Sword of Gluttony Queen - Chapter 25 - Oath

Chapter 25 : Oath

I, who chased after the Gold Maimai in 《Romburgh’s Underground Labyrinth》 along with Mani, had finally caught up with Gilbert.

He was swinging his 《Bewitching Sword, Noosa》 while chasing after the Gold Maimai.
He left his mana lamp on the floor so that he could use his other hand to attack too.

That Gold Maimai was moving so fast as if it was gliding along the floor, dodging all of Gilbert’s attacks.

「F*UCK, 《ILLUSIO》！」

Gilbert’s 《Curse》 was a skill that would show an illusion to the target but it also failed to work on the Gold Maimai.

The Gold Maimai then circled around him, which destroyed his stance, and then sprayed a darkish liquid from its mouth towards Gilbert’s blind spot.
That dark liquid left black ink-like stains on Gilbert’s clothes.

「OOF….」

Gilbert suddenly covered his mouth.
That dark liquid might be poisonous.

「…. That Maimai fought cleverly huh.」

I unintentionally muttered.

Despite falling to his knees, Gilbert’s eyes were glaring at Gold Maimai.
And then, looked at me as if he just noticed my existence.

「What are you doing here, Dean-kun? As if the likes of you, a porter for life, can dive until you’ve reached this floor with your own power. Don’t tell me, you’re going after that Gold Maimai to change your fate? Aren’t you a lucky bastard to be able to survive until this floor.」

Gilbert was trying to provoke me, smiling despite the bitter look on his face.

「But… that’s impossible. That Gold Maimai is mine. After killing it, I…. Will join the ranks of prominent adventurers and then join the army! Only a fool will live his life as an adventurer!」

Gilbert kept trying to attack the Gold Maimai while speaking.
His movement was dulled because of the Gold Maimai’s poison.
The Gold Maimai dodged Gilbert’s attacks with ease.

『This idiot doesn’t even realize his own situation.』

Beelzebub said with a bored tone.

「…. One advice from me, Gilbert. Stop right now and regroup with Carol and Morgan. The one being cornered is you.」

「HA! Do you take me for a fool! It seems you turned into an idiot as soon as you find rare prey, Dean-kun! Something like me being cornered is…」

… My 《Odo Perception・Low》 picked up the signs of demon beasts in the passage.
There are three goblins and two hobgoblins.

Different from the goblins whose height was only around half of the height of an adult man, the hobgoblins were almost as tall as a grown man.
They’ve hard and rugged dark skin.
At most, goblins were E-rank demon beasts, but hobgoblins were D-rank demon beasts, its brutal nature placed hobgoblin in the same rank as those Rats.

「W-W-What the…..」

Gilbert stepped back while saying with such a bitter voice.

I doubt Gilbert was strong enough to defeat even one of the Hob-Goblins.
Originally, he could only defeat a Rat when he fought alongside Morgan.
The chance for adventurers to encounter packs of D-rank demon beasts in the 2nd floor wasn’t zero.
He should’ve known that he failed the moment he separated himself from Carol who has 《Enhanced Hearing》.
「… He reaps what he sows huh? Let alone learning from his past mistakes when he almost got Dean killed due to his greed, this idiot might sacrifice that poor boy to save his own ass now.」

Mani said as if looking down on Gilbert.
This is the first time I heard Mani spoke in such a bone-chilling tone.
It seemed that Mani also resented Gilbert after she heard my story about him sacrificing me as a bait to save his own ass.

Gilbert was trying to escape from this place, but the Gold Maimai quickly turned around.
The Hobgoblin was chasing after Gilbert and it tightly grasped a club in its hand

「S-Save me, Dean-kun! I’m really sorry for giving you such cruel treatment, please save me, Dean-kun!」

The Hobgoblin was swinging down its club towards Gilbert.
Though he protected his body with his left hand, he still fell to the ground due to the impact of the Hobgoblin’s attack.
His right hand was grasping tightly onto 《Bewitching Sword Noosa》.

「T-That’s right! I’ll give you my 《Bewitching Sword, Noosa》 as a symbol of my reflection! I’ll help you raise your level too! If it’s you, I know that you will become a prominent adventurer immediately! That’s why, that’s why…」

Gilbert stretched out his hand towards me.

「… Let’s go back, Dean. Just leave that idiot to die here. Unfortunately, we can’t continue chasing after the Gold Maimai in this kind of situation. Let’s just tell the other two that Gilbert is dead.」

「W-What the hell are you talking about! I-I am asking Dean, not you! R-Right, Dean-kun? You want to become a full-fledged adventurer, right?」

「Two Hobgoblins is too much for us. Not to mention the three goblins. Added to that is the most dangerous amongst them, the Gold Maimai. Despite its low level, weak strength, and despicable tendencies to escape from place to place, it doesn’t mean that Gold Maimai absolutely can’t fight back.」

「U-Uuuuu-hiccup! Morgan, please save me, Morgan! I don’t want to die in this kind of place! Someone, please save me~!」

Gilbert was wailing like a child.

…. It was just as Mani had said.
There might be no merit in saving Gilbert’s life.
He didn’t even hesitate to make me into the bait, Carol might be suffering the same fate as me one day.
Though it’s not like I have the right to judge whether someone has to die or not, no one would blame me for letting this guy die in this place.

He should’ve known that he had to give up when the Gold Maimai descended to the 3rd floor.
Unexpectedly, the Gold Maimai knew how to use its head, it skillfully led Gilbert and co into the 3rd floor and let the other demon beasts finish them off.

Even if I’m using 《Bersera》’s true power, there are too many uncertainties in this situation, I shouldn’t use its true power in this kind of place.
The first reason, despite the fact that I managed to defeat the Wight, an E-rank demon, it was not without a desperate struggle.

Thus, facing against a C-rank Gold Maimai, two D-rank Hob-Goblin, and three E-rank Goblins was equivalent to suicide for the current me.

「Sorry, Mani.」

And yet, my body was moving forward on its own.
Though Mani stretched out her arm to stop me, I dodged it by bending down lightly.

「Don’t go, Dean! You’re being too reckless here!」

I used 《Bersera》 to guard against the incoming Hobgoblin’s club strike.

「What are you waiting for, Gilbert? Grab the other two and escape from this place.」

「T-T-Thank you! Dean-kun… I-I will never forget this gratitude…」

Gilbert stood up while still trembling.

「Never show your face in front of me again, EVER! I absolutely won’t become an adventurer like you, that’s the only reason I saved your ass right now! 」

Though Gilbert seemed like he wanted to say something in return, he stopped whatever words that were about to come out of his mouth, and escaped from this place immediately.
This was good enough.
I’ve realized that the dark murky feeling that I felt ever since Gilbert forced me to reconcile with him in 《Frog’s Tongue》 restaurant has lightened.

The dark murky feeling was Gilbert’s way of life. It was something along the lines of “Like hell it’s just another person’s business.”

It was something I couldn’t say at that time.
I finally let go of that feeling and put it behind me to become an adventurer who could achieve success without having to sacrifice others.

I absolutely wouldn’t become someone like Gilbert.
I will become someone who wasn’t ashamed of his way of life, someone like Sword Saint Zelios.