Chapter 18: The story of how the party fell apart (3)

Chapter 18: The story of
how the party fell apart (3)

“⋯⋯?”

I
was about to draw my axe and lunge at the woman, Deluna, when my
mouth dropped open, dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.

“⋯h,
eh?”

Grumpy,
who had been slapped, looked puzzled as well.

“Fufu⋯Denshi,
what do you mean, run away? You make us sound like the bad guys when
you say that, don’t you?”

Deluna
looked down at the shrew with a refreshing smile.

Then
she grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, lifted her head, and
slapped her hard across the cheek.

“What,
if, you, say, that, to, my, dignity, huh?!”

-Puck,
puck, puck, puck! Puck!

The
sound of a palm slapping her cheek had suddenly turned into a beating
with accompanying fists.

A
groan of yelps and grunts echoed through the rigid corridor.

No
one thought to move in the sudden commotion.

“You’ve
been working for me for so long and you haven’t changed a bit, now
wake up.”

-Poof!

Spit
landed on Grumpy’s cheek. Bruised and with swollen eyes, Grumpy
didn’t even think about wiping it off before passing out.

“Ouch.
Sis. Didn’t you fan her too hard?”

“What?
That’s what slaves are for. That’s why Vesta gave her to me.”

“Yeah,
well, that’s one thing.”

The
unarmored women bowed to Deluna.

As
they dusted off their hands and started talking about things only
they knew, I silently assessed the situation.

Seven
of them.

Deluna,
the woman from the Explorers’ Alliance, Grumpy, and five other
combatants with drawn swords.

‘Deluna
is the leader of that group, and the rest are lackeys. Is Grumpy
Deluna’s slave? And who is Vesta?’

I
don’t know exactly, but here’s what I’ve been able to piece together.

I
didn’t really care that Grumpy was being beaten like a dog, I just
thought it was a beating.

My
only question is, why did they put on such a ‘show’ in front of us?

“Hiccup.”

I
soon found out why: a terrified voice came from behind me.

‘Jeremy,
you idiot. You walked right into the skit.’

When
people see someone getting severely beaten right in front of them,
their minds instinctively tend to freeze.

It
forces you to do two things: tense up and stiffen up, or make stupid
noises like Jeremy did.

After
all, the reason she staged the skit was to create a sense of crisis,
to psychologically pressure us.

I
nudged Jeremy with my heel, and he sucked in his breath.

“Hmph.”

Deluna
saw the action and smiled broadly.

More
precisely, she looked at me gooey-eyed.

I
wonder what that smile means, damn it. I wonder if this is what gaze
rape feels like.

If
I were a woman, I think I would have just gotten pregnant. It was
fucking creepy.

“I’m
sorry I made a scene. I didn’t want to, but now that they got a
bigger head, slaves don’t listen as well.”

Deluna
clasped her hands together gingerly and bowed her head to me,
sounding genuinely sorry.

She
was a very polite and sweet woman, if only on the outside.

Perhaps
if I had seen her outside of the Labyrinth, and if she and I were
strangers, I would have let it slide but having seen her brutal form
only seconds ago, my expression hardened.

“My
name is Ellie, and this is fate, but how-“

[Deluna
LV.10]

[Stamina:(2)
Strength:(4) Agility:(3) Wisdom:(6+4) Finesse:(5)]

[Blessings
and Curses currently possessed by Deluna: 2]

‘How
is it that everyone I meet is this shit?’

I
raised my guard even higher as I watched her blurt out a pseudonym
nonchalantly.

“I
don’t think this is a good meeting, let’s go our separate ways.”

“⋯⋯”

Deluna’s
expression hardened for a moment at the firm reply.

“That
fucking male is talking to my sister, and he dares-!”

“Enough.”

The
one, who was about to speak up at my words, was silenced by Deluna’s
restraint.

“Yeah,
well, it’s hard to have a good meeting in a dangerous labyrinth where
you never know what’s going to happen at any given moment, so let’s
just look forward to our next encounter. We’ll pass through first.”

“Sure.”

We
clung to the wall of the passage as best we could. They moved on,
clinging to the opposite wall.

“See
you next time.”

“⋯”

They
moved on, glancing at me the whole way.

We
moved away from each other like two parties crossing. Then they were
out of sight.

The
distance had widened to the point where I could press my ear to the
ground and not hear any vibrations or footsteps.

“Gone,
gone⋯
phew⋯”

Once
they were completely out of sight, Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately,
the situation wasn’t over yet.

“What
a bunch of shallow assholes.”

“What?”

“They’re
not gone yet. Those assholes.”

“What?!
Gee, are you serious?!”

My
senses still pick them up.

At
the edge of my perception, I felt them stop moving and stand still.

‘The
beastmen I met last time passed by calmly, but these guys are a bit
obsessed.’

True,
she’d been looking at me funny from the time we met until they left.

‘And
she’s 99% involved in the slave trade.’

I
don’t know what can happen if I get involved. I’ll be lucky if I
don’t end up a slave.

“Here
they come.”

After
a long pause, they turned on their heels and started walking back
this way.

At
this rate, we were still quite a ways from the escape portal.

The
combatants seemed to average between 4 and 6 levels, except for
Deluna.

I
don’t know about me, but I’m pretty sure they’ll catch Jeremy.

I’m
tempted to abandon him, but he follows me better than I thought.

In
a world where I can’t trust anyone, it’s nice to have someone on my
side.

Their
stats make it worth it. It makes me feel better to think of them as
stronger, more intelligent goblins.

I
only have a short time before they come back.

“Jeremy.”

“Yes,
brother, I’m ready.”

“Good,
good, then take it off.”

“⋯Yes?”

Jeremy
repeated, looking dumbfounded. I shake my head. You heard me right.

“Take
it off. All of it.”

***

“Denshi,
are you insane, huh? How much shit is going down because of you!”

-Pfft!

“Kehek!”

The
armed women’s fists landed in Denshi’s abdomen. Nevertheless, the
women continued to punch her as if their anger did not subside.

“If
you hadn’t told them to fucking run away, I would’ve beaten them up,
captured them, and enslaved them!”

Denshi
let out a bitter laugh as she felt the weight of a foot crushing her
head.

“What,
you’re laughing, you’re giggling?”

-Bam!
Puck!

The
beating continued, but Denshi smiled more and more as it went on.

“Because
your fists don’t hurt at all⋯

The
pain no longer felt like pain to Denshi, whose tastes had become
strange due to someone’s etiquette training.

“That’s
enough.”

At
Deluna’s command, they stilled like puppets with a broken thread.

Deluna
stared down at Denshi in silence, then leaned down and brought her
face close.

Denshi
involuntarily avoided Deluna’s gaze. It was a learned fear.

“You.
You knew him, didn’t you, the man in the helmet?”

“⋯⋯!”

“How?”

Denshi
naturally asked. How could she know if he never told her?

“So,
I’m right, after all, I’ve been your master for more than a decade,
did you really think I wouldn’t recognize the look on your face?”

Deluna
scoffed in disbelief.

“I
thought you were being a little mean. Why would you suddenly do
something you’ve never done before? You’ve never been one to feel
guilty about enslaving others.

Makes
me wonder. Why would a dog that obeys my commands because it doesn’t
want to be beaten tell a man to run away? Hmm? Answer me this. Didn’t
you want to make him your slave?”

“⋯⋯”

Deluna
stroked her lowered head.

It
was like a master praising a puppy to get it to behave.

Her
own situation was no different.

Denshi
had been a slave for over a decade, abandoned by her parents and sold
to a slave trader, and Deluna was her master.

“When
did you meet that man? The only time I gave you your freedom recently
was when I sent you to the first floor to train new recruits, and you
came back alone. Did you meet him then, or maybe before? Tell me.
Quickly.”

“⋯⋯”

Denshi
was silent.

Deluna’s
question had made her own head spin with confusion.

‘I…
why did I tell him to run away?’

Surely,
when they first met, she had intended to enslave him.

She
planned to sell him as a slave and move on with her life.

She
even thought of taking it further and raping him. Honestly, how could
she resist a man with a body and face that made her want to ovulate?

However,
something dormant inside Denshi was awakened after being subjected to
a strange reverse tour and experiencing tremendous violence under the
guise of etiquette education.

-Ouch.

Denshi
felt the sting of the blow burning hot.

At
the same time, her head felt refreshed. The answer was simpler than
he thought.

“You
won’t answer?”

-Boom!

Denshi’s
head snapped around, her cheeks tingled but now it didn’t hurt so
much.

In
fact, there was even a faint sensation of pleasure.

Of
course, it was nothing compared to the pleasure he gave her, but⋯

“Well,
that’s okay, why don’t we go outside the labyrinth and listen to it
slowly. When we get back, I’ll put you in your favorite punishment
cell.”

Dusting
herself off, Deluna tore her gaze away from Denshi and looked at the
combatants.

“You’ve
waited long enough for this, haven’t you?”

“Yes.
We’ve gotten as far away as we can without losing them, so they’ll
probably think we just walked right past them. They’ll have been
caught off guard long enough, so if we’re going to attack, now’s the
time.”

“Good.
I don’t recognize the helmeted man, but his body alone is good
enough⋯and
the guy with the spear looks like he’s a fairly decent fighter, so
the harvest should be good for the first floor.”

“He’s
heading towards the escape portal instead of the second floor, so I
can roughly estimate his skill. We’ll finish him off on our own.”

“Right.
I’m going to have some fun with this slave hunt.”

As
Deluna smirked at the thought of the profits that would fall into her
pockets once they were out in the Labyrinth, the combatants asked
cautiously.

“Sis,
do you think…”

Deluna
looked at the women’s heated faces and quickly realized what they
wanted.

“Of
course we’ll eat them after we catch them, but can’t we lose them.”

“Yup,
it’s a unicorn!”

They
said, as if they had already sealed their victory and salivated at
the thought of the sweet fruit they would get after plundering.

‘Assholes⋯’

In
this room, there was only one person who thought they would be
defeated.

***

Deluna
and her party slowly retraced their steps. Their footsteps muffled,
they stalked their prey in stealth.

The
combatants’ eyes were already half-lidded with the thought of
satisfying their lust.

As
they passed the wall of goblins where they faced the men.

“Help,
sisters!”

A
naked man staggered toward them.

Deluna
looked him over cautiously.

“⋯Isn’t
that the guy
with the spear?

His
clothes looked torn and raw, as if they had just been carved and he
had no weapon.

“⋯I
think the others must have gotten to him first.”

“⋯Be
careful from here on out.”

There
are quite a few slave hunters in the upper levels of the Labyrinth
who prey on the weak and men.

There
were only two men. They must have been attractive enough prey for the
other slave hunters.

“Hmph.
Hmph. I was so scared⋯
did you come back on purpose to save us?”

“Uh,
well, yeah⋯”

The
man hugged the woman in the lead and blushed.

The
sight in front of the woman was enough to render her unable to think
rationally.

The
combatants, their brains half-frozen in lust, couldn’t take their
eyes off the man’s body despite Deluna’s warning.

Deluna,
however, was far from the man.

“⋯?

Observing
the current situation, she felt extremely uncomfortable.

‘What
is it? This feeling, it must be from somewhere⋯’

The
sensation of being caught in a spider’s web. She felt like she walked
into a trap.

“Hmmm.
Hmmm. So, were you chased by slave hunters?”

“Yep.
All my equipment was taken, all my food and clothes were taken.”

When
people are faced with an unexpected situation, they instinctively
become rigid in their thinking.

Rigid
thinking paralyzes the brain, making it unable to think and act in
simple ways.

It’s
like being nervous and stiff, or women who are blinded by sexual
desire and focus all their attention on a man’s body.

It
narrows the scope of a person’s thinking to a very narrow range,
preventing them from taking a broader view.

“My,
my party member also got dragged away by them⋯
Hmph, but I, I was the only one who managed to escape⋯”

“Ji,
are you serious?! Where is he now?”

This
is a familiar situation but at the same time, it’s unfamiliar.

Deluna
waited with a terrible sense of unease for the man to open his mouth.

Finally,
after remaining silent, the man’s mouth opened.

“Here.”

Deluna
couldn’t even manage to scream as she stared at the axe stuck in her
throat from behind.

“Cackle.”

The
man seemed to laugh from inside his helmet.