by Chuuni Suki
"Since we couldn't stop her, Meld had to. You understand, right? We don't have any time. Before her cries can start to affect everyone's spirit, we had to stop her before she broke down. Hey, you have to lead the way. So we can all get out of this. This is what Nagumo-kun would have said."
At her words, Kouki nodded.
"You are right, let's hurry."
They saw one of their classmate die in front of their eyes. This event had caused a lot of damage to be engraved into the students' spirit. Everyone was looked at where the bridge used to be in a stupefied expression . There was a girl that said "No more!" and sat down. Just like Hajime had exclaimed, the group needed a leader right now.
Kouki raised his voice towards his classmates
"Everyone! Right now, just think about surviving. We have to withdraw!"
The students moved sluggishly in response to his words. The magical circles that spawned the Traum Soldier was still active. Their numbers increased one by one. At their current mental status fighting would be reckless, also it was not necessary to fight. Kouki shouted at his classmates to urge them to escape. Meld and his knights also tried to encourage the students.
Eventually, everyone escaped by the stairs.
The stairs to the upper level was long. It climbed so high that they could see nothing else but the stairs in the darkness. They felt like they had ascended 30 or more levels at that point. Even if their bodies were enhanced by magic, they would start feeling the fatigue soon. Wounds from their earlier battle was still present. It didn't help that the stairs were long and dimly light, making the students even more gloomy. At this moment, Meld considered having a small rest, but refrained when he saw a huge wall that had a magical formation drawn on it.
Students' faces started to regain their vitality. Meld quickly approached the wall and started to investigate it. They did not forget to use the Fair Scope. From their investigation, the chance of it being a trap is very unlikely. The carved magical formula's purpose was to move the wall in front of them. Meld started to chant to pour magic into the magical formula. Just like a hidden door used by Ninjas, the door rotated to open the way and showed the room behind it.
The revealed room was a room they had visited in the 20th floor.
"We returned?"
"We made it back!"
"We did it...we got back..."
One after another a sigh of relief escaped from the classmates. There were a few students that burst into tears and others who just fell on their ass. Even Kouki and his party that were leaning on the wall, wanted to sit down. They were still in a Dungeon though. Even if it was a low number level, they did not when a monster could appear. They had to escape the Dungeon before they could actually relax.
Meld had to suppress his longing to rest. He had to harden his heart as he shouted for the students to get up.
"You guys! Don't sit! If you get exhausted here, you won't be able to return! To avoid combat with any monsters we have to escape as quickly as possible. Hey, just endure it for a little more!"
For the students who wanted to rest more, they just stared in silent protest at him. The student reluctantly stood up while a bit dizzy. Kouki hide his fatigue and took point. On their way out, the knights concentrated on fighting as little amount of enemies as possible. They raced towards the entrance in one stretch.
Finally, they reached the 1st floor and saw the nostalgic entrance. They had not even stayed in the dungeon for a single day, many people felt it was such a long time since they had seen it.
This time the students really looked relieved after they exited the Dungeon. There were even students sprawled out in front of the gate square. All of them were pleased to have survived. Some of the students did not feel this way. Shizuku, who was still carrying the unconscious Karoi, Kouki, Ryutaro, Eri, Suzu, and the girl Hajime saved had a dark look.
Meld went to make a report at the reception area while minding the students with a side glance. There was a new dangerous trap on the 20th level. Since the bridge had collapsed, there was no way of knowing the purpose of the trap, but he still needed to report it. He couldn't help but report Hajime's death. Meld was having a hard time not showing his depression on his face. A sigh couldn't help but escape from him.
* * *
When the group returned to Horald, they returned to their rooms without much spirit. There were a few students that discussed with each other, but most of the students had already fallen asleep on their bed.
And then there was Hiyama Daisuke. Outside of the inn and located at a corner in the town he sat there. He choose an inconspicuous place to sit with his hands hugging his knees. Buried between his knees was his face that was very still. If his fellow class saw him, it would look like he was depressed that one of his classmates had passed. However...
"Hi, Hihihi. I-It was his fault! For a small fry...h-he got carried away...i-it was divine punishment. I'm not wrong...it was for Shirasaki's sake...that small fry...is not longer a concern...I'm not wrong....hihihi"
With his dark smile and dull eyes, he tried to justify himself.
The fireball that veered off course and hit Hajime was casted by Hiyama. The escape to the stairs and rescuing of Hajime, the sight of Hajime and Kaori's night rendezvous, Hiyama heard a devil whisper to him. If I killed him now, no one will notice? At that moment he sold his soul to the devil.
To not be discovered, Hiyama timed his shot very carefully and lead his fireball to Hajime. In that chaotic barrage it would be very difficult to work out who casted what. He chose the fireball because his aptitude was wind. There would be no evidence or any suspicion. Hiyama told all of this to himself as gave off a dark laugh.
Someone at that moment called out to him.
"Heh, it really was you. The first murder from another world is a fellow classmate...you did quite well!"
"W-Who?"
Hiyama backed away in a panic. The one who hailed him was a classmate he knew.
"Y-You, what are you doing here?"
"Don't worry about such a thing. Rather than that...Murder-san? How do you feel right now? How does it feel to kill off a love rival in midst of the confusion? "
That person laughed a little. Like he had just seen a comedy. Hiyama said to himself, one classmate did die, yet this person did not care. All the other classmates were shocked and looked miserable, but this person had no such expression on his face, not even a speck.
"Is this your true nature?"
The stunned Hiyama muttered out. A condescending scoff could be heard from the person.
"Nature? It's not anything complicated like that. Isn't it common to have a few secrets? More important that that...what would happen if I spread this to everyone? Especially...if she heard it."
"S-Such a thing...No one would believe...and the evidence?"
"None, but they would believe my words. At that moment, do you think your words would be good enough?"
Hiyama was cornered. The words was used to teased the already weakened mouse. No one would have imagined that this fellow could be like this. Daisuke still couldn't believe that this person had a split personality. The person looked down at Daisuke with a sadistic expression that sent chills throughout his body.
"What do you want?"
"Regrettable. It would seem like I'm threatening you, isn't it? Fufu. It's not like I want something from you right now. For now, all you have to do is be my hands and feet. "
"Such a thing..."
It was something like a slave declaration. Naturally, Hiyama hesitated at that. He wanted to refuse, but if he did then this person would mercilessly spread the rumor about his deeds. The conflicted Hiyama thought, "Still working with this person is better than imprisonment." This character foresaw Hiyama's conflict and decided to tempt him.
"Don't you want Shirasaki Kaori?"
"W-What did you say?"
Hiyama's gloomy thoughts were blown away in an instant and just stared at the person. This individual smirked at Hiyama's stunned vi
sage, and continued with the temptation.
"If you follow me...someday you will obtain her. I was going to approach Nagumo-kun with this offer, but you killed him. You may be more suited for what I have in store, so I guess it all worked out in the end. "
"...What's your objective? What do you want to accomplish?"
In this situation he was ignorant of, he unknowingly raised his voice.
"Fufu, it has nothing to do with you. I'm searching for something, that's all I'll say....So, your answer?"
Hiyama did not want to disturb him and just filed away the person attitude of treating him like an idiot into his memory. Daisuke was very afraid of this transformation of character, he did not have much choice so he just nodded his head.
"....I'll obey."
"Ahahaha, that's good. Having to prosecute my own classmate would be painful. Well, let's get along, Murder-san! Ahahaha"
Hiyama just watched the person return in the direction of the inn while they laughed happily, a small "damn" escaped from his lips.
Even if he wants to forget, just being in denial will not erase it, this scene would stick to him. The expression Kaori had when Hajime fell into the abyss. What kind of words would articulate her feelings?
Right now, while all those dead tired students slept likes logs. Hajime's death at the abyss helped discern Kaori's feelings. Kaori never took care of Hajime just for good will. When looking at the exhausted Kaori, this would apply awareness to the cause. Hiyama jeopardized himself by performing such a careless act.
He must conduct himself well. In order to secure one's place. Hiyama had already crossed the line. It wasn't possible to stop now. According to that individual, There was a possibility of him disappearing and a possibility that he would get Kaori.
"Fufu, It will be alright. Everything will go well. I'm not wrong..."
Hiyama returned to his previous position and started to mumble again. This time not a single person bothered him.
Chapter 8: Abyss
Gore Warning
[This is actually written in the original text]
[Ha-a will be the way I differentiate between a sigh and a laugh. Laugh = Ha. Sigh = Ha-a or Haa.]
* * *
Zaa-the sound of running water. A cool breeze brushed against his cheeks and caused him to tremble. There was a solid sensation in contact with his face and a chill pierced his lower half of his body. Hajime raised a groan as he work up.
Absentmindedly, he put forth effort to sit upright while his whole body scowl as it throbbed with pain.
"Ow, This is...For sure I..."
Holding his unsteady head with one hand, he studied the vicinity whilst he recalled his memories. Even though the surrounding was dim, thanks to the emission from the green light stones, it was not like he was blinded by the darkness. In front of Hajime was a river about 5 m in width, and it was in this that his lower body was submerged in. Hajime's upper body seems to have been caught and stranded by protruding rocks located at the side of the river.
"Yeah...I fell down the broken bridge...thereupon..."
His head that had a fog clouding his mind finally started to turns its gears again. Hajime must have survived the drop by sheer luck. In the middle of his fall he encountered area where the cliff had a puncture, from this leak water sprouted out like a flood. There were numberless waterfalls here, and these waterfalls blew away Hajime time after time until gradually he was thrust to the wall. At the very end he was pushed out of a tunnel that was like a waterslide. It was an unbelievable miracle. When he was flying out of the tunnel Hajime hit his head and lost consciousness. Personally, Hajime did not know how such a miracle took place.
"Anyway, I was saved...Achoo! I-It's cold."
He was submerged in the cold underground water this whole time, because of this his whole body was completely cold. At this rate there was a possibility that he could catch hypothermia, Hajime quickly picked himself up. Trembling and shivering he took off his clothes and wringed them.
Using his transmutation he created a single sheet of paper. On the hard stone floor he started to engrave a transmutation circle.
"It's too cold to concentrate..."
He wanted a "Spark" magic. This was a simple magic that even children could perform with a 10 cm magic formation. At this moment, there was no magic stones to increase the efficiency of the magic because Hajime needed it with his zero aptitude for magic. Hajime would have to make a complicated formula that would be 1 m in diameter to cast that "Spark". After 10 minutes he was able to finished the magic formation and started his chanting to activate it.
"I seek fire,The power of light, Manifest, "Spark"....Why is there such an exaggerated chant just to create an ordinary flame? So embarrassing...Ha-a."
The sighing seems to have become a habit recently. Still he invoked the fist-sized flame and bathed in its warmth. He set his clothes side by side near the flames to dry it.
"I wonder where this is...I think I fell a considerable height...can I return?"
Warming himself with the flame, he could feel himself calm. Gradually anxiety started to fill his heart. Hajime really wanted to cry, tears even started to accumulate in his eyes , but he bore with it because if he cried now he would fall apart. He wiped away the tears that had collected and slapped his own cheeks.
"Got no other choice, I have to find a way back. It's fine, I'm sure it will be fine."
Hajime's face developed into a determined one after he muttered encouragements to himself, all while staring at the flames.
After about 20 minutes the clothes were dry and warm, so Hajime set off. Hajime was not sure which level he was in but for sure he was still in the Dungeon. It wouldn't be strange to have monsters lurking. He carefully proceeded to walk down into a huge passage that lead into the depths.
The passage that Hajime continued on felt like a cave. Rather than a low-rise square passage, the passage had rocks and walls protruding in many places and it winds around complicatedly. It was similar to the last room on the 20th floor, the only difference was the size. The complicated passage full of obstacles was 20 m in diameter. Even the more narrow places was still 10 m in diameter. Although it was not an easy path to treat, there were a lot of places to hide and Hajime advanced stealthily from hiding area to hiding area.
He wondered how much he walked. Hajime started to feel tired, until he finally reached a fork for the first time. A huge crossroad was presented to him. Behind the boulder was Hajime hiding, he wondered which path he should take.
A moment was taken to think over it. He thought he saw something at the edge of his vision and he quickly hid behind a rock. Quietly he stuck his head out and waited to see. From the passage straight ahead, a white fur ball hopped into view. It had long ears, and it looked like a rabbit. However, it was about the size of a mid-sized dog and its hind legs were heavily muscled. The "rabbit" also had several dark red lines running along its body like blood vessels, the lines also pulsated like a heart. That was very creepy.
Clearly, it was a dangerous demon. Hajime decided to avoid by going left or right instead of going straight. It looked like he wouldn't be able to proceed to the right because the "rabbit" was near it. Hajime held his breath and waited for the time to move. At that moment, the rabbit turned around and started to sniff the ground. Right now! He tried to move at that.
The rabbit seemed to react to that and it quickly straighten its back to stand up. It's vigilant ears rustled.
(Crap! D-Did it find me? I-I'm fine?)
He clung his body to the boulder to hide himself, and he tried to gain control of his thumping heart. Those keen ear felt like they could pick up his throbbing heart, he broke out into a cold sweat at that thought.
Luckily, it was a different reason the rabbit was alert.
"Guru~ua!"
A wolf-like demon with white hair jumped out and growled at the rabbit. The white wolf had two tails and was about the size of a large dog. Just like the rabbit, the wolf had the same palpi
tating dark red lines all over its body. After that wolf jump out, two more wolves jumped out from behind different stones to join it.
Hajime peeked his head out and observed the situation. No matter how you look at it, the wolves were going to prey on the rabbit-chan (though it wasn't cute enough to attach chan). With the cover of confusion Hajime half rose his feet. However...
"Kyu!"
A cute cry leaked from it and jumped into the air with a rotation. The rabbit gave a roundhouse kick with its massive legs and smacked the first wolf.
Dopan
The kick generated a sound that wasn't thought possible. Rabbit-chan's got a clean kick to the wolf's head.
Gogya
There was a resounding echo and Hajime could see that the wolf's neck had been bent into the wrong direction.
Hajime went rigid at that display. Using the centrifugal force from the roundhouse kick, the rabbit rotated in the air until it was in an upside-down state. The rabbit stomped the air and fell towards the ground like a meteor. Just before landing, it rotated itself perpendicular to it and gave a powerful heel drop to the wolf close to the landing point.
Begya
Without even getting the chance to give off a death throe, both the wolves heads were pulverized. Another two wolves appeared to jump at the rabbit when it landed. Hajime thought it was this moment that the rabbit would lose. The rabbit was able to do a handstand while rotating his legs, just like a break dancer. Both of the wolves were flung towards and slammed against it because of the tornado like rotating kicks. Blood splashed against the walls and their corpse trailed down.
The last wolf ruffled its tail as it growled. Soon the tails started to discharge electricity. It was trying to cast a Special Magic.
"Guru-ua!"
Lightning fly at the rabbit with a howl. As the high-speed lightning approached, the rabbit avoided it splendidly by performing zigzagging steps. When the lightning dissipated the rabbit drove a somersault kick into the wolf's jaw in one go. The kick blew the wolf away and it landed on the ground backwards and bent. It seemed like its neck broke from the force.
