Chapter 5
For a moment, he wondered if the three Blue Devils were asleep, but abandoned the thought when they immediately attacked as soon as they noticed him.
“...So that means that girl... is she...?”
As the three Blue Devils bore down on him, Kagami wondered who the girl was. He swung a backfist with his right hand, sweeping the Blue Devil at the front aside and smashing it into the dungeon wall.
Another Blue Devil immediately rushed him. Kagami pulled his fist back and slapped it, sending it crashing into the opposite wall. Finally, he spun around and kicked the one leaping at him head-on, sending it flying straight back.
The Blue Devils’ bodies then transformed into drop items and gold.
“Oh no! I lost sight of her!”
With that deliberately dramatic cry, Kagami gave up chasing the girl and collected the gold and drop items. It wasn’t as if he’d put the drop items ahead of the girl’s safety.
Kagami was certain the girl wasn’t in any danger.
There was no one in this world who wasn’t attacked by monsters. That left only one possibility.
“There shouldn’t be any settlements around here... What should I do?”
Having completed the quest objective of defeating thirty Blue Devils, Kagami had no reason to stay here.
But he was genuinely curious about why a girl was in a place like this, so he followed the faint traces of magic lingering in the air and ran down the passage she had taken.
――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
“Um... Hero-sama. Aren’t there... an abnormal number of monsters?”
“...Even so, unless all four of us are above Level 70, these back-to-back battles are going to get a little rough.”
One Blue Devil at a time was easy for Rex to defeat, thanks to his abilities as a Hero and his high Level of 90. But even Rex struggled to handle several at once.
That was because he couldn’t fight at full strength while protecting his lower-Level companions.
When several attacked at once, Rex couldn’t block every attack by himself, leaving the three people in the back vulnerable.
That disrupted their formation, and Kururu in particular, at Level 42 and lightly equipped, took heavy damage.
“My magic is nearly exhausted... I can manage three or four more battles at most.”
When someone took damage, Priest Tina naturally played an important role. She converted the magic within her body into healing spells to tend to her companions’ wounds, but the more often she used them, the more magic she consumed.
Kururu was taking most of the damage, but if their frontline fell, the whole party would be in danger of being wiped out, so Rex couldn’t afford to stop healing her.
Tina was also taking damage because she stayed close to Rex and kept using support magic. Parnah was the only one who hadn’t been hurt so far.
“Parnah-san, you’re amazing. You keep supporting Hero-sama’s attacks while dodging all the enemies’ attacks, too. Someone as clumsy as me... could never do that.”
Tina gazed at Parnah with admiration.
“I’m a Mage, but I often went into dungeons alone, so I’m used to fighting—when I’m the one being targeted, that is.”
As she brushed the dust from her clothes, kicked up by the attack spell that created blades of vacuum, Parnah replied.
“Besides, I’m only Level 78, so I’m not especially strong. If you weren’t here, Tina, I’d have suggested turning back ages ago. You’re just as helpful as I am, so don’t worry.”
With that, Parnah gave Tina, who was a head shorter than her, a few gentle pats on the head.
“S-sorry... I’m just holding everyone back.”
Kururu’s shoulders rose and fell as she murmured, looking visibly exhausted and anxious.
Kururu had always fought while being protected by her party as she gained Levels, so she wasn’t used to being the target of attacks. On top of that, this dungeon was above her appropriate Level, and she was being pushed into an extremely difficult situation.
Until now, Kururu had always fought with three people on the front line and one in the back. Having a monster rush right up to her was a first.
The decision that a princess of the kingdom couldn’t be exposed to mortal danger during training had become a hindrance in real combat.
“Don’t worry. The princess is still lower-Level than the rest of us. You’ll get used to it.”
“But... because of me, we’re in a situation where the lives of the entire party are at risk unless we turn back. If only I were stronger...”
“No, you’ve been doing well, Princess. Besides, look.”
The passage ahead, where Rex pointed, was filled with a light that seemed impossible in the dim dungeon.
“That light... So that’s the goal?”
Parnah immediately understood what sort of place lay beyond, and smiled.
“Thank goodness... Then all we have to do is run whenever we encounter monsters, keeping in mind the way back. That’s much easier than fighting them all.”
Tina let out a sigh of relief.
Rex, who had privately worried that they might have come here too soon, now hurried toward the glowing space with a lightness as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“...This is where the legendary holy sword passed down through the royal family sleeps!”
Their eyes, accustomed to the dungeon’s darkness, narrowed against the white light filling the space.
As their vision gradually adjusted, the entire party stared wide-eyed at the strange sight before them.
Despite being inside a dungeon, the walls glowed white. It was a domed space with an almost divine air about it.
At the center of the space stood a white pedestal where the legendary holy sword was supposed to be embedded—and in front of it, blocking the sword from view, was a girl who looked about ten years old, wearing a tattered cloth cloak and moving about restlessly.
“...Who are you?”