Chapter 235
“This place is…”
Stepping through the gate, Franz faced a dense jungle. Trees and vines filled the surroundings, and the humidity, comparable to the rainy season, evoked a sense of discomfort.
“So this is the labyrinth…”
“I really can’t believe it…”
The Raham investigators who had entered with him looked around with wide eyes.
They must have been quite surprised as they all had their mouths hanging open, their mouths agape, as if inviting insects to fly right in.
In the meantime, Franz checked the surroundings with mana detection.
‘I guess it’s not on the dangerous side…’
The cave of Nostra, the empire’s snowfield, and the overflow in Rome.
Compared to those, Raham’s labyrinth was quite weak, weak enough for Raham to resolve on their own.
Of course, that didn’t mean he intended to leave it to them. This matter was something Raham’s King had requested help directly from the empire’s emperor.
For the sake of the relationship between the two nations, and the dignity of the two individuals, it was better for him to resolve it himself.
“From now on, please do not fall behind me.”
Franz took a step into the dense jungle.
The jungle was incredibly unpleasant. Not only was the temperature high enough to cause sweat to pour, but the humidity was also quite high, so the sweat showed no signs of drying.
Franz was at least managing it somehow with magic, but the Raham investigators had to endure it physically.
“It is quite hot…”
“If I had known it would be like this, I would have brought some water.”
They let out weak voices and trudged along.
Would these nobles have ever experienced hard labor? It was only natural that they were struggling.
Though even those thoughts would soon disappear.
“They’re coming.”
Franz spat out the short words and stopped walking.
The investigators similarly stopped walking, and a brief silence followed, before a bizarre sound was heard from afar.
Bzzzzzz-.
It was a sound similar to the flapping of an insect’s wings. The only difference was that the sound was incredibly loud.
A loud sound meant that whatever was making the sound was also large…
Giant bees appeared from within the dense jungle. Their size was on par with the upper body of an average man.
Even getting stung by a bee the size of a mere finger would cause a hand to swell, and in severe cases, cause shock. If one were stung by the sharp stingers attached to the bees' abdomens, it would surely be fatal.
Gulp-.
Without taking their eyes off the creatures, the investigators swallowed their tension down their throats.
“Then I shall check what their level is.”
Franz flicked his finger. Snap!, with a cheerful sound, a magic circle was drawn in the air.
What was soon fired at the creatures was a spell with its power infinitely lowered, only capable of barely leaving a scratch.
As he always did, Franz was gathering information on them.
“M-Mage, they are getting closer…”
“Yes, I know.”
Franz answered nonchalantly. After all, he was continuously watching them with his own two eyes.
He knew they were approaching without needing to be told.
‘Well, it’s not like I don’t understand how they feel.’
It was back when he first faced a monster as the Mage of the Hero’s Party. He had struggled just to catch a truly insignificant monster.
His individual abilities were outstanding, but his lack of experience was a hindrance.
Of course, he quickly got used to it, and soon enough, blood and chunks of flesh flying around didn’t bother him at all.
Snap-.
Franz flicked his finger once again.
A thin thread fired from the magic circle accurately pierced the creatures' heads.
The creatures struggled violently while strung up in a row on the thread. There were those that tried to fly into the sky only to crash, and those that bit off their own legs in a frenzy.
Was it because they had the appearance of insects? That struggling lasted longer than expected.
Eventually, unable to tolerate the precious specimens being damaged, Franz completely ended their lives.
“S-So easily…”
“The Mage of the Hero’s Party is truly different…”
The investigators wiped the sweat from their foreheads with their handkerchiefs and marveled. Those their handkerchiefs were already so drenched in sweat that water was dripping from them.
“E-Excuse me, Mage, if it’s alright, could you make some water with magic…?”
“Yes, that isn’t difficult, but…”
Franz trailed off and observed the expressions of the other investigators.
They were turning their heads away with rather unpleasant expressions.
They must have been told something before coming here: not to cause a nuisance to the empire’s Mage or not to show a disappointing side unnecessarily.
He could fully understand that sentiment. As the Magic Tower lord, he was always saying similar things to the Executives.
‘Well, it doesn’t really matter.’
He had somewhat expected it to turn out like this from the moment they entered the labyrinth.
Snap-.
As Franz flicked his finger, water began to flow out from the magic circle.
“T-Thank you-!”
He hastily caught the water with his hands and quenched his thirst. In addition, he even lightly washed his face.
The investigators watching that sight exchanged glances and stealthily stepped forward.
After a short while
“How can water be this delicious!”
“It’s as if someone mixed honey into it-!”
Without caring who went first, they drank the water and wiped away their sweat.
However, even in that situation, there was exactly one person who was still sweating with his arms crossed.
“What on earth are you Raham nobles doing! Are you not ashamed?! I will report this to Prince Erden, so be aware!”
He seemed to have quite a strong sense of pride. While sweating profusely the sight of him holding back from the water right in front of him was truly worthy of respect.
But pride comes before a fall…
Before long, he stopped walking and spoke.
“M-Mage, some water please…”
He should have just drunk it earlier.
Franz thought inwardly as he created water with magic.
“Ahhh! You all enjoyed this good stuff by yourselves? I feel like I can finally live.”
It seemed he was the type of person who talked a lot when embarrassed.
Afterwards, Franz increased his speed and cleared the labyrinth.
Even if there were an infinite amount of water, their stamina had a limit.
They pushed through the dense jungle, battling monster after monster.
And so they arrived at the center of the jungle. A large rock stood in a vast open area.
But it was not an ordinary rock.
Rumble-.
The ground seemed to shake, and then the dirt around the rock began to rise, as if something was moving underground.
A moment later.
Thud-!
A giant rock golem revealed its form. The giant rock in the center of the open ground had been its head.
The investigators were thoroughly intimidated by the overwhelming presence of the giant golem. Even so, the fact that they didn’t let out a single sound was impressive in its own way.
Perhaps they were just too scared to even make a sound.
Snap-.
Franz smiled and flicked his finger.
From then on, the battle with the giant golem began.
Crash-!
Every time magic grazed the golem, a large mark was engraved on its body. Even that was with its power infinitely reduced, so the battle could practically be called one-sided.
“As expected, I have no choice but to destroy the core…”
The golem was moving as if it were alive, but it was hard to consider it alive. The shattered arm reattaching itself and moving again was proof of that.
Therefore, destroying the energy source that allowed it to move, the core, was the only way to defeat it.
And that energy source was…
“Right here.”
A streak of light fired from the magic circle pierced its chest. The rock that made up its chest shattered to pieces, revealing a round blue bead, its core.
It might have been hidden away tightly, but to Franz, who could see the flow of mana, it was clearly visible.
With the boss defeated like that, the gate closing was only a matter of time.
“Let’s slowly head out.”
Franz led the investigators and escaped from the labyrinth.
Afterwards, they distributed the monster specimens brought from the labyrinth and briefly informed the recipients about the labyrinth and the gate.
The investigators looked quite exhausted. Having suffered so much in the jungle and returned, their exhaustion was only natural.
But what could he do? He had no choice because educating them while the things they saw on site were still vivid in their minds was the most effective.
“Then shall I slowly head back now.”
When they arrived in Raham, the sun had been high in the sky, but before they knew it, the sun was hanging over the mountain ridge.
Snap-.
Franz flicked his finger. A magic circle was drawn beneath his feet, and soon, with a flash of light, he arrived at the mansion where the girls were waiting.
“Girls, I’m back.”
Franz spoke quietly as he stepped inside the mansion.
And he faced them. The girls had vicious expressions.
Just what on earth had happened?
He didn’t know for sure, but it seemed it would be best to be careful for the time being.