Resting Inside the Labyrinth

Resting Inside the Labyrinth

"Let's take a break for now."

About an hour after we began exploring, everyone stopped at Takanashi-san's words.

"Yeah, sounds good."

"No objections."

"Got it."

Taking a break inside a dungeon was extremely dangerous.

However, human stamina and concentration had their limits. For that reason, taking a short break after securing the surrounding area was actually recommended.

Of course, completely securing the surrounding area was difficult in an ordinary dungeon.

I looked around once more to confirm that there was no Polevik mana nearby. Then I imagined the water bottle inside my backpack in my palm and took it out.

I took a sip of sports drink, then let out a small breath.

"...This scenery looks ridiculously peaceful, doesn't it?"

Riko-senpai muttered as she poured coffee into the cup from her water bottle.

"It does..."

Even knowing it was a painting, from a distance it really looked like a peaceful rural village.

With the gentle breeze brushing our cheeks, it was hard not to think we were in a peaceful land without monsters.

I was starting to feel like laying down a picnic sheet and eating a boxed lunch.

"Heh... No matter what kind of peace or hell one sees, everything changes depending on the viewer. In the truest sense, there is no difference between them."

Rosso-san muttered something that sounded profound, though probably wasn't.

She held a wineglass filled with red liquid while wearing a smug expression.

"...No, what exactly are you holding?"

"Naturally, it is a special blend prepared by yours truly."

"Judging by the smell and color, you just mixed tomato juice and vegetable juice, didn't you?"

"And if you look closely, that glass seems to be plastic too."

"Stop analyzing it...!"

Rosso-san's cheeks turned slightly red as she downed the juice in one go.

Watching her, Riko-senpai tilted her head slightly.

"Rosson. Do you ever feel like drinking human blood? I mean, it's just a straightforward question."

"Hmm... Certainly, if we are speaking in terms of 'nutrition,' the fresh blood of a human would do nicely. Especially the blood of a virgin ability user like you—it would surely be exquisite."

"Wow. Thanks for the mysterious rating. But the virgin thing is sexual harassment, you know?"

"If you want to call that harassment, then discussing someone's Race is harassment too, you fool. In any case, I do not drink human blood unless something truly extraordinary happens. Even ordinary food has plenty of flavor to me. And it provides ample nutrition."

"Oh... Sorry for asking something weird."

"Don't worry. Besides..."

I suddenly realized that Rosso-san was looking in my direction.

More precisely, she was looking at my neck.

"I do occasionally feel like drinking it, you see."

"...Wait, me!?"

I almost spit out the sports drink I was drinking and took a step away.

No way. Had this person really been looking at me like that!?

More than being targeted for my blood, I couldn't hide my shock at being singled out by someone who had just said she liked virgin blood.

Wait, what? Was 'virgin male blood' on the list of things dhampirs liked? It suddenly sounded awful. Not that human blood sounded drinkable in the first place, but this seemed to make it one level worse.

"W-wait! It's a misunderstanding! It is true that I thought, 'You smell insanely rich, you super-horny pervert... Should I attack you?' But I was absolutely not looking at you with lecherous eyes!"

"There was nothing but evil in that statement! What part of it could possibly be misunderstood!?"

"Hold it, Rosson! Why him instead of me or Miyucchi!? He's a guy! Sure, he has a kind of feminine face, but he's still a guy!"

"Who said I have a feminine face, you fake gyaru!"

"S-sorry. But your scent is like the moon itself turned into liquor. As someone who lives by night, I simply..."

"Gah! I refuse to lose to Otaku-kun in maidenliness! This is what I get from a poser who calls herself 'Vampyra' instead of a dhampir!"

"Who are you calling a poser!? I considered calling myself a Vampyra too, but the government grouped us all together under the Race 'Dhampir,' so what choice did I have!?"

"Vampyra...? What's that?"

The instant I voiced my honest question, Riko-senpai and Rosso-san both turned toward me with looks of utter disbelief.

Seriously? It was that shocking?

"You don't know, Otaku-kun!? A male vampire half-breed is a dhampir, while a female vampire half-breed is called a Vampyra!"

"Oh. Is that so?"

"That's basic otaku knowledge! How do you not know!?"

"I wouldn't know, you fake gyaru. Just admit already that you're an otaku girl."

"Hmm... Could it be that the young oni over there is not an otaku, but merely a 'gloomy loner who only looks like an otaku and isn't an otaku of anything'?"

"I'll drive a stake of white wood through your heart, you twenty-something chuunibyou!"

"Yahiro-san."

"Takanashi-san, I'm fine. You don't need to comfort me or anything..."

"I believed that your blood was the true blood of a maiden."

"Someone, please comfort me."

Holding a jelly drink, Takanashi-san looked at me with the eyes of a child who had come to watch a superhero show. Her words made my heart feel as if it were screaming. Invisible knives are terrifying.

"There, there. It's all right. Don't worry."

The fake gyaru-senpai came over and patted my head, stretching slightly onto her tiptoes.

She was being kind to me at a moment like this, but wasn't she probably the original cause of all this?

I really thought she should reflect on that a little more... Reflect... reflec...

...No! If a beautiful girl comforted me in a beautiful voice while stroking my head with beautiful fingers, I might forgive her for everything...!

"There you go. Take a deep breath."

"In... out..."

"Good job! Now you're all better, right, Otaku-kun?"

"...Yes."

"Then let's do our best exploring from here on! I'm counting on you, okay?"

"Yes."

"Let's get our energy way up! Yeah!"

"Yes!"

"This is bad. The straight man has thrown in the towel from mental exhaustion."

"Honestly, my bad. I had no idea you were this easy."

"As expected, Yahiro-san is amazing...!"

These three idiots were saying whatever they pleased.

Thanks to them, I had mostly regained my senses. I put away my water bottle with a small cough.

We resumed exploring, and about thirty minutes passed.

After several battles, we were nearing the exit when I saw a space that widened unusually far ahead of us.

"Takanashi-san. We're going the right way, aren't we?"

"Yes. If we continue this way, we should reach a large room-like space, and the exit gate should be beyond it."

"I see..."

I glared into the space beyond the passage while slowly moving my gaze from side to side.

It was perhaps a little smaller than a gymnasium. As with the passages so far, wheat impostors grew on both sides toward the fields, and the width of the footpaths between them had not changed much.

Which meant there had to be considerably more of them here...

"...Does it look like there are quite a few?"

"Probably. Five—no, I have found a sixth one now."

Until now, no more than three Poleviks had appeared at once, but quite a number had appeared here.

This was not a space where we wanted to charge in recklessly.

"I think we should bring out the scrolls."

"Okay. Then after Otaku-kun and I attack simultaneously—"

"No. We'll use a 'Magic Expansion' scroll to blanket a wide area with Riko-senpai's magic."

As I answered, Riko-senpai stopped rolling up the sleeves of her modified kimono as though preparing for a fight.

"...Wait, Otaku-kun. Your scroll can expand things besides other scroll magic?"

"Of course it can. 'Magic Expansion' is 'Magic Expansion,' after all."

We looked at each other as if to say, What is this person talking about?

"Seriously...? I didn't know that."

"Should I give the clan members a memo explaining my scroll in detail sometime?"

"Hmm... No, maybe not yet. Just tell them when you team up for a job. Everyone's pretty laid-back, anyway."

"I suppose so. They are grouped in pairs over there, over there, and over there."

"Okay... Leave it to celery."

"Takanashi-san, the scroll."

"Understood."

"Then Otaku-kun and Rosson, take the vanguard in case anything happens."

"Yes."

"Indeed."

Takanashi-san raised her revolver-shaped staff, while Riko-senpai pointed her fan toward the open space ahead.

The Poleviks seemed content to remain hidden in ambush, waiting for prey to pass by. I wasn't sure whether their intelligence was limited or whether their detection abilities weakened while they were in stealth form.

Either way, this was convenient. Judging from the flow of mana, I saw no sign of any trap that reflected magic.

"■■■■……■■……!"

As Riko-senpai continued chanting in an unknown language, Takanashi-san activated her magic with their shoulders pressed together.

Five magic circles appeared at the tip of the staff she held out, and Riko-senpai pointed her fan toward them as well.

"────Resound and pierce. 'Lightning Hammer.'"

The mana released from the fan passed through the magic circles. In an instant, golden light flashed fiercely.

A hammer of lightning flew at high speed, striking the spots I had indicated earlier. Even with my magic eyes' dynamic vision, I could barely follow its trajectory.

The sound of air bursting rang out almost simultaneously. It was unmistakably thunder, and it shook the air as it set the wheat impostors alight.

Fortunately, the flames did not spread, and only a faint smell of burning drifted through the area.

I quickly searched for the Poleviks and reported their positions to Riko-senpai.

"Five have vanished. One remains."

"All right. Has its position changed?"

"Yes. No, wait—it's moving now. It's coming."

While we were speaking, the last one began to move. It seemed to have realized that all its companions had been wiped out.

It changed from a mud ball into a four-limbed form and sprinted through the wheat impostors. It ran with a rustling sound, then leaped just before reaching the footpath.

'Gobo... gobo...!'

In midair, it stretched out its left arm as if to throw something at us. The arm seized the ground between Rosso-san and me and rapidly contracted.

Using that to gain momentum, the Polevik raised its sickle with its right hand.

But even then, it was still too slow.

I severed its contracting left arm with my sword, causing the Polevik to lose its balance in midair. Rosso-san's great scythe slammed into its torso.

"Haaah!"

With a thunderous battle cry, the monster's body was cleaved in two. The halves flew apart, struck the ceiling, and fell to the ground.

Rosso-san spun her great scythe around, drove its butt into the ground, and thrust out her ample chest with a little 'sway.'

"Hmph... I have hit another dull home run."

Was that really a home run?

"Yeah! A total rout! An easy victory! A splendid victory, everyone!"

"Good work."

"Ah, yeah. Good work to you too, Riko-senpai and Takanashi-san."

"So I really was the true wielder of the Reaper's Scythe..."

I left Rosso-san to her brooding and rejoined Riko-senpai and Takanashi-san.

After that, we retrieved the magic stones from among the wheat impostors and headed for the exit gate.

It had been one of the most difficult dungeons we had explored so far, but the day's exploration ended without anyone suffering an injury.

＊　　　　　　＊　　　　　　＊

After returning to the sealed facility and changing clothes, we completed the necessary procedures at reception and headed home.

We had defeated a total of thirty monsters. Since each magic stone was worth ten thousand yen, that meant a profit of seventy-five thousand yen per person. Of course, taxes and adventurer's insurance would cut that down to about half.

Even so, it was more than enough for a day's earnings. I also felt as if my spiritual rank had risen another level, so it had been a highly rewarding dungeon expedition.

Just as I stepped through the automatic doors into the parking lot, Riko-senpai turned toward me with an unnecessarily cheerful smile.

"All right! After we report to the café, let's eat lunch and play games right afterward!"

"That sounds like something an elementary schooler would say, Riko-senpai."

"Shut up! A gyaru lives every moment at an elementary-schooler's speed!"

"What is a gyaru supposed to be in your mind...?"

"W-wait. Is it really today? I-I don't have much experience with that sort of thing... I need time to prepare myself..."

Rosso-san's cheeks turned red as her gaze wandered around. However, the corners of her mouth were slightly relaxed.

Apparently, she was happy about it despite herself.

"Come on, Rosson! We're taking the bus, so meet us in front of the café!"

"W-well, if you insist on inviting me so enthusiastically, I suppose it cannot be helped...!"

"This is practice for our next sleepover!"

...Oh. This person still hadn't given up on the all-night game marathon.

I probably would not be invited to the sleepover, so I sent a silent cheer to Takanashi-san and Rosso-san. Good luck. Spending the whole night keeping up with Riko-senpai's energy might feel like having your mind put through a grinder, but I'm sure you two can endure it...!

From the safety of the safe zone, I will pray for your safe return...!

"Yahiro-san, what is the matter? You are smiling while staring into the distance."

"No... Live strongly, Takanashi-san."

"? Uh... That is what I should be saying to you."

"Why are you two standing around!? Time is money! Full speed ahead!"

"No. Judging by the bus's departure time, running now wouldn't make any difference."

"...Then let's run! All the way home!"

"Ability users are only allowed to run along public roads above a certain speed in an emergency, so please seriously stop."

"Okaaay."

Riko-senpai walked toward the bus stop with obvious reluctance.

We followed behind her.

...Even so, I could understand how she felt. She wanted to get to the café as soon as possible.

Apparently, I was looking forward to playing games with my 'friends' more than I cared to admit.

Smiling wryly to myself, I deliberately moved my feet slowly.

I liked this time for its own sake, too.

"By the way, Yahiro-san. Riko-senpai."

"Yes?"

"What's up, Miyucchi?"

Takanashi-san was wearing her usual T-shirt and military jacket, but she had an unusually serious expression on her face.

"When friends or members of a unit play some kind of game, I hear that they prepare forfeits and the like."

"Well, that depends on the people."

"I see, I see. Do you have some kind of forfeit idea, Miyucchi?"

"Yes."

After nodding emphatically, she clenched her fist.

"The loser will have to wear a certain item."

"Wait, that sounds kind of scary..."

"Please rest assured. No physical damage will be inflicted. Naturally, there will be no financial damage either."

Doesn't that imply you'll inflict social damage? Or am I imagining things?

As Takanashi-san stared intently at me, still harboring my unease, she announced:

"How about having the loser do this thing called 'cosplay'?"

Ah, no. What we're losing here isn't our social standing. It's our sanity.

"Wait."

"AHAHAHA! I'm in!"

"Wait??"

"Give it up, Otaku-kun... The world runs on majority vote, you know?"

"For the sake of diversity, shouldn't we avoid discarding minority opinions? And besides, Rosso-san's opinion matters too—she just rode off on her motorcycle!"

"In that case, Takanashi-san, I would like to form an alliance with you."

"Are you seriously openly negotiating collusion, Takanashi-san!?"

"No, Otaku-kun... this is just girls' night talk☆"

"Don't screw with me!?"

A battle no one could afford to lose... had somehow begun...!