“Master, please listen to me. I almost died!”
<Aren’t you always almost dying, Noir?>
“I mean, yes. But this time, it was serious! I’m sure even you would have a hard time with a Level 666 opponent!”
<Don’t be silly! The Great Olivia has bested opponents with four-figure levels!>
“You…you have?! Master, I think you might be the real monster here.”
<Really? How rude! Anyway, sounds like you did the right thing by running. The way you are right now, you probably couldn’t put up much of a fight.>
She was right. Despite how powerful Noname had become, one thrust from the lancer had destroyed him. Even the Shield of Champions probably wouldn’t have stood up against those attacks.
<At least he doesn’t seem to be targeting you specifically, so you probably won’t encounter him often. If you’re worried about it, why don’t you take the Dungeon Elevator down and wait until it recharges before you explore?>
She was right, just like always. And this was the first time I’d run into the Black Lancer. The timing had just happened to be particularly bad.
<Although…it is said that he wanders aimlessly around the deeper floors. The further down you go…>
“St-stop it! Don’t try to scare me!”
<Ah ha ha ha! But you look so cute when you’re scared!>
This was no time to be joking around! It just sucked all of the tension out of the situation and…wait a second. Was that what she was trying to do? I mean, I did feel much more relaxed now. Was she trying to make me feel better?
The moment that thought entered my mind, Olivia guffawed so hard that I dismissed the idea instantly. She was just trying to mess with me, as always.
“I have to go,” I said. “But don’t worry. I’m going to find a way to get you out of here.”
This time, it was still light when I left the dungeon. But I’d been through three tough fights and I was exhausted, so I headed straight home.
That was the plan, anyway. But for some reason, I kept running into people. It wasn’t unusual to happen upon other adventurers, but today, I seemed to encounter a lot of them who wanted to know what guild I was in. That was always a dicey situation. The answer I gave could provoke wildly different reactions.
“I hear Odin’s been hard at work lately.”
“Tch.”
“Scram, scumbag!”
And so on.
There were a lot of polite people, but there were just as many who didn’t even try to hide their animosity. I’d just brushed off another curious stranger when I noticed something weird.
Out on an overlook, a woman was facing off against a group of three people—Luna. And Leila was in the group facing her. This was trouble. Like me, Luna was in Odin, but Leila was in Lahmu, our rival guild. We’d joined forces temporarily during the Phantom Thief incident, but generally speaking, relationships between our guilds were strained. As I got closer, I realized I was right to be concerned.
“This is our kill. Get outta here!”
“No. My shot hit first. You clearly fired your arrow once it was already dead.”
Wow, it had been a while since I’d seen Luna so worked up. She was normally so coolheaded. She was arguing with a man in his twenties who sported a rather unusual moustache.
“All right, guys,” I said, slipping between them. “Stay calm.”
Luna and Leila smiled at me, but it only made the mustachioed man scowl more.
“What, you know them or something? We’re trying to have a conversation here. Stop sticking your nose into other people’s business!”
I raised my hands. “I just want you to hear me out.”
There was a dead rabbit between them with two fatal wounds. From what they were saying, I gathered Luna had killed it with her magical firearm, and that when she went to retrieve the kill, this other guy hit its corpse with an arrow. Leila was doing her best to calm the mustachioed man down, but the guy who was with them kept egging him on. Things were getting out of control.
“That’s Luna’s kill,” said Leila. “We were too late.”
“What?! Whose side are you on exactly?”
“I’m just looking at the situation objectively.”
“Screw objective!” he said. “You’re Lahmu, aren’t you? What’s ‘objective’ about siding with Odin? You’re out of line!”
Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s you who’s out of line…
To be fair, Luna seemed worked up too. At this rate, the argument would turn into a brawl. I really didn’t want to get dragged into something like that.
“Luna, I’ll find you another one,” I said. “Will you let them have it?”
“But…”
“Please?” said Leila. “As a favor? I’ll pay you back, I promise.”
“F-fine.”
With both Leila and I looking at her imploringly, Luna gave up the rabbit. The mustachioed man tore it from her hands and spit on the ground as he walked away. What an attitude.
Leila bowed her head in gratitude. “I’m sorry, Luna. I probably should have stood up to him, but Lahmu has done so much for me. I owe the guild.”
The guild was the only reason she could pay for her and her brother’s living expenses, but she didn’t seem very comfortable there.
Luna must have noticed it too. “You know,” she said, “you could always leave. I’m sure Odin would be happy to have you.”
The mustachioed man spun around. “I heard that! You’d better remember, Leila: defecting to a rival guild means war.”
Leila sighed. “I know.”
“And we don’t look too kindly on people who bite the hand that feeds them!” he shouted, still walking away. “Come on. I never want to see you with these guys again.”
The absolute nerve of this guy!
“A lot of Lahmu’s members have short tempers,” Leila said, seeing my annoyance. “But they’re not bad people. Please, try to be understanding. And I am sorry about the rabbit, Luna. I promise I’ll pay you back.”
She bowed again in apology, then rushed to catch up with her guildmates.
When we were alone, Luna sighed.
“I only wanted the rabbit to feed the local children,” she said.
“Come on. I’ll help you find another one.”
“Thank you…wait! You’re wounded!”
I looked down at my chest. “Yeah. I had a run-in with a tiger in the dungeon. Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t notice! Come here. Now, then. Healing Shot!” She fired her signature healing magic at the wound on my chest, and it closed in a breath.
“Thanks, Luna.”
It really was helpful to have a healer around. Maybe I should try to learn a skill like that?
Half an hour later, we’d collected several rabbits and were on our way back into town.