episode_0077

Indeed, such a thing happened.

For some reason, the burning flames in Joy and Lily’s eyes held an unusual resentment.

“You deserve it.”

“…Me?”

“Yeah. You were the one who seduced him first.”

Eve’s glare, which seemed to ask, ‘Are you serious?’, wasn’t much different from the two women before her.

I quietly chuckled it off.

“Anyway… After I threatened to kill him for being such a nuisance, I haven’t had any more troublesome incidents.”

Well, when a monster like you unleashes killing intent, what human wouldn’t faint?

Come to think of it… Even seeing this guy’s terrifying appearance, especially from his most aggressive period…

…proposing marriage to someone you just met is insane. You can’t judge him by common sense.

Nix, who was listening nearby, tilted her head slightly.

“But… why were the women so angry that he proposed? I don’t understand.”

She frowned, pondering the answer, seemingly unable to find one. Unable to bear it any longer, Yuri stepped forward.

“Imagine if your sister proposed to Eve.”

“Die—!!”

“See?”

Thanks to the perfect analogy, Nix fully experienced the rage they felt.

Because of this, the warm atmosphere was totally ruined before we even started.

“…Shall we go?”

After the scheduled time had passed, I looked around at my lovely party members, offering a somewhat awkward smile, suggesting we leave.

“Hmph… Hmph…”

“That’s just what I’m saying… huh? Why are you getting angry…”

“…”

This is maddening.

In the end, we agreed that I would show them a little more of my memory.

Why should I be the one to suffer the loss?

It’s because I proposed to Eve in Nix’s imagination.

* * *

“Magic arrow, ahead!”

“Okay.”

Following Leif’s instructions, Terrence quickly moved forward.

Without needing any further signals, perfectly timed with his own practiced reflexes, he raised the broad side of his greatsword to meet the incoming arrow.

Ting-

Thanks to Lily’s magic, which greatly boosted his resistance, the magic arrow shattered upon impact with the blade.

“Next-”

“Yes, yes-”

Swish—

This time, it’s the turn of the arrow from behind.

Casually turning around, Joy swung her staff in a circular motion, creating a wall of fire.

Whoosh—!

Again, due to the difference in power, the magic arrow melted like snow as soon as it touched the barrier.

“Lily!”

“I know-”

It’s time for the third arrow.

But this time, it’s not just magic arrows.

While everyone is focused on the arrows from the ceiling, blade traps embedded in the walls spring out from all directions, slicing everything to pieces.

That’s why the key is to focus on the third arrow to use the strongest defensive magic.

Just in time, Lily, having finished chanting, spread her arms.

[Great Wall]!

A strong green barrier enveloped the entire party, rising up.

Soon, the dome-shaped magical barrier reached the ceiling, preventing anything from reaching inside.

Ting- tick- clang- CLANG—!!

A high-level defensive magic that perfectly blocked both magical and physical attacks.

Even the highest-level traps on the upper floors looked like mere childish toys within it.

The blade barrage senses the warmth and mana of people and attacks accordingly, so it doesn’t stop even if you stand still.

Holding up the barrier, the party moved forward.

“Basically, there’s nothing major after this~”

Thump- thump-

Joy’s steps became increasingly brisk.

The third gate, signaling that they had passed about halfway through the trap zone. The previous section, where arrows and blades rained down, was the most difficult part, so the remainder should be easy.

“But don’t let your guard down.”

Leif’s face suddenly popped out from the shadows on the wall.

“Oof- You scared me.”

“It’s because of you that I have to stay alert…”

Joy and Lily had told Leif countless times to use some kind of warning before popping out like that… But seemingly without memory, he often appeared out of nowhere.

In the end, they straightened up and quietly moved on to the next area.

Whoosh—

A huge chasm crossing the passage of the ruins.

No light is visible from inside, but according to some adventurers, this huge cliff was probably created using the original terrain of the Tarun mountain range.

Judging by the composition of the geological formations, it’s probably connected to a canyon outside the mountain range, but they firmly stated it’s absolutely impossible to pass through here.

A truly bottomless abyss, or a precipice. If there’s a gate to hell, it wouldn’t look any different. Below them lay a darkness that didn’t even let light escape.

Gulp-

It was a chilling sight, even seeing it again.

Joy swallowed nervously and slowly backed away.

Of course, since this is also a ‘passage’, there is a way to cross if you know the method.

“Five, six, seven- here.”

Following the markings carved into the stones, Leif counted seven steps and stepped confidently into the void.

It seemed like she might fall into the black depths, but something soon touched her feet.

A magically hidden transparent bridge.

However, releasing the invisibility spell is difficult in many ways, so it’s standard procedure to either memorize the location like this or find the footings by tracing the magical traces.

Using Leif’s detection magic to avoid the gaps in the bridge, everyone crossed the chasm following her.

Thud- thud-

A very dangerous trap; one wrong step could mean life or death.

Of course, with Leif leading the way, that wouldn’t happen, but no matter how hard they tried not to look down, their eyes felt too heavy.

Swallowing hard, they focused all their efforts to keep their eyes from drifting to the abyss below.

“Whew, even knowing it’s safe, it’s the most visually unpleasant place…”

“I agree, haah…”

Suddenly, Joy thought of Narias.

She had explained everything about the traps, but could such a delicate-looking woman really endure this kind of terror?

Shake-shake-

Now wasn’t the time to worry about others.

They needed to quickly move to a safe area, establish a base camp, and lay the groundwork for immediate reorganization upon joining forces with the rear guard.

To do that… they first had to pass this last gate.

BOOM—

-Adventurer who wishes to proceed… answer the question. The time it takes for three administrators to write a single document is 2, 3, and 5 hours respectively… (omitted).

This time, a math problem emerged that they weren’t confident in solving.

But there’s nothing they could do.

“What the hell is this…”

“So it’s a problem about the administrators’ negligence of duty?”

“Damn tax thieves!”

Among the party members, Joy was the only one with a functioning brain.

She picked up a sharp stone and began to write a solution on the wall.

“Is it a new magic spell? To find the answer-”

“No, from what I see, it’s about breaking down the-”

“Shut up and just watch.”

Ignoring her noisy companions, she finally found the answer.

“The answer… is ‘Day 4’.”

-Wise adventurer… proceed…

Rumbling—

With the gatekeeper’s voice announcing the correct answer, a tremendous roar echoed as the stone door began to open.

“Nice!”

“That’s the end of that.”

They didn’t appreciate how much brainpower had been used to solve the math problem.

Following the others, Joy also stepped into the safe area.

Before the door closed, for some reason her gaze was drawn to it.

For some reason, she felt a bad feeling.

‘I hope they aren’t going to cause some kind of accident…’

Before the thought could fully form, the door returned to its original state, immobile.

* * *

“Urgh, it’s cold.”

“Then I’ll hug you, unni!”

“Stay still… I told you not to leave the formation.”

Yuri, with a sullen expression, retracted her outstretched hands and grasped the straps of her backpack.

… I wanted to accept her feelings, but in a situation like this, they couldn’t let their guard down.

Because they were about to reach the trap zone.

Thump- thump-

According to the information they had received from the Sashin-hoe, this is where three consecutive broken torch stands appear.

One, two… then again, one, two, three.

Found it.

I reached out and stopped walking.

“I’ll go first.”

“Be careful!”

Front, back, and the entire area.

They already knew the pattern.

Keeping an eye on the front, I slowly stepped forward.

Click- click-

One step, two steps.

My footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor of the ruins.

For some reason, nothing came flying at them.

“…What? Is this not the place?”

After signaling that it was safe, Eve slowly followed me.

And at that moment.

Whizz- ping—!

Along with a loud sound that sliced through the air, a magic arrow flew towards her.