’s that thing?”

I couldn’t help but ask back because of the unclear words, and turned my attention to where Jorja was looking.

I took a few seconds to look around and saw a small, old iron door that could only be described as majestic.

“…… Ah, the second floor boss.”

Also known as the “middle boss.”

It is also known as the “safe zone”.

At the end of the door, there is a demon that guards the path to the next level – a floor boss that is one level weaker than the floor boss.

Hence, the middle boss.

However, there is no danger of being attacked by other demons in the dungeon inside the iron door where the second floor boss exists, and once defeated, the area becomes a “safe zone safety point” unless you go outside the door.

If you go outside the door, the second floor boss will eventually resurface after a certain amount of time, but once you’ve defeated it, you can rest without worrying about it, which is why adventurers call it the “safe zone.”

“What do we do?”

“What are we gonna do? We gotta go.”

Of course, it was Ornest who tried to push past Jorha’s voice to confirm everyone’s opinion.

They may be resting at the “safe zone” of the multiple second floor bosses in the dungeon.

It’s a good idea to take a peek at them to make sure you don’t miss them.

However, once you open the door, you will be forced to fight the second floor boss.

“…… Well, whether you’re in or not, it might not be a bad idea to take a break around here.”

I wondered how much time had passed since I had dived into the dungeon.

In dungeons, it is generally recommended that you do not carry a watch. Time can be a poison to your spirit. These words were said to me incessantly when I was a student at the Academy of Magic.

“Besides, this was my first time in layer 64, and if we’re going to find people, we need to share information about the dungeon as soon as possible, right?”

Clasia said that it was impossible to share information in a place where you never knew when a demon would attack.

I have no reason to disagree with that statement, and I agree with it.

“It’s settled.”

—And I’ve decided what I’m going to do.

Just as I thought this, the ground suddenly and unnaturally shook slightly.

A small tremor that would definitely have gone unnoticed if we had been engaged in battle as we had just done.

As I strained my ears, a frightening sound like an earth tremor snatched my eardrums.

“…… ah?”

And Ornest noticed it, too.

He reacted before anyone else to the faint vibrations and sounds propagating around him, and one eyebrow raised in wonder.

Eventually,

“Hey, hey, hey, hey. I think I may have hit the jackpot with this one…isn’t it?”

I wondered if this was the work of Leviel, who, like Ornest earlier, was making a lot of noise in an attempt to alert the people around him to his presence. I thought for a moment, but this was not a battle sound, but a sound of destruction.

It’s the kind of sound you make when you destroy something in the dark.

Moreover, the sound kept coming and coming, as if it never stopped.

“…… You’re pretty angry, here.”

It was a faint sound that reached his ears, and far from being a battle, Jorha noted that the sound of destruction was wielded by anger.

Although demons are basically speechless, they are still known to be much easier to upset than people.

Probably, if the sound is echoing this far away, it is definitely a floor boss class demon that is rampaging.

And the opponent is definitely the crown.

To make the other party lose their cool is an effective way to defeat a demon, but not many people have the dexterity to provoke a demon that doesn’t speak their language to such an extent that they can explode with rage.

If you keep poking, poking, and prodding at the exact point that pisses you off, and keep agitating with a man-eating attitude, you’ll probably end up like this. And then I thought about it.

“…… Come to think of it, there was just the right kind of asshole at Krista’s party.”

Krasia said with a bitter expression on her face.

Soon, as if spreading to the surroundings, Jorja and Ornest and their bitter expressions spread.

“‘…… Oh, yeah, there was. There was definitely some shit in the shit at the brainy gorilla place.”

The evaluation is at the bottom.

From the way he looked at me, I could easily guess that if I asked him about this person, all I would get would be curses.

“It’s a good opportunity. Alec, remember that.”

I don’t know anything about it, but you’re worried about me.

Ornest spun his words as if to say to himself.

“‘—- Loki Silveria. He’s definitely one of the most breathtakingly annoying assholes in the S-Rank party. I call him —- “the asshole.”

…… It’s definitely not calling people, it’s just Ornest calling them one way or the other.

I thought about it, but I didn’t want to point it out to Klasia and Jorja, who were also wearing a scowl.