I pummeled the Cursed Slime without missing a beat, and each hit tore open a big hole.
The iron plate underneath was laid bare.
Right on cue, Agaro leaped down from the top of the half-destroyed tower.
"—One Blade, Severing Demons—"
He threw something first, then swung Flametongue in a powerful lateral slash mid-air.
That was holy water. Special holy water from the Witch.
The holes in the Cursed Slime widened slightly where it splashed.
Did he use it to make it easier to slice?
One of the iron plates protecting the core split clean in two.
The plate, exposed to the outside air through the hole, detached and fell away.
Those were iron plates from seriously thick armor. To split one with a single swing... incredible.
He'd said something earlier. One something something. A Relic? Or a technique?
Either way, the Cursed Slime's core was now fully exposed.
A round, black lump of flesh, pulsing like a heartbeat. To be blunt, it was a disgusting mass of meat.
Juicy didn't let that chance slip by.
An arrow was loosed.
The elixir arrow traced a white parabola and embedded itself deep in the core as if being sucked in.
The core shattered and vanished, and the Cursed Slime dissolved as if evaporating.
In the blink of an eye, just as Agaro had said, it was all over—and we'd won.
Momentum really is something.
What remained were heaps of skulls and bones, plus a treasure chest.
"Phew, we made it."
"We did indeed."
"Oh, oh, oh, we did it!"
Juicy came running over. I patted his head.
His tail wagged so hard it looked like it might tear off. A gust of wind blew.
"My, my, you were all truly splendid," the Witch praised, still holding Dagaa.
"Oh, oh, it's thanks to the bow the Witch made!" Juicy said, and started to respectfully return the bow.
The Witch shook her head.
"No, no, I made that bow to suit you, dear. It's yours now. Take good care of it."
"Oh, oh, oh! Really?! Thank you so much!"
Juicy was overjoyed, wagging his tail furiously and showing me his beaming face. Wof this, Wof that.
"Alright. Let's take a look at this treasure too," Agaro said, taking a swig from his gourd.
A treasure chest—those usually make you think of Mimics, but not this one.
A treasure chest glowing with yellow light... it was a chest lavishly adorned in white silver ornamentation.
The chest itself might as well have been the treasure.
"Hm hm. What a magnificent treasure chest."
"Oh, oh, Wof! It's gorgeous!"
"Na!"
"It's almost too ornate."
I'm pretty sure the chest alone would fetch a hefty sum.
"Shall we open it?"
"Wait. There might be traps. Let me check."
"Check?"
"Well, well, young Wof has a Relic for that sort of thing."
He used the Relic [Danger Discernment]. No response from the treasure chest.
"There's no danger."
"Then let's open it. Witch, if you would."
"Yes, yes, let's open it then."
The Witch handed Dagaa to me and crouched down.
She touched the keyhole, rattling it back and forth.
Dagaa climbed up onto my head.
What the heck.
"Oh, oh, oh, can you open it?"
"Mhm, mhm, just a little more... there. It's open!"
The lid of the treasure chest opened with a flourish.
The Witch reached in and pulled out a triangular prism made of metal.
It gleamed gold, etched with countless lines.
"What is that?"
"Oh, oh, oh, it looks like something you'd throw and catch!"
"No, no, it's nothing like that. Hmm, now what could this be?"
"You don't know?"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh, it looks like something you'd throw and catch!"
"No, no, it really isn't, dear. Hmm, would it be alright if I held onto this?"
"Na!"
"Hey—Dagaa! Stop smacking my face with your tail! That's fine with me."
"Well, I don't exactly want to carry around something that dangerous either. Do what you want."
"Oh, oh, oh, I have no objections either. Please take it. But if you ever feel like throwing it, just say the word! I'll definitely catch it!"
"No, no, I won't be throwing it."
How badly does he want to throw and catch something?
And so we descended to the next floor.
The next floor was a corridor of endless stone walls—very dungeon-like.
No rooms, just corridors. And they branched left and right into a complex maze.
The monsters that appeared in that maze were—Skeletons. Zombies. Skeletons. Dullahans.
Globs. Phantoms. Silkies. Crawling Women. Puppets. Zombies. Skeletons.
Spirits. Ghouls. Mummies. Zombies. Globs. Skeletons. Dullahans.
Cursed Slimes. Globs. Silkies. Skeletons. Wandering Women. Zombies.
Ghouls. Skeletons. Skeletons. Skeletons. Standing Women. Skeletons.
Skeletons. Skeletons. Watching Women. Skeletons. Skeletons. Zombies.
Ugh, enough already. It's nothing but Undead—I'm going to be sick.
And the occasional Ghost Woman is scary too. They don't do anything, which makes them even scarier.
"There's way too many Skeletons, don't you think?"
"I agree."
I feel like the Skeletons in that forest earlier were about this numerous.
"Oh, oh, oh, I want big bones. I don't need the small ones," Juicy complained.
Even the big ones aren't going to work.
"My, my, so the upper levels of the Tomb of Death are like this," the Witch sighed. I wonder what the deeper levels are like. Still, we're making good progress.
With a party this strong, it's only natural. At this rate, we'll be taking on the Death King with real momentum.
But the Death King's strength is estimated at mid-tier Gem class... even at the lower end, a single one could destroy a city.
And we're supposed to defeat it in four days? We need to reach the deepest level in at least the remaining two days.
Well, the Witch says she can beat it, so I suppose she can.
But... something feels off. Something's nagging at me.
Night fell.
Since there were no rooms and only corridors, we decided to seal off a section of one corridor completely and rest for the night.
The Witch produced enormous sheets to partition the area, and the light orb she'd gotten from Riv floated above them.
Each section became like a private room.
The first sheet. A campfire. In front of it, a black sofa.
Agaro sat on the black sofa, gazing at the fire while drinking.
On the fire were three skewers loaded with mushrooms, meat, onion, and green onion.
The mushrooms were ones that grew in the corridor—edible ones.
The onion and green onion were food from the Witch's pouch.
So Agaro actually eats his vegetables too.
The second sheet.
Juicy lay sprawled on a red sofa, playing with Dagaa.
On his back, he'd toss Dagaa up and catch him, then squeeze him tight.
"Oh, oh, oh, Wof! W-wof! Wof! W-wof! Wof wof!"
"Na! Na! Na! Na-na! Na! Na! Na-na! Na! Na!"
"Wof wof. Wof. W-wof. Wof. Woof!"
"Na!"
I couldn't tell what they were doing, but they seemed to be having fun.
Also, Juicy—maybe stop kicking your legs around so much?
You're flailing your bare legs and your red skirt keeps flashing.
The third sheet. A lonely black sofa sat there. My private room.
On the sofa was a rough sleeping bag—my prized possession.
I don't know about the others, but I sleep on a sofa.
The fourth sheet had nothing behind it.
It was supposed to be for luggage, but that was no longer needed. What a waste.
Behind the fifth sheet, I could see the Witch's back.
She was sitting not on a sofa but a chair, working away. The sound of tinkering came from her workbench.
The tinkering stopped.
"Hmm hmm, someone's there. Probably young Wof."
"Yes, it's me."
"Mhm mhm. So, what can I do for you?"
Without turning around, the Witch asked.
"How is it? That thing?"
I knew she'd been fiddling with the metallic triangular prism from the treasure chest.
"Mhm mhm, I'm almost done deciphering it. Well, I already know what it is, more or less."
"Really?"
"It's this, it's this—it's a key."
The Witch slid her chair around and turned to face me.
She looked smug, giving a little huff through her nose.
"A key?"
"Yes, yes, a special key. There's something somewhere that you insert this into to open."
"Oh, one of those... it's not one of those keys you have to collect, is it?"
I'd hate that. What a pain. I absolutely hate those collection-type things.
In manga, anime, or games, they just drag things out and it's exhausting.
In real life, it's even more annoying.
And this Tomb of Death is absurdly wide and complex, crawling with Undead, gloomy, and dark.
Honestly, I just want to go home.
"Yes, exactly. Oh my, young Wof, you've got quite a look on your face. By the way, is that really what you came to ask about?"
The Witch had seen right through me. She really is the Witch. I asked what was really on my mind.
"...How do we beat the Death King?"
"I do have a proper secret strategy."
"Is it—[Generous]?"
I said it clearly. The Witch said nothing.
Pseudo-Deification Relic [Generous].
My fourth Relic. It pseudo-deifies me into the god Generous, whom Edda worships.
Its power is tremendous. But it only works for five minutes, with a one-day cooldown.
There are also Relics that can only be used in this form.
Defeating the Black Knight was also thanks to [Generous].
I'd known she'd plan to use it.
But was it the plan from the start, or did circumstances force her hand? That difference matters a lot.
Even with a teacher, there are things that are okay to do and things that aren't.
"That is certainly one of the options."
"So you can't say you weren't counting on it from the beginning."
"Hm hm, young Wof, you believe in the power of your Relics."
"That's... yes. But I don't believe in them blindly."
I think my thinking about Relics has become a bit more flexible than before.
But I still maintain the view that Relics are a technique.
"Mhm mhm. Overconfidence is bad, but maintaining a proper distance with your Relics is a good thing."
"Why did you take on this investigation?"
With the Witch's personality, she would have absolutely refused. It's far too troublesome and inconvenient.
The Witch gave a wicked grin and rested her chin on her hand.
"Oh my, to hear that from the person responsible."
"What do you mean?"
"The reason I took on this commission—it's your fault, young Wof."
She crossed her legs as she said it.
My fault? What does that mean? Wait—ah, yes, actually.
"Mhm mhm. Good reaction."
"My fault... well, yes, that's true."
I'd unknowingly destroyed the defense mechanism and released that forest.
That's what started the Tomb of Death activating.
I don't really know what "activating" concretely means.
But it's definitely a very bad thing.
"Hm? Hm? Ah, ah, mhm mhm. Not in that sense. Even if I hadn't known about what young Wof released, I would have taken on this Tomb of Death liberation request. And that's because of your influence, young Wof."
"My influence?"
What was she talking about? I stared blankly.
The Witch fiddled with her silver hair as she spoke, somewhat bashfully.
"You see, I've never been fond of people by nature. If I could, I'd live alone. I'm the kind of person who can live alone. But to survive in this world, you need at minimum some interaction with people. That can't be helped, but I wanted to be able to live as freely as possible with minimal contact—that's why I earned the title of Class I Delver."
"Was it all just for that?"
"Mhm mhm. To put it bluntly, yes. And you were the same way, weren't you, young Wof? You're not fond of people either."
"I... won't deny that."
I had many secrets, and having a teacher I could confide in lightened my heart somewhat. In that sense, I hadn't been around people much either.
But even setting that aside, I simply don't like people that much.
"But, but, young Wof, you interacted with me and became my apprentice. And along the way, you've met and gotten to know all sorts of people."
"Just recently, yes. I'm surprised at how quickly my acquaintances have grown myself."
They've increased a lot in the past few months. Come to think of it, what was the trigger?
When I used the elixir I'd just obtained on the dying Torquetam?
"Mhm mhm, I was the same way back then. My acquaintances grew, and I still maintain those connections over years. But even so, I'm still not fond of people. So while I'd accept requests, I'd refuse work that took me away from home as much as possible. But after gaining young Wof as my apprentice... before I knew it, I was doing things I'd never done before—actively seeking things out, acting for someone else's sake. It was a side of me I'd never seen."
"...And that was my influence?"
"Yes, yes. It's your fault, you know."
I was shocked. I'd never imagined it.
I might be influenced by others, but to think I could influence someone else?
And that someone was the Witch, of all people. It never even crossed my mind. I was dumbfounded.
"When you put it like that..."
"Listen, listen, young Wof. The Tomb of Death is without a doubt activating."
"Wait, what? What do you mean, activating?"
"You see, a Tomb of Death—once it's discovered, it must be destroyed immediately. Because a Tomb of Death grows through offerings. And when it activates, that death spreads to the surface world."
"To the surface?"
"Mhm mhm. Through plagues, accidents, natural disasters—anything that increases death. The Tomb of Death takes the souls gained from those deaths as offerings to grow, and it's said that eventually the evil god of death Yomido will be resurrected."
"...Is that why you acted?"
"Mm-mm. Even without my intervention, there would have been considerable time before death reached the surface. So I could have refused. But I couldn't leave it be anymore. The me before meeting young Wof might have left it alone. I would have fled from this frontier—from this entire continent. But now, the people of Hydrangea are... they've become too important to me for that. And the one who made me realize that is my beloved apprentice."
The Witch smiled gently, warmly, affectionately.
I gave a wry smile.
"I don't really know what to say..."
"That's fine, that's fine, dear."
"But if that's the case, then I want to protect everyone just as much as you do."
Honestly, I'd been approaching the Tomb of Death with vague resolve, even with the curse giving me only a two-day deadline.
I knew I had to do it, but my heart wasn't really in it.
I didn't know if we could win. I was full of anxiety.
It was too sudden, too unclear, and I barely felt like I was actually facing death.
Part of that was the gaming sensibility from my past-life memories working against me.
But I'd decided. Right now, I decided. The goal and purpose crystallized in my heart.
In the remaining two days, reach the deepest level and defeat the Death King. Liberate the Tomb of Death.
That would end everything related to that forest.
I have to end it. I will end it.
"Witch, let's defeat the Death King together. I won't hold anything back."
"Heh heh, heh heh. That's exactly like you. It's your fault, you know."
The Witch looked happy.