Good Friends (5)

The massive cave exhaled an unpleasant air as if it were breathing. A sticky flow emanated from all directions, as if demons were clinging directly to our bodies. As we approached the cave, we made eye contact with each other, took deep breaths, and positioned Lena at the front. Lena, scanning the area around the cave with her eyes, slightly extended her foot towards the ground and lightly tapped it.

Blinking her eyes and examining the cave interior, she nodded and said to us:

“Let’s go.”

I unconsciously gripped the sword at my waist. For mobility, we had hidden all our luggage in the forest. The reason I was here now was to buy time for the hero to escape if this operation were to fail.

We had also separated a portion of the supplies that the hero and Mille could carry, so they could grab it while escaping.

Lena moved forward cautiously at the front with her body bent, and Ashuria followed behind her, gripping her knuckle dusters. Unable to look back, I couldn’t see what expressions the hero and Mille were making, but I was certain they weren’t much different from my own face.

Even as I was walking, I was thinking about death. All kinds of ignoble deaths. Being hit by a crossbow. Accidentally brushing against a poisoned needle with deadly venom and spewing blood on the spot. Dying without even swinging my sword once as the cave rocks collapsed.

Getting lost and wandering around after the cave entrance closed, dying of starvation.

I wasn’t afraid of dying. I was only afraid that everything I had dreamed of until now would be buried along with a single death notice. The fear of tragic oblivion that had choked me on the battlefield and when leaving the Empire was tormenting me here as well.

“Hah…”

It was only natural that Ashuria frowned at me when I unconsciously let out a deep sigh. I apologized to her with a hand gesture and faced the darkness.

The cave became pitch black as we advanced, with no light entering. In the tension of not being able to carelessly light a fire or make loud noises, we were sucked into the darkness as if in a nightmare.

Would we be able to get out?

The thought I had during the briefing was still tormenting me at this moment.

---

“They’ve entered.”

A hooded demon said this in a dark room. A man with a heron-like bird tattoo on his neck nodded at the demon’s words.

“Yes. I saw them too.”

Eyes that could see clearly even in the darkness flashed green. The man, showing his white teeth in a grin, turned to the demon and asked:

“Are the others ready?”

“They’re all on standby. Just say the word, and we’ll send them right over there. I’m going down now, so send the hero to my room.”

The demon had a sword at his waist. The large scar on his face and his stern expression seemed to hint at the pride he held in his swordsmanship. The man patted the demon’s shoulder and said:

“But can you really defeat the hero? You might be a promising swordsman among demons, but your opponent is a monster who even defeated Greta.”

“Don’t compare me to someone who relies on machines, drunk on power. I’m a renowned swordsman among demons and was the sword instructor for demon soldiers.”

Despite his blunt tone, his face was contorted. Seeing the emotional response and angry expression, the man smiled even more brightly, showing his teeth. The flashing green eyes gave an inhuman impression.

He didn’t care that the demon’s hand was moving towards his sword, or that a grinding sound was coming from his teeth.

“But aren’t you a loser now? Although I’ve been stuck in this cesspool as a member of the Black Society, I’ve heard about you. I heard you were utterly crushed by a newly arrived knight recently? To think you’d quit your sword instructor position and volunteer for field duty after just one incident. Your pride must have been severely wounded.”

“…That’s enough.”

The demon expressed his emotions honestly. Seeing the posture full of intent to kill if one more word was spoken, the man nodded and stepped back.

“Alright. I get it. I get it. Go to your position now. I’ll send the hero right over.”

As the man waved his hand in a placating gesture, the demon clicked his tongue and turned around. His massive back and the muscles clinging to his thin clothes, creating contours, hinted at his strength. After confirming that the demon had gone down the stairs, the man turned back and started fiddling with the mechanical devices.

And he began to speak to Lena. In a voice too small for Lena to hear.

“Lena. Remember what I told you when I was building the Black Society base? That if someone was bold enough to invade our base, they’d either be so numerous that our traps would be meaningless, or so brutally strong that our traps wouldn’t work on them. So, we shouldn’t be satisfied with just traps, but should be able to think of other methods.”

The man smiled as he pulled a lever.

“If we can prevent them from entering while we escape, that’s also a victory.”

---

Even in the darkness, Lena’s trained eyes could see the interior as if it were broad daylight. Her vision, tinted gray from detecting the faintest light, observed eerie beast-like stalactites growing like teeth and strange walls boasting bizarre cross-sections.

The silhouettes wriggling in places beyond her sight were just malformed stalactites, and occasionally, oddly angled ore embedded in the walls served as landmarks.

And nowhere among these was there a trap. The path twisted in complex directions or led to spaces so wide that even she, tense as she was, was bewildered, but there were no devices installed to spray poison gas on the floor, nor did arrows fly from crossbows anywhere.

This was just an ordinary cave. Her eyes didn’t detect any mechanisms for traps or fine threads that would break at the slightest touch of skin.

A cave with nothing.

The further she advanced, the more Lena couldn’t help but be convinced that it was a cave with nothing in it.

Although her vision was dark and she felt stifled, there were no traps inside the cave.

She relaxed her tense body and caught her breath.

It seemed she had walked forward for too long while tense, even though there were no traps. She couldn’t even hear the sounds of Ashuria and the porter moving behind her.

She turned her head to suggest taking a short break.

“Huh?”

And there was no one behind her.

Without any sound or warning.

She was left alone in this cave.

The path she had come from was twisted into a different shape from the one she had felt her way through, and the end of the path was blocked.

“Lena.”

And at the end of the dark, empty space, green eyes were flashing, calling Lena’s name.

---

Ashuria had been moving in the darkness, following only Lena’s back.

She was sure of it. But when they had turned several winding corners, at some point, she lost sight of Lena. The moment she took a few steps forward to find Lena, Lena’s figure had vanished without a trace.

Thinking her eyes might have failed her in the darkness, she took a few more steps forward and turned around, only to find that both the porter and the hero had disappeared.

“What…!”

Ashuria opened her mouth in bewilderment and realized that her voice echoed quite loudly.

She had been wandering in the darkness and had somehow emerged into a wide open space.

And there were those waiting for Ashuria. Figures with bright blue eyes flashing, holding weapons and calling her with boiling voices.

“The church’s dog has come…”

“Kill her…! Kill her…!”

“Receive our grudge…!”

Although surprised, Ashuria had to assume a stance. With enemies appearing before her, she had no choice but to fight.

---

Ashuria and Lena’s figures disappeared before my eyes. At first, I thought I had lost them and took a few more steps forward, but somehow the path was leading me in a different direction.

In the darkness where I couldn’t see an inch in front of me, when I looked back, neither the hero nor Mille was visible.

I carefully drew the sword at my waist and scanned my surroundings.

It’s a trap.

Whatever kind of trap it was, we had all fallen for it completely.

I felt cold sweat flowing involuntarily.

Could I escape from here?

If I die here, who would remember me?

In the darkness, I heard faint footsteps.

Footsteps.

The sound of a scabbard hitting clothing. Heavy footsteps at a regular pace. Steady breathing and the weight of armor clanking with each arm movement.

I nodded with my eyes closed.

Someone wielding a sword was waiting on the other side of the darkness.

I had no escape route.

The air in an open space is different from a narrow path. As I stepped into a wider area, a heavy voice greeted me from the darkness.

“…You’re not the hero.”

Judging by the direction of the voice, he was about my size. I nodded while drawing my sword. I intentionally didn’t respond verbally.

“I see. But you’ll do nicely as a warm-up before facing the hero.”

He spoke as if he had heard my response.

His blue eyes flashed for a moment, and feeling a chilling killing intent, I reflexively swung my sword.

As the two swords clashed, sparks flew, and his face was momentarily revealed.

A large straight scar and a vicious smile.

He shouted:

“You’re not just some nobody. Not bad.”

He can see me in the darkness.

I can only distinguish him by sound.

“Cowardly bastard.”

I blurted out without realizing it.