by Hiro Ainana
“More or less. As the eldest son of Count Fudai, I thought I ought to have a bronze badge at the very least.”
The young man, who had short tawny-brown hair and a rather cruel face, looked smug as he responded to the other boys’ questions.
If memory served, the stout boy with the black hair was Baron Lalupott’s fourth son, Peison, and the short, clever-looking blond boy was Viscount Gohato’s third son, Sir Dirun.
Sir Gerits and his close friend—Baron Tokey’s second son, Sir Luram—didn’t seem amused.
“H-hmph! I bet you just hid behind your cousin and threw rocks!”
“Yeah, yeah! You’ve never even beat Mary-Ann in a sword fight, so there’s no way you could beat a monster!”
On hearing this, Baronet Dyukeli’s eldest daughter, Miss Mary-Ann, swiftly drew her rapier and pointed it at Sir Luram’s face.
“Are you saying you think monsters are stronger than my sword?”
“Th-that’s not what I meant. C’mon—get your sword outta my face, will ya?”
Sir Luram pulled his face away nervously. He should not have spoken out of line if he was so frightened of her.
Or perhaps this was just how friends interacted?
I must confess I was a mite jealous.
Thanks to Sir Satou, I now had a gold badge, but Ravna and the others would never allow me to enter the labyrinth.
The most I could do was hang about the explorers’ guild and hear the veterans’ tales of glory.
After all, I lost heart after two days of sword training, I could not produce a single fireball even after two years of magic training, and my sole ability of note was my Breath of Purification.
Gazing at the Nolork family crest emblazoned on my dagger, I heaved a deep sigh.
“There you are, Master Gerits.”
“Oh, it’s Sokell. Need something?”
Looking up, I saw that Sir Sokell had entered the building and was approaching Sir Gerits with a smile he never showed to anyone ranked beneath him.
“Congratulations. You’ve been granted permission.”
“Permission? To enter the labyrinth?!”
“Yes, I managed to convince your esteemed parents.”
“Great job!”
“Master Gerits, me too! Take me with you!”
Sir Peison quickly pressed closer to Sir Gerits.
Hearing that, his other friends clamored to join him as well.
I would have liked to join them myself, but since I had declined Sir Sokell’s marriage proposal, I could hardly request that he help me enter the labyrinth.
“Restraint is not a virtue, indeed?”
Turning around, I saw a strange noble dressed all in green.
I must confess, this person frightened me.
Aside from his manner of dress and strange way of ending sentences, he was the picture of a perfect noble, an older man who was polite even to those below him. Yet, when those eyes looked upon me, I felt as if he might swallow me whole.
It was only my instincts, not logic, that told me to keep my distance from this person.
“I—I shall go back to my room forthwith.”
“You wish to go to the labyrinth with those children, indeed? I shall acquire permission from Lady Ravna, indeed.”
The offer was too tempting to resist. I hesitated a moment, then nodded despite myself.
After that, Sir Poputema somehow managed to convince Ravna, and I found myself going to the labyrinth with Sir Gerits and his friends.
“Where’s Sokell?”
“I’m afraid he is currently under house arrest, so he’s unable to come along on today’s exploration.”
One of the viceroy’s guardian knights responded to Sir Gerits.
The night after Sir Sokell proposed the labyrinth expedition, some circumstances led to him being confined in his home.
Why, then, would he deliberately leave his home to come propose to me again anyway?
Sir Sokell had been even more frightening than usual the previous day, with madness in his eyes.
Squire Ryula was too enamored with Sir Sokell’s good looks to defend me. If Sir Satou had not come to my rescue, he might even have forced a kiss upon me.
Alas, just imagining such a thing sent a shiver down my spine.
“My colleagues and I will protect you. Please feel secure in enjoying your labyrinth exploration.”
“Cool, thanks.”
Aside from the viceroy’s two knights, each of Sir Gerits’s friends also brought a few of their family guards, so we had quite a large group. My guardian knight Ravna and squire Ryula were with me, too.
Unfortunately, this meant that the other explorers around us were all taking note of us.
For some reason, some of them even said things like “Awww, what a cute little princess.”
This seemed rather rude, but since they surely intended it as a compliment, I allowed it to pass.
“You must be Sir Gerits, correct? I am Lurahgiu, the explorer Sir Sokell entrusted to guide you.”
This man’s eyes looked like he might betray us at any moment.
Worse yet, he had a strange scent of rotten meat that made me wrinkle my nose.
I seemed to be the only one who was bothered, so I kept such comments to myself, but I would still be careful not to get close to this man.
“Okay. I guess Sokell’s not coming today, but thanks for guiding us.”
“It will be my pleasure.”
Lurahgiu ducked his head toward Sir Gerits, then took to the front of the group and led us into the hall leading to the labyrinth.
Though feeling a trifle anxious, my heart was full of excitement as my first trek into the labyrinth began.
“Here we go. … Wind Shot Kofuudan!”
The Wind Magic user Sir Dirun sent the foremost goblin flying with his spell.
As the goblin attempted to rise, the explorer Lurahgiu quickly ran up and pinned it down with his spear.
“Nice one, Dirun! Now it’s my turn!”
“Wait, me too!”
Sir Gerits and Miss Mary-Ann rushed over to the fallen goblin with their swords in hand.
“Wait up, Master Gerits…”
“I’m coming, too!”
Sir Luram and Sir Peison followed after the others.
“Don’t you wish to join them, Princess Meetia?”
Sir Jance kindly noticed that I was hanging back.
“N-no, I thank thee. It does not quite sit right with me to torment a monster that can no longer move.”
“There’s not much choice when you’re just starting out. It’s difficult to properly start training at first if the monster hasn’t been brought down already.”
Since Sir Jance already had his bronze badge, perhaps it was true that this was the ordinary way of things, but I still could not feel good about it.
Perhaps sensing my feelings, Sir Jance simply smiled at me and walked over to the goblin.
“Hey, guide. There’s not enough monsters here,” Sir Gerits complained as one of his attendants wiped the goblin’s blood off his face.
Unbothered by Sir Gerits’s attitude, our guide, Sir Lurahgiu, simply smiled.
“In that case, might I recommend area 11?”
Immediately, one of the viceroy’s knights drew his sword and pointed it at the explorer.
“What are you plotting? Area 11 is extremely dangerous—that’s where the knight killers lurk.”
The other guardians all stirred at this.
“Please calm down. The place I am suggesting is a little-known spot with no knight killers to be found. While you knights with your heavy armor would likely be safe, I am too lightly protected to even think to guide you to a place where a knight killer might be.”
The man sucked in his cheeks, sweating under the furious gazes of all the knights.
“I want to see this place.”
“Nooo, knight killers are scary…”
“Shut up, Luram. You can go home if you’re chicken.”
; “Aw, geez…”
A nervous-looking Sir Luram attempted to dissuade Sir Gerits.
“It is too dangerous, Master Gerits.”
The viceroy’s knights agreed with Sir Luram, but Sir Gerits would not be persuaded.
“You’ll protect us, though, right? Father always speaks so highly of your strength.”
Their pride inflated by Sir Gerits’s words, the knights agreed, and we set out for this area-11 place.
Even taking frequent breaks, those of us who had never entered the labyrinth were unable to keep up with all this exercise, and soon we had to ride on a Floating Board produced by a Practical Magic user among the guardians.
Eventually, the unchanging scenery of the labyrinth lulled us into a light doze, so it was only when Squire Ryula woke me that I knew we had arrived.
“That was pretty comfortable. I’ll ask Father to give you a reward.”
Sir Gerits nodded appreciatively to the Practical Magic user, then stretched.
“There is a monster nest at the bottom of this cliff, so take care not to stray too close to the edge.”
Our hunting grounds was a large, cylindrical cave with light stones in the walls.
The glowing stones were sparse, resulting in the place being darker than the sign stone–lit passages, as if the cliff continued all the way down into hell.
However, Sir Gerits did not seem to share my trepidation.
“Okay, hurry up and bring some monsters.”
“Right away, young sire.”
With that, the hunting began.
The monsters in the area Sir Lurahgiu had guided us to were weak enough for us to defeat even on our own, and there were many more down below the cliff.
Our guardian knights and priests protected us as we continued hunting monsters.
“All right! I leveled up!”
Sir Gerits jumped up and down excitedly.
He had been quite envious when the Wind Magic user Sir Dirun and the rapier-wielding Miss Mary-Ann had leveled up before him, so it only followed that he would be so thrilled now.
I couldn’t get left behind.
The others, like Sir Luram and the serious Sir Peison, seemed to feel the same way.
“I’ll definitely be next!”
“Bring on more monsters!”
“Certainly, dears.”
The voice that responded to the two boys was a woman’s voice that I hadn’t heard before.
“Who’s that?!”
The viceroy’s knights whirled around.
“Over there!”
The sharp-eyed Sir Jance pointed at a figure that had appeared on a nearby ledge.
“A plunderer?!”
“That’s right. I’m Derrin the Dagger Princess. How about I slice up your cute little friends with my daggers?” She nastily licked the daggers she held in each hand.
“A plunderer wouldn’t attack alone. Keep an eye on your surroundings! Get the children to safety, especially Master Gerits and Princess Meetia!”
On the viceroy’s knight’s cue, the other guardians all leaped into action.
Despite being a ragtag team, they were all the vassals of major nobles, after all.
“Your Highness, do you hear something?”
“Don’t get distracted, Ryula. Focus on protecting the princess.”
“Y-yes, ma’am!”
At Ravna’s scolding, the squire Ryula hurriedly looked around.
However, I was intrigued by the squire’s words, so I closed my eyes and listened.
And when I did…
“Ravna! Footsteps! Sir Jelil warned me about this. Plunderers like to cause monster chain rampages and set them on explorers!”
Ravna’s eyes widened. “Get away from the passage!” she shouted.
A few of the knights and guardians managed to react, but the rest were knocked off the cliff by the sudden barrage of bee and grasshopper monsters that burst into the cavern.
“Knight killers?!”
“That’s riiight. Horn hoppers can pierce even the toughest armor, and rock-head bees can crush the hardest helmet. Enjoooy!”
The mages attacked the sneering plunderer, but she was so far away that she dodged them easily.
“Don’t let her distract you! We’ve got to fight these monsters with everything we’ve got!”
“Gya-ha-ha! That’s right—go on and fight for your lives!”
The woman cackled at the desperately fighting guardians.
Our guardians were all just as strong as my knight Ravna, so they quickly piled up knight killer corpses.
“Better hurry, or you won’t be ready for the second helping!”
Next to appear were gigantic praying mantis monsters—seven of them, no less.
“Now it’s soldier mantises?!”
“Those who have confidence in their strength, follow me! The rest of you, stay back and defend the children!”
The viceroy’s knights led the charge against the mantises.
Ravna stayed back to make sure I was safe, but part of her must have wanted to join the battle: Blood trickled from her tightly clenched fist.
A magic blade glowed red as it sliced through the soldier mantises.
“Spellblade”?
It seemed that the viceroy’s knights could use “Spellblade,” just like my knight, Ravna.
“Awesome! Good job!”
Sir Gerits and the others cheered on the knights, seeming to forget the current situation.
Under magical protection, the knights continued to slaughter the mantises.
“It’s a war mantis!”
I soon learned the dreadful meaning of these shouted words.
In no time at all, the powerful knights were cut down like common soldiers.
The war mantis was so large that the soldier mantises looked like children by comparison.
“We won’t let you pass!”
The viceroy’s knights stood in front of the war mantis.
But after their battle against the soldier mantises, it was clear that exhaustion was starting to take its toll.
“Your Highness…”
Ravna looked at me, her face full of the desire to fight.
“I grant thee permission.”
“Y-Your Highness?!” Ryula the squire exclaimed in surprise.
“Go, Ravna. Show the Shiga Kingdom the strength of a Nolork knight.”
“Understood!”
Drawing her broadsword, Ravna closed in on the war mantis like a gale-force wind.
“Boulder-Slicing Blade!”
Her glowing red sword swung down at the war mantis and clashed against its shield arm.
“If even Ravna’s blade cannot cut it, the monsters of the labyrinth must be impressive indeed.”
Once Ravna joined the fight, the battle was once again going to our advantage.
As I watched, white smoke suddenly rose up from the floor.
“Wh-what’s this?”
“Who used a smoke bomb?!”
“You again, Luram?!”
“I-it wasn’t me!”
Before I could even turn to look at Sir Gerits and the others, my vision was filled with white smoke.
“Ahhh!”
In that instant, I saw Squire Ryula fall to the ground bleeding.
“Ryu—”
But I was unable to finish calling her name before my mouth was covered.
The stench of rotten meat assaulted my nose. Was it Explorer Lurahgiu who was blocking my mouth?
No matter how I struggled, I could not escape, and a rope of some kind was wrapped around my torso.
Phweeeeee.
“What’s that whistling noise?”
“Could be more plunderers. Protect Master Gerits and his friends!”
The shouts of the guardians grew ever more distant.
No.
It was I who was being dragged farther away.
After an impact that knocked the breath from my lungs, I was hefted up like so much baggage.
“Hunh? I came because I ’eard there’d be a princess of some foreign kingdom. Who’s this brat?”
How rude. I raised my head to protest, but as soon as my eyes fell on the face that was half-covered by a mask, I felt fear grip my heart.
I was so frightened that it took me some time to notice that he reeked of rotten meat, just like Lurahgiu.
A whole band of plunderers had appeared alongside the woman who first stood here.
“C-Cap’n. L-lemme have this ’un, please.”
The giant dangling me by a rope stared down at me with a fiery gaze.
“She’d be no use for fertilizing demonic potions. We’ll just kill ’er anyway. Have yer fun.”
The man in the half mask glanced at me coldly and nodded his permission to the giant.
“Your Highness!”
My knight, Ravna, came running along the cliff.
A single wrong step or a moment’s hesitation would have sent her tumbling right down into the nest of monsters below.
And yet, even stronger than my concern for her safety, I felt relief that she had come to rescue me.
“Oh-ho, I like this one’s spunk.”
“Let go of Her Highness!”
“I’ll take you on, girlie. The name is Ludaman. Plunderer King Ludaman.”
Ravna swung her sword toward the self-proclaimed Plunderer King, but he blocked it with a frightening battle-ax.
“Ye got a strong arm. But with a bronze sword, ye won’t last long against me magic battle-ax.”
Red sparks lit the ledge each time the broadsword and battle-ax clashed.
Their physique seemed roughly the same, but he somehow outclassed her in speed and brute strength.
“No fair, Ludaman. I’m going out there, too.”
“Ye can have the knights, but don’t touch those brats.”
…What’s this?
“I know, I know. Once the viceroy’s guards come, we’ll just curse at them and run, right?”
“Long as ye remember. Make a good show of it for ’em.”
What were they talking about?
It was almost as if…
“Done already, are we?”
“Even if her sword breaks, a knight’s heart never wavers.”
Her sword half-broken, her helmet and shoulder guards in splinters, and blood staining her body, Ravna the knight still stood gallantly against the Plunderer King Ludaman.
Someone, please save Ravna.
Anyone, I beg thee…