by Tôwa
“Cion, wait!” I shouted.
“—Boww!”
There was a chance that the Dirty Mushroom would counter with its spores if it were hit with a physical attack. Cion was about to strike the remaining one, but I ordered her to hold off so I could use the nonphysical attack that I’d just acquired.
“Arihito?!” cried Misaki worriedly, pausing just before she was about to throw her dice. But I didn’t have time to respond at the moment.
I gathered the magic flowing through my body between my thumb and forefinger where it formed into a sphere about the same size as my slingshot bullets. It was a magical bullet. I shot it at the mushroom person that was trying to attack Theresia and Elitia from the side while their swords were locked against each other.
“—Get lost!”
♦Current Status♦
> ARIHITO activated FORCE SHOT Hit DIRTY MUSHROOM B
> 1 DIRTY MUSHROOM defeated
Holy crap… That was more like a laser than a magical bullet…
I managed to bring down the mushroom without activating its Confusion Spore, like I’d intended. Suzuna turned her second arrow toward the Fear Treant, and Igarashi and Cion pulled back cautiously.
“…HWOOO!!”
The Fear Treant was about to attack. It’d used the Dirty Mushrooms to buy it time so it could prepare a long-range attack. It shook its boughs with a rustle, inflating a huge number of nuts hanging from its branches. I imagined they might explode and it would aim for us with its projectiles. I prepared another magical bullet for my Black Magical Slingshot and activated the black magic stone and its Stun effect before firing at the Fear Treant.
“Ack…!”
“Arihito…!”
I hadn’t realized using magic would feel so tiring, but it was great that I could fire two shots. At this speed, the magical bullet could land before the Fear Treant could attack!
Come on!
♦Current Status♦
> ARIHITO activated FORCE SHOT (STUN) Hit FEAR TREANT
> FEAR TREANT was STUNNED
> FEAR TREANT’s action was interrupted
“GWOOO!!” bellowed the Fear Treant as it took the magical bullet in its face, striking it off-balance. Igarashi and Cion saw their opening, but before they could even react accordingly, I was giving Suzuna an order. Theresia and Elitia were still taking swings at each other, splattering water as they moved—which happened to jog my memory.
“Suzuna, use Handwash and Wash Away! Purify the water and then throw it on Theresia!” I shouted.
“A-all right…!”
That was the only possible method our party had of nulling the Confusion status.
“Let’s go, Cion! …Hyaa!” called Igarashi.
“—Woof!!”
“I—I…I’m through with being useless!” shouted Misaki.
♦Current Status♦
> CION activated POWER RUSH Hit FEAR TREANT
11 support damage
> KYOUKA activated DOUBLE ATTACK
> Stage 1 hit FEAR TREANT
11 support damage
> Stage 2 hit FEAR TREANT
11 support damage
> MISAKI’s attack hit FEAR TREANT
11 support damage
“OOOOAAAGGGHHH… AAAH!!”
The Fear Treant’s trunk groaned and creaked with the impact from Cion’s tackle. Igarashi’s spear and Misaki’s die struck the monster next, but it seemed like it had a resistance to physical attacks because it didn’t go down even after the volley of blows.
“I’ve got the water! …Theresia, please return to your senses!” shouted Suzuna as she scooped water from the ground. The muddy sludge turned clear and sparkled in the light as she did, and then she splashed it onto Theresia.
“……”
♦Current Status♦
> SUZUNA activated HANDWASH
> SUZUNA activated WASH AWAY THERESIA’S CONFUSED status was removed
> FEAR TREANT began charging SEED EXPLOSION
Going by the name of the attack, it scatters the seeds, then they explode on us… But before that happens—!
Next to Theresia, who had snapped back to reality, Elitia was activating Sonic Raid. She dashed toward the Fear Treant.
“—Rot in hell!”
♦Current Status♦
> ELITIA activated DOUBLE SLASH
> Stage 1 hit FEAR TREANT
11 support damage
> Stage 2 hit FEAR TREANT
11 support damage
> 1 FEAR TREANT defeated
Elitia lopped off the armlike branches from the Fear Treant, and its terrifying face faded away. It looked like a normal, nonmoving tree.
“Well, we somehow made it out of that without getting hurt…,” said Elitia, wiping the sap from the Scarlet Emperor before sliding it into its sheath. Igarashi was relieved, and Cion was staring at the Fear Treant, perhaps making sure it wouldn’t move again, but she eventually seemed satisfied because she turned to me and gave a cute little woof.
Part II: Hope and Despair
“……”
Theresia was still standing there holding her sword, looking like she was lost in thought about something. She must have felt guilty about turning her sword against her friends, even though it was only because she was under the influence of Confusion.
“Theresia, don’t let it bother you. I’m not upset,” said Elitia. “These things happen. Just make sure you throw your dirks from as far away as possible next time.”
“……”
But Theresia didn’t nod back right away. I wasn’t sure how to help her in this kind of situation. Even if I tried to say kind things to her, knowing her personality, she’d probably just blame herself even more. While I stood there worriedly thinking, Suzuna went up to Theresia and started toweling off the water that she’d dowsed her in.
“I’m sorry I threw water all over you… Was it cold?”
“……”
Theresia shook her head, and Suzuna smiled, then draped the towel she was using on Theresia’s shoulders.
“You should keep it like this for a little bit. You’ll get cold if you’re wet,” said Suzuna.
“Atobe, is that one of Suzuna’s abilities? Healing people by pouring water on them?” asked Igarashi.
“It didn’t specifically say in the skill description whether it was effective against Confusion or not, so I wasn’t certain it would work. It does seem to bring people back to their senses, though,” I replied.
“I didn’t know what Suzu was up to when she scooped the water from the ground. It was like magic. It was so cooool; I want some magic like that,” said Misaki, even though I thought she had plenty of skills that seemed pretty magical. Though, maybe she was just jealous of the mystical sight of it all happening.
“Elitia, was that your first time fighting those mushroom things?” I asked.
“Yeah… It was just luck that I’d never run into them previously. I hadn’t entered this labyrinth before I got promoted… There are a lot more annoying monsters here than I’d expected.”
In other words, these monsters were probably unique to this labyrinth. I felt like mushrooms grew everywhere, but… Anyway, we had to check for dropped loot first.
“Ah… This fruit on the Fear Treant looks a lot like an apple. What should we do with it, Atobe?” asked Igarashi.
“Should we identify it? I’ll use a Novice Appraisal Scroll,” I said as I took the apple from her.
♦Apple of Wit♦
> Increases maximum magic capacity when consumed.
> Rare dropped loot from FEAR TREANTS
Huh! Didn’t take long for us to find a rare item. This is definitely one of the benefits of having Misaki around.
A rare dropped item was hard to come by, so we really hit it big this time. Increased magic was a really useful effect, but who would most benefit from eating it? I was trying to decide, but everyone else was staring at me, curious about the results of the appraisal.
�
��Apparently, eating this increases your maximum magic. Anyone want it?” I offered.
“You have a skill that lets you share your magic with other people in the party, so I think you ought to eat it,” answered Igarashi. “Besides, you seem pretty beat… Those slingshot attacks from before were amazing! It was like a laser beam, or something you’d see in an anime.”
“You thought so, too? It actually surprised me… But it consumes a lot of magic, so I can’t use it all the time,” I said.
“You can use it when we’re in a tight spot. You know, I really can rely on you to have our backs,” added Elitia, her eyes filled with a natural trust. I felt overwhelmed that someone so powerful could feel they could rely on me, but I was honored.
“……”
“…Theresia?” I said. She still seemed hesitant, but she took out one of the dirks she hadn’t used, took the apple from me, and started peeling it.
“Huh? You’re really good at peeling apples, Theresia,” Misaki observed.
“That’s amazing; I could never peel it in one piece,” said Suzuna. It wasn’t just the two of them—I was surprised, too. She held the dirk perfectly still, rotating the apple to quickly and cleanly peel off the skin. She sliced it in half and removed the core, then cut it into six wedges before handing one to me.
“……”
“Th-thanks… You’ve got all sorts of surprising talents, Theresia,” I said. Part of me couldn’t help thinking that this was the fruit from a monster that’d been fighting until just a moment before, but I had to trust the appraisal scroll, so I decided to eat it. I looked at the cut surface and saw a thick syrup, which seemed more yellow than the juices from apples I was familiar with, but—
“Mm… Wow, that’s good. Nothing like any apple I’ve ever tasted … Mm!” I said. It was crisp in a similar way to an apple, but its flavor was completely different. Apples that weren’t carefully bred and cultivated could be quite tart, but that wasn’t the case with this at all.
“Watching you eat that really makes me want some apple pie or something,” Suzuna remarked.
“Ooooh, that sounds delicious… B-but Theresia? What’s wrong? You’re turning red,” said Misaki.
“Theresia… You’re going to make me blush and I’m just watching,” added Suzuna. Just after she said that, I noticed that Theresia was holding out another piece of apple for me, this time higher than before.
“Let’s hurry ahead, Arihito. Could you finish the apple off?” said Elitia.
“……”
“…Y-yeah, sure. We need to keep moving,” I agreed. This wasn’t the time or place to sit here deciding how to react, so I let Theresia feed me the apple. It kinda felt like I was part of a petting zoo.
When I finished eating the apple, my license display showed that it had increased my magic.
♦Current Status♦
> ARIHITO used APPLE OF WIT
> ARIHITO’s maximum magic increased
My head felt clearer, and power flowed through my body. It had managed to recover the same amount of magic as the incremental change in my maximum magic capacity. I double-checked, and my blue magic bar had returned to one-fifth full.
“……”
“Th-thank you. It was delicious,” I said.
“Theresia, do you want to wash your hands? You have apple juice on them,” noted Suzuna as she purified some more water. That skill was way more useful than I had expected. She was able to get crystal-clear water even though she scooped it from what was essentially a mud puddle.
“Cion, too… Better than letting her drink from the puddles…”
Suzuna gave Cion some to drink from her hands, since the dog seemed thirsty. Igarashi looked enviously as Cion lapped from Suzuna’s hands, but that’s something Suzuna got for being a Shrine Maiden who could use Handwash.
We still had the Dirty Mushrooms left to check. We were able to collect a spore sac from the one that hadn’t released spores. After appraising the sac, we learned it would burst in order to protect the mushroom, but if you were able to get a whole one, it could be used to make some sort of medicine. Apparently, the sac didn’t burst unless the mushroom did it itself when it was in danger, so it was safe enough to carry around with us as it was.
“All right, that’s done. Let’s get back to the mission at hand,” I said, and we fell back into battle formation. There must not have been many Fear Treants or Dirty Mushrooms, because we didn’t meet any other enemies for a while. This labyrinth might not be explored that often if the monsters didn’t multiply quickly, meaning there was a low risk of a stampede occurring here.
It also seems like you wouldn’t make much money from this labyrinth… Sure, you can find Apples of Wit here, but their rates are low enough that it’d be a waste of time trying to track them down.
The license did let you reverse-search the monster and current location by using the dropped loot. I’d have to remember which monsters dropped ability-increasing items, for possible future use.
“Cion, don’t go so far ahead. It’s dangerous,” called Elitia. I realized then how far the dog had gone. She’d entered into a thicket just off the side of the path a little way ahead and was now coming back with something in her mouth. It was a pair of goggles.
These goggles… They’re Georg’s!
“Are you saying that the person who dropped these is nearby?” I asked Cion.
“Those goggles… Wasn’t that person you were talking to back at the mansion wearing these?” asked Igarashi.
“Oh… Th-they’re really scratched up… A-and this…red stuff…,” stammered Suzuna.
“Elitia, you shouldn’t touch that. It’s probably blood,” I said.
“…You’re right. Whoever wore these was bleeding…and quite a while ago,” she replied. There was one possibility I could think of: Georg was injured. Maybe he was attacked by monsters nearby, something happened, and he dropped the goggles.
“Cion, can you follow the scent of the owner of these goggles?” I asked. She seemed to understand what I asked because she started to sniff them, then set off walking again. She sniffed around to confirm the direction before leading us through some trees off the side of the path.
“Be careful up ahead. Cion should be able to detect enemies by scent even if our sight is limited,” I warned.
“Got it… Definitely looks like someone’s passed through here.”
“These tracks seem fresh… But the blood on those goggles…”
The blood on the goggles had completely dried, which meant that some time had passed since Georg was injured.
We came to the center of a dense thicket of trees. Cion found a tree that was larger than the ones surrounding it and went around to the back side. Sitting there was George—he was cradling his head in his hands, his body covered in wounds.
“Georg! Hey, pull it together! We’ll get you some help!” I called.
“…I feel like…I’ve met you before… Oh, in the Lady Ollerus Mansion… H-how’ve you been…?” he said weakly, his eyes not entirely focused on me. He must have run into something that put him in this state; he barely escaped with his life and made it here. I pulled a potion I’d bought for emergencies out of my bag. In that moment, I didn’t even care how valuable potions were; I took the bottle with the red liquid and had Georg drink it. But while it did heal the wounds on his body to an extent, it did nothing for his delirium. Thankfully, because Suzuna was in our party, Georg’s condition was improving ever so slightly thanks to her Purification skill. His eyes had been unfocused when we first found him, but after a moment, he finally seemed able to see me clearly. Then he suddenly buried his face in his hands.
“…What happened? Tell me; we can help,” I said.
“What…what happened…? I don’t even know!!” he shrieked in panic. His physical wounds had been just as bad. He had a gash on his forehead from whatever attack had taken his goggles off.
“Calm down. Your companions from Polaris are still in this labyrint
h, right? Did they get captured by monsters, or…?” I asked, waiting for him to calm down. He lowered his hands from his face. He was shaking; his lips trembled as he tried to say something, but no words came out no matter how many times he tried.
“…Don’t worry. We came to take the test, too, but we can help your party members on the way. It’s okay to ask for help,” I said. Georg was so conflicted; he couldn’t get the words out. He couldn’t easily ask for our help because of his Seeker’s pride. But I couldn’t just leave him, not in this situation. We couldn’t just keep going with our own test, then go home when we passed. I wanted to save whoever could be saved.
“…My friends were…on the second floor of the labyrinth…in the woods, wh-when…something attacked from below…like, some monster vines… I-it…sucked their vitality out…,” he finally managed to say.
“All right… They’re on the second floor. Georg, you need to get out of here. Thankfully, there aren’t many monsters on the first floor. You should be able to get out safe if you focus on escaping,” I reasoned.
“…I can’t… I can’t just run…and leave them…”
“That’s not something for the wounded to think about. You need to escape and get help if you can. I know you don’t feel good about it, but it’s far better than sitting here shaking,” said Elitia.
“Ah… Gah… Haah… Aaaaaahhhh!!” screamed Georg, hugging his knees to his chest.
Misaki and Suzuna flinched at his pain-filled shriek. I had no idea how he and his party got separated, but just imagining the possibilities made my heart ache. I’d thought I’d known that the labyrinth was a merciless, perilous place for Seekers, but witnessing the horrific condition Georg was in brought something like anger bubbling up inside me to the surface. It felt like I was on fire, like I needed to do something about it now.
…I will save all of you. Just stay alive until then!
“Georg, leave it to Atobe and us. You need to focus on staying alive, do you understand?” Igarashi confirmed.