by Hiro Ainana
The charming one was named Iruna, while the beauty was named Jena.
“Do you have a smoke bomb or a flash bomb? They’re catching up to us!”
“Sorry, I don’t!” I called back.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any items like the ones she was asking for.
I could probably use a Fireworks spell or something instead, but at that point it’d be easier just to wipe them all out with Remote Arrows.
“Miss Iruna!”
Turning around, the explorers gasped when they saw the two bag carriers about to be caught by the ants.
“Help us! The ants! The ants!”
“Big Sister, forget about me—just save yourself!”
As the two bag carriers gave a touching display of sisterly love, nearly thirty maze ants closed in on them.
Flailing on the ground a good distance behind was the one I’d brought down.
“Master?”
“Just a little longer…”
Liza was eager to help them, but I had her wait just another moment.
There, the line of sight opened up!
“Now! Begin the battle!”
“Hi-yaaa?”
“Haaah, sir!”
Tama and Pochi reacted immediately, flinging the stones in their hands.
The stones smacked squarely into the maze ants that were about to try taking a bite out of the bag-carrier sisters.
“Nana, use ‘Taunt’!”
“You idiotic worker ants! Go work until you are bald from stress, I declare!”
Nana’s “Taunt” worked, redirecting the ants’ aggression toward her.
…That was all well and good, but she didn’t need to touch on such a sensitive topic.
“...... Water Hold Mizu Shibaru!”
“Secret Ultra Dimension Snare!”
Mia’s magic and Arisa’s magic activated in unison, sending the charging maze ants tumbling to the ground.
I believe Arisa’s spell was called Dimension Snare, so the “Secret Ultra” part was probably her just getting carried away in the moment.
“Here I go!”
Lulu’s Thunder Rod sent an electric shock rippling through all the ants that had gotten soaked by Mia’s spell.
“Magic…users?”
I heard one of the rescued female explorers murmur in wonder.
“Tama, Pochi, let’s go.”
“Gotchaaa?”
“Roger that, sir!”
Liza charged forward, her Magic Spear leaving red traces in the air. It was amazing to watch her beat down the ants as if the spear were an extension of her body.
Tama channeled magic power into her two Magic Swords, taking down ants with dance-like movements. Against a large number of weak enemies, her two-sword style had the fastest rate of extermination.
Pochi, too, seemed to have gotten the hang of channeling magic into her sword; she moved with certainty, jabbing her weapon into the gaps in the maze ants’ carapaces.
“The best defense is a good offense, I declare.”
As her “Taunt” lured the ants toward her, Nana wiped them out, bashing them with her large shield and striking with her Soft Stun–infused Magic Sword.
She was making efficient use of the superhuman strength she gained from “Body Strengthening,” prioritizing pushing the ants back or disabling them over defeating them.
She must have learned these strategic movements from the elf teachers in Bolenan Forest.
At levels 4 through 6, the maze ants didn’t hold a candle to my group.
“Should we go help them…?”
“Amazing. They’re defeating those tough maze ants so easily.”
I heard impressed murmurs from the female explorer pair. At first, they looked like they were going to join the fray with Liza and the others, but then they stopped and stood back.
They must have judged that they would only get in the way.
“Maybe that flash of magic before weakened the ants’ defenses.”
Lulu’s Thunder Rod’s mob suppression mode must have looked like a spell to them.
“Thank you, Sir Noble.”
The charming-looking woman, who seemed to be the leader, addressed me.
We were still in the middle of battle, but that was fine, because it wasn’t like I was doing much.
However, it was difficult to talk while looking down at them, so I jumped to their level.
The beauty was tending to the younger bag-carrier sister who’d hurt her leg.
The older sister was trying to catch her breath, her hands and knees on the ground. The luggage on her back must be heavy.
The beauty had the “Emergency Treatment” skill; a potion would be necessary.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Could I ask you something, though?”
“O-of course we’ll pay you for your troubles as soon as we get back to town.”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I was just wondering: How did you know I was a noble?”
It seemed strange to me that the people I met in Labyrinth City all immediately identified me as a noble and not as a merchant.
Unlike the time at the Sutoandell bar, I wasn’t wearing cologne, a wrinkle-free shirt, or anything like that.
It’d be one thing if we were on a ship or carriage with a family crest, but that obviously wasn’t the case here.
“Erm, well…”
Though she seemed a little flustered, the charming woman answered my question nevertheless.
“You’re wearing a top-quality robe in a labyrinth…”
I see. So my clothes are the problem?
I figured magic users would wear robes, too, though.
“Not to mention, you’ve got that expensive-looking sword at your waist.”
I made a point of making simple, cute scabbards for the girls’ Magic Swords, but I had forgotten to make a plain-looking scabbard for myself.
Or maybe it was the combination of the robe and the sword that was the problem.
“Besides…”
There’s still more…?
“Only a noble would be ecc—er, confident enough to bring a group of young ladies in dresses and even a maid into a labyrinth.”
She was definitely about to say eccentric.
Ahhh, now I get it.
I guess nobody but a noble would do something as “eccentric” as bringing a bunch of girls in dresses and maid outfits along into a labyrinth.
The rear guard’s dress armor had higher defense than the metal armor worn by knights, but you couldn’t tell that just by looking at it.
While we were having this silly conversation, the rest of my group had all but wiped out the enemy.
The 304 maze ants had been reduced to only ten or so.
Partway through, Nana’s “Taunt” had run out, and the ants had started to surround Tama and Pochi, but Arisa and Mia provided cover for them with magic.
“Tama! I made a wall on your left, so fight them off from the right!”
Arisa’s Deracinator spell was proving particularly useful.
With the advanced version, Mazemaker, the user could create a maze of Deracinator walls to entrap the enemy or release them on a whim.
It took a lot of magic power, but I’d told her to give it a try once the last of the maze ants caught up.
The final group of ants wouldn’t arrive for another ten minutes or so, but a lesser group of maze ants was getting closer in one of the small monster passages next to the main hall. It was a group of ten or so.
“The hand you hold your fork with is your right hand!” Arisa called out to her when Tama didn’t seem to know her left from her right.
“Aye-aaaye!”
That might not sound right, but when Tama and Pochi ate, they held a fork in their right hand and a spoon in their left instead of a knife and fork, so Arisa’s statement was correct.
“Amazing. Such a hectic battle, but nobody’s injured at all.”
“Huh? Seriously?”
The female explo
rers watched my group fight in amazement.
The vanguard had taken a few hits from the maze ants, but between their overpowered armor and my Enchant: Physical Protection, they hadn’t actually been hurt.
“Wow, you’re right. They must be garnet-badge explorers.”
The charming one misunderstood, but I couldn’t tell her actually, we’re wood-badge explorers when she was gazing at us with admiration like that.
“Rustle-ruuustle?”
“I hear something behind the wall, sir!”
Tama and Pochi had detected the maze ants approaching in the adjacent passage.
I was impressed that they noticed in the middle of such an intense battle.
“Satou, sign stone.”
Mia pointed down from the higher level, and I saw that the sign stone, which had been glowing blue in response to the bag-carrier sisters, was now alternating between blue and red.
It seemed to be detecting the enemies in the other passageway.
“Sir Noble! That’s a sign that a spawnhole is about to open up. Monsters are going to come out from over there!” the charming woman exclaimed.
The wall, which had looked like stone, thinned into a sort of membrane before a small hole opened in the middle.
“Oh dear.”
A maze ant burst out, threatening to go after the bag-carrier sisters, and I stepped between them in an instant.
Pulling out my sword from its scabbard, I sliced the ant clean in two.
I had to make sure to hold back, lest I cut into the stone floor as well.
“I-incredible…”
“What a beautiful sword.”
The explorer ladies were staring at me in amazement.
The bag-carrier sisters, meanwhile, retreated over to the explorers.
Hmm? What’s that?
There appeared to be a “spawnhole” forming behind the explorer party, too.
They didn’t seem to have noticed, so I called out a warning. “Behind you!”
“Huh? Another spawnhole? Let’s do this, Jena.”
“W-wait a second! Something’s wrong!”
Instead of maze ants, a single soldier mantis started forcing its way out through the narrow hole that had formed near the explorer duo.
This must be the “rogue” that Jejeh from the Red Ice party warned us about before we entered the labyrinth.
Unlike a normal praying mantis, the soldier mantis had six back legs and four front legs. Two of the front legs were small, for grabbing prey, while two of them were large and shaped like blades for battle.
The creature was about eight feet tall—definitely intimidating.
“““Eeeeeek!”””
Realizing what had emerged, the four women all shrieked in unison.
The beauty dropped her spear in shock, and the charmer even fell to her knees.
I couldn’t blame the Lovely Wings explorer party for their reactions. Iruna, the charming one, was level 6, and Jena, the beauty, was level 8, so this level-16 soldier mantis was a powerful threat to them.
If I was to make a modern-life comparison, it would be like if you poked at a bush thinking there was a dog behind it, only to have a giant brown bear jump out instead.
KUWKUWAAAAMWA.
The soldier mantis hadn’t made its way out of the hole yet, but it still unleashed a howl as if in mockery of the frightened group of four.
“R-run away, you two!”
“W-we’ll slow it down! Get out of here, quick!”
The two explorer women put on determined expressions through their tears.
Gripping their spears with shaking hands, they stepped forward, ready to buy time so that the bag-carrier sisters could escape.
I had to admire their spirit, but there was no way they stood a chance against this thing.
The last ant finally made its way out of the spawnhole in front of me, so I cut it down and hurried over to the female explorers.
“Sorry, but I’ll take this one.”
With that, I raised my fairy sword and blocked the soldier mantis’s swinging blades.
KUWKUWAAAMWA.
As the mantis howled again, I brandished my fairy sword toward its head.
I’d finally gotten the hang of not using “Spellblade” by mistake.
“L-let us help you!”
“We—we can at least create a d-diversion!”
The female explorers stood shakily on either side of me.
I appreciated the offer, but the fight was already over.
A black shadow fell over the female explorers, causing them to take a step back.
“Huh?”
“No way!”
The mantis’s head rolled across the floor, eliciting another small scream from the two women.
The soldier mantis’s body fell to the floor, spurting a puddle of green blood.
“Did you attack it just now?”
“You’re incredible, Sir Noble!”
Feeling a little bashful as the two explorers stared at me as if they were looking at a hero, I turned to check on the rest of my group.
It looked like their battle was almost over, too.
“S-Sir Noble, you’ve saved our lives twice now.”
“““Thank you so much.”””
The explorers and bag carriers all thanked me in turn.
“I’ve never seen such amazing swordsmanship.”
“Neither have I. Garnet-badge explorers are truly on another level.”
I felt like I might have gone a little too far, but this was normal for a level-30 mithril-sword user. I was probably fine.
I responded to their thanks with a light wave of the hand, then went over to Liza and the others.
“Master, shall we begin collecting materials?”
“Just the cores are fine. The ants’ carapaces are brittle, so they wouldn’t be very useful.”
“Master, forgive my insolence, but…” Liza voiced a rare disagreement. “I believe the carapaces could serve as material for armor and shields. The claws of the maze ants’ front legs are said to be useful for short swords, sickles, and so on.”
In Liza’s homeland, she explained, ant-type monsters were highly valued for their materials.
The shell of a maze ant could be broken by an ordinary bronze sword, but it was probably still sturdier than armor made of goblin bones. If they were potentially useful, it could be a good idea to bring them aboveground.
I didn’t care much about making more money, but it might be helpful for some newbie explorers.
“Meeeat?”
“We’re not going to grill the meat, sir?”
Having retrieved the cores from the dead maze ants, Tama and Pochi wanted to know if they should break down the meat, too.
“It would be best not to. Ant meat is so bitter that few people choose to eat it. Besides, if a child eats it, they could get food poisoning.”
I certainly didn’t want to give anyone food poisoning. Tama and Pochi seemed disappointed, but I had plenty of meat in Storage that I could cook for them later, so they would have to make do with baked goods and water for now.
“Sir Noble, here.”
Iruna, the charming female explorer, handed me some monster cores.
She had retrieved them from the maze ants I defeated. The soldier mantis was still untouched, though—maybe she didn’t want to go near it.
“Thank you.”
“It’s hardly enough to thank you for saving our lives, but we would be happy to help break down the corpses.”
It was kind of Jena to offer, but I couldn’t take her up on that.
“Actually, you should probably make a run for it. My friends here have detected with magic another swarm of maze ants headed this way. They’ll get here before too long.”
“You’re not going to run, Sir Noble?”
“We’ll slow them down for a bit first.”
I was trying to politely imply that it would be best for us if they ran away quickly.
“All r
ight. Make sure you stay safe, okay?”
“We’ll definitely pay you back for today!”
Finally, the female explorers and their bag carriers got up to flee.
As they gathered their things, I noticed a jar of ant nectar in the elder sister’s box. Maybe that was what the maze ants were after.
“Master, the next wave will be here soon.”
“All right. I’ll recharge your magic.”
I used the Mana Transfer spell to restore the group’s magic power.
No one was injured, so I simply recast Enchant: Physical Protection on all of them.
“They’re here!”
After that, we fought several more rounds of maze ants. Once we’d beaten most of them, we decided to go into their nest.
Inside, we acquired materials like ant nectar, queen ant nectar spheres, and even naturally fermented ant nectar mead, but that’s another story.
Incidentally, the small group of maze ants that didn’t come toward us pursued the man called Besso and his explorer party instead.
Fortunately, nobody was killed, but they were severely injured when they made it to the labyrinth army’s encampment.
If I remembered correctly, leading a chain rampage to that area was considered a crime.
I took a little moment of silence for the grim fate that might await them.
The Unforgiving Labyrinth
Satou here. In the dungeon-crawler games I used to play, you sometimes had to survive without eating meat from monsters. I distinctly remember getting so focused on finding food that I forgot about trying to beat the game.
“Hopping potatoooes?”
“There are walking beans over here, sir.”
Tama and Pochi were defeating the monsters that roamed the passageway.
Both types were weak level-1 monsters whose only means of attack was a body slam. The pair made pretty quick work of them.
After we wiped out the nest of the maze ants who’d been chasing the Lovely Wings, we found a shortcut to the next area inside.
We’d initially planned to come back the same day, but once we made that discovery, there was a change of plans.
Competing for monsters was a pain, and fighting while trying to conceal from other explorers our fancy equipment and my support abilities was stressful, so we decided to go to the less populated area we found instead.
When we reached area 9, we found endless traps as well as slimes and small insect monsters with “Poison,” “Plague,” and “Paralysis” attacks, but we used the Everyday Magic spell Bug Wiper to breeze right past them.
