Chapter 72: The Labyrinth of the Bandit King #3

Chapter 72: The Labyrinth of the Bandit King #3

Once I started suspecting, I couldn’t stop.

Rodrigo continued to monitor Dread and Windy, his gaze filled with suspicion.

Of the two, Dread was naturally the more suspicious one.

I didn’t like this guy from the start. His expression alone was disgusting.

While judging by appearance isn’t right, Rodrigo believed somewhat in physiognomy.

‘If Dread is Akasha, I could cut him down without hesitation.’

In fact, I almost wished he was disguised as Dread.

Rodrigo stared at Dread, not hiding his blatant distrust.

“What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen someone pee?”

Splash-

Dread, who was urinating against the wall, looked back at Rodrigo with a lecherous gaze.

“How unexpected. Are you interested in men? You don’t look like it, but you’re a pervert. What, do you want to suck this?”

Dread chuckled, shaking his large, dark member.

Rodrigo cursed and looked away.

However, when I thought about it, I couldn’t be sure that Dread was the specter disguised as Akasha.

‘I heard Akasha was a woman.’

Could she skillfully act as such a vulgar and crude male in a woman’s body?

Well, Akasha was a master of disguise, so perhaps she could.

But Dread’s every move, which evoked discomfort, felt too natural to be an act.

‘If you think about it that way, the possibility of Windy being Akasha is also high.’

It’s easier to act as someone of the same gender, and Windy was always passive and submissive.

If she intended to hide her identity and operate in secret, she was the perfect character.

If I were Akasha, and had to disguise myself as one of them, I would choose Windy.

‘Besides, Windy has put the party in danger at crucial moments.’

I recalled what happened at the poison arrow trap.

The one who accidentally triggered the trap was none other than Windy.

No, was that really an accident?

No one but Windy herself could know.

‘Stella said it. Windy triggered the trap fifty-six times…’

Even if the same situation repeats, it’s beyond the level of an accident.

It’s not like people are goldfish; their learning ability can’t be that low.

If all of that was an act, the story changes.

What if her plan was to deliberately trigger traps and annihilate the party?

‘Yes. Dread actually helped us avoid the traps. He’s an annoying guy, but there was nothing to criticize about how he handled things then. On the other hand, Windy…’

Rodrigo furrowed his brow and fell into deep thought.

Dread or Windy.

A terribly difficult choice.

Rodrigo couldn’t easily come to a conclusion.

‘It’s strange that I haven’t suspected them until now. Why didn’t I realize it sooner? When and where did these guys infiltrate the party?’

Both Dread and Windy joined the party out of nowhere at some point. Like a poorly edited movie script lacking plausibility.

Rodrigo’s throat felt parched. Sticky sweat poured out incessantly, and he kept gulping down water.

On a labyrinth exploration where there was no guarantee of resupply, he should have been conserving water, but he didn’t have the leeway to care about that.

His vigilant attitude was evident in his actions.

Rodrigo was always tense, with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Naturally, the mental strain was immense. Constantly being on edge made him feel like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“Gasp! S-stay away.”

“Yes?”

Rodrigo flinched in surprise. Windy, who had placed her hand on Rodrigo’s shoulder from behind, was also startled.

“I was bringing you water because you seemed hot… I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d be so startled.”

“⋯Please don’t touch me without permission. Especially don’t approach me silently from behind.”

Rodrigo warned her with a menacing look. Windy’s face turned pale, and she nodded silently before hastily leaving.

‘I almost cut her down.’

Rodrigo gazed at his right hand. His veins were bulging from gripping the sword hilt so tightly.

If Windy had shown even a hint more suspicion, Rodrigo would have undoubtedly swung his sword without hesitation.

Whether she was Akasha or not.

***

That thought came suddenly, without any warning.

‘Is Stella really someone I can trust…?’

Rodrigo stared blankly at the campfire with bloodshot eyes.

Several days, or perhaps more, had passed. Now, Rodrigo rarely spoke to his companions.

The other party members were the same. Both Dread and Windy had become less talkative.

Only Stella occasionally spoke to him with her usual demeanor, but Rodrigo’s responses were lukewarm.

‘Why did I believe everything Stella said without any doubt…?’

Rodrigo couldn’t believe he was only now recalling this crucial question.

Anyone could see that Stella was also suspicious.

No, Stella was the most suspicious.

It was true that she had told Rodrigo the truth about the anomaly and the information about Akasha.

But then again, wasn’t this entire situation orchestrated by Stella?

Rodrigo was helplessly swayed by Stella’s silver tongue.

‘That girl talked so much to escape my suspicion. Looking back, it was very intelligent. I was completely fooled. Because of that, I limited the candidates for Akasha to just Dread and Windy.’

Rodrigo’s strong mental fortitude allowed him to resist succumbing completely to the curse.

If Stella was Akasha’s specter in disguise, her motive was clear.

To deplete his mental strength and turn him into someone like Dread and Windy.

There was no need for her to exert herself directly. If Rodrigo also fell victim to the curse, it would all be over.

‘By deliberately giving me information and making me suspect Dread and Windy… she’s keeping me in a constant state of tension… so that my mind can’t endure it.’

In fact, Rodrigo’s mind was now at its breaking point.

Suspicion, like a dark demon.

The suspicion that had spread like a large fire in his heart had become uncontrollable, completely eroding Rodrigo’s thoughts.

“Rodrigo.”

“⋯.”

Stella quietly called out to Rodrigo. Rodrigo remained silent, gazing at Stella with sharp eyes.

‘What sophistry will you use to ensnare me now, witch.’

He had decided not to be fooled by anything Stella said anymore.

In this labyrinth, one shouldn’t trust anyone else. Only what his own eyes and ears perceived was the truth.

“Why the long face?”

“⋯Don’t worry about it. I guess I’m just a bit tired.”

“Right… I’ll press the switch over there. You take the one on the opposite side.”

Stella said, pointing to the end of a fork in the road over her shoulder.

It was a mechanism they had overcome several times while exploring the labyrinth.

There was a switch at the end of each of the many branching corridors, and the door to the next floor would open only if all switches were pressed simultaneously within a certain timeframe.

The objective was clear: to force the party members to split up.

One had to be wary of killer beetles suddenly appearing around them when pressing the switch, and poison arrows.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult section. For a party of S-rank adventurers, they wouldn’t get lost to this extent.

More importantly, what was bothering him…

“No. I’ll go over there.”

Rodrigo interrupted Stella.

Stella slightly narrowed her large, beautiful eyes.

“⋯Is that so? Well, I don’t mind. Do as you wish.”

Rodrigo headed towards the switch he was assigned.

Only when he was left alone did he finally manage a triumphant smile.

‘I won’t believe a word you say.’

Surely, if he had gone where Stella indicated, he would have fallen right into a trap. Rodrigo had predicted that fact.

By now, Stella must be stamping her foot in frustration.

Even if she tried various schemes in the future, Rodrigo was confident he could counter them all.

Tap, tap.

He walked alone down the dark corridor.

Rodrigo was on high alert. He was afraid of the darkness beyond, where he didn’t know what awaited him, but he was actually more afraid of what was behind him.

If he listened closely, wouldn’t he hear another set of footsteps following him?

This situation, where the party members were scattered, was the perfect opportunity for Akasha’s specter to reveal her true colors.

“Hoo… Hoo.”

Rodrigo swallowed hard. His throat was dry, as if he had been wandering in the desert for days.

Being alone in this situation made him unbearably tense and fearful.

But being with the other party members was also frightening in its own way.

He just hated this labyrinth.

Whether it was treasure or Akasha, he was sick of it all and just wanted to escape.

Ssssk-

He heard something scurrying quickly.

Not in front, but behind.

“Who’s there!”

Rodrigo’s bloodshot eyes flashed with an eerie light as he spun around.

Instinctively, he aimed the tip of his sword, and saw a cockroach crawling.

“⋯Damn it.”

His mind must be gone. He couldn’t even distinguish whether the sound was from a person or an insect.

The rapid cycle of tension and release. Rodrigo felt a genuine, overwhelming fatigue.

Just then.

-Kyaaaak!

A scream was heard nearby.

It was a woman’s voice. Windy, or perhaps Stella-

Rodrigo hesitated for a moment, but then drew his sword and ran.

‘It sounded close. Not far away. Probably the corridor next to the one I entered.’

Rodrigo looked around left and right, trying to gauge the direction of the sound.

Finally, running into the corridor from which the sound came, Rodrigo found a corpse.

“Windy!”

Windy’s delicate body lay in a pool of blood.

Rodrigo gritted his teeth in grief.

‘So Windy wasn’t Akasha’s specter after all.’

Coldly, that was the first thought that came to mind.

To have death as the only way to prove one’s innocence was truly horrific.

Rodrigo checked Windy’s pulse, but it was too late. Rodrigo gently closed Windy’s eyes with his palm.

“I will never forgive you, Akasha…”

He clenched his fists and trembled, when he noticed something lying nearby.

A torn piece of cloak.

It was stained with blood, but the color was familiar to Rodrigo’s eyes.

‘A green cloak. It’s Dread’s cloak!’

Rodrigo’s mind turned white with rage.

‘It was him after all. I knew it from the start. I’ll never let him get away with this, Dread! Or rather, I should call him Akasha now.’

Rodrigo tightly clenched the torn piece of cloak.

Just then, Stella arrived at the murder scene belatedly.

“Windy was attacked… As expected, she killed the healer first.”

Stella shook her head and said in a calm tone.

“Did you know Windy would be targeted?”

“To some extent. I warned Windy herself, and I was prepared to help if needed, but she refused.”

When Rodrigo asked accusingly, Stella shrugged her shoulders as if it couldn’t be helped.

Even without seeing it, he understood the situation.

Just like Rodrigo, Windy probably didn’t trust any of the other party members.

It was a predetermined tragedy.

“The culprit is Dread.”

Rodrigo said forcefully.

“There’s nowhere for him to escape. Whether it’s upstairs or downstairs, all paths are blocked. If we play hide-and-seek here, he’ll eventually be found.”

“Rodrigo. You’re too emotional right now.”

“If I find him, I’ll kill him. Leave it to me. I’ll kill him myself.”

Rodrigo raised his eyes, gleaming with murderous intent. His gaze was like that of a wounded beast.

“I understand how you feel, but you need to be calmer than ever. So that your mental strength isn’t rapidly depleted… Are you listening?”

“How can you be so calm, as if it’s someone else’s business? A party member died! I don’t understand you at all.”

“That’s how I survive.”

Stella said firmly, but Rodrigo didn’t listen.

“Enough. Anyway, Akasha’s identity has been revealed, so I’ll just kill her. I don’t need your help anymore. You just hide somewhere like a rat.”

Rodrigo gripped his sword and walked into the darkness.

Stella seemed to say something from behind, but he didn’t look back.