kscans

Chapter 38 - For Whom, the Hundred-Handed Monster

Today was a dungeon day. Our now-customary breakfast meeting was underway.

"Why the 12th floor? I think the 10th floor is fine,"

Mizuki asked, raising a perfectly valid point.

"It's for Myra's sake,"

I replied.

"Why is it for my sake?"

Myra asked.

"Myra, I guarantee Mash is only thinking of pervy things."

She was right, of course, but I crossed my arms and pretended to be lost in serious contemplation.

"I agree with Mash. I think it's reasonable,"

Cecily said.

"I agree with Mash, too,"

Aira added.

"Famu?"

"..."

Famu was silent, lost in thought.

"Famu?"

"...I want to go to the 41st floor. This party has three experienced members."

"Famu, if you really want to get stronger, you need to think about the path to get there. Cut it out with these self-satisfying challenges and efforts. You'll only get hurt and suffer for it."

I have a skill that boosts EXP gain. All we need is time to earn that experience. Given the same amount of time, Famu will inevitably surpass everyone. It's better to be cautious. There's no need to take risks. I had already told everyone about the robed figure and the black panther woman from yesterday. I'd only told Mizuki that they might be a transmigrator. Myra, who commutes from the church, hadn't been fully briefed. As for Cecily and Aira, I hadn't directly told them that Mizuki and I are transmigrators or that we can use three special skills. It was only for the journey to Miglutt, after all. But they were there when the priest was examining my abilities. They must have suspected something.

"Famu, Mash is right. I get how you feel, but no one here is at a level where they can fight on that floor."

Mizuki's answer was sound. We had only reached it because we had a high-level adventurer named Reed and slaves acting as decoys.

"Famu, the black panther woman is just a milestone. Don't get too hung up on her."

"...Understood. In that case, I'll vote for the 10th floor, same as Mizuki."

With Famu's answer, it was two against two. That meant it was all up to Myra. Same as yesterday, I wondered where my own vote went. I'm supposed to be the leader here.

"Myra, trust Aira,"

Cecily said, putting pressure on her.

"Hey, Cecily and Aira are in cahoots with Mash today. Myra, don't trust them."

Mizuki sensed something was off.

"And even if we were, what would we have to gain? This is for Myra's sake!"

Cecily retorted, though her argument had no substance.

"So how does going to the 12th floor help Myra? I don't understand the reason."

"...Aira, Big Sister... is it okay if I trust you?"

"Yes,"

Aira nodded.

"Alright, Big Sister is riding this big wave!"

And so, the 12th floor was decided. I pumped my fist in my mind.

The dungeon maps at the shop only went up to the 10th floor. Instead, they handed us paper and a pen.

"This is inefficient..."

"I have some old strategy notes. I thought something like this might happen."

Myra produced a hand-drawn map from her storage.

"Alright, let's just push ahead and head back whenever. Let's go!"

"...Why are you so fired up?"

Mizuki shot me a suspicious glance.

"Because it's for Myra's sake!"

As I stepped into the transfer circle, every floor up to the 41st was displayed. Though I could only access up to the 3rd floor on my own power, the sight was deeply moving. I selected the 12th floor. My vision went black, then returned as if nothing had happened.

"Mash, there are traps from the 11th floor onward. Please be careful."

I nodded at Myra. Her map even had the trap locations marked. With two healers, we should be fine. The moment we opened the first door, four giant bees swarmed us. They were huge, at least a meter long, and their buzzing was deafening. While I was debating whether to use my sword or bow, one of them closed in. Famu leaped between me and the bee, slashing at its abdomen. The bee flew upward to escape. I drew my bow and let an arrow fly. It missed. A glance around showed Mizuki and Myra each facing off against one.

The last bee was attacking Aira. She threw up a defensive barrier to block it. Cecily launched a fireball at that one. The bee dodged, but its wing was singed, and it fell to the ground.

"Someone, finish it!"

I left the enemy I was facing to Famu and rushed over to Cecily's group. Switching to my katana, I slashed at the writhing bee. It vanished into motes of light.

"Mash, watch out, there are more of them deeper in!"

Just as Cecily shouted, the other bees ascended.

A sudden gust of wind tore through the room.

"!"

A sharp pain ran through my arms and other parts of my body. Looking down, I saw cuts on my arms. An area-of-effect spell, scythes of wind.

But I could withstand this level of damage. I checked the others. Aira and Cecily were protected by their barriers. Myra was also unharmed. Famu and Mizuki had taken the same damage as me.

"I'll handle the enemy in the back."

I had to cut it down before it could cast its next spell. As I broke into a run, one of the bees in the air dove down at me.

"Get out of my way!"

I swung in a diagonal slash, but it easily dodged. It was fast.

"Mash, I'll deal with the one in the back,"

Mizuki said, sprinting past me. I faced the bee in a center-line stance. With precise footwork, I slashed along the shortest possible trajectory, avoiding any wide swings. But the bee dodged my attack and thrust its stinger at me. I parried it with the flat of my blade, knocking it aside. My forward step was too hesitant. It was fear. That old familiar feeling. Again. I stepped forward along the shortest path and slashed once more.

"Kishaaaa!"

I split the bee's head open. It still tried to fly, so I bisected its abdomen with a horizontal cut. The bee vanished.

I scanned our surroundings. Myra and Famu had finished off their opponents as well. Mizuki was facing a tree-like monster. Its branches moved like arms, its roots like legs. It was an unsettling sight. She was striking it repeatedly, but it didn't seem to be going down.

"Move, Mizuki!"

Cecily launched a fireball. The tree monster went up in flames and disappeared.

"Which one was it?"

I asked Cecily.

"The bee."

I checked the drop items. All four had dropped Mana Seeds.

"A bust..."

"Huh?"

Mizuki overheard my disappointed sigh.

"I see. But is this really for my sake? Is it really going to be my turn? Or are you just trying to have fun yourselves while excluding me..."

It seemed Myra had figured it out. And she was starting to get pouty. I felt sorry for her and was about to offer to grope her breasts, but Mizuki glared at me.

"...Myra, please tend to the wounded."

At Mizuki's prompting, she healed me, Famu, and Mizuki.

"That was a Big Bee and a Rampage Tree. Sometimes Big Hornets appear, so please be careful. The poison from a Big Hornet can be fatal if not treated immediately,"

Myra said with terrifying nonchalance. If the Big Bees were just going to keep dropping Mana Seeds, this was pointless. I wanted to go back.

"What's the Area Guardian on this floor?"

"The 12th floor is a Big Bee nest."

"So a huge swarm of them will appear? That might be too much for us."

"It's fine, I'll just burn them all,"

Cecily answered casually.

"Besides, Mash, you focus too much on the enemy right in front of you. I couldn't support you with magic. You're the leader, so you need to see the bigger picture."

"...Yes, ma'am."

Cecily scolded me. I had no comeback.

Just then, another party entered from the direction of the entrance. My eyes met with the black panther woman leading them.

"Hmph, well now..."

She scoffed.

The robed woman was there too, along with a priest-like man and a warrior-like man. Both of them looked to be in their thirties.

"We meet again. What are you doing here, barely a few steps from the starting point?"

the robed woman said. I couldn't see her expression under her deep hood, but I had a feeling she was smiling.

"The enemies on this floor were too strong for us. We were just deciding whether to turn back."

"Is that so? I heard you turned back on the 3rd floor."

"That was five days ago. And it's true."

I glanced at Cecily. She averted her eyes.

"Hahaha, I see. Mind if we go on ahead?"

"Of course not. We're going to rest here a little longer."

The robed woman's group passed us. The black panther woman scoffed one more time as she walked by.

"That's the group Famu met yesterday. What do you think?"

I asked Mizuki a vague question.

"Why don't we chase after them and hit them with a Goddess Summon from behind? We could wipe them all out. They're kind of pissing me off,"

Cecily answered instead of Mizuki. I thought to myself that this was her fault for provoking me in the first place, but since she was an ally now, I kept quiet.

"Well, that might be a bit much..."

Still, it was an option.

"So, the robed one, the priest, or the warrior is one of us?"

Mizuki asked. She was asking for confirmation about the transmigrator.

"...Probably. But there were only four of them. Maybe they're not participating today."

"They didn't look low-level."

"You're right."

But that warrior geezer, for all his rugged and dignified act, might actually be level 1. It'd be a pain if he had an EXP-boosting skill like me.

"Was it really a coincidence?"

Cecily said. It wouldn't have been hard for them to know we were going to the 12th floor, since we were talking about it at the shop by the entrance.

"The warrior was at the shrine near the dungeon entrance,"

Famu said.

"What? You remember him?"

I remembered there were a few adventurers there, but I couldn't recall him at all.

"No, he just left an impression because he smelled like roasted corn."

So that was the warrior.

"In that case, maybe they really were planning to tail us,"

Cecily said. Since they were loitering near the entrance, they couldn't exactly hide, so they just walked past us like that. But for what purpose? To scout out our fighting style?

"It's not impossible..."

But it was also hard to believe it was a coincidence. We couldn't reach a conclusion.

"Won't it be awkward if we run into them again? Should we try a different floor?"

That sounded like something I'd say, not Mizuki. But I had a reason I couldn't back down now.

"Since we're here, I want to fight a few more times. But let's not push on towards the Area Guardian."

"...Alright."

Mizuki nodded.

We continued to fight. After Mana Seeds dropped ten times in a row, I flew into a rage and was about to summon Laciel to protest, but Mizuki stopped me. After that, however, the bees started dropping the honey extract I was after. I gave it all to Cecily.

"You know, I've never seen a Mana Seed drop before, but come to think of it, one dropped when we first met too... What is going on?"

Cecily said, looking unnerved as she accepted the honey extract.

"Will this be enough?"

"It's enough, but you'd get a lot more if you just sold the Mana Seeds and bought it with the money."

"I could have done that..."

She was right. I dropped to my knees on the floor. We could have just turned back after the first fight.

"But listen, Cecily. Drinking something you made for me, and then doing it with you... that's what will get me the most fired up."

"...Yeah, yeah."

Cecily's reply was dismissive. But I was being serious.

"It's about time you told me what any of this has to do with Myra,"

Mizuki said, clearly irritated.

"Mizuki, Cecily is planning to use the honey extract to make an aphrodisiac for Mash,"

Myra explained.

"...Famu, let's go home. We need to prepare for our departure the day after tomorrow."

Mizuki tried to leave with Famu.

"Mizuki, Master plans to bring Big Sister into this. If you back out now, it'll stop with me and my sister. Your turn will never come."

Famu suddenly got brutally honest. She was reading my thoughts perfectly. If that was the case, I wished she'd also read my feelings for her from that incident on the tower yesterday. And I hoped she'd remember Cecily and Aira, too. And Laciel and Claire. When I thought about it like that, obtaining an aphrodisiac was an urgent matter. Of course, I kept my mouth shut, since Mizuki would probably get incredibly angry if I said it out loud.

"...Hmph."

Mizuki, who had been about to leave, turned around and came back.

"Well, well, Mizuki. I had no idea you were so eager to do lewd things with me."

I looked at her with a smirk.

"Ugh, I can't deny it because it's true, but I really want to punch Mash... If only I could activate Super Kill right now."

Mizuki was saying some dangerous things, so I decided to stop provoking her.

"...Everyone, I know you're all experienced, but could you please be a little more, um..."

Myra seemed to be struggling to find the right words, so I figured it was time to get back to exploring.

"Myra, this map is wrong. This way's a dead end."

The straight corridor ahead of us ended in a solid wall. It was supposed to continue straight for a bit longer.

"That can't be... No, it's a monster!"

Myra raised her mace. The other members readied their weapons. It was a humanoid monster with multiple arms, even larger than the goblin king we had seen before. It looked well over three meters tall. How foolish. There was no way it could fight properly in a narrow corridor like this.

"N-No way, it can't be..."

Cecily and Aira were stunned.

"It's a Hekatonkheires!"

Just as Mizuki said the name, the monster roared.

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!"

The sound was so loud it felt like my eardrums would burst. The entire corridor was trembling. No, it was warping. When the monster's roar subsided, we found ourselves in a space similar to an Area Guardian's room.

"The Area Guardian of the 40th floor..."

Cecily said in a tone of utter despair. I looked for an escape route. There was a closed door behind the Hekatonkheires. Was the door behind us open? I turned around and saw another Hekatonkheires standing there.