Ankoku Kishi Monogatari - Chapter 55.3 - Labyrinth City, Labyrinthos

Chapter 55.3 : Labyrinth City, Labyrinthos

Minotaurs were born from Labrys and a human female. In a way, one could say that the minotaurs are his descendants. But in reality, they’re nothing more than slaves in his eyes and if they dare to disobey him, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill them. That’s just the kind of person he is. Nothing I say will change his decision.

「It seems like you have something to say, Zarxis?」

「No…Do as you wish.」

I couldn’t say anything else. Sigh… I guess I have to look for another method to restore my vitality.

「Zarxis, I heard it from Euria, you know. That hero’s women are beautiful. I want to capture them as well.」

Labyrs said with a disgusting smile plastered on his face.

Good grief, what a greedy bastard…

「No problem, just leave it to Atlankua.」

「Ah, that spiderwoman, huh? I guess there’s no problem if I leave this matter to that ugly woman.」

Right now, Atlankua’s spying on Rena’s temple in Republic Ariadya. As soon as she suspects anything, she’ll contact us. There was nothing left for me to do, so I turned around, pondering over my next move.

「Where are you going, Zarxis?」

「I have some minor business around this region. I’ll be away for a while.」

「Oh, what kind of business?」

「I’m going to meet Diadone, her familiar told me she’s going to arrive in a while..」

「Oho? And what kind of business caused the Queen of Snake to come to this region?」

The queen of snakes, Diadona is also a Nargolian like Zarxis. She was hiding from Modes on an isolated island in the southern sea before this.

「Are you worried, Labrys?」

「 Of course. That snake woman has always hid her whereabouts and lived in seclusion, and now she wants to come back? Tell me Zarxis, why is she visiting this region?」

「I don’t know, I guess she’ll tell me once I meet her.」

「I see…」

Labrys lost all interest once I told him that. His attention went back to the live image of the situation on the 5th floor. The image showed the profile of the hero and his comrades, but I didn’t care enough to watch further. As I left the palace, I thought about my own plan.

◆Dark Knight, Kuroki

「Welcoome, Kuroki! Thank you for coming! 」

As soon as I arrived in Republic Ariadya using the teleport gate, Shirone embraced me. Rena’s apostle valkyrie had told her about the situation, so Rena wanted to come along as well. Rena linked her arms with mine and I couldn’t get away from her, so I was dragged to Ariadya. Well, it was more like I didn’t have any reason to push her away. After all, her soft chest was pressing against my arm.

Unable to get away from her vice grip, I notified Regena that we’d be visiting Ariadya. I asked her to get in touch with Shirone, so when we arrived, Shirone was already waiting for us.

Although Shirone’s breasts can’t be compared to Rena’s, they’re still quite huge. I couldn’t help but think about it as she stuffed my face in her chest. I wasn’t wearing my helmet, so I could clearly feel its softness. They used to be so flat during our childhood, but before I knew it, they grew so big.

Ah, I’m so moved by my childhood friend’s growth.

But I couldn’t enjoy it for long since Rena forcefully pulled us apart.

「Wait a minute, Goddess Rena! What are you doing here?!」

Despite Shirone’s protest, Rena remained calm.

「Shirone,I don’t think this is the right time to be flirting around. Don’t you think we should be focusing on saving Reiji and the others right now?」

Despite her serene voice, I could tell how angry she was

It must because she’s worried about Reiji…

However, Shirone failed to notice Rena’s anger.

「 You’re right… Even though Reiji-kun is in danger right now… I’m sorry, I was just so happy to be able to meet Kuroki.」

But she still apologized.

「But, thanks a lot, Kuroki. I’m really glad that you came to help us.」

I sighed as I looked at Shirone’s smile. So it’s like this now… I never said that I came to help them and yet Shirone assumed that I came to help them save Reiji.

「Goddess Rena. May I have some of your time?」

The woman who spoke is Kaya. Right now, six people are gathered in the room; Kaya, Kyouka, Shirone, Regena, Rena and me.

「What’s the matter, Kaya?」

「Why did you come here with Kuroki-sama? I thought you were reluctant to save Reiji-sama. I was extremely confused when I heard from Regena that you two would be coming here through the transfer gate.」

Kaya looked Rena suspiciously.

「You misunderstand me, Kaya. I’m worried about Reiji too. It’s impossible for me to save Reiji alone, that’s why I brought the Dark Knight along. Let me tell you, the fact that I asked the Dark Knight of Nargol for help is a secret. Understood?」

Shirone and the others simply nodded.

Well, their reaction is a given, since I’m technically Elios’ enemy and shouldn’t be with them. Just like Totona and Heibos, it’ll be bad if the outsiders get to know about my contact with Rena. That’s why we need to keep this a secret. In fact, it looks like Rena even hid it from her valkyries.

Seems like the only ones who know my presence here are the people in this room.

「I see… Although I have lots of questions, for now, let me welcome Kuroki-sama who came all the way to this place from Nargol.」

Although Kaya didn’t seem convinced by Rena’s explanation, she still accepted it for the time being. I’m not convinced by it either. What the hell is up with this kind of development?!

「Kuroki-sama… Please allow me to express my gratitude. Thanks for accepting our request to save my big brother.」

The woman named Kyouka bowed down in front of me.

「It’s nothing… I mean, even I-」

What the hell is with this level of misunderstanding?! I can’t even tell her I didn’t come here to save Reiji.

Kyouka was staring right into my eyes. Crap, my heart is beating like crazy! A cute girl is staring at me with such intense eyes…

Even though I want a cute girlfriend, I can’t talk properly when I’m in front of a cute girl.

「Kuroki, you sure are fawning over her, huh?」

Shirone glared at me from the side.

It can’t be helped, you know?! I’ve never received such gratitude from a cute girl before. I can’t keep my composure like Reiji!

「Kyouka, the Dark Knight seems troubled. Why don’t you get away from him for a moment?」

Rena forced her way between Kyouka and me. Despite the smile on her face, she seemed like she was sulking. Kyouka looked disappointed upon being separated from me too.

「Young lady, let’s save the gratitude for when we break into the labyrinth and save Reiji-sama.」

「I understand, Kaya. See you later, Kuroki-san.」

Kyouka and Kaya left the room after saying goodbye.

「I guess I should leave too, Kuroki. I still haven’t contacted Leylia-san.」

Shirone left right after she said that.

「Kuroki, I need to talk to the head priest of the temple, so let’s continue our talk later.」

After that, Rena left the room too.

The head priest of the temple is an apostle of Rena’s valkyrie. The valkyries are powerful but conspicuous, however, the apostles don’t stand out too much since they were originally humans.

Rena hid the fact that she was coming to this place from her valkyries. Well, it’s better to leave this kind of a job to a former human instead of an angel anyway.

And so, Regena and I were the only ones left in the room.

「Regena… How are you feeling?」

I asked her anxiously.

「Yes, I’ve never felt so great before. I’m blessed to be able to meet you, my master.」

Regena showed me the dragon-like horns growing from her head. Her eyes lit up with a flash of golden light. Those eyes… They didn’t belong to a human. They’re the eyes of a dragon. I always feel guilt-ridden whenever I see them. Because… She’s turned into my apostle.

Because of the dragon’s power in my body, Regena became my apostle. Now, she belongs to the Meryuujin race, the same species as Dragonewt. Although they look like humans, they can also assume a dragon’s form. One might even say that the dragonmen are not humans at all.

To be honest, I thought Regena would be sad knowing that she’s now a monster, but she looks strangely happy about it.

The reason I turned Regena into my apostle was so I could save her life. The day the dragon in me went berserk after I drank Kuna’s tea, Regena, being the weakest woman amongst the victims that day, couldn’t endure it and was almost on the verge of dying by the time I regained my sanity.

But she couldn’t be saved by healing magic, since Kuna wasn’t in a state to use it after I’d completely ravaged her body. Thus, I was left with no other choice but to turn Regena into my apostle in order to save her life. And I still haven’t found a method to turn her back into a human either.

I looked at Regena. When my eyes met hers, I could easily see how happy she was.

Everytime I see her smile, my heart aches. She can’t even feel sad about her condition since it’s in the apostle’s nature to keep their master happy.

◆Sword Maiden, Shirone

「Shirone-sama.」

I stopped walking when I heard Kaya-san call out to me.

「What’s the matter, Kaya-san？」

I turned around to find Kaya-san and Kyouka-san.

「This is your chance. The Silver Witch isn’t around. Use this opportunity to take back Kuroki-sama. You shouldn’t miss out on it.」

I shook my head.

Somehow, Kuroki wasn’t with the Silver Witch and that’s the only reason why he could come with Rena here. I don’t know why they came together, but just like Kaya-san, I have several questions for him.

For now, I’m just glad that Kuroki came to our help. Now I know that the Silver Witch couldn’t get complete control over him. After all, he came all the way here to save us.

So I still have a chance to take him back, but…

「We can’t do that, Kaya-san. I want to take Kuroki back from that woman as well, but… Saving Reiji-kun is our top priority right now.」

Yes, I want to take him back, but we need to save Reiji-kun first. I mean, even Rena got angry when I hugged Kuroki like usual and forgot about Reiji and the others.

「You sure are an honest girl, Shirone-san. I’m happy you’re worried about my brother, but are you really fine with putting off this matter until later?」

Kyouka-san asked me.

「Don’t worry, Kyouka-san. I’ll definitely take him back.. But, for now, we have other things to attend to.」

Kuroki will definitely come back to my side, so it should be alright to deal with this matter later.

So as I walked, I tried convincing myself that everything will turn out alright.