Volume 1 Chapter 39 Rainy Labyrinth Of Roses
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
When Kian arrived at the adventurer guild’s stables, he found that, unusually, Serena had gotten there first.
He had been delayed because he had eaten breakfast prepared by Esther before setting out.
As he walked quickly towards her, Serena, who had been leaning against the fence surrounding the stable, straightened up.
”Today, I was earlier than you.”
”The meeting time isn’t here yet. It’s not my fault.”
”You don’t have to be so defensive. I haven’t been waiting long either. …Come here. I borrowed horses for both of us.”
”Thanks.”
”Mm.”
As he tried to enter the stable, she silently extended her hand.
Kian stared at her white hand for a moment, then knelt down, gently took her hand, and brought his lips close to it.
”──Wha!? W-wait!? What are you doing? Stop!”
”What? Wasn’t I supposed to kiss your hand like a knight would to a noble princess?”
Saying this with a serious face, Serena widened her light blue eyes.
”I-I don’t understand how you could think that!”
”In my country, if a woman extends her hand like that, it’s considered acceptable for a man to take advantage of her. Be careful next time. You’re a cute girl, and as a man, I might be tempted.”
’What is this pervert saying?’
”Azrael doesn’t have such customs! Don’t say random things!”
Serena frowned in displeasure and let out a big sigh.
She shook her extended hand and continued.
”Anyway, money. Hurry up and give it to me. I just paid the fee to borrow the horses from the guild, and I have no intention of covering your share.”
”What? If that’s the case, you should have said so. Just extending your hand could lead to misunderstandings, even for someone like me. I’ve thought this for a while, but you really lack words. You should reflect on that.”
”Is it my fault…?”
Serena, looking confused, received 2 large coins from Kian.
Her ears, which had been perked up earlier, now drooped oddly.
It seemed that her spirits had dropped significantly.
’You have not done anything wrong, wolf girl. It’s just that this man is crazy.’
”Is the equipment okay?”
”Yeah. I have torches and oil, and I’ve prepared resin. Silver and mercury were too expensive. Just the weapons left.”
Serena placed her hand on the hilt of the longsword at her waist.
”Unfortunately, the magic language is still the same as the previous ‘Great Sword.’ The enemies in ‘Labyrinth of Roses’ are ghost-type, but I probably can’t deal any damage.”
”Me neither. The only way to drive them away is to set the wooden sword on fire and swing it around.”
”Today is just for reconnaissance, but… how about hiring a temporary magician when we go for the strategy? Or a warrior with equipment that can deal damage to ghosts?”
”Yeah… I was thinking, can’t Serena use magic?”
”Yeah.”
”There should have been a magician in the mercenary group.”
”I wasn’t taught… My father was against me becoming a warrior. I learned my sword skills from my brother who was killed.”
Serena said this and looked down regretfully.
(From his perspective, it was a waste, but there were plenty of physically superior male warriors in the tribe compared to Serena.)
’But I can strongly sense the blood of the wolf god Wooloo from this girl. Even if she is physically inferior as a woman, I can’t believe she would lose in magic power.’
Glasses muttered this, but since she was just a temporary party member, he wasn’t in a position to tell her, “Stop being a swordsman and become a magician.”.
To learn magic, one needs a master, money, and plenty of time.
If she wanted to get a national qualification, she would have to pay an exorbitant amount to travel to Azrael and attend the academy in the royal capital.
Given Serena’s financial situation, where she couldn’t even scrape together money to inscribe magic language on her weapons, it was an impossible dream.
”Serena, it might be unnecessary advice, but do you really think you can defeat a ‘Death Sword User’ with just swordsmanship?”
”That really is unnecessary advice… Thank you, I’ll use it carefully.”
Serena received the reins from the guild caretaker.
Next to her, Kian also led the horse outside.
She had some knowledge of horseback riding, so there was no problem.
”…I also think I can’t win like this. After all, my brother was killed so easily. …I’m Wolfmen, and I believe I’m physically far superior to an ordinary human, but in the end, I’m still a woman. I think my pure physical ability is inferior to my brother’s. But…”
The horse that Serena was riding snorted, “Brrrr”.
”But if I understand my opponent and come up with a proper strategy, I can definitely win. The disadvantage is always on the side that gets hunted. The ‘Death Sword User’ needs to feel the fear of becoming prey.”
”It’s quite a mental theory, but if we’re talking realistically, I think it’s better to learn something besides swordsmanship to have more options.”
”Yeah, I was thinking of learning magic from someone, but it’s hard to find a decent teacher. Even if I pay tuition, it’s almost meaningless if that person is a low-level magician. I’d invest if there’s someone good.”
Saying that, she looked at Kian with narrowed eyes.
It seemed she suspected that Kian could use magic.
”I’m Azrael’s warrior monk, not a pure magician. I can only teach healing techniques and the basics of Azrael’s Dance Swordsmanship.”
”That’s enough. Since we’re forming a party, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to accompany me in my self-training.”
As if she had been waiting for this, Serena leaned forward and said that.
Kian shrugged.
”I don’t mind, but I don’t want to teach my skills for free.”
”You don’t have to teach. I’ll learn by watching.”
”That’s inefficient. You should quietly pay the price and take my lessons.”
”No way.”
Serena narrowed her eyes again and said that.
”Because Kian, you’re planning to ask for something naughty from me as payment, right?”
”True, but which is more important to you, your chastity or avenging your brother?”
”Both are important. I don’t intend to follow someone weaker than me, and I won’t have children with a man I don’t truly acknowledge.”
”In other words, as long as you acknowledge me, that’s all that matters, huh?”
”I had other financial matters and various things to consider. Yeah… when thinking about my father and mother──especially after joining the ‘Storm Herd,’ I don’t think I want to date anyone. It’s a shame, but I’m not that easy”.
”Hmm, I see.”
Kian said this and averted his gaze from the light blue eyes that were glaring back at him.
He adjusted himself and mounted the horse.
”…It’s definitely easier to find pleasure by picking up a quick, flirty waitress at a tavern than trying to win over a sturdy woman who seems like she’s made of muscle even in her brain.”
”That’s right. If you understand, then you should exclude me from your romantic interests. I don’t mind if you have casual fun outside of work, but it’s a problem if you get all flirty while we’re working. …Honestly, you’re such an attractive warrior that I’d want to bring you back to our pack, but if that happens, I want you to find a partner other than me.”
”Any woman other than Serena, huh? I’ve heard that Wolfmen women are often beautiful, so that sounds good.”
”If you keep saying that, I might seriously bring you back. Just so you know, if my leader recognizes you, you’ll end up being food for the tribe’s women to incorporate ‘new blood.’ You might end up with about ten brides forced on you.”
”That sounds great, I’d welcome it.”
”…You’re a strange human. I’ll tell you since you don’t seem to know, but all the women in our tribe are as vigorous as succubi. If you go beyond 5, it’s not just a metaphor; you might really be on the verge of death.”
Serena said this with a sigh and gave the horse’s belly a light poke.
”Alright, enough chatting. Let’s get going.”
* * *
Dungeon’s ‘Labyrinth of Roses’──.
It was a large maze made up of walls of black roses.
It was about 3 kilometers (1.86 mil) wide and long.
Inside the walls was a complex maze, and even if one tried to look down from above, a confusing magic distorted perception, making it a troublesome place.
In the center, there was a mansion said to be where an ancient Countess spent her later years.
The labyrinth was perpetually rainy throughout the year, and for some reason, the surrounding plants never withered, even though they were constantly drenched.
The temperature was low, and the footing was poor.
In the maze, there are many ghost-type monsters, making it a place where swordsmen are unwelcome.
On top of the terrible weather, the enemies are troublesome monsters.
Even if a request comes up, adventurers usually won’t take it.
Considering the rewards, in most cases, the effort just isn’t worth it.
”I can’t get the borrowed horse wet, so this is as far as we go.”
In the fields close to their destination, Serena stopped the horse and got down from the saddle as she noticed the sky starting to be covered by thick clouds.
Kian followed her down.
A damp, cold wind blew, rustling the branches of the shrubs and the brown, dry grass of the fields.
”Should we leave the horse here?”
”Yeah. Just leave it. If wolves attack, it’ll run back to the Guild on its own.”
Serena said that and petted the horse’s face, then took down the bags tied to the saddle.
She pulled out a black raincoat from the bag.
It was the one sold at the Guild.
Apparently, she had bought it during her day off yesterday.
Kian had a handmade one, so he decided to wear that.
”By the way, I heard they caught the guy behind that woman kidnapping case.”
”The woman kidnapping case? Oh, they said Matilda, the barmaid, and Sophia were kidnapped.”
”Matilda is the woman I met on the way back from the ‘Spoon Wing’ job. They found her body early this morning in the sewers under town. Apparently, they figured out that the guard who was our client was the culprit from the blood and skin fragments found under her nails.”
”Hmm. Does that guard admit to the crime?”
”It seems so. They’re also interrogating him about the other victim──Ms. Sophia──with the Schwarzer family knight, but he hasn’t confessed yet.”
”…”
”There was a high-reward search quest posted yesterday, so I thought about calling you to see if you wanted to take it. But in the end, since we have today’s job too, I figured it wouldn’t be good to take both and fail at them.”
”That sounds fine. Taking on a job with too much competition is like gambling. It’s better to stick to your original plan. We should prioritize the job we decided on first.”
”Exactly. I often don’t get along with a guy like you, but it seems we click when it comes to adventuring.”
Serena said that and dramatically spread out her raincoat.
She checked if her sword at her waist was easy to draw.
”No problem. As expected from the adventurer Guild. They handle quality rain equipment.”
”It sounds like you’re saying my rain equipment is low quality.”
”I didn’t mean it like that, but… um.”
”What’s wrong?”
Kian asked as Serena suddenly perked up her dog ears.
She narrowed her light blue eyes and slipped past Kian to look toward the fields behind them.
”Serena?”
”…There was a presence. Not a beast. A human presence.”
”What? “
Kian turned to look behind him.
In the dim light, only the low pine bushes and various weeds swayed in the wind, with no beasts in sight.
”Over there, at ten o’clock. At the base of the pine tree.”
”Crow.”
Kian took crow out from under his raincoat and set it on his right hand to let it fly.
In an instant, 2 dark figures rose from the base of the pine tree that Serena pointed to, turning their backs and starting to flee.
The fleeing figures looked slender, but their legs were incredibly fast.
They were probably beastmen.
Kian continued to send crow after them, but suddenly the connection with crow was cut off.
It seemed crow had been killed by some kind of ranged weapon, like an arrow or a knife.
”They were lying in ambush to shake off the crow’s pursuit. Serena, it’s not just those 2. There are a few more around.”
”Well… but for now, I don’t sense anyone else.”
Serena said this while keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings.
Kian clicked his tongue as he released several crow.
”This is bad; they’re faster. We can’t catch up. I’ll just send out crow for now.”
”What about the quest? After scouting, we might get ambushed on the way back.”
Kian thought for a moment before turning to Serena.
”No, if they’re going to attack, that’s fine. The most troublesome thing would be being watched even after returning to town and getting attacked at a decisive moment. We’ll scout the ‘Labyrinth of Roses’ as planned. If they intend to ambush us, we’ll create a situation that makes it easy for us to strike back.”
”So, we’re pretending to fall into their trap to lure them in. Got it, I have no objections.”
”Just be careful. As long as we can’t see the enemy, we’ll be at a disadvantage.”
”Surprise attacks won’t work on me. My instincts are more reliable than an elf’s ‘future sight’”
”Is that the ‘divine intuition’ of the wolf god Wooloo mentioned in legends? That’s reassuring.”
”Did you look it up?”
”Well, yeah.”
He swallowed the words about how your body’s functions are thorough.
Serena maintained her cool expression, turning her back to the wilderness.
The elf sensed the surrounding situation with sharp awareness and could foresee the near future by estimating physical calculations, but her ‘intuition’ was a true 6th sense.
By feeling the flow of magic power within his body and the abundant magic power in nature, he could predict the near future by sensing all kinds of ‘energy.’ Overconfidence was absolutely forbidden, but it was okay to rely on it to some extent.
”That’s reassuring.”
”…Let’s go. You know this, but let’s avoid the ghosts as much as possible. We don’t have any proper means of attack.”
”Yeah.”
Kian nodded and followed Serena onto the abandoned farm road from the open field.
Behind them, the Guild’s horse neighed as if to see them off.
Ahead, a long, black wall was visible.
That was the outer wall of the ‘Labyrinth of Roses.’ A damp wind blew from the direction of the labyrinth, and the sound of rain began to be heard from far away.
Looking up at the dark, stagnant rain clouds, Kian thought, somewhat poetically, that the ‘Labyrinth of Roses’ seemed to be crying.
* * *
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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