Chapter 249: Familiar and different Parties (8)

Chapter 249: Familiar and
different Parties (8)

There
was a girl named Anya.

She
was my first official party member in my first labyrinth exploration,
and an ill-fated girl who died to goblins immediately after entering
the labyrinth.

Jeremy,
who went mad at the death of Anya, his childhood friend and
girlfriend, entrusted her head to me and left to search for a miracle
of resurrection.

-Tick.
Tick. Tick.

However,
Anya’s head, which should have been dead, was clicking its jaw while
emitting blue spirit flames.

“What
is this?”

A
stupid-sounding voice came out at the utterly baffling situation.

Did
the resurrection miracle really exist? I thought it was just a mere
rumor…

But
I soon shook my head. No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t a
normal resurrection.

I
found myself staring at Anya’s head, now covered in blue spirit
flames.

‘The
status window won’t appear.’

The
status window applies even to corpses. Whether alive or dead, Anya’s
status window should have appeared.

But
Anya’s status window didn’t appear before my eyes.

It
was evidence that she had become something other than human… like a
monster.

“My
goodness. It’s a Dullahan, isn’t it?”

When
I took the head to Diana for answers, the answer came immediately.

Despite
me bringing a half-rotting human head, Diana, a former explorer, just
calmly observed it.

-Tickticktickticktickticktick.

Anya’s
head clicked its jaw whenever it made eye contact with Diana, who
showed signs of interest.

Seeing
the blue spirit flames fluctuating unstably, it seemed to be
instinctively frightened after sensing Diana’s power.

“A
Dullahan?”

“It’s
one of the undead monsters that black mages control. It’s a monster
that must either be raised through necromancy from a person whose
neck was torn off, or captured and tamed in the labyrinth… But why
is this here? Surely not like last time, did someone send a
familiar—”

“That’s
not it. It’s a bit complicated to explain…”

I
briefly explained about Anya and Jeremy to Diana, who was examining
the Dullahan-turned Anya with a questioning gaze.

“Even
for a black mage, I’ve never heard of raising a corpse from far
away…It seems this Jeremy child must have had a truly deep bond
with this Anya child. It would be impossible otherwise.”

I
recalled what Amel Drexia, the black mage I met in Eden, had said.

‘A
talented junior who was desperately trying to revive his dead
girlfriend had joined, and went on an expedition to the 19th floor
with another party.’

Though
there was no physical evidence, I was certain that the junior was
Jeremy.

Did
he perhaps obtain some opportunity in the 19th floor where the Elder
Lich who wields necromancy exists?

That’s
something I can’t know without knowing the situation over there.

The
problem now is…

‘What
should I do with Anya?’

Jeremy
had asked me to safely keep Anya’s head.

It
was an easy task when she was just a corpse. I could just stash it
away in a corner of the wardrobe.

But
now that she’s become a Dullahan monster, it’s difficult.

I
have no means to control a monster since I’m not a black mage.

It
might be better to split that head in half now while the Dullahan
appears powerless.

-Tick.
Tick.

Moreover,
Anya kept trying to go somewhere while clicking her jaw.

Looking
at the direction she was trying to go, it was the labyrinth entrance
where the labyrinth entry portal opens.

“The
undead are highly sensitive to their master’s will. Doesn’t this mean
the black mage who raised this child is calling for her from within
the labyrinth?”

“Does
that mean Jeremy is in danger?”

“Hmm.
I can’t be certain about that. They might just want to see this
child.”

Diana
said this with a gentle smile, her eyes warmly crinkled.

“Even
now I feel loneliness just from someone being far away. I can
understand that feeling. Besides, since she’s not showing any
particularly threatening behavior, wouldn’t it be fine to just watch
over her?”

When
Diana carefully stroked the Dullahan Anya’s head, its jaw began
clicking faster and the blue spirit flames gradually began to fade.

Eventually,
Anya’s drooping head slipped back into the wrapping cloth.

“Oh
my. Did she faint?”

“…It
seems so.”

Seeing
Diana who could make an undead faint just by stroking it, it seemed
there was no possibility of Dullahan Anya causing any trouble as long
as she was around.

Moreover,
if Jeremy really did revive Anya as an undead…keeping her safe
would be the right thing to do according to the promise.

There
was no point in thinking about it further, so I thought about other
matters.

There
were four main things to do in the labyrinth this time.

First
and most importantly, hunting the Elder Lich.

Second,
delivering the orb containing Celsia’s blessing to the Demon of
Sloth.

Third,
helping with the opening of Diana’s second inn, and fourth,
delivering Serif’s letter to Idelbert.

Hunt
monsters, Ellieminate crises, lay foundations in new territory and
prepare for what’s next.

And
while we’re at it, searching for past connections would be fine to
add.

***

The
next morning, I headed to the temple and received a letter from
Serif.

-Sniff
sniff.

“…?
The letter has a strangely odd smell.”

“Hya!
Is, is that so…?”

“Well,
it must be my imagination. I’ll make sure to deliver the letter to
Master.”

“Yes.
Please be careful too, Lord Balkan. Don’t get hurt. Please.”

Receiving
such a heartwarming farewell, I smiled and waved my hand, and Serif
carefully waved back while tapping the ground with her pure white cat
tail.

“…La-Lady
Serif…?”

Nate
Ellien, who was watching Serif’s shy face from the side, raised a
question mark above her head with a surprised expression, but her
voice quickly disappeared behind the carriage.

At
the small open space behind the inn where laundry was usually hung
stood party members with unfamiliar yet familiar faces, equipped with
the gear and supplies needed for labyrinth exploration.

The
cow beastkin swordsman Jubeel.

The
blonde twin-drill noble lady tank Rubia.

The
mentally regressed dark elf mage Nuer.

My
personal slave and guide cum close/long-range supporter Denshi.

And
me, the axe warrior.

The
party balance isn’t too bad, though it feels slightly combat-heavy
without a priest.

It
gave me a strange feeling seeing how little remained of the Joy Hog
party days except for Jubeel.

This
is ‘my party,’ my party that is familiar yet different.

From
now on, I must explore the labyrinth with them.

And
this time, there are two more joining us besides them, the
mother-daughter pair Ellie and Diana.

Diana
to prepare a second inn location cum new residence in Eden on the
15th floor, and Ellie…

“Ellie.
The portal?”

To
experiment with new portal magic.

“Just
need to flow mana! Should I open it now?”

When
I nodded, Ellie, who was standing in front of a magic circle with
strange patterns, began emanating mana.

The
concentrated mana that burst from her body flowed along the strange
patterns of the magic circle, creating a crack in its center.

Along
with an illusion as if space itself was collapsing, an oval black
portal eventually appeared in the center of the magic circle.

“Wow
shit. Why does that actually open? If I wasn’t being careful, the
meridians and milk ducts might have opened too.”

“It’s
really similar to the portal that the Dimensional Duke opened during
the palace raid. If we could just freely open portals like this, just
think what we could do… Girl! I’m so surprised right now!”

“What’s
that? Waah… I don’t know about such things, scary……”

“……She
can use such magic?”

Though
I had mentioned it beforehand, the party members and Denshi expressed
amazed reactions with their mouths wide open at the sight of Ellie
opening the portal.

Seeing
their surprised expressions, especially Denshi’s, Ellie wiped away
the sweat she shed from using so much mana and made a proud
expression.

Then
she immediately came up to me, thrust out her perky chest, and
grinned.

Seeing
her appearance as if asking to be praised, I firmly grasped her long
elf ears along with her breasts.

“Hyak!
Hng, uh… no-not there. Here. Hehe…”

Startled
by my touch, Ellie grabbed my hands with embarrassment and moved them
to her red hair while showing a satisfied smile.

Meanwhile,
she left the hand holding her left breast alone, as if having her
breasts fondled by me in front of others wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

Although
Ellie pretends otherwise, she cares quite a bit about others’
opinions, so perhaps she feels a strange sense of superiority showing
off like this.

Seeing
her appearance that couldn’t go without praise, I vigorously stroked
her head while saying:

“It
seems more stable than when you opened it last time?”

“Hehe.
Because I did lots of preparation and reinforcement. I still don’t
fully understand portal magic, but I found some gaps. Do you remember
when we collected mana samples while going around the labyrinth
portals?”

“Of
course. It was your second labyrinth exploration. We collected mana
samples up to the 12th floor.”

It
was also when Ellie and Denshi first met.

“Yes.
After experimenting several times, I found I could somehow move to
the floors where we collected mana samples.”

In
other words, the portal Ellie opens now can serve as a passage that
can reach up to the 12th floor.

“It’s
different from the labyrinth entry portal that opens at the labyrinth
entrance. That portal is more stable than the one I opened, and drops
from the 1st floor. But what I opened will drop randomly among floors
1 through 12, so you need to prepare more thoroughly.”

“Right…But,
are you really sure it’s okay to come along?”

Ellie
said she would join this labyrinth trip to experiment with portal
magic and collect mana samples from other floors.

If
she collects mana samples from other floors, she can improve the
portal to eventually transfer to deeper floors.

“Royal
mages can substitute work with labyrinth exploration if we just
notify in advance. Moreover, when it comes to portal magic research,
it has even more value.”

“That’s
not what I’m asking about.”

“Brother.”

When
I spoke with concern, Ellie looked at me and grinned.

“I’m
not just a pubescent kid anymore, you know? Now I’m a proper mage who
can help brother like this.”

“…You
brat.”

“Ububub…hehit.”

At
that endearing yet worrying appearance, I messed up her red hair
vigorously, and Ellie grinned while putting on her wide-brimmed mage
hat.

Leaving
Ellie for a moment, I greeted someone who was watching us from a few
steps away.

“Belle.
You have to guard the inn well while we’re gone, okay?”

“Yes,
my lord. My lord’s command. Belle will definitely protect it!”

Belle,
who was sitting on the ice box artifact containing 100 sandwiches
made by Diana, nodded her head vigorously.

She
decided to stay at the inn instead of participating in this labyrinth
trip.

Although
Diana placed her connections and artifacts to protect the inn, I felt
somehow uneasy since the worshipper of lust knows this location.

But
I’m somewhat relieved if Belle is guarding it.

-Clank.
Clank.

After
finishing greetings with Belle, I did a final equipment check.

I
had preserved food and map artifacts up to the 20th floor.

Since
we don’t have a priest, I wanted to stock up on more potions than
usual, but perhaps other parties were in similar situations—I could
only obtain four high-grade healing potions and a few antidotes.

Even
these quantities were barely obtained for five gold coins, making me
sigh inside, but I was somewhat relieved since the new full body
armor made by Zirnier would serve as a new lifeline instead.

-Shing.

“Is
everyone ready?”

I
asked the party members while adjusting Bunny on my back and the
artifact axe at my waist.

“Of
course, master!”

“Kiyahoo!!”

“Waah.
I suddenly want to go home…”

“Hawawa…!
May this time also be full of new adventures!”

“Mmm.
Balkan’s party is lively…”

Making
physical contact with the party members who each muttered something,
we crossed through the portal Ellie opened.

The
fresh air of the surface instantly fades away, replaced by sticky
blood smell and suffocating silence.

Along
with a cold that cuts into flesh we dropped once again into that
place of bitter cold.

However,
our party’s current strength was enough to call the mere 12th floor
nothing.

Just
four days later we reached Eden on the 15th floor.