by volume 1
“P…Please wait a minute!? No matter what reason it is, but letting the monsters out is our mistake. If we request from help from other forces, then we may be looked down upon in the future……”
“I am everybody’s Ganesha! Do you want the civilians that we protect to be injured! The greatest blessing should be the smiles of the child. Position and reputation, these things can be just thrown aside.”
“Y…Yes!? I am really really sorry!”
“The Festival will continue! Do not let the coliseum audience out. Also, do not tell them the truth that the monsters have escaped! This will only lead to unexpected chaos.”
“U…Understood! Also, about the matter of capturing the one that let the monsters out……”
“Oh, we will temporarily ignore that. Because after all, they did not release all the monsters out, so it should just be an overboard prank, and they should not have wanted to cause destruction. I think they have another goal. If we mobilize our entire forces, we will just mess each other up and that might be what they want. To us, the civilian’s safety is the MOST! IM! POR! TANT!”
Go now! After receiving Ganesha’s orders, the familia member quickly ran out.
The monsters’ escape was confirmed to be less than 5 minutes ago. According to their god’s command, the Ganesha Familia had quickly taken the appropriate measures.
“Monsters, Escaped?”
This was when Ganesha had knew about this matter.
In front of the coliseum, Eina had also received this information.
“Ehhh,Ahh! Just when they ran out from the coliseum, they were seen by the team on the west side. Ganesha Familia is also hurriedly taking the appropriate measures……What should we do, Eina~”
In that moment, Eina felt stunned. However, she immediately switched her thinking. Her eyebrows creased.
Afterwards, she immediately said to her friend that was about to cry.
“No matter what actions we do, it will still be good. Base on the distance from shortest to furthest, quickly contact the surrounding Familias! Also any adventurers too!”
“I…Is it really okay for us to do this? We do not know what the higher ups will say……”
Currently the guild employees at the location only included Eina and a few low ranked employees. When the West Entrance had problems, because they needed reinforcements, even the managers were sent over there.
The surrounding colleagues were all the same, to singly decide on their actions, they could not conceal their inner anxiety and confusion.
“That is not important compared to people getting hurt! Also, Ganesha-sama will also understand that we need to prioritize saving human lives. They do not have any reason to object to us seeking help from other Familia! If something happens, then it will already be too late!”
“T…That makes sense. If something regretful happens, then it will really be too late.”
Eina combined the personality of Ganesha-sama, who managed the Monster Festival, and the happy civilians who were actively participating, and slowly persuaded her colleagues.
Perhaps her sincere thoughts were effectively, but the other guild employees looked at each other and expressed in agreement towards Eina’s views. Afterwards, they immediately began to discuss about how to divide the tasks on how to deal with this matter.
“……Excuse me. May I ask what has happened?”
Without any premonition, a voice sounded out beside Eina and the others.
When everybody turned to look at the voice of the owner, everybody seemed to be stunned and frozen.
“A…Aizu Wallenstein……”
Hearing the stupefied voice of her colleagues, Eina also used a surprised gaze to stare at the female in front of her.
The soft and elastic thighs were half-covered by the miniskirt, on the top half was a short shirt. The rapier, that was usually placed on top of the armor, was also inside its sheath, and hung onto the side of the body. The waist length blonde hair sparked in the sunlight.
She was one of the strongest adventurers in the entire Orario. To Eina and the others, she is an completely unattainable existence, and was standing right in front of them.
The nearest employee immediately flew off and explained the matter to Aizu.
She quietly listened and once she completely understood the situation, she turned her head behind.
“Loki”
“I heard it. Seems like it is completely unsuitable for a date now. Then we should also slightly help out Ganesha, that fellow.”
Listening to the answer of the slightly smiling Loki, the guild employees were filled with joy.
The color on their face had eased down, even Eina felt a peace of mind; But she felt her shoulders stiffen again when she heard the next question.
“Then, where are those monsters, do you know?”
“Y…Yes. Most of the monsters headed off in the direction of East Main Street.”
East Main Street, isn’t that the place where Bell, who was looking for someone, headed off to?
Since the matter was so huge, could that boy be involved in the center of things.
“Misha, what kind of monsters escaped?”
“Eh? Let me think, it should be……Sword Stag, Troll and also a Silverback”
Listening to her friend’s answer, Eina’s brows creased.
The floor that the Silverback appear is on 11th Floor. Sword Stag and Troll are monsters that even appear further down on the 20th floor.
To an adventurer that barely survived on the 5th floor, these monsters were an insurmountable existence.
“Please, you must obediently head to a shelter……”
Eina lifted her head and stared at the sky in the direction of East Main Street.
She could not do much, besides from praying for the safety of Bell-kun.”
× × ×
The nervous atmosphere caused my ears to even feel some minor pain.
“Ruguguuu……”
In this bright and brilliant street that was decorated with flags everywhere, there was a completely different existence that appeared.
Listening to the echoing cries from the surrounding, I was at a complete loss of words.
That monster, with its long hair that seems like a tail, roared. The handcuffs and chain on its wrist, which look like it was torn off from a wall with brute force, let out a grinding noise as it dragged along on the floor.
That is, a Silverback?
I remembered the name because of Eina-san’s guidance and her lessons about the dungeon.
This was a monster that appeared in a floor far below the floor that I reached.
Although it’s still weaker than a Minotaur, its strength is definitely greater than mine.
“Kiiaa……!“
The Silverback began to move.
It’s knees bent down slightly and it took a step towards Kami-sama and I.
——It’s coming over.
As my heart tightened up, the Silverback accelerated and sprinted over.
“!?”
“Waaaah!?”
I must dodge to the side. I held onto Kami-sama and prepared to dodge the enemy’s body.
I completely did not gave her any time to react. I held that tiny body as she screamed in terror. Our bodies rolled beautifully together with me on the stone road.
After rolling two or three times, we stopped. I swiftly lifted my head and kneeled on my knee.
Using a posture that covered Kami-sama and stood up.
“UUUuuu……!”
The Silverback that had its attack dodged turned around and rushed towards this side.
It’s ferocious eyes targeted us, and once again, rushed over to us.
(Why is it coming again!?)
Looking at the monster that had absolute no confusion about heading towards us, I swiftly pulled Kami-sama and headed towards the right-hand direction. That was the exact opposite direction of where the monster had headed to.
My action of wanting to a
llow Kami-sama to escape for danger did not even take a single second. But my action was futile as the Silverback immediately fixed its own direction.
(What!?)
I was shocked as I looked at the Silverback change it’s direction.
This monster was not looking at me, it’s locked target was ——Kami-sama!?
My legs trembled. I was too reckless when I dodged the enemy’s attack earlier, and I had sprained my body. To the fellow that seemed to be blocking the monster’s way, it did not give any excessive thoughts and simply acted.Its thick right hand swung through the air.
“——Ha!?”
“Gugooooooo~”
The violent punch exploded on my body.
My body was still tilted to the right a bit. The enemy’s attack still hit my stomach.
Although it hit the armor on top, but it still created a massive impact and my breathing nearly stopped.
I felt that my entire field of vision seemed to have frozen, and my body seemed to have been shot away.
“Ah!?”
I struck a shop in the side of the street. The sound of the wood breaking made a refreshing noise.
I endured the pain that surged through my entire body. Currently, I had been knocked into a small shop. To be accurate, half of my body was stuck inside the shop. The armor on my body had a fist imprint on it, and I clutched my stomach trying to breathe.
“UWAHHHHHH”
The street had entered a state of complete chaos.
The surrounding people constantly screamed and fled in all directions.
Just like a spider larvae, everyone was scrambling and striving to be first. In an instant, everyone was gone. There was no one that I could ask to help Kami-sama.
“……!?”
“Fu…uu!”
In front of the approaching Silverback, stood a girl shivering.
My mind instantly flared up.
“Ughhh, NOOOO”
Enduring the pain that was eroded my entire body, my body also had some strength. With tears overflowing from my eyes, I rushed over.
I ran over to the chains that were attached to the monsters hands that created the grinding sound on the floor.
“Waaaa!”
With a slamming sound, the chains were stretched, and the Silverback stopped advancing.
To this small fellow that simply pulled onto the chain, the monster’s gaze became extremely sharp and impatiently pulled with all its strength.
My body was easily thrown aside.
“Ughhhh……”
“Gigyi!”
In terms of strength, there was no comparison. In front of the monster’s power, I was completely helpless.
Despite this, I still used my entire body’s strength to pull onto the chain——Then without any warning, the chain slipped out from my hands.
“GIAAAA”
Suddenly releasing the chain had caused the Silverback to stumble back due to the reverse momentum. The chain drew a big arc in the sky. For now, an opening had formed.
I ran past the monster in one breathe and grabbed onto Kami-sama’s hands.
“This way!”
————If we walk on the Main Street, we’ll be caught!
I grabbed onto Kami-sama’s hand and ran towards the alley that divided the Main Street.
Immediately, an angry, beast-like roar sounded from behind.
The drama about escaping, where the ending was completely unknown, has just begun.
“Why is it like this? Why is Kami-sama being targeted?”
“H…How would I know!? It is the first time for me to see that monster! I really did not do anything!”
I held onto Kami-sama’s tiny arms, and used a moaning sound to inquire about this situation. Kami-sama’s response also seemed to be asking me to figure out what had happened. She seemed very uneasy and held onto my hand even more tightly.
The evil aura that was approaching from behind had not completely disappeared, and it was still closely following.
The Silverback continued to chase after us, no, it should be chasing after Kami-sama.
It looks like the monster was not trying to randomly attack others. It looked like it was being controlled by someone and had a clear purpose.
(What on earth is happening!?)
Holding these unanswerable doubts, I led Kami-sama and tried to escape.
Although it was still daytime, the inside of the alley felt faint and gloomy. This kind of situation contributed further to our unease. Looking above, the sky and the terrain seemed to maintain the exact same shape, the sunlight was unable to shine down here.
We ran down the path and headed to the south of the East Main Street. This means that we are currently running in an area between East Main Street and South-East Main Street.
We did not know where our destination was. We just ran aimlessly, because there was no time for us to think about it.
I turned my head back, in front of my eyes was Kami-sama, who had a painful expression because she was unable to breathe. Behind her was a dark shadow that extended all the way to the end of the path. I completely could not see any signs of the monsters.
However, It was still there.
It was still closely following us, this is what my instincts told me.
I turned my line of sight back to the front, then I selflessly increased my leg’s running strength. What remained inside my head was to quickly escape from this situation, no matter what, we should still run first. Just like that.
“……Bell-kun, I can’t! It is already……!”
“Eh!?”
Listening to Kami-sama’s voice panting for breath, I finally came to my senses. Then after passing the big bend on the path, I finally understood the meaning of the sentence.
“——“
After running through this tiny alley, we were now in this messy space.
There were many bends in the alley; On the walls, a few rooms and dirty stairs appeared unnaturally. The terrain was built according to whoever lived there, so it was also arranged quite messily.
This complex structure, was similar to many floors in the dungeon.
This is
It was a maze within Orario.
Because the area was rebuilt many times, so it had become a confusing residential street.
This was a strange and complex area that was inhabited by the poor. It was said that once you got lost there, you will never be able to leave from there. This residential area was named after the designer who was responsible for arranging this region; Because it caused others to become lost, it was more like a dungeon than the actual dungeon.
This isn’t good, if we’re at this kind of place, the monster will easily catch up.
It was obvious that if we continue walking down more of these alleys, we may end up getting flanked.
I took a glance with Kami-sama, who was still gasping for air. Her quick-witted eyes seemed to have completely seen through my fear and could only bitterly avoid it.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
“!?”
From the alley, the monster’s figure could be clearly seen within our visions.
The only thing we could do was choose this route and move forward. I grabbed onto the hand of Kami-sama and headed towards Daedalus Road.
After moving down from the stairs, we suddenly entered this dignified maze. The air inside this dark, constructed residential area seemed to be sticky and wet.
The residential street, no, it should be called the Labyrinth Street, was composed of many small huts made with stones. On the wall outside of the house was a few Magic Stone Chandeliers letting out a faint glow. The residents that seemed to be dressed up very neat seemed to understand completely the complex road and was walking around.
Once they noticed us running, and the Silverback behind us, the color in their face completely changed. Instantly, screams echoed throughout the entire street and the entire area had become deserted.
“Guga~”
“……!”
We were still being chased. And Kami-sama’s stamina, who has no difference compared to a normal human, had already reached its limits.
In fact, she had already worked hard to endure it till here. The gradually approaching Silverback seemed to be able to seize Kami-sama, who was gradually slowing down, if it stretched out its hand.
“Kami-sama, turn there!”
“Y…Yes……”
We swiftly turned into another path from our current road. After running up a few uphills, we took a fork and entered another road. This way we have changed our route many times.
(Did we escape from it?)
Relying on the complex structure of this labyrinth, we seemed to have created a distance from the Silverback. I observed the rear.
Currently, I could not see the figure of the monster. Could it be that it gave up and retreated? I suddenly felt at ease for a moment.
“————“
My sense of hearing seemed to feel the abnormal movement first.
It feels like it was kicking something, and the sound of the stone creaking.
Once I thought that the disturbing sound was coming from somewhere that wasn’t that far away, a huge shadow appeared on the stone road below my feet.
(This is bad————!?)
Directly above, from the gap between the houses where you could see the sky, it was cut off by a white-object several times.
It was like an ape-like monster, it was completely moving like it was between trees, and gently moved between the buildings. Completely ignoring the structure of this labyrinth and approached us swiftly from the sky.
“GIAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
“!” “Ah!?”
It was a surprise attack from above. The monster that dropped right in between me and Kami-sama caused us to separate our hands. Following the explosive sound of the landing, Kami-sama and I were each standing separately at one side.
And I was looking face to face with the Silverback. Just when I was about to quickly run over to the other side where Kami-sama was, the monster that was blocking me also made its move.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
I, who was standing in front of it, completely received this massive roar.