Sword of Gluttony Queen - Chapter 34
Chapter 34 : Demon’s Den
After spending a night in the coach, the three of us then headed toward the 《Demon’s Den》 the next morning.
At this point, the coachman might be moving his coach to the closest village of the labyrinth.
Surely it was inefficient to wait for the coach to come in the middle of nowhere, but there’s a high possibility of being attacked by bandits during the night if the coach was waiting in front of the labyrinth.
Though it’ll take quite a long time to walk from the labyrinth to the village, we can ride a coach from the village to Romburgh.
I sent a sidelong glance toward Edda, expecting her to bitch over the situation, but she didn’t say anything about this situation.
… Well, Fedor-san did tell her before that doing this was normal.
「Be relieved, I won’t throw a tantrum over this situation.」
Edda was squinting her eyes as she glared at me.
「It’s a matter of efficiency. I’ve never said selfish things up till now and asides from Fedor, I expect nothing from you after all. It’ll be annoying if a brat like you falsely accused me. Or else, is this one of you adventurer’s socializing skill?」
Edda was looking at Fedor while asking the last question.
Fedor-san was smiling wryly again when hearing that.
Sure enough, Edda’s words were sarcasm towards Fedor-san who told her that communication between adventurers was important.
「GUH….」
But, I knew that I was the one at fault for expecting Edda to throw a tantrum.
Fedor-san didn’t say anything in that regard nor did he blame me.
「L-Look who’s talking, even though you ate the breakfast I made.」
「Don’t get cocky. Narc tribe’s swordcraft focuses on disturbing our opponent with minimum movement. Moving around too much will exhaust your stamina. I ate more than usual for the sake of maintaining my stamina. Though I’ve no choice but to get along with you due to this situation. Fedor, give me preserved food once we’re inside the labyrinth. 」
…. Damn me and my blabbering mouth.
I facepalmed to calm my mind.
I tried to summon my patience just like when I was in a party with Gilbert.
Maybe I allowed myself to get carried away since I was in a party with Fedor-san.
『If that girl really prefers such a tasteless meal, tell her to lick a demon core or soil to fill her stomach!』
I regained my composure thanks to Beelzebub’s complaints.
Yeah, I completely forgot that I was just a weak adventurer and on top of that, I was hiding my true level.
Yet here I was, getting angry when others said something akin to “You’re just a useless pipsqueak.”
They just acted in accordance with my fake information.
「Dean-kun.」
I raised my head when Fedor-san called out my name.
「Good job on managing to suppress your agitation when talking to Edda-chan! You shouldn’t take it into your heart you know. I became her mediator for the same reason, it’s because she needs one to prevent others from misunderstanding her intention!」
Fedor-san gave me a thumbs up with a refreshing smile on his face.
「… F-Fedor-san!」
There was a deep wrinkle on Edda’s forehead.
「Are you guys done talking?!」
After that for a while, Edda made an even more vexed face than her usual vexed face.
The matter Fedor-san said just now… it might be just a follow up for my actions, but it seemed that Edda took it in the wrong way since he said those words in front of her.
After walking in the forest for a while, we arrived in front of the entrance of the tunnel that led underground.
「Here is the 《Demon’s Den》. A C-rank dungeon, it has a total of six floors…. It is a considerably dangerous hunting ground. Make sure that you’re not separated from me.」
Fedor-san looked at us with a fearless smile on his face.
「Our target, 《Mineral Demon; Solus》 was loitering around on the 3rd floor. Let’s go down as fast as possible and if possible, let’s return to the surface before the dusk. Though I don’t see the necessity to camp inside the demon labyrinth nor do I want to, it’s better to be prepared for the worst situation rather than being sorry. The same goes for you two, make sure to avoid camping in the demon labyrinth in the future.」
I knew the reason very well.
Because camping in the demon labyrinth was akin to exposing our backs to the demon beasts. It was better to not do that.
Moreover, the thickness of the miasma on the 3rd floor was so thick that we’re most likely to suffer from miasma poisoning on the first day.
We shouldn’t stay in there for too long without an environmentalist.
But, even with an environmentalist, our minds would slowly be corroded by the gloominess of the labyrinth, which would affect our judgment and movement speed. We would eventually get irritated which would lead to our downfall.
I had 《Odo Perception・Low》 which would make things easier for us but… I better keep it a secret for the time being.
I would only reveal it when it was necessary.
This skill wasn’t supposed to be something that a 《Legman》 can learn so easily.
Though there was a low chance that it would lead some people to think that this skill was related to my magic sword.
I wanted some time to discuss this matter with Fedor-san, but was unable to do so thanks to a vexing woman called Edda.
Though I felt that our personalities were simply incompatible, she considered herself as someone with a strict personality to others and herself. The exchange we had just before we departed from the village had erased my good impression toward her.
Upon entering the 1st floor, we encountered 2 goblins. It was decided for both of us, me and Edda to each defeat one of them.
In the meantime, Fedor-san was looking after the mana lamp for us.
Even so, I became more powerful compared to the time when I defeated the wight on my own.
I could easily beat one of them byusing the opening they showed when swinging their club.
I was using this battle to steal the goblin’s 《Night Vision》 and 《Dark Walker》 with 《Gluttony’s Edge》.
《Dark Walker》 was a battle art that placed the fighting spirit on the shoelaces of its user, allowing its user to do a glide-like movement along the ground. Thus it increased its user’s speed and stealthiness.
《Night Vision》 was a trait that allowed its possessor to see inside the darkness.
I spared a glance at Edda’s direction.
Though I couldn’t see it clearly since I also fought the other goblin, I caught the sight of that goblin’s head flying less than one second after she kicked the ground.
Despite there being only three levels of difference between us, her speed surpassed mine by a mile.
I had heard once before that there were minute differences in the status values between two people of the same level when they leveled up due to their combat style.* But, I didn’t think the difference between me and Edda was simply a numerical difference.[TL*: Someone whose combat style revolved in using brute power to mow down their enemy usually got more increase in strength value.]
「Nice battle, you guys! It seems there’s no need for me to butt into your fight. And Dean-kun, it seems there’s no problem with allowing you to enter combat!」
「Thank you very much!」
「But, you’re wasting your stamina by swinging around your sword like that. Remember, your enemy is a goblin. 3rd Adventurer Knowledge! When you see a chance for attack, make sure that your one hit is enough to end the battle!」
… My aim was messed up because my sword becomes heavier when I use 《Gluttony’s Edge》.
Fedor-san saw through that in just a moment.
Maybe it was better if I held back from using that after this battle.
Well, I guess I could go with Mani next time, goblins aren’t that rare after all.
「Edda-chan is… using 《Flash Decapitation》 huh. You managed to master 《Flash Decapitation》 despite being a human at such a young age. I’m really jealous of your talent. Well if we slaughter every single enemy we meet, raising ten levels in a short time isn’t impossible.」
D-Damn it, I lost to that woman.
Well it couldn’t be helped, the difference between our combat prowess was too big.
《Flash Decapitation》 was a highly difficult battle art that allowed its user to move much faster than usual by applying fighting spirit on its user’s body.
Its greatest flaw lay in the fact that the increase in speed was so great, that most of the user’s body and thoughts couldn’t catch up with that speed. It made it even more difficult to maneuver around and the extreme exhaustion that followed after its deactivation.
But, anyone who could master it was undoubtedly a first-class adventurer.
By the way, there was a battle art called 《Breakthrough》 which used its user’s fighting spirit to raise their physical abilities.
Carol, the porter hired by Gilbert a while ago, had 《Enhanced Hearing》 the same kind of strengthening type of battle art.
「I’ll accept that as flattery, Fedor.」
Edda said so without even stopping to turn around to look at Fedor.
Honestly, I felt like I was defeated for some reason.
「Fu」
I get the feeling that I saw Edda chuckling for a moment seeing me slumping down in defeat.
Her head shook lightly for a moment when I glared at her and then she was back to her usual expressionless face.
… It seemed that this girl was an airhead.