Speaking of which, Elle. What's on your mind...?


　Two days later. We were getting ready and getting into the carriage. That's when Fee comes to me asking about what happened.

"Oh, you mean that. Hey, you remember what happened a month ago?
A month ago...?
Speaking of which, the sighting of the giant spider, the Huge Spider, in our village a month ago, as well as the news of the capture of the Third Labyrinth arrived around that time.
Well done, sir.

　As Monica pointed out, I think this case has something to do with the first time I stepped in the labyrinth. In fact, it would be strange if I didn't think so. The sixth labyrinth, which has been empty for hundreds of years now. The nature of the labyrinth had been known for hundreds of years, and as long as they didn't enter the labyrinth, they were safe, so people didn't even go near it.

　But this is why this strange, unusual situation is happening. Demons are pouring out of the labyrinth.

　The giant spider, the Huge Spider, is classified as a class B monster.

　The danger level of the monsters is divided into S→A→B→C→D→E→F. Speaking of danger level B, ordinary humans can't deal with it. In particular, only those with special skills, such as alchemists and knights, can deal with demons of danger level C and above.

　All the demons in the labyrinth are C class or higher. In other words, the fact that it floods the outside world means that there is considerable danger to ordinary people. Even if they were killed, it wouldn't be surprising. The outflow of the Giant Spider 《Huge Spider》 is such an extraordinary situation. No wonder the chairman sent me and Fee.


''Maybe there is something in the labyrinth that is interacting with each other.
Well maybe Elle was right.
When you put it that way, yes.


　I have no doubt that they are related. The huge spider "Huge Spider" overflowing from the labyrinth has a collecting habit, which is an unusual characteristic of the huge spider "Huge Spider". The existence of the Huge Spider was known for a long time, but I didn't know that it had a collecting habit. In other words, the Huge Spider in the labyrinth may be a unique individual, a subspecies of the Huge Spider.

　While talking about this, we made the same preparations as last time in the village of the elves and immediately headed for the labyrinth.

'....Now, let's get rid of the ice at the entrance.

　I read Fee's constructed alchemy and resist it in an instant. Fee's stuff was easy to resist because he dared to smelt ice in a clean state.

''Let's go.''
Yes.
Yes, sir.


　And so, our search for the labyrinth. The second one began.


"....
....
....

　The three of us proceeded cautiously. But it's easier now because we just follow the same path as last time. After a while, we came to the square in the example. There was no giant spider (Huge Spider) there. That's because we killed them all. I was just thinking, when I noticed a giant spider, the Huge Spider, on the wall.

''Ah, that's.......do you want to take it down?''
Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. I can't get used to this....
No, it's weird I just want to have a look.

　Was that giant spider, the Huge Spider, leaking from the second underground layer?

　Nevertheless, it is behaving strangely. It could be that it is wandering around, or it seems to be hesitating to enter the second level of the stairs. But is there any reason for hesitation?　I don't have a complete grasp of the ecosystem here, so it's hard to say in general, but I have a strange feeling of discomfort.


　After looking at it for a few minutes, a giant spider 《Huge Spider》 slammed down the stairs. We decided to follow its trail.


''Let's chase it!''
Yes!
"...yeah yeah. I don't like it.


　We descended the stairs, not very long, and in no time at all we reached the second level. It wasn't a narrow street or anything like that, it was a square again. But it was smaller in scale than the previous plaza. Then we found the giant spider from earlier, the Huge Spider. Furthermore, other huge spiders, the Huge Spider, kept coming around that one. In a moment, I see something unbelievable.

''.........Whaaaaat?
Hee....
'Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!　What's that, cannibalism!

　Yes, as Fee said, cannibalism was taking place. The giant spider [Huge Spider] that came from one level was bound by threads to the other giant spider [Huge Spider] and was being preyed upon alive. ''Kiiiiii! And I'm giving them a decapitation, but they gradually ate me from my legs, then my head, and then everything is gone.

　Cannibalism. I wondered if such an ecosystem existed, but it was inexplicably strange. That giant spider, the Huge Spider, was wandering around and came here to be eaten. That's the impression I get. I don't think it's just cannibalism. Of course, cannibalism is a common occurrence for demons, so it's not particularly surprising....


　As I was sorting out the situation, dozens of giant spiders 《Huge Spiders》 stared at me. The moment they come running at an uncommon speed, they spit out strings and try to restrain us at the same time.

Let's go!
"Got it!

　The three of us each refine ice. We follow the spit thread and freeze it, making the giant spider 《Huge Spider》 unable to move. And as usual, they try to stab the icicle into the brain........

''What?!　Resist!

　Yes, my alchemy was resisted. As the alchemy formation unfolded as it spun around on the head of the giant spider, the ice pillar I had smelted was counteracted by it.

　However, I'm still unable to move. So I took the trouble to flash the heads of each one of them with a thin-winged dragonfly. I cracked them open vertically, and after killing them all, I asked Monica to burn them. Monica has the largest total amount of magic power of any of us, so it seems that this much is not a hassle.


''Fee, what do you think?''
''Well I haven't heard of any cases of demons using alchemy. I've heard many rumors of alchemy in my work, but still, I don't know about this one.
'Right. I did a quick check of the body while I was killing it, and the smelting marks are the same as the ones we're using. It's not anything special. Just ordinary alchemy, but apparently, maybe alchemy isn't just for people...
Well....


　If you think about it, we don't really know how alchemy was born. I only know that it was created by a person called the Founder.


''Hey, maybe alchemy isn't also a type of lost technology?''
'Alchemy is a lost technology?　No, because....
The name "alchemy" is a name that we humans have given ourselves. In the past, it was also called magic and witchcraft. The alchemy was developed by discovering the laws, thinking about theories, and developing them. In other words, it's not surprising to think that there was an alchemical equivalent in the past. The same is true of the existence of the labyrinth. How are these things made?　Such a large facility in the basement. And it's well built. There are no signs of collapse. Perhaps the spiders here have created this labyrinth.
''You have a point. It's really starting to smell funny now. Oh, and the information on the third labyrinth, I found out how many layers the bottom level was. I did some research before I came.
You can't wait to say something like that...
''Nah, because I was afraid to come here but now I'm more interested in figuring out the mystery, so I'm kind of okay with that. So, but, I heard it was 50 layers.
Fifty layers ... deep.
'I don't know if it's just the third labyrinth, or if it's the same for the other labyrinths I don't know, but it's an indication, right?
'Yes. It's easier to move forward if you have a goal in mind.


　Once we finished talking, Monica came back.

'We were talking about something, weren't we?　What do you understand?
Actually....

　I told him briefly what I'd just told him.

''....I see. Indeed, there are stories like that in elven lore. Alchemy, or rather magic, was incredibly prosperous a long time ago, but at some point it went down the path of destruction. There was even a city called the City of Magic somewhere, or something like that...
'A magical city... or something similar to the kingdom we have now, and that's what we've had in the past...'

　Almost everything in the Kingdom of Canovaria is made up of alchemy. Alchemy is the key to infrastructure and other things as well. Listening to what you just said, it's no exaggeration to say that it's a modern day magic city.


''Let's stop talking and move on. I don't want to spend too much time on it, and assuming there are 50 layers, we'd better move on quickly.
Yeah.
I understand.


　We then proceeded through the labyrinth. We went through the second, third and fourth layers of the labyrinth, but we haven't seen the huge spider that uses alchemy, the Huge Spider, since then. They are all ordinary individuals. So when we reached the 9th level we decided to take a break. The three of us ate portable food, drank water, and rested slowly.


'Huh I'm tired. But we've made a lot of progress with nine layers.
Yeah well it's going well so far.
'I think I'm starting to get used to it too!　I used to hate it, but now I only think of it as creepy - lazy!　
Well, that's good to know. If everyone is in top condition, it's not a dream to step through the labyrinth. You've marked the Fee Transfer, right?
'Of course!　I'm doing it one tier at a time. With this tier, you can't jump to the entrance all at once, but you can go through and get back to the entrance.
Okay the transference is still a big deal.


　Then we checked our future plans and decided to go back to layer 10 today.


'So this is layer 10 here ... that's a big place.

　When we got down to the tenth level, it was quite open. It was one level larger than the plaza on the first level. And furthermore, we could already see the stairs to the 11th level. And then a door comes down to the stairs to the 11th level and the stairs to the 9th level where we came from.

''........What!　I'm trapped!
But are you sure about this?
No, you can't destroy it like this, can you?　The alchemy is completely played out. No way, the transference is also... feeeee!　Can you use the transfer?!
No!　There's a disconnect between the other layers and the alchemy!　I can't go through the First Pledge《Primamateria》!
...I'm trapped.


　Then I felt something stirring in the ceiling. I thought it was the usual giant spider 《Huge Spider》. Yes, I had assumed that. But what was that thing?　What is that thing...?

It's... what the hell...
What's that?
'Ughhhhhhhh!　I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't!


　That's right, the giant spider on the ceiling, the Huge Spider 《Huge Spider》, was an individual that was more than 10 meters in size.




　The giant spider, the Huge Spider, chirped. However, its volume is much louder than the normal ones.

　We were stunned by the sheer strangeness of it.

　Thus, we are completely trapped and have to fight against this monster.