Ankoku Kishi to Issho! Volume 1 Chapter 0

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The Countryman Before the Curtain Rises

“Amazing.”

Looking up at the expanding castle walls, I let out a sigh of admiration. Having left my home in the countryside about a month ago, I finally arrived at the capital of the Goldot Empire. Putting together all the hard work I had to go through to arrive here, it looks even more impressive. Being on the larger side of a city with about 200.000 inhabitants, it was surrounded with equally astounding walls, about ten times the height of me. Not to mention that, as if I’ve heard from certain talk around the area, there are actually nine walls. Even with the use of magic, only imagining how much time and money it must’ve cost them makes me feel dizzy.

“That’s what you expect from the Empire that has ruled over this continent for millennials.”

Though I find it a bit hard to believe that a single royal family would be able to reign over this land for thousands of years without falling to ruin, seeing these walls here definitely makes it easier to believe for sure.

“This should work out, yeah.”

I nodded with confidence. There can’t be any better place to grant my dream. Said dream—I want to build my own home in this most beneficial ground, called this metropole!

That being said, it’s not like I hated my birthplace or anything. However, being born a man, I want to try and see how far I can go with my own strength. At the same time, I’m not childish enough that I’ll manage to become some hero sung about in legends either. As an in-between so to speak, I arrived at my dream of building my own home here in the capital. My master also commented that ‘As a man, you should aim to be at least the owner of one castle in the Empire’, so if I managed to achieve that, even he will admit my growth.

“Alright, I’m going to give it my all!”

Motivating myself, I started walking towards the gate. Having heard that the amount of people trying to enter and leave the city was at its highest in the morning, I planned my arrival to happen around late noon, and that beared fruit. I wasn’t forced to wait in a long line, and I could safely pass the gate—not quite, because the second I was about to accomplish that, I was surrounded by a large number of gatekeepers.

“Eh?”

In surprise, I stopped my feet. Don’t tell me…they’re telling me to pay the entry fee! Damn, I don’t have much left from my long travels, but I can’t help it this time. Quietly, I reached for the pouch on my chest, when the gatekeepers suddenly let out an angry voice.

“D-Don’t move!”

I mean, I can’t pay the entry fee if I’m not allowed to move…

As I was standing there frozen, not sure what to do, a middle-aged man, wearing armor, approached us, presumably, the superior of these guards.

“Excuse me, but who are you?”

As sweat was running down the superior’s forehead, he instigated a conversation with that question, a grim expression branding his face.

…Maybe he’s weak to the heat? We’re still in early spring, but the sunlight over here might be a bit more tough than back at my workplace. If I didn’t use some cooling magic in this armor, I might start sweating like crazy as well. Giving him my regards for his hard work inside my heart, I answered his question.

“An adventurer.”

To be completely honest, I was actually jobless right now, but I was certainly admiring to become an adventurer, so I hope they could overlook this slight inaccuracy. Together with many dangerous monsters, these so-called dungeon labyrinths bring forth immense riches. To become an adventurer that dives deep down into those, I chose this city found in the Goldot Empire. Not having the riches of being a noble, but rather crafty ability of a countryside salesman, this is the only method I could come up with to grant my dream.

Luckily, I was trained by my grandparents and my master, so I have confidence in my physical strength, if nothing else. If I do my best, and work for a few years, I’ll definitely be able to build my own home. That’s why—

“Where is the labyrinth?”

In high spirits, I lost myself for a second, and took a step forward. In response, the guards’ faces distorted into fear as if they had seen Fenrir, and they pointed the tips of their spears at me.

…I wonder why. Ever since I left for this trip, incidents like these, with people doubting me, or even showing fear, tend to happen more and more. I could understand if this was some countryside, where you’d rarely see any soldiers. They’d definitely be surprised to see a fully-armored man, wielding a greatsword.

But, this is a big city, dripping with a great number of adventurers. Seeing an armored man shouldn’t be any surprising, and no reason to show any fear…

“Where is the labyrinth.”

Thinking that something was off, I tilted my head in confusion, and I repeated the same words again, taking yet another step forward. The guards then all simultaneously took a step back, and opened a path for me.

“Crossing the gate, the way on the right.”

The superior was sweating even more profusely now, as he taught me the way.

Thank god…What should I have done if they were hissing “Get lost, you country potato!”. Letting out a relieved sigh that didn’t leave my helmet, I finally managed to cross the gate. Goldot Empire, I finally made it to your capital!

—Or so I got my hopes up, but the scenery in front of me didn’t make me think of this as a lively and busy city, but rather a plain, almost depressingly empty open field.

…Eh, was I deceived? Confused, I looked over my back.

“S-Sir, what was that?! That was just like—”

“I don’t know myself. However, naming itself an adventurer that plans on challenging the labyrinth, I don’t have anything to hold it back.”

“B-But!”

“This Empire is a country that has flourished thanks to the strength of these adventurers. That’s why, we have to follow the law, and let every adventurer in, no matter the race or origin. Even if it was the devil himself…”

I tried asking the guards for advice and an explanation, but they seemed to be busy in a conversation, so I felt bad asking them. Still, what is going on here? Is this some sort of open space that will get used later on? Well, thinking about it won’t bring me any further. Guess I’ll just forget about this and head to the labyrinth…Ah, I know!

I saw another castle wall past that plain open field. Past there must be the lively city that I was imagining, and I could see the tip of the castle in the distance even. Since I’ll be planning to build up my home around there, I might as well check out the city first before I head to the labyrinth!

Deciding on that, I made my way towards the second gate at great momentum.

*

The residents of the Goldot Empire all boastfully call the landscape of the capital the ‘Thousand Year Great Tree’. Having the shining white castle as it’s middle point, the round castle walls, massing nine in number, ring around that look like the growth rings of a tree, if seen from above. At first, it was a small village, unable to call itself a country, but the people that have heard rumours of the labyrinth gathered, and these walls were built to protect their new residences. As a result, the Rings Wall was born, and now, a thousand years later, it counts as the main pride and glory of the residents. Being a popular tourist spot for travelers and residents alike, people that are caught by the guards as they try to carve their names into the walls will get billed with a high price to pay. However, this Ring Wall doesn’t consist of only profits. It acted as a protective mechanism for the residents inside, but right now, it accounts to separating rich from poor.

With the imperial castle as it’s center, the first ward, following the quarters of the imperial family in the second ward, and the third ward being resided by higher class nobles, meaning that the further you went inside, the more the people living there were living in wealth and riches, and to say it the other way around, the more one distances himself from the castle, the poorer the people get. Concerning the most outer ward, the ninth, it is most commonly referred to as ‘Verge of the City’, housing the entrance to the deep labyrinth.

To guarantee the utmost safety, the city was structured to have a safe distance away from there, and it was a fortunate space with a lot of coming and going, but after the expansion of the castle walls during these thousand years, it has been wrapped up inside the walls even.

Being technically inside the city, there is nothing to see around that entrance. Those stairs, continuing deep downwards, with stone-built protective shrines from a thousand years ago, and a casern of guards people, are still surrounded by nothing else. Naturally, it was all for the one in a million chance in case monsters would start rushing out from the labyrinth, but in the thousand year-long history, such an event has never occurred even once. As a result, the two guards standing-by at the entrance had too much time on their hands, day in, day out.

“That’s the best thing. With a cheap five silver coins, that bastard Dick went to a brothel to enjoy himself. And the one that appeared was his own mother!”

“Ha ha ha, that’s tough, even as a joke.”

The seemingly new guard returned a force smile to the middle-aged guard’s vulgar story. He had heard the same story around three days ago, but he wasn’t an idiot enough to run any risk to destroy a good workplace relationship by interrupting him to state that.

“No no no, I’m dead serious. That Dick let out a horrifying scream—Oh, look at that.”

Realizing that a human figure was slowly approaching, the middle-aged guard stopped his story mid-ways, and fixed his stature as he straightened his back. However, seeing that it was a familiar adventurer of his, he quickly reverted back to his previous position.

“Yo, Bulk. You managed to pay off the resurrection from before?”

“Bastard, I’m going in there to pay that off, what else would I be coming here for.”

“Haha, I’m betting one silver coin that you’re overdoing it, adding more to your debt this time.”

“I’ll remember those words when I get back in one piece.”

Following Bulk, which seemed to act as the leader, five other adventurers started descending the stairs. Watching them off, the new guard let out a voice of admiration.

“That’s pretty amazing, that you remember the names of so many adventurers.”

“It’s only the names of the party leaders though. You saw that lizard man in that group, right? I just can’t get myself to remember his name.”

“There are some races with names that make it difficult for us humans to pronounce them.”

The lizard man they were talking about was called Eustoreptospondils, and it would take a bit longer until he learned of that name, which made you bite your own tongue by trying to pronounce it.

“But, isn’t it pretty tough to remember the faces and names of all the leaders?”

“Pretty. There are also those that stop right when I start remembering them.”

In the midst of those weren’t just the ones that felt like they had reached their limit, and retired, but also those whose corpses were so badly damaged that they were unable to receive resurrection magic, staying dead indefinitely.

“Well, once you become a veteran like me, you’ll immediately make out the guys that’ll stop immediately by just a glance.”

“Huh, you really are a Senpai.”

Half-serious, half sweet-talking, the new guard let out a sigh. Seemingly having enjoyed that, the middle-aged guard showed a grin.

“Then, should we bet on the amount of days it’ll take the next adventurer to quit? The winner will get ten gold coins.”

“Please spare me from that. I’m not an adventurer, so ten gold coins is way too much!”

The new guard gave a serious complaint. As an adventurer, it certainly was an amount one could earn in a day, but for a guard like him, it was a month’s worth of hard work. Nothing you would bet on something trivial like this.

“Hahaha, I’m joking. Let’s do it with one gold coin then.”

“That’s still pretty much…”

Having his shoulder grabbed, with no chance of running away, the new guard let out a sigh.

“Then, what about one silver coin?”

“That’s doable, I guess…”

It was the amount that could be used to buy dinner and drinks. It certainly wasn’t an unreasonably high amount, looking at the monthly wage of being a guardsman, and he couldn’t exactly allow himself to worsen this workplace relationship, so he jumped on. Seeing the hesitatingly nodding new guard, the middle-aged guard showed a gleeful smile.

“That’s how it’s gotta be! Oh, look at that, a new guy I haven’t—”

Realizing that a new person approached the entrance, the middle-aged man’s voice got cut-off, and his boastful expression froze up. The new guard got curious about this sudden change, and directed his gaze in the same direction—to be greeted with pure darkness.

“Ah—”

His voice got stuck in his throat before he could let out a scream, and even the middle-aged guard didn’t laugh anymore. How could he? Past his gaze was the personificated darkness, walking towards them in the form of a knight. Dark aura, almost like miasma, was leaking out of the jet-black armor, and every step, dirt was ringing up from the ground. The eyes of the helmet were like the devil’s, having a weird glow, as if they were asking for blood. If he were to swing his blood-red greatsword at the two of them, he would surely hit them in half with ease.

“Ah, ah…”

Being gazed at like the prey of a beast, accepting nothing but death, the new guard’s body stopped listening to him, and would only shake as he was frozen in place. At the same time, a jet-black armored knight arrived in front of the immobilized men—

Gave a slight bow, and entered the labyrinth.

“Eh?”

The new guard’s eyes turned into dots, as he watched the Dark Knight’s back grow more distant as such went down the stairs. Immediately after, the middle-aged guard let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Woaaaaah…W-What was that?! Like the one in the rumours I heard—”

“Uhm, he was an adventurer, right?”

“I’ve never seen a guy like that before?!”

“So, he’s a newcomer?”

Being asked like that, the middle-aged guard tried to cover up his behaviour a second ago, and let out a grandiose snort.

“Ha, don’t be ridiculous. A guy with such an aura has to be a 6th rank adventurer, or even higher.”

Even after a thousand years of challenging the labyrinth, the limit in depth of it was still unknown, and the deepest that humanity managed to arrive at was the 6th floor. The adventurers that arrived at this very floor were put in the 6th rank, and were regarded as the heroes of humanity, standing at the peak of humankind. If one were to say that one 6th rank adventurer would be able to defeat 1000 soldiers, you’d be corrected by the people around you with “Isn’t it supposed to be 2000?”, that’s just how known their actual strength is.

“Then, that person just now was of the 6th rank?”

“No mistaking it. If you see a 6th rank adventurer be serious, you’d understand that immediately.”

The middle-aged man explained as a cold sweat was running down his forehead.

“If they’re holding back their aura, the 6th rank adventurers aren’t all that different from your normal citizen. But, once they enter their fighting stance, it’s like a typhoon running wild. An average mortal like me is busy with just being able to stand during that time.”

For someone that didn’t know better, they might just laugh this off as over exaggerated big talk, but having been assaulted by that death god’s aura from before, the new guard could only nod along. However, there was one doubt that was plaguing him.

“I really think that he was a newcomer though.”

“Huh? Don’t be ridiculous, boy. Did he have the face of a newcomer or something?!”

Swallowing a ‘We couldn’t see that face because of the helmet though…’ the new guard spoke out his assumption.

“But, he didn’t have a clan badge, right?”

In the Goldot Empire, larger groups of adventurers are called clans. The bigger ones comprise around thirty people, while the smaller ones have ten members. The Senpais teach the newcomers about the ins and outs of adventuring, members exchange information on monsters and the layout of the labyrinth. Meaning, belonging to a clan brought many benefits with it, even with the membership fee to consider. After all, if one belonged to a clan, help would immediately arrive if one was decimated in the labyrinth, probably one of the biggest merits. No matter how skilled and experienced an adventurer may be, the chances of being assaulted by monsters on the way out, whilst being fatigued and unable to defend itself, aren’t exactly zero. That’s why, if worse came to worst, you would need comrades that could secure your dead body, and bring it to the temple so that you could be resurrected. Leaving words like ‘I’m going down to the third floor to the west today. I’ll be back in the evening’, and you’re unable to come back in time due to being defeated by monsters, another party will go on the search immediately to search for you. That’s why, both experienced and newcomers for adventurers immediately search for a clan to join. The only people that wouldn’t join clans are the fools who are too prideful, or the absolute amateurs that didn’t know better.

“That’s why, I was wondering if that person wasn’t a newcomer.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, man.”

The middle-aged guard complained, as he whacked the head of the new guard.

“As if a devil-like newcomer like him would exist in this world. And I’d be happy to bet 100 gold coins on that.”

Then, I’ll accept—the new guard wanted to say, but rather than a ten-months worth of salary, he prefered to keep a favorable workplace atmosphere.

“Also, if a newcomer wanted to become an adventurer, he’d head to the training ground first, I tell you.”

Entering from the large front gate to the west, if one walked direction south east, you’d arrive at the entrance of the labyrinth right here, but by going the opposite direction, north east, there exists a training ground for adventurers of new and experienced alike. Normally, a person with rational thinking would practice there a few months time, and only then head towards the labyrinth.

“You never saw them? Those country boys, looking like they barely know anything about fighting, equipped with shabby armor and a rusty sword, heading to the training grounds after they were instructed by the guards at the gate.”

“No, my home is on the eastern side, so I’m not all that familiar with it…”

Feeling slightly flustered at his own inexperience and unfamiliarity of how the world worked, the new guard got lectured even further by the middle-aged guard.

“I’ve seen my fair share of idiots that dream of becoming rich quickly. But, around 99% of those bastards just run home to the country with hanged-low heads.”

The training might be tough, but that’s basically out of consideration on the instructor’s side.

“Hearing about those heroes, sung about by those minstrels, makes you think that defeating monsters in the labyrinth is easy, right? But, reality is different. Would you understand if I told you that around 20% of new adventurers end up dying on their first trip?”

Even the greatest prodigy of the city, after spitting out blood and tears during his training, dies if it’s his time to die. That’s how the deep labyrinth works. A mere mortal might dream of making the riches, only to end up with debts for his resurrection.

“When I was younger, I went to the training grounds myself, so I understand.”

“Senpai, you were aiming to become an adventurer before?!”

“Yeah, and I was shown a terribly large difference in talent.”

The middle-aged guard’s eyes looked into the far distance, maybe the past, as he started reminiscing.

“After all that being defeated by the instructor, all the skill I picked up from him didn’t even get me down on the second floor of the labyrinth, so I gave up.”

“So something like that happened…”

“But, even if the first floor is the most basic level for adventurers, just that is out of reach for us normal people. Now people like us are acting as senior guardsmen at gates.”

Cursing that the salary isn’t that bad, the middle-aged guard’s expression went back to his serious one as he announced.

“You understand now, the labyrinth is that kind of place.”

“………”

Unable to even imagine such a strict underworld, the new guard just stayed in silence as the middle-aged guard fiercely

“In the midst of all these genius-like adventurers, there are those demons that are the 6th rank. There’s no way that guy just now was just a mere amateur.”

“But, the badge?”

“He must’ve just kept it inside his armor.”

“…Yes, that makes sense.”

Unable to say anything back to the sound argument of the middle-aged guard, the new guard muttered. But, although he was showing his agreement, he remembered back to the words of the legendary adventurer.

—Always doubt the ‘Obvious’. Even if it goes against what you’ve learned so far, trust in your own eyes more than anything.

“That’s just how it is. You better develop some good eye for people, or you’ll never become a professional guard like me, alright?”

Although he might be unfamiliar with how the world works, the new guard certainly wasn’t inexperienced and dumb enough to retort with “That sounds pretty unfashionable”, even after seeing the middle-aged man’s shit-eating grin. But, a small part of him regretted that he didn’t bet those ten gold coins before.

*

“So this is my workplace from today onward.”

Having arrived at the first floor of the labyrinth after descending those stairs, I looked around the surroundings, feeling slightly emotional. With clean-cut walls and pavement that made you look like it was created by man, the labyrinth is slightly lit up by dense lights of magical power, and it makes me reminisce about my hometown ever so slightly.

“Good thing I don’t need a torch down here.”

Needing more consumable goods would raise necessary expenses. Cutting away unnecessary expenses would bring me closer and closer to my dream of building a home.

“Still, that just now as a shame alright…” I let out a sigh as I remembered the incident that occurred a bit ago.

Thinking that I might look around the city, I headed to the second castle gate, only to be chased away by the guards. When I asked for the reason, they told me that the walls were cutting up the imperial capital into nine wards, and adventurers would only be able to go in and out of the 9th ward. At first, I was a bit disgruntled, but thinking about it, it made sense. If some scary-looking adventurers were to walk around the city, with sword and armor, that would leave the defenseless normal inhabitants in fear. Especially knowing the evil deeds they could achieve with whatever magic they could wield. There might be those that used magic to hide their bodies, and go peeking on the woman’s bath like gramps would. Hearing that, granny punished him by crucifying upside down, but seeing through that magic seems to be pretty difficult.

But anyway, for peace preservation, adventurers weren’t allowed in the city. All the inns and drinking bars that adventurers would fancy are located in the 9th ward anyway, and although life doesn’t seem to be lacking in any way here, but, unable to enter my dream city even while having it right in front of me is truly vexing.

“Maybe by offering a large sum of donations, or by entering the military and retiring as an adventurer, you might get a passing or living permission there…”

I don’t want to fight other people when I become a soldier. Hence, the only other option was to make the riches by fighting my way through this labyrinth.

“The money for the land, the building, as well as the donation fees…Should be around 100.000 gold coins?”

Just by imagining that large sum, I felt a sigh escape my lips yet again. I wonder if it’s even possible to earn that much money. No, doubting about it won’t change anything. I have work to do right now.

Making up my determination, I moved deeper into the labyrinth.

“Still, this place really is huge.”

Wide passageways which you could fill with around ten adults that spread out their arms at the same time, deep enough that you can’t see the end of it with your own eyes. If it wasn’t riddled with monsters, you could use this place to build an underground city even.

Walking down the pavement, I was always wary of a surprise attack, my back to the wall, killing the sound of my footsteps. And, after turning right at a corner, the sight of monsters greeted me.

“Three enemies, two kobolds and one nord.”

With the head of a dog, a stature about half the size of a grown man, a crude weapon in hand, the kobolds. At the same time, also decorated with a doggish face, about the size of a grown man, equipped with a sword and shield, a nord.

I read about them in gramps’ field guide, but seeing them like this was the first time. While tension filled my body, I readied my sword, and sneaked up to them. Maybe it’s because my jet-black armor was mixing in with the pure darkness filling the surroundings, the monsters showed no signs of spotting me.

That’s gramps for you, this armor is amazing.

But even more than that, this armor is so cool-looking! Not to mention this matte black color of the armor. But anyway, enough gratitude for gramps. I kicked off the ground, and cut straight through the two kobolds from behind.

“Gya?!”

Having finally realized my presence, the nord hurriedly readied it’s sword, but it was already too late. I lifted up my sword, and cut him in half, straight from the head down to the tail.

—I can’t do anything?!

Seemed to be the feeling behind it’s expression, as the nord quickly broke down into pieces, the light scattering everywhere. The same happened to the corpses of the kobolds, and as silence returned to the passageway, I let out a sigh of relief.

“I won.”

Gramps and master both spared me a lot of times, and even after some very realistic fighting training, I still couldn’t help but feel nervous. Deciding that it would be better to get used to this feeling quickly, I looked down at the ground where the monsters’ bodies had been before.

“Oh, that’s it.”

At the place where the nord had been standing before, I found an object that looked similar to a glass shard, and I gleefully picked that up. Monsters, being born in an atmosphere dense of magical power, are basically bodies of energy, and although they might hold intelligence, they don’t have any physical body. As a result, being defeated like this, they scatter, as well as the equipment they were holding.

However, the highly compressed magical power is left behind as a substance, which are these magic stones. It has its own value as a beautiful gem, but they are even higher valued as material for tools that use magic power, magic tools, and they can be sold at a fairly high price.

“But, this one looks rather cheap, huh.”

The magic stone I got from the nord was about the size of wheat grain, a dull red grey. The magic stone that gramps had was the size of a watermelon, and it was shining with the colors of a rainbow. This doesn’t compare to that at all.

“Still, it’s one step forward.”

It’s the source of my income, and the first time I earned money for myself. They certainly can’t call me jobless anymore. As pride filled my chest, I put the magic stone in the pouch at my hip.

“Alright, time for the next one.”

Feeling more motivated than ever, I silently moved forward again. But, turning at the next crossing, I spotted a door, and even as I entered the room, I couldn’t spot any other monsters.

“Is it because I just defeated some?”

I heard that monsters never completely disappeared from the labyrinth until now, but it seems like they don’t immediately reappear after they were defeated. Maybe some other adventurers already cleared the path I had been taking.

“What a blunder, I should’ve gone the other way.”

That being said, this is yet another important experience. To remember the layout of the labyrinth, let’s just go wherever I can. Deciding on that, I walked down the passageway in a straight manner as I heard a tumult a bit further away from me.

“What?”

Thinking that something was fishy, so I walked forwards with hushed footsteps. Arriving at the front of a corner, I found a group of five adventurers fighting against a huge monster.

“Nah, a group of six, huh.”

Behind the monster was a young chainmail-wearing man, collapsed on the floor. Blood was dripping from his head, and he showed no movement whatsoever, but concentrating my eyes on his aura, I could see it, although faintly. Thank god, he’s just unconscious, but not dead. That being said, he won’t be able to fight in this battle again. And the other five seemed to have realized that, as panic was filling their expressions.

“Time to save—No, hold on.”

I stopped my legs that were about to kick off the ground, and I started thinking. If I were to jump in and defeat the monster, would they get angry at me for stealing their prey? Maybe I should go and offer my help first…No, it could rob them off their focus in battle right now, and they might get wiped out.

“Ah, what should I do…!”

It would’ve been great if there was some training ground that taught me the manners of being an adventurer, but I guess that is too much to ask for. Even a plain country boy like me knew that very well.

“But, at this rate…”

While I was hesitating, the group of five were being pushed back by the toughness of the giant monster. I can’t exactly turn on my heel and leave them there, but I don’t know if I can just…! Ah, I know!

“I just have to help them in a way that they won’t realize!”

A nice idea, I do have to say. Hence, I grabbed the hilt of my greatsword, and approached the battlefield as my body slowly disappeared in the darkness of my surroundings.

*

A troll—skin color akin to the one of mud, a stature about two times the height of a normal person, and while it’s movement might be slow, he’s rocking immense power, and with his lack of pain and exhaustion, his endurance makes it a great threat. In the midst of all the monsters that tend to appear on the first floor, it is without a doubt the strongest foe you could encounter. And, having their male fighter receive a surprise attack from that troll and having him collapse was the first misfortune for the group.

“Shit!”

The leader, a knight, let out cursing words, as he dodged the right hand of the troll, coming swinging at him. And, having his own sword lit up with overflowing aura, he slashed at the enemy.

Basic Sword Magic – Ray Edge

It was a simple skill to heighten the sharpness of the sword, but it brought enough effectiveness to strike down a goblin with a single strike. However, the skin of the troll was as tough as leather armor, and the blade stopped without cutting through bone.

“Tch!”

The male knight clicked his tongue as he jumped out of the way, and this time it was a female warrior that rammed her weapon into the troll’s thigh. However, that didn’t deliver a fatal wound either, and, without showing any signs of having pain, the troll continued to throw his fists at them.

With these strong, yet large swipes, they would not hit them if they were prepared for them, and since they’re inflicting small wounds one at a time, it might look like the group of adventurers had the upper hand. Unluckily, the ones that were closer to being finished was indeed that very group. After all, the resources called physical strength and focus, as well as their aura were slowly but steadily declining.

“This won’t end good, let’s run away!”

Having used up all these arrows, the male hunter standing in the back was now unable to do anything as he let out a despairing scream.

“We should fall back before we get annihilated.”

At the same time, the male magician, equally having used up all his aura, calmly deduced after analyzing the situation.

“But, we can’t leave Bea behind like that!”

The female priest screamed at the top of her lungs, and pointed at the male warrior that lay collapsed in the back of the troll. But, the male hunter and male magician did not change their opinion.

“We can just run away and have our Senpais from the clan help us out!”

“Right. If we all get wiped out here, we will not be able to come up with the fee for the resurrection.”

Monsters don’t hold any appetite, unlike living beings, hence they would never devour the corpses of the deceased. That’s why, leaving the dead bodies there for a few days wouldn’t be dramatical. Not to mention, this wasn’t the sixth floor, but rather the very first one, so even without having their seniors from the clan come to rescue, someone might just pass by and retrieve it.

Still, the costs for the resurrection at the temple were running about a hundred gold coins. If they couldn’t afford that, they would be forced to ask their seniors in the clan, but falling into debt would get them excommunicated from the clan itself.

Seeing it like that, running away here was definitely the most logical choice they had. However, humans are beings that mostly act on feelings, not on logic and reason.

“This isn’t a problem of money! He’s our comrade!”

What was reflected in the eyes of the female priest was the feeling of friendship.

“Just because that Bea got done in doesn’t mean that our whole party has to pay for it!”

“This is why I hate emotional women.”

“What did you say, cold-blooded coward!”

They had already forgotten about the monster right in front of them, starting a war of slander. Having the duty to put the disputing party into their place, the so-called leader, the male knight, didn’t say a word, and just continued to fight the troll as he clicked his tongue. Truthfully, he didn’t have the leisure to stand still and scream at them, but it was his fault from the beginning that the situation ended up like that. Until now, they had fought hordes of goblins and kobolds, and even though their aura was starting to run low, this was the result of “Let’s move a bit further”. Even after being told “Immediately pull back when you think you can still keep going”, he disregarded that, and thus ending up a failure of a leader, bringing his party into this miserable situation.

At the very least, he wanted to defeat the troll right in front of him, and rescue the fallen comrade in front of him—

Bad luck and bad luck come back to haunt him, and he’d surely be scolded by his seniors at the clan, but he didn’t have any time to realize his missteps.

“Guha!”

Physical strength ran out in the faltering female warrior, and a right hook of the troll sent her flying.

“Egrette?!”

Only able to watch her limp body smash against the wall, as any movement of hers stopped, the other three let out a scream of despair. However, the male knight didn’t fall back, but instead jumped off the ground, forwards.

“Uoaaaaaaah!”

Using the arm of the troll as a jumping paddle, who let down it’s guard after knocking out the female warrior, he jumped at the enemy’s head. And, taking out a magic scroll from his pocket—magic tools that have a one-time usage of magic inside them, he pushed it against the troll’s face.

“Roam free, ‘Fireball’!”

Responding to the chant that he spit out, the scroll let loose a giant explosion. A thunderous roar reverberated, and after the dust cleared up, the body of the troll came in sight, missing it’s head.

“I did it!”

Before the male knight could even land back on his feet, the troll’s headless body scattered into all directions, turning into particles of light. That very light wandered towards the bodies of the survivors, and slightly heightened their aura. Awakening to the feeling of growth, the male knight could barely stand up on his numb legs, as the other three behind him let out voices of cheering.

“What are you, some sort of acrobat?”

“Although it’s good that we won, we definitely should have retreated just now.”

“Come on, don’t sweat the small stuff.”

The male knight returned a bitter smile, as his comrades gathered in front of him.

“Anyway, let’s hurry and pick up Bea and Egrette—Hya!”

Not just the male knight, but even the rest of the group let out a shriek filled with terror. It must have heard the sounds of nearby battle. From the corner of the passageway a bit further away, another troll looked around the corner with it’s grotesque head.

—Found you~

His ugly and hard to look at face was distorted in pleasure, as it looked at the group.

“You’re kidding me…”

Left with neither aura nor a magic scroll, the short lived feeling of victory turned into oppression and despair, breaking their hearts in two. Having lost even the willpower to run away, the troll was just mercilessly heading towards them, and raised it’s giant fist—

—Until it got sliced into two pieces, going down from head to toe.

“……Huh?”

Still flashing it’s confident smile, the troll turned into particles of light, while the male knight could only watch in awe. Once again, he could feel his aura growing, but he certainly didn’t have the time to enjoy that.

“What…just happened?”

While being lost on what to believe, the male knight recalled the scene he had just witnessed. The moment the troll was cut in half, although it had been in pitch black darkness, he felt like he saw some dark light coming down on the enemy.

Did it get slashed by some aura blade?

For them, who barely made it through the first floor, skills like ‘Ray Edge’ that could heighten the sharpness of the sword were all they could use, but if one were to mention the higher ranked adventurers, they could certainly swing down, or shoot out an aura blade, possessing the necessary sword magic. If one was of the 6th rank, he had heard that it was possible to pour aura into the ground from one’s blade, skewering the enemy from below in one fell swoop.

And at the same time, you could even do this downwards from the ceiling…

The male knight looked up at the ceiling, only to forcefully push down his view right below at his feet not even a second later.

“Leader?”

“Don’t look!”

Letting out a slightly panicked order, the leader quickly jogged to the female warrior.

“I’ll carry Egrette, so you guys take care of Bea!”

“Y-Yeah, if you say so…?”

“Alright then, let’s hurry!”

Ignoring the slight confusion of his comrades, the male knight started walking on fast feet while carrying the female warrior in his hands.

W-What was that?!?!

Pushing the urge to scream down his throat, he remembered back to the sight he just witnessed. On top of the high ceiling of the labyrinth, a jet black armored knight was resting his body like a spider, staring down at them. Whether that was a human, or a demon, he did not know. There was only one thing he was sure about.

At ridiculously high speed, to make sure that nobody would realize, that thing split the immense trill in half in mere fragments of a second, and if it wanted to, it could murder his own group without blinking twice.

P-Please, just let us go…!

His teeth were chattering with fear, and his heartbeat was going rampant at a level that it started to hurt. Frightened that that thing would be able to hear that to chase them, he passed beneath the armored knight.

It’s not attacking? Maybe we’re not even worth killing, huh

He didn’t feel any anger at being underestimated, or the like. Just, he was joyful rather, that his life was spared. But, there was one doubt that flew into his mind.

I couldn’t really see it that clearly, but…was that a Dark Knight?

A helmet that looked like the face of the devil, jet black armor like the darkness surrounding them, a greatsword, looking like it was drenched in blood. Even in those thousand years since the foundation of the Empire, the ones that had seen him directly could be counted on one hand. However even so, tales remain, and those that survived the fight told that the sight alone was weakening their morale.

The roadblock of humanity’s path, the ultimate wall, guarding the depths of the labyrinth.

No, there’s no way a guardian of the 6th floor should be up here!

The male knight shook his head to the side, desperately trying to shake off that thought. The appearing monsters were set on the different floors, and he never heard of them moving up the floors. But then, what was that thing, that looked almost identical to the Dark Knight? Even if he did not know, one thing was for certain.

Time to stop being an adventurer I’m really not suited for this…

He ignored any reason, only focussed on his pride, which almost led to the decimation of his party as a result of that. Seeing that, he was painfully reminded that he wasn’t made to be an adventurer, nor did he have the right to lead a party like this.

—And now, with self-conceit filling your chest, you’ve come one step closer to being an adventurer.

He certainly couldn’t see his seniors from the clan laugh at him like that. Right now, he had his hands full heading to the exit of the labyrinth with his comrades.

Watching the backs grow more distant of those, the jet black armored knight descended from the ceiling. Taking a step forward, he picked up the two magic stones left behind by the deceased troll corpses.

“Umm, you forgot something.”

Snatching away the prey was something he couldn’t do, but chasing after them right now to hand it over was also impossible. That being said, leaving it here would be a waste of good money and resources.

Funny enough, the male knight had no way of knowing what kind of trivial emotional dilemma this young man, wearing this fearful Dark Knight armor, actually was.

*

“Huh, today wasn’t all that successful.”

Having stepped out from the gloomy labyrinth out into the open, the evening sky was colored bright red, as I made my way towards the inn for adventurers. Even after I saved that group of six down there, I tried wandering around the labyrinth for a bit, but I didn’t find anything worthwhile, besides five kobolds. Instead, I spotted three adventurer parties, so they probably cleared the floor before me.

“Guess I have to enter the labyrinth earlier, or I won’t earn anything.”

Mumbling that to myself, I passed the castle gate, and arrived at the inn.

“It sure is lively.”

A two-floor building inn, and as I heard loud noises coming from the tavern, probably from the adventurers after their long day at work, I let out a sigh of admiration. During my travels from my hometown to the imperial capital, I passed a lot of smaller cities, but never did I rest at an inn this lively.

“Even though it’s outside the city, filled with only adventurers, it still feels like a metropole.”

I was a bit worried after seeing that nothing was around the labyrinth and the west gate, but that proved to be needless fear. Feeling encouraged ever so slightly, I scoured for a place. There are those lodgings that are made for newcomers, cheap and basic, and those for more experienced adventurers, more luxurious. Together with a bar on the first floor, it’s the perfect place to spend the night. Entering the deeper parts of the main street, there are apartments designed for longer stays, and even individual mansions.

“That must’ve cost a thousand gold coins.”

Maybe there’s a veteran living there, having earned himself that mansion after visiting the labyrinth for tens of years?

Looking up at it with a gaze of envy, I once again swore to myself that I would definitely build a home myself, near the castle walls.

“For now, let’s look for a place to eat something.”

Deciding on that, I headed towards a lodging called ‘Eternal Maiden Pavillon’. The moment I opened the double door, the smell of grilled flesh and alcohol, as well as the floor of adventurers greeted me.

“Lady, give me two more portions of ale and—Huh?!”

“It’s still too early to challenge the guardian of the second floor—Eek!”

What happened? The adventurers suddenly stopped their conversations, and started staring at me…Did I violate some dress code?! No, it didn’t say anything about ‘No full-body armor allowed’ or anything, and there are other people that are wearing similar armor, and they’re probably just interested in a newcomer like me.

Since I started feeling a bit embarrassed, I hurriedly made my way to the back of the store, to the counter, and was about to call out to what seemed to be the owner, a middle-aged woman, built like a bear.

“I’d like a room—”

“Bastard!”

The moment I took out my purse, I could hear an agitated voice behind my back. Turning around in surprise, a young girl wearing an oriental-styled armor with a black ponytail put one hand on the tachi on her waist, and glared at me.

“What’s your plan with this!”

Umm…I wanted to rent a lodging for the night…Maybe there is some sort of dress code here?

As I was a bit perplexed, the black haired girl sharpened her gaze even further as she glared at me.

“I really think I am wrong here, but you have the same appearance!”

There’s somebody that looks like me? Someone has some nice sense I see! Woah, I’m so happy that someone also likes this sort of armor and helmet combination! Leaving aside my various stops during my travels, even after seeing nobody here in this big city being equipped like me, I was starting to get worried that a black armor might make me look lame, but it’s reassuring that I’m not alone.

Wanting to ask where I could find that person, I took one step forward—in response, the black haired girl jumped off, and put strength in the hand that was holding the grip.

“You’re moving forward like it’s nothing, huh.”

Eh, should I not have moved or something? But, I really wanted to know about that person so that we could exchange our tastes concerning black armors…

Feeling disheartened, I let out a deep sigh.

“How relaxed he is, being in front of god-speed Chidori!”

“This is the bloodlust of a 6th ranker, you know? Even just watching from the side like this makes me shiver down to the bone…”

“I want to lick Chidori-tan’s ponytail.”

The people around us started to get noisy, but their voices were overlapping so much that I couldn’t pick up everything. But, fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, I perfectly grasped what that last pervert said. Thanks to this magic, I have perfect round vision even in this mask, but it’s still tough to pick up sounds from the outside. Next time I get back to my hometown, I better have gramps improve in that regard.

“Interesting!”

As I was thinking about future plans, the black-haired beauty had a facial expression of joy, and threw a purse at my feet. The clinging sound of coins hitting the ground resounded. And, there was even a cute embroidery of a little bird on there. Completely contrary to her looks, it was rather girly. But, what exactly did she mean to achieve by that?

“Enough for a resurrection and some nuisance money. With this, you can’t complain, can you.”

The girl stated that towards me tilting my head in confusion, and she followed up by strengthening the aura in her entire body.

Huh? This posture and flow of aura is—

“Now, accept this!”

As I was still at a loss on what was going on, the girl unsheathed her tachi. Longer than an uchigatana, she pulled it out with beautiful movement, but I didn’t have the time to admire that. Keeping up the momentum from having pulled the sword out, the naked blade closed in on my face, slightly tilted—but I ignored that, and guarded my torso with my right arm. The blade in front of my eyes disappeared like mist, and I felt the impact at the exact place I was guarding.

Good thing I didn’t misread that. Well, she didn’t seem all that serious, contrary to her words, and even if I took a slash at my head, I probably would’ve made it through this unscathed thanks to the helmet. But, having this super cool helmet get scarred in any way would probably leave me in depression for three days and three nights, so I still was glad that she didn’t aim for it.

In the meantime, the girl put her tachi back into the scabbard around her waist, and had a rather stern expression on her face.

“You knew?”

Yeah, I did know, but why are you so angry about that?

On a side note, this skill right now was a feint, where she’d show signs of attacking my head, sending out a fake blade with aura, while she would aim at my torso with the real blade. Using the momentum of drawing the blade out of the scabbard, it’s easy to mistake the aura blade for the real one, and if someone saw this for the first time, it’d probably end bad for them. And even if one saw it for a second time, one could still swing the fake decoy at the exact same trajectory like the real blade, or put enough lethality in the aura blade, bringing down an attack at the same time on the head and torso, and other variations here and there, making this a skill with high adaptability.

“There shouldn’t be any other user in this vicinity besides me.”

Throwing me a doubtful gaze, the black-haired girl once again readied herself to draw the sword.

…Not good, she’s serious now. If I receive the next attack, even this armor won’t get off without some scars. Even if newcomers are received a bit more roughly around here, isn’t this going a bit too far? I was about to call out to her, asking if we could settle this with words, as suddenly…

“Let’s leave it at that.”

A giant fist came crashing down on the girl’s head.

“Hyau!”

Letting out a lovable shriek, the girl crouched down, and behind her was the tall inn proprietress , who had been watching from the counter until now…I never felt any movement from her…And this movement…is she some karate ninja?! I heard from gramps and master about existences like those, but to think that I would get to see them with my own eyes.

Giving a sigh of gratitude, the inn proprietress was busy scolding the black-haired girl.

“If you’re planning on taking it any further, then how about I play with you?”

The inn proprietress showed some crazy strength, as even the tables around us started to shake because of her overflowing aura. Being overwhelmed with that, even the noisy adventurers around us got quiet in mere seconds.

Amazing. With this much strength, she’s more fit to be an adventurer, rather than some inn proprietress like this.

“Anyway, I’m sorry that a guest of ours troubled you like this.”

Saying that, the inn proprietress took out the key to a room. Taking out my purse, and paying the fee, I received said key.

“Thanks for your patronage. Want something to eat?”

“Yes, please.”

“I’ll bring something to your room later. And, let me tell you one thing.”

I wonder what it is? I tilted my head in anticipation, as the inn proprietress not so gracefully tapped herself on the chest.

“If you ever dare call me an old lady, I’ll send you flying, making you wish you’d stay up there in heaven, alright? Call me inn proprietress or eternal maiden!”

…Is that supposed to make me laugh?

*

Watching the jet black armored knight trott up the stairs, one of the 6th rankers of the strongest clan ‘White Wing’, the female samurai godspeed Chidori complained.

“Are you really going to let some suspicious person like him stay over?”

“As long as he pays, even the devil can stay over. That’s our policy.”

The inn proprietress answered with a relaxed expression, and handed over the purse, that the black knight didn’t pick up, back to Chidori.

“I’ll overlook things today, but the next time, you’ll get kicked out, okay.”

“Hmpf…”

Being hit where it hurt, Chidori sunk down on the ground like a dog that was getting scolded. Chidori was a 6th ranker, having earned enough money to afford a huge mansion where she was living with her friends, so getting kicked out wasn’t exactly problematic for her. However, in this imperial capital that uses wheat as their main source of food, this Eternal Maiden brings out oriental food, based on rice. Looking as gallant as she was, Chidori was quite the glutton, and losing the taste of her birthplace would be unbearable for her.

“My humble apologies, I hereby swear that it will never happen again.”

“It’s fine as long as you understand. Go and eat dinner already.”

The inn proprietress just showed a faint smile towards Chidori, who gave a deep bow, and returned back to the kitchen to prepare the food for the armored knight. The second she disappeared, the surroundings suddenly exploded.

“What was that just now?! That was the Dark Knight, right?!”

“No way, it was probably just some idiot that was wearing a costume.”

“But, he managed to defend against Chidori’s skill like that, so maybe…”

Ignoring the loud adventurers to her left and right, Chidori made her way back to the table. Sitting across from her was a member of her party, an orc male warrior, Willow, greeting her with a smile.

“So even Mrs. Godspeed can’t win against the inn proprietress, I see.”

“Be quiet.”

Pouting her lips in a sulking manner, Chidori started biting down on the now cold grilled fish menu, when Willow started talking to her once again.

“Still, the inn proprietress really is shrewd.”

With that woman’s true ability, she might have even been able to stop Chidori as she even put her hand on the grip of her tachi. Still, the same could be said for the pseudo Dark Knight, having stopped Chidori’s attack. And, the inn proprietress probably wanted to see the strength of that man.

“So, I was used as a front man?”

“It’s your fault for suddenly charging in like that.”

Sipping on the kelp soup stock in a disgruntled manner, Willow brought down flawless logic.

“But, if you didn’t move, then I probably would have gone in your stead.”

Willow’s red eyes were burning with a fighting spirit.

“We of all people would not be able to keep quiet and watch as a bastard that looked like the Dark Knight himself appeared.”

“Indeed.” Chidori nodded.

Unlike the normal adventurer that had only heard about him in stories, the members of White Wing have met the guardian of the 6th floor in person, facing him even. Without any other choice, they were obliterated, using up their magic stones and their equipment to cast the secret art to return above ground, although being dead bodies. The resurrection may have succeeded, but they had to walk around the city completely naked in shame as they returned from the temple, and the additional pain of having lost around 300.000 gold coins worth of magic stones and equipment hasn’t vanished until now.

“Chidori, was that the real deal?”

“If you’re asking if he was the guardian of the 6th floor, then the answer is no.” Chidori gave a quick response.

Holding strength equal to a hero class, the Dark Knight managed to kill all five members of Chidori’s group back then. In return, she didn’t feel this overwhelming pressure and strength from this pseudo Dark Knight.

“However, he is not some cheap fake either.”

Though she held back from going full force, the person inside managed to hold off Chidori’s drawing cut, and the armor got away with any scar whatsoever.

“Did you realize? When that man was walking, his feet didn’t make any sound.”

“Yeah, just like the real one.”

Willow remembered back to when he was sliced in half from behind his back, not having perceived any sounds whatsoever. It might be obvious, but the metallic armor that Chidori and Willow were wearing made rattling sounds wherever they walked. That being said, their equipment was adjusted and an individual order, so the sounds they made were still much more silent than the average adventurer.

The greater mass of adventurers were equipped with normal armor or plate metal, filling the passageways with the sounds of their rattling armor, and that would make them a target for any stray kobolds and other sharp monsters down in the labyrinth. But, the armor of the pseudo Dark Knight did not make any sounds at all.

“It’s without a doubt a magic tool of the highest level.”

Willow clicked his tongue. Magic tools were normal tools and equipment with magical power flowing through them, but they are still differentiated in ‘Consumable Tools’ and ‘Permanent Tools’.

Those consumable tools were, just as their name suggested, a one-time use, cheap imitations, and magic scrolls with ‘Fireball’ and ‘Heal’ were the great representatives of that group. Being crystals of magic, magic stones were basic ingredients, and as long as one had a certain number of them, creating those goods was a simple treat. Seeing that the Goldot Empire had the deep labyrinth right next doors, it made sense that their magic scroll supply was immense. Especially because these magic scrolls can be used by a normal soldier is what makes them so valuable.

On the other hand, permanent tools were tools that had a continuous supply of magic. For example, a lamp infused with the ‘Light’ magic wasn’t dependent on oil and flame, and would continuously deliver a light source until it broke down. Tools like those would suck up the magical power around it, and turn that into magic. Just explaining it like that may make it sounds very simple, but in reality, it’s comparable to work of the gods.

Humans themselves would gather the magical power around them in the atmosphere, and manipulate that to generate strength inside their bodies, changing it into the so-called aura. With that, they could use sword magic or other spells, enabling the fight against monsters.

Anyway, that is the same principle for permanent tools. Basically, trying to create a permanent magic tool was comparable to trying to create an immortal sorcerer. With those god-like tricks necessary, even a 6th rank sorcerer in the Goldot Kingdom had no hopes in recreating that. Hence, it makes sense to assume that human-made permanent tools do not exist. But, if it was inside the dense of magical power, mysterious labyrinth, gaining those tools was the only other option to earn them.

“He might have defeated the real Dark Knight, and picked up his equipment?”

“Impossible. There’s higher credibility with believing that he received it from a kind fairy of the lake.”

Chidori shut down Willow’s joke with a frown. Monsters, being lumps of magic basically, scattered into thin particles of light as they were defeated, leaving behind only those valuable magic stones. At the same time, equipment that they were holding could stay behind as those natural magic tools. These natural magic tools could come in forms of metal and steel, holding incredible sharpness or power in them, incomparable to normal equipment, making them worth thousands of gold coins, which equaled a ten-years worth of monthly salary of a normal soldier.

In the midst of that, those objects which acted as permanent magic tools had enough value to them to be able to build your own castle even.

“It was robust enough to withstand a godspeed drawing skill, with the permanent enchantment ‘Silence’ to it. If you went down with the price, you could still easily pay it off for about 300.000 gold coins.”

The upper nobles that lived in the 3rd ward had to pay that amount to build up their houses, but there must be those that desperately wanted such an object for themselves.

Willow, with a similar body stature himself, might have offered all the assets he owned, ignored the fact that it had the same design as the armor of the Dark Knight, and went down to prostrate himself to receive that armor.

“Should we just kill him and take it?”

And it wasn’t just Willow that had similar thoughts. Some people seemed to have grasped the value of that armor as well, and after watching the pseudo Dark Knight step up to the second floor, they started to get more noisy with their plans. Though, in this inn, where the inn proprietress kept a watchful eye, you’d get your head and torso sent separately to the temple.

At the same time, there were those that thought they could attempt everything inside the dark labyrinth, with no guarding, but with this jet-black armor that stands out like a light in the dark, tracing the robbery back to them was no big feat.

And, in this Goldot Empire, where you could find healing and resurrection as long as you had the money, murderers and so on didn’t find much punishment, but things were different for murder during robbery. As soon as the deceased person was resurrected, he could give a testimony, the crime exposed, so the robbers can’t just kill off the person, but have to dispose of the corpse at the same time. But, if that came to light, the perpetrators would receive carnal punishment. To name it, a fire burial while they were still alive, denying them any hope of being resurrected. And Chidori knew very well that Willow wasn’t the kind of fool that would take the risk. But, better be safe than sorry.

“Better not. The person inside can’t be underestimated either.”

It wasn’t a coincidence that he stopped Chidori’s drawing sword skill like that. Even though he might not be able to rival the true Dark Knight, he had a certain set of skills to be wary about, no doubt. At the very least, those boastful third ranked buy s at the table next to them would be sent flying.

“With amor akin to the real deal, and high potential and power that can’t be underestimated…Now, just who is that man”

“No clue.”

Chidori calmly answered Willow’s question. They didn’t have enough clues to perfectly pin him down just yet.

“That’s why we need to be wary about his motives.”

With the appearance of the Dark Knight, provoking every living adventurer in this city, he certainly couldn’t be here to earn money. Chidori didn’t know what kind of evil deeds he might have been planning, but he wasn’t someone that you could let roam free without proper surveillance.

Willow on his part was gulping down some ale, as he put his thoughts into words.

“I know, what if he was a retired sixth rank.”

“What?”

“Being a former sixth rank would explain his abilities, right?” Willow said, as he gazed at the sturdy muscles that the inn proprietress was rocking.

She herself was a former adventurer as well, and the person legends spoke out, being able to walk around the sixth floor all by herself. It was a mystery as to why she retired at a young age to become an inn proprietress, but a lot of average looking people turn out to be heroes in the sheets.

“You might have denied it, but it could be someone that indeed defeated the Dark Knight, acquired his equipment, and left the city.”

“………”

Chidori couldn’t say anything back to Willow’s assumption.

—Fighting countless heroes, there’s no way that the Dark Knight wasn’t beaten at least once during those thousand years.

Rumours were saying that maybe there was someone that managed to deliver the final blow to the Dark Knight. And the rumours continue—

After defeating the Dark Knight, thereafter lies the seventh floor, the deepest floor of the deep labyrinth. Those that arrive at this floor will receive fulfillment of whatever they are wishing for. It’s an unbelievable story akin to a fairy-tale, but looking at the deep labyrinth, which produces monsters and magic stones out of nothing but air basically, it does make it sound more credible.

But, it would explain the reason why those that defeated the Dark Knight kept that very fact a secret, trying to keep monopole on this miracle, and disappeared from the city. Nobody knew if that legend was true or not. However, seeing that nobody has bested this death god called Dark Knight, nobody could prove this rumour as wrong, leaving everyone with a grain of hope that they could achieve their dreams by making it through the labyrinth. Naturally, Chidori was one of those.

“Maybe one of the 6th ranks that defeated that Dark Knight—No, a 7th rank I guess. Anyway, he came back to the city for whatever complicated reason, maybe trying to gather attention as he’s walking around with that armor?”

“………”

As Willow continued in loquacity, Chidori stayed in silence. For one moment, she remembered the face of a man that had left her and her comrades back to disappear, but she quickly shook her head to rid herself of this thought.

“It cannot be. There is nobody that has bested the Dark Knight thus far.”

Not even after those thousand years. Hence—

“I will be the one to defeat him.”

If other people heard this from just anybody, they would laugh it off as idiotic enthusiasm. Yet, this was the girl with devilish talent, which made it to the 6th floor with her young 18 years, godspeed Chidori.

As Willow watched Chidori, fully convinced that she would be able to do that, he let out yet another joke.

“That Dark Knight is all you can think about, right. Why don’t you just go out with him?”

As he spoke out those words, he pointed to the stairs to the second floor, to which Chidori disagreeably narrowed her brows.

“Keep dreaming. I have decided to only be connected to a beautiful prince ever since I was little. I couldn’t care less about a man whose face I don’t even know!”

“I didn’t expect such a maiden-like side to you.”

Not befitting the title of a fierce fighting god, Willow watched this girly, or at worse even clumsy female warrior in front of him, and let out a sigh. In response, Chidori showed signs of anger as she pouted with her lips.

“Hmpf, I don’t want to be told things like that by someone from the orc race who can only talk about fighting and beautiful women.”

“It’s burned into our brains, so I can’t deny that.”

As he responded, Willow went to order another portion of ale, and although he was of the orc race, he held much intellect, making him not very orc-like.

“But, let me just say one thing. What you humans think of as a beauty is completely different from what we orcs see as one, alright.”

“Really? I totally thought that you prefered slender, pure white elves—”

“No!”

Willow rammed down his fist on the table, stopping Chidori mid-sentence. A loud sound ran through the room, and the grey skin of the orc started to run red out of anger.

“As if we strong orcs had any sort of sexual desire for those forest bean sprouts! It’s nothing but trouble for us that you humans always have the wrong idea about us!”

Those erotic novels, where the beautiful elf is getting violated by the ugly orcs, are very popular, even in the Goldot Empire.

“The color of elves is so white it’s actually making me feel sick, and they don’t have any muscle at all, making them nothing short of weaklings in our eyes, and although they might have a high aura since their birth, they just yell magic chants behind my backs, not having any courage to be ready and shed blood on the front lines like we do. All the time, they’re just acting all high and mighty with their beauty and long lifespan! Those weakling bean sprouts should actually beg us to protect them!”

Letting the elves say their opinion, they saw the orcs’ grey skin as pretty unpleasant, always on and on about muscles. In the elves’ eyes, orcs were just barbarians out for blood. Naturally, this coincidence about the other race drove a deep nail between them.

“Then, what kind of girl is more to your liking?”

As Chidori asked, Willow relaxed a bit and gave a serious answer.

“Pretty simple, a strong woman that can birth strong children.”

And, he sent a passionate gaze at the strong muscular build of the inn proprietress.

“H-Huh…”

What poor food for you—is what Chidori wanted to comment, but that would have gained her another enthusiastic lecture from the orc across her, and a shuriken fork in the back of the head by the self-proclaimed eternal maiden, so she decided to keep it in her thoughts.

“But, from the logic of that, female knights would be your type, right?”

“There is no man that would dislike a strong, fierceful female knight, right?”

Though their image of a female knight was varying from a princess-like girl to a gorilla-like girl, Chidori did not realize that, and just nodded along.

And, while the two of them were talking past each other during their idle gossip, other guests quickly dashed out of the inn, in order to tell their friends and comrades about the incident. Around the time the date changed, every adventurer in the city had heard about the Dark Knight (?).