Mr. Tadokoro laughed seeing that. “No need to pretend. As a fellow guildmaster...I was jealous of you.”
“Of me?”
“Yes. While the other guilds walked all over the natives as they pleased, you alone tried to stop them with all your might.”
“What are you talking about? You agreed with me many times.”
“So long as it wasn’t a detriment to me, yes. But if it ever seemed like the others would turn against me, I stayed quiet. You know this better than anyone.”
She couldn’t respond.
“The truth is, I feel the same way you do. I wanted to talk back to them, and couldn’t forgive their horrible deeds that made them even worse than brutes.”
“That’s why you agreed to do this and work with me, right? Then, this is it. This is the time for us to join forces and overcome the battle together.”
Despite her desperate statement, Mr. Tadokoro shook his head. He lifted his still-shaking hand again.
“My body just won’t keep up with my heart.”
Ms. Kaori gazed at his hand in disbelief.
“Allow me to answer your previous question. If you all lose to the goblins, the rest of us are done for. I believe our only option left would be to starve to death.”
She met his eyes and begged. “That’s why now’s the time to stand and fight.”
“But I realized something—opportunists like me can’t change so easily. That’s what led to this decision.”
“What decision?”
“Even if you manage to defeat the Goblin King, and we all escape safely...I won’t be forming an alliance with you.”
“What?!”
“I’m scared of Mr. Imabayashi. The moment he becomes my enemy, I won’t be able to move, just like now. I realized that. This is my choice, even if it will eventually lead to my downfall.”
He bowed his head. Ms. Kaori’s eyes were filled with sadness.
“Shinozuka.” He lowered his voice. “It seems I am not a person who’s able to stand up to my own fears. I’m really, really sorry.”
“Then that’s the end of our negotiation, I take it.” She let out a very deep sigh.
The chances of our alliance had been shredded to pieces. To top it off, we now had to face off against an army of goblins with just a few of us. So this was what it felt like to have salt rubbed in your wounds.
Ms. Kaori turned to the rest of the Crimson Moon Brigade members. “Well then, there’s no point in us being here any longer. Everyone, start preparing for departure.”
They heard her but did not move.
“Hm? What’s wrong?” She blinked at them.
What she saw was a sea of faces drenched in fear. Or rather, a sea of faces for which the rope of nerves had been cut by arriving at the safety zone.
“So the cowardice spread to the rest of you too. Pathetic.”
I placed my hand on Ms. Kaori’s lowered shoulders. “There’s nothing we can do.”
If I were to be honest, this was only natural. I might not have been able to move myself if I weren’t level 125. I also wouldn’t have been mentally ready for something like this if I hadn’t gone through what I did back at the beginning of the game. Tons of players obtained godlike powers and played around in this world for years. Those very same people were suddenly being told to toe the line of death; it was too much to ask of them.
“Let’s go win this, Ms. Kaori.”
“It’ll just be us, then. This is what I get for not being virtuous enough. I’m sorry, Shinobu.”
It’s not your fault, Ms. Kaori. I turned to Gabriel. “Gabriel, I leave healing Cerberus to you.”
He’d only been lightly hurt, but it was best for us to heal him whenever we had time. Letting his wounds worsen would only lead to fatal ones.
“Understood.” She bowed.
Mr. Tadokoro rushed over to me. “Iijima, wait!”
“Hm? Yes?”
“Would you allow me to heal your summons?”
I raised my eyebrows. Why was he suggesting this now?
He responded with a pained expression and a strained voice. “Please. Let me do just this much. I don’t want you to waste your precious MP.”
Ah. He’s giving us false kindness while he stays in this safe space... was what I thought at first, but quickly changed my mind. His shoulders and hands were shaking violently, and his face was almost blue. Seeing him made me feel something indescribable.
This must have been all he was capable of. He wasn’t a bad man—in fact, he was probably a good one. This was the most he could do for us. Ms. Kaori had an eye for people; I understood why she chose him as a potential alliance partner. Alas, he ended up not having enough will or courage.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Tadokoro.”
“You don’t need to thank me. You should be berating me.”
“But still. Thank you.” I bowed my head to him.
After making sure that Cerberus was completely healed, Ms. Kaori and I set off deeper into the cave.
†
Battle after battle.
Endless goblins closing in on us. I’d stopped counting after thirty.
As we defeated Leader after Leader, Royal Guard after Royal Guard, the outlook of the situation started to seem favorable for us. We were running out of steam after so many battles, with my and Gabriel’s MP being cut down to half since we were the only ones with recovery methods.
Taking step after step inside this seemingly endless cave, we progressed farther and farther downward. Somewhere in the middle, it crossed my mind that we might have set off an endless loop hallway trap. Of course, I’d made sure to put marks on large boulders along the way to prevent that, but the path was so long that I couldn’t help but consider the possibility.
When we arrived at the staircase, we all grew more confident. Going down it, what appeared in the passage was a fancy crimson door adorned with gold. We opened it up to a wide corridor decorated with a red carpet and works of art. This was certainly the deepest part of the labyrinth. The change in scenery was enough to solidify that.
The long hallway came to an end. At that very moment, what we encountered was an overwhelming presence.
A throne made out of skulls stood at the back of the clearing. Flanking it were two Goblin Royal Guards. Sitting on the disgusting throne was, of course, the Goblin King. The menu screen at the edge of my vision displayed its information.
Name: Legendary Goblin King
Race: Demon
Class: Fighter
Recommended Level: 140
It was way more powerful than me. Not that I hadn’t seen that coming.
It would murder us the second we gave it an opening. An opponent like this was a bit much for Ms. Kaori. She’d fought on the front lines against the goblins thus far, but I signaled for her to stand back, putting Gabriel and Cerberus at the helm. I immediately readied myself for battle.
The Goblin King sharply snapped its fingers. “Bow before me.”