Chapter 45
Winston Castle’s dungeon.
I was trapped in a solitary room on the third underground floor, but was rescued by Euphemina and was now looking for Huroi.
“Damn! I’ve looked everywhere, but I can’t find him. Where is that bastard Huroi trapped?”
“I don’t think he is on this floor. Maybe we should go down further?”
“What? The third floor isn’t the end?
“According to information I received, there are four floors.”
“I have to go down to the fourth floor…”
The time limit for rescuing Huroi was 1 hour and 10 minutes. I was becoming more and more irritated. If I exceeded the time limit and failed to rescue Huroi, I would receive a really big penalty. I had to find and rescue Huroi as quickly as possible.
But Winston Castle’s dungeon was very large and the corridors were as complex as a maze, making it difficult to find the way. I decided to follow Euphemina’s opinion, but it wasn’t easy to find the stairs heading down to the fourth floor.
“Hey, you! Are you sure that the fourth floor really exists? The third floor isn’t the end? Maybe Huroi is on the second or first floor…”
“I swept through the first and second floors while looking for you, but I didn’t see a prisoner called Huroi. And the fourth floor really does exist. I received the information from a trustworthy person.”
“Uhh… But I can’t see the way down to the fourth floor…”
“Stop whining. I’m annoyed.”
“…Yes, sorry.”
Time continued to pass while we wandered around. Before I knew it, there were only 50 minutes remaining. Meanwhile, the pursuit of the soldiers didn’t stop and there were traps installed in the corridors.
‘But I’m glad. The traps are so obvious that I don’t need to worry about falling for them.’
This prison was made of rocks. The floors, the walls and the ceiling, everything was made of rocks. In addition, it was underground, so sunlight couldn’t reach it. In other words, it was a space where blades of grass couldn’t grow.
But funnily enough, I saw places on the floor where flowers and grass were growing. In addition, there was fruit and bread hanging from the ceiling. There were also high-quality items that didn’t match the prison space hanging on the walls.
It was clearly an unnatural sight!
‘They are all traps.’
Even a person with the intelligence of an elementary school student would be able to notice such ridiculous traps.
“I think you should bow. Otherwise you might die.”
“Eh?”
I listened to Euphemina’s voice and hurriedly bowed down. At the same time, sharp arrows flew over my back. I checked the arrows stuck in the wall and cried out.
“H-Heok…! W-What is this all of a sudden? I was almost hit.”
As I was wiping at my sweat and sighing with relief, Euphemina pushed me in the back. Due to that, I lost my balance and fell down, while a spear shot up where I was just standing. If Euphemina hadn’t pushed me, I would’ve been skewered by that spear.
I got goose bumps.
“Hik! Hiyaaack! What the hell is this?”
“I’m sorry. I accidentally activated a trap.”
Euphemina giggled while walking. There were several colorful flowers in her hands.
…This was crazy.
“Isn’t it strange for flowers to grow in this place? It’s obviously a trap! So why did you pick the flowers? Eh?! How can you fall for the trap, you dumb girl!? I almost didn’t make it! And why would you pick flowers in this situation in the first place? Dammit! Useless person. If I died because of you, I would make you take responsibility. Don’t do anything unnecessary and just find the way!”
..That was what I wanted to yell at her, but I didn’t.
‘Patient, be patient.’
I barely suppressed my anger. Euphemina had great skills compared to her fragile appearance. Her combat skills were equivalent to Blood Witch Yura. In addition, she had an epic class that only three people had. I didn’t dare mess with such a great person
Most of all, her strength was needed to rescue Huroi. I couldn’t afford to rescue him with just my strength. No matter how wrong she was, I needed to continue flattering her.
“B-Be careful. I can’t use defensive magic like you.”
“Yes~ yes~ I’m sorry.”
Euphemina apologized to me in an insincere manner. I was once again infuriated.
“This woman! How can you act so shameless despite almost killing someone!? Kneel down and apologize right now!”
…Was what I wanted to yell.
“Patience… Kuoh… Huh?”
I felt a new sense of anxiety. Euphemia was staring at the bananas hanging from the ceiling.
‘Surely she isn’t planning to pluck such a suspicious thing to eat? Ah, it can’t be. She isn’t a monkey…’
At that moment! Euphemia jumped lightly and grabbed a banana.
No, why?
Crack!
Immediately after Euphemina grabbed a banana hanging from the ceiling… The floor where I was standing started crumbling.
“Kiaaack!”
I barely escaped from danger by rolling my body to the side, and finally couldn’t resist yelling at Euphemina.
“What are you doing now? Why are you eating bananas in this situation?”
Euphemina answered with the banana in her mouth.
“Chew chew. Gulp. I just wanted to eat a banana because there was a banana in front of me.”
“Look, it’s just plain common sense! It’s odd that bananas are hanging in this dungeon. It’s clearly a trap!”
“Isn’t it strange for it to be a trap? The bananas could be hanging for patrolling soldiers to eat when they’re hungry.”
Euphemina sighed. “You poor person. You live by looking at the world from a very negative perspective. I bet you don’t have any friends to confide in.”
“…”
I was sure of it. Euphemina was clearly very angry. So she deliberately triggered the traps.
‘I can understand.’
Euphemina had come to rescue me because of a quest that would benefit her. But rescuing Huroi had nothing to do with her. Her current actions were complaining that she didn’t like rescuing a person unrelated to her quest. That’s why she purposely triggered the traps!
‘She has a temper…’
Indeed, it was rare for a beauty to have a good nature. Most beauties were sheltered like princesses.
‘But Ahyoung is pretty and has a good nature.’
My heart felt cleansed as I was reminded of my ideal love, Ahyoung.
“Ahyoung… I want to see you…”
“Over here! Those people are here!”
“…You dare disturb my contemplation?”
I was drawing a beautiful picture of Ahyoung in my mind when I heard a noise from both ends of the corridor and soldiers quickly arrived. There were around 50 people.
I sighed.
“How come they keep coming endlessly? This is bothersome.”
Euphemina snorted.
“Bah, aren’t I the one dealing with them anyway? Won’t you just be watching or running away? Don’t you think it is disgraceful to complain when you aren’t doing anything? I can’t understand it when you have that weapon. You should be fighting.”
“Fighting? Me? I can’t do that.”
I had the unique rated dagger that Euphemina returned to me. Obviously, this dagger’s attack power could easily handle the attacking soldiers. But I couldn’t enter battle. Why?
It was simple.
“I don’t have any armor.”
“…”
The clothes that I was wearing had absolutely no defense. I couldn’t fight against soldiers with no defense! At the end of the day, Euphemina was helping me so I could concentrate on rescuing Huroi without fighting.
“Even if you don’t have armor, isn’t it easy for you to handle the soldiers?”
“No. I’m not as strong as you think. Then… I’ll leave this to you.”
“Huh? What does that mean…?”
I patted Euphemina’s back and headed towards the hole caused by the trap she had triggered earlier. “I’ll go and find Huroi first. Hold their attention until then!”
“H-Hey!”
The confused Euphemina hurriedly tried to catch me, but it was too late. I ignored her and dove into the hole.
Ku tang tang tang!
“Wah!”
[You have fallen from a high place and suffered 200 damage.]
I left the soldiers and Euphemina, falling alone to the fourth floor.
“Cough! Cough! Uhh…fortunately, I didn’t get significantly hurt.”
I raised my dusty body and moved my gaze to the dusty ceiling. The battle between Euphemina and the soldiers had already begun, as flashing lights and the soldiers’ yells were heard.
“Good, Euphemia. You’re doing very well~.”
If she fought as loudly as possible, the enemies would believe that Euphemina and I were on the third floor, pulling all the defensive troops to the third floor. Then the defense on the fourth floor would be relatively poor.
“Huhut, I can find and rescue Huroi in this gap. Aren’t I surprisingly smart?”
Did I feel bad for leaving the fighting to Euphemina while I rescued Huroi? Well, no. My conscience didn’t exist. I was the type to use others if it would benefit me.
Was I worried about Euphemina fighting alone? Of course I wasn’t worried. She was the first epic class and so OP that she could use all types of magic spells without chanting first. She would survive even if hundreds of soldiers and dozens of knights were her opponents.