WM – Chapter 38: Takatsuki Makoto challenges Laberintos (Second Day)

“We are being followed”, I tell Lucy.

“Eh?”, Lucy looks back.

“What are you saying after so long?” (Lucy)

“Eh?” (Makoto)

“They have been following us all this time since before we entered the dungeon.” (Lucy)

Seriously?! 

“Tell me sooner!” (Makoto)

“I thought you noticed a long time ago… Sorry.” (Lucy)

Lucy got depressed.

“Ah, no, it is my job to detect these kinds of things. Even so, I am surprised you noticed.” (Makoto)

“They were saying dangerous things like ‘I will kill them’ while looking at us after all. They must be the guys that were making trouble for us in the Adventurer Guild. To think they would chase us all the way here, what a malicious bunch.” (Lucy)

“…”

Oi oi!

Isn’t this quite the bad situation?

They are tailing us all the way deep into the dungeon.

There’s no way they are thinking something lukewarm like beating us up a bit.

Checking with Detection, there’s around 10 following us.

I don’t know how skilled they are, but I want to believe they are lower than Iron Rank.

If there’s a Silver Rank, it would be checkmate.

It would mean they would be on the level of Nina-san after all.

“They really blow things up just for breaking a mythril sword.” (Lucy)

“Uh, yeah…” (Makoto)

Actually, I asked the price of a mythril sword from Fuji-yan.

‘It would be no less than 5,000,000 G’, is what he said.

5,000,000G is the average annual income of an Iron Rank adventurer.

Yeah, if I had something broken that is equally worth a year of work, I would pledge vengeance.

“…Let’s run away for now. [Water Magic: Mist].” (Makoto)

Mist appears in the whole cave.

I also activate Stealth.

What’s next is to deal with it somehow.

There’s a lot of forks in Laberintos.

I take away their vision, and with Stealth, we should be able to lose them.

“Damn it! Did they notice us?” 

“Find them! They shouldn’t have gone far.” 

“Don’t separate too much, there’s monsters after all.”

The footsteps grew further and further away.

“They are gone.” (Lucy)

Lucy confirmed with her ears, so it should be accurate.

There’s no reaction from my Detection either.

“Haah… I am sorry, Lucy.” (Makoto)

“Why are you the one apologizing?” (Lucy)

“It was my failure.” (Makoto)

I shouldn’t have cut the sword of the other party.

I thought we shouldn’t be looked down on, but as a result, I ended up putting the party in danger.

“What are you saying? I don’t mind it.” (Lucy)

Lucy says with a dazzling smile.

I am glad Lucy is my comrade.

“What should we do from now on?” (Lucy)

“For now, let’s head to our original objective that was the Grand Waterfall. The problem about the hoodlum adventurers of before… It hurts my head a bit.” (Makoto)

“Isn’t it okay to just ignore them?” (Lucy)

“There’s no way that will cut it.” (Makoto)

When we return, let’s consult with Fuji-yan.

◇◇ 

Grand Labyrinth, Laberintos.

The largest dungeon of the continent, and the place that’s said to be one of the most beautiful, the Grand Waterfall.

“It is the Niagaras…” (Makoto)

“Waaah…” (Lucy)

I ended up muttering the number one most popular waterfall of my previous world.

Lucy is also dazed at my side.

A cliff suddenly appeared at the deep areas of the Upper Floor of the dungeon, and an underground lake could be seen.

There was a gigantic waterfall at the surroundings of that underground lake.

This vast underground area that I can’t see the full portrait of seems to have this upper area serve as an atrium with sunlight entering from there. It was creating an illusory sight.

Within that sunlight, there were big birds flying around.

“By the way, what’s a Niagaras?” (Lucy)

Lucy retorted.

“A touristic spot of my previous world.” (Makoto)

“I see. Anyways, below this cliff is the Mid Floor, right?” (Lucy)

“Yeah, it would be bad if we were to fall.” (Makoto)

According to the map, this cliff is 200 meters deep.

The underground lake is apparently part of the Mid Floor.

In other words, it may be a beautiful sight, but within all that, there’s strong monsters lurking around.

It was at that moment…

“?!” 

Lucy suddenly turned around.

My Detection Skill reacted at the same time.

“Oi oi, they seriously were here.”

“I told you. The rookies always come here.”

“Yoo, Makkaren adventurers. You did a number on us before.” 

The ones who appeared were the adventurers of yesterday.

On top of that, there were a bunch of evil-looking people who seemed to be their comrades.

10 people in total.

That we couldn’t notice this many people means…

“Stealth, huh.” (Makoto)

“Sorry, Makoto. I didn’t notice.” (Lucy)

“No, I am equally at fault.” (Makoto)

To think the Skill I always use getting used against me would be this problematic.

“Oi, don’t hurt the elf. She looks like she could be sold for good coin. It is rare that she has red hair.” 

“How much?” 

“We have to assess her properly later.” 

They are having a disgusting conversation with grins on their faces.

I see, so these guys are slave merchants. 

“Hey, I am sorry for breaking your weapon. I apologize, so what should we do for you to forgive us?” (Makoto)

This is probably pointless, but I still try to talk and see.

“Huh? You will be dying here. It doesn’t look like you have any decent equipment, but that dagger will probably fetch a good price.” 

“Newbie hunting?” (Makoto)

It is exactly as Lucas-san warned me.

“Ooh, so you know.”

The man laughs out loud.

“You guys! Surround them!” 

The guy that once had a mythril sword gives the sign, and the bunch surrounds us with the waterfall at our back.

“Ma-Makoto…” (Lucy)

Lucy grabs my clothes. 

“Now then.” (Makoto)

What should we do? 

I am wondering which countermeasure I should take from the several ones I had.

…Till I got a terrible headache.

The headache went away soon, but the noisy alarm continued.

The Detection Skill.

It is originally a skill that detects the approach of Low, Mid, and High Class monsters. 

A skill that rings an alarm inside my head.

But there’s a class that’s higher than High Class.

They are called the Calamity Designation Monsters, and when you encounter them for the first time…

‘Depending on the person, it might lead to a headache, so be careful’, is what the guild receptionist, Mary-san, explained to me once.

Calamity Designation Monsters cannot be defeated alone. Because they are considered disasters itself apparently.

Calamity Designations are divided in four: Village, City, Country, and Continent.

If a monster of Calamity Designation Village appears, that village will be destroyed.

When a Calamity Designation Monster appears, there’s the need for national armed forces to deal with it.

Like the Sun Knight Order.

I hugged Lucy tightly.

“Makoto…?” (Lucy)

“Oooh, a knight protecting his woman? How gallant.” 

The hoodlum is saying something, but I am not listening.

Where?

Where is it?

From where is it coming?

“Buoooooooooooh!!!” 

A roar that shook the air itself resonated.

*Crack!*

The ground swelled up, and a giant something appeared.

Just in the middle between us and the unsavory adventurers.

“Dra…gon?” (Lucy)

Lucy mutters.

No one of the adventurers could react to it.

“All dragons are Calamity Designations after all. Run away at full force on sight”, is what Lucas-san explained to me at the guild stalls.

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