Ankoku Kishi Monogatari (WN)

◆Dark Knight Kuroki

「Hu~m. So Reiji-kun went down to the next floor to save the Princess called Euria.」

We were currently gathering in a room within Rena’s Temple in Republic Ariadya. Shirone was currently listening to the report from the attendants regarding the one named Princess Euria. After we’d broken the barrier, everyone who was held captive in the labyrinth was teleported to Rena’s temple.

Looking around Ariadya, everyone was so delighted and sang praises for the hero Reiji. The one’s who’d come last were Princess Euria’s attendants, who informed us that Reiji had gone down to the lower floor of the labyrinth to save the kidnapped Princess.

By the way, the only ones in the room currently were me, Shirone, Kyouka, Kaya, Regena, and five of Euria’s attendants.

「Yes. Reiji-sama went to save our princess. Shirone-sama, please assist him to save our princess too.」

They made such a brazen request with a face devoid of any emotion. I mean, even Kaya, who was currently standing next to me, would show at least a slight change in her expression. Comparatively, these attendants looked and felt like emotionless dolls.

「Do I really need to save her? I mean, that princess called Euria is the daughter of an evil god, right? We heard everything from Atlankua.」

All five of the attendants visibly trembled at hearing Shirone’s words. Their jaw moved slightly, but Kaya moved even faster than they did, knocking out the five within a second and causing them to vomit out the thing in their mouths.

I moved in closer to take a look at the thing they’d been forced to spew out.

「Is this poison? Maybe they were ordered to commit suicide if the truth was revealed…」

The thing they’d spewed out was definitely poison, perhaps the kind that was planted in their molar to be used to commit suicide. They might have been ordered to swallow the poison if the truth were to be revealed.

「Poor thing.」

Kyouka spoke softly while overlooking the unconscious attendants. They were being treated as disposable tools. Maybe their minds were blinded by some sort of magic.

People often misunderstood Kyouka due to her high states, but, once I’d talked to her, I’d come to realize that she was, in fact, a really kind girl. She was worried about those attendants.

「What shall we do then, Shirone?」

I still chose to ask despite already being aware of what her answer would be.

「Naturally, we're going to save them, Kuroki!!」

I’ve long since been aware that Shirone would give such a straightforward answer in this kind of situation. Even worse, it seems like she’s already decided on her own that I will come with her.

I’m actually somewhat reluctant to go save them, but Nut was also being carried along with them so it left me no choice but to go with Shirone.

「Let me in too, Shirone-san!」

Kyouka was trying to go with us too.

「You can't, milady. It's too dangerous.」

Kaya immediately raised an objection.

「Tell me why I can't go too, Kaya!! I mean, I can use magic too!!」

Despite Kyouka's plea, Kaya simply shook her head expressionlessly, flat out rejecting her request for participation.

「You can't, milady. Your magic is still unstable and you've yet to be able to land a hit on the target. Diving into that labyrinth with such unstable power is simply too dangerous.」

「Uuuh…」

Kyouka looks about ready to cry from Kaya’s harsh words of reality. But, in the end, Kaya was right. Kyouka’s magic was still unstable and it was too dangerous to take her along to dive into the labyrinth.

「Kyouka-san, will you be standing by here with Kaya-san? There's something that I'm worrying about.」

I decided to send a lifeboat to Kaya.

「Something you're worrying about?」

「Yes, there might be another spy above the ground, people like Atlankua. There's a high possibility that Shirone and I might be locked up inside of the labyrinth too. That's why, can I ask your help to secure our path for retreat?」

I looked at Kyouka.

My words were half lie and half true.

I couldn’t take Kyouka along since her power was still unstable. And, if Atlankua wasn’t lying, Zarxis should still be wandering around in this area. She had said that Zarxis wasn’t currently in the labyrinth but had no idea about his current position.

This was why the part about needing someone to stand by outside to observe the situation was more or less the truth.

「Yes. I understand… I guess I really have no choice but to stay as Kuroki-san had said.」

Kyouka said those words with a slightly disappointed face.

「And lastly, Regena, can I leave the matter of commanding the Lizardmen to you?」

「Acknowledged, Master.」

Regena replied promptly.

「Huhu~m, that mean Kuroki and I will be the only ones who dive into the labyrinth.」

Shirone said so delightfully.

「Well, it seems to be that way…」

Since both Kaya and Kyouka were on stand by outside of the labyrinth, the job to dive into the labyrinth naturally fell onto me and Shirone.

「Let's do our best to save Reiji-kun and co, Kuroki!!」

Shirone took my hand in hers, her eyes sparkling with excitement in the face of a new adventure before her.

「O-O~h.」

And the poor me ended up getting flustered due to her forceful nature. Is it really that you can’t wait to save Reiji?

I can't help but feel complicated inside.

「I never expected to be able to work along with you. Doesn't that remind you of the adventure during our childhood, Kuroki?」

Shirone spoke merrily with a carefree expression despite the danger awaiting them within the depths of the labyrinth.

It seems that Shirone’s ability to sense danger was infinitely close to zero.

But, she’s right. I really missed those old days when we were just running around the small hill close to our house and having play adventures with Shirone. Plus, it has been a really long time since it’s just been the two of us alone.

Even though we were used to playing around together frequently in our childhood, we barely exchanged words now after growing up. Of course, the reason being that Shirone was always hanging around Reiji.

Since I don’t have that many friends, I often ended up being alone by myself. Even now, I still remember some of those times.

I didn’t even celebrate Christmas after Shirone didn’t hang out with me anymore. Besides that, there were still dozens of those lonely memories in my mind.

I felt so lonely during those times, but it really couldn’t be helped in the end. Afterall, Shirone has found someone she likes.

Besides, the current me isn’t alone anymore. I’ve got Kuna by my side. It’s been a while since I got to see her and I already miss her so much that my heart feels like it would burst. I guess I’ll return as soon as I’m done taking care of this trouble.

「Let's go, Kuroki!! We'll definitely save Reiji-kun and co this time!!」

Shirone flashed a bright smile towards me.

I simply nodded in response.

Thus, I entered the labyrinth while recalling the nostalgic memories of adventuring with Shirone in the past. I’m almost convinced right now that this adventure might possibly be my last adventure with Shirone.