There seemed to be a slight relief in Dante-sanâs eyes when he heard my choice to go on the left path.
âŚAs expected, he is indeed worried about the Golden Brigade. If the scattered adventurers came upon this room, they most likely would choose the route on the left to avoid danger.
ăAre you fine with that, Reiji?ă
ăYes, I am.ă
The shortest route to capture the dungeon may be to choose âTruthâ, but there is no evidence that âTruthâ equals âlabyrinth captureâ. Besides, the âWorldly Goodsâ route says âWithout Fearâ, which is quite suspicious in a labyrinth called the Labyrinth of Fear.
Thus, it can be said that the route on the left âPlea For Lifeâ is a safe option.
ăMy choice is also the left path. I am curious about the front and right path, but for now, letâs check out the left path.ăDante-san said.
There was no dissenting opinion. Though, only Zerry-san seemed just a little disappointed.
We stood in front of the huge face again.
Dante-san readied his shield and Zerry-san pulled out her dagger. Non-san and Mimino-san stood alert at the back.
ăIâm going to touch it.ă
The role of touching it falls on either me or Zerry-san, as weâre both nimble. But since I haveăWorld Ruleră, it would be easier to detect anything unusual.
I reached for the huge lips while keeping an eye on the mana circulation of the dungeon. I also ingested Mimino-sanâs âMana Neutralizerâ, so it should be okay.
I touched the surface of the lips where the letters were engraved on.
But⌠nothing happened. It just felt cold and hard. Itâs wet but also dry.
Then, what about the lower lip?
The moment when my fingertips came in contact with the lower lip.
ă!?ă\n
The mouth opened suddenly. I quickly distanced myself.
ăKYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!ă
A jarring, high-pitched laughter was heard.
ăGet ready, Zerry!ă
Dante-san screamed sharply. Zerry-san crouched into a pouncing stance. I also pulled out my dagger and stood next to Dante-san.
ăâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚă
The laughter stopped immediately. And an eerie silence came.
The mouth was open, revealing a passage just wide enough for one person to pass through, but it was too dark to see what lay ahead.
ăIs that all?ăDante-san asked.
ăSeems to be so⌠there is no change in mana.ăI said.
ăPhew~ I was quite surprised.ăZerry-san sighed, shrugging her shoulder.
ăZerry, donât let down your guard yet.ă
ăAye-aye, sir.ă
Dante-san slowly approached the face with his shield at the ready. It was pitch black inside the mouth.
ăNon, light.ă
ăOkay.ă
As Non-san illuminated the passage with the magic lamp from the sideâ
ăLeon!?ăDante-san exclaimed.\nInside the mouthâat a dead end about 10 meters ahead, Leon was slumped over.
**
Leon did not suffer any external wounds, but was in a weakened state. It seems that his water had ran out yesterday and he was dehydrated.
Mimino-san usedăConvenienceăto conjure water and gave it to him. As he chomped down on a softened bread, he suddenly stood up and ran out â ah, I understand, I understand you very well⌠Toilet, right?
The problem of pooping is quite severe. A dungeon, which is not a natural cave, has the characteristic of taking in all sorts of organic matter â whether it is related to the circulation of mana or not is unknown â thus, it is okay to poop anywhere in the dungeon.
Yeah⌠Back at the Sixth Mine, both Lark and I secretly did it in places hidden from view, didnât we?
The Labyrinth of Fear is probably the same. We try to do it quietly in a distant passage, and sometimes when there is an empty passage to the left and right, we will finish our âbusinessâ there. The women have it especially hard. Dante-san has also said previously with a straight face that being an adventurer also means to fight against cystitis.
ăPhewă I really thought Iâd die.ă
Leon came back with a refreshed look, but he still staggered as he walked.
As Leon flumps down on the floor of the room surrounded by the faces, Mimino-san said.
ăYou owe a great debt now.ă
ăHuh? I havenât forgotten that you took away our party money, either.ă
ăYou abandoned Dante when he was petrified.ă
ăThat is that and this is this. Besides, Dante didnât rely on me.ă
ăOkay, stop, both of you.ă
There wasnât a hint of anger on Dante-sanâs face at all. He just seemed to be done with it all.
ăIf you can talk back with that much vigour, I guess youâre fine now, Leon. And Mimino, no need to snap at him. We are longer members of the same party.ă
ăâŚâŚâŚâŚă\n\năâŚOkay.ă
Leon had a bitter look. Probably recalling the events that led to this.
ăItâs not a fun story. We fell into a trapâŚă
It was information that we also knew, so Dante-san nodded and said.
ăYeah, the colorful rocks.ă
ăâAfter that, it was betrayal.ă
Betrayal�
ăNn? Dante, how do you know about the rock trap?ă
ăNo, before thatâ what do you mean âbetrayalâ?ă
ăAs it sounds, betrayal. We got caught in a trap. Nothing much we could do. It was an amateur mistake. But we were still Gold-rank adventurers, a small trap like a pitfall isnât going to rattle us. However, one of the members brought an automaton to us as we were trying to help our trapped companions.ă
ăWhat?ă
Itâs different from the story we know.
ăAt first, she sounded like she found the automaton in the back of the passage by chance, but I was watching her. She took the trouble to go down the passage after we got caught in the trap. In the first place, it doesnât make sense to go down the passage instead of helping our friends get out from the pit, right? A few people fell into the pitfall in the battle that ensued, and in the end, I did too. I donât know what happened to the remaining members and the employers.ă
Certainly, what Leon is saying has some logic.
Regardless of their personality, I really doubt a top-class gold-rank adventurer party would be so easily broken by a simple pitfall trap. They mustâve been careful when checking for traps, too.
ăI thought it was weird, too. When I first invited her to the party, she completely ignored us, but the moment we decided to go to the Lev Magic Empire, she pressed to join our party. This is exactly why elves canât be trusted.ăLeon said.
ăâŚHey, Leon. Is the person who betrayed you⌠Polina?ăDante-san asked.
Leon raised his eyebrows in astonishment and asked,ăHow do you know that?ă