In the meantime, a few minutes had passed since they began to take a short break, and it was suddenly quiet across the forest.

'...... Looks like we've been able to defeat them.
'Really?　d*mn it, I didn't get to make it back!

　Garnett removed his hand from my shoulder and looked in that direction with a serious face.

　By mistake, the three of us couldn't have been defeated by a dragon.

　If that was the case, then the roar of victory should be echoing, or they should be able to see the dragon taking off into the sky.

　I've heard that there are very few cases of dragons, a demon's biology, that are neither of those things.

　I don't even know why.
　It's just a rule of thumb among adventurers that this is the case.

'I guess we'll just have to join up with them rather than try to escape. Get up, Garnett.

　I stood up first and held out my hand to Garnett.

　Garnet looked a little miffed, but he honestly grabbed my hand back and raised himself up.

　Then, matching Garnett's not-so-perfect gait, I turn back to the grassland where the dragon appeared.

'Huh, phew ......'

　Garnett's footsteps are still a bit of a wake-up call.
　If I push him, he'll fall over.

　Shall I carry you on my back?　I didn't feel like suggesting that I was going to be able to do this.
　Of course he would be angry and try to move extra. It's counterproductive.

　My 【Restoration】 skill can't produce lost blood.

　To be more precise, I can't think of a candidate for a replacement material to 【Restore】.

　Even if I used someone else's blood as a material, I couldn't deny the possibility that it would cause the same fatal reaction as if I transferred blood normally.

'Hey, white wolf. Say something. I'd feel better if you talked.
'What's that you say?' ...... So, just to be sure, how much of your true face and gender are you keeping secret, then?　Would you be okay with me continuing to join Felix and Sakura?

　The full-face helmet that Garnett was wearing was blown away by the dragon and has not been recovered.

　Or rather, I'm still not even sure where it flew off to.

　If I had to avoid even showing my true face to others, I would not be able to join them in this state.

''Don't worry. I've shown my face to the leaders of the Order. The rest is just a matter of this Sakura guy keeping his mouth shut as per his pledge.
'You don't say anything else without permission about the information obtained during the investigation: ......? It smells somewhat convoluted, but it seems to apply.

　As the subject of the investigation in the first place, I have the same condition.

　But even if I wasn't, I'm not going to tell them Garnett's secret.

But maybe Felix and Bradford don't know I'm a woman. There are a lot of old-fashioned rules in my Order. We're supposed to be the only men in the Order. Old-fashioned, right?
'I've heard that female knights are not uncommon nowadays. So are adventurers.

　The physical ability gap between men and women can be filled up rather easily depending on their skills.
　The best example of this is Sakura. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

　It's a good thing that you're able to get the most out of your time.
　The fact that Falcon likes women is also an influence, but all three of them had the ability to be suitable as members of the hero's party.

　Nevertheless, if they have a men-only women's ban, then they must be an organization that values 'old-fashioned traditions' very much.

'So, well ...... if they find out, they're in a lot of trouble. There's a part of me that's forced to be the 'younger brother' of the Carmine Commander, but even that has its limits.
Copy that. Don't tell anyone.

　I see. So what Garnett wants to keep secret is not 'the reason why she hides her gender' but 'the reason why she wants to be a member of the Silverwing Knights to that extent'?

　I'm quite curious about the reason, but I won't ask you about it.

　It's like you've gained trust with such a promise.

'...... Garnett?'

　For some reason, I suddenly stopped hearing Garnett's footsteps and I turned around impatiently, wondering if he hadn't fallen over.

　Garnett was standing on his two feet properly, but his gaze was not on me, but on the misguided one.

'Hey, white wolf ...... you can see that thing too, can't you?　I'm not going crazy with my eyes, am I ......?
'That ......?　Go to ......!　Ugh, no way. ......?

　What was out of the corner of my eye was a cliff that stretched from the fifth level to the fourth level.

　It is a wall of rock that rises up in the middle of the forest, which Garnett had called 'interesting terrain' on the outward journey.

　Normally, there would be a curtain of natural greenery hanging down from this cliff, but somehow some of it had been torn off.

　And on the exposed rock face of the precipice - a huge hole had been opened.

I'm sure it's not my mistake. When in the world did they blow that big hole out?
'...... No, maybe that was originally there. It was covered up with a lot of ivy and no one just didn't notice it until now .......

　I've heard that before the resource of dragon corpses appeared, not many adventurers set foot on the fifth level.

　The reason wasn't the difficulty level, but the harvest.

　More than 90% of the medicinal herbs that can be collected in this dungeon can be collected before the fourth level.

　There wasn't much of an advantage to going down to the fifth level, and there should have been little chance of discovering this big hole itself.

"Hey, White Wolf. I had a pretty bad imagination.
What a surprise. I'm getting a bad feeling about this one.
The dragon that showed up a month ago and a few minutes ago... ......
'...... must have come out of this big hole. No wonder the guild couldn't figure it out.

　The first one was not large in size, and most importantly, only one of them came out.

　Perhaps the large hole was left hidden as it emerged from the ivy hanging from the precipice, literally like a curtain.

　In contrast, the dragon that appeared today was huge in stature and had around ten wyverns in tow.

　Since the giant body and the horde had forced their way through, the ivy that made up the green curtain must have torn off a lot of the ivy, thus exposing the large hole.

'Anyway, we need to report this to the guild: ......

　At that moment, the precipice seemed to vibrate lightly, and then something like a metal door rushed up from the underside of the hole, sealing off the great hole.

''Oh, hey!　What the hell was that?!
It's a common trick in the maze. It's rare to see it on such a large scale, though. Anyway, you don't think this guy is part of the dungeon trap until ...... the appearance of the dragon?

　If that was just a large hole, it could be connected to some dungeon where dragons live, just like the stairs I climbed up.

　But with a trap like that, it's clear that it's not just connected, but also has an intention to control the comings and goings of the dragons.

　If that's the case, then the switch that triggered the trap is--

You can't mean--
'The white wolf!　Look at that!　The ground right below the hole!　Someone's down!
What?

　Garnett was right, there was someone lying slumped there, a stranger.

'Are you all right!　Sorry, Garnett!　Wait here!
'Oh!　Go!

　I rushed down the slope leading to the bottom of the cliff and called out to the all-black person again.

　My voice brought the black-robed person back to consciousness, and she looked up helplessly.

　It is a woman with long black hair.
　She is slender in build and does not seem to be trained to fight.

　That face, hidden by the long bangs--

No way. ...... Noir?
Eh ......

　--a face I'll never forget.

　Noir, the black wizard. One of the brave Falcon's party members.

　He was dark-hearted and weakly assertive, and although he didn't hit me as hard as the other members, he rarely got involved with me in the first place - that's the kind of guy he was.

'Why are you here?　What about the brave man? What do you mean, unreturned!
'Eh ...... a ...... u ...... u ...... ooohhhh!

　Noir suddenly sobbed and began to sob, shoving his face into my chest.

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry ......!
For God's sake, calm down. What happened to the brave men? No Julia and Bran?
I mean, everyone in the dungeon...

　Just as he was about to say something important, Noir's body suddenly trembled violently as if he had been struck by lightning.

''Ahhhh!''
Oh, hey!　Noir!

　Noir weakens and shrugs at me.
　He didn't seem to be dead, but he was completely unconscious.

　The unreturned of the brave party - with the person who was supposed to know the secret, I could only be at a loss.