Chapter 97
It was a G.o.dsend. Again, was it because I did my own daily work?
Later, it was about how to progress to the situation I expected, but… I probably would manage to do something. By the way, I was blessed with two good lucks. No, should I say three this time? As I expected, it wouldn't be possible to fail in this situation.
The important thing was the timing. It would be fine to progress with the situation unnaturally or indirectly. It was natural to be dissatisfied if it was to be done in that way, and whether someone made that notch, or perhaps they would definitely say it. Just by doing that, it was going to be smooth afterward.
Even so, I infiltrated this place well. It was enough to suspect that these were all orchestrated by someone because the development was way too convenient for me. Well, I was probably over thinking.
I instinctively let out a smile when imagining such a thing and what would happen from now on.
—
"Yes… now, what should we do?" (Sylvia)
Sylvia's group was staring at each other as everyone was heading toward the dungeon.
No, strictly speaking, everyone wanted to go, but they couldn't do it. At the moment, there were only three people in Sylvia's party, and the missing person was Soma. They wouldn't understand their position if they went to train in that situation.
"Cheh, although I have a good feeling right now… that guy is…" (Lars)
"It-it can't be helped, you know… Somkun is absent today because he was asked by the academy." (Helen)
"I understand that… which is why it makes me feel more frustrated. Seriously, how come he was asked personally by the academy? Did he do something…" (Lars)
The grumbling Lars complained, but that feeling wasn't hard to be understood.
They were still in the first grade of the elementary school, but it was unusual to be asked to do things by the academy. As Lars thought so, he felt jealous at the same time.
Well, Lars knew that he couldn't do anything even if he mentioned it, but… these people were thinking of doing their best. Unfortunately, they weren't unable to do the training today. With various feelings like frustration or something else, it was unavoidable to let one or two complaints.
"It's too we can't do anything even if we say that… so, shall we do the training next time?" (Sylvia)
"Y-yes… I guess so. …After all, it's too much with just three of us." (Helen)
"Cheh, it can't be helped then… No. Think about it, we have that, right?" (Lars)
"Eh?" (Helen)
Helen turned his eyes toward Lars, wondering what was all that about, but it didn't seem that he was joking.
"It is meaningful to train at the training ground, but it would be more meaningful to do it in the dungeon, right?" (Lars)
"With th-three people…? It-it's impossible, you know…" (Helen)
"Is that so? Well, you said it is impossible, but nothing would happen if it's just the first layer, right?" (Lars)
"Ye-yes… I wonder… if there is a truth in that…?" (Helen)
Certainly, the first layer was now full of many students. That meant the danger was less and it was also easier to ask for help if there was situation.
"There was nothing happening when that guy was doing nothing last time, right? It should be fine if we try for a bit." (Lars)
"Uh-uhmm… what should we do? To be honest, I'm worried, but…" (Helen)
"Yes, I'm also worried that Somkun is not here, but… now that you mention it, we probably can go…?" (Sylvia)
"You guys may have that feeling, but don't you think it's a bit reckless?" (Kurt)
It was Kurt who interrupted their discussion.
What was surprising was Kurt basically didn't say anything other than the very first time the group met him, but today, he wasn't like that.
"Kurt-senpai? Where have you been?" (Sylvia)
"I had a discussion with the academy side just now. More importantly, are you really going to go with all three of you?" (Kurt)
"…Tsk. It is certainly reckless, but…" (Lars)
"Aah, please don't be misunderstood. I think it is reckless, but I'm not blaming you. If I have to say anything, I agree with you." (Kurt)
"Eh… are you sure?" (Sylvia)
"I think this is a good opportunity. If I have to be honest from what I've seen last time, you were able to demonstrate your abilities because Soma was nearby. I think that it is important to know how far you can display your abilities without having him, right?" (Kurt)
As he said it, the three people were looking at each other.
Far from being agreed, it was completely unexpected that they were supported, and his words were convincing at the same time. They weren't unable to decide whether it should be alright or not, but now they seemed to incline to a certain direction.
"Well, the permission has already been given from the academy side." (Kurt)
"Eh?" (Helen)
Basically, the party's practical training could be done freely, but the academy wasn't loose enough to allow forcibly in an unreasonable situation. Needless to say, it was necessary to ask permission from the academy every time there were changes in party or vacancies.
However, permission was hard to get when a temporary vacancy occurred by considering various aspects, but did Kurt get the permission beforehand?
"It's just that the academy has a high opinion on you guys. They think it's not excessive since the three of you are good enough. The apology for this time is more or less about this." (Kurt)
"Apology… is it from Somkun?" (Sylvia)
"Yes. Well, because of that, I was told to be alert more than what I had been doing so far." (Kurt)
"Aah… that is… sorry about that." (Helen)
When they thought about it, it was actually obvious. Soma wasn't here, so the possibility of emergency increased as
"No, it's fine. That is my purpose to be here anyway. By the way, I haven't done anything until now. Therefore, I think that it's finally my turn to guide you. After all, it's not a bad thing to guide you guys." (Kurt)
His smile was sincere, and it didn't seem that he was doing it on purpose. In that case…
When Sylvia's party looked at each other again, they nodded altogether even though they were filled with the feeling of tension.
—
To be honest, the first impression they had was disappointment. That was when they had the first battle in the third layer of the dungeon.
Why were they going to the third layer? Well, it could be say that was the flow of the event.
No, at first, they were thinking of attempting the first layer only. However, there were more students than they thought. So, after wandering for thirty minutes, they finally had their first battle. That also ended in a moment. There was no way they would feel satisfied. Hence, they were here in the third layer because of Kurt's suggestion.
By the way, there seemed to be no problem to proceed deeper, so they descended to the second layer from the first layer. Of course, they were not making light of the situation, but it was also true that they were not achieving the purpose of training here.
So, they should try it out once and if it seemed impossible, they would return immediately, but again, they instantly killed the enemies. At the same time, they started to notice it. There was no problem even when Soma wasn't with them. It was just that they got used to Sylvia became stronger.
After that, when Lars started to complaint since his turn never came even once because there wasn't any danger, Kurt gave a further suggestion. He suggested that they should probably go to the third layer.
As expected, everyone in the party didn't agree. On the special training done after school hours, Soma repeated this over and over again. He told them the guidelines about challenging the unknown.
It was normal to think that there was nothing to watch out especially after over killing enemies. If they were told that they were ready, they didn't have the confidence yet, but… they finally nodded because Kurt supposed to know everything about the third layer.
Furthermore, he judged that there should be no problem for them to attempt the third layer. In a sense, it would be unavoidable to think so since he said that.
By the way, Kurt was occasionally advising them because he served as a guide in this dungeon. Yes, they finally noticed that when they tried to proceed to the first layer. It was Soma who had done his job until now.
Since Soma was the one who drew the map, it was obvious that they didn't know where exactly they were. Well, neither the first layer nor the second layer was complex. Even if there was no map, they would be able to do something, but it was also natural to feel uneasy about this.
However, as an apology, Kurt seemed to be given the map of the dungeon. It was impossible to give it to Sylvia and others. Therefore, Kurt was asked to be the guide and given the map.
They didn't know whether it was because of the map or thanks to Kurt, the guidance was appropriate. Despite the absence of Soma, who was mainly in charge of vigilance, they were able to make surprise attack 80% of all time, and they never suffered surprised attack. According to Kurt, the dungeon was a place that was easy to make surprise attacks on monsters and it was also easy to the other way around. If they managed to avoid the latter, everything would go smoothly.
Apparently, the place they wondered around in the first layer without getting into batter after thirty minutes was such a place. When they considered what would happen if Soma didn't know the place, they finally realized how amazing Soma was. Anyway, this was one of the reasons why Silvia's party decided to go to the third layer. To put it simply, Kurt had the map of the third layer, and they thought that he knew that place.
Although they were breaking the rules, it was the truth that he was helpful considering that they were heading to an unknown place. And it was definitely a correct decision since the first battle in the third layer ended abruptly.
It was just that—…
"Yeah… I think we should be glad with this, but somehow, it seems wrong to consider this as a practical training… right?" (Sylvia)
"Aah, y-yes… I also think so." (Helen)
"….Well, indeed. It is true that it would be a problem if we have surprised attack this time and fighting from the front, but…" (Lars)
"Aah, personally, I don't think you need to worry too much about that. Look, if Somkun is here, will the same thing happen?" (Kurt)
It might be so, but borrowing the power of Soma, who was a party member, was another matter compared to borrowing the power of Kurt, who was only the guide. No, they might have come to this place for a while now.
"Well, I will allow it only this time. I think that's not a big deal, but it's your problem. It's up to you to do whatever you want. So, what are you going to do? Are you going to proceed or return back?" (Kurt)
They looked at each other, and they judged that no one wanted to go back. Did they somehow notice that they were relying on Soma? Hence, they thought that they could do this even without Soma. They wanted to say that they had the confidence.
After that… they liked to boast their achievements to Soma. They weren't going to deny that they wanted compliments.
"So… shall we continue?" (Sylvia)
"Yes, of course." (Lars)
As she said that with a smile, she felt a sense of incongruity at the moment.
"…? What's wrong?" (Kurt)
"Aah, no… sorry, it's nothing." (Sylvia)
Before having a concrete evidence of what the feeling was, it disappeared without trace. It was as if that feeling wasn't there in the first place. Sylvia tilted her head, thinking whether it was her imagination, but then, she rearranged her mind.
"Well, shall we start?" (Sylvia)
"Y-yes… but, don't be careless, alright?" (Helen)
"Hah… I got it." (Lars)
Lars displayed a vigorous smile, as if wanted to say that it wasn't overstatement. Well, there was no delay after fighting the third battle. It was the same with Sylvia and Helen. While having leeway to smile, telling that they could do this, they went in deeper part of the third layer. Kurt was also satisfied with them and that strengthened his confidence.
There was no problem after two more battle. As Sylvia though so, she suddenly noticed it. There was a narrow path. The paths they had been going through until now were path where the three of them could stand side by side. However, this path could barely let a person through at one time.
It seemed to be like a hidden path rather than a part of whole paths. Such a thing rarely existed from the third layer. However, it was a place where monsters rarely stayed.
For that reason, it was perfect for taking a small break or used the path to do surprise attack on monsters. While walking in that narrow path, Sylvia noticed that something sounded at her feet. She thought that she was kicking a stone, but it didn't feel like that.
There should be no problem to disregard it. By the way, the attention to the feet and not only on the front side was supposed to be done by Lars. Furthermore, Helen wouldn't ignore such a thing, so… since it felt important to check verify, Sylvia looked at her feet just to be sure. There was a white round ball of thumb size.
No matter how she thought about that thing, it wasn't a mere stone and it wasn't something that she could know what it was in one glance. While wondering what it was, Sylvia reached out to it and grasped it. At that moment, she suddenly collapsed and noticed the feeling of dizziness at the same time.
"– Sylvisama!?" (Kurt)
"Eh, wh-what…!?" (Helen)
"What's wrong!?" (Lars)
She heard their voices, but she couldn't say anything in return. They sounded somewhere far, and… when she carefully looked around, she finally convinced. The s.p.a.ce there was distorted.
"Eh, this is, spatial, transition…? No way… Teleporter–!? It can't be, what–…!?" (Sylvia)
Teleporter. It was one of the famous trap that forcibly transported objects caught into another place. Basically, it was installed in the dungeon. They were told that it had a very bad property because it often teleported objects to the lower layer than the current layer.
But that should be impossible. "It's teleporter…!? Out of various traps, why this trap is here!?" (Lars)
As Lars shouted, the trap itself shouldn't existed in the third layer of the dungeon. This kind of trap should only appear after the fifth layer.
"However, this is really happening…! But, how…!?" (Kurt)
Along with the impatient Kurt's voice, the distortion of s.p.a.ce became more intense. It was also difficult to recognize the surroundings and everyone's voice couldn't be heard completely.
However, Sylvia was a.s.saulted by strange sense of incongruity at that moment. Before seeing what it was, her sight began to dim.
—
TLN: The first part of the chapter is by an unknown character. I've decided to use to narrate from the first person view to make the flow of the story become easier to understand. FYI, the author used the word 'Jibun' or ownself which is genderless rather than using 'Watas.h.i.+' or any other words to represent the unknown character.
Another chapter of Ex Strongest Swordsman is out!
TLN:
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