Chapter 251 Lower Floor (Part III)
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(Gieze’s POV)
”This is the place… I think this room is…”
With Noriss leading the way, we arrived at the ‘door that won’t open.’ Ms. Simona placed her hand on the door and muttered.
Did she have an idea about it?.
”Ah… this is definitely the ‘Safety Zone.’ It looks similar to what I heard about in the ‘Welnia Labyrinth.’”
”Now that you mention it… it does resemble the Safety Zone on the Third Floor.”
Just as Noriss said, it looked like the door to the ‘Safety Zone’ we had previously explored on the Third Floor.
It was a heavy-looking sliding door made of a single stone.
”Hhhmm… Looks like sumthin’s pushin’ it up from da inside. Dey’s gotta be somewan in there, ya know? But dat’s like, totally disrespectful, y’get me?”
Ms. Simona frowned as she tried to slide the door open.
”Exhausted adventurers… this place is meant for those in danger, yet they’re hogging it all to themselves. That’s just unacceptable,” Eluda muttered with an angry expression.
Eluda then stood in front of the door and kicked it.
──Boom! Thud!
The stone door fell, kicking up a cloud of dust.
”Wow… that’s what you call a dwarf for ya…”
Ms. Simona chuckled wryly, brushing the dust away with her hand as she stepped inside.
”So… what are ya all doing…”
As the dust settled, Ms. Simona asked this over her shoulder, and what she saw inside the room was…
* * *
(Gunilla’s POV)
Suddenly, the door crashed down, filling the room with dust.
The moment the men who were holding me down turned their attention that way, I pushed them aside and ran to Romy.
”D’ont ya dare touch Romy!
I stood in front of Romy, shielding her.
”So… what are ya all doing…”
From behind the fallen door, a woman who looked like a knight appeared.
I could also see what looked like her companions behind her.
”Huh? This ain’t got nothin’ to do with you guys.”
The leader guy in front of me turned to look at the intruders.
”What do you mean it’s none of your business? You guys are hogging the Safety Zone like it’s yours──.”
A woman who looks like a female swordsman appeared from behind the female knight, glaring at the leader.
She then scanned the room until her eyes met mine.
”And it sure looks like you’re roughing up that lady over there.”
She said this while reaching for the sword at her waist.
Seeing this, the men in my party also drew their swords.
This is bad…
These guys are definitely terrible, but I don’t want to get into a fight.
”Hold up! No need fer a scrap!”
At my shout, everyone froze.
Just lend a hand here, that’s all.”
I said this to the female swordsman and turned to Romy.
”I got this, leave it to me.”
”But Gunilla…”
”If we stop here, we ain’t getting paid… Don’t worry about it, I got this.”
After giving Romy a reassuring smile, I pushed her toward the female swordsman.
”Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”
”I’ll handle the rest. I’ll make sure to work as a Porter.”
I glared at the furious leader and said that.
”You guys are Porters, right? …Is that big girl over there gonna keep working for these guys?”
The female knight, who’s hiding Romy behind her, asked me, and I nodded in response.
”Anyway, we’re taking this girl with us. And──.”
The female swordsman released her grip on her sword while glaring at the men.
”You can use this room. But in return, that lady over there… she’s coming with us for the night.”
”What are you talking about! She and this one are our hired Porters!”
The leader stepped forward, sword drawn.
But the female knight pulled out her great sword from her back and pointed it at the leader with one hand.
”Y’all just gonna let me slide on your lawlessness and hand over this room, huh? I reckon you can manage that much. If not, I can just kick y’all outta here, ya know?”
From the woman knight’s confident grin, you could feel a strong presence, like she was a real powerhouse.
”If you got a problem, I can take you on… I’m ‘Rose Hip’ Simona Schmidt… well, I used to be ‘Rose Hip,’ anyway.”
”Wha… ‘Berserker’ Simona…!”
The leader lowered his sword when he heard the knight’s name.
”Well, that girl over there says she’s gonna keep doing your job. Don’t worry, I’ll bring her to this room come morning.”
”Y’all would be in a bind without the Porter too. You should be thankful to that girl. She’s sticking with you even after all this mess. But in return──.”
The woman swordsman stepped forward, glancing from the leader to the other men, and declared firmly,.
”If you do anything terrible to that girl… I’ll hunt you down… and cut you all down!”
”I… I get it. We can’t do anything without the Porter either… Sorry about that, little lady. Guess we got a bit carried away with all the fighting…”
The leader sheathed his sword and bowed his head.
He turned to me and added, “Sorry about that…”.
* * *
(Gieze’s POV)
”Wow! Y’all came from Reedulltown!”
In the end, we set up camp in the room where we had cleared out the monsters in front of the ‘Safety Zone.’ While eating, Lotta and Noriss grew excited listening to a rabbit girl named Romy and a half-Titan, half-human girl named Gunilla.
”Lotta and I are from the village of Fenrisberg in the Count Foreltun territory.”
”Ah, we passed through that village on our way here… It was pretty run-down, huh?”
At Romy’s words, Lotta and Noriss fell silent.
”Yeah… it’s been getting worse since Count Foreltun took over…”
As Romy and Gunilla shared their story, it became clear they both had endured hardships. They came from different settlements to Reedulltown, struggling to live together amidst the deep-rooted discrimination against their kind. They had managed to save enough for travel expenses and were on their way to the fortress city Mundo to find work as ‘Porters.’ But when they heard of the adventurer guild’s buzz about the discovery of a ‘Great Labyrinth,’ they decided to settle in Reedulltown and seek work there.
”I really liked Reedulltown. The discrimination against us was terrible, but it felt like a fresh start…”
”Yeah. But here in Razia Village, we don’t face any discrimination at all. It’s a really nice place, and I truly love it…”
Gunilla and Romy smiled warmly as they spoke.
”Sorry about that. Even though you like it so much, you had to deal with those jerks, huh? ──Eluda, maybe I should just go beat them up…”
As Eluda tried to stand up, still holding a piece of bread, Lotta and Karina hurriedly held him back.
”Y-you can’t stand up during a meal… that’s so rude…!”
”But, are you really okay? Isn’t it dangerous to go after those guys again?”
While holding back Eluda, who was being ‘rude’ with his mouth full, I called out to the tall half-Titan Gunilla. She had just taken a big bite of meat and, covering her mouth with her hand, tried to respond while munching. It was an oddly endearing sight.
”Yeah, for sure! I bet they wouldn’t mess with something as important as a Porter. Those folks are smart enough to know better.”
”Well, if Ms. Simona says so, then it’s probably fine.”
”Yeah… I’m fine. It’s just that I’m not used to this kind of kindness.”
Gunilla finally swallowed, managing a small smile.
”Oh, right! If it’s normal size, it won’t reach all the way to the back, huh?”
Ms. Simona burst into laughter, and even Romy and Lotta blushed at the unintended implication.
”Well, I’m fine with it. I once made a Titan woman squeal in the Royal Capital…”
Ms. Eluda smacked Mr. Gorge on the back of the head before he could finish.
”I’m going to tell Ms. Asuka about this…”
”Please don’t!”
Ms. Simona’s laughter echoed, causing everyone else to turn red, while Gunilla looked slightly embarrassed.
”I know some other men who could keep up with you. Want me to introduce you?” Simona teased with a mischievous grin.
”Ms. Simona! That’s not…!”
I tried to cut her off firmly. After all, this wasn’t the time for jokes.
”Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m fine,” Gunilla said gently.
”Sorry, Ms. Gunilla… If it’s really dangerous, then…”
Romy softly patted Gunilla’s shoulder, cutting me off.
”I can’t believe we’re getting such delicious food…”
Gunilla bowed slightly, handing her dish to Romy. Noo cast a quick ‘Clean’ spell on it and passed it to Zack.
”Ah, thank you for the meal. It was so delicious!” Romy said, beaming.
”No, thank you for enjoying it!” Noo replied with a smile.
”Take it easy and rest up. Ms. Gunilla will send you back in the morning. If it’s alright, I’d like Ms. Romy to come with us. We’ll make sure you’re safely back at the village by tomorrow night.”
With that, the two of them politely bowed and moved to a corner of the room, settling into their sleeping bags.
(Those two must’ve had a tough time too…)
Watching them snuggle close together brought tears to my eyes. I couldn’t help but think of my own past with Princess Karin.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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