Chapter 131

“Hmm… What if I go alone? I’m a thief, so I can dodge traps pretty well. And if things go south, I can always run away.”

Squa suddenly raised her hand and spoke. But I couldn’t accept that. From my experience, the top-tier members of the Black Round Table were mostly on par with Werner’s comrades. Especially that bastard Gawain—if he had been serious, I might have died. And then there’s that bastard Lancelot… I wasn’t even sure if all the heroes, including Werner, could take him down together.

If Squa, who is weaker than Werner now, were to face those guys… her chances of winning would be zero. Werner, who treats Squa like his own sister, would never allow that. You might think it’s cowardly, but I could somewhat understand the feeling of not being able to abandon a woman who shares your name.

“Stop talking nonsense. I’ll go alone.”

Since the Spirit King of Steel is following me, if I go with Armadura and Squa goes with the Heavenly Demon Old Man, it would still be a 2v2 split. Wouldn’t that be a dream team tearing through everything? Armadura would compensate for my lack of physical strength, and I would compensate for Armadura’s lack of rationality.

And the Heavenly Demon Old Man would compensate for Squa’s lack of combat power, while Squa would compensate for the Old Man’s lack of utility and intelligence… Wouldn’t that make us a dream quartet?

“You two have never fought the Black Round Table before. Those bastards aren’t ordinary. They’re not just strong—each of them has a unique constitution.”

Some of them breathe fire, some are un-cute nymphs, some eat magic… What about that bastard Lancelot? Is he one with his sword? Or does he have a ridiculously strong regenerative body?

But then the Heavenly Demon Old Man smacked me on the head.

“Tsk… Such arrogance from a young one… Thinking only you can fight them is deeply rooted pride.”

“Hey, is that a reason to hit me on the head?”

“It’s a love tap to make you smarter, so be grateful.”

I think hitting someone on the head just kills brain cells—it doesn’t make them smarter.

“Old man, I’m not joking. They’re really strong. There are some I doubt we could beat even if we all ganged up on them.”

At that, the Heavenly Demon Old Man’s eyes sharpened. Was it because his strength was being doubted? This guy always changes when the topic of strength or rankings comes up. I knew he was obsessed with fighting, but…

“Hoh… You doubt even if I join? Interesting. Tell me more.”

Hmm… I should probably hide the fact that that bastard is Camellia’s father. She seemed to want me to keep it a secret too.

“Well, there’s nothing particularly special… He has long black hair down to his waist… His race is…”

“Ha, enough of this boring talk. The important thing now is who will move alone. And as we just saw, the longer we delay, the worse the situation will get. The enemies might escape.”

Squa sighed and cut me off. But she was right. The important thing now wasn’t sharing details about Lancelot—it was taking down these bastards.

“Then let’s decide quickly who will go alone.”

“Objectively, the person who can handle being alone is…”

“Seems like you’re thinking the same thing, sis…”

Squa and I both looked at the Heavenly Demon Old Man. He was definitely the strongest among us.

“Since you all agree, I’ll be the one to move alone. I’ll take the left path.”

“Why the left…?”

“Didn’t I just say I saw traces of spells and acupuncture? From that moment, I could feel it. That familiar and unpleasant feeling.”

I didn’t feel anything. At most, there was a faint smell of hydrangeas from the left path? But for him to call it familiar and unpleasant was a bit surprising.

“It seems the losers I defeated have crawled back. I wondered where they were hiding… Well, it’s a man’s duty to cut ties with old friends, so I’ll have to go.”

“…Be careful, Old Man.”

“Hahaha, do I look like someone who’d die? You worry about yourself. You’re still so skinny… People might mistake you for a noble lady.”

The Old Man poked my stomach. It’s true—no matter how much I eat, I don’t gain weight. Not that I’m overly thin, though.

“Then people might mistake you for an old servant from a noble house. The kind they give away for free because they’re too old.”

Squa burst out laughing.

“Kukuku… Honestly, if they offered you for free, I wouldn’t take you.”

“You little brat, you’re not young either. Don’t act like you’re the only young one here. The only young one here is that kid. And…”

The Heavenly Demon Old Man’s lightning-fast fist struck both Squa and me on the head. The sharp, refreshing pain woke us right up.

“I’ve told you countless times not to mock your elders… Seems you still haven’t learned.”

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“Such a cranky old man…”

Squa grumbled as she walked ahead. Her lips were pouting so much it looked like they could catch someone.

“Just say it. Why hit me on the head? My brain’s already bad enough—if it gets worse, it’s not like he’ll take responsibility… Not that I’d want him to.”

“Haha, don’t be too hard on the Old Man, sis. That’s just how he is. Besides, both you and I are pretty unique ourselves.”

“Yeah, well… Compared to that Old Man, we’re saints.”

To describe the Heavenly Demon Old Man’s personality, he’s a bit of a tsundere villain with a touch of old-fashioned strictness. He once broke the arm of a noble who looked down on Squa for being a descendant of a demon, and he shattered the leg of a knight who opposed Werner joining the heroes.

He generally dislikes noisy and talkative people, but he smiles fondly when he sees kids running around in restaurants. To me, it’s utterly disgusting.

“People should be flexible. Being so rigid…”

“I don’t know about other things, but our Old Man would never collude with the Black Round Table.”

He’d just beat them up along with us. He’s not the type to scheme or collude.

“…Are you sure?”

Squa still looked suspicious. Well, given that Werner’s comrades have been struggling because of the collusion, it’s natural for her perspective to differ from mine.

“Well, even if the Black Round Table threatened our Old Man… or put a knife to his throat, he’d just tell them to screw off.”

Squa seemed to be thinking something over. She’s known the Heavenly Demon Old Man longer than I have, so she probably understands what I’m saying better.

“Yeah… He is a stubborn old fool.”

“Right?”

Trust among comrades is important. Even if there’s a betrayer, losing trust would mean playing right into the hands of the Black Round Table bastards. I was proud to have restored even a little bit of trust between them.

“By the way, kid. Are you stepping only where I step? If you step on a trap by mistake, it’ll be a big problem, so watch carefully and follow me.”

There’s no way an old-fashioned trap like stepping on specific tiles would exist in a research facility like this. But I didn’t want to get scolded by Squa, so I followed her steps anyway.

“Yeah, I’m following. Don’t worry.”

There’s no way such an outdated trap would be here…

*Squish*

“What the hell?”

My left and right feet were unbalanced. Because the right tile I was stepping on had just sunk in.

Damn it, there really was a stupid trap like this. I thought I was following Squa’s steps, so why did this happen?

“Sis, quic—!”

Before I could finish, the floor gave way, and I fell. If I hit the ground like this, I might injure my tailbone.

“Wind, embrace me!!!”

I used a grateful wind-attribute spell to cushion my fall. Luckily, aside from a slight sprain in my waist, I wasn’t hurt.

“Ah… Someone fell again!”

What the…

The voice belonged to a young kid, about nine years old. But if there’s a kid in this facility… he must be a test subject. The kid was looking at me with sparkling eyes. He must have found the magic fascinating.

“Mister, you’re a sorcerer, right? Right?”

Well… yeah, I am a sorcerer.”

The kid’s eyes shone even brighter. They could probably be used as flashlights in the dark.

“Kid, how did you end up here?”

The kid hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Some bad people brought me here. But the friends I was with all turned into weird monsters and ran away… Then I pressed a strange floor and fell here.”

“So you fell recently and haven’t been able to get out?”

The kid shook his head.

“No, I fell here three years ago. The uncles living on this floor take care of kids like me who fell while running away.”