The forty-eight levels were about to end their search with nothing to show for it. But Kefin suddenly spoke up.
''Someone is surrounded by demons!
　I also checked and saw a group of demons and figures ahead of me.
''Wait.....
　I waited out of discomfort.
'How could you...'
　Don't give me that look I'm disappointed in you.

"Look at it. It's obviously strange. I don't know if it's a mutation or a different kind of demon that could be found in this hierarchy, but its body is a different color. Besides, that thing is just playing around.
　When I say that, everyone shuts down and starts checking and knows it's true, mouth to mouth.

'We don't know if they're enemies or allies, so we'll approach them after we meet up with the others.
　For about twenty minutes after I declared that, I watched a figure from a distance that seemed to be frolicking with a demon.

'Facesome,'
That's definitely one of those things you can look at the wrong way.
We'll proceed to full alert.
　It was when I was close to the crowd of demons ahead and the distance between me and the crowd of demons after I put the area barrier on.
''Ah, brother of the healer.''
　What a surprise it was Sheila who appeared from the demon.

''Eek! Sheila? Are you here alone?
'Nope. I came here with my dads, but they told me to stay hidden because a lot of people were coming after me and it was dangerous...
　Oh, that's a pattern that makes you cry.
"I see. Do you want to come chase after your father with me?
'What? Are you sure?
''As expected, I can't leave you alone here. But still, are the demons around you your friends?
'Yes. I couldn't speak when I was a little girl, so Daddy brought these kids to me.
　You sound happy, but you didn't bring him to the Holy City, and he wasn't there when you picked him up, was he?
We weren't together before, were we?
'Yeah. I've been told not to have people in my church hurt some of my friends.
''Oh, I see. Can you keep Sheila's friends from hurting us?
That's okay. I'll see you soon.

　Sheila repeated her gestures and desperately pleaded with the demons.
　And it seemed that they were safe.

''It's all right now,''
Okay. Thanks. Speaking of which, how long have we been here?
'It's only been a little while. A lot of people attacked Kapu and the others, and we had to pay them back.

　...well, no one would think that they're being tamed. But that's out. I was almost in a heady frame of mind, but I ask what happened to those adventurers.
'Where are those attackers?'
He's asleep in his room over there. The others have gone after my dad and the others.
'Wait a minute. Those people didn't mean any harm, so forgive them. I'll make them apologize too.
　When I said that, his face grew stronger for a moment, but he immediately gave a conditional OK.
''Well it's fine if your brother says so, but I definitely want you to make Kapu and the others apologize.
All right.
　I agreed with that and headed to the room Sheila had mentioned.

　Inside the room were six adventurers who had been battered and turned into a living breathing worm.
　Relieved that they were moving slightly, I immediately heeled up and waited for them to regain consciousness.

''I'm really glad to be alive.
　If the adventurer was dead because of this, Sheila thought that it would be too bad a position for her.
'If it's a labyrinth, isn't it a crime that there's no evidence left behind? Or will the adventurer who attacked the tamer demon be treated as a criminal?
　There was no voice to answer my mutterings.

　Soon the adventurers started to get up and I explained and got their approval to apologize to Sheila and the demon that was being tamed.

'So why didn't you wait for us to join you?'
When it reached the 40th level...

　To summarize what they told me, they decided that Shazza and the others were fighting because they couldn't get inside when they arrived at the boss room on the forty-second level.
　They caught up with them once at the 42nd level, but they shook off the control and decided to take a break at the 43rd level because they couldn't see any more shadows.
　It seems that every time you go up a level, the demons get stronger and the search didn't go as far as it should have.

'We were already at our limit, so I asked the guild master to go ahead, but since the girl was being attacked by demons...'
　
'All right. Now that your wounds are healed, will you join us?
Please.
　Six adventurers bowed their heads, and Sheila-chan joined them, bringing the total number of adventurers to seven.

　The scene of the adventurers bowing to Sheila and the demons was surreal.

　I didn't follow them immediately, but instead reached the fifty levels while completely filling in the rest of the forty-eight levels and the map of the forty-nine levels.

''Dad and the others aren't here,''
Well, I think he's on this floor.
　You know what happens when you rush into the boss room exhausted from the quicksand.


''Let's take a break. I don't want you to be too hungry and lose focus, so we'll have a light meal.

　It was the adventurers and Sheila who were pleased with my voice.

　Sheila, in particular, hadn't eaten anything all day, or maybe she hadn't eaten all day, but she brought more and more food to her small body.

　This time, though, we didn't waste time cooking, so we offered her the meal she hadn't been able to eat before.

　There was no complaining.

''Listen. The main room on the fifty-fifth level should have incomparable enemies waiting for you. I feel like going home quietly if possible.
"Do not you cope with a powerful enemy?
　Lionel is on fire, but I ignore him at this point.

'The motto of this party is safety first. After all this time, if you don't have to fight, that's the best thing you can do. Keep that in mind.
　After a sparse reply, I began my search.


　Even with fifty levels of exploration, I didn't try to chase after Lord Jasuan and the others.
　But I didn't do anything special, I just filled in the map of the hierarchy little by little as I had done before.

　After going through all fifty levels, I refrained from rejoicing, although I did get excited when I found another treasure chest.

　I could hear the sounds of fighting in the boss room from earlier.

'There was no one there. There's only one thing I can think of. I wouldn't want to fight that one if I could.'

　There are two thick pieces of wood placed at the entrance of the boss's room so that the door won't close, and when I looked inside, I saw that it was a three-way race with the red dragon, Sharza and the others, and Jasuan-dono and the others.

　As expected, Lionel would want to fight as an individual, but he wouldn't rush in.

　Inside, there were some red dragons that attacked with unexpected variations, such as spitting fire breaths, attacking with their tails, waving their arms around, and biting, which made me a little impressed.

　They were also all alive as far as I could see, and I could tell that it hadn't been that long since we entered the boss room.

　You might think that I should just go quickly to rescue them, but after seeing that thing, I'm going to have to second-guess it.

　That's exactly what I can confidently say that if you let them fight a giant golem, it would be a stuttering development for a special effects hero.

　Even if you fired an arrow, it would be bounced off the hard scales, and the opponent's reach would be too long to close in on it for close combat.

'Lionel, are you confident you can take that attack?
　Lionel's voice comes out with a stern expression.
''........If you take it properly, you'll be blown up, if not to death.

'Keti, can you avoid the attack and give it to them?
　Ketty replies succinctly, not in her usual goofy way.
It's possible. It's just that I can't do that much damage.

"Dolan, Paula, can you make a golem to stop it?

'I think we can catch them at the largest level, but...'
''It will run out of magic in thirty seconds. Even if you use as many magic stones as you can, if there's too much damage, the golem will collapse.
　Dolan crosses his arms and Paula says this as she touches her golem-controlled braces.

　In my brain, let's go home. These words were repeated over and over again.

　But Sheila-chan was squeezing the robe from earlier, trembling, and I couldn't take it off.

　If you value your life, you'll turn back there.
　It's a contradiction in words and actions.

　I knew in my head, but I couldn't move.

　It's not because I'm being helped by a little boy. It's just that I'm not ready to kill someone and I'm not ready to let them die.


　I'm swallowed up in a whirlpool of thoughts.

　The urge to help and the urge to run away were rushing in like a muddy stream.

　The voice of the girl next to me cut through the chaos of my emotions.
''No, no--!''

　In the next moment, what was projected in front of me was the sight of her entourage, including her father, blown off by the red dragon's tail, and the grotesque sight of Shaza jumping out of the way and trying to gouge out the red dragon's eyes, only to have her body boldly bitten.

　The next thing I knew, I was giving orders.

You can't fight that thing properly, just collect the injured and retreat. Do not die instantly. We'll all get away with it.
"Yes.
　There was no rebellion or anything else to my instructions, just the usual responses.

　After hanging the area barriers on all of us, we stepped into the boss room where the red dragon was.