Caw! Caw! Caw!
Finally, the bell that heralded the end of this hellish ordeal rang out.
“Hik! Hiiik! No, no! It’s not like that! Calm down, Lydia…!”
“Excuses are for the guards.”
Or maybe it was the sound of Benny’s reputation crashing and burning.
With a cold frozen expression, Lydia, radiating an opposite fiery aura, swung her greatsword again and again.
Caw! Clang! Crash!
It was a sword filled with a reckless energy that seemed ready to break through anything that got in her way, but the iron cage made by Benny, who had questionable tastes, was surprisingly sturdy.
The iron cage took hit after hit from Lydia’s strikes. However, maybe it was because the magic was cast when Benny wasn’t in the best condition.
The cage began to creak and show signs of cracking.
“Hey! Jonah! Say something! Lydia looks like she’s really about to kill me!”
“Huh? What should I say? It’s true that after Benny took off his underwear, he took off mine too, right?”
“Wh-What…?”
“Not to mention he rubbed his face against my thigh… ugh. Deal with it sweetly.”
“That was all because you insisted on it, Jonah!”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m not at fault; you tempted me! Shouldn’t you say that in court?”
“I-I can’t!”
Frustrated, Benny stomped his feet angrily. Alright, I’ve teased enough; let’s start clearing up the misunderstanding.
“Well, it’s a joke, though.”
Caw!
“…Huh?”
Lydia stopped swinging her sword abruptly. Smiling brightly at her, I let the excuse I just made roll off my tongue.
“Actually, we almost got cut apart by Morgana’s magic. Thanks to Benny, we managed to resist, but… as a price, our clothes were torn off piece by piece.”
“Really…?”
“Absolutely, really.”
I pushed the argument that it wasn’t a stripping bet but rather a bizarre aftermath of a magical duel.
In short, if you didn’t dodge, you’d just get completely cut up. Benny cleverly countered the spell, so instead of our bodies getting severed, it was our clothes that got torn instead.
Thinking that it was better to go without underwear than be seen in just my underwear, I prioritized getting rid of my underwear, and I added that it was to protect myself in case of an explosion when the magic collapsed.
Lydia, who pondered over my testimony mixed truth with lies at a 4:6 ratio, slowly lowered her greatsword.
“…I’m sorry. I guess I misunderstood.”
“Uh? Oh, yeah. That, that could happen.”
Benny, still bemused, nodded while glaring at me. That glare felt a bit sharper than before.
It didn’t seem like she was just sulking over a harmless prank I pulled.
“Ah.”
The sound of the magic collapsing suggested that Lydia forced her way through Morgana’s magic.
I’m not sure of the exact principles, but it was probably thanks to that destructive aura Lydia showed earlier.
However, what was concerning was how we were in a situation that made us even worse.
“Sha….”
“Shadow!”
As soon as I opened my mouth, Benny interrupted, probably sensing the unease faster than me.
“Lydia! What happened to Shadow?! He should be outside…!”
Benny glanced around nervously. Even though we had argued about separating from Shadow, the thought of something happening made her anxious.
Lydia flinched at Benny’s intimidating presence but soon silently pointed with her finger.
And there, we saw.
“Hey. So, has the chat ended? Can I let go now?!”
-Grrr!
A woman in barbarian-like attire was overpowering Shadow with sheer force.
*
“Wow. To be honest, I didn’t think he’d be this strong. Little Benny. So, you’ve been holding back your strength all this time?”
“Uh, ah, uhm? Is that so?”
Benny, who had clearly strengthened her connection with Shadow and regained her former confidence, now only nodded with a dazed expression.
It made sense, as her body looked too unscathed for someone who just faced off against Shadow.
Of course, she wasn’t completely unscathed. Her skin was slightly reddened here and there, faint bruises marred her, and there were bite marks pressed into her skin.
That was the entirety of the wounds she bore. Miraculously, she was recovering quickly.
It seemed that whatever acidic fluids, tendrils, horns, teeth, or the waves of madness shooting from her eyes had no effect on her.
Of course, not just Shadow, but since Benny was linked, the fact that they were now a high-ranking adventurer made it understandable that the woman defeated him.
But to overpower him without a drop of blood shed was impressive. Moreover, according to Lydia’s story, Shadow had supposedly been rampaging.
I couldn’t help but wonder what it took to become capable of that as I studied her carefully.
With hair that looked roughly grown, she wore a cape and hood made from lion skin, covered the important parts with thick leather, and her natural exposed body gave an impression of frailty, but the fierce aura radiating from her and the thick club tied at her waist dispelled any notion of weakness.
She looked like a mix of a barbarian and an Amazon, sprinkled lightly with a dash of Hercules.
Something about her unique appearance made me cautiously open my mouth.
“Um, could you be Lady Hippolyte?”
“Hmm? Oh, you’re that Jonah, the candidate for Ellie’s husband and a fellow party member of Lydia and Benny, right? Your name is…”
“Jonah.”
“Right. Nice to meet you, Jonah. I can tell you know who I am.”
“Somewhat.”
The reason I knew about Hippolyte was simple. First of all, she was one of the most famous adventurers of this era.
If you lived in Pan Grave, you’d often hear about this barbarian warrior who single-handedly devoured labyrinths.
But the truth is, I knew about her even before I fell into Pan Continent.
That’s because Hippolyte was also a character I had set up. …Although she was already dead by the time the original story began as an extra.
Hippolyte could be said to be the opposite of Ellie.
She was ridiculously lucky, blessed with countless powers and received exactly what she needed for labyrinth training, plus she had a genius-level talent.
She was born with all the conditions to become stronger and, being from a barbarian tribe, was braver than anyone else.
Hippolyte quickly rose to the rank of high-ranking adventurer, admired by everyone.
…Only to lose her life in the labyrinth due to overestimating her own abilities and luck.
Even someone seemingly favored by the gods could easily die if they let their guard down in the labyrinth.
Hippolyte, mentioned in passing, was merely a mechanism to convey this message.
She was an extra who ended up without explanation.
I had even planned to write an episode later where the protagonist inherits the powers left behind by Hippolyte, but now that protagonist was nowhere to be found!
I shook my head, trying to recall as much information about Hippolyte as possible.
Anyway, lucky, anyway, skilled, anyway, a barbarian warrior.
That was the entirety of Hippolyte’s character design……
But the Hippolyte before me was a living person who added her own answers to all the blanks I hadn’t filled in. First, I needed to express my gratitude.
“Thank you. You came to save us as well, right, Lady Hippolyte?”
“Well, I guess it turned out that way. By the way, since we’re on the topic, what happened to Morgana?”
“She’s dead?”
“Huh? What? Lydia was acting tough, so I thought Benny was in danger, but it seems that was not the case at all.”
“Ah, Benny did almost die, but we were just a bit luckier.”
Though Hippolyte didn’t seem like a bad person, I couldn’t tell her about my secret trump card: the fully-powered Goddess Statue and the Mini Sanctuary.
Thus, I circled around the details of the battle.
Thanks to my amazing stealth abilities distracting Morgana, Benny was able to finish her off.
Finally, after checking Morgana’s corpse, Hippolyte eyed me with a peculiar expression.
And with a knowing look, she continued speaking.
“So you’re saying the little one finished Morgana off while the attention was on him?”
“Yeah!”
“Alright. Let’s go with that. Now, the remaining matter is distribution…”
“Huh? Distribution? What are you talking about all of a sudden? The ones risking their lives until the end to take her down were Benny and me, right?”
“I’m not trying to deny the merits of your little achievements. But we are working under a guild contract, so we have to hand over the body.”
With a smirk creeping onto her face, Hippolyte continued confidently.
“As a senior adventurer, let me give you a little tip, kid.”
“…What is it?”
“As you venture as an adventurer, you’re bound to receive requests from others aside from simple explorations.”
“Sounds about right. Good pay and support are always nice.”
“Here’s the tip. Even if you barely achieve your goal, don’t give it back just like that.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Before handing it in, you need to take everything you can get.”
After saying that, Hippolyte nodded towards Morgana’s corpse.
“Grab whatever loot you can now. We just need to take the corpse.”
“Whoa.”
That was seriously valuable advice.
Just a moment ago, I was too preoccupied with Benny’s unstable condition and neglected the ‘housekeeping’.
Being a high-ranking wizard, she must have had plenty of valuable items. Considering the divine objects she illegally snatched while causing trouble…
“Thank you, Lady Hippolyte!”
“Anytime.”
With her shoulders shrugged as she backed away, I squatted in front of the corpse.
Morgana, oh Morgana.
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