We fell into their trap and turned into statues, like… well, statues! Duhhhhh
But our brains were still working, so we could hear their chatter.
“Hey, you dumb idiot! Can you hear me? You have no idea what’s going on, do you?”
Pfft, as if!
I got whacked on the back of the head and turned to stone—what’s there NOT to get?
But I wondered if these clowns knew what they were in for.
No matter how many dudes they managed to trap, the women left behind were formidable too!
If they pulled any funny business, their limbs wouldn’t be intact—not at all!
“Ah, are you thinking that we’re going to attack your remaining allies?”
“Haha, typical of their twisted minds.”
And then, like it’s a routine or something, Eric answered my thoughts, with Lion adding fuel to the fire.
They were totally acting like the strength of the remaining crew didn’t matter…
Soon, Eric moved close and pressed his face against mine, continuing to babble.
“Are we crazy? Going for an S-rank or A-rank? Sorry, but that’s not our style.”
With a cunning grin, he licked his lips.
“You guys will be petrified for about two weeks. But don’t worry, your sight and hearing will be just fine.”
Then, the fat priest Babidi waddled up with a slimy grin.
“Ohoho, I like the blue-haired one.”
“Then I’ll take the red-haired one. I couldn’t stop thinking about her assets.”
They both grinned like perverts while groping you-know-where.
No way, these guys are beyond messed up.
“You hear that? That’s the plan. Haha! We’re going to lie that you got taken down by monsters. You’ll be waiting for two weeks.”
And Eric stuck out his tongue, making a snake-like face at me.
“Just watch. You’ll see how your female comrades fall during that time.”
“Hahaha! I’m so excited already!”
“Ohoho! Nothing feels better than stealing someone else’s girl!”
That’s when I finally got it.
These guys weren’t just about thievery. They relished in targeting rookie adventurers and stealing their females right in front of their eyes.
They were a classic case of an NTR party!
‘These freaks…!’
I cursed at the three guys drooling and laughing maliciously, but no sound came out of my petrified mouth.
Damn it, to them, our strength didn’t matter.
What mattered was whether or not there were girls involved.
‘What if they use some weird petrification magic like their other tricks…?’
I struggled, but I was as stiff as a rock. Stuck, stuck!
“Just sit tight, now. I’ll go get your precious party members.”
In the end, I was completely frozen, unable to do anything.
And those three strolled away like it was all in a day’s work.
Moments later…
“This way!”
From the direction we came, I heard the footsteps of several people and the award-winning acting of Eric.
They brought Raphne and the others here to show them that we had fallen to monsters.
“Ahh…! Ken!”
Raphne and Mary, along with Emily, rushed over as soon as they spotted me.
They looked anxiously over my condition while behind them, Eric and the other losers started weaving their lies.
“Cough! I got careless. It was an easy monster, but that fat guy messed things up.”
“Yeah, because of him, the other two got caught up too. It’s a petrification curse.”
Eric chimed in, while Lion added his nodding agreement.
‘These skunks…!’
They’re trying to spin a believable story about my “mistake.”
The one facing real injustice couldn’t even defend himself.
Because of my petrification, they’d be waiting two whole weeks—what were those guys planning during that time….
Soon, Mary turned to me, her face dark.
“Ken… you messed up?”
“Yeah, it’s true he’s a slowpoke. I warned him about the petrification curse, but he still got hit. Damn it, I wish I would’ve left him behind.”
Eric continued his dramatic performance, and Lion and Babidi nodded along.
But I couldn’t refute them.
If this continued, everyone would get tangled in their snake-like lies.
I felt like biting my own lip in frustration, but I couldn’t do anything.
All I could do was seethe in anger at those lies spilling from their mouths while I remained a statue.
Then, suddenly, cold air surged as Mary unleashed a towering pillar of ice under Eric.
Crack!
The weight and speed of it slammed right into his gut, sending him flying into the air while he howled in pain.
“W-What are you doing?!”
Swish!
Lion quickly drew his sword, taking a stance, while Babidi sweated nervously next to him, “W-Wahoho…!”
“What am I doing? I’m trying to kill you for doing this to Ken!”
“Thought so!”
Zing!
Emily donned her shield and drew her sword at the ready, with an unfamiliar sharp gaze directed at the three guys.
Lion, overwhelmed by her fierce look, ground his teeth and asked, “Cough, h-how did you know?!”
Mary scoffed at his question. “Because it didn’t make sense that Ken would fall for a monster!”
“Exactly, the Ken I know would never let that happen. So if it did, it’s because you three did something!”
Emily joined in with a determined attitude.
Lion looked shocked by their unwavering belief. “You’re attacking a guy on such flimsy evidence?!”
To be honest, his reaction matched my thoughts.
They were blindly trusting in my abilities, seeing their words as lies.
It might sound forced, but it made me feel incredibly touched.
I thought for sure they would fall for their deceit.
“Um, Raphne. What should we do about these guys? We need a way to break the petrification… Raphne?”
Emily asked, turning to her as the situation became desperate due to Mary’s preemptive strike.
But unlike Mary and Emily, Raphne seemed detached, simply staring blankly at me.
‘W-What’s going on?’
She often does unpredictable things, so I nervously watched her.
“Uh, Raphne?”
Emily called out, surprised by her lack of response.
Then, suddenly…
“Eek.”
She yanked off her pendant.
“Wahh! R-Raphne! If you’re going to take it off, say so first!!”
“Wuhh, my head… uh.”
Of course, her removal of the pendant immediately affected Emily and Mary, each reacting to the curse.
Meanwhile, the three guys experiencing Raphne’s terrifying curse for the first time shouted,
“Guhhhh! W-What is this!?!”
“Ughhh! My head! It feels like it’s about to explode!!”
“P-Please save me! We’re sorry, we messed up! Please don’t kill us!!”
They reacted in all sorts of ways, some throwing up, some clutching their heads, totally terrified.
Yet Raphne was all smiles as she completely ignored their suffering and hung the pendant around my neck.
And then…
Crack! Crack!
The petrified surface shattered, breaking the curse!
“Yay! Ken! It’s the pendant you made! …Phew, that’s a relief.”
As I was freed from the curse, Raphne cheerfully jumped into my arms, snuggling her face against me.
‘Ah! It’s a pendant that blocks curses!’
Thanks to Raphne’s quick thinking, I was able to break free with no hassle.
If those guys had said, “To save your comrades, you must listen to us!” I would’ve been in a real bind.
But it all worked out smoothly.
I gently ruffled Raphne’s hair and hugged her.
“Hehe.”
At that, Raphne giggled happily and murmured, “K-Ken! F-First, give me the pendant…!!!”
“Oh, right.”
In my relief, I’d forgotten to take care of the two remaining people.
“Ugh, I really hate this curse…”
“R-Raphne… please let us know ahead of time next time.”
As her pendant hung back on her neck, the reactions of the inflicted settled down.
Once the curse was diminished, they all staggered back to their feet.
“C-Cough! What was that just now?”
And there was Eric, rubbing his head and glaring at us.
But he wouldn’t get a chance to stand tall in front of us.
I clearly overheard what they planned to do with the girls.
And my anger was boiling.
Quick craft, iron club.
I whipped up a handy adventurer’s blunt weapon.
With my magic, it materialized in my hand.
I charged forward to Eric, “You! You scoundrel!!”
Thunk!
Crack!
I smashed down hard on his right knee, causing his leg to buckle.
He screamed out in pain and crashed to the ground.
“Y-You bastard!”
Lion rushed in, clutching his sword, knowing he’s the strongest of the three.
But training with Siegfried made him look like a novice in my eyes.
With lightning-fast precision, I summoned a weapon again.
…Hydra Knife.
I crafted the “Hydra Knife,” which has a stiffness effect.
Swoosh!
“Ugh! Guhh.”
The throwing knife sprung from my hand and flew cleanly into his shoulder.
Overwhelmed by the surprise and not able to scream due to the stiffness effect, Lion crumbled to the ground.
“U-Wahoho…!!”
And the last one, Babidi, was groveling on the floor, trembling like a leaf.
I approached him slowly, tapping the club into my palm.
“So, since I just saw what happened to your friends, how about you tell me the way to break the curse and a shortcut?”
Of course, Sieg and Adrian could also get freed by Raphne’s pendant.
But I needed to know how before we got out of here.
Their petrification magic might just come in handy.
“W-Wahoho!!”
As he cried out nonsensically, I decided to give him a little taste of his own medicine—bonk!
“Ugh!”
“Ken, why did you bring that magic tool?”
After extracting both the method to break the curse and a shortcut from them, we resumed our journey.
During this trek, Raphne suddenly asked, “But why did you bring that magic tool?”
“Ah, well…”
I couldn’t just say the truth.
I might need it for what’s yet to come.
I was also thinking of finding a magic shop or potion shop in the Tower of Tarros if necessary.
“Can’t let them do something evil again, right? So I brought it.”
I managed to navigate that just fine.
“Hmmm, but they might not be able to do anything now that it’s hard to survive.”
“Ah… I guess you’re right?”
They’d certainly pay dearly for crossing us.
Of course, I didn’t kill anyone. I have my reservations about murder.
I just happened to break Eric’s leg and then the rest of their limbs.
I even gagged Babidi to keep him from chanting healing spells.
Then, I left them to rot in the forest.
By now, Lion and Eric must be yelling their heads off.
If someone comes to rescue them, that’s pure luck; if a monster follows the sounds… well, that’s just the way it is.
All according to the will of the Gods.
“What!? I thought you and I were on the same wavelength, Ken.”
“Huh? Same wavelength?”
When Raphne heard my response, she laughed as if disappointed.
A wavelength tied to petrification magic…? What in the world does that even mean?
“Imagine if we studied the petrification curse and turned everyone else to stone, leaving just Ken and me!”
With a smile, Raphne gazed at me playfully.
Then, she jumped into my arm and hugged me tight.
When her familiar soft form wrapped around my arm, my heart skipped.
But…
“Doesn’t that sound romantic? Hehe, I thought for sure it was something you’d think of too.”
As her hollowed eyes peered at me, that thrill transformed into a whole different feeling.
Miss Raphne, how could you even have such a devilish thought?
I spotted Adrian, who was listening from behind, flinching slightly.
I raised the side of my hand and lightly tapped Raphne on the head.
“Ah!”
“Don’t have such weird thoughts. I won’t leave your side even without making sick plans.”
“Wuhh! I was just thinking! Can’t I indulge in some fun imaginations?”
Raphne puffed out her cheeks in discontent, holding her head.
Sure, imagination is free, but it seemed like she might actually follow through, which was creeping me out.
Feeling slightly guilty, I affectionately ruffled her hair.
“Ken~!”
Just then, Emily and Mary ahead waved back at us.
“The Tower! We’re almost there!”
Excited at the prospect of our destination, Emily dashed ahead with Mary hot on her heels.
They must have spotted the destination up ahead.
We finally made it!
The Tower of Tarros!
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