Chapter 15

The party, after tidying up the campsite and beginning their advance to the 4th floor, seemed on the surface no different from before.

Leader Hugo led the way while Mirien, the scout and archer, moved forward while exploring the surroundings.

Chrome, the warrior, guarded the rear as Eri and Sia followed anxiously. Hans, looking accustomed to it, carried his bag of gear and trailed behind.

And right in the middle, Yujin also followed along leisurely.

It was a normal-looking party. However…

“Hmm… Mr. Yujin.”

“Yes, what is it? Mr. Hugo.”

Hugo approached Yujin subtly and spoke. Secretly, without others knowing.

He glanced at Mirien for a moment, then made a strange expression before speaking.

“…Hmm, let’s take a short break here!”

Apparently, it was a topic he didn’t want to discuss openly with Mirien around. He looked around first and called for a rest.

At this, the party stopped their advance and began taking a break. Then, Hugo subtly signaled Yujin.

Yujin slightly nodded in response to that signal. It seemed he had already caught onto what Hugo wanted to say.

As the party rested, the two distanced themselves from the group and found a spot in a corner of the jungle.

Then, Hugo asked Yujin directly.

“Hmm… Mr. Yujin, did anything happen between you and Mirien last night by any chance?”

He seemed to have noticed something off about Mirien as the party’s leader.

“Come to think of it, she seems more withdrawn than usual… She appears scared, though she’s trying not to show it…”

“Ah… I see.”

Though Yujin had noticed similar things, Hugo definitely showed his experience as the long-time leader of the party. He had picked up on the team member’s unusual atmosphere.

‘Hugo really has an extraordinary sense when it comes to reading people.’

While Yujin himself had noticed Mirien’s withdrawal, that was because he possessed the senses of a Transcendent and was one of the parties involved in last night’s events.

But Hugo, without such advantages, had noticed Mirien’s change in mood just by a quick glance. Considering that the others hadn’t noticed anything unusual, it was clear he had an exceptional sense.

Hugo said,

“I know you’re not the type to argue with anyone, Mr. Yujin. I was just wondering if anything happened during your watch with Mirien last night…”

“That’s true… Actually, I’ve mentioned this to Mr. Hans already, but there was indeed some conversation between me and Miss Mirien last night.”

“Conversation… Would you mind telling me what it was about?”

“It wasn’t much. Since I’ve never really talked to Miss Mirien before, I thought it would be good to loosen up the tense atmosphere when we started our watch together. Though… Hmm, since she’s quite taciturn, I ended up being ignored. Haha.”

“Hmm… Mirien does have that tendency sometimes. And then?”

“Well, since sitting in such a stiff atmosphere felt boring, I tried chatting a bit myself. Figured I should lead the conversation. Then, my playful side kicked in, so I told her a scary story…”

“Ahh…”

Hugo awkwardly scratched his head upon hearing this.

“I see. I didn’t expect Mirien to get scared over a story, but… Well, considering it was you, Mr. Yujin…”

For some reason, Hugo easily accepted that Yujin was responsible. Yujin chuckled ambiguously upon seeing this. Guess it went down smoothly.

“Anyway, thank you for letting me know. If it came off like I was prying, I apologize.”

“Not at all. As the party leader, it’s only natural to check when the team’s atmosphere changes.”

“Haha… Thank you for your consideration.”

Hugo smiled sheepishly and bowed his head before speaking to Yujin.

“Let’s head back now. We’ve rested enough, I believe.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Thus, the group resumed their march.

***

Life for a demon trapped in a maze is mostly unbearably dull.

Imprisoned within the maze, they could only play small tricks called “trials” on those puny mortals.

Is this living? At least most demons wouldn’t consider it so.

Sure, the self-proclaimed wise lizards and brutish behemoths might just sleep or build strength without much thought, but for demons, life inside the maze was truly hell itself.

A hell of boredom.

If they didn’t send out trials to mortals, they’d probably go insane from sheer tedium.

‘Enkeos’ was one of such demons.

[So bored…]

Bored.

So bored he felt like dying.

He couldn’t endure this boredom.

[Shit, is this how demons are supposed to live?]

No. This wasn’t how humans—or rather, demons—were meant to live.

[Maybe try climbing up to a higher level? Not that lower levels are fun anyway. Mortals coming down here are usually too skilled.]

Mortals who reached the lower levels were generally experts. They would often laugh and overcome the trials effortlessly.

Enkeos considered it better to climb to a higher level even if it cost him a little power. At least he might find some amusement there.

After all, the mortals on the upper floors were fresher. He enjoyed watching these green rookies unknowingly accept trials, only to collapse in despair.

Normally, Transcendents could only send trials in the lower levels, but there were exceptions.

If they accepted significant losses in rank, they could ascend to higher floors. The downside was that the difficulty of the trials they could send would decrease accordingly.

‘Still, this is unacceptable. There’s no fun in the lower levels!’

There was no fun in the lower levels of the maze. Besides, Enkeos was a low-ranking demon anyway.

The loss of rank a Transcendent suffered when moving from the lower to the upper floors was proportional to their current rank. For Enkeos, a low-rank demon, the loss wasn’t as severe compared to higher-ranked demons.

Of course, rank was very important to Transcendents, so few demons would willingly accept such losses to ascend.

Enkeos didn’t care. If he didn’t relieve this boredom immediately, he might die.

‘Screams! Wails! Lamentations! Tears!’

With these expectations of fear and despair from mortals, he ascended to a higher floor.

…Unaware of what awaited him there.

***

Meanwhile, the party advanced to the end of the 4th floor and soon entered the 5th.

There were occasional battles along the way, but Eri, who had previously been inexperienced, learned from her mistakes and performed her role decently. The others were also contributing beyond their shares, so no major issues arose.

Upon entering the 5th floor, Hugo spoke.

“We’re now on the 5th floor. Once we find and clear the goblin village, today’s dungeon exploration will be over.”

“Yes!”

“Also, we need to account for Mr. Yujin’s magic ingredient gathering. Let’s move accordingly. Now, let’s go.”

Thus, the party set out to find the goblin village.

Yujin occasionally gathered magical ingredients as they moved forward until they soon discovered a settlement.

“Village spotted.”

Mirien spoke, prompting Hugo to hide nearby in the woods.

“We found it quicker than expected. First, Mirien will eliminate the goblins patrolling around the village…”

“…Hold on.”

Just as Hugo was explaining the plan, Mirien interrupted and spoke. Hugo questioned her.

“Hmm? Mirien, what’s wrong?”

“…There are no goblins guarding the village.”

“…What?”

Hugo furrowed his brows slightly upon hearing this before turning to Hans.

“Hans, do you have binoculars?”

“Yes, here they are.”

Hans retrieved a pair of binoculars from his bag and handed them to Hugo.

Hugo immediately brought the binoculars to his eyes.

“…They’re really gone.”

“This is odd. No goblins at all? Not even the ones guarding the village?”

Chrome muttered, puzzled. Hugo lowered the binoculars and spoke.

“They’re not sleeping inside either. Let’s check it out.”

With that, Hugo led the party towards the village. Meanwhile, Yujin addressed Tiamat.

‘Tiamat, I haven’t felt this kind of heavy aura before… Could this be…’

『…Yujin, it seems your suspicions are correct.』

Tiamat’s expression was unusually serious as she spoke.

『A demon.』

By the time she said this, the party had reached deeper into the village.

“Indeed, nothing’s here…”

“Wait!”

At that moment, Mirien urgently spoke up.

Her face was grim.

“Mirien? What’s wrong…?”

“This can’t be… No, it shouldn’t be possible. But this is undoubtedly…”

“What’s going on?”

As Mirien mumbled incomprehensibly, Hugo grew curious. Just then…

Thud, thud!

Heavy footsteps echoed from a large tent deep within the village.

Everyone froze, turning their gazes toward the tent.

Thud, thud!

A figure emerged with green skin like a goblin but an incredibly massive body.

Standing at least 2 meters tall, possibly nearing 3, was a green giant with a pig-like face.

“…An orc?”

An orc, the monster, stood there.

In its grasp was a goblin shaman dressed in ancient sorcerer robes, his neck twisted unnaturally.

Whoosh!

The orc hurled the dead goblin shaman far away and burst into laughter.

[Welcome, mortals!]

The orc… no.

The demon residing within the orc, Enkeos, shouted loudly.

[This is a trial!]

At the same time,

[A demon, Enkeos, is attempting to impose a trial.]

Before the party, a blue glass-like screen appeared.

[Trial Description: Defeat the orc possessed by the demon, Enkeos.]

[Do you accept the trial?]

[YES] [NO]