After finishing dinner, I cast a cleansing spell on myself and Estia and instructed them to take a nap.
I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.

　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I've never seen a single act of betrayal up to this point, and I don't trust Estia... well, I don't trust Estia.
　The reason for this is that Estia only wears a human expression when she is talking, but during the battle, she was always expressionless.
　It was as if she had no emotions, or maybe her usual emotions were actually built up? That's how I felt about it.

'After the nap, we're going to eat and trudge through the labyrinth. Is there anything you want to ask me?
...nothing much. I'll sleep over there then.
　Estia seems to take a nap around the center, with her smile mask pasted on.

　I decided to take a nap in a state with my back against the wall next to the door leading to the forty-one level.
　As expected, I didn't have the guts to use an angel's pillow and go into a deep sleep and be defenseless near someone I didn't trust.

　That's when I started to get a little out of it.
　I could see that Esther was scooting up and approaching us, and I tried to pretend to be alert and pretend to be asleep.
'I know you're awake. 'Luciel,'
　The voice that called out to me was that of a dark spirit that was gradually leaking out and emitting an oppressive feeling.

''........Change?''
'I knew you were awake. Esther seemed to have fallen asleep earlier, so I had to possess her.
　Why did he possess Esther this time after she went to sleep?
　The question arose in that area, but I decided to ask him why he hadn't come out and possessed it before.

'So? To take Estia all the way to the labyrinth, possession at this stage, what's the point?
'I wanted Estia to understand that there are people who don't evade hearing the term "dark spirit". That's just it.
　The dark spirit with a sad face was there.
　From the expression on her face, it seemed as if it wasn't the dark spirit, but Estia herself, who had been evaded.

''It's not that she doesn't show much emotion, it's that she lacks emotion? Or is it an invisible wedge that controls your emotions to the limit? Like you always wear a mask on your own face and this time you want me to feel it?
''Well that's a better guess than I expected. Estia's darkness must be much deeper than Luciel thinks.
　At my words, the dark spirit's expression gradually changed at my words, changing from a sad face to surprise, and now to a smile.
　However, I still didn't understand the dark spirit's true intentions.
　Well, it doesn't seem like he's going to tell me that honestly.......
　More importantly, I had a question.

Well, that's fine for now. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this in the future. For example, even if you don't have the aptitude.
It's possible. Well, of course it's an ordeal, but it's not impossible.
　If that's the case, will Estia be a better force than she is now?
　If that's not a double-edged sword, I'd welcome it.......
''I see. Can I ask you one more question?
Of course.

''Hey, I was wondering, why did you deliberately become a slave or something and move to the dwarven kingdom?''
　The dark spirit's spare face froze at once.
''........What are you talking about?''

'Don't play dumb. If you have a constitution that doesn't go crazy, taking poison or sleeping pills won't help you. Besides, in the case of an illegal slave contract, since you're a dark spirit, there's no way you're going to be abducted, right?
'....You look unreliable, but you're actually solid.
It's none of your business. So?
　

I was looking for a way to escape from the Empire. That wish was granted. I can't tell you why, but it's true. Like Luciel, I swear that I will not be hostile to the church headquarters where my sister and the Pope are.
　If I was lying about this, I would not be able to trust the spirits completely I felt that much more convincing.

''I understand. I trust you, dark spirit, for that matter I wouldn't say it's advice, but Estia doesn't trust or rely on people, does she? No matter how hard it is to trust people, the only person who can fix that is Esther herself.
"You want me to suffer and leave you alone?
'The only way to build relationships is for Estia to do it herself. If you, the dark spirit, did that, everyone would forget Estia like a lie, wouldn't they?
...you noticed... okay.
　The dark spirit nodded and walked towards the center where he had been sleeping earlier.


'Did I seem a little pompous? For that matter, what was Esther's reason for wanting to run away from the Empire?
　
''........I didn't expect this kind of harm....
　As I had no choice but to meditate, I was thinking about what would happen after I stepped through the labyrinth, and I couldn't concentrate at all because of the miscellaneous thoughts.


　It seemed that quite a bit of time had passed since I found myself, and I opened my eyes when I felt Estia wake up.
'Are you done sleeping?'
　I laughed at Estia, who hadn't expected to hear from us, but reacted with a bang and a sound effect that seemed to be coming from us.
Have you been awake the whole time?
'Ah. I couldn't sleep thinking about what would happen after we trudged through the labyrinth.
Excuse me.
Why are you sorry? Do you want a meal?
It's all yours.
　I tried to make the whole passive attitude gradually improve.

'You'll have to be independent. Esther will be in charge of meal times. Just tell me when you want to eat and I'll obey.
What?
'I think Esther should have a few more feelings of her own. I'm also hoping that this is the start of that. We're going to be trudging through the labyrinth in half a day anyway, so let's test Estia's judgment.
　I smiled and decided to burn off some nosiness.

''Well do you get your meals in this room?''
We can get it in the labyrinth passage. Of course, this is the only room where you can take it slowly.
...Is Luciel-sama hungry?
Not really.
'Good. Then why don't we have a simple meal and then proceed?
Okay.
　I don't know if this attempt will work, but I want my own relationship building to be layered from the ground up.
　With that in mind, I took the table and two chairs, and the snacks - bread, soup and salad - out of the magic bag and set them up.

'Is that good?'
That's a great magic bag.
'I can't give it away. I hope we can find it somewhere someday.
...Yes.

　I tried to see if I wasn't pissed off at what I just said, which was a bit mean, but the response was thin.
　Either that or it was brilliantly passed off, and I apologized in my mind for leaving a delicate air of embarrassment in my mind, feeling a little ashamed of myself for doing so.


　After finishing breakfast we decided to proceed through the labyrinth.
'There is no map for the shortest distance from here. But I know exactly where the traps are, so just be careful not to be led into them.
Yes, sir.
　When Esther's reply came back, they set off.

　Although I had walked through the labyrinth once, I found the stairs without getting lost.
　I thought there was a level of demons present that could be a threat, but they were only a little faster or more powerful than they had appeared before.
''This one looks fine.
Yeah. I used to walk around here with a barrel of object X.
The X? That smell? ...Why?
We'd been trapped for six months, and we were running out of food. We were trapped for six months, we were running out of food, and there was no way to turn back, so we had to find the fastest way to get through, and that's what we came up with. Not fighting is the fastest way to get through and save time.
''Well then you don't know what will come out of this hierarchy, do you?''
Yeah. Or do you want me to walk with object X on my back?
...It's okay. Let's get ahead of ourselves.

　The fact that there was a momentary pause made you weigh the strength of Object X and the enemy.
　I felt Estia's right eyebrow move at the mention of Object X's name, so there's no doubt about it.
　I don't know if it's a good idea to watch it closely, but for some reason I wanted her to enjoy being alive, and for some reason I did.


　We reached the fifty layers without incident, and as we were advancing, a group of demons appeared in front of us while we were talking.
''........Can we win this? You'd be better off bypassing it than that, wouldn't you?
　A group of Dead Knight Kings, Wights, and King Wraiths appeared in front of me.
''Keep your nose plugs on,''
　I took out object X without hesitation and opened the lid.
'It stinks and it's disgusting,'
　Estia hesitated to put the nose plugs on, but the swarm of demons dispersed as a result.

'Get the nose plugs on quickly. Let's keep going.''
　I started walking with the barrel of object X and holding it.

'But those demons from earlier, Luciel-sama can defeat them, right?
　Esther, who held her nose at the action, asked me, but I decided to teach her a lesson in reality.
''Impossible. It's especially impossible for the Dead Knight King. I'll avoid fighting him. If you don't want to wear a nose plug, then we'll step right through it.''
　I direct where I'm going and Estia stays in the formation ahead of me, and we proceed through the labyrinth.

　I guess there's a reason why I don't do the nose plugs even though I've given them to her, but I'm using purification magic, so there shouldn't be a problem.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for, but it's not a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for, because you're not going to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

　I didn't give a clear reason for avoiding combat either.
　I remembered the fearfulness of the Dead Knight King when I applied the extra heel and my body began to tremble.
　I know that the red dragon is stronger than the Dead Spirit Knight King and has a stronger presence, but no matter how strong I become in this world, I had vowed to never cast a recovery spell on the Dead Spirit Knight King alone.
　Even if I had activated the Sanctuary Circle (Sanctuary Circle) just now, it was my choice not to fight if I could avoid fighting an opponent that I didn't know if I could have defeated.

　We both arrived at the boss room on the 50th level, the end of the labyrinth, in silence.
　I put away Object X and talked to Estia to prepare to run into the boss room, but she looked too uncomfortable, so I cast a purification spell and a recovery spell to see what's going on.
''........If we wait like this, will those demons gather?''
Yeah. The undead prefer the living, you know. We'll step into the main room at Esther's time.
　When I told her that, Esther took a few deep breaths, then looked at me and nodded her head and replied, "Let's go.
'Let's go.'
Yeah.
　I hung the area barrier on me and Estia and pushed the door to the fifty level boss room and went inside.