The second morning after venturing into the labyrinth.
“Good morning.”
It seemed that Naga had woken up without me noticing, and she called out from behind.
“Good morning.”
“In the end, until morning… Aldo-kun. You won’t be able to explore the labyrinth if you overdo it, you know?”
“I’m sorry…”
At the sound of my voice and Naga’s, El and Ashera also started to wake up.
The only one still fast asleep, drooling, was my mother.
Even after everyone had breakfast and got ready, my mother wouldn’t wake up, so Naga finally decided to rouse her.
“Rafina, wake up.”
“Mmm… a little more…”
“Come on, get up now. Look, you’re drooling…”
Naga forcibly lifted my mother’s body, but her eyes remained closed and she muttered sleepily, showing no sign of waking up quickly.
Ms. Naga wiped the drool from Mother’s mouth, diligently taking care of her.
After a while, Mother finally woke up, but she made a difficult face when she saw the black bread and dried meat.
“I ate this yesterday too, but the black bread is hard, and the dried meat is way too salty.”
“They’re preserved foods, so it can’t be helped.”
“That may be so, but…”
“Rafina, you’re still so picky about food.”
We watched in surprise as Mother was treated almost like a child.
She was originally somewhat childlike, but her demeanor alone had always been as dignified as some great elder.
In my mind, I decided to award Ms. Naga the title of ‘Beast Tamer.’
“By the way, I heard before that boars appear from the second layer, but are they the only ones?”
“That’s right. Shall I explain a little about the monsters in this Labyrinth of Claws and Fangs?”
“Thank you.”
It seemed that Naga was going to tell me about this Labyrinth of Claws and Fangs in detail. I had to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
Apparently, there is a rule for the monsters that appear in this Labyrinth of Claws and Fangs: no more than two types of monsters appear on a single floor.
On the second floor, monsters from the first and second floors appear, and on the third floor, monsters from the second and third floors appear. In other words, monsters from the current floor and one floor below it appear.
I didn’t really need an explanation for the first and second floors, but it seemed that on the third floor, a monster called the Silent Panther, a leopard-type monster, appears.
It hides on high ground or in the shadows, waiting quietly for its prey to come.
Depending on the timing, it can be a terrifying opponent. However, according to Naga, if Ashera uses her magical eye to see its magical energy, it’s a monster that won’t move and won’t pose a threat.
The monster on the 4th layer is a monkey called Sly Ape. Like the wind wolves, it attacks in groups.
Moreover, possibly due to its high intelligence, it uses convenient objects as weapons. It seems to be a very annoying monster.
Because it is very annoying, Naga seemed to be planning to stay on the 4th layer for a while to practice camping.
If Naga said it was necessary, then it was probably something that was necessary.
After all, it is just a monkey monster. It has no special powers, only a bit of cleverness, so there is no reason to fear a monkey-like creature.
The 5th layer has Fire Lizards. Borg wanted the skin of one of them.
Apparently, it is a normal lizard without any special characteristics. Because it has the name ‘Fire,’ I thought it might breathe fire, but in the past, an S-rank adventurer muttered that it ‘looks like it might breathe fire,’ and it was named Fire Lizard, making it a somewhat pitiful monster.
The 6th layer has a Madbear, a bear monster. This guy has incredibly strong physical strength, and even simple armor will be shredded like paper if he swings his claws.
It was a monster that I was somewhat looking forward to fighting.
The 7th layer has a Gaja. This is an elephant monster, but according to Naga, it’s surprisingly weak, so much so that it’s mysterious why it appears on the 7th layer.
Originally, the strength of elephants comes from their stomping, delivered by their massive bodies, but this is inside a labyrinth. Perhaps because of the ceiling height, there are no large Gaja.
As a result, mid-sized, somewhat awkward monsters appear.
The 8th layer, in a sense, is home to a Tigris, a tiger monster that might be more troublesome than a Minotaur.
Since Tigris is originally a tiger, it seems to have very high agility and strong physical strength.
Moreover, it seems to use water magic as well, and all its abilities are balanced at a high level.
And on the 9th level, there is the Minotaur. It is a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a human.
Its physical strength is extremely high and it is ferocious. Its skin is said to deflect swords and repel magic.
As for me, I thought it wouldn’t matter if I targeted its weak points, so I felt that the Tigris on the 8th level was the most troublesome.
And then the 10th level. An Earth Dragon.
If its breath has the true power that has been rumored, it should rival the Condense Ray.
Honestly, I felt really heavy-hearted… I didn’t know if I should ask Ao, but I thought I’d try.
As I listened to Ms. Naga for information about monsters, the ring started to glow again just like it had yesterday.
“Aldo. It’s a regular check-in. Listen to me say ‘no problem.’ Halva and I have only been talking about these words, you know? It’s driving me crazy. Huh? Ah, right, you’re still in the labyrinth. If you don’t get the Miasma Stone as soon as possible, either you or Elphas will really have to come back. I can’t wait that long.”
Ao just said what he wanted and disappeared, leaving only a massive bomb… and I couldn’t even ask about the Earth Dragon…
“Aldo… so that tanuki wanted the Miasma Stone… and on top of that, there’s no time… Can’t you finally tell me properly?”
My mother and I exchanged glances, and finally resigned ourselves to talking to Naga.
Honestly, I didn’t know how much we should tell her, but it seemed my mother intended to tell everything.
Ever since the other day, I’d felt that trust is necessary within the party. Because of that, I had no intention of stopping my mother.
I thought that if Naga had stubbornly kept the secret, there would have been a point where she would have left the party. After all, asking someone to trust you while you’re hiding something is probably just being spoiled with the other person.
Mother spoke to Naga roughly but accurately about what had happened since the previous dungeon exploration.
Even to things that would normally be impossible to believe, Naga quietly listened.
It was about an hour later when all the stories were finished and everyone looked at Naga’s face.
“So… are you saying Aldo and Elphas are the ‘spirit messengers’ and ‘apostles’ that appear in the creation myth?”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean there’s a need to open the mana spot to prevent a world crisis, and in preparation for that, you need the Miasma Stone?”
“That’s right.”
“If Aldo and Elphas fail, will the world… end in a few hundred years?”
“Maybe…”
Ms. Naga looked down and rubbed her temples.
“Rafina. You’ve deceived me countless times, but when it came to serious matters, you never lied… I’ll ask one more time. Is what you just said true?”
“Yes, I’m afraid it’s all true. And now that you’ve heard it, you can’t run away anymore…”
With a serious expression, Ms. Naga looked up and asked Mother.
At Mother’s response, Ms. Naga let out a huge sigh.
“Haa… I understand… I understand. I’ll believe everything and cooperate. I also swear not to tell anyone…”
“Naga. Thank you…”
“But! There’s a condition.”
“A condition?”
“Take me with you to that new country, too.”
“!! Are you serious?”
“Yes. Honestly, I don’t feel like returning to the land of the elves, and though I’m used to the royal capital… it seems more fun to be with Rafina and the others.”
“…You… are dumber than I thought…”
“And one more thing.”
“What?”
“Introduce me to someone wonderful. If there isn’t anyone, Aldo-kun would be fine too.”
“….”
What was this person saying… That Ashera-san… why was that murderous aura directed at me?
I needed to change the subject! I desperately tried to change the topic while breaking out in a cold sweat.
“N-Ms. Naga. Even if we talk about the country, I think it’ll be quite some time before we can go…”
“Is that so? Then I wonder if I should just talk to the guild master of the royal capital as we are and get transferred to Blue Ring.”
“It would be a huge help if Ms. Naga could come to Blue Ring… but we don’t plan to return for another two and a half years.”
“I’d be glad if you could also explain that in detail.”
From there, I explained the rough plan I was thinking about now.
“I see…”
“Yes, if possible, I’d like Ms. Naga to go to Blue Ring first.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“I’m not saying you have to. Only if it’s convenient for you. So…”
“Understood.”
We ended up talking quite a bit since the morning. When I looked at my pocket watch, it was almost 10 o’clock.
Might as well. I sent magic into the ring and summoned Ao.
“Hm? What’s up?”
“Ao, I want you to tell me if you know.”
“Go on, tell me. If it’s something you know, I’ll tell you.”
“I want you to tell me if you know anything about this labyrinth master’s Earth Dragon.”
“An Earth Dragon, huh. It’s a species that evolved with an emphasis on defense among dragon-kind. On the other hand, its attack power isn’t much.”
“Will my attacks work on it?”
“There’s no way I’d know that. That falls under the domain of Aldo, the Apostle.”
“I see. Also, about the Earth Dragon’s breath…”
“Ah, the breath is dangerous. Even an Earth Dragon with weak attacks—I don’t think anyone except Elphas could withstand it.”
“Huh? So El could endure it?”
“Didn’t he have something like a magic shield? If he puts that on, I think he could endure it.”
“Seriously?!”
“Probably. Actually, I’m a bit busy, so I should get going now.”
“Wait. Just one more thing.”
“What is it? Aldo, you should take a little more care with me.”
“Sorry. What kind of thing is an Earth Dragon’s breath?”
“An Earth Dragon’s breath is a breath. I don’t understand what you’re asking.”
“Hmm… So ‘breath’ means it burns, right?”
“Aldo… The dragon that breathes fire is a fire dragon. The master of this labyrinth is an Earth Dragon, right? Then of course it must be an earth breath.”
“Earth breath… Specifically, what comes flying at me?”
“If it’s an earth breath, earth comes flying at you. Aldo, are you okay in the head?”
“…So that means hard rocks will fly at high speed, right?”
“Ah, you’ve finally gotten a little bit smarter.”
“I see… Thank you, Ao. That helped.”
“Well then, this time I’ll make my way back.”
Saying that, Ao disappeared.
I wanted to organize what Ao had said and consult with El as well. I tried talking to Ms. Naga, asking for some time.
It seemed that Ms. Naga also wanted to organize things a bit, so we decided to have an early lunch.
Thanks to the information from Ao, I finally felt like we might somehow be able to defeat the Earth Dragon. After that, I needed to increase my skill with the ultra-vibration, shorten the activation time to at least 5 seconds at worst, and be able to maintain it for over a minute…
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