Chapter 47

“Kuwwalta!!”

Oxhead puffed up his body, raised his kite shield, and bellowed something guttural toward the orcs. The two stray orcs went half-mad and charged straight at him.

“Kwaalta! Kweeegh! Kwaaltat!”

“Kwaalta! Kweghkwek! Kwaalta akwaltaat!!”

Whatever he’d done, it had their aggro for sure. Maybe it was the orcish equivalent of trash talk?

With his back to the wall, Oxhead braced himself like a turtle, blocking their wild yet furious glaive strikes.

Meanwhile, Goldie and I slipped between the hobgoblins and began swinging our weapons in earnest.

Thwack! Crack! Crunch!!

Three staff strikes shattered three hobgoblin skulls, and for good measure, I stomped down to crush their necks.

After taking down three, I glanced at Goldie, who was locked in with the remaining two.

“Haah! Hyahp!!”

Slash!

Just yesterday, he’d been red-faced, flailing around like a child trying to outdo me. But today? He was composed. Nothing dazzling, but his sword and shield worked together in a well-trained rhythm, cutting down the hobgoblins cleanly.

Once the last orc and the burning, writhing war rats were finished, Goldie turned to me with a strangely relaxed tone.

“Tsk… good work, newbie.”

“Oh?”

Shia, watching him walk off, let out a dry chuckle.

“So that mouth really can say things like that.”

“Well, from his perspective, I’m a dead man walking. Guess that makes him generous.”

“We rest here. Cheche, stand guard. Switch with the newbie later.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

By the time we’d been on the fourth floor for about three hours, the party settled down in a decent spot to rest and eat an early lunch.

As always, I leaned against the wall a little away from the group, chewing on rations. Then, sneaking glances at Goldie, Sensible slowly edged her way over to me.

“Um, Oppa.”

“Oh, Sensible.”

“S-Sensible…? What’s that?”

“Nothing. Forget it. So, what brings you here? Weren’t you keeping your distance because Goldie throws a fit if you get too close to me?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask. Did something happen last night?”

“Hm? Why do you think that?”

“He told me to check if you were injured anywhere. That’s not like him at all… and today he’s been treating you unusually calmly. So I thought maybe he dragged you off last night and beat you within an inch of your life…”

I burst out laughing at the priestess’s words. We’d only known each other for two days, but she was already so casual and friendly.

“No, nothing like that. He just got some comfort from the mage girl, and maybe it helped him cool his head.”

More accurately, he realized I’d die soon anyway, so there was no need to waste energy getting jealous or blowing a fuse.

“At night? Ah… well, Scala is good at that sort of thing…”

At my words, Sensible blushed and tilted her head aside, clearly aware of their relationship. Well, they’d been a party for a while—it’d be strange if she didn’t know.

“Still, I guess he’s not completely hopeless. At least he can change his behavior when someone talks sense into him… I wish he’d stay like that.”

“Hmm… we’ll see.”

Knowing the schemes those two whispered to each other last night, I could only find his attitude laughably fake.

Their plotting wasn’t any threat to me, but the malice behind it was real enough.

I caught him sneaking glances at Illeia again, and I smirked broadly.

“Hm… fine. Let’s test how much he can take. Sensible.”

“Yes?”

Without knowing the backstory, the girl was simply happy the party atmosphere had lightened up. I gestured her closer.

“Come here. A little closer.”

“Y-yes…”

She approached with a puzzled look, and I suddenly pulled her toward me like a hawk snatching a rabbit.

There was still a small gap between us, but to anyone watching, it looked close enough to be a hug.

“Kyaa!? Wh-what are you…?”

“Shh. I’m not doing anything.”

“N-not doing anything? It already feels like… I-I’ve been done in…”

“Just stay like this for a bit. I want to watch Goldie’s face explode. You know I’ve been getting screwed over left and right since coming down here. I deserve to blow off some steam too.”

“Ahh… s-so that’s what this is. I thought…”

“You thought?”

“N-no, nothing. B-but how long do I have to stay like this?”

“Not sure. He’s holding it together better than I thought… maybe we should push it further. Sensible, get a little closer.”

“H-here? But then… w-we’ll be touching everywhere…”

“Eh, it’s fine. You trust Oppa, don’t you?”

“I-I did, but now I’m not so sure… w-wait! Don’t pull me that hard—ah! We’re touching…!”

“What are you talking about? Perfect. Now, look up at me with eyes full of affection… yes! That’s it! You’re good at this! Anyone would think you were actually in love with me.”

“@#$%@#%$!!”

Muttering nonsense with her face beet-red, she really did look cute. Out of habit, I reached to pat her head, but Shia appeared out of nowhere and smacked my hand away.

“That’s far enough. You’re mine. Besides, you don’t need to go that far—the reaction is plenty already.”

“Oh? You’re right.”

Sure enough, not far away, Goldie was gripping the hilt of his sword tight, radiating killing intent.

“Oh, he’s about to blow. Sensible, lean in closer, hurry.”

“I-I told you we’re already touching…! O Divine Mother, forgive me…! I-I…!!”

But just before Goldie could explode, Sparks rushed in, grabbed his hand, and dragged him away.

Grinding his teeth, still seething but unable to resist, he let himself be pulled out of sight.

“Ehng….”

I clicked my tongue in disappointment and scratched my head.

“Damn, he actually held it in. If he’d come at me, I was planning to knock his jaw out so he’d be sipping porridge for weeks.”

“…”

I gently pushed Sensible back and grinned.

“Shame, but good work. That’s enough acting for now, yeah?”

“…”

“Sensible?”

“Ah! A-ah!! Acting! Y-yes, it was acting! Acting, of course…!”

Face bright red, she stumbled backward, hurriedly tugging her hood down and muttering just loud enough for me to catch.

“Oppa isn’t an evil man… but you are a bad one.”

“What?”

“N-no, nothing! I’ll go back now!”

“…”

I tilted my head, puzzled, then glanced up at Shia perched on my shoulder.

“What did she just say?”

“Tsk, tsk… did you not hear it yourself? She called you depraved and lecherous, too shameless to keep company with.”

What nonsense.

Fifth floor of the labyrinth.

“Illeia! Barrier!!”

“O Mother, shield us! Holy Shield!”

Thud! Th-th-th-thud!!

The first volley of gnoll arrows we’d seen on this floor ricocheted off her miracle, scattering harmlessly.

Through that opening, a massive fireball streaked forward.

“Flames, explode! Reinforced Flame Bomb!!”

Booooom!!

The gnolls caught in the blast were blown backward. Not one was fatally injured—just singed, their greasy fur curling at the edges.

They growled mockingly and regrouped. Warrior gnolls hefted their tridents in the front line, while archers nocked arrows behind them.

At that moment, I sprinted along the wall and dropped right into their formation.

“What are you staring at, bastards?”

Whuuuump! Kwoooom!!

I spun my heavy staff in a wide arc, detonating a shockwave. Bones and flesh exploded outward like shrapnel, scattering across the floor.

“Crreeeeaghhh!!!”

Before they could process that a third of their numbers had vanished in an instant, Oxhead and Goldie were already charging the survivors.

“Die, you bastards!!”

“Rrraaaagh!!”

Smash! Crack-crunch!!

Oxhead locked horns with a warrior gnoll, while Goldie carved into two archers. The last gnolls, eyes bloodshot with spite, ignored survival and dashed toward Sparks, Sensible, and Timid in the rear.

‘If this were field gnolls, they’d run instead of pulling suicide charges. Sure enough, labyrinth monsters are wired differently.’

“Crrryaaarrrgh!!”

“Krokk! Krrrok!”

Four gnolls brandishing tridents and short swords rushed in. With the frontliners tied up, the rear guard looked cornered. But the three girls weren’t green—they’d survived the fifth floor before.

“Dig!”

Before the charging gnolls, a pit opened—four meters across, four meters deep. A classic move, simple but effective. Problem was, a fire mage had cast it as an earth spell, so the pit wasn’t nearly deep enough. Goblins might’ve fallen, but gnolls easily vaulted over it.

That’s when Sensible swung her staff and invoked another miracle.

“Holy Shield!”

Bam! Crash!!

The gnolls slammed headfirst into a translucent shield that appeared midair, then tumbled helplessly into the pit. They flailed, stunned from the impact.

“Selan!!”

Timid seized the opening. She hurled a pouch of black liquid into the pit along with a torch.

Whoooosh!!

The hole erupted in roaring flame.

“SKREEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!”

The gnolls’ shrieks echoed from the inferno—sweet proof the fight was done.

After the battle, I approached Timid as she pulled magic stones from the charred gnolls.

“Timid.”

“…”

“Timid.”

“…U-uwah!!”

She nearly jumped out of her skin, startled I’d spoken to her at all. In fairness, since joining the party, I hadn’t exchanged more than ten words with her total.

“Come on, party members can talk. Don’t act like it’s so shocking.”

“Th-that ‘Timid’… you meant me?”

“Yeah. You. Timid.”

“M-my name is Selan, though…”

“Don’t care. From now on, your name’s Timid. Got it?”

“Eh? Y-yes… ah, understood. Timid. I am now Timid.”

Whether she took my joke as an order or threat, she bowed her head and started practicing the strange pronunciation in earnest.

“No, no, cut it out for now.”

“Y-yes!! I’ll stop!!”

The moment I spoke, she froze up like a soldier at attention.

“Easy, easy. I’m not asking for anything big. I just wanted to know what you tossed into the pit earlier.”

“O-oh! This? It’s called burning oil.”

“Burning oil?”

“Yes.”