episode_0144

By the time I came to, I was already in the safe zone.

Unlike me, who was weighed down by exhaustion and fatigue.

Since most were injured, they said they were okay after receiving recovery from the priest.

However, that didn’t mean the dead returned.

The explorers who came with the investigators were annihilated.

With half of the Knights Order also gone.

Only our party survived entirely.

So, even though we actually caught one of the Seven Sins, the atmosphere wasn’t celebratory or anything like that.

By the time I woke up, a day had already passed.

There were so many people, making me wonder if the 7th floor safe zone was originally this crowded.

I heard that contact was made with the 8th floor safe zone, and reinforcements were sent.

Of course, it might have been safer if we had waited for them and done it together.

A few casualties might not have occurred.

When I mentioned that.

“If that had happened, he might have escaped, or all of us on the 7th floor might have died.”

The investigator, heavily bandaged, said.

Certainly, if it had been a vampire who had fully recovered his power, he might have succeeded in escaping, or killed everyone on the 7th floor.

But we were confident. Because the Late Knight was also there.

However, who knew that he would fall into a trap and be sent flying elsewhere? In the end, it’s all about hindsight.

“Still, you must report to the guild and tell them what happened.”

“Yes.”

“And… it turns out Mr. Noah isn’t even a formal explorer. The power he uses is also strange.”

“…”

Just when I thought, ‘Here it comes.’

The investigator smiled slightly.

“For Mr. Rain’s sake, I’ll let it slide. Of course, I’ll report separately to the Guild Master…”

“Perhaps, the Guild Master might already know.”

“Then, I will send you a report form later.”

“Thank you.”

With this much, Noah’s identity shouldn’t spread.

What I’m worried about are the two knights in the Knight Order.

“I’ve also told them to keep silent… but I don’t know if they will.”

“Well, I’m grateful even for that much.”

Well, I don’t think a knight would be loose-lipped. It’ll work out somehow.

“By the way, aren’t you going outside this time?”

“…Yes. Well, since things turned out this way, I might as well aim for promotion.”

“Ah, right. You said you came to become a high-floor explorer.”

Looks like he completely forgot.

Certainly, how many people would think of us as just ordinary 6th-floor explorers?

“So, about that, isn’t fulfilling the promotion conditions about proving one’s skill?”

“Th-That’s right?”

“But I think I’ve already proven my skill.”

“…There are no exceptions.”

“Tch.”

As expected, nothing in my life ever goes easily.

To have gone through this hardship and still have to stay in the labyrinth, it’s really not easy.

Even the Knights Order and the investigators left the labyrinth.

We continued to stay inside the labyrinth.

However.

“Jack. You really don’t have to go this far.”

“Because I said I’d help you with promotion. I can do at least this much.”

I went around the reset 7th floor with Jack.

Avoiding combat as much as possible.

After finishing off the last remaining Diamond Gem Knight, we left the labyrinth.

After that, we immediately arrived at the guild branch.

We were able to receive the golden explorer badge we had dreamed of.

“I didn’t know it would be this hard to get.”

“Tell me about it. It was quite eventful.”

“Shouldn’t we have a drink?”

Following Kairek’s suggestion, immediately grateful for returning safely, and also grateful for having become high-floor explorers, we had drinks together at the clan building, not lightly… but quite a bit.

I don’t remember anything from the middle onwards. Well, sometimes you have to have days like this.

The problem was when the next day arrived.

“Ugh, my stomach…”

Perhaps it was due to drinking too much the day before. I was rolling around, not feeling well for the first time in a while.

Suddenly, someone opened the door and came in.

Clip-clop.

The sound of heels I heard.

Oh, there wasn’t anyone in the clan building wearing heels like that.

My stomach felt too bloated to immediately spread out my senses, so I rolled my body a bit and turned my head to look.

“…What on earth have you done?”

The Crown Prince was looking down at me.

My mind instantly snapped awake! I quickly changed my posture, but.

Still having a hangover, I retched.

“Ugh… just listen in that posture.”

“But… etiquette…”

“I’m the one being ill-mannered for coming to you while you’re resting as you please. If you insist, I’ll wait until you come to your senses.”

“Yeesh…”

It took quite a long time to come to my senses.

*

Before I knew it, there were a total of 4 people in my room: Noah and me, and the Crown Prince and the knight accompanying him.

What were the others doing? Well, it probably wasn’t particularly important.

More than that, it was so noisy outside that I wondered what was going on.

So, I looked out the window.

“…Why are there so many people?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know? It seems you don’t grasp what you’ve defeated because you’re an outsider. You have defeated a being of deep historical fear.”

“Even so, I heard the Empire caught it last time.”

“…Well, yes. But this.”

The Crown Prince seemed to be pondering where to start explaining.

Realizing he had to explain from the beginning after all, he sighed deeply and began speaking.

“The Devil God’s top subordinates, named the Seven Sins. They are conceptual beings, so when they generally die, they reincarnate as new beings.”

“I kind of had that feeling.”

Even in the records left by the main deity I saw in the 2nd floor hidden dungeon.

Well, was it Legion Commander Gallius or Vallius? Because the werewolf from that time and the werewolf seen during the recent Zone 11 incident couldn’t be considered the same.

“Of course, they don’t reincarnate immediately. It takes about 100 years. However, the point is that this vampire is an ancient being known never to have reincarnated even once.”

“But it seemed too clumsy for that.”

“Well, it’s not certain. At least, we have to assume it hasn’t reincarnated in the past few hundred years. Records, after all, don’t necessarily all remain.”

To think that even the Empire, which ruled the continent for quite a long time, doesn’t have records of this being.

“…Do you know why they are named the Seven Sins and captured by the Empire?”

“Perhaps it’s to prevent others from subduing them? By capturing them in advance with overwhelming information, and without executing them, they just roughly let them escape, giving the feeling of a prison break.”

“…Amazing. That’s accurate.”

“Well, I had anticipated it to some extent.”

“From the start, beings influenced by the Devil God are bound to commit crimes and stand out.”

Since one of the sins they nurtured so carefully has been eliminated, how annoyed the Devil God must be.

If that’s the case, why didn’t you nurture them even more carefully in the first place?

“Anyway, thanks to this action of yours, I can’t help but smile.”

“But you seem too serious for that.”

“Well, I just hope you know that I am satisfied because you are fulfilling our deal well.”

“But how did you eliminate it? I heard that as far as I know, vampires can only be eliminated by priests of Cardinal rank or higher from the Ariel faith.”

“Ah, well…”

“Well, if it’s difficult to explain, you don’t necessarily have to.”

“I have a magic that summons a saintess.”

“Summoning a saintess, you say…”

The Crown Prince, who had been muttering as if it were nothing, suddenly flinched.

As if he had heard something strange, he blinked his eyes repeatedly and looked at me.

“Wait, what? Did I hear that correctly?”

“Yes. Well, she was wearing a worn black robe.”

“That matches the clothing worn by the saintess last seen. Can you summon her now?”

“Well, I don’t mind. But it only lasts for 1 minute.”

“…Does she perhaps act on her own after being summoned?”

“No. To the extent that she would probably die if I told her to?”

“That much is trustworthy. Try summoning her.”

“But couldn’t you give information to the saintess?”

“Can’t you give a command not to remember?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then that’s fine. There’s no need to necessarily take on the risk.”

The Crown Prince rose from his seat.

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yes. Actually, the conversation ended faster than I expected. To think that you had already inferred the Seven Sins to some extent, you are indeed more outstanding than I thought.”

“Thank you.”

“Still, I’ve prepared a gift for you who have gone through some hardship, so take a look at it later.”

“Please go ahead.”

“Then I’ll see you next time.”

When the Crown Prince tore the scroll, teleportation magic activated.

He probably used that when he came here too.

At that moment, Noah, who was next to me, suddenly let out a deep sigh.

When I asked him why.

“Haa… Just. It’s really something that I have to catch 6 more guys like that and go to the end of the labyrinth to get a chance to deal with that perverted bastard.”

“Seems like a long way, doesn’t it? But I think differently.”

“…What?”

“Isn’t it true that the first time is always hard for anything, but it gets easier from the second time onwards?”

“You’re quite optimistic.”

“Weren’t you originally like this?”

“A person can’t always live optimistically.”

Why is he like this today?

While thinking that, something suddenly came to mind.

“Don’t tell me, it’s because you got beaten by that anti-cheese mob?”

“…No.”

Yes, it is.

Thinking about it, how long has it been since he felt such a wall and got beaten like that?

Moreover, during the Zone 11 incident, he was hit by many, so isn’t this basically the first time he’s been purely beaten in a 1-on-1 situation?

“…I’m going.”

I didn’t stop Noah as he left.

It’s partly because I still had a hangover, but.

More importantly, there was something more important left.

Ding!

『Please choose a reward.』

『Yes / No.』

Oh? It seems like the prompt changed somehow during that time.

It’s a bug! This is a bug!

…Since it wasn’t a particularly important part, I just glossed over it.

I quickly pressed Yes.

What will come out?

Is it that Necromancer’s deck or something that I haven’t obtained yet?

Or, am I finally getting an energy relic or something like that?

With a pounding heart, I opened the reward.

Flash!!

After a dazzling light shot out with an effect even added.

Three options shimmered before my eyes.

[Spirit of Memory] – Summons a spirit that permanently stores 1 card regardless of the deck.

[Fast Forward Watch] – Reduces the time until the next turn by 10 seconds.

[Well of Emptiness] – Permanently increases Energy by 1. Mana cost of Power cards increases.

…Hmm. There are some quite unconventional effects here.

Which one would be good to choose from these?