Chapter 93: Chapter 93: Menace

Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

Marle and Marielle were laying down side-by-side on beds in the aid room.

Seeing Alec, Marle got up on shaky legs and ran over to him, crying profusely.

“Ale-… hic, uwaa…. Uwaaaaaah!”

“Marle, I’m so glad… You’re okay.”

It was a moving reunion, but Marielle’s expression was more on my mind.

… It was a very brooding expression.

“Miss… Marielle, right? Umm, don’t torment yourself over…”

“Impossible.”

“But it’s—“

“After Alma was killed, and right in front of me too? I’ll never forgive… Those bastards.”

A low, murderous voice escaped the mouth of the still-young girl.

Neither that voice, nor those words, are things that should be coming from the mouth of a girl her age.

But what could I possibly say to her?

If Haster or Marle met the same fate, then I would have the same look in my eyes, and use the same voice to express my murderous intent.

“May I ask what happened?”

Haster asked her.

Marle’s in no state to talk right now.

Although her heart is set on revenge right now, she’s still able to talk as she is.

“That day we… We were exploring the 5th floor like usual. We’re forbidden from challenging the floor guardian, so that was as deep as we could go. Our abilities had raised, and we didn’t quite feel the 5th floor was satisfying enough.”

At their strength, the 5th floor certainly wouldn’t be enough for them.

Marielle’s magic especially is more than enough for the starter levels.

“Hans was getting carried away with how easy it was. Nay, perhaps we all were. He suggested we challenge the floor guardian.”

I can’t say I don’t understand his feelings. Young boys tend to dream of being heroes… Especially when the power to make it happen is within their reach.

“Marle and our upperclassman Tony were against it. But Alma and myself… We believed we could win, so we did not make any particular argument against it. That overconfidence was a problem. If we had expressed opposition as well, then the quarrel would have been over and we never even would have met them.”

Them… The one calling himself “Masayoshi” is most likely a reincarnator like me.

“They came up to us and said, “If you’re quarreling, then let us go in ahead of you”.”

“Well that would figure. Do you remember what they looked like?”

“The leader had a strange appearance, with neither armor nor weapon. Almost like he was out for a walk… And then there were 5 others. 2 were light weight fighters wearing leather armor. At least I think; I didn’t see any weapons on them either. 2 of them seemed like magicians, hidden deep in robes. I couldn’t tell much more about them. The last one was a woman wearing a very revealing outfit. That bitch was clearly not human.”

“Was there some difference with her that stood out?”

“No, but that bitch is the one who sucked Tony’s life blood out of him.”

“A vampiric type then…”

Inhuman monsters were obeying him? Ahh, I get it… So, in other words, those assholes are…

—They’re the Demon Lord, and his group?

“They didn’t wait for an answer, pretending we weren’t there… Well, that was because Hans was ignoring them. So they moved to enter the floor guardian’s room. That must have hit a nerve with Hans; he fired off his usual [Fire Bolt] spell at the leader. Of course he cut back its power, but… It was immediately following that. Their attitude took a direct turnaround.

“First they tore Hans to pieces. It was immediately after he let off his spell; he hadn’t even gotten out of his stance yet. One of the light fighters had appeared right in front of Hans before we even knew it. He grew long claws from his arms, and swung them through Hans.

“Alma reacted. She drew her sword to meet the enemy… And in that instant, Tony had been ‘eaten’. It was as if the woman sunk into the shadows as she moved, got behind him, and bit into his neck… He couldn’t run, and didn’t even seem to try….”

He couldn’t run? Was that a charm power?

I have heard vampiric species normally have that.

“And then lastly the leader… Punched… Alma’s head… Urp?!”

“A-are you okay? You don’t need to continue if it’s too hard, okay?”

“I… I am fine… At the last moment, Alma told us “run”… But—!”

“I’m sorry, I… At the time I was so scared, and I was shaking… I could hardly even move; I couldn’t run.”

Marle fought against her tears to add on where Marielle cut off.

It’s hard to blame a girl like her for freezing when she suddenly gets caught up in a tragedy like that.

“The leader grabbed my throat and said, “Are you the kind of bandits who hang out in the labyrinth? You’ve got a poor upbringing to be suddenly attacking people like that.”…”

“That guy told us, “If you become my slaves, then I don’t mind letting you off the hook.” I had no idea what was happening…”

“I at least understood the “slave” part. Even though he killed Alma… Telling me to become his slave… That came to my mind, and I spit at his face. And then the man ran his mouth with something I didn’t understand, “So this is a tsundere?,” before he made to kick me away. That’s when Marle pushed me out of the way, protecting me…”

That’s the reaction you should expect when you just killed her best friend.

But seriously, this Demon Lord Masayoshi… He talks lightheartedly, and his attitude is the worst. Even I can’t excuse that.

“I had completely lost myself at the time, and I had no idea what was happening. So I think I only barely managed to move right then.”

“You saved my life. But don’t do something so dangerous again. Do you even know what happened to your own body? The right side of your chest was perforated, and just about everything from your lungs to your ribs were damaged. You couldn’t breathe on your own, and you would have died in less than five minutes if you were left alone.”

“Yeah, it’s surprising that I’m alive. Thank you, Marielle.”

“It’s too soon to be thanking me… That is… My apologies, but I couldn’t completely heal your injuries. I’m sorry.”

We only checked later, but the right side of Marle’s chest and back still had large scars on them.

She took a blow powerful enough to pierce through a human body, so there probably wasn’t much to be done about that.

Actually, she regenerated damaged or missing organs and skin, so we should really be talking about how amazing her abilities are.

As Marielle was bowing her head deeply, Marle stopped her with a hug.

“It’s okay, being alive is more than enough. I’m very grateful to you Marielle. But umm, I feel like I should be apologizing to Sir Alec.”

“No! I don’t mind a scar like that one bit…!”

“But…”

“Besides, I’m missing an a whole arm.”

“Aha, we’re just covered in wounds… Aren’t we, Sir Alec?”

And then she looked like she was about to cry…

“What?”

“Could we… Go back to the village? We shouldn’t be fighting something like that…”

“Eh? But…”

“When Marielle was captured, she tried resisting, you know? With fire and ice magic. But none of it worked at all. He didn’t take a single scratch. That’s just not normal.”

Magic didn’t work? I wonder if he has some kind of magic canceling gift or something?

No, that would just be powerful on a whole different scale… But when considering my own gifts, that kind of thing seems very possible.

“Sorry, could we hear more about that?”

“What I used was [Fire Bolt], [Ice Sword], [Wind Blade], and [Light Arrow]. I am confident that any one of those would have dealt a fatal blow to a troll, too.”

“And none of those were effective at all?”

“No, I suppose not? Rather than ineffective, it felt more like they weren’t even connecting though.”

Are his resistance values just unusually high…? But even then, not leaving a scratch is abnormal.

“He’s a monster. It’s not even fair… E-even Miss Alma… No, I don’t want any more of this!”

“Marle!”

Alec held Marle with his one arm.

She must have had a flashback to that tragic scene. She was shaking like… Actually, her expression is half-hearted. It’s more like her body is in the convulsions of a seizure.

“After seeing that with your own eyes, I suppose you wouldn’t want any further part of this… But I am not giving up.”

“Planning on revenge?”

“Yes, which is exactly why… I ask you to please let me join your party. I may not look like much, but I am highly specialized in healing magic.”

The Water Sage’s apprentice.

If we could have her along as a companion, there could be no better option for us.

However, her goal is revenge. That is subtly different from our own.

Would it really be okay to welcome her with that in mind…?

“Our goal isn’t revenge. So if that is your only goal, then I don’t want you as part of our group.”

“Oh? I had been hearing recently that you are the most skilled adventurers around here, so I was hoping, but… Very well. There are other parties.”

“Just wanna say, I don’t think there’s going to be a next time. If you meet them again, they’re almost definitely going to kill you.”

“I hope they try. I will beat them to the punch.”

“I’m telling you it’s impo—“

“Haster…”

I pull at his arm and shake my head, conveying how I think it’s pointless.

As she is right now, no words are going to get through to her.

We can discuss things with her once she’s calmed down a little more.

“Let’s talk about this another day. You two should rest up for now.”

“Indeed, I am feeling a bit tired.”

“Alec, stay with her.”

“I will.”

We left Alec behind, and headed back to the break room.

~*~

People of various social statuses had gathered in the guild’s break room.

Hans having been a noble must be causing problems. There are clearly people who are not commoners mixed in.

There were some having arguments too. They were the very picture of a noisy uproar. Their assertions all showed differences of opinion, as if there was no cohesiveness at all.

“I supposed this is just going to happen…”

After all, this all starts with Hans launching a preemptive attack.

Even if there was no intent to kill behind it, the headline here would say the Demon Lord’s side acted in self-defense.

Which I suppose would suggest Marle’s side should be punished, and they should be found guiltless.

But they clearly went too far.

Plus they were killing minors.

Moreover, they were teacher and student of nobility, and a sage’s apprentice.

Punish a sage’s apprentice?

Punish the Demon Lord?

Is it even possible to punish them?

Even if they could be, would it end with a punishment?

There would be no particular problem with Marle.

If there’s a fine, then we can pay it in her stead, and if it’s hard labor, we can pay her bail.

It probably wouldn’t be a small fee, but if we let her retire to Mareba like she was saying, then I’m sure the guild would let it go to keep from escalating things.

If we have to, then Haster and I could step forward too.

Marielle is the same.

Her own desires aside, she shouldn’t be allowed into the labyrinth right now.

With how wrapped up she is in her ruinous desire for revenge, a party may even step forward that will become collateral damage for her.

If her grandmother and current sage Ondine appears, things could get problematic, but… I’ll have Haster give it his best in that case.

Punish the Demon Lord?

That’s an “are you an idiot?” kind of thing. What would be the punishment?

They’re going to be delving into the labyrinth even if you leave them alone.

Attempting to block his invasion with the army personnel stationed at the entrance is just nonsense.

And that kind of thing probably wouldn’t be enough to stop him anyway.

“In the end, they can’t really punish anyone. Not in this case.”

“Probably not. More importantly, Levy.”

“Hm?”

“That conversation told me they’re an unbelievable bunch… And we’re supposed to outrun them?”

“Sure are. Don’t think anyone ‘sides ya’ll could do it.”

The one who grew claws from his arms is probably a beast man species. Plus there’s the vampiric one.

And we have no idea what the other three are.

We also don’t know what the Demon Lord himself has for gifts.

“This is pretty hopeless, isn’t it?”

“Could be… Which is exactly why we need ya’ll. Even includin’ everyone in this city, ya’ll have the best chance at it.”

“Even after all this… You’re telling us to aim for the top?”

“I do feel bad an’ all. But I got my own reasons too. Cut me some slack.”

“Seriously, God really goes overboard sometimes.”

“Heh? God?”

“Just talking to myself.”

If all else fails, we run. Do we have that choice?

With no way to find clear motivation to climb to the top, our morale took a heavy blow.