Chapter 214
Franz had made a promise to Baha Salman while escorting the Nostra delegation.
“Let us meet in two days, at the break of dawn.”
There couldn’t be a more diligent person - meeting at the break of dawn.
He thought it wouldn’t hurt to meet a little more leisurely, but he accepted the proposal without voicing it.
And so, the promised time arrived.
Franz arrived at the Underground City via Spatial Movement Magic.
It had been about a month since that incident.
The sight of the Underground City, collapsed and turned into ruins, and the traces of battle scattered everywhere brought back the memories of that day vividly.
“I died in this spot…”
Thinking about it again, he found it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.
Thinking of the girls who had been crying made his heart ache for no reason.
As Franz looked around while retracing his memories, he discovered something shimmering in blue.
Its height was greater than that of an average mansion, and its width was generous enough for five carriages to enter side by side.
It wasn’t difficult to figure out that this was the gate Baha Salman had told him about.
'It’s not magic power, but a force closer to divine power…'
Continuing his contemplation, he turned his head to the side and saw tents presumed to belong to Nostra.
And someone was walking over from those tents.
“It has been two days. It is a pleasure to see you, Archmage of the empire.”
Baha Salman reached out his hand and offered a light greeting.
Why was someone as important as the Third Prince in such a dangerous place?
Was there perhaps something going on among the Nostra royalty?
Such questions bloomed in his mind, but Franz forced himself to ignore them and grasped his hand.
“It is a pleasure to meet you again.”
Whatever their personal circumstances were, he just had to do what needed to be done.
“Then I would like to explain the operation from now on. If it is alright with you, would you join us?”
“Yes, if it’s that, by all means.”
Franz took a step forward alongside Baha Salman.
The place they soon arrived at was the largest tent among the many.
Inside the tent lay a map depicting the interior of the labyrinth and drawings presumed to be of Monsters.
It seemed the Nostra side hadn’t just been sitting on their hands all this time.
“First, according to what we have investigated…”
Baha Salman explained what Nostra had investigated so far.
The labyrinth looked like a maze, with dead ends everywhere.
Many Monsters were lurking in those dead ends.
“These are the areas we have investigated so far, but…”
He trailed off and shifted his gaze to the map depicting the inside of the labyrinth.
They must have drawn it while checking every single detail themselves.
He could tell without even hearing it how much effort had gone into it.
“We expect that even this is only a very small part.”
“I see.”
“But do you truly not need any support? It seems it would be safer to enter with knights…”
He spoke in a worried tone.
Weren’t mages usually the ones providing magical support from the rear? Therefore, his opinion could be considered valid.
That is, if the mage in front of him wasn’t Franz.
“It’s fine. It’s actually harder for me to fight while protecting others. And I’m not exactly alone.”
In time with Franz’s words, something emerged from his embrace.
A slender and long body, and flying through the air.
The identity of the thing that brought to mind an Eastern dragon was none other than leviathan.
“Have you subjugated a monster…?”
[Who are you calling a monster! You stupid fool!]
Leviathan flared up in anger and repeatedly smacked Baha Salman’s head with its tail.
It wasn’t enough to cause any meaningful damage, but Franz couldn’t just stand by and watch.
Is his familiar hitting the prince of another country?
No matter how he thought about it, it was the perfect recipe for a diplomatic issue.
Bzzzt-.
[O-Oohk?!]
Ultimately, after being struck by Franz’s electric shock, leviathan’s body stiffened before going limp and plummeting.
Having subdued the creature, Franz smiled awkwardly.
“I apologize. This guy has a bit of a nasty temper.”
“It is fine. I was the one who committed a discourtesy first.”
Whether it should be called a discourtesy…
It wasn’t exactly wrong. No matter how much intelligence it had, the fact that leviathan was a monster didn’t change.
Anyway, Franz knew Baha Salman to be kind-hearted. It wouldn’t hurt to have leviathan on their side.
Afterward, Franz walked and conversed with him.
There was nothing particularly important. They just exchanged opinions about the state of the world.
It was akin to the casual chatter one might exchange with a fellow traveler on a long road, or a merchant at a wayside inn.
And so, the place they arrived at was, naturally, in front of the gate.
“So this is a gate…”
Should he say it was a state where a powerful force was swirling in an unstable condition?
He couldn’t define it exactly, but it was certainly extraordinary.
“I will ask you one last time, but will you truly be alright on your own?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine.”
“…Then I wish you good fortune in battle.”
Baha Salman seemed somewhat dissatisfied, but in the end, he didn’t say anything else.
Franz, of course, knew how he felt.
If something were to happen to him, an envoy dispatched from the empire, it would truly become an irreversible matter.
But even so, he couldn’t force himself to take others along.
'They literally wouldn’t be of any help…'
Unless they were as skilled as Yuna, protecting Franz would be impossible.
If a time ever came when Franz needed protection, any mediocre knights would have already been wiped from the face of the earth.
So it was better not to have them. Even if he had to run away, it was easier to be alone.
“I will see you later.”
Saying so, Franz slowly took a step forward.
He felt the massive vortex of power sucking his body in.
“This should be fun…”
Labyrinth and gate.
A smile naturally formed from the curiosity brought by the unknown.
* * *
When Franz opened his eyes, he was inside a massive tunnel.
“So this is the labyrinth…”
Mana stones embedded in the walls were glowing, so it wasn’t very dark.
In terms of width, it was wide enough that even if three men stretched out their arms, there would still be room, and it was similarly quite high.
It was a relief that it wouldn’t be particularly inconvenient even if a battle broke out.
'Then let’s test it out.'
According to what he heard from Baha Salman, there was no problem using magic.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him, but taking someone else’s words at face value didn’t suit his temperament.
Even if a problem occurred later, he couldn’t exactly blame him for it.
Well, simply put, it was this: he only had one life, and it was ill to lock the stable door after the steed was fled.
“…”
Franz slowly drew up his magic power.
The mana stones embedded in the walls began to blink in response to the magic power, and the surrounding mana particles sparkled, forming a halo of light.
Fortunately, there seemed to be no problem using magic, but…
Another problem arose.
[Idiots are approaching this way.]
Leviathan, having regained its senses at some point, poked its head out from inside the robe and spoke.
Just as the guy said, unpleasant lumps of magic power were rapidly approaching.
They weren’t visible yet, but figuring out their identity wasn’t a very difficult task.
He had experienced it several times before.
[Hmph, I’ll just be sleeping.]
“Are you sulking?”
[Hah-, there’s no way I’d sulk over something like that. It’s just that thanks to someone’s electric shock, I’m still stinging and don’t want to move yet.]
…In the end, that meant he was sulking.
It was clear that as leviathan’s body had gotten smaller, its heart had gotten smaller too.
Well, he hadn’t expected its help in the first place anyway.
“Then just go to sleep.”
At the same time Franz finished speaking, the monsters revealed themselves.
They had bloodshot eyes, green skin covering their bodies, and vicious weapons in their hands.
Should the wide cloth wrapped around their waists be considered a sort of courtesy?
'They’re guys I’m seeing for the first time, but somehow they’re familiar.'
They were the guys typically called orcs in fantasy.
Since each and every one of them possessed magic power on the level of a Demon Lord’s army executive, it seemed they weren’t the riffraff commonly encountered in games.
Or else, guys of their level were just common mob monsters inside the labyrinth.
Anyway, he understood why the Nostra investigation team had been so miserably annihilated.
With guys like that swarming in groups, mediocre people wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Then let’s see what they’re capable of.
Franz was about to take a step forward with that thought.
“Uwoooar-!”
Conveniently, they started charging from their side first.
But something shot out from this side as well.
[Hmph, these guys won’t even serve as a distraction.]
A magic circle was drawn in front of leviathan’s mouth.