Chapter 10: Night Companion (3)
Strictly speaking, the word 'us' wasn't quite right.
The duo, Chunky and Weaky, were interested in Erwen, not me.
Nudge, nudge.
I shook Erwen with my foot again.
"Ummm…."
What 'ummm'? Get up.
I know you're not sleeping.
I saw you peek when you heard their voices and then cover your face with the blanket.
"Kyaa!"
Not wanting to waste time arguing, I simply grabbed her shoulder and forced her up.
"Why were you pretending to sleep?"
"Well…"
Erwen trailed off, avoiding my gaze.
From my perspective, needing to gather information and make a decision as quickly as possible, her attitude was quite frustrating.
Swish.
I grabbed her chin and turned her face toward me, forcing her to meet my eyes.
Erwen reluctantly began to speak.
"You'll leave if I wake up, won't you…?"
I see, so that was why.
I had made an Oath.
If a conflict with an Explorer arose while I was on watch, I had to fight alongside her.
Unfortunately, this incident occurred during my final promised watch.
Well, I don't care about things like honor… but she doesn't know that.
So she tried to hold out somehow.
The moment she opened her eyes, the Night Companion Oath would be over.
"Hah."
I first let out a deep sigh.
If a grown man like Old Man Hans had pulled something like this, I would have been angry… but since it was just a twenty-year-old, I felt a sense of pity first.
Of course, that was that, and this was this.
"What happened between you and those two?"
"Nothing."
"Then why were you hiding?"
"…The emblem on their clothes was the same. The same as the human man who tried to harm me. They must be part of the same group."
A group… Damn, this is getting complicated.
I even started to wonder if it would be better to just part ways with this Fairy lady right here.
"Let's talk while we move."
"Are you going to help me?"
"After I hear the rest of your story."
First, I took Erwen and left the place we were at.
Then, moving at almost a run, I assessed the rest of the situation.
"Tell me everything that happened."
Erwen must have read the mood, as she spoke without complaint, briefly recounting only the important information.
"The person I met as a Night Companion on the first day attacked me while I was sleeping. I found out later he was an executive of some group that operates mainly on the First Floor."
For reference, the name of that group was the 'Crystal Alliance'.
"I managed to escape somehow, but ever since, people from the same group have been attacking me on sight. That's when I got injured."
I cut her off for a moment.
"Wait, how did they know about that?"
"Message Stones."
So what are those? There was nothing like that in the game I played.
"More details."
"It's a Magical Tool that allows people to talk to each other through Message Stones that have been resonated beforehand. I heard the range is about 300 meters."
"I see."
It's a type of walkie-talkie.
If you set the frequency in advance, you can communicate within a 300-meter radius.
I was slowly starting to understand the situation.
With a Magical Tool like this and a large number of people, information could be easily relayed even in such a closed environment.
The problem, however…
"What's the reason they're going to such lengths to chase you?"
Erwen had done nothing wrong.
So why were they putting so much effort into hunting down the victim?
"Is it to silence you?"
"…I don't think that's the only reason."
"There's more?"
"Well…"
Erwen, who had been answering my questions forthrightly, hesitated to speak again.
With an attitude like this, there was no way I could help her.
Just as I was thinking that…
"W-When I first ran away, I just swung my knife wildly. But it happened to hit a bad spot…"
"…A bad spot?"
I felt a sudden chill.
A breeze kept brushing past my groin.
"Th-th-that place… you know…?"
So it was true.
"Ahem, anyway, from what I overheard the people chasing me say, it was completely severed, so it couldn't even be reattached with a Potion… I think that's why…"
That's a good reason to hunt her with fire in their eyes.
"I-I-I'm sorry…"
It was nothing to apologize for.
Wasn't he the one who caused it? He got what he deserved.
The problem is that there are too many bastards in the world who don't understand such a simple principle.
"Old Man, I think there's a pursuer."
"What?"
"Don't look back."
I focused my hearing, but couldn't hear anything unusual.
"The distance… seems to be about 150 meters behind us."
It was a distance at which sensing a presence should be impossible, but she didn't seem to be lying.
There was no reason for her to.
Could this be the innate Sixth Sense of a Fairy?
Suddenly, she looked different to me.
"We need to pick up the pace. Can you handle it?"
"Yes. I can still manage."
Even though her white bandage had turned red, as if the wound had opened, Erwen didn't let out a single groan.
She had good grit.
Well, my mind had grown more complicated, though.
"What's the distance to the pursuer?"
"…Still about 150 meters."
Even though we sped up, the distance wasn't increasing.
The situation wasn't good.
By now, the pursuer must be using that Message Stone or whatever to inform his companions of our location.
I have to take him out.
If their target had been me, I would have certainly made that decision.
But I was still just running.
Because once I kill him, I can't back out anymore.
So, before I commit, let's confirm a few things.
"Um, Old Man…?"
What is the risk I'll have to bear, and what can I gain in return?
I need more detailed information.
"Erwen."
"Y-Yes?"
"What are you good at?"
"I'm confident in things like laundry and cleaning. I-I'm not very good at cooking, though…"
What is she talking about right now?
"I mean in a fight."
"…The bow! The bow! Oh, and Spirit Magic, too!"
The classic Bow Fairy.
"What element?"
"…Fire."
Hmm, the rarest element.
Thanks to that, a picture is slowly starting to form.
"Have you ever killed a person?"
"No… but I can do it."
That's something you only know after you've done it.
"I see."
I asked her one last question.
"Erwen, will you be my companion? The duration is until we escape the Labyrinth, and the distribution of spoils will be nine for me, one for you."
"I-I'll do it!"
With that, I now had a justification.
***
"—I promise this in the name of my tribe."
"I, too, swear on my honor as a Warrior."
Just like before, we sealed it with a mark of trust, evolving our relationship from one-night Night Companions to temporary companions.
Of course, while running like hell.
"Distance?"
"About 100 meters!"
Even though we were moving at our maximum speed, the distance was closing.
I hardened my resolve.
"We're heading to the outer area."
"Okay!"
I turned and entered a dark passage.
The glowing crystals on the walls and ceiling grew fewer and fewer, and soon, pitch-black darkness descended upon us.
My mind was a mess.
Hah, I never thought I'd come back here of my own accord.
"Erwen, summon a Spirit."
A watermelon-sized flame appeared above her palm, illuminating the surroundings.
I carefully watched the ground as I moved quickly through the darkness.
And then…
"Unsummon it."
We hid our bodies in the darkness.
"His presence?"
"You'll be able to hear him soon, Old Man."
"I see."
I maintained my composure as best I could and focused on my hearing.
The best-case scenario was that the pursuer would lose us and pass by.
Then I wouldn't have to kill him, and I could still back out later.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-.
Before long, the sound of the pursuer's footsteps reached my ears.
However, contrary to my hopes, his steps didn't pass by.
They stopped.
Right in front of the fork where we had turned.
Thump.
Dammit…
It seemed that bastard had a way to track us.
Whether it was by scent, sound, or something magical.
Trudge, trudge.
The man turned and walked slowly, stopping about thirty meters away from us.
At the boundary where the bottomless darkness began.
"…"
He craned his neck to peer into the darkness, and we held our breath and watched him from within.
"There you are."
After sniffing a few times in the quiet stillness, the man muttered to himself.
Then, he took something out of his pocket.
It was something I had never seen before, but I intuitively knew what it was.
A Message Stone.
The moment I saw it, I muttered a short signal.
A signal for Erwen, who must have been holding her bowstring taut and aiming her arrow this whole time.
"Shoot."
Thwack-.
Before I had even finished speaking, an arrow shot out and embedded itself in the man's forehead.
Thud.
Even as the lifeless man collapsed to the ground, I didn't step out immediately.
"…"
I could feel an undeniable trembling from Erwen right beside me.
"Well done. If you had hesitated, it would have been dangerous."
This wasn't hollow praise; I meant it.
Didn't I also hesitate when I brought my shield down on that old man? Just now, Erwen didn't even have that moment of pause.
She must have known it herself without me having to tell her.
That she must never hesitate.
"Yes…"
"You rest for a moment."
That was enough consolation.
I stepped out of the darkness and searched the corpse.
The pursuer's belongings were rather sparse, perhaps because he'd left his backpack with another companion for a swift pursuit.
'To feel disappointed by this, I've really become one of this world's people.'
First, I stripped the pursuer of his gear from head to toe, then organized the items I acquired one by one.
A belt, a leather top and bottom, two daggers, a rather heavy Magic Stone pouch, a Potion that was stored in a pocket and tied to his belt, and the Message Stone.
"Good. Come here."
After a rough sort, I called Erwen over.
I then removed her bandage and treated her wound with the Potion.
Ssss, the wound began to heal with a sizzling sound.
"Nngh…"
It was fine to make a sound, but Erwen clenched her teeth and endured it.
She has a tough side to her, too.
Or is her mental state just shattered?
I hope it's the former.
I'm not confident in my counseling skills.
"Are you feeling a bit better?"
"Yes. Wide awake."
"Then change into this."
After a few minutes of treatment, I held out the leather top and bottom I had just acquired.
I judged it would be much more practical than her flimsy cloth clothes.
"I'll go change right now."
Did she figure she had a higher chance of survival by following all my judgments? It must have felt unsettling, but Erwen immediately took the clothes and went into the darkness to change.
"It's a little long. Come here."
I personally cut the excess length from the arms and legs.
"Wear this, too. It should be a bit better."
It looked a little loose overall, but once she put on the belt, it seemed quite comfortable.
But perhaps because of the change of clothes, her whole atmosphere had changed.
Before, she was a Fairy girl on an outing; now, she looked like a proper female Warrior.
Even her expression.
"…This feels really strange."
"You'll get used to it."
"I-I guess so…?"
"Yes, you will."
I shoved all the other items into my backpack, dragged the naked corpse, and hid it in the darkness.
Then I picked up the Message Stone.
"How do you use this thing?"
"Just a moment. Let me try."
Erwen examined the Message Stone and then pressed something with a click.
[…Contact with Serdin, who was tracking the fairy bitch and the Barbarian, has been lost.
All who receive this message, assemble at the Goblin District.]
So far, everything was going as I expected.