Mokushiroku Alice

We descend down the slope.

Descend.

Descend.

We descend at an unbelievable speed.

If we crash into something, we"ll probably die instantly. That"s how fast we are descending down the slope.

In the midst of it, a rabbit jumps out.

It looks at us,

"Yaah......"

The instant it says that,

"Sea Moon Wheel switch!"

Yells Gunjou.

A strike slices the rabbit"s face, chest, legs ---

Those are not enough to sever the rabbit, but the last hit strikes the pocket watch. The rabbit disappears.

The pocket watch of the rabbit behind is also hit by the Sea Moon Wheel unleashed by Gunjou.

"Orh, very good."

I say without thinking.

I can hear an utterance of "Eh-hehe." beside my ear.

But the exit has yet to appear. We continue accelerating. I don"t think we have been descending for a really long time, but perhaps as a result of tensing up our bodies, it feels like a really long time.

A rabbit appears again.

Gunjou conjures up her Sea Moon Wheel again. She attacks. She manages to sever the torso of one, but fails to bring down the other.

"Sorry, Shinnosuke......"

"Demon Sword switch."

I swing my sword. I turn the claw thrown by the rabbit aside.

That alone is enough.

We avoid the attack of the rabbit, and zip past it. The rabbit can no longer catch up to our descending speed.

However, if we continue like this, we"ll probably be killed somewhere.

"Jeez, where"s the exit!?"

I bellow but the exit does not appear.

The exit can"t be seen at all.

Instead, a wall made of vegetation appears before our path straight ahead.

Seeing that,

"You"re kidding me!?"

My eyes widen.

Gunjou clings onto me from behind,

"W-W-Wh-Wh-Whhhaaaat should we do, Shinnosuke!?"

Whichever way it is, we can"t stop. In that case,

"We have no choice but to break through right!"

"How!?"

I use the power of my Demon Sword switch.

"a.s.sa.s.sination property!"

The instant I yell that, a red target mark appears in my field of vision. I look at that wall made of vegetation with those eyes.

Is there a weak place?

Is there a weak point?

Is there a place where I can slice apart with my Demon Sword?

And the result of the search.

There is no place where I can destroy the wall with my Demon Sword.

No target marker appeared.

Gunjou asks.

"How is it!?"

"No good. We"ll stop here!"

I thrust my Demon Sword into the ground. But, it doesn"t go through due to our great momentum. With my grip and the force at which I"m thrusting at the ground, it"s not enough to slow our descending speed.

"d.a.m.n!?"

I yell.

At that moment,

"Sea Moon Wheel switch!"

Gunjou uses her magic again.

She unleashes her Sea Moon Wheel at the vegetation wall.

They crash into it.

However, with just that. They can"t destroy the wall.

But, at a place where the wheel has struck, a target point suddenly appears.

Maybe it"s because of the strike from the wheel that the wall becomes weakened, a weak point judged by my Demon Sword where I can slice apart with it appears.

I look hard at that.

"............"

I don"t know whether the hole that will be made from my slash would be large enough for me and Gunjou"s bodies to pa.s.s through.

If I stab at it with my sword, and if the resulting hole is not large enough, then Gunjou and I will probably die from the sudden impact.

Gunjou says.

"...... is this the end?"

But I ready my sword. And say.

"Hold on tight. I"m going to cut the wall.

Hearing that, Gunjou tightens her grip on me with both her hands. I can smell her scent.

The scent of sweat, nervousness, and fear.

The scent of living.

The Acceleration switch cursed song starts playing in my head.

The curse overflows my memory area, and the preparation for the use of the magic that boosts the memory area of my brain simply by tearing it to shreds is completed.

【In an instant ♪   In a flash ♪   In the time of a flash ♪

The flash of time, the flash of an instant ♪   In an instant ♪   In a flash ———】

"...... Acceleration switch ---"

I activate my magic.

Faster, faster, and faster than our descending speed, for an instant, for a second, in the flash of time, I control my speed.

I kick the ground.

My body accelerates.

That acceleration defies the law of physics.

Because I"m carrying Gunjou"s weight, I"m a tad slower. But it"s enough.

"Go... throooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggghhhhhh!"

I swing my jet black sword.

The blade thrusts into the wall.

Cutting it apart.

The wall collapses.

The hole that opens up isn"t that big.

"No good huh."

As I say that, while still clinging on to me, Gunjou brings her hands forward, makes a cross and yells.

"Defensive Tyrant switch!"

It"s the defensive magic that Gunjou often uses.

Swirling streams of water appear before her hands. They crash into the wall. The wall that has been weakened by the Sea Moon Wheel and Demon Sword gets struck by the whirlpool and is destroyed. And thus, a tight hole that"s barely large enough for Gunjou and I to pa.s.s through opens.

Even so, it"d be the end if some part of our bodies get struck. Our flesh and bone will be smashed to pieces.

But, we press against each other and manage to pa.s.s through the hole somehow.

"We did it!"

Shouts Gunjou.

But we fail to land on our feet. We fall. Gunjou"s body gets blown away.

"Gunjou!"

I extend my hand but can"t reach her.

"Shinnosuke!"

Gunjou yells but there is nothing that can be done.

With that, while falling, we descend.

But that lasts only for a few seconds.

Ahead of the wall, the slope suddenly starts becoming gentle.

"Gah, ah, oof......"

I crash into the ground, tumbling down, but I can clearly feel that my descending speed is dropping.

Two seconds later.

I can"t do anything but tumble.

But at the third second, I push against the ground with my arm. Following that, I plant my feet onto the ground. And prop myself up. I can do this. I can control my balance. My descending speed has also become pretty slow.

"All......"

Just as I am about to utter all right and recover my posture,

"Kyaaaaa."

Gunjou crashes into me from behind,

"Owah."

I tumble again. Gunjou grabs on to me tightly and I can"t regain my balance at all.

"Hey, idiot, let go of me."

"Eh, eh, but, you said not to let go......"

"You know, if you haven"t grabbed onto me, I would have regained my balance."

"Eh? Ah......"

Gunjou lets go of me there and then. After tumbling down a few rounds, she manages to plant her slender feet onto the ground. And stands up.

I too stand up at the same time.

We are still sliding down the slope, but I grab Gunjou"s hand and after that,

"Demon Sword switch."

I murmur.

I thrust the sword that appeared in my hand. Zuh zuh zuh, as the sword rips through the ground, we come to a stop.

Then,

"...... haah, we survive."

I sigh out.

Gunjou then too sighs out in relief, and then smiles happily,

"Hey."

She says wearily.

I would probably have been killed by the rabiits if I hadn"t descended with Gunjou. I also wouldn"t have been able to break through the wall without her Sea Moon Wheel switch.

In other words, it"s thanks to her that I"m still alive now.

Thinking about that,

"............"

I get an exasperated sense of the limits of fighting alone. Though of course, I wouldn"t have attempted something so reckless if I were alone.

I turn to face the wall made of vegetation behind me and say.

"...... if Shiro was with us, this would probably have been a breeze."

Gunjou then looks at me and says.

"What do you mean by that huh?"

She somehow seems miffed. But I say.

"No, I mean, if we had his Thousand Deities Flash of Light switch......"

As I say that,

"Ah......"

Gunjou too makes an utterance of realization.

If it was Shiro"s Thousand Deities Flash of Light switch, a gigantic offensive magic that would become a drill, which we would have been able to use to advance as we thrust forward, while impaling the walls, rabbits, and everything.

On top of that, he has someone who"s skilled in support magic, Himi, on his team. And with her, we would have been able to antic.i.p.ate to a certain extent the layout ahead.

Furthermore, the relentless onslaught of the enemies would have been suppressed by the defensive magic of Yousuke.

Maybe because it hit her at that moment, Gunjou says.

"Why aren"t they around when it really counts!"

I smile and agree.

"Yeah right. After spouting all that "comrades" stuff, they should make sure they are here when it really matters."

"How true."

Gunjou and I look at each other as we say that, and exchange tired smiles at our narrow escape from the fear of death for once now.

However, hereon, we will surely experience that fear of death in succession.

Even though we have no idea by how many ranks the Mitsutomo Group has weakened Apocalypse Alice, it shouldn"t be that low of a rank.

If that"s the case, there will definitely be tougher fights henceforth.

"............"

I look to the front.

The end of the slope is near.

The exit can already be seen. On the other side, a hall inside the Apocalypse Alice can be seen.

A dense and luxuriant forest.

But that forest does not feel real, but has the feel of woods out of an artbook.

Gentle rays of sunlight filtering through the trees.

A uniform green that appears to be colored with a single paint.

However, death is probably overflowing in that place.

It"s really a place that should not be entered normally. It is a place that should only be advanced to, after finding a safe zone, getting organized and using it as a base for repeated insertions and Escapes.

But if we were to do that, we probably won"t make it in time.

According to Gunjou, Kujaku and her gang had brought along large supplies of water and food to challenge this labyrinth. In other words, they didn"t want to waste time Escaping and wanted to raid it at one go.

As to why.

I can think of a few reasons.

For example, if they were to leave this place, the is a possibility of information of Gunjou"s labyrinth being connected to Apocalypse Alice might get leaked.

Or perhaps, this incident has already been found out by other countries and corporations and there"s a fierce raiding compet.i.tion taking place inside Apocalypse Alice right now.

"But it"s probably not the later......"

Otherwise, by now, it won"t be strange for our surroundings to be filled with people who want to raid Apocalypse Alice.

Then is it the former --- or.

"In the first place, it might even be possible that both insertion and escape are impossible right now."

That would be the worst development I could hope for.

If we don"t clear it, we can"t Escape ---

In other words, if we can"t clear it, we can only die.

But, that in itself is also possible.

In unknown high level labyrinth like Apocalypse Alice, it"s possible that it might have a special property that prevents Escaping.

"............"

I try playing the Escape cursed song in my head. Playing it for real. As if I"m really going to Escape. But I can"t use it. If I were to exit the labyrinth, there"s a possibility that I may be unable to enter it again.

A more likely possibility would be that, the magic which Kujaku has used has the power to stop infiltration and escape.

If it"s me, I"d do that. If I gotten my hands on Apocalypse Alice, I will act carefully to prevent this from getting leaked to other organizations.

Those who entered can"t go out.

The other organizations can"t come in.

If I"m able to set my magic to do such a thing, I"ll set it.

While playing the cursed Escape song in my head, once again, I ponder about the water and food supplies that Kujaku had prepared.

For what purpose did she do that?

Is it because they can"t Escape?

Or is it because, while they can Escape, they can"t re-infiltrate?

"Well, at any rate, I have no intention of escaping."

At any rate, even if I Escape, there"ll be no allies waiting for me outside. There is no time to gather hundreds of mercenaries. During then, either the Mitsutomo Group or other countries or corporations will be making off with my little sister.

Or my little sister will get used and then killed.

If that happens, I"ll never see my little sister again.

In other words, it"s now.

I have to save her now.

Even though I really want to spend more time, slowly moving in as if I were cornering the king in Shogi.

"...... things don"t go that well in reality huh."

At that moment,

"What are you mumbling to yourself?"

Gunjou asks.

I answer.

"Just b.i.t.c.hing about our situation."

"Uwah, how gloomy."

"Haha, I don"t deny it......"

Before I could finish, a noise suddenly rings out in my head.

Piih piih piih, the sound of a machine.

A sound which I"ve never heard before.

I tense up my body in response to that. I thought it would mean that the enemies from Apocalypse Alice will be upon us again.

"What is that sound?"

I say.

Gunjou too tenses up her entire body and asks.

"What sound?"

"You can"t hear it?"

"Where?"

Seems like Gunjou can"t hear it. Then, what is that sound?

Just as I am pondering about that, my vision sways. The scenery to my upper diagonal left contorts as if there is some sort of interference.

"Wh-what?"

A window-like thing suddenly opens up there.

In that window, float the words

《Incoming transmission》.

Seems like that is something displayed by my 《Headphone Fuzz》 in my mind.

I can then hear a voice.

"Hey Shin...... ke............ hear............ hey............"

The interference is really bad.

But I know that voice.

It belongs to the scientist who made my 《Headphone Fuzz》s and the Holy Sword swtich, Liezel Baimeister.

But that"s not possible. Due to the powerful radio wave barrier arisen from inside of the labyrinth, all kinds of transmission devices should be rendered useless.

But yet, Liezel is calling out to me.

"............ that inteference............ a sec...... I"ll fix...... now."

Gunjou looks at me with questioning eyes.

I answer.

"I"m somehow getting a transmission in my 《Headphone Fuzz》 ."

"Huh? Transmission? From who? We"re inside the labyrinth, you know?"

I know what she"s trying to say. But since a transmission came in, I don"t have a choice.

"Ah ~, it"s my German friend. You"ve met him before."

Gunjou should have met him before her labyrinth disease onset.

"Wait, that guy in the foreign automobile......? Though he was at the back and I couldn"t quite see him then."

I nod. At that moment, the transmission resumes.

"........................ aah aah, how is this? Is this good?"

I say.

"I can hear you. That aside, how did you manage this? This is the labyrinth, isn"t it? What happened to the radio jamming?"

"Who do you think I am?"

"A perverted scientist."

"Call me a super genius scientist."

I shrug. Though I don"t know whether or not Liezel is seeing me do that.

But at that moment, in the window, Liezel shows up in a camera that"s looking down on us.

He"s a German with eyes that are no less unpleasant than mine. Like me, he"s also sixteen. Blond hair, green eyes.

Those eyes take me in and he says.

"What"s the meaning behind that shrug? I"ll kill you, you know?"

Seems like he can see me. Liezel has managed to develop the technology for transmitting into the labyrinth.

"When did you succeed in developing this?"

"Three days ago. The receiving unit was completed two years ago, so I put one into your 《Headphone Fuzz》."

"Don"t put in random stuff without asking."

Liezel cackles in glee.

"By the way, since I"ve also managed to develop a self-destruction magic that can be triggered by a remote, I"ll put it in next time."

"Hey, I"m kind of busy here and have no time to play games with you......"

"I know. You"ve been so busy these three days in raiding Apocalypse Alice that you had been ignoring my transmissions right?"

"...... you knew? Where did you hear it from?"

But, Liezel opens his arms and says delightedly.

"Where did I hear it from? The whole world is in an uproar about this."

Seems like the information about Apocalypse Alice becoming raidable has leaked out to the outside world.

But at that moment, in the window, Liezel shows up in a camera that"s looking down on us.

With this, I can draw a conclusion from my earlier ruminations.

The fact that no one has yet to infiltrate the labyrinth is because they can"t enter it yet.

Since if what"s happening here is already made public, then the organizations throughout the world should have already infiltrated the labyrinth by now.

And if the labyrinth can"t be re-infiltrated, then I can"t Escape. I have to reach my little sister faster than anyone else, and use my Holy Swordswitch to sever her from the labyrinth.

I say.

"I don"t have time for idle chat."

"There you go again, without a genius like me, it"d impossible for you to raid Alice right?"

So that"s what it"s about. Liezel also wants a piece of it. He wants the magic that can be retrieved from Apocalypse Alice.

"What genius. Mitsutomo group developed a highly sophisticated magic to make use of a labyrinth diseased girl before you did. You lost."

On hearing that, Liezel"s face turns really sour and he looks at me.

"Be careful of what you say, Shinnosuke. I could already make something like that before."

"Liar."

"I"m not lying. I could already make something like that before!"

Liezel says in a child-like manner.

I reply.

"Then, why didn"t you make it? It"s a magic that I needed."

But Liezel says to that.

"It"s because you were an idiot and didn"t ask me."

"...... ah?"

"I"d have made it if you had asked. But you didn"t."

"Well, it"s true that I didn"t ask but......"

"Besides, instead of making use of a labyrinth diseased girl, the magic to sever her from the labyrinth without killing her is much more, much more difficult. Of course, Mitsutomo"s magic that can weaken the Apocalypse Alice is pretty amazing, but Holy Sword switch is a much higher level magic."

That might indeed be true. In the first place, since I suppose that there is no organization that will be capricious enough to develop a magic that would be used to save a labyrinth diseased girl, I won"t know whether other organizations would be able to develop one, or whether they would be interested in developing one.

Liezel says.

"By the way, you"ve used the Holy Sword switch right? How did it go?"

"............"

I did not answer.

But Liezel grins,

"Don"t tell me that you"ve managed to save the labyrinth diseased girl huh? If the Holy Sword switch was a success, then you shouldn"t be complaining about all those things to me right?"

I look at Gunjou beside me. She has been severed from the labyrinth, and is still alive.

She"s well and still human.

The Holy Sword switch was a complete success.

That was indeed an amazing thing.

And Liezel probably knows that. He grins. And says while smiling.

"So, how was it?"

"............"

"Hurry up and tell me the outcome, Shinnosuke."

"........................ I"m sorry for saying too much earlier."

I say softly. While I said it softly, it should still be audible. Since it was transmitted via by my 《Headphone Fuzz》.

But Liezel just makes a really delighted face and turns his ear to me.

"Huh? What? What did you just say?"

"......You heard me right?"

"Who"s the genius?"

"............"

He is a thoroughly irritating guy. Who the h.e.l.l requested him to develop magic?

"I"m hanging up."

On hearing that, with a satisfied face, Liezel says,

"Well don"t do that. I didn"t call you to brag about what has already been established as a fact. There"s something else."

"I"d have guessed. So what"s up?"

Liezel then waves his finger. The camera that has been aiming at Liezel moves. Seems like it"s a lab. Lots of devices are strewn about messily.

Among the devices is a small TV. A news program is showing on its screen. The newscaster has a ghastly pale face. Her voice trembles.

"Today America made a declaration. If j.a.pan continues to monopolize 《Apocalypse 666》 --- commonly known as 《Apocalypse Alice》, then they will prepare to take military action to punish the j.a.panese government ---"

At that moment, the camera swings back to Liezel. Liezel says in a really delighted manner.

"Did you see that? Things have become surprisingly merry right? But right now, it"s not like the j.a.panese government has gotten control of 《Apocalypse Alice》. So they can"t hand it over. If they can"t hand it over, it"ll become a full-fledged war. It"d be the end of j.a.pan. According to my intel, America"s going to fire missiles tonight."

This is worst possible development.

That"s how fearful the world is of the magic that can be obtained from the Apocalypse Alice.

Liezel continues.

"And j.a.pan will surrender. But will there be any meaning to that? Since 10 years ago, when the "Diversionary Magic Spoils of Labyrinths" had been brought back, this peaceful country has already crumbled. The ones who hold power are the corporations. Such as Mitsutomo Group or Taikou Pharmaceuticals. Thus, the missile will probably be fired at Mitsutomo Group I guess. And it will begin from there. The race to raid Apocalypse Alice by the various organizations of the world. If that happens, it"ll become even more dangerous than now. Because the enemy is human......."

But at that moment, Liezel smiles.

"Wait, well, you"re used to killing other humans in the labyrinth anyway."

That"s right.

Those were the only places I had been.

The only things I had seen to date were countrymen, fellow colleagues, radicals, mercenaries, terrorists, religious organizations clashing with one another, killing one another and s.n.a.t.c.hing away power and technology.

Amongst them, those who stuck to ideals of love, romance, friendship lost.

Since there was none who was rational.

A moment of hesitation would cost your life.

I stare at Liezel and say.

"So, why"re you telling me all this? Do you also want a piece of that power?"

But Liezel smiles and says.

"No way, I have no interest in obtained power. I don"t know how amazing this Apocalypse Alice is, but I can make even more powerful magic from scratch."

But I didn"t tell him to "just hurry up and do it then". I can"t afford the time to engage in any more needless conversation with him.

There are many enemies.

The organizations in the world would find a way to enter Apocalypse Alice and would invade it in hordes.

I have to save my little sister before that happens.

I say.

"Just spit it out already."

On hearing that, Liezel says,

"Well ~ won"t it be delightful to find everyone surprised and disappointed when the puppet I"m controlling brings back a girl whom he severs from the labyrinth, without bring back any magic from this place which the whole world is paying so much attention to?"

What a really twisted way of thinking.

It"s not normal.

Not wanting something that everyone wants.

Not wanting magic that could be used to conquer the world.

To find it interesting to disappoint someone.

But, it"s because of that I say to him,

"Yeah, that"s a nice way of thinking. That"s what I love about you."

To which Gunjou looks at me with a dumbfounded expression. I ignore her.

Liezel says.

"Haha, right? But I"m not happy about you loving me."

"I"m fine with that. And so?"

"I"ll back you up. Let"s clear it in the fastest possible way."

"There we go again. More tangibly, what"re you providing me?"

"The map of Apocalypse Alice."

"What."

"I"ve scanned it. I"m sending it. I also grasp our rivals" positions during the scan."

If that"s true, it"d be some really incredible intel. And also, technology-wise, it"s pretty unworldly. Since he is able to transmit with some unknown technology sounds, pictures, and data into a labyrinth where signals are jammed.

Liezel looks at me and says.

"Now, you should praise me for sending you the map data. Who"s the genius scientist again?"

"........."

"And where"s your thanks? If you don"t say it, I won"t send the data to you you know?"

I scowl at his words.

"What the h.e.l.l"s wrong with you. Then, you"ll be satisfied if I thank you?"

"Yeah, that"s right."

"...... tch...... thank......"

But, Liezel cuts me off and says in delight.

"Shut up trash. Your thanks aren"t even worth c.r.a.p."

"Aah!?"

"Hahaha, I"m going to send you the data."

He snaps his fingers.

Instantly, I can tell that something is getting forced into my head.

My head hurts.

A terrible pain a.s.saults my brain.

"Guh...... ah, hey, wait. My head......"

"I"ll be laughing if your mind gets destroyed. Since there"s a 70 percent chance of that happening."

70 percent!?

"D-d.a.m.n you......"

A detailed map surfaces in my head. It"s a huge labyrinth.

It"s a labyrinth with 425 floors underground.

And star marks are present in various places.

There are about forty of them.

They are probably the locations of the other raiders.

Kujaku should have brought 100 people with her. But the numbers were already down by more than half.

Did they Escape?

Or die?

I don"t know.

Kujaku was 33 floors below.

And separated from Kujaku"s group, 25 floors below, were 3 star marks.

They were probably Shiro, Yousuke, and Himi.

They are alive. At the very least, during the time when Liezel made the scan.

More information pours in.

They are data on the traps.

Data on hidden doors.

Data on safe zones.

"............"

Even the information on the location of my little sister Saki is also sent.

I forget my pain upon receiving that. My eyes widen in disbelief at the fact that I am now just within an arms" length to where my little sister was.

Saki was just 35 floors below. It"s a considerably shallow location.

I can feel my pulse racing.

As it"s not far away from where Kujaku was. If I don"t hurry, it"d be too late ---

But, as if he has read my thoughts, Liezel says.

"The raiders from Mitsutomo group have been stuck at the 33rd floor below for more than 10 days."

My headache disappears. As all the data has been transmitted.

I ask.

"What"s there?"

"Orhh, I did it. I managed to send everything without killing you. This is the first time I"ve succeeded with a human subject. Which means my research on this has adva......"

"Whatever, just answer me. What"s down there?"

"Who knows? I have no idea."

"You even acquired the locations of traps and hidden doors and you don"t know this?"

"I don"t know. And it"s not like I"m looking at it. But I can tell you this, up until the 33rd floor below, there weren"t that many fatalities."

But now, there are only 40 people. Which means that Kujaku lost more than half her men there.

"Do you also know the rank of the labyrinth?"

"I know. It"s 15. If it"s you, you should be able to clear it easily right?"

Provided that that"s its true rank. It won"t be that easy but I can clear it. And it"s probably the same for Kujaku and her gang, and Shiro they all. Since Gunjou"s labyrinth which we were raiding earlier is a rank 42.

However, for a whole month, none of the raiders have come out.

"The rank can"t be trusted huh."

"And it"s a value measured by a machine so to speak."

"And, is there anything else? Shall we start our 6 hour lesson on labyrinth diseased girl raiding here?"

"No, I"ve already given you plenty of intel. The rest is up to you. If you fail, it"s your responsibility. If you succeed, thank me."

He smiles and cuts off the transmission.

Liezel disappears from my vision.

The only things I can see now are the scenery of the corridor before me and the Gunjou beside me.

"What"s that about?"

She asks to which I reply.

"...... the map of the labyrinth was somehow sent into my brain."

"Huh, how can such a......"

How can such a thing be possible.

That"s right. If something like that is possible, then we won"t need any lesson. But practical usage is probably still far ahead in the future. A technology that can destroy the brain with a 70 percent chance can only be used in urgent situations.

But right now, it is urgent. An urgent situation where it"s worth trying with just a 30 percent chance of success.

Kujaku and her people had reached the 33rd floor below half a month ago. To put it in another way, they took half a month to reach the 33rd floor below.

But if we have the map, and if it"s really a rank 15 labyrinth, then we can catch up to her in no time.

Gunjou says.

"...... who in the world was that?"

"A pervert scientist."

"E-Erhm...... Shinnosuke I say......"

"Hn?"

"Erhm...... you did say...... you love that guy or something......"

"Ah?"

"D-Do you swing that way?"

I look at her in exasperation, then start walking.

"Yeah, right. Didn"t you notice? That"s why I have no interest in girls. Can you stay away from me?"

While catching up to me, Gunjou says.

"Wait, erhm, I, won"t be prejudiced towards you......"

"Shut up. It"s not that. I was just being sarcastic. Rather, it"s not the time for this right?"

As I say that, she looks up at me,

"Eh? Eh? It"s not?"

"Just shut up already."

"It"s not huh. I see. That"s a relief......"

"I thought you said you wouldn"t be prejudiced?"

"Ah, no, I don"t mean that......"

"Meh, what"s wrong with you?"

Anyway, we don"t have time to tarry around here. We have to make up for the lost month. But if we let our guard down, we"ll be killed.

I don"t know yet whether this labyrinth is really a rank 15 one. Well, even so, the rabbits that had a.s.saulted us till now weren"t strong enough to reflect a much higher ranked labyrinth.

I say to the Gunjou who is following behind me.

"I heard it"s a rank 15."

"Eh!? So low!? Then, the labyrinth might have been clear......"

But I shake my head.

"But Mitsutomo Group is stalled on the 33rd floor below."

"You know even that?"

Gunjou"s eyes widen.

"I also know the locations of traps, hidden doors, and even the locations of Shiro and the rest. They are on the 25th floor below."

On hearing that, her face turns into one of suspicion,

"Is that info reliable? Could that guy be bribed by Mitsutomo Group......"

"No, it"s impossible."

I deny the possibility immediately. Liezel isn"t someone who would get bought over and obediently follow Mitsutomo Group"s orders.

But, maybe as a result of me refuting her a little too vehemently,

"Ah, sorry...... you trust that guy huh."

Gunjou says, but --- to use the word "trust" on that pervert scientist is way too unbefitting on him.

"No, even though he isn"t someone who could be bribed by Mitsutomo Group, but, he"s someone who would take pleasure in deceiving me and laughing at my failures, so your concern is not pointless. Let"s be careful. The map, the traps, hidden doors, all the intel might be fake --- have that in mind as we act."

Gunjou then nods.

"Got it. But on that map......"

"Yeah. Shiro"s position was indicated on it. So, let"s first try to meet up with Shiro and the rest."

We then nod at each other and start running.

♦

♦

♦

But the raid itself is simple.

It is indeed a rank 15 labyrinth.

The enemy is made up of only those rabbits. And the frequency of their appearance is not that high. There has not been any problem, no sense of danger.

The only problem is that each labyrinth floor is huge.

Just huge.

Because there is no scale on the map, I have underestimated it. This labyrinth can"t be cleared easily.

Everywhere we look, a beautiful forest makes up our surroundings.

We initially ran without stopping in the forest, and before long, we got tired and finally switched to walking.

In one day, clearing 4 floors is the limit.

As the rabbit attack us every now and then, we have to set up a watch and take turns sleeping. It"s impossible to clear more than 4 floors. At this rate, it will be 9 days before we reach the floor Kujaku is at.

9 days.

Only 9 days.

"............."

But that figure is a figure of despair.

Because we are short on food supplies.

Fortunately, for water, along the way, we found a tank that was probably left by Kujaku"s group. It was tough to carry it but it contains about 10 liters of water. If we ration it carefully, it will probably last us.

But there was no food.

We won"t last for 9 days without food.

"............"

But, two days went by without us eating anything.

We can"t carry on like that. Even if we manage to advance with just water, by the time we reach our objective, we won"t have enough energy to fight. It"s just impossible.

We should either Escape here or eat something.

"............"

And at that moment, we see a walking deer in the forest.

Different from the rabbits that have pocket watches --- it"s just a normal looking deer.

The deer does not notice us.

If we use our magic, we can probably kill it easily.

"............"

That is provided that it is a normal deer.

If this were not a labyrinth and we were inside a normal forest, then it would probably be all right to just kill and eat it.

But this is a labyrinth.

That deer is a product of this labyrinth.

I don"t know what kind of ill effects it will have on the body if we eat it.

"............."

I look hard at that deer, then look at Gunjou. She looks more lively than me. Maybe it"s because of her small body, she probably needs less calories than me. But I"m already near my limit.

Gunjou looks up at me and says.

"What should we do?"

I say.

"You should Escape."

"It"s better not to eat that deer?"

"Yeah. Neither should we eat those fruits with poisonous looking colors on the trees."

I look up at the sky. On the trees, are fruit resembling apples with colorful colors of red, green, yellow, purple, and pink.

Those are definitely the same fruits that appeared in the ill.u.s.trations of the book of "Alice in Wonderland" that I had read with my little sister in the past.

Gunjou looks up at them,

"I guess I don"t really want to eat those pink and purple stuff."

She says and smiles.

I say.

"We shouldn"t eat them. Activate your Escape switch."

"But if I get out."

"You"ll be killed? But, if you get out, there"s still a chance of escaping. But if you remain here, you"ll definitely starve to death."

"Even if I eat those apples?"

"I already said you can"t eat them."

"But Shinnosuke, you"re going to eat them right? The apples and deer."

On hearing that question, I smirk and reply.

"Since they are apples and deer made by family, I won"t be affected."

Gunjou then looks up at me with half-opened eyes, and following that, she waves her fingers. And mutters.

"Sea Moon Wheel switch."

Moon wheels appear above Gunjou"s head, and they cut down the fruit from the trees. Several fruit drop down, and Gunjou takes two from them.

A pink apple and a green apple.

She starts putting the green one into her mouth.

"I already told you don"t do it! You might catch the labyrinth disease."

I stop her hand.

But she says.

"I"ve already have a labyrinth disease onset once."

"That"s not the issue here......"

But, at that moment, a moon wheel flies towards me. As it is about to slice my head off,

"Owah."

I dodge it frantically. I take a step backward.

"What the heck are you......"

But Gunjou just grins and says.

"If I die, Escape by yourself."

"Hey, wait!"

But, a crunching sound is heard and she eats the apple. She munches a few times with an expression of wonder. It"s already too late. The juice has probably already entered her stomach. It is just insane to eat something found inside the labyrinth.

The possibility of dying right away.

The possibility of turning into a monster.

The possibility of getting an unknown disease.

But with a smiling face,

"It"s totally an apple though!"

She laughs.

I look intently at her with with disgusted face,

"Have you heard of the saying that foolhardiness does not equate to courage?"

"Yay."

She brings up and shows me the apple,

"Yay? Jeez. How do you feel?"

Gunjou shrugs her shoulders and says.

"Uhn. Seems all right. But maybe there"ll be some side effects later."

"If you know that, you shouldn"t have eaten it duh."

While saying that, I too pick up a green apple.

"...... at the very least, it smells like an apple."

"The one who doesn"t eat it is a chicken."

I put the apple in my mouth. Even the taste is that of an apple. And it"s even pretty tasty. It"s more tasty than any apple I had eaten before.

Maybe it"s because my stomach is empty, or maybe it"s because my little sister has set these trees to bear tasty apples; whichever it is, I do not know.

But I somehow get the feeling that if it"s my little sister, she would want to make these apples tasty.

Gunjou looks at the deer and says.

"Do we get the deer too?"

I shake my head.

"There"s no need to take any further risk. Even for the apples, we"ll pick the green ones. If it"s for 9 days or so, we should be able to manage with just apples."

The problem with food is promptly solved.

"Then, let"s go."

Gunjou says.

I nod.

And we start walking.

Along the way, I say.

"I still think that you probably shouldn"t have eaten the apples there."

Gunjou then replies immediately.

"It"s because the unmanly guy doesn"t want to eat it first."

Indeed. She"s quite right about that.

I shrug my shoulders, and hurry on ahead.