"I'll open it,"

　Ray talks to Elena and Arra behind him and reaches for the door.

"Slurrurling.

　Seto was cheering for such a ray from above.
　but only Ray, Elena, and Arra, who had known Sett for some time, could see it as a cry of support, and to the rest of the world it seemed that the Gryphon was making a threatening noise.
　Anyway, Ray reaches for the door listening to Seto's voice.
　It is easy to imagine from the appearance of the Marquis Seysore's soldiers and knights that there are countless traps beyond this door.

(I wish I could do something with magic, like the ground.)

　That being the case, there must be a large number of documents in this house that the Duke of Quevel would love to obtain, and Ray heard that it was the house of the leader of the most powerful organization in Annesis, and hoped that there might be some magic item.
　However, in the end, the main thing is to get information about black wolves.

"Well, that's why..."

　After that, Ray opens the door.
　It cuts through the air and immediately flares its death size when it senses something is flying.

"There must have been arrows flying outside the house. I don't think it's a good idea to repeat them."
"...I think there's a lot of strange things going on in this situation when I'm going to go that far."

　The one who muttered dumbfounded was Arla.
　With the door open... right next to the door, Ray wielded a death-size handle that was two meters long, and slashed the arrow that flew at him.
　How much skill does it take to do such a thing... it goes without thinking.
　But Ray, who is turned in admiration by Arla, enters the house without a sign of particular concern.
　At that moment, it stinks of blood.

"This is..."

　Ray's gaze was directed to the floor just off the door.
　What spreads out there is blood, blood, blood.
　It's probably the blood of those who, by good luck -- or by bad luck -- broke through the traps set outside this house.
　But... Ray is uncomfortable with the smell of blood floating in him.
　I don't have any proof. I don't have any proof, but...

"This stench of blood... is drifting from outside the corridor?"

　Elena muttered before Ray spoke of the discomfort.
　The remark also made Ray aware of his discomfort.

"Yes, is this smell of blood coming from any other place? It doesn't seem like fresh blood just flowing out."
"What? Really?"

　Elena and Ray reply with wonder.
　For Aarra, it is not clear whether the smell of floating blood is coming from somewhere else other than the blood in front of her, nor whether the blood is fresh.
　If the smell of blood had been mixed with something like rotting, you might know that it was old blood... at least I didn't feel it in Arra.
　But Arra never doubted Elena's words.
　I don't blindly believe in Elena, but I still don't think Elena will lie in this kind of situation.
　Moreover, not only Elena but also Ray said the same thing, so I couldn't deny it.

"Oh, ... the question is, where on earth does this smell of blood come from? It's not fresh blood... I have a bad feeling."
"Well, that's a very bad feeling, too."

　It seemed to Arra that there must be something outrageous about the house when the two keen-sighted men said so.

"So we need to be more careful than ever before and move on so that whatever happens can be dealt with immediately. The good news is that the size of this house is not that big."

　Ray and Elena all nod to Arra's words.
　This house is relatively large, but it is only within the scope of an ordinary house.
　It is clearly smaller than the Duke of Kelebel's residence, as well as the other aristocratic residences in Annesis.
　So I did not think it would take much time to examine the house... to find out what could be called the root of the discomfort Ray and Elena had perceived.
　If this had been a mansion as large as the Duke of Kelebel's, it would have been difficult to explore.
　If so, this incident was not a bad one in terms of looking for a place like this.

"Well, of course there will be traps, and you'll have to be careful about that."

　While muttering, Ray turns his eyes to Elena and Arra and goes back, fearing that the trap could be triggered again if he kept talking near the front door.
　At the moment, Ray pulls the death size to his hand and brings the handle in front of him.
　Elena and Arra's ears behind them heard a faint metallic sound.

"Ray?"

　Ray shakes his head in response to Elena's question.
　As he did so, Ray glanced at the needle on the floor.
　Wings of the Red Lotus, a Rank B party led by Ray. One of his companions, Bune, uses a weapon called a long hand, but Ray's death-size handle prevents it, not a long hand, but a really ordinary hand.
　That's the kind of needle that can be used in sewing.
　If this was a dungeon or a mansion of a nobleman of the size of the Duke of Quelevel, it would have been possible to avoid it without bothering to prevent it.
　However, this is just an ordinary house, and there is not that much room in the corridor.
　And, most importantly, behind Ray, there are now Elena and Arra.
　Apart from Arla, it would not have been difficult for Elena, who was right behind Ray, to do something about the needle that flew in... but still, just in case, Ray's best option was to get rid of it here.

(Oh, but he didn't aim at his face or anything else, so would he have had no problem with using the Dragon Robes?)

　Ray's dragon robes are, as the name suggests, made from dragon materials.
　It was not created by an alchemist or craftsman, but is often regarded as the greatest alchemist of all time.
　These days, it makes the most of functions like a simple air conditioner, which can be used comfortably even in winter and summer, but it's a top-notch device that can be used purely as well.
　That's enough for Ray to assert that he couldn't make it through the robe with a single stroke of a needle.
　But that's only because Ray is wearing a dragon robe.

"Be careful, not only the arrow, but the needle flew in. Some kind of medicine... I think it's probably poisoned."

　It was Arra who looked worse at Ray's words than Elena.
　Elena has excellent equipment, but Arla's equipment is one or two steps lower.
　Still, though it is a first-class piece of equipment, for the captain of Elena's Guards Knights... it is still difficult to watch out for needles flying from somewhere.

"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'll deal with this kind of attack."

　Elena's words prompt Arra to say so.
　Elena noticed that the words were a touch of force.
　But, considering Arla's ability, Elena believes that there is nothing impossible to deal with if that actually happens.
　Perhaps because Arra is often with Elena, she often asks for standards from Elena.
　That would naturally make you feel inferior.
　...is wrong when it comes to comparing abilities with Elena.
　Not everything about Arla is inferior to Elena, though.
　For example, when it comes to making tea, Arra is definitely much better than Elena.

"Then let's move on,"

　Ray tells them so and takes Elena and Arra along the corridor.
　However, the more the trap goes down the corridor, the more the trap starts, but instead of releasing it, Ray forces his way through.
　Fortunately, this house is not large enough to be called a mansion, so you can find the door as soon as you walk down the corridor.

"What do you do? There are several doors, but you can assume that every door definitely has a trap."

　If it was a trap set on the ground, Ray could guess it somehow. ...Of course, it was limited to something simple.
　But Ray could not, if not very much, detect a trap set in the door.
　つまり、扉を開けるには罠に掛かるのを前提として開ける必要がある.
　……その役目をやるのは、高い防御力を持つドラゴンローブを着ているレイの役目なのだが、だからと言って好き好んで何度も罠に引っ掛かりたい訳ではない.
　それこそ、罠の中にドラゴンローブがあっても防げないような……それこそ何らかの液体やガスといったものを吹き出してきてもおかしくはないのだから.

「こういう場合. 一番奥が怪しいと思うが……」

　そう言い、エレーナは廊下の一番奥にある扉を見る.
　その視線を追ったレイは、エレーナの言葉に納得したように頷く.
　実際レイが日本にいた時に読んでいた漫画や小説でも、大抵のボスは一番奥にいるという描写が多かった.
　この世界とレイが知っている漫画や小説と一緒にする訳にはいかないが、それでも何となくエレーナの指摘は正しいような気がした.
　こうしてレイがエレーナの意見に賛成し、アーラも特に何か考えがある訳ではない以上、エレーナの言葉に反対するつもりはない.

「なら、あの扉だな. 行くぞ」

　レイが呟き、再び廊下を進み始め……

「ん？　これは……罠が、ない？」

　ふと、その扉に向かって歩き出した瞬間、罠が全くなくなったことに気がつき、レイの口から妙な声が出る.
　ここまでであれば、それこそ数歩……どころか、場合によっては一歩歩いた程度で罠が発動してレイに襲いかかっていたのだが、何故か急に罠が発動しなくなったのだ.

「レイ？　どうした？」

　そんなレイの様子を疑問に思ったのか、エレーナがそのように尋ねてくる.

「どうやら、ここから先は罠がないみたいだ. ……元々ここから先には仕掛けられていなかったのか、それとも俺達があの扉に行くと決めたから罠が解除されたのかは、分からないけどな」

　普通であれば、そんな器用な真似が出来るのかと. そのように思ってもおかしくはない.
　だが、一度発動なり解除なりした罠が、次の瞬間には再び別の罠となってそこに存在しているのだ.
　何をどうやればそのようなことが出来るのかは、レイにも分からない.
　恐らくマジックアイテムか何かの力だろうというのは予想出来るが、逆に言えばそれだけしか予想出来ないということを意味してもいる.
　その為、この家の中でどのような理不尽な出来事があろうと、それはそのようなものだと納得することしか出来ない.

「罠がないのか. ……であれば、心配はいらないな……と言いたいところなのだが、そうもいかないか」

　罠がないのは、罠を仕掛ける必要がないからなのではないか.
　そう疑問を抱くレイ達だったが、だからといってこのままここにいるという訳にもいかない.
　元々この屋敷の主人を探し、そして黒狼についての一件に関係する書類を手に入れ、それ以外にもケレベル公爵家の客人として存在しているレイに手を出して面子を潰したことに対する制裁の意味もある.

「そうだな. ……なら、行くぞ. くれぐれも油断しないようにな」

　言うまでもない言葉ではあったが、それでも一応ということでそう告げると、レイは廊下を進み……やがて、奥の扉に到着する.
　当然だったが、廊下を歩いていても罠が発動することはなかった.
　そうして扉の前に到着すると、レイはエレーナとアーラに視線を向け、二人が頷いたのを見てから扉に手を伸ばす.
　何か罠があってもすぐに対処出来るようにしながら扉を開けていくレイだったが、やはりと言うべきか、当然と言うべきか、ここでも罠が発動することはなく扉は開く.
　そうして見たのは……立派な部屋で、見るからに高価そうな家具が幾つもありつつも、そこには誰もいない無人の部屋だった.