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The next day, we decided to do things separately. Since it was a day right after a long journey, we decided to dedicate it to rest. That said, since I banned us from going out alone, it resulted in me pairing up with Finia, while Michelle with Cloud.

Cortina, you ask? Well, she apparently got a bit too wasted with Tricia, so she had a hangover today. What did she even follow us here for…

“I feel like Cortina has grown slovenly ever since I left her house.”
“She seemed to be restraining herself while you were there, Lady Nicole.”

Finia joined in with my grumbling with a forced smile.

Cortina was in Tricia’s room now, and the inn staff would take care of them too, so there should most likely be no problems. Honestly, I’d rather not see the woman I love groaning and writhing in pain. If I saw her vomit, I feel like it’d result in trauma.

There are things a man should and should not see.

“So, is there anywhere you wanna go, Finia?”

I only had a vague objective of exploring the town, so I let Finia choose our destination.

And above all, I didn’t want her to meet the God of Destruction, so I was planning to look out for her. Really, Finia was aware of some very risky information, so I was worried Whitey would blurt out something uncalled for.

For that, I wanted to make sure she wouldn’t approach Goddess of Destruction’s store.

“Let’s see. I can’t use my spear inside the city, so I would like a spare weapon.”
“Oh, right.”

I realized after she mentioned it. Her spear was a special weapon consisting of a dagger combined with the extending handle. Its peculiarity was apparent at a glance, so it was hard to use it in places full of public eyes.

Finia right now looked like a beginner Adventurer with nothing but a short sword and leather armor on her.

Me walking next to her was also dressed in light equipment with just a katana on me, so our lack of defenses was apparent.

Not to mention, both of us were beauties, so…

“Hey, young ladies. If you’re free, why not play with us?”
“We aren’t free, so try again. Excuse us.”

We naturally ended up getting involved with this kind of bunch. I curtly turned them down, but they didn’t seem to want to back down at all.

The ones who called out to us were three youngsters. They all had swords on their waists, but had no Adventurer cards hanging on their necks. In other words, they were fishy people who were armed despite not being Adventurers.

“Come on, don’t be like that. We know fun places, you know?”
“Yeah. And we’re pretty famous around here. It won’t harm you to get along with us.”
“We’re stronger than your average Adventurers too. If we try, we could even reach the seventh rank.”

They were typical pick-up artists. Still, they said something haughty I couldn’t overlook. They could even reach the seventh rank? These people? The proof of a hero that is only given to five people at present?

I also held it in my past life, but god knows how many times I crossed paths with death to obtain it.

“That’s great. But isn’t seventh rank a bit of an exaggeration there?”
“No, we’re serious! We can easily get there! Right?”
“Yeah, we can defeat the Evil Dragon without breaking a sweat. Those Six Heroes or whatever were nothing much to take it on with six of them.”
“We could easily do it with just the three of us.”

The three happily talked on and on about such things. Hearing that, something seemed to snap inside my head. It would be one thing if it was just me, but I couldn’t forgive them for looking down on Lyell and Gadius.

Their abilities were unmistakably cut above the rest. It wasn’t on the level that hoodlums who weren’t even Adventurers would be able to denounce.

“If you’re so confident, how about you prove it? There’s a labyrinth that’s perfect for testing your skills just right in the corner.”
“Wha-, Lady Nicole!?”

Finia was shocked at my sudden proposal to go to the labyrinth. And I couldn’t blame her. I was the one who warned the other day to not arbitrarily enter the labyrinth. I was amazed at my own lack of principles… but still, there was a line past which I couldn’t forgive.

“I know. I did say not to enter the labyrinth alone, right? But I have my teleportation, and a little trip would only take a bit.”
“But…”
“These people will be with me too, so I won’t be alone anyway.”
“That’s just an excuse!”
“In that case, how about I come along as well?”

A voice suddenly interjected into our conversation. I remembered hearing it before last night.

When I turned around, there was a young boy there as I expected. And as before, it made me shiver as if the pores on my body were opening up. Not just me, even Finia seemed to have sensed it, and her face got dyed in wariness.

“Good morning. What about your work?”
“I don’t work in the mornings. An employee can’t open up the store on his own, right?”
“Lady Nicole, is this person your acquaintance?”
“Rather than an acquaintance, I suppose it’s better to say an acquaintance of an acquaintance. Does that still count?”
“Huuh. Who’s this guy?”

The youth was giggling at my dubious words. The youngsters didn’t seem to take his attitude well, and snapped at the boy that suddenly intruded in our conversation. He didn’t falter at all, however, and nonchalantly introduced himself.

“Hey. I’m Ba…Ba… err, as much as I hate it, please refer to me as Baa.”
“Huuh? Are you messing with us!”

The youngsters snapped with bulging veins at his introduction that was clearly a made-up name. The boy didn’t mind that either and just snapped his fingers. In the next instant, the scenery around us changed completely.

A damp, sticky atmosphere wrapped around me. Darkness that didn’t let through even one streak of light. A hard, but at the same time, elastic footing.

“Are we…inside the labyrinth?”
“Yes. I used teleportation magic. Ah, we need light, huh?”

He snapped his fingers once more, and the surroundings got lit up. He didn’t even chant, but he probably cast the Light spell. We were in about a thirty meters square area. Then Baa’s easygoing voice reverberated.

“We are in the room of the floor 600th guardian, Earth King Agares. It’s a crocodile-like giant beast. Compared to Evil Dragon Colchis, it’s several levels, or rather, at least ten levels below.”
“W-W-W-W-W-What did you say?!”
“We are seriously inside the labyrinth?! But I thought you needed the Guild’s permission to enter…”
“This is crazy, really crazy!!”

The youngsters started panicking as Baa calmly explained the situation. Ignoring those people, the area before my eyes started to warp. It was probably that Agares fellow about to manifest.

Then, a gigantic, over ten meters long figure of a crocodile appeared. It gave off an oppressive feeling that made even this wide area seem narrow.

Ignoring that, Baa spoke casually.

“Now, do your best. We’ll observe your prided skill.”
“D-Don’t mess-”

Just as they were about to yell in protest, Agares’ roar spread through the room.