The Forsaken Hero

Having taken a nice, long rest on Hamakaze’s soft thighs, I sat near the stairs leading to the fifty-ninth floor.

She was sitting opposite of me. Us being this close to the stairs is so that we can escape in case any unexpected situations occur.

I’ll summarize what I heard happened from Hamakaze.

She picked up my lower half and ran. She said that once I died, the enemy didn’t continue its a.s.sault.

She also said that the figure of what killed me looked to be similar to a human.

“Are you sure that’s what you saw?”

“Yeah. Daichi, what killed you wasn’t a demon. It was just like us.”

A human. In most dungeons, that wouldn’t be too surprising. There were people with the adventurer job, after all.

However, there shouldn’t be many of those in Rigal Den, let alone any of them as far down as the till-now unexplored sixtieth floor.

Well, let’s a.s.sume what Hamakaze’s said so far is true.

If I had to say whether that helped our situation, I’d say no.

“If it is a human, maybe they would let you pa.s.s if you talk to them?”

“No, I can’t see it going that smoothly.”

If they didn’t want to attack me for some reason, I doubt they would have attacked me with such hostility right off the bat like that. Being wary against someone you didn’t know would be natural enough, but they came at me with the intent to kill before I had a chance to do or say much of anything.

“More or less, I don’t think someone that had to be sealed like that would have much of a kind disposition.”

“Yeah… that’s true.”

“Either way, I think that whatever it was that killed me there is going to be important for what happens from here on out.”

That strength was beyond abnormal. Compared to it, the demons we’ve fought so far haven’t been worth s.h.i.t. It was a stark difference.

“What do you mean?”

“If I can defeat it and take it as a strong servant, it should make our dungeon conquering much easier. You might even be able to say that the moment I kill it, we will have completed the dungeon.”

“I wonder if this dungeon is here in order to seal it?”

Hamakaze took my opinion and didn’t deny it. Rather, she pointed out something I’d missed.

Really, having others that can point out things I overlook is a big help. It’s not like I’m perfect, only a fool would ignore other people’s thoughts on something. Slave or whatever, I’ll use what I can get.

“That sounds reasonable. At any rate though, there’s only one way for us to go.”

It was easy to say, but it would be a difficult obstacle to actually overcome.

However, there’s no way I would stop here. I have to beat the c.r.a.p out of Samejima.

“Hamakaze. How did I die? What killed me? Tell me anything you remember.”

When I said that, Hamakaze made a sketch on the ground using her fingers, explaining it to me as she went.

“And then you suddenly fell to the ground like a rock, Daichi. After that…”

“I died?”

“Yeah. The rest of what happened is what I said earlier.”

That. I’m caught up on that right there.

Why did the enemy ignore Hamakaze doing that?

As the one to pick me up, she should’ve also been within the enemy’s range.

Was there some sort of reason…?

I definitely wouldn’t have missed the opportunity if it were me. I definitely would have went for the kill.

Why didn’t it attack… maybe it wasn’t that it didn’t so much as couldn’t?

That room was sealed shut by those chains. That was to make it so that the creature inside the room couldn’t escape.

But Hamakaze was able to easily destroy them with her magic.

“… Huh?”

I felt something off about that.

If the chains sealing it were weak enough to be destroyed by spirit rank magic, it should have been able to release itself.

And yet it still couldn’t leave.

In other words, perhaps the chain wasn’t the only thing stopping it and there’s something that’s keeping it from using its strength outside of the room?

The pieces fell into place.

“Hamakaze. Where was my body when I died?”

“Your corpse? Just inside the entrance… Why? Did you figure something out?”

“… No, it’s just a hunch. It’s a hunch… but I feel like it’s right.”

It can’t leave the room. It can’t do anything outside of the room.

In that case, I have many strategies I can go with.

“It killed me… I’ll have to repay the favor in full, now won’t I…?”

I stood up and slapped dust off my pants. Hamakaze had already tidied herself up and stood next to me.

“Let’s kill that monster.”

“As you wish, Daichi.”

We moved out to gather the things needed for me to implement the strategy I drew up in my head.