Countless eyeballs were under the long black hair spilling down from its head. The eyes constantly scanned their surroundings with a strong-willed expression, while its lips were like a straight line. The creature wore a tattered black cloth and was considerably bigger than Gaston, even though he was considerably tall. It then pointed its long katana, far bigger than what an ordinary man could wield.
It continued speaking, “You seem to be searching for a place to bury your bones, old soldier. I will end you here and now.”
“You can try, eyeball boy. You’ve got me feeling all giddy,” Gaston said.
The air felt as if it had gotten even hotter as the two faced off, murder in their eyes.
In such a situation, the fighters would usually observe their opponent and steady their breathing. Yet the two immediately walked toward each other with large strides, closing the distance without regard for each other’s attack ranges.
§
Far below the monsters roasting in the tunnel, warriors had begun marching forward. Once again, they were heading into the third floor of the labyrinth to continue their raid where they had left off.
The fully armed warriors marched in complete unison, except for a few—Mariabelle, Kartina, and me. Today’s march was far more boisterous than our usual labyrinth raids because of the group marching with well-timed steps, but we were taking it easy. We didn’t like moving at their quick and energetic pace, nor were we used to doing so. When I turned around, I even saw Marie’s mouth firmly curved into a frown.
She was clearly in a bad mood, and I could see tension in how she held her staff with both hands. I offered to hold it for her, but she shook her head. A Sorceress’s staff was as important as her own life, and this one was made with precious ingredients from the Arkdragon. So I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to let it go.
“How are you holding up, Marie?” I asked. “Are you tired?”
Her purple eyes met mine. We were about the same height in the dream world, so her eyes felt especially close.
“Yes, I’m getting tired and a bit disappointed. I’ve been looking forward to going on a raid again. It’s a shame we have to run there,” she complained, sweat trickling down her forehead.
It seemed her mood was only worsening every time I looked at her. I looked up, feeling resigned.
As a Spirit Sorceress, she likely thought it was pointless for her to do any physical training. We usually walked at a slow pace during our adventures, so the fatigue and inability to take our time exploring the labyrinth was stressing her out. Our usual tank, Wridra, wasn’t here, making things worse.
I recalled the time we’d first visited the desert together. Marie was in a terrible mood back then and complained nonstop. Honestly, I found it endearing and cute. Now that I was older, I even enjoyed it when kids acted childish with me.
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Marie said. “I’m not in a bad mood because I’m tired. We might run into monsters again now that Shirley isn’t with us, yet I don’t even have time to set up Prison Keeper for us. I don’t like it.”
“That’s true. Even if you did put your tower up, we’re moving so fast that we’d leave its range of effect in no time.” I said.
The tower was the first Primary Skill that Marie had learned, and it allowed her to detect monsters within a certain range. Not only did it reveal their locations, but it also analyzed their levels and skills. It also had an additional Auto Mapping effect thanks to Aja’s teachings. We really missed out by not using this incredibly convenient feature that prevented ambushes and kept us from getting lost.
More importantly, I had to find a way to get Marie some rest. She couldn’t chant her incantations if she was out of breath, and we had no guarantee that any resting points would come up.
“Oh, how about I carry you on my back? I’ve been training, so I’m stronger than I look,” I suggested.
“What? No, no, that’s okay! I’d be too embarrassed...” she said and turned away. I couldn’t blame her, considering there were so many people around.
As I tried to come up with another solution, a woman’s voice spoke out from behind Marie.
“Don’t you have that thing you can ride, Kazuhiho? Why don’t you use it?”
“Oh, you’re right, Kartina,” I said as I snapped my finger. “Thanks for the reminder.”
A self-satisfied expression spread across Kartina’s face. The tall, well-trained soldier was at a phase where she wanted to enjoy conversing with others again. Having mastered control over the ancient equipment known as Demon Arms, she had fought a deadly battle with me not too long ago. It was more like I was on the receiving end of a one-sided beatdown for a while. If it wasn’t for Marie and Shirley’s help, I probably would’ve been killed a few times. Come to think of it, Kartina had never killed me, so maybe she wasn’t as bad as the others. Wridra, Marie, and Shirley had each killed me before, and I was sure others had nearly killed me too. But I had to give Marie a ride so she wouldn’t be so tired.
I moved off to the side so I wouldn’t get in the way of the others, then took a light-blue gemstone out of my pocket. It was a Magic Stone that a Neko had refined akin to a monster egg that would transform into its original form only when needed. I called out the creature’s name and tossed it into the air, with smoke erupting from it before it materialized into Roon.
“I’d feel bad being the only one taking it easy...” Marie said.
“Wait,” Kartina said. “I’d like to try riding on the back.”
Kartina placed a foot on Roon, and its body leaned heavily toward her side. Roon waved its wings in protest, so Kartina quietly removed her foot with a dejected expression. Marie and I nearly said something but noted how it would be uncouth to mention a woman’s weight, then exchanged looks, unsure of what to do.
“You don’t need to say anything! I know!” Kartina said, raising both her hands. “My armor’s heavy, and at this point, I’d look weird wearing anything else! Just forget about it.”
I wasn’t so sure. The freckled woman’s face had rather sharp features, but I thought she would look good in the right outfit. Marie seemed to think the same thing as she eyed the other woman.
“Well, you have long legs, so I think a mature-looking outfit would suit you. Even a simple pair of jeans and boots would accentuate your nice figure,” she said.
“You have nice, broad shoulders and a sculpted back because of your training too,” I added. “I think you’d look good in a punk rock style.”
Marie and I discussed the types of clothes that would suit her, perhaps due to the Arkdragon’s influence. Kartina stared at us in wide-eyed bewilderment.
“Ah!” effused Marie as if she had remembered something. “I know! The butler outfit I saw in Kaoruko’s book! I think that would be perfect!”
“Butler outfit” made me picture a bespectacled, gray-haired old man in a tailcoat, though I wasn’t sure if that was what she meant. Incidentally, I’d once heard that the white ties butlers wore at weddings was to signify the difference in standing between themselves and their master. It would not have been appropriate for a guest of honor to wear.
Yet Marie seemed convinced this style suited Kartina and moved closer to her, face flushed with excitement.
“Come on, you should try it! It would look so good on you!”
“Uh, well, I don’t know... Oh, look! We’re getting left behind! We should catch up with the others!” exclaimed Kartina.
I looked over to find we had lost sight of the others and could only hear their footsteps in the distance. As Marie got on Roon, I caught Kartina whispering into her ear, “T-Tell me more about it later.”
We chuckled, then Roon quietly floated through the air. The path was wide, while the ceiling was higher than the previous floor. While we had to be mindful of the people around us, we would be able to fly without much trouble.
Suddenly, Marie made a face as if she had realized something again.
“Wait a minute...” she said, tapping the back seat on Roon with the tip of her staff. The leather seat flipped up, and a stone tower emerged from it.
“Is this the watchtower you were talking about earlier? I didn’t know you could use it like this,” Kartina said.
“Heh heh, do you remember how the towers I’ve summoned in the past disappeared after we finished with it? So I figured it would be okay to put one up on Roon,” replied Marie.
Roon the Magic Stone curiously looked up with its beady eyes, totally unaffected by Prison Keeper.
“We can scan our surroundings like a patrol plane,” I said. “Oh, that’s a type of vehicle we have on the other side. It flies around and observes the land and sea. Though the biggest perk right now is that you get to take it easy.”
Marie flashed her white teeth with a satisfied smile.
As an additional benefit, I got to take it easy too. I had been running with Marie out of consideration, but I had the ability to teleport to wherever I wanted.
“Let’s catch up with the others,” I said, taking a sip of water from my canteen as I teleported forward several times. Roon followed soon after, and I teleported again once they caught up. It was easy and efficient, my favorite way of raiding labyrinths.
“Hey! No fair! How come I have to run by myself?!” I heard Kartina shouting from behind us sometime later, but she would just have to deal with it.
“Hmm, what should we call the combination of Roon’s flight and Marie’s skill?” I wondered aloud.
“Hey! Stop pretending you can’t hear me!” Kartina complained. “Um... How about Hawk Eye?”
“Sorry, but you’re the one who suggested she ride Roon,” I said. “It’s not the most creative name, but how about Sky Eye?”