episode_0022

“Cough, gasp… Ugh….”

It had been an hour since Zeke abandoned Monaka and started running away.

While fleeing, he encountered the occasional swarm of venomous spiders that appeared intermittently.

Each time they crossed paths, he changed his route to run even faster.

Gasping for breath, not even considering the honor of a veteran adventurer of grade C.

His confidence, once boasting about being a veteran adventurer, had long vanished since encountering Monaka and numerous Big Spiders while carrying her.

“Darn it! Why… why! Why is this happening to me?!”

The vast cave path seemed endless as he looked ahead, with only darkness in sight.

Zeke soon felt like he couldn’t run any longer and stopped to catch his breath.

“Gasp, gasp….”

Feeling like his heart was about to burst, he breathed heavily and deeply.

And then it happened.

-Thud, thud.

Sounds of footsteps started coming from the opposite side of the path Zeke had been running.

“Good grief! More monsters?! Seriously!”

Zeke gathered all his strength to prepare to run again.

Just as he was about to turn back and flee.

“…! Is that Zeke?!”

“……!”

A familiar voice reached his ears.

A deep, manly voice with a hint of metallic resonance.

It was Victor’s voice.

“Victor-?!”

“As expected!”

Color drained from Zeke’s face.

With a twisted smile on his face, resembling a newborn seeing their parents, Zeke ran towards Victor and exclaimed, “Victor! Are you… are you alive?!”

“Haha! Dying in a maze like this would be a blow to my pride that I can’t accept!”

Victor’s always confident demeanor gave Zeke a sense of psychological stability.

“By the way, Zeke. Are you alone? Where are the others?”

“Uh….”

In Zeke’s mind, Monaka, whom he left behind with the swarm of Big Spiders, flashed by.

“I don’t… know. When I teleported, I was alone.”

Zeke rolled his eyes and replied vaguely.

Victor believed Zeke’s answer without any suspicion.

“Well, this is troublesome. It seems we have to find each one of them one by one….”

“……”

“Let’s find them all quickly and get out. If we waste more time, the lives of Monaka and Cyan will be at risk too.”

“-?! Is there a way out?!”

Zeke widened his eyes towards Victor.

“Haha! Of course there is! Guess who found another teleportation stone while wandering around.”

“R-really?!”

“Why would I lie? It’s located on the wall in the direction I was walking just now.”

“……!”

Zeke’s heart raced at the thought of being able to leave.

To him, this maze was nothing short of hell.

Silent, dark, damp, with dangerous monsters lurking if one took a wrong turn.

For Zeke, this maze was hell itself.

“Since no one was seen in the direction I came from, it’s best for you to go back the way you came, Zeke. Let’s leave together before it’s too late.”

“Ah, got it.”

Victor passed Zeke and took the lead.

Zeke followed Victor in surprise.

-Thud, thud.

Only the footsteps of Victor and Zeke echoed through the cave.

During their walk, neither of them exchanged a word.

It also signified their caution.

After what felt like a long walk.

“Hmm?”

“……?”

Victor held out his palm, signaling Zeke to stop.

“Wait. I sense something.”

“S-sense something…?”

Zeke recalled the terrifying swarms of Big Spiders from earlier.

Not long after Victor stopped Zeke, something took shape in the darkness, revealing itself.

“Ssssss.”

“Sss, sss.”

“Sssssss.”

Three Big Spiders, the cleaners of this labyrinthine maze, appeared.

“Ugh, this is a pain. Dealing with three is tough… Zeke! Come stand by me for protection!”

“Oh, okay!”

Victor drew a long greatsword from the sheath on his back and adjusted his stance.

In a sudden turn of events, Zeke also brandished his sword and stood beside Victor, ready for confrontation.

Victor continued the battle by striking down two Big Spiders with his long greatsword.

On the other hand, Zeke, nearly depleted of stamina, struggled to block the attack of one Big Spider.

“Argh! Dealing with two at once is quite challenging! Hey, Ze…”

However, that was when it happened.

– Swish!

– Thud!

“Argh!”

An arrow flew and struck Victor’s arm as he swung the long greatsword, hitting him precisely.

Wincing in pain, Victor looked in the direction from where the arrow came.

“W-What…!”

“Kieeek.”

“Kieek. Kieeek.”

There, several Goblin archers were aiming their bows at Victor.

“Goblins…? What are Goblins doing here…?”

Victor was taken aback.

He never expected to encounter Goblins in this cave-like labyrinth.

Goblins are humanoid creatures that dwell in forests.

No matter how experienced an adventurer Victor was, he couldn’t have predicted encountering Goblins in such a place.

“Kieeek!”

The Goblin archers aimed their bows at Victor once again.

Growing desperate, Victor shouted, “Hey, Zeke! Can you handle those Goblins first!”

“Th-Those Goblins?! That’s madness…! With the Big Spiders surrounding us…”

“So what do you suggest we do! Shall we both die here?!”

“….”

Mid-conversation, a Big Spider lunged towards Victor.

Forcing his injured arm, Victor blocked the spider’s attack with his greatsword.

The Goblin archers then shot arrows at Victor.

– Thwack!

“Argh!”

Victor swiftly dodged the arrows, barely avoiding them.

Realizing that continuing this battle with blood flowing from his arm would put him at a disadvantage, Victor thought, “Good grief! What are you doing?! Ze…”

Turning around, Victor urgently called out to Zeke.

“Huh…?”

But something was amiss.

When he looked back, Zeke was nowhere to be found.

Dazed, Victor gazed beyond the path he had just taken.

And in that state, he froze.

“Z-Zeke…?”

Zeke was running away.

His figure was already fading into the distance, disappearing without a trace.

*

“Panting…”

Just before his stamina ran out, as the group of Goblin archers appeared and Victor got injured, Zeke realized.

There was no chance of winning.

Of course, he didn’t know what would happen if he stayed to protect Victor and continued the fight.

But Zeke didn’t even consider such a possibility.

From the beginning, he had planned to flee at the right moment.

Monaka must be dead.

He had left Monaka with the herd of monsters.

He didn’t think she miraculously survived like in the movies.

If things were different, he might have gone to look for Monaka following Victor.

But knowing Monaka was dead, there was no point in seeking out more comrades.

Andreiy was already dead, and the only one left would be the doomed brat Sian.

Zeke had no reason to risk his life to find Sian.

…In fact, Zeke found Sian distasteful, almost repulsive.

Having grown up resenting the stark class divide in society, Zeke despised the wealthy nobles.

He thought of Sian as just a rich noble brat who grew up receiving all sorts of money and love, attending parties without a care in the world.

His skills… seemed decent, but his arrogance didn’t sit well with Zeke.

He believed Sian learned his skills playing around at the academy attended by rich noble kids.

“You damn brat…! You wretched little pig of a brat!!”

Decisively, he thought that the drafty subject was wagging its tail all the way to his Monica using its face.

“It’s all because of that damn brat! Not being able to save Monica! Damn it! Damnnn it!!”

Zeke dashed forward, grinding his teeth in frustration.

Running, he soon arrived in a narrow space.

“I thought it would be around here…!”

Zeke felt along the wall as he moved forward.

Then, a sensation different from ordinary rocks was felt by Zeke.

“Found it!”

Clearing his hand, there was a colorless crystal stuck to the cave wall.

Seeing it, Zeke twisted into a grin and hurriedly said, “Activate… Activate….”

Zeke fervently felt the crystal with both hands.

“……”

However, there was no response from the crystal.

“What, what is this! Activate…! Activate, damn it!!”

Zeke vented his frustration by pounding the crystal with his fists.

Yet, the crystal remained unresponsive.

“Grr… Why, why isn’t it working… huh?”

At that moment, Zeke remembered.

He had heard once at the adventurer’s guild while drinking that there are crystals that activate upon touch and others that require magic to operate.

“Magic…?”

But Zeke didn’t know how to handle magic.

He might not be able to use it, and he thought he wouldn’t need it in the future.

If it was about magic, Andrey, who had been assisting him, would know how to use it.

“……”

Zeke soon let go of the crystal and muttered to himself, “I have to find that brat… that damn brat….”

He distinctly recalled overhearing Monica saying his level was 3 stars.

Whether it was boasting or not, at this moment, he had no choice but to rely on that slim possibility.

With one hand on the wall, supporting his heavily burdened leg due to overexertion, Zeke started walking back the way he came.

***

“…Where are they going?”

While strolling through the cave passage, I once again stumbled upon a group of Big Spiders.

We didn’t meet face-to-face.

I spotted them from afar. Since they had recently finished a battle and were likely recovering, their movements seemed odd, prompting me to follow them.

It was definitely strange.

Not only were there goblins in this underground maze, but there were also Big Spiders collaborating with them….

I could only describe it as artificial.

“Sss? Sss.”

“Sss.”

The Big Spider group seemed to be communicating something as they moved busily.

I continued to follow the group.

5 minutes. 10 minutes. 30 minutes.

It was nerve-wracking to follow them without being noticed, wondering where they were headed.

Eventually, the Big Spider group entered a cave.

‘…Is that their destination?’

I confirmed that all the Big Spiders had entered the cave while leaning against the wall and trying to track them again.

Just as I was about to enter the entrance, I was taken aback.

“Oops…!”

“……!”

I met someone as I was about to enter.

…It wasn’t a monster.

It was a human. Moreover, a girl my age.

Why was someone my age in such a labyrinth?

No, that wasn’t the issue.

“……”

“……”

…She and I locked eyes as she emerged from hiding.

“Leader of the delinquents…? What are you doing here?”

She seemed to recognize me too, squinting her eyes and speaking to me.

In this awkward situation, I couldn’t easily speak.

Why was she here?

With her presence, I momentarily relaxed, almost forgetting that this was an underground maze.

“Why are you here?”

She was someone who had only existed in my memories in comfortable places.

Shoulder-length navy blue hair, purple eyes, and sharp, round eye shapes….

“Could it be that you followed me? No, it doesn’t seem likely….”

…By now, she probably guessed roughly.

It was Hedy Marigold.