episode_0023

Once a flourishing noble family.

However, a few years ago, due to the illness of the head of the household, the Heddi family fell into ruin in an instant.

The accumulated money was mostly spent on the treatment of the head of the household.

Royal officials took advantage of the opportunity and seized the business the head of the household was running.

For the family, each day was like hell.

But Heddi didn’t care.

From the start, she had cut ties with her family in her heart long ago.

‘Whatever happens to the family…’

She had been discriminated against.

Just because her parents were male, they had always showered constant love on her younger brother and second son, ‘Rohan Marigold.’

She had been raised for the purpose of a political marriage in another family just because she had a pretty face.

Even on days when she needed to shine at social gatherings, she was forced to learn dancing through a governess.

Every day, she studied etiquette, how to captivate men, and so on.

That damn man, without a moment’s rest, constantly instilled ideas about men in her mind.

Of course, she had little freedom. It was natural that she couldn’t play when she wanted to.

Even during breaks, she was given several thick books to memorize for social studies.

‘That damn house, it’s much better off ruined.’

As the family declined, she had to use adventurer groups to earn money.

But she was much happier.

Experiencing freedom for the first time away from men was refreshing.

Men who initially showed interest in her appearance but then criticized her harshly and occasionally picked fights with her for revenge.

Even they felt satisfyingly beaten by her combat skills learned through working as an adventurer.

It was also enjoyable to wield the sword she loved in practical combat, unlike the relentless criticism she faced at home whenever she touched a sword.

Perhaps out of defiance, she felt it then.

She wanted to become a Sword Master.

She wouldn’t live the life her parents wanted for her. She didn’t want to become a woman who obediently married well.

She wanted to become a Sword Master, obtain a high position, and prove that she could live well on her own as a woman.

In that determination, as usual, after earning money, she headed to the ant nest to hunt a bat monster with the female adventurers she often partied with.

“Huh? What’s this? A mana stone?”

The incident began when one of the female party members touched a mana stone stuck to the wall.

As soon as she touched the mana stone, a massive vibration occurred, triggering a teleportation magic circle, moving her somewhere else.

The space she moved to seemed like a deep underground labyrinth.

It was an accident.

While surveying the situation and avoiding the monster, which turned out to be at least Rank B, she felt something strange.

She saw goblins mingling among the monsters she was observing.

They should have been creatures found in the forest.

Moreover, these goblins were gathered alongside a different type of monster, the Big Spider.

Different types of monsters fight to the death if they encroach on each other’s territories. But they weren’t doing that.

‘…What’s happening here?’

So she decided to track them.

She thought that by following their movements, clues about this labyrinth would surely emerge.

She wanted to find the truth behind the teleportation magic and report what happened in this labyrinth to the adventurer group.

Thus, after chasing the Big Spider group for hours,

“Leader of the rogues…? Why are you here?”

She was taken aback.

She encountered a person. A familiar face.

A person she never expected to find in this place.

Jet-black hair and golden eyes.

After beating up a group of delinquents who had been causing trouble for him at the academy, he encountered the delinquent leader… or at least that’s who he appeared to be.

It was completely baffling why he was in this labyrinth.

Seeming surprised himself, he hesitated before finally speaking as if he were late to the conversation.

“…I’m not the delinquent leader. I have nothing to do with those guys from back then. I told you that before.”

What did that have to do with anything?

He was getting frustrated, fearing he might lose track of the Big Spider gang if he kept stalling.

So Hedie, feeling pressed for time, asked him somewhat urgently,

“No, what does that have to do with anything now? Why are you here?”

“To explain would take a while. After finishing off a demon hunt, one of my party members touched a magic stone enchanted with teleportation magic… and that’s how we ended up like this.”

Finished off a demon hunt?

Was he an adventurer? This kid?

…At best, he looked like someone his own age.

Hedie was puzzled.

Although he himself went around as an adventurer to hunt demons, he never thought there would be someone his age with a similar background at the academy.

…I guess all sorts of situations exist in this world after all.

He was able to attend the academy for free because he was a count who had gained favor with the empire; the rest would have to pay a reasonable tuition fee.

Maybe their family circumstances weren’t so good.

Well, whatever. Time was of the essence now.

If he delayed any longer, the Big Spider gang would escape.

Hedie told him,

“Alright, understood, delinquent leader. I recommend not following me from here on out as it could be dangerous.”

“Well, I’m not the delinquent leader…”

Before he could finish speaking, Hedie entered the cave entrance.

“Surely the Big Spider gang went this way.”

Ignoring whatever he was saying behind her, she continued straight ahead.

As she moved forward,

“What’s up? Why are you following me?”

The delinquent leader was following her from behind.

“I’m not following you.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“I happened to be going this way too.”

Not following her?

Clearly, he was following her.

What did he take her advice for? How foolish could he be to think he wasn’t following her?

Was he perhaps under the illusion that she knew the escape route from the labyrinth?

“Just so you know, I don’t know how to escape.”

“Okay, got it.”

“Did you hear me? I said I don’t know how to escape.”

“…? Got it.”

“Then why do you keep following me?”

“I’m not following you.”

“……?”

He really wasn’t following her?

Did this guy also understand the strange movements of the demons?

‘Wait….’

Suddenly, as Hedie walked, she remembered.

Come to think of it, this delinquent leader guy. There were times during classes at the academy when their eyes met briefly.

‘Could it be that this guy too…?’

Hedie became increasingly uncomfortable with the delinquent leader following her.

With a stern expression, Hedie told the delinquent leader,

“Hey. No matter how much you follow me, I can’t give you what you want. So please stop following me.”

Upon this, the delinquent leader furrowed his brow in confusion.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Is he playing dumb?

…The delinquent leader seemed unaware of how dangerous the situation ahead was.

From now on, Hedie decided to ignore him.

Whether he followed and died or not.

Hedie tried to move forward without paying attention to the delinquent leader.

“Hmm.”

“……?”

However, despite trying not to care, his actions bothered her.

This guy… something is off.

Even though they were already wandering through this dangerous labyrinth, he seemed oddly relaxed.

Was it just her mood, or was it because he hadn’t encountered the monsters in this place, not realizing how dangerous it truly was?

With these questions lingering, they arrived at a cave where the demons had passed through.

‘……!’

Suddenly, a putrid smell pierced their noses.

It was a foul odor unlike anything they had ever smelled before.

“Ugh… What’s that smell…!”

Hedy took a step back.

However, the leader of the delinquents continued walking towards the cave for some reason.

“What, what’s this? Can’t he smell it too?”

Hedy also covered her nose and approached the cave.

She peered inside the entrance.

“….!”

It was shocking.

Inside the entrance….

There were numerous bodies.

All of them appeared to be human bodies. Hundreds of bodies lay horrifically sprawled out in piles.

Some had twisted necks or rotting bodies with holes in their stomachs.

Some seemed to be just beginning to decay.

“What is this….”

“…Strange.”

The delinquent leader moved towards the bodies.

He began to carefully observe and examine the bodies, focusing intently on something.

Perplexed, Hedy also looked at the bodies.

And.

“Gasp…!”

She was taken aback.

Recognizable clothing protruded from one of the bodies, so she tentatively uncovered and lifted it.

The face she revealed from the pile of bodies. It was a face she recognized.

“What is this….”

Eyes staring into nothingness, a neck grotesquely twisted 180 degrees,

It was one of the female party members who had transitioned with her into the labyrinth.

The party member, who had been moving with her until recently, had transformed into a horrifying mass of flesh beyond recognition and was lying among the bodies.

“Ugh!”

Shocked, Hedy took a step back, feeling nauseous.

She then tried to calm her trembling heart with deep breaths.

“…Do you know her?”

“……”

Seeing her reaction, he worriedly asked.

She was too shaken to respond.

Hedy’s pupils trembled with shock.

The delinquent leader gently spoke to her, amidst the shock.

“Sorry for the shock, but something seems off here. Monsters usually hunt humans and devour them, but piling up recognizable human bodies like this? Isn’t it strange?”

“…?”

Upon hearing his words, Hedy, still recovering from nausea, shared the same doubt.

Listening and observing, it did seem odd.

Monsters have no intelligence, let alone a concept of storage.

But deliberately piling up prey like this?

As they pondered these questions.

-Rumble rumble rumble….

Suddenly, the ground shook.

Due to the vibrations, rocks fell one by one from the cave walls.

“A- an earthquake all of a sudden…!”

As Hedy crouched down, startled near the entrance.

“…Ugh?!”

Suddenly, the delinquent leader rushed towards Hedy, causing her to fall backward.

His face met hers, his hand wrapped around her back.

“What are you doing?! You’re…!”

“Shh-!”

“……?”

He quieted her with a serious expression.

Then he pointed silently outside where he had been before entering the entrance.

“….!”

Perplexed, Hedy looked where he indicated and once again was shocked.

There was a creature.

It was different from the Big Spiders or Goblins she had seen before.

It had the form of a spider, but its black segmented body was over 10 meters long.

With huge eight legs and a sharp, giant pincer mouth that could kill instantly upon contact.

…Rank B high? No, probably A rank or higher, Hedy thought.

Its threatening appearance and imposing presence suggested that even seasoned adventurers would struggle against it.

Whispering beside her, he muttered.

“Twilight Queen…?”

The queen of spiders faced the rest of the spiders outside the entrance.