Vol 3: Chapter 32
「Leon, come back here. I don’t know what’s written in there, but we have to investigate it carefully first.」
「Oi, Dante. Do you take me for a fool? If I come back, you’re just going to break my head with that mace of yours, right?」
「I won’t do that. I am different from you.」
「Hah!」Leon spat.「’I am different from you’, huh? Right, you have always been like that. Always going around lecturing people, always trying to show off that you care for the party and the members, but in the end you just wanted to look heroic in front of everyone without thinking of the consequences! How many times did you give up our request fee due to your own sense of justice? Even when we defeated the horde of goblins, you refused the money saying, “We can’t take money from a poor village,” without even consulting me!」
「We were well rewarded by the Adventurer’s Guild after that, weren’t we?」
「Because of me!! Because I negotiated with the guild! Even so, all the adventurers around praised just you! What’s wrong with wanting to earn money? What’s wrong with aiming for the top? Is it really that bad? Dante, I was actually really glad when you were inflicted with the petrification. I was happy that you were gone, and you were happy to die heroically.」
「I-I never…」
Words wouldn’t come out of Dante-san’s mouth.
I thought it was all shitty excuses, obviously.
But I didn’t say anything—because I got goosebumps from the person next to me.
「That’s not something a person who was saved twice by my dad should be saying.」
Non-san’s voice was calm as usual. But those words contained incredible anger.
I’m scared. When people who are usually calm get angry, it’s scary. I’m too scared to even look at her.
「He wanted to look heroic? Yes, exactly. Your life was saved from Medusa and in this labyrinth because of that heroic sense. The moment you stabbed the person you owed your life to, your words have lost all weight.」
「You only say that because you’re Dante’s daughter!」
「I serve the church. Before I am my father’s daughter, I am a child of God.『Reward aid with gratitude. Reward hatred with love』, is what the scripture teaches. My father is not a man who serves the church, but he practices that scripture in everyday life. No matter how much of a shitty bastard you are, my father will treat you with compassion.」
「S, S… Sh, Shut up!! Those sermons mean nothing!」
At that moment, I noticed something strange about Leon.
Was he a man who would sound like he had gone insane just because he was cornered?
This guy was supposed to be the very picture of frivolous and thoughtless.
(Ah–)
I understood the true nature of the danger that I sensed earlier.
「Mimino-san, our Mana Neutralizer is running out. Do we have more?」
「Eh? It’s in that bag over there–」
It was at the moment Mimino-san pointed to a bag near where we had just finished eating.
「Leon, come back here!」Dante-san called.
Leon seemed to be putting strength into the hand holding the lever.
「Dante. You just watch from over there. I will be the one to capture this dungeon. I will become the hero this time!」
And he lowered the lever.
—What should I have done at this moment?
Leon was laughing, Dante-san’s pale face was distorted, Non-san stared at Leon, Zerry-san was on guard, and Mimino-san was still pointing at the bag over there.
From above, from far above, a voice shook the place, as if it was an oracle from God.
『——Be Consumed By Fear——』
It felt like my heart was grabbed by an invisible hand and my head pressed down from above. Fear, this is what fear is.
I staggered and fell, both hands on the ground. It was difficult to breathe. My field of vision dyed red. Several times much heavier than the emotional attack from the first battle with the automaton.
「!?」
I looked at the end of the passage. Leon was also crouching, holding his head. However, behind him, the wall where words were written was gone, and a passage was openedーa passage that could be traversed by getting on all fours.
Leon was not aware of it, however. Not only Leon, but all of us were unable to move from the spot.
Then a rumbling sound was heard.
It was the “same” as I heard when I defeated the Juggernaut.
In other words, since the “same” happened, the wall of “faces” began to move as well. The narrow passage seemed like it was closing up.
「Leo, n! The wall is moving!」
I squeezed out my voice. Leon raised his face, wet with tears and a runny nose. And he understood what was going to happen to him.
Even so, he couldn’t move. He just shook his trembling head, like a frightened little animal.
「Move… Move! Or you’ll die!」I called out again.
「Leon, come over here!」
Dante-san also noticed the abnormality and raised his voice. The passage, which was about 1 meter wide, had already narrowed to about 70 cm.
「Get up! Leon!」
「…H-Help me…」
But Leon still couldn’t move. Even if I try to move, my legs seem to be frozen too—Ahhh, shit, shit, shit! If only I had taken Mana Neutralizer. This wouldn’t have happened if only I have had a little more time to prepare!
「Mimino-san, do you have ivy!?」
「!」
Mimino-san, who was all pale and trembling, seems to have noticed what I meant. She took out an ivy from the tool bag on her waist, turned towards the passage and activated【Flower Magic】. The stretched out ivy fell just before Leon.
「Da, Dante, pull him out!」Mimino-san cried
「Leon!」
Leon grabbed the ivy that had fallen in front of him and clung to it like his life depended on it.
Even if they were wronged, even if they were betrayed, even if they were spat on, neither Dante-san nor Mimino-san hesitated to help Leon.
People show their true nature in extreme situations.
I’m really glad to be in the same party as these people.
Dante-san began pulling the ivy. The width of the passage was already about 50 cm. Leon fell sideways and desperately clung to the ivy.
The lingering fear still remained. His legs trembled and his hands were weak. Still—we were overcoming fear with the will to “help”.
I also joined Dante-san and pulled the ivy.
We pulled. And pulled.
5 meters left. 4 meters. 3 meters. 2 meters.
The width was only about 30 cm.
But we can make it in time — there was a glimmer of hope in Leon’s eyes.
「Ahー」
A thick, viscous object fell from above Leon as if it was poured out of a bucket.
「AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!」Leon wailed.
The ivy snapped, causing Dante-san and I to be thrown back.
Slimes.
Enveloped Leon, melted his clothes, melted his skin. Smoke arose.
His voice ceased.
The passage was closing.
Without a sound.
When the width was less than 10 cm, the inside was no longer visible.
「…………」
And the passage closed. As if there was never a passage there from the start.
The slime that was squeezed out of the passage, found the tiny gaps in the wall and was sucked into it.
