Beating that Medusa unscathed.... Ah, Marle has really grown up, hasn't she?

　When I say with my hands on my cheeks, Illtimina-san seems to be very impressed and hugs this little body.

(U........yo, my armor hurts.)

　But she looks so happy that I hold back.

　As it was, she brushed her cheek against me, and her beautiful dark green hair stroked softly against my skin, and it felt so good.
　And it smells sweet and nice.

　I reply, a little embarrassed.

'Nope. The only reason I was able to beat you was because you were there too, Kilt.
No.

　Staring at me, she shook her head from side to side.

''Medusa is a ranked demon that can be defeated alongside the red fang dragon due to its highly lethal special ability. Even if you have a kilt, it's not an easy monster to defeat.

　Really?

(That's kind of amazing.)

　Even if the red fang dragon gad, which I once met in the Great Forest of Aldoria, is exceptional because it was 'named', it certainly seems formidable when it is said to be comparable to a dragon.

　As I am surprised, Solstice also calls out to me.

''Yes?　And yet you did it, Male. The way you and Kilt worked together, you were in perfect synch. I had a little review, okay?
"Solstice...

　I didn't expect to be praised like this by this girl.

(I didn't know Medusa was such a strong demon...?

　To be honest, I didn't feel that threatening.

　I wonder if the reason for that was because the 'Golden Mark Demon Hunter' was with us, after all?　Or is it because I'm a little stronger now...?　I'm not sure.

　When I look at Mr. Kilt, she just smiles in satisfaction.

''..........''
..........

　We stared at each other for a while, and then Illtimina said, "Hmm? And look at our faces in turn.
　As if a little flustered.

Ma'am?　I'm more than just a quilt, because if I fight with you, I can breathe with you, too.
What?
Next time, come fight with me.
Uh-huh.

　I couldn't help but nod at the desperate swordsman, Iltimina-san.

''........Sister Iltimina.

　That younger sister is sighing, a bit sadly, at the sight of her sister in opposition.
　Haha.....

　And.

You okay, Fiddy?

　Behind me, I heard the General's worried voice.

(Ah.)

　I turned around to see Frederica, who had been unpetrified, and General Dardios, who was on one knee beside her, looking worried.

'It's all right, Father. I'm still numb, but........''

　Frederica answered while sitting on the floor.
　She was moving her petrified left limb, but as she said, her movements were still awkward.

(No way................aftereffects?

　I'm worried, but the girl who healed me tells me calmly, "It's all right.

There's no problem. It's just that the petrification completely cut off all nerve connections and blood flow, even if only temporarily. Now that it's back, my body is just a little startled. It'll heal over time.
Really?

　Thank goodness.
　Relieved, I walked up to the Black Knight's sister.

"Frederica-san.
Oh.

　When she notices, she looks away from me for a moment and then forces herself to laugh a little.

'That was an excellent fight, Lord Marle.
..........
I, on the other hand, have shown my pathetic appearance. This is the straw that broke the camel's back when I was trying to protect you.

　She looks very frustrated.

　And then Miss Frederica tried to force herself to get up.

(Oh, watch out.)

　I quickly propped up my wobble.

'I'm sorry,'
Nope.

　I support her in a frontal hug, and she tries to let go of her body, as if in a panic.
　Her cheeks are a little red.

　I look at her.

'Take it easy, Frederica. I hear it's going to take a little while for your limbs to move freely.
Mm-hmm.

　She nodded awkwardly at my concern.

　And then Iltimina-san switched places with me and lent her a shoulder.

'Don't get too close to my merle, Frederica?
'What?　I'm sorry.
We are completely on our toes.

　Illtimina-san muttering sullenly and Frederica apologizing for some reason.

(????)

　I don't know, but she seems to be in good hands with Miss Illtimina.
　I let myself go.

"Uh...

　The black knight's sister's voice sounded a bit disappointed.

　General Dardios, who was watching us with a complicated look on his face, said, "Hey, let's move on, shall we?

The best thing about this is that it is very easy to get rid of them.

　Rapt's dismayed voice.
　When I looked, Recto Alice opened her third eye and looked at her surroundings. Apparently, she's been keeping a vigilant eye on her surroundings the whole time.

''Yeah, right.''

　I nodded.
　Then I smiled at the boy from The Divine Fangora.

'Thanks for earlier, Rapt.
'What?　I'm not afraid of that. That's fine, that's fine.

　flapping

　Rapt, waving his hand in front of his face, but he doesn't seem to be full of it.

　Beside her, Recto Alice is chuckling a small laugh.
　I laugh at her as well.

And thank you, Lectoris, for watching your surroundings.
You're welcome.

　I thank her and she responds with a mature smile.

　Gasp.

　Mr. Kilt, who had put the great sword back on his back, looked around at everyone and then gave the order.

''Good. --Let's all move on.　

　The air in the room tightened at the tension in his voice.

(Yeah.)

　Pulling ourselves together, we left Medusa's corpse on the spot and proceeded to the depths of the dark labyrinth again--.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　We reached one room, with Recto Alice helping us find the right path through several branches.　

　An old table.

　Lots of chairs.

　Empty shelves.

　It's all there is.
　Some of them broken and crumbling from the years.

(...used to be a follower of Lady Callwood, the Grey Goddess, who lived here?)

　I'm not sure.

　However, around the perimeter, there are magic lights set up in the four corners of the room. Without a doubt, the Arun knights of the preceding unit are passing through here.

　And the four magic lights illuminate a large hole in the crumbling floor.

''It's ... submerged.

　I muttered.

　Everyone was staring at the same water.

　I wonder if this was originally an underground passage?　The floor at the entrance to it had collapsed into a large hole, and the entire passage seemed to be submerged in water.

　The water was crystal clear.
　But it was pitch black with no light reaching the back of the passage.

''........Is it really here?''

　Solstice asked suspiciously.
　Rectalis nodded firmly, the red light from her third eye illuminating the submerged passage.

'There's no doubt about it; it's 220 mades away and leads to another room. It looks like there's a staircase to the twelve levels beyond that.
Do you know how to get around?
No.

　A clear answer.

(So we have no choice but to move through these waters...)

　They all fell silent.

　Eventually, Mr. Kilt exhaled heavily, regained his composure and said to everyone.

'Alright. "Good, now let's use Sol's magic to allow us to breathe under water and get out of this submerged passage. --Sol, how long does the magic work?
Maybe 300 and counting.

　About five minutes, huh?

But the more you breathe faster and move, the more oxygen you consume, the less and less time you have.

　Soltis adds.

'Right.'

　Mr. Kilt nodded and looked around at us.

'Now, make sure your luggage is waterproof. We'll leave as soon as we're ready.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


Thus, we wrap the waterproof cloth tightly around it and fill in the gaps.

　As I wrap a waterproof cloth around my backpack like a bandage, Illtimina tells me.

(I see, I see.)

　My backpack is waterproof.
　However, it only repels the rain, and it is indeed not sealed enough to be able to work in the water. That's why I need to wrap a waterproof cloth around it like this," she says, working neatly.

　Working deftly, she says.

'We're wearing armour, so the weight will sink us. Rather than swimming, it would be faster to walk on the floor in the water.
Yes.

　I nodded.

'And the wet clothes will stick to your skin and inhibit your movement more than you think. It will also wear out your strength more than you think it will. If possible, it would be better to take off all of your clothes...

　Huh?　Naked?

Well, that's a bit embarrassing...

　She laughed at my hesitation.

'Then let's at least roll up the sleeves and hem and leave the elbows, knees, shoulders and other joints free, shall we?
Uh-huh. Okay.

　That's good.
　That's a relief.

I'm a little disappointed, though.

　Huh?
　I thought my sister muttered something.

'No, it's nothing. I just thought it would be embarrassing to be completely naked in front of Marle, too.
..........

　I was forced to bathe with her before, I was forced to bathe with her........

　She laughs lustily.
　And this time, I went over there to help my sister with her work.

(Well, okay.)

　If you look at Kilt-san, she has the waterproof cloth wrapped tightly around the 'Great Sword of Thunder' as well.

　........Yeah.
　In the unlikely event that the lightning from that sword blade leaked out, it would be a disaster.

(It's important.)

　Then I looked at Frederica and saw that she had placed the entire waterproof bag over her backpack. She folded the mouth of the bag into multiple layers and tied it tightly and it was done.

　Yeah, it's easier than wrapping a waterproof cloth somehow.

(And it looks like he's used to it.)

　Noticing my gaze, the black knight's sister laughed.

'The knights of Arun also receive underwater training. They're used to this sort of thing.
'Oh, really?'

　Arun is amazing.
　If you look at it, General Dardios, with his familiar hands, had long since finished his work.

　The only ones who hadn't done anything were Rapt and Recto Alice, who had no luggage.

'What?'

　Nope, whatever.
　I laughed and fooled myself into believing that the scowling stare was a good idea.

　Then we all finished, and we gathered once again in front of the submerged hole.

'Don't let the water get the better of you, breath of life!　--Walter Bree Jenga!

　Solstice's great staff drew Thanatos magic letters in the air.
　She then pressed the great staff of the magic stone that emitted light into everyone's foreheads with a chon, chon, chon.......

　Chon.

　It's pressed against my forehead, too.

(...what is this?　(It's like a membrane of air around your head...?

　The air I was breathing also felt like it had changed from the stagnant air of the ruins.

　The girl's great wand drew more magic letters in the air.

'Help us in the water!　--Lightum Fischl!　

　Pointing the tip of its large cane to the surface of the water.

　Chapo, chapon.

　Eight small fishes made of light fell from the white shining magic stone into the water.

　Thanks to them, the dark waterway becomes brighter.　

(An underwater version of the light bird!)

　As expected of Solstice, she's an amazing wizard who can do a lot of things.

　The two people from the Arun Divine Empire and the two people from 'Divine Fangra' all looked at the girl with admiration.

''Hmph, you can respect me, right?''

　You seem to be good at this.
　But.

'We don't have time to waste, do we?　Let's go, guys.

　When Kilt-san said that, they all went into the water, with Rapt and Recto Alice in the lead.

(Yeah, yeah, that's right, 300 seconds.)

　As I remembered, I, too, went into the water with Solstice, as per the ranks.

　The face of the girl next to me looked somewhat sad.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　We proceeded through the submerged passageway, with the glowing little fish lighting up the surroundings.

　The underground passage is not very wide.

　It's just an endless path about three meters long and two meters wide. And only the part of the passage with the light fish was bright, the rest of the passage was submerged in darkness.

　Breathing was normal.

(Really, there were bubbles, weren't there?)

　When I got into the water, I could clearly see the round air bubbles that enveloped my head.

　I see.
　It is a mechanism that allows us to breathe in the air in these bubbles.

　But, on the other hand, if these bubbles become small and all of them disappear, the person suffocates.

(...300 seconds, huh?)

　Let's hurry up a bit.
　My anxiousness made me want to speed up my steps just a bit.

　Mota Mota.

　But I'm not sure if it's because I'm not used to being in the water, but I can't get going. I try to walk, but my body floats a bit with each step. With my arms rolled up in my sleeves, I make slow progress, like a breaststroke.

(Well, I can make it, right?)

　I want to believe we can get out of the water before our time is up.

　I look ahead.

　The backs of Mr. Kilt and General Dardios, who should be ahead of us, are much farther away than they were at first, fifteen to twenty meadows away. The backs of Rapt and Lectoris were long gone.

　By the way, right behind them is Solstice.

　She, too, seems to be having a bit of a hard time walking in the water.

　And Frederica, who should have been behind us in the original formation, has caught up with us. As expected of a black knight of Arun who has also done underwater training, I guess.

　Illtimina-san, who was supposed to be with her, as a lord, seems to be slowing down a bit and following away from us.

　The glow of her light fish can be seen about 10 meters behind her.

(............)

　When their gazes met, Frederica-san laughed.

''Don't be in a hurry.''

　That's what he seemed to be saying.

(That's encouraging.)

　I smiled back and nodded.

　We continued on, walking through the water.

　There were no other creatures swimming in the water, no fish or anything else.
　But there were sea anemone like creatures about 10 centimeters long attached to the floor, walls, and ceiling, and they were wavering. Only there, it's a bit fantastic.

(.........hmm?)

　Suddenly there was something large and black near the ceiling in front of me.

　Gopop!

　When I realized what it was, I couldn't help but let out a massive breath.

　A person.
　It was the corpse of an Arun knight in armor.

(............)

　Solstice and Miss Frederica were also astonished and stopped in their tracks.

　No noticeable trauma.
　Probably drowning.

(My God...)

　My heart is aching.

　Could it be one of the thirteen people who headed to the tenth level?
　We don't know that either.

　Tons.

　Frederica-san's hands gently pushed me and Solstice's back as we stopped.
　Her eyes made a strong appeal.

''In order to not let this death be in vain, we must not stand still.''

　And.
　We nodded, said a short silent prayer, and then stepped forward.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　I paced through the water, with Solstice right behind me.

　Frederica-san had dropped back a little farther to the rear to adjust the distance between her and Lord Illtimina-san.

　Kopo Kopo.

　My own exhaled breath floats in the water as a bubble.

(...quiet.)

　Maybe it's because I'm in water, or maybe it's because of the bubbles in the air, but I don't hear anything but the sound of my own breathing.
　Maybe that's why my sense of time is going crazy.

(Is it about time, 300 seconds?)

　The bubbles wrapped around his head were much smaller.

　The end point could be in sight by now, but the subterranean passageway under the water was still going on. Anxiety and impatience were beginning to rear their heads in my mind.

　And that's when.

　Click!

　My right hand caught on something.

(Huh?)

　It wasn't.
　Solstice stopped and somehow, with both hands, she gripped my right wrist tightly.

(???)　(What are you doing?)

　There was no time to stop in this place, but for some reason the girl didn't walk away.
　And yet.

　

　The girl looked desperate.

　I have a bad feeling about this.

　The girl's gaze looked at her own feet.

　An elongated 'something' was entwined with her right ankle.

(.........Eh?)

　A long, slender tentacle, extending from an anemone on the floor, wrapped itself around Solstice's right ankle in multiple layers, restraining the girl in this water.
　No matter how many times Solstice tried to tug at her leg, the tentacle did not falter.

　She was on the verge of crying.

(Huh?　(You're kidding!)

　I suppressed the fear I felt and hurriedly pulled out my 'fairy sword'.

　I swing it down, aiming at the tentacles.

　Galleri.........

(Sigh)

　Hard.
　It's like a metal wire.

　No.
　This isn't good, this isn't good, this isn't good.

　If it were on the ground, I'd be able to cut it with my sword skills.

　But we're in water.

　I couldn't stand on my feet, my taut clothes prevented me from moving, and the water's resistance prevented me from running my sword.

(Hey, this!　(You b*tc*!)

　Gah!

　I can't cut it.
　I just can't do it.

　Let go of Solstice, for Christ's sake!　Let go of me!

　The girl, too, had a look on her face as she clasped her hands and desperately pushed down her fear.

　For a moment, the image of the drowned Arun knight flashed through my mind.

(Couldn't it be that person too...?)

　Creepy.

　No.
　I can't let Solstice turn out like that, no way. No!

You!

　Like a saw, he rubbed the blade against the tentacles, again and again.

　Gah gah gah gari........

　We can cut back a little bit.

　But we're running out of time.
　The magic's effect time is already at its limit.

No....

　The girl's little hand pressed my chest with a thump.
　Huh?

　She was urging him to go on, smiling as she held back her tears.

(Sol, Tis...?)

　You can't just give up, Solstice!

　At the appeal of my gaze, though, she moves her head from side to side, indicating the end of the aisle with her little fingers.

　No.
　No, no, no, no.

　I'm going to have to cut off Solstice's right ankle.

　But.

　chow (mahjong)

　At that moment, the black knight who caught up with us hugs the girl from behind.

(Frederica-san!?!?)

　She must have understood the situation immediately.

　Frederica-san patted the surprised girl's head gently with a pat on the head, and indicated to me to 'calm down' by pressing her palms down.

　Then she pulls out the sword at her waist.

　Zashhhh.

　She thrust the tip of her sword into the mouth of the main body of the anemone like creature that was restraining Solstice.

(Ah.........)

　But the tentacles don't leave.

　No?

　Fear and resignation stain my mind from the inside out.

　But Frederica-san, holding her sword against the anemone like creature, let her finger touch the trigger on the hilt of the sword.
　Pulling it, all at once.

　Galiin.

　The gear on the hilt rotated and the sword blade was engulfed in flames, even though it was underwater.

　Juoh!

　The water evaporated, spewing white foam.

　The anemon-like creature, perhaps startled by the sudden blaze of fire, released the girl's restraining tentacles with stupefying ease.

(Solstice!)

　I hurry and hold the girl to my chest.

　Geez.

　I hugged her back, hard.

　Frederica pulled the trigger once more to deliver the flames and pull the sword from the anemone. Either dead or having given up on its prey, the horrible creature remained motionless, its tentacles fluttering in the water.

　Frederica waved her arms as if to scare us away.

''We don't have time for this, we have to go now!

(Yes!)

　I returned her grateful gaze and moved forward.

　She stayed where she was.
　Perhaps it was to warn Illtimina, who was coming from the back of the line, not to be caught in the tentacle trap.

　I left that to her, and I struggled forward with the girl in my arms.

(d*mn, I moved too much!)

　The magic bubbles were almost gone.

　My hair gets wet.
　No longer was there a film of air, just a few millimeters of it, on the surface of my face.

　Every now and then, water, not air, would come in and make me swelter.
　Ku, the pain.

　But I still can't see the end of the underground passage.

　Water rushed into my left eye, too.

　My vision is blurred.
　I panicked and closed my left eye only.

(What am I going to do... am I going to die here?

　Honestly, I'm scared.
　But I couldn't help it.

　And.

　pitter-patter

Stupid Marl.

　Huh?

　Solstice had her face so close to mine that our cheeks were touching.
　Our cheeks were hot to the touch.

　And my breathing became easier.

(Ah.....)

　Our cheeks were so close together that the air bubbles of Solstice, which still had so much left, wrapped around my head as well.

'Solstice...'
Don't talk. It's bad for the atmosphere.
Yes.

　I feel like I'm about to cry.

　Solstice twists her lips in a bit of embarrassment, but she puts her arms firmly behind her back so that her body is not separated from mine.

(Thank you, Soltis.)

　We huddled together and hugged each other as we made our way through the water, illuminated by the glowing fish.

　Eventually, before the magic bubble disappears, we reach the end of the underground passage and successfully emerge from the water.