episode_0156

156. 2nd layer (2)

Swish- oops!

Swish-

I slowly descend into the hole, relying only on the faint light of the glowstone.

Originally, I was going to slowly descend with the rope tied to the stake, but Lauren said she would hold the rope and let go, which made me a little nervous.

“Ugh..”

He said it was to make it easier for him to pull himself up by his own strength in case of an emergency, but he left it to me for no reason.

The ropes tied around Claude’s wrists are loosening at random speeds, perhaps because Claude and Lauren’s breathing is out of sync.

“Oh my…”

Claude is a detective, but he is inferior to me in overall situational awareness and improvisation, and his knowledge of the labyrinth is also somewhat lacking, so there is nothing he can do.

Swish-

Sway-!

“Oh my!!”

This time, the recoil transmitted to my waist was a little bigger, so a sound burst out of my mouth.

I could hear Lauren saying “Sorry!” from up there, but rather than losing her temper, I just looked down and waited for Sia to adjust.

Toouk-

As I was being lowered like a load, my legs touched the floor.

I waved my arms so Claude could notice, and soon my body began to rise.

Oh, did you check how much it went down?

*

*

*

“I knew it.”

“Sorry…”

I was debating whether or not to tell you, but I forgot and came down, and as expected, you hadn’t checked it.

Lauren’s ears drooped as if she was sorry, and Claude also scratched his head and apologized to me.

“There’s no other way anyway, so it’s okay now, but if this situation arises again, please check.”

“Okay. Okay.”

After patting Lauren’s listless shoulder and comforting her, we prepared to go down.

Clank- clank-

I had left my equipment after my last exploration, but just in case, I shined a lantern on Lauren’s Sabaton and checked for any damage.

“How are you, Lauren?”

“Hmm… I think it’ll be fine.”

Lauren, who was stretching by rotating her ankles, answered, and I pointed to the wall of the passage we had passed through first.

“Put it in once.”

“Sigh!!”

BANG!!!

Thud-

Her feet sink deep into the wall with a slight thud.

“You can go down little by little by pushing it in a couple of times.”

To be honest, if this kind of terrain appeared while exploring, most people would have just taken the return portal the next day and re-entered, but with Loren, who is ridiculously strong, they were able to push ahead with the exploration.

“Take only the dagger, not the shield.”

“No! My circle!!”

“If it doesn’t work, just throw it away and pretend to be important.”

“….tsk.”

Lauren clicked her tongue at my comment.

In fact, I broke the first shield and cried while bringing the broken pieces to my room, but as soon as I received the second shield, I sold it for scrap metal.

After giving Lauren a few quick instructions, he tied a rope around her waist and lowered her into the pit.

bang-!

Boom!!! Boom!!!

“Oh, I’ve never seen someone kick a cave before. And they’re not even dwarves.”

Claude looks tired of the constant sound of Lauren’s kicking.

“Claude. I wonder if you’ll get kicked out for saying something like that.”

“Gasp…!”

“Hehe..”

“Siaya?”

I tease and Sia looks at Claude with a smile on her face.

Claude stuttered in confusion, and while they were chatting away as usual, the loud noise stopped and they felt a tug on the rope.

“It’s already gone down.”

“Is it fast?”

“It must have been like going down stairs.”

“Oh…”

And I pulled the rope twice to signal them to come up.

“Whew…”

“Good job, Lauren. Here, drink some water.”

“Thank you.”

I handed Lauren the water bottle and patted her head.

“Hehe..”

“…..”

Claude was looking at us like that with an envious expression.

Even after he found out that he had sex with Sia after dating her, Claude couldn’t say anything lighthearted like, “Have you pierced your vagina?” or “Do you have any sex stories?”

Sia and I have been friends for a long time, and he knows about my long-standing crush, so it must have been a bit awkward to talk about that topic.

“Why.”

“Huh? Oh…it’s nothing.”

“It’s bland.”

But since Lauren had already seen me coming and going from my room, I guess she was curious about what the elf looked like.

Even so, there’s no need for me to tell you about my girlfriend.

We were tied to ropes one by one and lowered into the pit.

I, Claude, Sia came down and finally Lauren came down, then I untied the rope around her waist.

“Cain. What a wonderful knot.”

“Really?”

“Stronger than the methods used by our forest rangers.”

Lauren whispers as she watches me untie the rope tied around her waist.

“But do you really have to whisper when you talk?”

“Just… because the leader’s gaze is annoying.”

“Ah.”

Before he found out about our relationship, Claude had been secretly flirting with me.

Lauren said that although the passing glances in front of the room had stopped, she still felt a little awkward because of the gazes that sometimes looked at her with hazy eyes.

“Lauren, please understand.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re nice.”

“Hehe..”

After a brief flirtation with Lauren, I resumed my exploration.

*

*

*

While I was walking down the aisle with Claude, making Lauren, who was feeling burdened, walk side by side with Sia, I called out to Claude.

“But when I came down, the passage became a bit wider.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, Claude.”

“Huh?”

“Lauren says your gaze is a little burdensome.”

“Wow!”

Claude’s legs gave out at my words and he stumbled slightly.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Uh…”

Claude, who had no idea that such a topic would suddenly be brought up, was at a loss for words.

I thought things would work out well with Tanya, but she suddenly distanced herself from me and things didn’t go as planned, and seeing Lauren and I get together on top of that, I guess I feel a bit regretful.

“I understand, but not Lauren?”

“Right..?”

“Jury didn’t bother to touch me because she knew that Lauren would return to the elves someday.”

Claude, who was suddenly recalling the awkward meal he had with Julie, stops.

“That’s…that’s right, Jury…”

“Even if it’s not like that, what would happen to you if you got caught by Jury?”

Ouch!

Only then did Claude remember Julie’s notoriety and his shoulders flinch.

“Don’t be too sad, I’ll ask you to introduce me to other girls later.”

“Thank you..!!”

And Claude looks moved at the words that he will introduce a woman to him.

He’s crazy about women, but he’s a good kid so he understands well.

Knock knock-!

“Let’s try hard this time too.”

“Yeah!”

Looking at Claude, who had regained his energy, I turned my head back to look at Lauren.

Lauren, who has good ears, nodded and smiled at me as if she had heard the whole conversation I was whispering to her.

“By the way, what kind of monster will appear this time…?”

It was a similar structure to when we first came out of the portal, but it was a little wider, and there was a passageway that was wide enough for three people to move through and about two meters high.

“Mapping is so fucking hard.”

“Is it very difficult?”

“Uh.”

Since the forked road doesn’t appear, I’m just roughly drawing the map by feeling, but if I do this…

“Isn’t this going to be like last time, with a huge open space?”

Claude starts thinking and talking for some reason.

“That’s highly likely.”

The terrain of the labyrinth seems to have a similar pattern every time, but sometimes it changes absurdly, so I couldn’t be sure, but usually about 60-70% of it matched my predictions.

Swaaaah-

Let’s move a little further and we can hear the sound of water in the distance.

“Write…”

“Cain, what are you going to do? ”

“Let’s go.”

The presence of a water source means there is a high possibility that there will be creatures with water-related vegetation, so although it is a little unsettling, I continued to move.

The passage was getting wider and wider, and a dim light was beginning to appear ahead.

And the moment I exited the passage.

“ and….”

“Huh…”

“Pretty!”

I thought there were fewer glowstones in the hallway than usual, but it seemed like they were all crammed into this space.

And in the center of the pupil was a huge fountain that looked to be over 5 meters high.

The sight of the fountain gushing water from the luminous stones that glowed softly like lights was breathtakingly beautiful.

“Wait a minute…?”

The story of artificial structures appearing in the labyrinth is only after the 4th floor.

Kuguguguguguung-!

Suddenly, the water stopped flowing from the center of the fountain and a loud noise began to ring out.

“What the!”

“Claude back off, take Laurencia and fall back!”

“Okay…”

bang!!!

He shouted to his companions as he heard the sound of a cannon being fired and saw something shooting out of the center of the fountain.

“Ouch!”

“Unpack and prepare for battle!!”

After throwing the bags and luggage they had carried on the ground, they reorganized their formation.

Lauren steps to the front, holding out her shield and surrendering her body, while Claude stands at her diagonal, sharpening his sword.

I was positioned slightly behind Sia, watching the situation, when I saw something fired from the air and flying quickly towards us.

It’s flying so fast that you can’t see it very well, but it’s still on the second floor…

“Lauren. Slam me with the shield!!”

“Okay….uh!!!”

Dropkick-!!!

“Kuwaaak!!!”

Kwaaah!!!

Lauren slams her shield down with all her might as it flies towards her, screaming loudly before crashing into a wall.

No matter how fast it flies, it’ll still be slower than an inanimate, oversized barista.

Lauren, who had also bounced off the barista, lightly bounced off what was presumed to be a monster.

“Let’s wait for now, since we can send more from there.”

Judging from the strong fishy smell when it got close before Lauren got hit, it seems to be a monster that lives in the water, as expected…

Kugugugugugugugugugu-!!!!!

At that moment, the fountain began to vibrate madly, shaking even more than when it had ejected one of the monsters earlier.

“You crazy..! Run away with your luggage!!”

“Yeah!!”

“Sia, just take the lantern and go back!”

Claude and Laurent, as well as I, must have sensed something ominous, quickly packed their bags and went back the way they came.

Kwaaang!! Kwaaang!! Boom!!

As I was running down the corridor and looking back, I heard a loud noise from the center of the fountain and it kept shooting out.

And let’s go into the passage we came through.

…..

The roaring noise stops, the fountain starts gushing water again, and it becomes quiet.

“What kind of human-detecting fountain is that?”

“Cain, maybe that fountain too…”

I shook my head at Claude’s ominous question.

Hey, are you sure that fountain isn’t a monster?