Nine levels of the labyrinth.
　It seems that the location of the desired boss was known from the beginning based on preliminary research, and Snow proceeded to the boss's area without hesitation.

　Gradually, the corridor loses its light and the foothold becomes worse and worse.
　As I walked along the rugged, cave-like rocky path, I recalled the information we had shared beforehand.

　The boss's name is Legion Bat.
　If you ask me, the first thing I hear is that there will be multiple giant bats. And all of them share sentience, and even if one of them is fatally wounded, they will combine with other bats to repair it.
　How you can deal with multiple monsters in the dark without losing the light will be important.

　But to be honest, with my magic, Dimension, it's a boss with plenty of time to spare.

　Simply being dark is not a problem because it doesn't interfere with my ability to grasp space. In some cases, I'm thinking of defeating it alone.

　As I was thinking about this, Snow and Erna ahead of me suddenly stopped.

''What's wrong?''

　From the fact that the beast and dragon man stopped, the two keen sense organs must have sensed something. I approached Snow, who was in the lead, while strengthening my magic 《Dimension》.

''...... Someone is fighting. Perhaps with our target.

　Snow replies in a small voice.
　It looks like someone has engaged the Legion Bats first.

　Since it's a labyrinth, there will be situations like that.
　In these cases, it's first come first served unless there's something wrong. Disputes between searchers are not allowed, so it is not advisable to interrupt here.

''Well, sister ....... What do you do in a case like this?
'I'll check ...... first. If it's a normal explorer, we'll buy the drop items for money. If it's another party in the academy, we'll deal with them depending on the situation.

　The Helvillestein sisters will discuss it.

　...... But if you're willing to buy them out for money, you'll want to buy them out of me. But as long as I've accepted the conversation as an escort, I've given up on that idea. You'll be able to see from the expression on Franlure's face that he doesn't really want to buy it.

　We approach the battlefield, wary of our surroundings.

　The place is in complete darkness, and the only thing we can rely on is the light in each of our hands.
　Cautiously we walked along the rocky path, turning some corners, and at the end of it all we found fire.

　Flames blazed up from the ground, and a group of people engaged with the Legion Bats using it as a light source.

　I could tell from the smell on my nose that they were setting fire to the oil. Swords and magic are flying around in that unextinguished light.

'Is that a student of the Eltralieu Academy ......?

　Mr. Reiner muttered.
　'Apparently, it looks like they know people from the Academy.

'Looks like you beat me to it: ......
'Err, sis. You can't attack me, can you?
I won't attack you!

　From the look of the sisters, it was clear that the buds of first place have been lost.

　Once the boss monster is killed, it will take time for the same boss monster to appear. This is because we will have to wait until the labyrinth rebuilds its ecosystem and the boss and his subordinates are born.

''Oh, I didn't know there were other parties besides us that had reached this point. It can't be helped - let's just watch them attack the boss. We won't get first place, but we'll be safe...''

　From behind, Erna advises her sisters and brothers.

　Indeed, watching their boss attack as it is will help mitigate the danger of our boss attack. Once we see through the regularity and habits of the Legion Bats, we'll be able to take advantage of the battle.

''That's right. I'm sorry, but we'll have to settle for second best this time. ...... Erna, Snow-san, I can see you and the others from here.
I see you.
...... margin.

　Even with my 2.0 eyesight, I can't see even the smallest movements of the battle.
　However, Erna and Snow seem to be able to grasp the battle situation clearly. The race correction seems to be working great in this kind of situation as well.

''We can't get any closer, so I'll leave this to you two. Let's share the information later and take on the Legion Bats in a fully prepared state. ...... Now, Christ is here with me.
Oh. I can see it, too.
You see them?　Well, it's the Christ of the quintessence: ......

　I spread my magic Dimension to the battlefield and picked up information.
　I've never had the opportunity to closely watch someone else's battle until now, so I wanted to use it as a reference. Also, I didn't want to sit here and chat with this sister and brother.

　With the image of cracking my consciousness, my sensory organs constructed with magic power filled the battlefield.
　In parallel, he would not fail to be vigilant about his surroundings. In the past few days, my handling of magic has also grown a lot.

　The back of the corridor.
　On the stage illuminated by the flaming lights, the Legion Bats were splitting into four and dancing.
　Their shapes were simply giant bats, but some of them were solids that were flying around energetically despite their large body losses. It could be seen that they were durable bosses that didn't get spooked by the slightest attack.


[Monster] Legion Bat: Rank 12.


　In contrast, there were four people about my age.
　They're a different group of four people from this Frenliulet party.

　Two of them are wearing the same uniforms as Frenliulet and the others are wearing only shabby clothes and simple armor. As far as the standings are concerned, the one wearing the fine uniform gives the command, and the one in shabby clothes is the vanguard.

　Their balance is very good.
　It's a cloud of difference compared to this one.
　It's so great that it makes me cry.

　They're not at a high individual level, but they all know their roles and are committed to them. The two vanguards are drawing the attention of the enemy and acting as shields, one of the rear guards is covering the entire group, and the last one is aiming for a long chanting spell.

　It's a perfect standpoint to change with our four men right now.

　Their seamless coordination allowed the Legion bats to allow for long chanting magic. A huge fireball was created, hitting one of the stranded Legion Bats.

　The one that lost half its body lost its power and fell to the ground.

　The four of them fell on their faces as a breakthrough was made.
　The two vanguards attacked the three remaining animals forcefully, and when they unleashed more magic, the rear guard also began chanting.

''......!''

　I gasp.
　I know this because I'm looking down at it from a distance. It's a bad move.
　The one that lost half its body didn't disappear as a light. And yet, they have removed it from their consciousness as the one that defeated it.

　And the bad hand, as expected, quickly worsened the shape of the situation.

　One of the vanguard was bitten from behind by one of the half-dead ones.
　The equilibrium that had been held at four against four until now was upset. The other three moved to save it, and somehow rescued the bitten vanguard, but the breakthrough that seemed to have opened up was completely closed off.

　I wouldn't say it's a fatal wound.
　But the bite is a serious wound to him.
　I think we should switch to a war of retreat here right away. But the people in leadership refused to do so. On the contrary, they continued to use him as their vanguard, as he was seriously injured.

　One might argue that the number of wounded is one-on-one, so it's not a problem.
　I can also see what it means to continue fighting because we still have a chance to win.
　But that's just the math.

　If this continues, he will not stop bleeding .......
　He will die .......

　Watching a non-adult person die is hard on the mind.
　It also sucks that I have the power to help, and if I don't, it will be in the form of watching them die.

　If it happens again and again, I know with reason that I have to give up on him, even if he is a child. But my immature mind won't allow it. The morality of the original world was still breathing.

'Excuse me ....... Hey, I'm going to help you.
Brother, that's not good.

　But without pause, Erna stopped me.

'Why are you stopping me?　One of you is going to die.
It's a necessary expense. Isn't that what the leaders over there are doing?　That slave was brought in for that, so it's not a good idea to mess with him here...

　Erna called the person who was dying a slave.
　Indeed, they were shabbily dressed and given minimal equipment. If you look closely, you can see a collar on the collar, so it makes sense that they are slaves.

　But it's none of Aikawa Uzumi's business, who has lived in the present day.
　Slave or not, he is just one of the living people. On the contrary, if they are dying against their will because of their status as slaves, it only makes me want to help them even more.

...... Still, I can't leave them to die.
'Yeah, ......?　But I'm hiring my brother as an escort, so I hope he'll listen to me.
'Our agreement is to protect you. We will protect that, I promise. But I haven't heard that I shouldn't protect anyone else. ...... I know I'm being selfish. If I'm not allowed to do so, I can break the contract. I don't need the money. But I still want to help him. ......

　I was spinning the words more frantically than I knew I was capable of.

　For some reason, the image of Dia getting her arm slashed off comes to mind.
　The sight makes my heart speed up and sweat run down my forehead.

'What's wrong ......?　Christ, Erna.

　Noticing me and Erna's argument, Franllewle came up to me from behind.

''Fran-. Your brother says he wants to save the slave because he's dying...''
What, a slave?　Christ. Why would you do that?

　Franliure wondered from the bottom of his heart.

　Slaves die.
　I want to help them.
　Why?

　He has a look on his face that says he really doesn't understand.

　There was no goodness or malice in it.
　There is only the common sense that it is natural for slaves to not help.
　Franlure's straight eyes. That honest doubt.

　It's as if it's me who is crazy.
　My mind becomes unstable.
　It's as if our values have been eroded, and I am no longer myself--.

　No.

　That's unacceptable.
　Any more upset and the skill '? will be activated.

　Firmly I hold myself together and turn my emotions into words.

'It's because I can't watch ......

　Now this is the kind of silly answer we need.

　It's clear that the cause is the difference in values between the worlds.
　There's no need to argue about it here.
　Just think about keeping your will and move on.

'Ki, Christ?　We're talking about a slave who's dying. And that--
Excuse me. I'm going out.

　I didn't hear the last of Franluele's words and started running.


　◆◆◆◆◆ ...


The magic of the dimension gradation.

　What we do is the same as we did when we rescued Flanlure and the others.

'I'll help you!　There is no hostility!

　First I leapt into the middle of the battlefield, screaming. I deliberately chose a noticeable intrusion method in order to catch the Legion Bat's attention.

　Surprised by the sudden intrusion of a third party, the party retreats back to assess the situation, and the monster, the Legion Bat, begins to attack me at the front.

　The approaching bat giants are approaching from all sides.
　I find an opening between them and smoothly dodge the four bats. At the same time, I slash off one of the feathered arms as if I were passing by.

　One of them falls to the ground, but that one immediately approaches the sliced off feather arm and tries to repair the loss by rejoining it. In the meantime, the other bats are attacking me mercilessly and I can't stop them.

　The Treasure Sword of the House of Ares slices through the bats' bodies without resistance.
　The enemy is a rank 12 monster, but it seems that my attack power is still valid. The effect of the Treasure Sword of the Areis Family, which increases attack power based on skill, may be partly to blame.

　However, there's no way to cut it.

　I've been pondering whether to freeze the enemy like I did during the Tida fight, because no matter how many times I slashed, they would still connect their bodies together.

　That's when I found what looked like a dull, shiny stone inside one of its bodies.

'......!

　Immediately, I make a concentrated attack on one of them, shredding it into small pieces.

　Then a dull glowing stone is thrown into the air and I break it with my sword.
　The bats quickly disintegrate into shape and finally disappear as light. Apparently, it was the standard boss of the game. If I exploited their weaknesses, I was able to defeat them without a hitch.

'...... Phew.'

　Even the dull glowing stone becomes light, and its light is reconstructed and becomes another magical stone.
　This would be the Legion Bat's drop item. I pick it up and turn my attention to the four people who had been engaged.

''Sorry. They seemed to be struggling, so I put my hand out.

　I sheath my sword with an apology.

　A young man in a uniform steps forward and tries to answer me.
　But he's far away and hasn't let his guard down yet.

...... I see you are a skilled explorer. I appreciate your assistance, but it's something we didn't really need. We don't like it when you steal our enemies while we negotiate with you, do we?

　The young man seemed to be prepared to even engage me in some cases.
　I'm not going to be able to get my hands on any of them.

　I'm sure you'll find that you'll need the magic stone immediately.
　The young man looked surprised and took it in stride.

''I'm sorry about that. There was someone who was seriously injured and I jumped into ...... thinking that he needed immediate treatment. The fault seems to be mine, so I will give you the magic stone.
Mu....... Our purpose is this magic stone. Now that you've given it to us, we have no objection to it. All that remains is gratitude. Let us thank you again.

　The young men trusted that I had no hostile intentions, and they each put their weapons away.

'Yes, good. Let's get that one treated quickly.'
'Oh, thank you for working on our slave. But since we have few means of recovery, I'm sure his treatment will have to wait.

　Saying that, the young man drops back and begins to use the healing potion not on the slaves, but only on the two in uniform.

　I'm stunned to see them trying to use up the slaves as a matter of course.

　As it is, without treating the slaves, the four of them thank me and walk away from this place to leave.
　Seeing the blood of the slaves dripping down after they walk, I can't stand it and scream out.

''--Wait, wait, please!

　The four of them turn around and are wary of me calling out to them despite the fact that they've finished talking.

　I'm lost.

　If I force the slave here, she can heal her wounds, but it will only be temporary.
　But that seems to be only temporary. From the response of Franlure and the young men, I am sure that this slave will continue to be treated in the same way as today. In the not-too-distant future, I could see that an unreasonable death was waiting for them.

　There was no point in helping the slave here - and yet.

　I put my hand in the bag at my waist and take out an item from my 'possessions'.
　Then I tossed it to the men.

'It's cheap, but it's a recovery potion. I interrupted to help you, but I'm not going to be able to wake up in my sleep if I don't. ......
Thanks to .......

　The man who received the recovery potion, perhaps sensing my intentions, immediately used the recovery potion on the slaves. The powder infused with herbs is applied to the wounds of the slaves and the blood stops flowing.

　He breathes ...... a sigh of relief.

　And I even wanted to laugh at myself for being a fool.
　Secondly, I was also bitter that the hypocrisy of self-satisfaction could be so sickening.

　I watched the four of them leave for the stairs down to the tenth level, and I turned my attention in the direction of where Franlure and the others were.

　The four men, who must have realized that the matter is over, are approaching us.
　Franlleure walks in the front and is the first to call out to me.

''Lord Christ....... Why would you send a slave up there ......?

　He must have seen the last time I gave away my recovery pills.
　I could see that he was questioning it from the bottom of his heart.

'No particular reason. I'm sorry, it was selfish of me.'

　I felt there was no point in exchanging thoughts.
　So I just apologized.

'Yes, that's right ....... Um, .......

　Franlure must feel that I am not saying what I really mean. Therefore, she doesn't seem to know what to say to me.

　Erna, who couldn't see that, comes in between us.

'Brother!　Oh, we don't want you to act like that! Normally, this is an outrageous behavior, but we don't say anything because we don't intend to make such a strict contract either! Instead, I'd like you to defeat the next Legion Bat fight in style like you are now?

　I can see that Erna is trying to ease the air with a light joke.
　Sensing this, Ryner-kun also gets on board.

''That's right, Christ-san. Since you're the reason we've been confirmed to pass second place, I'd love to have you alone in the Legion of Bat battle.''
Reiner!　I won't allow that to happen!

　Now that may have been Rainer-kun's own joke, but Flanlure takes it seriously and begins to reprimand Rainer seriously.

　Immediately, Rainer-kun laughs, saying it was a joke, and the air in the place becomes lighter.

　He's being cared for.
　You've helped people, but you're being cared for.
　He treats me as if I'm being treated as if I'm in the wrong for helping people.

　I can only resign myself to that fact and laugh.

'Haha, sorry. I'll do my best in the next fight, so please forgive me.

　I cooperate with the lighter air.
　Seeing me laughing, Franlure approaches me with a brighter expression on her face.

　Then we start talking about our hobbies and skills, as if what happened earlier never happened.
　Erna laughs and warns Franlure that the exam isn't over yet. After that, they start discussing the cycle of the next Legion Bat's appearance and what they've been doing until then.

　From what I hear, the girls seem to have an idea of how long it takes for the labyrinth to rebuild its ecosystem.
　They are no match for the girls in terms of classroom learning about the labyrinth. I'll be able to follow their instructions, since I only have a passing knowledge of the labyrinth.

　It is said that the magic in the labyrinth will transform into monsters in two hours, so we decide to pass the time in the nearby "path of righteousness" until then.

　We start walking away from the boss area.
　All the while, we exchange banter.


　--I suddenly look behind me.


　The blood that the slave had dropped was still in the corridor of the labyrinth.

　I walked mindlessly.
　The first thing I have to do is part ways with this party as soon as possible.
　Until then, let's not shake our minds and just think about finishing the task.

　With that in mind, I continued to walk while staring into the darkness of the corridor.