Chapter 11: My First Night

[Floor Minus 15]

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

The torches in our hands pierce through the unending darkness, as our slow but steady crawl deeper into the dungeon goes off without a hitch. From floors minus ten and onwards we were expected to provide our own light source, and now the danger feels much more real. I feel like some eldritch abomination could easily pop out beyond the darkness our lights won't reach.

No, really.

Leading the pack was the clever purplehead who not only navigated us through the twist and turns of the labyrinth, but also disarmed most if not all the traps ahead. Gigantic blades would swing and poisoned arrow darts would whistle past us occasionally but we are most definitely still alive, so good job to him.

And the monsters along the way? They were no match to their party's superb coordination. They moved like a single organism when they mobilized to strike down any monster foolish enough to come our way. I "reluctantly" stand aside whenever they fight, since I'm a precious client and should leave the fighting with them they say, but I'm really thankful for that little blessing of an excuse. Any exaggerated movements and my wig will fall off. But it's their fault that I have to even worry about it, so we're even.

"Look at these, Rose! Have you seen it before?" Liri asks as she gives light to the strange arcane writings on the wall. I wear my own glasses and squint hard to examine them and find out that indeed I've seen them before, from a book in the library that told stories of old. I never learned how to read the words, but Erika does, thanks to her training (on what, I don't know) at the capital, and has taught Ela as well.

The glasses kid steps forward, adjusts his glasses with confidence and explains them for us. "It's ancient demonic language, a language widely spoken back then at the Era of Evil, when the Demon Lord ruled the entire continent. Now it's nothing but a forgotten language and is only taught to the highest members of the Sun Goddess' church. From what I've heard, these runes on the Farwitch Labyrinth's walls tell stories of pagan gods and folklore from a long forgotten age. For short, it's really nothing worth learning."

Heh, that's weird. Where would Erika learn such a language? Obviously not the church since she hates that place more than our village does.

Liri proceeds on caressing the writings on the walls with her frail fingers. "So these writings are soooo old, older than any of us, older? That's kinda cool, isn't it? I wonder why I never heard of this labyrinth before?"

"You just don't pay attention to your surroundings and head straight to the adventure. Remember the Legend of the Fallen King's Sanctuary? About the last resting place of the Demon Lord before he was slain by the Great Hero Falen? That sanctuary is said to contain the fortunes he amassed during the centuries of his reign, filled with heaps of gold and sparkling gems enough to buy yourself a small kingdom... Actually, we all thought it was nothing but some drunken tale, too good to be true, until this dungeon revealed itself and was confirmed to be indeed the infamous Fallen King's Sanctuary."

Liri raises her hand in excitement. "So you mean there's lots of treasure at the last floor?"

"Yes, riches beyond your wildest dreams. Think about all those restricted magical tomes I could buy with that money... *ahem*. Every adventurer knows this, Liri. That's why we're all desperate in conquering this labyrinth."

"Hihihi, I'd like to think of the adventure as the prize. But money doesn't sound too bad as well!"

So there was that story? I thought that at the end of the labyrinth was nothing but the corpse of the Demon Lord? I'm getting confused with a lot of stuff here.

"The three of you, stop dillydallying and press forward! It only takes the smallest of slips to kill a whole squad, here in the belly of the monster!" Baldy shouts at us as if recalling a previous experience.

We all comply, albeit me reluctantly. But that doesn't stop both glasses kid and Liri from talking to me along the way. They must be bored when when the monsters stop popping out, since purplehead has his map-reading and trap-disarming duties and baldy his monster detection spell to prevent surprise attacks from happening.

Although there is nothing more I'd like than to escape from these meddlesome adventurers, I must admit that I enjoy glasses kid's prompt lessons in magical theory and Liri's gruesome war stories. It's a fun distraction in these once silent halls filled with nothing but the ticks and tocks of my pocket watch. In exchange for their stories, I would occasionally draw picture stories taken from the books of the library, and I sometimes subtly smile when their eyes grow in wonder from the next scene I draw up. I'm scared, but not from the shadows that surrounds us. This place is getting to me...

[Floor Minus 18]

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

I discreetly check my pocket watch. Sundown has just come to pass, and baldy has decided to make camp for the time. He says that we should take our rest for now, for tomorrow we fight the first boss in the 20th floor. Purplehead props up the tents and demon slave and Liri handles the bonfire, while baldy and Damian the glasses kid takes up the first watch of the night. I volunteer to cook our meal, but just because if I didn't I'd look like a useless scumbag and they might kill me in my sleep.

Oh, they actually like the smoking campfire mushrooms sautéed to perfection so much that they're even begging for a second round. But before that I have to do something about the poor crying Liri clinging on my leg desperately begging me to permanently join their party as a chef and purplehead clinging on the other giving me a serious marriage proposal. Just what kind of food have they been eating before?

Purplehead busts out the ale and six mugs to match the delicious food and everyone shouts in cheer.

I draw dizzied people surrounded by rabid monsters, but he brushes it off like nothing.

"Don't worry, don't worry, let's just let loose tonight, in celebration for the great food and an equally great lady! And we got Gaul's healing spell to deal with the aftermath, so it's no big deal!" he says with a smile as he pours me a mug of ale. Oh well. I give up my petty resistance and join in on the merry atmosphere.

"As a welcoming gift for our newest member, I dance!" Liri shouts something outrageous. With a long strip of cloth to accompany her, she begins an alluring dance around the crackling bonfire, her beautiful silver hair dancing along with her. Everyone claps in accompaniment with her every sway. My eyes meet with her own, fiery red like the flames that dye her figure orange, and I sigh in defeat.

I take out the guitar I packed with me (my only form of entertainment I planned for my supposedly lonely journey) and begin to play a merry tune of my own. Everyone cheers once more as Liri dances along to my song. She really is a professional.

Baldy bursts out laughing. "Hahaha! Just what are you, miss? A swordsman, a spellcaster, or a bard? Make up your mind!"

... A spellcaster? Ah, must be because of this fancy spellcaster's robe I was forced to wear by my dear friend Jina, as it makes me look more of a girl. I don't understand why.

The celebration continues. Some even couldn't hold it in and joined the dance around the fire while making up silly words to my wordless song. I strum my guitar like I've never strummed before, and when I'd run out of tunes I'd make up my own that would either sound heavenly or total crap.

Hours pass and their spirits die down, and I switch to a more mellow tune to fit the atmosphere. This is a song Erika taught me, and although she doesn't know the words, she likes how it sounds. Baldy and purplehead boasts about their past adventures to me, laughing at their own jokes and playfully punching each other once their version of the story didn't match. Liri's knocked out from all her dancing and is snuggling her head on my lap like a kitten, and Damian leans on my back snoring, a book covering his face. Even demon slave calmly smiles on the corner, sipping his ale as he soaks himself on my guitar's tune.

I notice both purplehead and baldy's eyelids grow heavier as the night grows deeper, so I draw as what my unsteady fingers allow me to ask baldy to heal me with magic schamgic. A quick chant from him makes my body glow white, and as the magic subsides so does the haze inside my skull. Just like that I'm healed. Magic is awesome, huh? I then offer to take the watch for the night, and baldy only accepts once he learns demon slave would be accompanying me.

"Ah yeah, you be sleeping with Liri in her tent now, 'kay?" says purplehead with a slurred voice as he enters his tent with baldy.

What!? Then I remember, I'm acting as a girl now, dammit. It's reasonable to be sleeping together with a girl... It'll be fine. I'll wake Liri up when my shift is up, so I'll be practically sleeping alone. Am I a genius or what?

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

I sit beside the demon slave and watch the impenetrable darkness of the labyrinth with a watchful glare. I see a vineroot creep closer to our camp, but demon slave snipes it with his crossbow before it could even be a problem.

This silence between us is what you get when you put two silent guys together. But still, this is the perfect time to escape... not. I'm not stupid. If I disappear into the night just like that, it's more than likely that these band of adventurers will try finding more about my identity, and that's a one-way ticket for a double execution with Jina. Baldy's a famous adventurer, so there's no doubt that he'd easily find out the truth with a little asking around.

I should disappear naturally, maybe at the 40th floor?

"Thou, I thank," demon slave says with his broken tongue. I tilt my head in confusion, and he tries to shoddily string up more words. "Thy song, like song from mine fatherland."

He tips an imaginary hat to me. I feel like it's some kind of respectful gesture, so I reply in kind. But it's unfair that he's the only one pushing himself in this impossible conversation, so with what little demonian I know, I write up a single word on my chalkboard:

[Name?]

"Garmund," he answers in an equally curt manner. Silence falls once more between us, but this time it feels more natural. We are the silent guardians of the night, our watchful gaze the lullaby we softly sing to our wards... heh. But seriously, demons really are different from the scary legends told in our village. Hmm, it really is different discovering the knowledge yourself, rather than reading them on stuffy books that go round and round the subject.

...Is it fine like this? Four days to find Ela— scratch that, I'm sharing resources, so I've got more, but each passing second is a second she may very well die. And I can't allow that. But... nevermind. What would Erika do at these troubled moments?

A heavy sigh.

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

I stare at the four little sentences on the back of her golden pocket watch. Like a prayer, I whisper silently to myself:

"Blessed be the fruits of my own labor."

"Blessed be the magistrate of my acts."

"And blessed be my steel that strikes the heavens above."

"My will be done."

My will be done. I clutch the pocket watch in my hands. This was the creed that ran her life. But there's no use in saying these words now, for I am alone. Both Erika and Ela are gone. No, not yet.

I set aside my troubles for tomorrow and return to watch the surroundings with my demon slave friend.

The night rages on.

No.020

Vineroot [Plant-type Monster]

A monster that looks like a chaotic tangle of vines mashed together as a sad excuse for a monster. Nobody likes these viny freaks; their drops are trash despite the annoying ability to attack adventurers with multiple whips.