Volume 1 Chapter 44 Despicable Challenger I
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
At the training ground’s stable outside the town, the group began to move after picking up the horses they had borrowed since yesterday.
After 2 hours of riding from the East End, they finally arrived at the ‘Labyrinth of Roses,’ taking twice as long as usual.
By then, the sun had completely set.
Fortunately, the moon was bright that night.
The 3 of them dismounted in the field before the labyrinth and took out their rain gear.
”I’m going to set up a beast-repelling barrier.”
As the distant howl of wolves echoed, Aliona, fully covered in her rain gear, said that and began to chant a spell.
Soon, a faint blue circle appeared around the two stallions grazing nearby.
”With a wedge of holly branches.”
Aliona said that and thrust a spiky-leaved branch into the circle’s line.
Once she finished, she turned back to Kian and the others.
”Alright, let’s go.”
”Wow…”
Serena let out a small exclamation, and the elf sister smiled wryly.
”Anyone can do this with practice. It’s just a matter of following the steps.”
”Is this beast-repelling barrier elf magic?”
Kian asked, and Aliona shook her head.
”It’s druidic ritual magic. When I was younger, I was fascinated by ritual magic and traveled across the continent, gathering various magics passed down orally. It’s no longer valid, but I even had an adventurer’s license.”
”That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
”I didn’t mention it.”
”──Kian’s choice of people was the best.”
Serena quietly said that.
”Still, I’m glad this person is joining us. I don’t think anyone better than Ms. Aliona would have come even if we had recruited at the Guild.”
”Uhehe, being praised like that makes me feel a bit shy. But please wait to judge whether hiring me was a good decision until after we break through the labyrinth’s barrier.”
”I trust Ms. Aliona. …Let’s go. It’s nighttime. We need to be careful of both ghosts and beasts.”
”Mm.” “That’s right.”
The 3 of them nodded and began to walk.
The sky quickly turned cloudy, and the smell of rain started to fill the air.
The moon in the sky was hidden, plunging their surroundings into darkness.
While Serena and Aliona had no issues in the dark due to their race, Kian, being human, needed fire.
He lit a torch and held it in front of him like a weapon.
The darkness became slightly brighter, revealing the dry grass at their feet swaying in the damp breeze.
”……” “────” “……”
They moved silently for several minutes.
The sound of raindrops began to echo off the rain gear they wore.
It was raining.
Kian noticed his breath turning white in the cold air.
The droplets on his face felt icy, almost like ice.
”I’ll raise the temperature.”
Aliona’s voice filled the air.
Immediately, the surrounding atmosphere became warm.
It was likely some sort of molecular motion control magic.
She was using advanced magic without incantation and maintaining it continuously──there was no doubt that this high elf sister was a highly skilled magician.
”I can’t disperse the rain. This cloud was summoned by a powerful curse.”
”A curse? So this rain is some kind of curse… Wait, does that mean if there wasn’t a curse, you could control the weather?”
”I mentioned earlier that I have a little knowledge of ritual magic. It requires a bit of skill, but it’s relatively simple.”
”Is that so?”
”I’m starting to lose track of who Ms. Aliona is. But even if you were a terrifying evil witch, to me, you would still be a kind and beautiful goddess.”
”Ms. Aliona, is Kian always like this in front of you?”
”Huh? Well, I wonder… He’s usually very shy, so he wouldn’t praise me like this, but he might be nervous before a fight. Kian, relax.”
Aliona smiled, tightly clenching her fists in front of her chest.
By chance, Kian turned back and caught a glimpse of her adorable figure.
’Hah, that old lady is trying too hard.’
”Beautiful…”
”Your emotions are unstable.”
Serena muttered with a glare.
Aliona chuckled softly, then straightened her expression as she looked ahead.
”I can see it, ‘Labyrinth of Roses.’”
Just as she said, there was a dark shadow towering in the night’s darkness.
It was a wall made of roses.
It stretched endlessly from east to west, several meters high.
”The ghost still isn’t visible, huh?”
”That’s probably because we aren’t truly invited.”
Saying this, Aliona slipped past Serena and Kian to step forward alone.
Kian quickly moved to stand beside her, holding the torch out in front.
Before them was a magnificent wall of black roses.
”Thank you… I’ll take a look.”
Aliona said this and reached out to touch the black roses, starting to feel their texture.
She crouched down, then stood up and shifted slightly to the side.
Kian held the torch up the whole time.
Meanwhile, Serena checked the wall for any openings while also keeping watch of their surroundings.
After a while, Aliona stepped away from the wall of roses.
Serena, who had been searching for an entrance, returned.
”I plan to take my time with this, so just sharing your initial thoughts today would be enough.”
”No, Kian. I’ve got a good idea. First, this labyrinth is alive… There’s something deeper inside.”
Aliona narrowed her green eyes and stated this firmly.
”What do you mean by ‘something’?”
The sister shook her head at Serena’s question.
”I can’t see the details, but it’s probably a ghost. A powerful evil spirit. It was said that the guardian here was defeated over a decade ago, but what does that mean…?”
”So, the master of the labyrinth──’Leanan sídhe’ is still alive deep inside?”
”I can’t say for sure if it’s ‘Leanan sídhe,’ but there is an evil spirit inside. The labyrinth’s barrier is obstructing my ability to gauge its size and the strength of the spiritual disturbance.”
”────.” “……”
”Now, about the labyrinth’s barrier, there are 2 types in place. One is very old and powerful. The other isn’t as old, but it’s a strong barrier with a nature close to a grudge. The sources of the barriers are one evil spirit and the rain. To skip the complicated details and get to the conclusion──first, we need to stop the rain to weaken the labyrinth’s curse and draw out the evil spirit. Only after defeating that evil spirit can we break the powerful illusion and self-repair magic affecting the labyrinth.”
”…I see. But even if we say to stop the rain, this rain isn’t normal; we can’t manipulate the weather, right?”
”That’s right. Breaking the rain curse can’t be done with brute force. We need to understand why and how this rain started in the labyrinth before we can resolve it.”
”Hmm… what do you mean? Isn’t the evil spirit in the depths causing the rain with a curse…?”
As Serena’s expression turned serious, Kian, who had been quietly listening, suddenly had a realization.
It was a story Aliona had told him about the ‘Leanan sídhe’ subjugation party from over a decade ago.
”Serena, it seems this rain didn’t start falling in the ‘Labyrinth of Roses’ from the beginning. There was an adventurer party that went to defeat the master of this labyrinth──.”
”Since the day the leader of that adventurer party defeated the labyrinth master ‘Leanan sídhe’ and returned, it has been raining here ever since.”
Following Kian’s words, Aliona added.
”…The cause of the rain is definitely the ‘Leanan sídhe’ subjugation incident from over a decade ago. To break the curse of the rain, we first need to know exactly what happened back then. We should return to the town and talk to those involved. This curse stems from the intense desire of the one who cast it. If we can satisfy the caster’s desire, we have a good chance of breaking the curse through a ritual.”
”In other words, to summarize, there are 2 types of barriers in this labyrinth. The procedure is to weaken the curse-type barrier to draw out the Evil Spirit, and then defeat the Evil Spirit to destroy the core barrier of the labyrinth.”
”Yes, that’s right. To draw out the Evil Spirit, we need to break the curse-type barrier. This requires investigating the cause of the rain, which is the origin of the barrier. Therefore, we need to return to the town now and visit the person who defeated the ‘Leanan sídhe’ over a decade ago. He should still be alive. If we can learn from him what happened here back then, we might understand the desire that the caster of the curse──the Evil Spirit──holds.”
”If we can find out what the Evil Spirit desires, we can weaken the curse by satisfying that desire──right?”
Serena asked, looking back and forth between Kian and Aliona.
”Your understanding is correct, Ms Serena. It’s a bit complicated, but to put it simply──if we can help the Evil Spirit let go of its lingering attachment, the first barrier will dissolve, and we’ll be able to fight the Evil Spirit.”
”I’d prefer to avoid fighting the Evil Spirit if possible…”
Kian said with a grim expression, and Aliona shook her head.
”We can’t go treasure hunting in the labyrinth without defeating the Evil Spirit. It’s too dangerous. We should subdue the Evil Spirit and break the second barrier before we go treasure hunting again.”
”I see. Then there’s no helping it. So, who is the person that defeated the ‘Leanan sídhe’──.”
As Kian was about to ask, “Who is it?” Serena and Aliona looked back at him almost simultaneously, no, behind him.
”…What?”
”Oh, a group? What are they doing here at this hour in this place?”
At their murmurs, Kian turned around.
From the direction of the wilderness, nearly 20 figures were walking toward them.
There was a clattering, noisy sound of metal.
They were armed.
Additionally, they were wearing black raincoats sold at the Guild store.
Adventurers.
”……”
Kian faced them.
The crowd of nearly 20 men and women had familiar faces.
Adventurers from the lowest to the lower ranks.
They were not the most reputable people, some of whom Kian had hung out with a few times.
They were the type to kill and monopolize requests without a second thought.
Among them were faces of adventurers who, like Kian, had been sentenced to expulsion in the recent Guild crackdown.
”Yesterday’s Beastmen.”
Serena murmured beside him, her hand resting on the hilt of her longsword.
Looking closer, he saw the two dog Beastmen who had been watching them yesterday mixed in with the group.
”What’s all this commotion? What do you want with us?”
Since the group was glaring at Kian, he raised his voice on behalf of the 3 of them.
Then, the man at the front spoke up.
”What do we want? You think you can just sneak ahead all by yourself, ‘garbage scavenger’?”
”What are you talking about? Sneaking ahead?”
Kian frowned.
The woman standing next to the man crossed her arms and shouted.
”Hah, what a naive guy! You think we wouldn’t notice you cheating to earn points and trying to save yourself!?”
”Points──are you talking about Guild points?”
”That’s right!”
The man barked.
The Beastman who had been watching them yesterday stepped forward.
He was missing his right arm.
”Everyone is being discarded by the Guild and sent to the mines or the Great Ice Wall. So why are you the only one hunting Griffins and Spoon Wings to earn points!? You think you can just save yourself!?”
”I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
He said this while stopping Serena, who was about to draw her sword.
”You’re just like us, a ‘mujina’ in the same hole!”
”You monopolized a lot of Guild requests! You should have kept it under wraps! Because of you, we’re being judged! We’re being sent to the mines!”
A Beastman with one arm bared his fangs and growled.
”We’re all avengers, ‘garbage scavenger’.”
”That’s right! A duel!”
The man at the front shouted and pulled out a piece of paper, throwing it.
It was the official duel notice from the Adventurers’ Guild.
If both parties signed it, they would be allowed to fight to the death.
Nearly 20 adventurers present began pulling out their own papers one after another.
Kian furrowed his brow at the bizarre scene.
”…You look like you don’t understand what’s going on!”
At that moment, cutting through the murmurs of the adventurers, a familiar voice echoed.
The adventurers lined up in front of Kian quickly parted.
From among them emerged:
The handsome swordsman with cat-like hair, Funnelwing.
The delinquent priest, Rosen Pitt.
And the flashy blonde magician, Franciska.
Funnelwing, at the front, smirked and pulled out the duel notice like the others.
”Rank 9 adventurer Kian! Tonight, we will all judge you! It’s a duel! 23 against you, let’s fight to the death!”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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