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Chapter 22 Part 1

When You Finally Have Some Leeway In Your Heart, There Will Be Things That You Can See For The First Time

 

The entire ground below our feet is completely red.

And then Sybilla’s frustrated reaction.

 

「Did the Demon Lord… or the Dungeon Maker guy do something that inconvenient for us?」

 

「He is, just as you can see here! This part of the dungeon where we are now has turned into a 『Lower Layer』 with Dungeon Make. Well, it’s still considered shallow if the second floor is the lower layer, but the Demon Lord is definitely making his way down to make this dungeon deeper and deeper.」

 

「Dungeon Maker… does it mean that they make dungeons as the name suggests?」

 

「That’s right.」

 

As I watched the changes on the second floor of this dungeon, it occurred to me.

 

「Could it be that all the dungeons in the world only have a single floor at first?」

 

After thinking for a moment, Sybilla affirmed my theory.

 

「I knew about things like summoning monsters for the dungeons and how they increase the number of dungeons, but this is the first time I’ve seen a dungeon expanding by increasing the layer itself. It would be unnatural if the surface and the Demon World were directly connected, so I guess he wanted to make the second floor the Demon Lord since it’s the most compact.」

 

Fumu… from what I’ve heard from her, it seems that this is the first time Sybilla encountered a dungeon that hasn’t been completely built yet by the Dungeon Maker.

 

「Sybilla, back when I was still together with the 【Hero】 Vince back in Hammond, we managed to get to the eighth floor of the middle.」

 

「…I see.」

 

「There’s a monster there called the Blood Taurus. What about the enemies on the lower layers compared to that? Do you think the monsters on this dungeon’s second and lower floors are stronger than that?」

 

「Obviously. The monsters here are definitely stronger.」

 

……It’s just as I expected.

Vince and the other party members weren’t weak by any means. But even so, that monster can still deal a significant blow to Emmy, a level 20-plus Holy Knight.

Since their movement is quite slow, we just need to dodge their attacks, but in the lower layers where monsters stronger than that are common, I must never let my guard down even for a second.

 

Thinking back to it, Vince was surprisingly bad at close combat, focusing on using magic when dealing with monsters. Well, before the Job bestowal, and while he was physically bigger than me, he was still losing to me in a sword match, who’s now chosen as the 【Saint】. I even began to think that maybe his swordsmanship isn’t actually that good.

When I remember the strategy we were using when exploring the dungeon, I think the Sage’s, Janet’s pre-emptive attack played a bigger part than the Hero’s, Vince’s attack.

 

「I see, so they are stronger huh. But that doesn’t mean we can just give up, right?」

 

Just as I was about to step out into the dungeon with the red ground, Sybilla pinches the hem of my robe and yanked my body back.

 

「……What is it?」

 

「Hey, you know… Russell…」

 

Sybilla looks like she’s trying to say something… but she just keeps staring at me in silence.

…It must be a pretty important thing.

Knowing this, I chose to wait until Sybilla was ready.

 

「Take your time, I’ll wait as long as you need.」

 

「Ah, ermm, thank you… for your consideration. …Fuu~ …Alright.」

 

After lightly stretching both of her own cheeks with her hands which are wrapped in leather gloves, Sybilla looks straight at me and clenches her fists.

 

「I understand that it will be very shitty of me to be digging deeper into this matter once again after what you told me. But, Russell, please let me confirm one thing…」

 

「….Okay.」

 

「If I connect what that Dungeon Maker said yesterday and what you said this morning, even I can pretty much guess what’s going to happen. Russell… that person with medium-length blonde hair and blue eyes who looks like a princess knight with a bright personality is Emmy, right?」

 

「That’s right.」

 

「Okay. So, here’s the thing. Russell… right now, you’re doing your best to protect not only Gemma-san and the children from the orphanage… and also the 【Sage】 Jannet and the 【Hero】 Vince but ultimately… also the 【Holy Knight】 Emmy, who is being targeted by the Demon King, right?」

 

As expected of someone with a good head.

She was able to understand everything from observing our party from afar, the story the Demon King told once yesterday, and the story I told her once this morning.

She has an amazing memory that it’s hard to believe she’s only a third party in all of this.

 

But still, it made sense now that she mentioned it.

In a sense, I’m also doing my best for Emmy with what I’m doing now, huh?

 

「All of the people I’ve turned into 【Twilight Sorcerer】 so far have some sort of desire for revenge. A sense of disappointment towards those who abandoned them and the unreasonable treatment they received even though Priest is a Job that everyone should welcome.」

 

「……」

 

「But without their help, we wouldn’t have been able to prevent the expansion of dungeons that the Heroes and guilds didn’t even know about. I still feel bad for them, even now… But——」

 

At that moment, Sybilla turned to me and looked me straight in the eyes.

 

「——I don’t regret what I’ve done.」

 

「…Sybilla, you…」

 

The power behind Sybilla’s eyes when she said she had no regrets at the end reflected the long and muddy battle of the Goddess.

 

……I think I understand a little more about the 『Twilight Goddess』 from the story she just told me.

In short, it seems that Sybilla and the previous Twilight Sorcerers have been challenging the most difficult dungeons around the world different from the usual dungeons that the people living on the surface… though it might be a little weird to call them that, are usually challenging countless times.

 

This 『Dark』 attribute which at first glance sounds fitting for a bad guy, and requires a Priest to sacrifice their Healing Magic.

However, this is just one type of magical attribute that has more power, and it’s the will of Sybilla who decides how she would use this that matters.

Kitchen knives aren’t made to be used to kill people, but depending on who wields them, they can be turned into a weapon to end someone else’s life. In fact, most knives in the world aren’t made with that purpose in the first place, despite their ability to do so.

 

Sybilla’s continues with her monologue.

 

「Everyone was so determined to get revenge. And there are some who actually carried it out. But that was normal because only those kinds of people can abandon their 【Priest】 Job to obtain this power.」

 

「……」

 

「And so, after knowing all this, I will ask you this. Russell, are you really going to put your life on the line to save 『the 【Holy Knight】 Emmy who knocked you out with her skill』?」