A small room on the ninth floor. That was where Rei and Elena had gone down to.

After having lunch inside Rei’s magic tent on the eighth floor, they had gone straight to the stairs to the ninth floor while killing any monsters they ran into.

Of course, the ninth floor was still a cave environment and Elena gave a small sigh when she saw it.

「Well, there are only two more floors like this, including this one. Maybe we’ll be able to leave the caves by tomorrow. ……What would you like to do? It’s been a long time since we had lunch and it should be time to head back to the surface.」

「Mm, that’s true. Wait a moment. If I remember, this floor is……」

At Rei’s words, Elena took out a map from her magic pouch.

Looking at the map, she started nodding in understanding.

「As I thought. ……This floor is pretty easy. After all, there are no forks, it just goes straight to the stairs.」

Rei was puzzled at Elena’s words.

「This is……a dungeon, right?」

「Gururu~?」

Set, who had been listening in to their conversation, probably had the same thoughts. He gave a cry in agreement with Rei.

Rather than talking about it, Elena just showed the map to Rei as evidence with a wry smile on her face.

Seeing the map, Rei unintentionally gave a sigh.

The map just showed a passage in a straight line from the small room they currently were in to the stairs leading to the 10th floor.

「……What should we do?」

「No, don’t ask me. Aren’t you the adventurer, Rei?」

Rei thought about Elena’s words.

He didn’t have a clock with him, so he didn’t know the exact time. However, Rei still knew the approximate time from when he had eaten luncch.

(It should be about 3-4pm.)

According to how much time Rei felt had passed, it should have been around that time. If so, assuming Elena’s map had no mistakes, it would be possible to clear the ninth floor without any problems.

……However, that was only assuming the map was correct and that there were no difficult to find traps.

(Monsters could also show up.)

Thinking to himself, Rei weighed the risks and returns……before coming to a decision.

「All right, let’s finish up for today after we clear the ninth floor.」

「Are you sure? It is going to be pretty close considering the current time.」

「Yeah. It’s summer now. At night, the monsters will become more vicious, but we’ve got leeway.」

「……Okay. If you say so, I’ll follow. Fortunately, I can afford to do that.」

Elena nodded at Rei’s words before they left the room.

Of course, she was holding her weapon, ready to respond immediately if anything went wrong.

Rei adn Elena looked at each other before nodding and moving forward.

One step, two steps, three steps……after moving thus far, fortunately or unfortunately, there were no signs of any enemies appearing.

Rei and Elena, Set and Yellow, the two pairs proceeded forth surrounded by silence.

「No enemies are coming out, huh.」

「Yeah.」

「Gurururu~?」

Elena responded to Rei as they wondered why there were no signs of any monsters at all. Hearing them, Set also tilted his head slightly.

The continued on for another hour. Rei and Elena didn’t know the exact time, but they still knew the approximate time. After moving for that long without any enemies appearing……Rei eventually started to feel suspicious.

「Isn’t this strange?」

「What is?」

「This passage. It’s a nice straight path, but nothing has been happening at all after so long. It’s nice that no enemies have appeared so far. It’s hard to call, but it could be a coincidence. That said, this passage is still strange. How to put it……yes, it was like when we went to the dungeon with the Altar of Inheritance.」

「-!? I see, it doesn’t seem like there are any traps as far as we can see, however the passage itself could be a trap. Then, it would have to be a trap using spatial magic……made by someone like Grimm. 」

Elena may have inherited the magic stone of an Ancient Dragon, but she was still afraid when she recalled Grimm’s appearance in her mind.

She didn’t feel she would stand a chance if she fought him.

However, Rei shook his head silently in response.

「I don’t think there are many monsters like that, but this dungeon is still growing, it could also be related to the abnormal species we’ve fought several times. I don’t know. I’ll be honest, if there was a enemy in this cave dungeon on the same level as the great magician Grimm……I don’t feel a sense of danger.」

「So we don’t know what’s the cause.」

「That’s right. ……But, to leave this floor, we’ll still have to destroy the core point.」

Rei muttered as he recalled what had happened as they went looking for the Altar of Inheritance. Elena glanced over at him when she heard that.

Did the figure of Vel, who had betrayed them, cross her mind?

As Rei thought about that, he immediately touched the ground with the Death Scythe as he focused his magic power.

「Well, if we just want to destroy the core point, we can do it the same way as last time.」

「Please.」

Nodding at Elena’s brief reply, he spoke a short incantation.

『Fire, burn while spreading red flames. Turn into a carpet of fire that follows my will.』

A mass of fire appeared at the tip of the Death Scythe’s shaft. Smashing it into the ground, he activated the magic.

『Thin Flame!』

Following the magic he activated, the crushed flames spread across the passage walls and ceiling, spreading out thinly over everything.

Yellow, who was seeing this magic for the first time, touched the burning flames with his short hand, but the temperature of the flames was only about 20C and did not burn Yellow.

The flames continued to spread out, burning all the way down the passageway beyond what Rei could see.

And……

Piki-Pikikiki……

Such a sound started to echo out and, the next moment, there was a sound like glass shattering.

It didn’t seem like anything had visibly changed, but it was clear that something had definitely changed.

「What did you do?」

Elena touched the wall as she murmured. In terms of how it felt, it was no different than before. Even so, there still definitely something that made it feel different than before.

Next to Elena, Rei also touched the wall with a smile, seemingly relieved.

「Even though the mechanism itself is similar, it seems it wasn’t as strong as what Grimm had set up.」

「……That seems to be so.」

Both Elena and Rei gave a sigh of relief.

In the first place, considering how extraordinary Grimm’s existence was, Rei honestly felt that it would be a problem if there was someone else at the same level. Fortunately, Grimm had treated Rei favourably, partially due to his relationship with Zepairu. However, he would have been a rare exception.

Most Liches hated living people or only thought of them as target to absorb vitality and magic power from.

「It’s true that I’ve managed to do something about it, so let’s hurry ahead. We’ve spent more time on this floor than expected. It would be better to head down to the 10th floor and then return to the surface as quickly as we can. There’s not much more time before it becomes night.」

「That’s right.」

Elena nodded in response to Rei and they continued down the passageway that seemed to have had the spatial magic trap released.

「Even so, it’s quite questionable.」

「What is?」

Elena asked back when Rei muttered to himself as they kept an eye out for traps and monsters.

Because they had fallen into a trap already, they conversed while remaining cautious.

「I understand that the dungeon core has grown a lot more compared to the dungeon with the Altar of Inheritance. But why set up such an advanced trap using spatial magic on the ninth floor? If I was the dungeon core, then of course I’d put the powerful traps on the currently lowest floor……the 33rd floor? I would put it there. The ninth floor is, so to speak, a place were people between beginners and intermediates would come. What do you think? Come to think of it, what was that party’s name, Canopies’ Edge? That was it.」

「……There’s a few possibilities I can think of, but the worst one is that the dungeon core is threatening us. ……But even if the dungeon core had a will, it’s not clear if we would even be able to understand it. That said, I believe the dungeon core should still be able to sense the danger level of adventurers entering the dungeon.」

Hearing Elena’s explanation, Rei frowned unpleasantly.

It was no wonder that the core of a labyrinth city’s dungeon would be monitored closely.

Glancing sideways at Rei, Elena continued her explanation with a small smile.

「Or, it could simply mean that traps like this aren’t that important to the dungeon core. ……No, to be more exact, it could mean that it has more powerful traps.」

「In other words, it was just something it could spare and, when it used it, we accidentally fell into it? That’s a bit rough……」

「That’s right. I think so as well. But, it is possible. There are a few other possibilities……but those are the two that seem the most likely.」

While saying that, Elena looked around alertly.

(I didn’t tell Rei……but there’s another possibility. It’s possible that a spatial mage is interfering with our dungeon dive, but in that case, why are they interfering with us? It’s also a question of if that it really the case. If someone really did use spatial magic, the mage would have to be nearby……no, am I thinking too much?

Elena looked around for signs but nothing seemed to have changed. She decided that she might have been overthinking it and continued down the straight path with Rei.

 

 

(……Have they left?)

Seeing Rei’s group disappear down the main passageway, the man involuntarily gave a sigh of relief.

He was absolutely fine. He knew that, but he could still sense the incomparable strength of Rei’s group to his own up close.

It hadn’t been his skills that had kept him safe or anything. It was thanks to a magic item called a Hidden Robe, which was given to him by his boss, that allowed him to hide his appearance and erase all his signs.

It was a first class product, superbly made by the alchemist Esta Nord, who had been part of Zepairu’s group. However, it was a magic item that was difficult to use in many ways. The concealment effect would wear off in the blink of an eye if he as so moved slightly after the effect was activated.

But, for that reason, the concealment ability was first class, being able to not only decieve Rei and Elena’s senses, but Set’s five basic senses and his sixth sense as well.

(I’m definitely not going to do this kind of work anymore. Setting up a trap for these monsters just because I can use spatial magic……this is no joke.)

The man muttered various thoughts to himself, but only in his mind. If he moved even slightly, the effect of the robe would cut off immediately and he would be revealed. If that happened, Rei’s group might be able to sense him even if he could no longer see or detect them.

(But, why is he so hostile against Crimson? Well, I don’t think I would understand it from my low position……it wouldn’t be of any use to me.)

The order given to the man was to use spatial magic to make Rei and Elena get lost when they came.

It hadn’t been necessary to set up the trap on the ninth floor, but he didn’t have enough time. Because of that, the ninth floor had been the only suitable place where various conditions could be used to set up a spatial magic trap.

(In the first place, entering the dungeon and reaching the ninth floor in several days……what kind of speed is that?)

While thinking to himself, the man stayed there until his companions came to pick him up, wondering if Rei and Elena would appear as soon as he took off the robe.

 

 

「That was easy.」

「……Yeah.」

Rei unintentionally responded in agreement to Elena’s murmured.

After exiting the looped space, they hadn’t run into any more monsters and there had been no further traps. They went straight to the stairs leading to the 10th floor.

「No monsters showed up in the end.」

「Gurururu~」

Rei’s words made Set give a regretful cry.

Looking at the two of them, ELena gave natural smile.

These were the days she had been looking forward to in Exil.

……By no means though was she planning to ignore Vihera, the homewrecker trying to get close to Rei.

Thinking of that, the four of them went down to the 10th floor before going back to the surface using the transfer magic circle.

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