“Hey, Kujou. What’s with those clownish guys? Are you telling me we lost to such embarrassing losers…?”
“Yes. It’s a ridiculous story, I know.”
“Don’t screw with me… You’re telling me I got beat up by guys dressed like total garbage…!”
As Kujou readied his sword, Hazaki also clicked his tongue, gripping his battleaxe with irritation.
There was no flair in their fighting.
In the first place, dressing in a suit and a high school girl’s uniform felt like they were completely underestimating the Dungeon.
To be toyed with by such self-proclaimed Cleaner-level guys—
That fact ignited a dark flame in the hearts of Hazaki and Kujou.
“Kujou. First, I’ll split the guy’s head open. You take care of the girl.”
“You don’t need to tell me that—but don’t forget what happened last time, okay?”
“Of course,” Hazaki spat out, sounding resentful.
Last time, that Salaryman bastard had sneakily set up a Trap.
They hadn’t seen the Skill activation motion, so he must have set it up beforehand.
This time, they wouldn’t make the same mistake.
Basically, Skills have unique phrases or activation motions.
Like how spell Skills have incantations.
Like how sword Skills have technique declarations.
When setting up a Trap, there should be an activation motion, no matter how small.
“…First, let’s wait for them to move. They probably won’t set up Traps meaninglessly while moving.”
“Yeah. We got caught last time because they set up Skills in advance. But if they’re moving, and they don’t even know we’re here… Hey, Midoriba, use ‘Hide Cloak’.”
“Eh… But that concealment Skill isn’t effective against Hunters.”
“Not against the Suit Man. But it’ll work on the girl next to him. She’s an amateur, she can’t see through Magical Power.”
There was no way an amateur girl could resist an invisible man.
If necessary, they could take her hostage and threaten the Salaryman bastard.
“And can you use ‘Levitation’? The floating Skill to avoid Traps.”
“Ah, yeah. I can, sort of…”
“Huh, not bad. Then cast it on Kujou and me.”
Miroku chanted, and Kujou and Hazaki’s bodies floated slightly.
“Levitation” was a Skill that made you float just a little above the ground.
It had the disadvantage of not being able to brace yourself since your feet weren’t on the ground, but it also had the convenient aspect of being able to avoid mine-type Skills and attacks through the ground.
—With this, they couldn’t lose.
In the first place, Trap users were strong in ambushes but weak in surprise attacks.
Three against one, with perfect Trap countermeasures and recorder countermeasures, it was as good as won.
All that was left was for them to unluckily head into a dead end in the Labyrinth, and it would be over.
Surprise attack from behind, one hit.
Without even giving them a chance to activate a Skill, and even if they did, they wouldn’t be touching the ground.
(If only there were no witnesses)
As Kujou looked around, Hazaki nudged him.
They could see a pair of armored figures turning into a passage ahead in the hall.
…According to the map, that led to a dead end.
It was a chance.
—There was a possibility of witnesses, but they could just get rid of them too.
God had inflicted so much misfortune and inequality on Kujou until now, it wouldn’t hurt for him to bring some luck this time.
Kujou ran along the ground with Hazaki.
Thanks to the Levitation magic, there was no sound of footsteps.
Kujou immediately raised his sword, and Hazaki raised his axe, silently turning into the passage—they had them, they were sure of victory,
“——!?”
…They weren’t there?
What appeared before the three of them was a wide open space surrounded only by grassland walls… just a straight line.
There wasn’t a single person or Monster in the place where the two of them should have turned, only a gentle breeze blowing through.
—Hide Cloak, huh?
No. There was no way they could deceive their eyes with that.
“Hey, Kujou… Where did they go?”
“…Further in? But, in that instant?”
What was in front of them was a straight line nearly fifty meters long.
Even in a Dungeon, it was impossible to run through in a few seconds.
…But since there was no other way, they had no choice but to proceed.
With suspicion, Kujou proceeded. Hazaki followed.
Trailing behind, Miroku waddled along, shaking his belly and trembling.
…Spreading, was a sense of unease.
Was he overlooking something important?
Was he making some big misunderstanding?
Suppressing the gradually spreading fear, Kujou told himself it was nothing, a misunderstanding, and turned the corner at the end—
Again, there was nothing.
The end was just a dead end.
Impossible, Kujou thought, and couldn’t help but meet Hazaki’s eyes—
Beep, beep.
A familiar electronic sound.
Just after Hazaki braced himself—behind them, they detected an increase in Magical Power.
Following that, with a loud explosion, the Dungeon wall burst apart with a deafening roar.
“——!”
They had been flanked—no, a Trap had been set in the wall!?
But fortunately, the exploded wall was behind Kujou and the others.
They must have been aiming for a direct hit, but because they hadn’t visually confirmed them, the timing was off.
“Tch, still using cheap tactics…! Hey, come out! You’re hiding and watching us, aren’t you!?”
Hazaki, who was also unharmed, brandished his battleaxe.
Those guys seemed to prefer thoroughly despicable tactics. Truly the scum of the earth, people who didn’t deserve to be called human.
Why couldn’t they act honorably like them, you cowards!
“U-um, hey. Um…”
“Huh!? What is it, Miroku, did you find them!?”
“N-no, it’s not that, but…”
“Did you find something?”
Perhaps, she saw them.
To Kujou’s question, Midoriba fidgeted, shaking her puffy, dumpling-like cheeks, pointed at the exploded wall, and turned pale.
“That wall, i-it’s destroyed, and there’s a mountain of rubble… Aren’t we, like, trapped?”
“——What?”
*
Kageichi’s favorite Trap Skill, “Land Mine,” came in two types: “Contact Detonation Type,” which exploded when something touched it, and “Command Detonation Type,” which exploded when he sent Magical Power to it at will.
Also, it was easy to misunderstand from the name Trap Skill, but this Skill could be set on the floor, walls, items, or anything Kageichi touched.
If he wanted, he could even set Traps with the soles of his shoes while walking.
In fact, even Kiraboshi, who was watching next to him, couldn’t see when Kageichi activated the Skill.
Hmm, Kageichi confirmed that things were proceeding according to plan, and—still holding Kiraboshi, landed from the Dungeon ceiling.
The walls of the “Grassland” field were made of fluffy, grassy material that you could grab if you wanted.
Of course, the ceiling was the same.
Yes. After turning the corner, Kageichi and Kiraboshi had stuck to the ceiling—confirmed that the group had passed through the passage without noticing, and simply blew up the passage.
“Please remember, Kiraboshi-san. Even with recorders becoming commonplace, Dungeon crimes never end. And like now, if you don’t neglect Detection, you can notice them in advance.”
“Y-yes.”
Both Kageichi and Kiraboshi had noticed the trio approaching from behind.
Two of the “Numbers” members—Kujou and Hazaki—were hiding their Magical Power, but the remaining one… the chubby man, was such an amateur that even Kiraboshi could notice him.
Concealing Magical Power was meaningless unless the entire party could do it.
Rather, hiding it halfway was like announcing that you were up to no good.
“It was a good lesson, wasn’t it?” Kageichi said with a smile, and Kiraboshi timidly followed behind, suddenly looking back.
“Um… What are you going to do with those people who are trapped?”
“I’ll leave them as they are… Of course, I could eliminate them all on the spot, but as a matter of obligation, so to speak. They didn’t attend the briefing, but apparently, they’re participants in the same Rabbit Golem hunting Quest as us.”
And deaths in government-approved Quests were not good, unlike private Quests.
The officials also had their positions to consider.
“…Sensei, you worry about people…?”
“No. In cases where deaths occur in government-approved Quests, the cause is often thoroughly investigated. I didn’t intend to leave any evidence, but I’ve heard that the Labyrinth Agency’s investigation division is quite capable. —Besides, you received a ‘Safety Badge’ before starting this Quest, right? It has the effect of sending out a rescue signal when a Hunter’s Magical Power decreases significantly.”
Therefore, directly harming them could expose the crime to the government officials.
Of course, as usual, it was possible to deceive them by storing the eliminated bodies in the Inventory.
However, while it’s one thing outside the Dungeon, hiding items in your Inventory inside a Dungeon is a surprisingly well-known tactic.
“…But, Sensei. This might sound harsh, but… if they were alive, wouldn’t they accuse us of being the culprits?”
“Do you have any proof?”
Kiraboshi was taken aback, but Kageichi simply smiled back, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Recorders can’t be used. That’s because they themselves were emitting Recorder Break… jamming signals. Besides, they wouldn’t do something that would leave a video record of their crimes. Even if they did—did they capture even one scene of us committing a crime in their field of vision?”
When he put it that way, Kiraboshi realized there was absolutely no evidence.
Kageichi narrowed his eyes slightly and stated it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“My motto is safety, security, and no stress. If I had to spend the night worrying about the police finding out, I would have already eliminated everyone. The only reason I didn’t is because I judged it unnecessary.”