For starters, one thing was certain: Raiders were nearby.
Conversely, aside from that, nothing else was certain at all.
"W-wait a second! A potion...!"
"Hold on."
"Wh-what?!"
First off, the fox Beastfolk who had appeared in front of us.
I had to consider the possibility that this one was in league with the Raiders.
"How could you say something so ridiculous...?"
Still unable to shed her beginner naivety even on her second expedition, the Elf asked back in disbelief, but having met and fought countless Raiders in [Dungeon Log], I knew better.
Disguising one of their own as an injured victim and slipping them into the middle of their targets was a time-honored tactic of vicious, clever Raiders.
'Doesn't look like that's the case here, though.'
From what I could see right now, the wounds were definitely real.
I could even tell with the naked eye that they were quite deep.
"We have to help quickly! They're going to die!"
Yeah, if the bleeding goes on much longer, that Beastfolk will die right there.
In fact, their complexion was turning visibly paler compared to just a moment ago.
The problem, however, was that even this was one of the methods Raiders commonly used.
'Because they could ambush us while we're busy helping.'
On the 1st floor, which was crawling with soft-hearted beginners, you could call it a particularly effective tactic.
"Guh... P-plea... se..."
"Y-Yuta!"
Therefore, what I needed to watch and listen to wasn't that dying expression and voice—
"Quiet."
—but the movements around us.
"..."
There was no presence at all.
Nothing was visible in the cave across the way, either.
'So the Raiders didn't send them?'
Judging from the circumstances, it looked like they had run into Raiders, taken wounds, and been lucky enough to get away.
It wasn't implausible.
From a Raider's perspective, a badly injured target couldn't run far anyway, making them low-priority prey they could finish off after dealing with the uninjured ones first.
Thump.
While my thoughts continued, the Beastfolk collapsed.
Their upper body was still rising and falling faintly, though.
Not dead, just unconscious.
"...Let's save them first."
Thankfully, we had a full six potions, so we could afford to use one as a spare.
I had the Elf pour a moderate amount of potion over the Beastfolk.
As a moment passed, the wounds bubbled and closed up rapidly, and after repeating the same process while reducing the amount of potion each time, the Beastfolk's body returned to normal.
It wasn't long before the unconscious Beastfolk's eyes opened again.
"..."
Standing out vividly against their white fur, crimson eyes scanned the surroundings in high tension, relaxed briefly in relief, and soon filled with tears.
***
It only took a moment for the white fox Beastfolk to stop crying.
Because their situation wasn't leisurely enough to sit around comfortably sniffling away tears.
Without even the luxury to mourn their companions, who were probably dead, the fox Beastfolk roughly wiped their eyes with a sleeve and thanked us.
"Thank you. I survived thanks to you."
"What happened?"
"We ran into Raiders. I was the first one hit... and somehow I was the only one who made it out alive."
The story seemed roughly in line with what I had guessed.
However, there was one point I needed to press on.
"Are you sure you're the only one who survived?"
"Huh? Well, of course..."
"Then why haven't they come chasing after you yet?"
Raiders never leave survivors alive.
And the odds of someone critically injured and bleeding buckets shaking them off were practically zero.
In other words, the Raiders weren't in a position to come over this way yet, and there was really only one possible reason for that.
"...Ah!"
The fight was still going on.
The Beastfolk's companions weren't dead yet.
"T-then...!"
Alright, now I have to make a choice, too.
1. Help them.
2. Leave it at this and go back on our way.
In truth, the rational answer as an Explorer is already set in stone.
Number 2, no question.
Frankly, just giving away a potion for free to another Explorer we'd never even met before was already a huge act of charity.
The problem, however, lies in—
"Yuta! Let's hurry!"
"I think we ought to help this friend out, too."
"Raiders are bad guys! A warrior crushes bad guys!"
—how overly righteous our rookie party members, who still haven't developed an Explorer's mindset, are.
To strengthen a party's cohesion and boost efficiency, you have to know how to accommodate their opinions.
And above all else—
'It's doable.'
The math works out.
I had already sized up the fox Beastfolk.
This one was a beginner who was on par with us at best.
Naturally, the level of their teammates was obvious, and Raiders struggling against a group like that would be around that exact level at most, too.
Simply put, we can wipe those Raider bastards right out and strip them clean.
"We'll help."
"R-really...?"
"In exchange, all the spoils taken from the Raiders go to us. Deal?"
"Yes! Yes!"
"Lead the way."
The destination wasn't far.
With the Beastfolk running in the lead, we quickly crossed a few caves, and along with the thick scent of blood rising in the air, several figures locked in the middle of a fierce fight came into view.
Closing the distance, I quickly scanned the situation.
'One of them died already, huh.'
A corpse lay dead with its eyes wide open.
Judging from how only its throat had been cleanly pierced without any minor wounds, it looked like they had been caught off guard by an ambush.
"Rudron...!"
Unfortunately, however, there was no time to pray for the brown deer Beastfolk's soul.
Because the remaining three were struggling desperately to hold off four Raiders.
Thanks to focusing entirely on defense, they were barely managing to hold out, but even that looked to be at its limit.
Too many minor wounds had piled up, exposing just as many wide openings.
"Just die already!"
"Why are bastards who're gonna croak anyway holding out like this?!"
Every time they swung their weapons, their openings gaped wider.
And then—
SHRRK!
Suddenly, a blade slipped inside their guard and sliced deep into a woman's shoulder.
"Aaagh!"
Their defense collapsed in a single blow.
The formation they had struggled so hard to maintain fell apart in an instant, leaving all of them completely exposed.
They were set to die moments later.
However, there were no further casualties.
Or more accurately, none on the Beastfolk team's side.
[Surprise Lightning]
CRACK!
A brief bolt of lightning struck down and easily took one of them out of the fight.
It didn't kill him instantly, but [Paralysis] triggered.
He won't be able to move for a few seconds.
"Wh-what the?!"
Spotting us only now, the bastards reacted belatedly, but it was already too late.
I picked up the short spear that had been the dead man's weapon and hurled it straight out.
Because high-level spear-throwing skill was ingrained in 'Yuta's' body as well—FWSSH—!—the blade sliced through the air and pierced clean through one bastard's throat without fail.
"Fuck! Stop these bastards first!"
Not a chance.
"You guys handle that one."
Sprinting a step ahead, I blew past the guy whose paralysis was wearing off as he started to stir, and charged straight into the remaining two.
"Coming alone..."
"...means you're asking to croak!"
Acting like some dynamic duo, the bastards even split their lines between them.
Their teamwork in combat didn't seem to match up, though.
Unable to put up any real resistance, the two of them offered up their throats to my spear tip.
"Gah!"
Soon, a dying scream as a life went out rang out from behind me as well.
"Urooooh! I killed a Raider again!"
Sounded like an axe had been buried in his neck.
***
The rescue operation for the fox Beastfolk's teammates wrapped up successfully.
There had been one fatality, sure, but since that had been the result of the initial ambush, we had essentially saved everyone who could be saved.
Unlike the white fox Beastfolk who had crawled to us bleeding buckets, the others hadn't suffered any critical injuries, either.
They finished their treatment by splitting a single potion three ways, and soon approached us from a short distance away to offer their thanks.
Every member of this team was a Beastfolk, and their team leader was a wolf Beastfolk with navy-blue fur.
"Now I can finally thank you properly. Thank you. You saved our lives."
"Is everyone in okay shape?"
"Thanks to you."
"How long has it been since you entered the labyrinth?"
"We just passed the one-week mark."
"Are you heading right out?"
"Most likely."
The wolf Beastfolk answered while looking at the deer Beastfolk's corpse lying in the middle of the cave.
Probably meant they needed time to hold a funeral and mourn their companion.
For a moment, the mood grew somber, and after sharing in the silence briefly, I brought up what needed to be said.
"Did you hear about the settlement?"
"Kichir told me. Said you'd be taking all of the Raiders' belongings... Will that really be enough?"
"Ah, I'll be charging separately for the potion used on your friend over there. It's 1,000 gold."
From behind me, the Elf whispered in a small voice at my remark.
"Yuta... isn't a low-grade potion 500 gold?"
It felt like she was treating me like some shady crook of a merchant, which couldn't have been further from the truth.
There was always a hefty difference between city prices and labyrinth prices.
Depending on the situation, an extreme premium could be tacked on, too.
Therefore, you could easily put a 10,000-gold price tag on the potion that had just saved that white fox Beastfolk's life.
In fact, if it had been possible to haggle in that situation, I could have gotten even more than that.
Thankfully, unlike our Elf, who still lacked common sense as an Explorer, the wolf Beastfolk seemed to know how things worked.
Although he didn't bring it up explicitly, he understood my consideration and bowed his head.
"Thank you once again. May I ask our benefactor's name?"
"Yuta."
"Yuta... I'll remember it. I will never forget this debt."
After thanking me, he returned to his teammates, and this time the white fox Beastfolk walked over.
Their name was Kichir, right?
"Thank you. Everyone survived thanks to you, and Rudron... we'll be able to send him off properly now, too."
The fox Beastfolk's expression, which had looked alright a moment ago, grew downcast again at the dead friend's name.
Must have been a very dear friend.
Come to think of it, I think I once heard that Beastfolk born in Cladis generally lived together among their own kind and formed their first expedition teams with old, close friends.
"Are you sad?"
"I suppose so."
Trying to act like they were fine, yet unable to pull it off easily, the fox Beastfolk kept sniffling.
To them, I left a piece of advice that suddenly came to mind.
"Once you get out to the city, try visiting a tavern."
"...Huh?"
"It won't be bad."
***
After saying their goodbyes, the Beastfolk team set off right away.
They still looked a bit too worn out to have recovered their stamina, but it seemed there happened to be an exit nearby.
Yeah, leaving quickly is better.
Alright, then that side is roughly wrapped up.
Now it is time to finish our own business.
"Oh... These are pretty heavy. Looks like they robbed quite a lot of people."
"Yuta, don't you think something real might actually come out of them this time?"
"Treasure! I am going to get treasure!"
We had scraped together all of the Raiders' baggage.
The hefty weight of the backpacks felt pretty great.
Quite a contrast to a certain bunch who had ditched all their gear just to chase after us, so to speak.
'Yeah, now this is what Raiders should be like.'
By nature, Raiders were filthy rich bastards who robbed what others had spent days earning in a single morning.
Which was why I loved robbing Raiders right back.
Because that way, you can claim all those profits completely 'legally,' right?
'Even so, their level is obvious.'
Honestly, I don't expect much.
Like I said last time, Raiders who struggle against 1-Star Explorers simply can't have anything good on them.
Yet even knowing that, a strange sense of anticipation rises in me as I open these backpacks.
After all—
'You never know.'
Anything can happen in the labyrinth, after all.