Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~
Chapter 50.3: Cockatrice’s Garden

The light faded out and Novis’s leg returned to normal .

「Eh? It’s healed . 」

「I didn’t think the situation would be this severe… Looks like we’ll have a hard time advancing . 」

Sage-sama analyzed the situation in a low voice .

I turned to Reiji-sama and his team and bowed my head .

「My apologies!!」

「Eh, what’s with the apology? 」

Rino stared at me with a curious expression .

「I was the one who told you there were only Cockatrice on the ground floor, so… Uh… 」

「Aah, that… That wasn’t your fault . This situation was beyond anyone’s prediction . Not to mention, with the recent events, we should’ve expected that a large number of Goblins would take refuge in this place . 」

It seemed like Sage-sama forgave us .

「That’s right . You shouldn’t worry about this matter, Shizufae-chan . Since there’s no trap here either, leave the rest to us . 」

Reiji-sama comforted me as he and the others went past us .

My comrades and I couldn’t do anything but watch their backs .

「What was that… It was so cool…」

Novis muttered, sounding amazed .

Reiji-sama’s move was indeed amazing . It wasn’t something I could do even with a magic weapon . The Cockatrice was a fairly powerful demon and it was defeated in one blow .

It made me realize the vastness of the world .

「He’s so strong… And the women following him were extremely beautiful…」

I was so immersed in admiring Reiji-sama’s looks that I didn’t notice that fact until Nora-san pointed it out .

Novis seemed to be charmed by Saint-sama, the one who had just healed his foot .

「Yeah… They were beautiful indeed . 」

I said in a whisper .

I felt like I couldn’t disrupt the moment .

「They are amazingly… Beautiful . 」

Novis commented while standing beside me . I sure hope he didn’t mean to say that out loud .

Then I noticed that he was staring at my chest .

「WAIT A MINUTE, WHOSE SIZE ARE YOU COMPARING ME WITH?!」

Good grief . Who was he comparing me to?

It wasn’t like I could compete against Saint-sama or anything . In fact, I doubt there was a woman anywhere in the world with a breast size that could rival Saint-sama’s .

「Eh? No, I… Just suddenly remembered something . 」

Novis smiled at me as he spewed out an excuse made on the spot . It seemed like he needed a beating .

Suddenly, Big Sis Kenya embraced him from behind .

「Oioi, Novis . Don’t you just need to make them bigger in this case? 」

「Wha-! Big Sis Keyna!! 」

I objected to Big Sis Kenya’s suggestion . Reiji-sama aside, I didn’t want Novis to make my breasts bigger!

But it was as if I hadn’t said anything . Novis rubbed his hands together obscenely .

「Nice, I like it . Leave this job to me, then . 」

「What are you thinking about?! You――!!」

I shouted at Novis . My comrades watched our banter with a warm smile on their faces .

After we started following behind Reiji-sama’s party, we didn’t encounter any more demons .

◆ Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki

「How is the situation, Nao-san? 」

I asked Nao, who had just returned from scouting the first floor of the labyrinth . But she just shook her head .

「No signs of people on the surface flo~or . 」

The ground floor had a lot of buildings . It might have been the capital of the Minotaur Kingdom that ruled here a long time ago . But all that remained of that country were ruins . Numerous ruined buildings that held no trace of any living creatures aside from the Goblins .

As we expected, the kidnapped citizens must have been taken underground .

But what should we do now? Half of the Freedom Fighters had dropped out of the search .

If our opponents had been just the Goblins, we wouldn’t have taken so much damage . But the surge of Goblins had enraged the Cockatrice so much, they tried to drive the Goblins away from their homes .

We had invaded the labyrinth at the exact moment the Cockatrice were fighting off the Goblins, hence why so many Freedom Fighters got injured .

Since Nao alone was enough as a scout, those guys were just baggage . I wanted them to be useful in the basement .

After the petrified Fighters were healed by Sahoko’s magic, we headed to a certain building in the middle of the ground floor .

The stairs to the underground floor were inside that building .

I turned to Nao, our best scout .

「Sorry, Nao-san . Even though you just came back, can you check whether there’s any signs of people passing by this place? 」

「Leave it to me . Hmm… It seems many people passed through here a little while ago . It’s definitely the kidnapped citizens of the Pashipea Kingdom . 」

「I see… We’re going in, then . Shizufae-san are the demons in the underground floor as dangerous as the Cockatrice? 」

I asked Shizufae .

「No, Sage-sama… They’re only Giant Bats, Giant Rats, and weak Undead . 」

Shizufae replied in a small voice, a little timid .

「Right . Come to think of it… Starting from the first underground floor, the path diverges into a maze . Do you have a map?」

「Yes . 」

Shizufae then handed me a map she had prepared .

In total, there were four maps, one for each underground floor until the 4th . There were no maps for the 5th underground floor and beyond .

The maps seemed to be issued by the Freedom Fighters Association . I had heard they rewarded anyone who reported an unexplored area .

It was how they updated the maps .

「It seems there’s still a blank space here and there, but… What is this? 」

「That’s the location of a dangerous trap . The inside is a total mystery . 」

「I see…」

I wondered if we could just break through the trap . It could be hiding a shortcut to the lower floor .

「By the way, do you know what kind of trap is in there? 」

「Yes . The first is a giant bug in a giant blank space . 」

「Bug? 」

「Yes . The ones who entered came out half-eaten . They barely had time to explain to the others what was inside before they died . 」

So that was how they knew what was inside the blank area .

It seemed like any information made public by the Freedom Fighter Association was committed to memory by every Freedom Fighter in Teseshia .

According to Shizufae, the bug had quite the grotesque form .

I looked at Nao, Sahoko, and Rino . They all had their arms crossed and seemed to have the same opinion I did . Thus, I looked at Reiji .

「Let’s take a detour, Reiji-kun . 」

◆ Death God, Zarxis

「We lured them in, Labrys . 」

「I know, Zarxis . 」

Labrys had a huge smile on his face .

「Now we just need to lure them to the 5th floor . Once we lock them inside that cage, they won’t be able to escape . 」

We were the only ones inside the throne room located in the 18th-floor if the labyrinth .

A normal human wouldn’t be able to advance beyond the 4th-floor . The 5th-floor was a jail, a structure created solely for detaining intruders .

To reach the 6th floor, one needed to use special means . If they didn’t notice that fact for the 1st floor, they would never be able to reach the 13th-floor .

Labrys laughed with an excited face .

「Kukuku . Wait for me, Rena . You’ll be mine soon enough . 」