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Chapter 274: Ex-Offender

Monster appeared. Dinosso slayed it in one move.
Monster appeared. Khan defeated it with one move.
Monster appeared. Dean did a double slash! Meanwhile, Butler feinted! Chris stabbed it! Ash slashed it diagonally! No turn for Jean at all!

We encountered three monsters on the road when we arrived at the 40th floor. Not sure if they moved from the lower layers or if they sprung here. But me, I didn’t have anything to do.

「You could’ve joined the fun, Retze. 」
I called out to Retze, who also didn’t have anything to do but for some reason looked quite busy as a bee unlike me.

「I’m just in the way, right. Besides, I don’t have any intention to become a Goldie. 」
Retze waved his hand, seemingly uninterested.

Thanks to the sudden request from the deputy guild master, Dean and Chris’s Gold ranks are most probably set in stone now, but it seems like they still want to clear the initial conditions. Ash also participated for the experience and rating.

Dinosso and Khan are so strong — I thought while I studied them. Ranking up is too troublesome, so I will never do it.

「I thought Dean’s physical strength is already above the league, but Dinosso and Khan easily surpass him, huh. Dinosso might seem to be slashing everything so crudely, but he’s precisely targeting the weak points. 」

Retze seemed moved, but I don’t have the slightest idea what an orangutan with two bat head’s weakness might be!
Khan seemed like he didn’t care about the opponent’s shape and form and was just hacking away. I also took note of their ‘so troublesome’ vibes.

We didn’t see any humans on the 27th level, and when we went down to the 40th level, we saw a white pebble on the floor. This confirms that the group did reach this place, sweeping away the doubts that we might’ve missed them.

These white pebbles are so convenient. You can find stones everywhere, but white pebbles are relatively rare in this Labyrinth and forest. They probably use black stones in places that have a lot of white stones? Should I make some Go chess pieces? Ah, but white Go pieces are usually made of shell, huh. Hm? They’re semi-fossils, so maybe they’re stones?

「What are you looking so conflicted for? 」
「I’m thinking about stones. 」
Retze pulled my cheek without a word. So terrible. Ah, but it didn’t really hurt.

「I thought you were contemplating how powerful the two of them are… 」
Butler smiled gently.

「I thought you were worried about the group that went ahead of us. 」
Retze narrowed his eyes in exasperation.
「Dinosso and the others aren’t in a hurry, so they’re probably fine. 」
Butler’s spirit isn’t in sight, either.

「What’s with that blind trust, huh? 」
Dinosso made an unpleasant face.

「At first I thought you’re so relaxed because those naive adventurers were just reaping what they sowed, but you still remained like that even after you know that Mr. Talisman’s in a tough spot. 」
Dinosso stopped in his tracks before staring straight at me after I said those words.

「How did you arrive at that conclusion? 」
「That’s because even if we hurry up nothing life-threatening will happen to our members, but we didn’t. And most of all, don’t you have a previous crime of quietly going down the tunnel before? 」

And one more thing, even if, say, Butler’s spirit is hiding, I haven’t seen her at all even though we’ve been through narrow, cramped and wide spaces now. She probably went ahead to scout the situation, or something like that. Ah, but maybe she’s simply really good at hiding without showing herself even in peripheral view; that’s also possible.

I’m not sure with the ‘why’, but it’s probably safe. And the basis is Dinosso’s previous crime!!

「….Haaa. Why are you so sharp when it comes to things like this, huh. And stop saying previous crime, will you? 」
Dinosso heaved a huge sigh. Butler averted his gaze for some reason.

That’s because I’m holding a grudge when you quietly left me behind!!

「Is it because they won’t learn if you rescue them right away? 」
「There’s that, but it’s also so that you won’t go recklessly saving people without thinking about the consequences! 」
Dinosso grabbed my right cheek this time. Ahh, my cheeks’ human rights…ack!

Well, you already spoke to the adventurers that weren’t possessed when you met them earlier, so why didn’t you think more about it…!! — I think that’s the point here. If we go rescue them without them suffering a bit, they’ll probably just repeat it again. And rescuing those kinds of people over and over again won’t give any joy, nor would it give any sense of accomplishment; it’s useless.

「I’m not a philanthropist that will eagerly rescue strangers just because I heard a bit about their circumstances, you know? 」

I don’t want to say this as it might sound heartless and inhumane, but unless they’re right in front of me, or it’s part of a commission, then I don’t want to help. I already decided to ignore whatever expectations anyone has of me, so they’re underestimating my misanthropy. Ah, but I do want to rescue Mr. Talisman.

「…… 」

Ack, oy!! Attacking from both sides!?

「You’re kind and soft-hearted. Not a lot of people would think of helping the black spirits from their pain. I don’t want Jean to be taken advantage of by influential folks and ingrates. 」
Ash patted my cheeks that had been pulled by Dinosso and Retze before commenting

「Seems like you made a mistake in the order of things, Wolf King! We have to make Jean realize how benevolent he is!! 」
Chris happily declared. His voice is lively and bright, and it sounds great. Maybe the reason why he didn’t sound that annoying while spouting drama lines is because of that nice voice of his.

They teased Dinosso about the tunnel incident I mentioned and also about other things. Good, make fun of him as much as you want, take revenge for my cheeks!

「I hear something. 」
Khan said when the Dinosso-teasing died down.

「You’re pretty sharp-eared. 」
Retze said, then he placed his ear on the ground.

「Human voices? 」
When I properly concentrate, I can also hear faraway voices.

「Seems like we can finally meet the people we’re looking for. 」
Dinosso placed his sword and scabbard down and also listened on the ground.