Her black, long hair billowed. Her skin was sickly pale. Purple eyes, covered by sunken dark circles, stared at me with interest.
She looked to be about my age? Judging from the amount of Mana Particles surrounding her, her body was probably growing with mana, just like mine.
She had witnessed me kill someone right before her eyes, and after she had roasted someone to a crisp herself, she grinned at me with such an innocent smile that it made me uneasy.
If I had to describe her in one word… it would be “dangerous.”
“…Who are you?”
“That doesn’t matter… or at least, that’s what I’d like to say, but I’ll tell you. You can call me Carla.”
【Carla】【Race: Human♀】
【Mana Capacity: 375/395】【HP: 31/45】
【Overall Combat Strength: 323】
An enormous Mana Capacity with the HP of a child… and the power of magic that could turn a person into charcoal in an instant, with an abnormality that didn’t care about it…
She’s dangerous… Can I kill her? Her HP is so low that she seems like she could easily die from a single hit, but my “instincts” were telling me that it would be dangerous to lay a hand on her carelessly.
I kill to live, but Carla feels like she kills because she wants to kill.
“You’re really something, aren’t you? You’re different from those pigs around here. Even when I show you my power, all you’re thinking about is whether you can kill me or not.”
“…Is that why you called out to me?”
“That’s right. I could smell a ‘bloody scent’ from you that was different from other people. Or are you one of those people who spouts pretty words about how important life is, and can’t understand?”
A violent killing intent emanated from Carla’s entire body as she smiled.
She doesn’t need a reason to kill, but depending on my answer, she would lose her “reason not to kill” me.
“From the perspective of the one being killed, isn’t it all the same, no matter the reason?”
“…Fufu, you really are something. I’ve got another reason not to kill you now. Hey, tell me your name.”
Just as I thought. Seeing her like that, I stopped the Body Enhancement that I had activated, while still being cautious.
“…Aria.”
“Aria… it suits you well. I know I asked, but why did you decide to tell me?”
While stealing anything that might identify them from the corpses of the dead men and throwing them into the gutter, I glanced at her, who was smiling gleefully.
“I realized that I don’t have a reason to kill you either.”
The moment I answered, Carla burst out laughing so hard that she choked, and her already low HP decreased by another 3 points.
I have no reason to kill Carla. Carla has a reason not to kill me.
She’s an abnormal and dangerous person, but for some reason, I felt more empathy for that one way of thinking than for the myriad of pretty words that respectable people lined up.
I guess she felt the same way. The distance between us was about half a step closer than it was at first.
Carla said she would guide me through the Dungeon. It was probably just a word to start a conversation, but I felt like I could trust her more than I could trust any random Adventurer… but,
“Can you really go into a Dungeon with that HP?”
“It’s okay. If I die, my father will probably frown because he’ll lose a piece, but my mother will probably be happy from the bottom of her heart.”
“If you collapse, I’m leaving you behind.”
“Of course. I’d be happy if Aria would die with me at that time.”
“Die alone.”
While saying such things to each other, we ended up entering a Large-Scale Dungeon that was said to be dangerous, with just the two of us.
Even though we’re growing with mana, our appearances are still those of children from an adult’s perspective. When such a pair tried to enter the Dungeon, the sane soldier who was guarding it tried to stop us, but the knight who came out of the guard station looked at Carla and opened the way as if he was frightened.
“How rude. Looking at people like they’re indiscriminate murderers.”
“Does Carla’s house not have a mirror?”
“Aria is beautiful… I’m sure you’d be beautiful even covered in blood. Whether it’s your blood, or someone else’s.”
Carla seems to be a noble lady, but the reason she can wander around without any guards is probably because she’s a “dangerous person” with both power and ability.
“This is a Beastkin Dungeon. It’s said to have at least a hundred floors, but the official number of floors cleared is only about forty.”
“Official? What about unofficial?”
“It seems that the nobles forced their way through, sacrificing a ridiculous number of people, and managed to reach the bottom floor once. You’ve heard of it, right? That there’s a Spirit of the Dungeon on the bottom floor of old Dungeons.”
“…A Divine Protection (Gift), huh?”
I’ve heard that story before. A Spirit dwells on the bottom floor of old Dungeons, and will grant a Divine Protection (Gift) of Desire to those who reach it.
Is that why Carla is diving into the Dungeon alone? According to my master, you can gain great power along with some pretty troublesome restrictions. Carla seems to be sick, so maybe she’s planning to heal her body with that Divine Protection.
“The first floor only has Goblins and Kobolds. Look, they’re here.”
“Yeah.”
I had noticed the three presences approaching without being told.
“Aria, show me how you kill.”
“…………”
In response to her natural “request” as if she were asking me to pick flowers, I silently threw the Hidden Weapon that I pulled out from my waist, and one of the Goblins, who took the Blade in the throat head-on, fell backward and died.
“Gyagya!?”
The remaining two, confused and not understanding what had happened, stopped in their tracks, and I silently approached them using Stealth. The moment the Goblins noticed, I simultaneously slashed their necks with the Black Knife and the thin Knife, reaping their lives.
“Aria is beautiful as always…”
“Don’t make me do all the work.”
“That’s right, maybe I’ll do it next time.”
The next two Goblins that appeared were killed instantly by the Fire Arrow and Ice Arrow that Carla released at the same time.
Double Spell, huh… Carla said she could use magic up to level 3. The magic she used was level 1, but its power was incomparable to the magic that woman had used.
Even if Overall Combat Strength is just a guideline, Carla could easily kill opponents up to Rank 4.
Carla really seems to be planning on guiding me, and she even tells me the shortest route up to the third floor.
“Hey, Aria. Why do you think Monsters don’t get caught in Dungeon traps?”
Carla is surprisingly talkative.
When there’s no fighting, she mixes in meaningful and meaningless stories and talks to me about various things.
Dungeons are Monsters, and they summon people and Monsters to fight in order to obtain the life force and Mana Particles of the creatures that stray into them, but old Dungeons sometimes gain intelligence and set traps.
Even so, they aren’t very complex traps.
There are many traps with simple mechanisms, such as pitfalls that drop you to the lower floors, and walls that collapse the ceiling when touched, but they are large in scale and can easily be fatal.
“Monsters don’t get caught in traps?”
“That’s right. For some reason, Monsters don’t get caught. It’s not because they know where the traps are, but it seems like the traps themselves don’t activate. That’s why it’s said that the Dungeon’s Monsters set it up that way. So don’t recklessly rush in. It’s not beautiful to be crushed to death.”
“I see…”
…That’s interesting information.
“Hey, Aria, are you listening? I have a fiancé-sama, and I was able to meet him for the first time the other day.”
“Heeh.”
The topic changed again. I wanted to hear about the Dungeon, but there’s no point in saying something useless, so I stopped.
“That’s a listless reply. Well, whatever. That person is cute. He’s my favorite in the opposite sense of Aria. I can’t wait for the day when I defile him in a filthy way… but I’ll hold back until we get married.”
“That’s too bad for him.”
“Fufu… I won’t kill him easily, okay? He’s one of my few favorites. But that person has other fiancées besides me, right? But it’s fine. I’m not sure if I can have children anyway, so I’ll let him live until he produces an heir.”
“I see.”
“But I won’t allow any more cheating than that. If that person looks at any woman other than us fiancées, I’ll make sure that woman dies at the worst possible time.”
“If it’s cheating, it can’t be helped.”
“Right, you think so too, right? I can’t wait for that time.”
Multiple fiancées, huh… maybe Carla is a pretty high-ranking noble.
If that’s the case, will she ever be involved with Elena-san… if Carla becomes Elena-san’s enemy…
“Keep it moderate. It would be a pain if a request came to stop you.”
Perhaps sensing something in my words, Carla stopped and looked straight at me.
“Are you saying that Aria can stop me?”
Straight eyes that pierce me. I stared back at those slightly lonely, slightly joyful purple eyes.
“If that’s Carla’s Desire, I’ll kill you.”
“…Ah, how wonderful. If I’m going to die someday, I want to be killed by Aria.”
The dungeon tour ended when Carla’s HP could no longer be restored with healing magic or potions.
In fact, Carla’s complexion was pale, and her HP was only around 10, but if she were to die that easily, her parents wouldn’t have any worries.
When we exited the dungeon and stepped out into the twilight, a luxurious black carriage was waiting for Carla, as if it were a regular occurrence.
That’s where I parted ways with her. When she noticed the butler who came to pick her up from the carriage and I kept a reasonable distance, Carla gave me an innocent smile and whispered secretly.
“Hey, Aria. You’re being targeted, you know?”
“…I know.”
This slight discomfort… it’s Rada. It’s a mystery how Carla noticed it, but I wouldn’t find it strange coming from her.
“Shall I kill them for you?”
At her teasing words, I quietly narrowed my eyes and released Intimidation.
“If you lay a hand on my prey, I’ll kill you.”
“Fufu… that sounds fun too, but I’ll refrain for now. Well then, see you later. As long as we’re alive, I have a feeling I’ll meet Aria again.”
“…………”
Leaving behind slightly ominous words, Carla got into the black carriage and disappeared.
I also feel like training a bit more in the dungeon, but since Rada is watching, there’s no need to reveal my hand.
And so, I randomly chose an Adventurer’s inn near the Guild, holed myself up there to refine my “Dark Magic,” and two days later, I headed to the Adventurer’s Guild to meet the “Dawn Mercenaries” who had emerged from the dungeon.
It’s a brutal relationship.
But for some reason, I don’t dislike this kind of relationship between the two.
Next time, the assassination job will finally begin.