I forgot to write the afterword in my haste.
Three days have passed since I first challenged the Trial of the Gods.
For someone like me, a mere mortal, sufficient practice was indispensable to reliably overcome the trial.
However, I thought it would be difficult to create a suitable environment for training, but Mitsuki once again displayed her cheat-level skills.
“That path in the sky? It’s about one meter and ninety-two centimeters wide.
The length to the sword is a little over thirty-two meters, I’d say.”
Mitsuki’s nonchalant words still linger in my memory.
Whether it’s her amazing spatial awareness or the honing of her close-combat skills, she can now measure lengths within a hundred meters with an error of only a few centimeters.
You might say she’s some kind of superhuman, but I’m truly grateful.
Under Mitsuki’s supervision, we created a training facility that replicated the Trial of the Gods, and I repeatedly practiced for the trial there.
That being said, video recordings from slates are essential for improving the accuracy of my practice.
Since they can only be used once a day, I couldn’t expect immediate results.
“So, how’s the training progressing?”
That’s why, during dinner at the Cat Ear Mansion, I flinched when Maki asked me that.
“N-no, I’ve gotten much better than when I started, and I’m trying my best.
Besides, you have a magnificent house… no, a castle, so you should come home properly for dinner at least.”
“Too bad! I have my father’s permission!”
Maki retorted with a hateful remark, as if determined not to be driven away.
She is indeed hateful, but I managed to change the subject.
As I felt relieved, thinking that,
“…So. The training?”
Ringo immediately cut in and steered the conversation back.
Ringo, who appears absent-minded but is sharp.
She might have seen through my lack of confidence.
“W-well, I’m trying my best, you know?
I, I was just doing practice that simulated the real thing.”
“…You were?”
Ringo’s questioning was relentless.
I resigned myself to my fate and finally confessed.
“I… I failed.”
“Eh!?”
Ena, who hadn’t shown much reaction until then, leaned forward at my confession.
“W-what do you mean by ‘failed’?”
“I-I mean, I fell off the path in the training facility.”
Maki’s gaze bored into me as if to say, “I told you so.”
“B-but, it couldn’t be helped!
Even I didn’t realize how difficult it was until I actually tried it…”
I attempted a clumsy excuse, but,
“U-um, are you really okay?
In that trial, levels and such become meaningless, right?
If you fail, even you, Soma-san, wouldn’t…”
“Ugh…”
Ena’s words, filled with genuine concern, silenced me.
If they were teasing me, I could have answered, but being cared for so earnestly, I couldn’t put on a brave face.
As if to escape that uncomfortable atmosphere, I raised my voice.
“W-well, putting that aside, I have some good news for everyone!”
Despite the timing, which seemed to be a diversion skillfully executed, my intentions weren’t entirely ulterior.
Given the issue with the slates, practicing for the trial too intensely wouldn’t be very effective.
More importantly, it would be a waste of time for everyone else to be idle while I was practicing. So, in parallel with my training, we had been gathering ‘certain items’ together. And today, we finally gathered everything.
I placed the collected items on the table with a loud thud.
On the table were items such as the ‘Sunstone Shard,’ necessary for opening the entrance to the Hidden Dungeon.
In the Game, fitting these items into the door in the correct combination was quite difficult. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, I still clearly remembered which item went where, thanks to the struggles I had in the Game searching for the right combination.
In other words, if we have these…
“So, we can finally reach the ‘Labyrinth of Sealing Evils,’ right?”
“Yeah. The ‘Soul Eater’ in that Dungeon is indispensable for strengthening our combat power.
Once we’re prepared, I plan to challenge it immediately tomorrow.”
As I declared, the atmosphere among my companions became noticeably more serious.
“Then shall we all go there tomorrow?”
“No, the Labyrinth of Sealing Evils is a high-difficulty Dungeon. If many people go, the risk of death increases.
I plan to conquer the Dungeon with just one other person, meaning just the two of us.”
At those words, I could feel the tension in the room escalate further.
Naturally, everyone was curious about who would be chosen for this most significant undertaking.
Feeling their gazes intensely, I indicated a certain individual.
“—Sahzan. I want you to come with me.”
At my words, the masked Magician nodded haughtily as usual and said,
“Hmph, me? Of course, at such important moments… Eh? M-me!?”
He then looked so surprised that his mask nearly slipped halfway down his face.
“Yes. Sahzan, I want you to accompany me to the Labyrinth of Sealing Evils.”
“Eh? B-but, for something like this, you’d usually ask Mitsuki or Ringo or…”
Sahzan, flustered for once, stammered.
His reaction was amusing to watch, but the Labyrinth of Sealing Evils is the highest-difficulty Dungeon.
Naturally, there’s a risk to his life if he accompanies me.
This isn’t the time to joke around.
I extended my invitation to Sahzan with as much sincerity as possible.
“I need your strength… Will you come with me?”
Perhaps surprised that I would ask so earnestly, Sahzan frantically waved his hands and looked left and right meaninglessly before replying,
“Ah, um… If… if I’m good enough.
…My, please take care of me.”
I didn’t quite understand the meaning, but I shook his hand anyway.
“…Then, the rest of us will wait at the mansion?”
I don’t know why, but I continued shaking Sahzan’s hand for quite a long time until Mitsuki’s somewhat cold voice brought me back to reality. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I felt strangely blamed, and opened my mouth in a rush.
“Ah, no, of course, there are things I want everyone else to do as well.
There are many items we need to gather besides weapons, so I want you all to split up and collect them.”
First, I turned to Mitsuki.
“Mitsuki, I want you to hunt Butchers in Deus Plain.”
“Butchers… I see, you’re collecting Power Seeds.”
As expected, Mitsuki is perceptive, which is helpful.
“Mitsuki, I believe you can defeat King Butchers alone without any danger.
Butchers always drop Power Seeds when defeated, so I want you to collect them.”
“Understood.”
Although I hesitated a bit because Mitsuki is so versatile, she is undoubtedly the only one who can defeat Butchers without risk.
And then, the next important role is…
“Next, Maki and Ringo. It’s a little dangerous, but I want you two to go to the Demon Lord’s Castle.”
“The Demon Lord’s Castle? But that place is…”
I understood what Maki was implying.
It had been submerged, and the Demon Lord had died because of it.
Naturally, the common monsters inside the castle wouldn’t have survived…
“I had Mitsuki retrieve the ‘Sunstone Shard’ that the Demon Lord possessed. From what I saw then, most of the monsters seemed to have died from the submersion damage or were in critical condition.”
“However, even if monsters die, their dropped items remain for a while.
When I went there, items were left lying around the castle.”
Mitsuki continued my explanation. Maki tilted her head at her words.
“Huh? There were items left, but you didn’t pick them up?”
“No, well…”
When asked, Mitsuki apologetically twitched her ears.
Cute… not.
“Ah, well, Mitsuki has an allergy to the Demon Lord’s Castle.”
“Eh?”
Maki’s eyes widened at the sudden and peculiar ailment.
“I thought I had overcome it when the Demon Lord fell, but even now, when I go to the Demon Lord’s Castle, I’m overcome by symptoms like severe palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, dry throat, and an urge to fight strong enemies, making it impossible for me to stay long.
I just managed to secure the Sunstone Shard and returned.”
It sounds like a general cold symptom, but this is due to the Nekoneko staff’s settings, which feared that Mitsuki’s presence would make the battle against the Demon Lord too easy.
Well, the last part feels a little different, but it’s probably the Nekoneko staff’s fault.
It probably is.
“An-anyway, there are still items dropped by enemies remaining in the Demon Lord’s Castle.
So, I want you two to go collect them.”
Hearing that, Ringo clapped her hands, as if a lightbulb had lit up above her head.
“…Mm, got it! I’ll go treasure hunting!”
“W-well, it’s not wrong, but think about how you phrase it!”
After all, it is, in its own way, the final Dungeon.
The stronger the enemies that appear, the better the quality of the items.
“However, the enemies in the Demon Lord’s Castle are strong, so please be extremely careful.
Don’t push yourselves. If you feel it’s even a little difficult, use the Transfer Stone to return.”
I believe Ringo and Maki’s current strength is sufficient, but it would be unbearable if they were to die for such a reason.
I emphasized this, and both of them nodded firmly.
“Specifically, I want you to collect consumable items rather than equipment.
The enemies there drop valuable recovery items like Potions frequently, and in the rare drop slots, there are even top-tier Potions and the ‘Dragon’s Treasure’ that appeared in the recorded footage…”
“Eh!!”
The one who reacted strongly to my words was not Ringo or Maki, but Ena.
Ena let out a loud cry and then, with a serious expression, stared at me.
“W-what’s wrong? Why did you suddenly shout?”
“Ah, um… Soma-san and the others really conquered the Demon Lord’s Castle, didn’t they?”
“Eh? Ah, yeah. Ena, you weren’t here at the time, were you?”
Whether it can be called conquering is debatable, but I can see why she’d say that… maybe?
“U-um, the Demon Lord’s Castle, can I go too?”
“Huh?”
As I was taken aback, Ena hesitantly brought up the topic.
“I, I want to see the Demon Lord’s Castle just once, and I want to be useful to Soma-san too!”
“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but Ena, you don’t have the Water Dragon Ring.”
“U-well, that…”
The Water Dragon Ring, which allows underwater movement, is indispensable for fighting in submerged areas.
However, it’s a bugged equipment, so I can’t just give it to someone who doesn’t have it.
“I, I have other things I want to ask of you.
Well, the place where the Evil God is sealed is a swamp, right?
I want you to obtain an item called a Float Ring, which allows you to walk on water.”
“B-but…”
Ena still seemed hesitant, but,
“That’s in Ramur’s Dungeon.
Ena, you know Ramur better than anyone, right?”
“That… Yes, I’ll do my best.”
After I stressed this, she relented.
Before she could change her mind, I quickly gave further instructions.
“Then, Layla, I want you to search for the Float Ring with Ena.”
“Okay! I’ll achieve it even if it costs me my life!”
“N-no, you don’t have to risk your life.”
There’s no life-threatening danger in the Dungeon where the Float Ring is located, to begin with.
Although Ena, who still seemed somewhat unconvinced, concerned me, all plans were now decided.
Finally, I called out to Sahzan, who would be exploring with me tomorrow.
“So, Sahzan, I’m counting on you tomorrow.”
“Hmph! Don’t worry. With me accompanying you, any difficult trial will be as good as solved.
So, um… I, I won’t make you regret choosing me, for sure.”
Though the latter half was whispered, Sahzan also seemed to be fired up.
Thinking that I could expect great things from him tomorrow, we dispersed for the day.
And then, the next day.
“Alright, Sahzan, let’s go all out!”
“W-whatever! I knew you’d say something like this, Tidal Wave!”
Inside the Labyrinth of Sealing Evils, we were busy flooding the Dungeon with water, me and Sahzan.
“G-ggrrr! I didn’t learn magic for this!”
I realized from the incident at the Demon Lord’s Castle that flooding is a very effective method against enclosed Dungeons.
While I hadn’t had the opportunity to use it in places like towers, Sky Cities, or mysterious spaces, it would be effective in the Labyrinth of Sealing Evils.
In a submerged area, enemies can be defeated just by the water damage, and even if not, being in the water can restrict their movement.
It’s truly a win-win situation.
“A-anyway, you could use Tidal Wave too, couldn’t you!
Why didn’t you just come alone!”
“I’m a Warrior class, so my MP isn’t very high.
Besides, it’s safer for one person to use magic while the other keeps watch.”
In that regard, Sahzan is a magic powerhouse and possesses the Water Dragon Ring, so underwater movement is not a problem.
He is truly the perfect candidate.
“Damn it! Damn it! I, I couldn’t sleep at all last night due to nervousness, ugh, ugh!”
I thought he didn’t need to put so much pressure on himself, but Sahzan’s unexpected timidity, despite his seemingly boisterous nature, might be one of his good points.
However, contrary to Sahzan’s complaints, the exploration proceeded remarkably smoothly.
It’s a Dungeon I’ve been to many times, and I know the location of the Treasure Chest containing the Soul Eater.
All the enemies along the way were already almost incapacitated, and I acquired it surprisingly easily.
“Is… is this it?”
Sahzan seemed to think so too, and asked in a somewhat dejected voice.
However…
“…Actually, there’s another reason I brought you all here that I didn’t mention.”
As I began to speak, Sahzan looked clueless, then skeptical.
“N-no way! You saying something at this moment is something I absolutely shouldn’t listen to!”
“W-whoa, whoa…”
I think this should be good news for Sahzan, but he’s quite rude.
Oh well.
“Well, since we’ve come this far…”
As I continued speaking, forcefully pulling away Sahzan’s hands, which were covering his ears as if to say ‘la la la,’
“—Let’s take this opportunity to go a little further in and drown a Fragment of the Evil God!”
I suggested with a smile.
Amen!!
The next update will be tomorrow!
