Chapter 54 "Flowers"

　I'm anxious to see what's ahead, but I'm not in a particular hurry, so I walk at a leisurely pace.

　Periodically, corpses and body parts attack me, but I deal with them appropriately and turn them into sand.

I was gaining distance like that, but then I suddenly tilted my head.

　For being called a labyrinth or something, it's a straight road.

　It was chilling at first, but once you get used to it, the enemy is not that much of a threat.

　But I must be careful not to let my guard down. If I let my guard down, I might get caught flat-footed.

I continued walking.

Time-wise, I've been walking for about half a day.

It's a little late but there is no such thing as a clock in this world.

　Most people tell me that they tell time by the height of the sun.

When the sun rises, it's morning, when it's just overhead, it's noon, and when it sets, it's night.

In my previous life, I would have felt restless without a clock, but I haven't had any trouble since I came here.

　I guess I had a cramped life when I think about it.

　When I was employed, I looked at the clock and sighed and complained, and even when I became a NEET, I probably looked at the clock once every few seconds, watching anime and playing online games, worrying about the time.

　Looking back, it was a boring life. I'm finished with being cramped and boring.

　Oh, it was over. Ha-ha-ha.　

　"...... huh."

　I felt a little sad.

　While I was thinking about that, the road finally changed. It was a fork in the road.

　I checked the ground, but there were footprints and traces, but they extended both ways, so I couldn't make a decision.

　It was too much trouble to think, so I put up my club and knocked it down.

　Let's go this way. I turned my foot toward the one where the club had fallen.

　It would be appropriate for this kind of thing.

Further in. It's boring that there is no change.

　It's called a dungeon, so there should be a treasure chest or something.

　The only things that have fallen out are broken swords, pieces of armor, and equipment from corpses.

　Probably, the usable things were stripped away.

　As a result, nothing but garbage was left.

What a dreamless dungeon exploration.

　It's not what I expected.

　While I was thinking that I was getting a little bored, I heard something faintly in the distance.

　Screams and sounds of impact. It's obviously the sound of battle.

　I'm catching up faster than I thought.

　I quickly head toward the source of the sound. Ah, I can see them.

They're carrying lights, so I know where they are right away.

　"Vanguard! Hold them back somehow!"

　"Reinforcements from the back!"

　"Fuck you! I can't hold them!"

　"Gook! Damn it! Avenge Gook's death!"

　Oh. They're doing it.

　There are less than 20 of them.

Half of them are holding them in check, and the other half are going around finishing them off.

　Three or four of them are taking down one, and several mages are attacking with magic at close range.

　That's good. They are burning them until they are completely consumed by the fire system. It's a slow but steady offense.

But if they don't hurry, the people holding them back will die.

　The vanguard, which is taking care of most of the work, is being pushed back.

　Oh, one of them is caught.

　"No, don't..."

　The next moment, he was stabbed to death with swords and spears. That one is dead.

　"Almost there! Everybody, hold your ground!"

　A guy who looked like a leader was calling out to the others and swinging his sword.

　I looked closely and saw that he was carrying a red plate, and he was moving very well indeed.

　Speaking of which, what happened to the other two?

The other man is applying healing magic to all the wounded and sending them back into the battle line.

　Those who were sent back return to the battlefield with a sad look on their faces.

A low-tensioned woman joins those who are holding back and incinerates her enemies with fire magic.

　It's interesting as a spectacle, but it's not very helpful in terms of fighting.

　What I'm more interested in is the dead bodies.

　How do they join them after they die?

　I observed, but then I tilted my head.

　Some adventurers are dragging a dead body down. What are they doing? Why are they going to the trouble of taking a bunch of people...?

　Ah, they are preventing them from being reused.

　I then observed for a while, and the battle was won by the adventurers cutting down the enemy.

　There were four dead. So there are 12 left. That's easy to count when they stop.

　After confirming that the enemy had been cleared, he stripped the corpses of equipment that could be used, and then burned them with magic.

　I see. It doesn't happen right after death, does it?

　"Hey, hey! There's 30 of us and not even half of us left! We can't go any further!"

　That's a fair point. It would have been better if he had said that when the number of people was down to two thirds.

　"I know what you mean! But if we pull out now, the sacrifices of all those who died will be in vain!"

　Red Plate is clenching his fists and making some sort of forceful argument.

　Ah, this is the guy who regrets only after being wiped out. He's the kind of guy who shouldn't be in command.

How could he have survived all this time in such state of mind?

　The blue-plated man who is continuing his treatment looks reluctant.

　He looks like he is weighing whether to go back or forward.

　The woman's expression is hard, and the color of fatigue is deep.

　...Well, three more times...maybe four at the most?

　After that many encounters with the enemy, it's over, and there will probably not be a fifth.

　"I'm going to rearrange the formation. We don't have enough vanguards. Anyone who can get to the front, please!"

Well, there's a chance they'll be attacked on the way back, so if they want to make it back alive, they'd better retreat...

　That's impossible. They can only see what's in front of them.

　Well, what am I going to do...?

　By the way, helping is not an option.

　If I were a romantic-comedy hero with a lot of compensation....

　There's a girl here, so I'll save her!

　Wait until the girl is in trouble as much as possible.

　Wait until the girl is about to die.

　The girl I save is grateful and immediately falls in love with me.

　Oh, my gosh! Hold me!

.................... ain't it.

　What's a quick fall out of gratitude? Idiot. It's a more plausible explanation that he's brainwashing her with magic.

　Oh, I can do something similar.

　I'm getting sidetracked.

Anyway, I have two choices, wait until they die, or take advantage of the opportunity and overtake them.

　It's not so hard to overtake them. In that case, I have to take on the enemy instead of them.

If I wait, I'll have to go on at a leisurely pace until they're dead.　

　I don't like either one.

　Waiting is tedious and taking on the enemy is aggravating.

　As I watched them regrouping, I had an idea.

Why don't I just go back? As I recall, there was a fork in the road, so let's go the other way.

　Once that was decided, I had no use for this place.

Well, I'm almost certain they will die, but I wish them the best of luck.

Inwardly, I prayed for their souls and went back the way I came.

After returning to the parting road, I entered the road on the other side.

　There were many enemies on this side, but I dealt with them appropriately and continued on.

　As I continued on, I thought about this place.

It was true that those zombie-like creatures were strong, but they were no match for me.

In fact, although the group was struggling, the majority of the group was blue and yellow, and they could conquer this far.

If they had the numbers and the time, I don't think it would be impossible to conquer the place....

But if they haven't been able to do so, there must be something more ahead.

Thinking about this, I continued walking along the unchanging road.

　I wondered if I had overtaken them with enough time to spare in terms of position. Just when I thought so, there was a change in the scenery.

Flowers were growing at my feet, on top of me, and on the walls.　

As I continued on, more and more flowers appeared, until finally they covered the entire area.

　Hmmm... Flowers were everywhere, above and below.

　Before entering the flower garden, look at the flowers at hand.

　This is definitely a bad guy. Does it produce poison or something?

　I tried to pull one out to test it out, but...I couldn't pull it out.

　Looking at the edge of the flower, it seems to be growing from the ivy that grows in large numbers from walls and other places.

　That's not easy to pull out.

　At a quick glance, it looked like an ordinary flower...a bud, at that.

　I am not familiar with flowers, but it looks like the kind of pink flower you see around here.

　As I watched, the flower slowly opened.

　I quickly let go of the flower and jump back.

　I have a bad feeling...

　I hear a whistling sound and something bites into my shoulder. The something breaks through the skin and stops at the flesh.

　The attack can't penetrate that far into the body because of the Death Worm armor under the flesh.

　I thought it was a stone or something from the way it hit me. But the strange feeling that appeared on my shoulder blew my thoughts away.

Ivy grew from my shoulder. Not a stone, but a seed.

From the feel of it inside my body, it seems to grow by sucking blood and magic power.　

　I stop the blood flow around the ivy and block the flow of magic as well.

　A good mage can do that with no problem. The blood flow, though, will be impossible.

　The ivy stops growing. Seizing the moment, I prey on the ivy to get rid of it.

　...Close...

This time, I feel something pierce my leg.

　Wait.... Seriously?

　I put off dealing with the seed and activate  and  in all directions at the same time to destroy the blind spot.

　It's a two-layered shield of fire and wind. If it burns up with fire, it's good, but if it comes through, I'll use wind to deflect it.

　It seems my judgment was correct. A barrage of seeds attacked me without a moment's pause.

　Most of them burned up, but some escaped and flew toward the day after tomorrow, deflected by the wind shield.

　I made sure I was protected and dealt with the seeds in my legs.

　That was close....

If I had been late in dealing with it, I would have been in trouble.

　The barrage of seeds still hasn't subsided and continues to chip away at the shield.

I am sending additional magic power to the shields, so they will last for a while, but how long will this last?

At any rate, I now know what happened to the people who were killed.

　I also understand why all the people who entered this place were wiped out.

　This is terrible. It's hard to prevent it at first sight.

　I tried to counterattack with  while maintaining my shield, but as expected, it was ineffective.

It's surprisingly non-flammable for a plant.

　I just keep shooting magic until the seeds stop flying.

　When the barrage subsided, the whole area was a burnt field.

　"...... phew."

　After exhaling and checking the safety of the surroundings, deactivate the shield.

　Proceeding ahead with caution. When I go out of the effect range of the magic, as I expected, I see a flower growing.

It is dangerous, so if I see it, I burn it and crush it immediately.

...As expected, it's hard work.

If I burn them with magic every time, I will not be able to keep it up.

　I think about it. Should I continue on or go back?

If I go back, there is no problem. If I go forward, I'd better go at once.

Maybe if I take it easy, even I will be finished.

　Well, what should I do? I still have some energy left, just in case.

I'll have to wait a few days for Heidi's return... Well, let's just go as far as I can.

　Think about how to attack. Think. Thinking...

　An idea came to me.

　Hmmm, let's go with something a little more drastic.