Chapter 48

Timid hurried over to her backpack and pulled out a metal container, about two liters in size.

When she unscrewed the lid, a sharp, nauseating smell wafted up.

“This. It’s oil mixed with a few reagents. Monsters weak to fire go down fast with it… so I always carry at least one. Back in the day, it was so expensive people only used it against trolls, but now it’s cheap enough to buy at a general store.”

“Ohh, didn’t know that. Thanks for telling me.”

I gave her a nod and turned away—only for Timid to suddenly grab my arm.

“Hmm? What. Got something to say?”

She hesitated a moment, then clenched her fists and spoke in a tiny voice.

“Y-you were amazing.”

“Hm?”

“Gnoll parties are really tough. Strong, smart… normally that fight should’ve taken ten minutes, but you did it in an instant. Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone as strong as you, Newbie. I’ve even met Aura Knights back home, but I swear you’re stronger.”

I looked down at her babbling praise, her eyes shining with awe.

Yeah. She probably had no clue about the plan to kill me. If she did and still acted like this, she’d either be a world-class psychopath or a master actress.

Just then, Goldie’s sharp voice rang out in the distance. Timid flinched.

“Selan! Selan!!”

“S-sorry! I’ll go now!”

A moment later, a sharp crack echoed.

Smack!!

“Where do you think you’re looking while harvesting magic stones, Selan!?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

I clicked my tongue, watching her clutch her cheek and bow repeatedly.

“She’s interesting too. Not as much as Sensible, but still.”

Shia nodded.

“She’s broken.”

“You felt it too? Must’ve gone through something big in the past… maybe I’ll ask Sensible about it later.”

Five hours later.

Slashing our way through monsters, we pushed deeper into the fifth floor. The difference from the first four floors was obvious.

First, the corridor leading down to the sixth floor was much farther away. Even with a map, just reaching the halfway point had taken five hours. Second, the monsters were better armed. Not just numbers—gear too, like they’d looted adventurers somewhere. And above all, the most troublesome change was the appearance of gnolls.

Physically powerful, thick hides under greasy fur, and worst of all—intelligence. Their wits matched wild orcs, enough to coordinate tactics.

If we struck first, fine. But if gnolls spotted us and formed ranks, the fight turned annoyingly tough.

Of course, none of that ever really slowed us down. Why?

Because the moment monsters appeared, I smashed half of them before the battle even started. Hard to call that difficult.

Slash!

“Kyeng!”

Goldie lopped off a hobgoblin’s head—the thing had been wearing another skull as a helmet—and after burying six orcs earlier, he finally declared the battle over, glaring at me where I stood with my hands behind my back.

“Cheche. Selan. Collect the magic stones. Scala, how far to the next spring?”

“If no monsters show, about ten minutes.”

“After that it’s the corridor to the sixth floor, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. We’ll rest at the spring, then move on. Enter the corridor before nine o’clock.”

For reference, when he said “spring,” he meant exactly that—rooms in the labyrinth where water bubbled up.

As if designed for adventurers, these chambers let you refill water safely. Monsters rarely approached them, making them valuable resting spots.

Why such conveniences existed in a place made to devour adventurers had long been debated. The most convincing theory was that the labyrinth itself wanted to lure in more prey by spreading a positive reputation.

But springs didn’t only have upsides….

“Hm?”

A faint prickle brushed my sharpened senses.

Without thinking, I whipped out a Recall Dagger and threw it.

Whoosh. Thud!

The sudden motion sent the party into alarm. Their eyes turned to where the dagger had sunk into the ground.

“…A rat?”

“…It’s a rat.”

Goldie scowled.

“Tsk. Just wasted our time. Newbie, don’t make trouble.”

I ignored him and, smirking, lifted the dagger with the rat skewered on it.

“Hmmm…”

Sensible, who’d been hanging back, hurried over and gave me an awkward smile.

“Don’t mind him. He’s always like that…”

“That’s not what I’m asking. Sensible, you’ve been in the labyrinth a lot, right?”

“Eh? Well… yeah. But only up to the fifth floor.”

“Ever seen a rat down here?”

“…Huh?”

“I’m asking if you’ve ever seen a rat in the labyrinth. I sure haven’t.”

“Rats? Of course I… wait. Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen one from the first to the fifth floors. And it’s not exactly the cleanest place either.”

“Right? But now there’s a rat here.”

“Maybe one wandered down from the surface?”

“Maybe… though, isn’t the spring right up ahead?”

“Yes. I’ve been here a few times. Turn that corner, go straight fifty meters left, and you’ll reach a dead end. At the end is a room with a spring. Only one entrance, so it’s very defensible.”

“Really? That so?”

I flicked the rat off my dagger and smiled faintly.

“Well now. Something interesting might be about to happen…”

“The spring… finally…”

“Let’s just set up and rest. Ugh, my back’s gonna snap from this damn shield.”

“As discussed earlier, we rest for an hour and a half. Scala, Selan—prepare food. Cheche, collect the flasks and refill water. Newbie, stand guard at the entrance. I’ll switch later if needed. Illeia and I took the most hits, so we’ll rest first.”

The malice and favoritism in his assignments were obvious, but I didn’t complain. I simply took my post at the entrance.

About thirty minutes later, I was still picking at the watery stew they’d given me—potatoes and unidentifiable meat—when I caught the sound of footsteps outside.

I raised my hand to signal the others gathered near the spring.

“Footsteps. Someone’s coming.”

The party rushed over.

“…I don’t hear anything. You sure you’re not imagining it?”

Goldie openly doubted me. But Oxhead pressed an ear to the ground and shook his head.

“No. I hear it too. Definitely footsteps.”

Scala frowned.

“…Monsters?”

“No. People. The rhythm’s too even.”

“H-how many?”

“No way to tell yet. But not a few. Definitely more than our party. Not that that’s unusual.”

Clap!

The chatter stopped with a single clap of my hands. I opened my mouth.

“Twelve. Eight in the front, four in the rear. Of the vanguard, three are heavy armor, five are light. One of the light-armored ones uses a spear. Of the rear, two have light steps and the other two heavy—likely rangers or archers for the light, mages or priests for the heavy.”

Goldie’s eyes widened.

“The hell are you babbling about? You can’t know that just from footsteps.”

“I’m not you. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean I can’t. Bit self-centered, don’t you think, oh mighty leader?”

“You little—!”

For the record, footsteps carry a lot more information than people think.

Height, weight, physical training, even race, class, weapons, and sometimes personality and level of discipline—all of it bleeds through.

The eight vanguard I mentioned? All Steel Body users or equivalent. Two are Novice rank, four Mana Users, and two Aura Users.

Among those Aura Users, one’s a left-handed spearman—and he’s the strongest of the bunch. Not quite a Blaster, but close. An upper-tier Aura User brushing that wall. Odds are, he’s their leader.

In short? Depending on the backline’s actual strength, I’d peg them as a polished Silver-rank party—maybe probing into the middle floors.

‘If they tried to kill us, we’d be slaughtered wholesale. Well, if I weren’t here, anyway.’

I didn’t bother explaining all that. What I’d already said was enough to rattle the others.

Sparks, holding Goldie back, shot me a hard look.

“So you’re saying there’s at least ten of them? You’re sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll even swear if you want. In Raimar’s name—”

“No need. More importantly, can we slip out of here before they see us?”

“Impossible. They’re already too close.”

Sparks bit her lip, then snapped into command mode.

“Fall back. Gather with the spring at your back. Keep your weapons within reach, but don’t look tense. Sit, act calm. Whatever they say, don’t snap. You all know this drill.”

“Y-yeah. Got it, Young Master.”

“…Fine. We’ll do that.”

At first glance, their reaction might’ve seemed excessive.

Adventurers were everywhere, and springs in the labyrinth were limited. Parties running into each other here wasn’t rare. Most encounters ended without incident.

But most doesn’t mean all.

According to the data I’d gotten from Kate at the guild, the chance of conflict when two parties met in a spring was about 15%.

The chance of that conflict escalating to combat? 5%. The chance of one party being completely wiped out in that combat? Over 2%.

Two percent doesn’t look like much—until you realize that means one in fifty.

Would you be calm rolling a fifty-sided die, knowing that if it landed on one, you were dead?

And my gut told me… this was exactly one of those times the die would come up one.

Step, step, step.

The intruders entered the spring chamber. Just as I’d said—twelve of them.

Two male orcs and ten human men. The whole lot reeked of sweat.

Shia wrinkled her brow.

“That stench… like wild orcs. They haven’t bathed or washed clothes for a month at least. Ugly and foul-smelling… revolting.”

“Which means they’re not a normal hunting party.”

As we whispered, the man in front—a middle-aged brute with a beard thick enough to rival his equipment—looked us over and sneered, sizing us up.

That was the spearman I’d mentioned. Their leader.

“…Well, well. Didn’t expect guests.”