The Holy Church Again

――The day after completing sword training under Master Dullahan.

Following Ekarraat’s advice, I rode Dark Horse toward the S-Rank Dungeon【Crimson Night Moon】.

“Well, well—there are unexpected guests in my lair.”

“That insignia… are they from the Holy Church?”

At the dungeon entrance, Holy Church’s Holy Knights, their presence radiating a dangerous air, were loitering—somewhere between twenty and thirty of them.

“…Let’s watch for a while.”

I folded Dark Horse into my shadow and hid.

I leaned out half my body and peered at the Holy Church’s group, and found a familiar face.

“All units, be ready for battle! We will storm in now!”

“”““Understood!!!!”“““

The one giving orders was the female Holy Knight I met the other day on the shared carriage I used when heading to the B-Rank Dungeon【Black Neck Mound】.

Today as well she had her long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and wore white armor.

Likewise, the novice sister who had offered baked goods on the carriage was there.

She wore the same white sister’s habit as the other day.

“So the Holy Church was also plotting to clear an S-rank dungeon…?”

They seemed ready; with the female Holy Knight at the front, the Holy Church group descended into the dungeon.

“We might be beaten to it. Sid, we shall follow after them.”

After confirming the Holy Knight at the rear had entered the dungeon, I also slipped in, vanishing my presence.

“…There’s no one here and I can’t hear marching. They must’ve used the warp device after all.”

By defeating the floor boss that appears every five floors, the warp device linking the dungeon entrance is unlocked.

If their goal is the same deepest area as mine, they would undoubtedly head to the 20th underground layer.

It’s the warp device that became usable after the Minotaur was defeated.

“Warp device activated. To underground layer 20.”

I operated the warp device and teleported to the 20th floor.

“…I can faintly hear the scrape of armor. So they’re heading to the deepest area too—Shadow Manifestation.”

“Squeak-squeak, squeak-squeak.”

I summoned ten rat Shadows from within the darkness.

They were the previous inhabitants of the mansion I purchased.

I had exterminated many during cleaning and, thinking they might be useful, had performed 【Shadow Necromance】 on them—turns out their time to be useful came sooner than expected.

“Tail the Holy Church guys without being detected.”

“Squeak-squeak, squeak-squeak.”

The rat Shadows sped after the Holy Church group with nimble movements.

“So, what do you intend to do?”

“I’ll reach the deepest chamber before them. I know this dungeon’s structure better than anyone.”

I turned my gaze to the center of the antechamber where the warp device stood.

There remained the large hole in the floor that the Shadow Minotaur had created back when it still had a flesh-and-blood body.

How nostalgic… back then Sylvan the Hero had cut my leg and I was desperately running from the Minotaur…

“This hole is a direct shortcut to the lowest layer. Using it, I can reach the deepest area faster than them.”

With the hem of my long coat billowing, I dove into the hole without hesitation.

＊＊＊

――Meanwhile.

A Holy Knight order was exploring the S-Rank Dungeon【Crimson Night Moon】.

“Haaaaah!【Saint Slash】!”

――Slash!

The search party leader at the front—the beautiful woman with long golden hair tied in a ponytail, Sheena Aytel—cleaved an orc that appeared ahead in two with a sword imbued with light magic.

“Hmph! Child’s play.”

“Amazing… to fell such a large orc with a single strike…!”

The one exclaiming at Sheena’s swordplay was the girl in the sister’s habit, Florence Cuticle.

“Lady Sheena, are you injured?”

“Flo, is it? No need to worry.”

“I can only support with healing magic, so please tell me anytime you need recovery!”

“Yes, I will be relying on you then, Flo.”

Sheena wiped the orc’s blood and fat from her sword, sheathed it, and continued forward.

Then—kachiri.

An unpleasant sound came from beneath her feet.

Sheena accidentally stepped on a dungeon trap, and a magic circle appeared at her feet.

“Damn—it’s a teleport trap! Flo! Get away from me right now!”

“Lady Sheena, it’s dangerous!”

Florence instinctively tackled Sheena with all her strength and hurled her out of the magic circle.

Having overextended, Florence’s body fell to the ground and remained—inside the magic circle.

“Flo!!”

Sheena hurriedly reached out toward Florence.

But just before her hand could reach her, the teleportation magic circle activated.

Florence vanished from sight, and the hand Sheena had extended sliced through empty air.

“Flo!!”

She clenched her fist with the hand that had nowhere to go, smashing her anger at having lost a subordinate through her own mistake into the ground.

“All units, operation suspended! Search for the missing Florence Cuticle! We will find her no matter what!”

Lower layers of the S-rank dungeon.

Sheena’s shout echoed throughout the caverns.