Chapter 51 Part 2
『Swift Thunder』 is a well-known five-man party in Ceiris.
The party consists of a warrior, a fighter, a swordsman, a mage, and an assassin, and they are a cautious party, despite the image its name might suggest.
A true expert isn’t just someone who knows how to succeed… but those who know when to pull back.
That was what Sybilla told me before.
Today, these experts of Seiris who who were able to make the third dungeon their hunting ground, planned to make a quick trip to the fifth layer and return home like every other day.
But then, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
They were suddenly attacked from behind.
They ran in a panic and as they all dashed through the door… a huge Blue Gigantes suddenly appeared in front of them.
That Gigantes turned its palm upward and a dim light emitted from it.
「That must be the Floor Boss, a Gigantes that attacks from long-range.」
「……Was it really?」
「Is there a reason you questioned me there?」
When Sybilla pointed that out… all five of them suddenly turned pale and looked down, while the female archer covered her mouth with her hand.
Sybilla then prompted the man with her chin to continue with the story, the man made a small groan, and then, as if he had made up his mind, he continued.
「There was this… thing, a man clad in all black… he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and defeated the Floor Boss.」
At that moment, Sybilla turned toward me with her arms still crossed.
As expected even Sybilla widened her eyes in surprise when she heard what the man told us just now.
「That thing suddenly talked to us.」
——It’s been so boring lately, you see? And now, since the Floor Boss is no more, I will have you guys go to the middle layer.
——What? You don’t want to?
——If that’s the case, then maybe you guys can be my toys to entertain me. Ahh, but… it doesn’t seem like your existence has much worth. And I hate cheap toys… I mean, you’re a group of nobodies and there’s even someone with a filthy job like Assassin among you isn’t there? Ahh, how really regrettable…… when will more proud beings like a Hero with an Orichalcum sword or a Holy Knight with a mithril sword ever come to this place, I wonder?
「He suddenly started talking about something like that…… and we all just ran as fast as we could to get away from the being in front of us. At the very least, we know we wouldn’t be a match against a being who could defeat a Floor Boss by himself. And we could hear that thing’s deafening laughter from behind us as we ran——」
She cut him mid-sentence and raised her voice as she tried to confirm something.
「Stop there. It wasn’t that his body was all black, but more like he was enveloped in a blurry black mist all the way up to his face, like a human-shaped shadow, wasn’t he?」
「…..! Y-Yeah, that’s it! That’s exactly what he looks like! How did you know that?」
「It’s because he’s the 『Demon Lord』. He’s our party’s, 【Holy Knight】 and 【Saint】 main target.」
So it was the Demon Lord as I thought!
The veteran party members were shocked after learning the information about the Demon Lord for the first time.
However… the look of fear that had been visible on their faces until just a moment ago was no longer there.
Seeing the change in their faces suddenly opened a door to one of my memories.
When was it I wonder?
This happened when Jannet recommended a certain book to me.
The book contained some interesting knowledge, but then, a question suddenly popped up in my mind, so I asked Jannet about it.
『Why do you read so many books, Jannet?』
She answered that there are various reasons for that, like how she enjoys gaining new knowledge, the joy of reading stories, and how good it feels when you are the only one who knows something that others don’t.
Of course, another reason is that she simply enjoyed reading books.
And among them, she told me.
『An unknown knowledge, lack of information, that kind of thing scares me.』
『Why?』
『…Because I might make an irreversible mistake because of my lack of knowledge. Other than that, if I were to find myself in a situation where I don’t know what to do or how to handle it… just imagining it is…』
That must’ve been Jannet’s true feelings.
She didn’t pursue knowledge to feel a sense of superiority, but out of fear. She imagines how scary it is to be in a situation where she doesn’t have a certain knowledge when that knowledge would’ve been helpful for all of us.
And imagine not knowing how to deal with the unknown because you don’t have enough information.
The Demon Lord is strong, and naturally, fighting a being that strong is scary.
Still, I think people will be less scared than if they didn’t know that it was the Demon Lord.
「Your real target, huh… I see, so you guys are strong enough to face the Demon Lord, is that what you’re saying?」
「Of course, we’re not suicidal, you know? I mean, the more skilled you are, the more careful you should be, and the more careful you are, the more you should know when to retreat and thoroughly think about a way to survive…… don’t you agree?」
When Sybilla said that jokingly, the tension in the air loosened for the first time as the party in front of us let out a chuckle.
「Well then, why don’t you guys move together with us for now?」
「Thank you, sorry for troubling you guys.」
After exchanging all the information, we move as one big party to accompany the Swift Thunder party to the upper floor.
No monsters appeared during that time and the Floor Boss wasn’t there either, so we were able to safely return to the fifth floor.
「There’s a narrow path just up ahead and there was where we got caught in a pincer.」
「So something like that happened. But well, it’s a little different for us as there were only four of them and they all came attacking from behind us all at once, so we decided it was too dangerous to turn back.」
「Oh my, is that so? Well… never mind.」
It looks like Sybilla is hesitating about something for a moment, but we safely send off the five-man party, 『Swift Thunder』 in the end.
Emmy let out a big breath of relief.
「Phew~ I was so nervous the entire time, but I’m glad everything went well.」
「Yeah, they should be fine on their own from here on. …Sybilla?」
While Emmy and I were breathing a sigh of relief, Sybilla was deep in thought with her hand over her mouth.
It’s rare to see her like this.
「……an attack from behind, huh? In our case, the monsters caught us in a pincer, which is already unusual behavior for the monsters on the upper layer, but to come attacking all at once from behind…?」
「Is there something wrong with that?」
「How should I put it…… it was as if those monsters moved to lead that party toward the Floor Boss area, like the Demon Lord commanded them to do so. At least, I don’t think it’s possible that four monsters suddenly appeared and attacked them all at once.」
Hearing those words, I somehow feel all the anxiety the Swift Thunder party felt when that happened.
Sybilla then continues.
「On top of that, I didn’t know… that there exists a Demon Lord who can walk around outside of the 『Demon Realm』.」
At that moment, I felt a shudder run through my entire body.
I never thought that my body would react so much to the fact that Sybilla, whom I consider to be the most knowledgeable person in the world, said something like 『I don’t know』.
——Ahh, I see now.
So this is what Jannet felt.
As you become more knowledgeable, the feeling of 『fear of the unknown』 will appear from knowing that you don’t have anyone else to rely on when it comes to knowledge.
So all this time, you’ve been accumulating knowledge for our sake, while carrying this burden to yourself, huh.
….You’re really one incredible girl, Jannet.
The fact that I feel this way means that… I might have unconsciously relied too much on Sybilla emotionally.
This time, we will conquer this fear together.
It’ll be okay… because we have each other’s strength.
As I listened to Sybilla’s words, I prepared myself for the upcoming battle with the Demon Lord we’ve never seen.
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