The SSR Spearman (Doesn’t) Hide His One-Shot Damage - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 33

‘A second labyrinth is appearing already?’

…Ding!

[Checklist has been updated.]

[Hidden Route progress: 12.8%]
– (New!) Destroy the Second Soul Fragment of the Great Mage

Right on cue, a fresh checklist notification popped up.

“…!”

I shot up from my seat.
…A labyrinth shouldn’t be showing up this early, not by any normal reckoning.

『Setanta, Setanta!』
『Go out and see for yourself, right now!』

Chwijik, chirp, chirp!
Hero Rat, who had been silent this whole time, began squirming around inside the storage bag’s pocket.

『The first labyrinth was unusually large, too! And now its appearance has been moved up, as well… Something is clearly off here.』

Charles Rat added a squeak after that.

『Setanta, you ruined the world in your previous life, so in this one you’d better take responsibility and set it right!』
『Given how serious things are, I will cooperate with you fully as well!』

Chirp.
Chwiik-!

『…Not that I’m cooperating with you out of goodwill, mind you. I’m only doing it to get my original body back, so don’t get the wrong idea.』
『Once the world is saved, I’ll challenge you to a proper duel and take my revenge, so you’d better be ready!』

“….”

Ah, so the Great Mage must have promised this creature a ‘human body.’
Freeing it from the familiar state it’s been trapped in, locked inside the body of an undead rat…
I suppose that’s the wish: to return to being the Hero in a fully human state.

“So you’ve promised to cooperate, then?”

I muttered it half to myself, then tapped the pouch holding Hero Rat.
Chirp-chirp.
A short reply squeaked back at me.
Such a sorry, yet adorable little thing.

“Patroclus, thank you for the meal. We’re going to head out and see what’s going on.”

I fished out one last large shrimp, chewed it noisily, and gathered up my spear and longsword.

It’s a bit earlier than I expected.
But a labyrinth has appeared, so I’d better go see it.

“Guests? You’re going outside right now? But isn’t that far too dangerous…!”

Patroclus stopped them, his face pale with alarm.

“No way. We barely got out of the capital, and now it’s chaos here too?!”
“Good heavens, that Labyrinth has appeared again? Is this a sign that the world is coming to an end…?”

Hecate and Achilles came into view, both wearing ashen faces.
Having suffered so much in the Red Labyrinth, they flinched visibly at the mere mention of a Labyrinth.

‘I was hoping to bring Hecate along as a guide for this Labyrinth, but I suppose that’s still out of the question.’

At this rate, she wouldn’t even consider joining the party, let alone come near the Labyrinth…
Just as I was watching Hecate, pale as a sheet and trembling uncontrollably, the moment arrived.

“…Setanta.”
“Hm?”

Ailin had somehow come up beside me and held out her hand.
…Clack!
The silver prosthetic arm, its five fingers spread wide right before my eyes, gleamed in the light.

‘Ah, the scrolls?’

I’d been struggling with the storage bag, which was packed to bursting anyway.
I called Rian over as well, then distributed the scrolls we’d received earlier.

“That’s everything. We can sell the rest later and put the money toward travel expenses.”
“Yes, good thinking, Setanta!”

I agreed to keep the scrolls meant for the party’s shared fund in my own possession.
Now there was finally some room to spare in my bag.

“…Thank you for the gift.”

Ailin murmured something low toward Hecate and Patroclus, then tore open her scroll on the spot and used it immediately.

[【Traveler’s Magic Scroll (Female): 100 days…】 has been consumed.]

The torn scroll dissolved into light and was absorbed into Ailin.

Ding!

[Ailin has been granted the effect of 【Traveler’s Magic Scroll (Female): 100 days…】!]

Ailin, her expression blank, flexed and turned her body this way and that, then gave Hecate and Patroclus a brief nod.
It had the feel of a last farewell before setting out on some long journey.

“…?”

Hecate watched the scene in silence, her expression unreadable.

“…No, this can’t be happening…”

Patroclus, who had been silent all this while, began to mutter in a trembling voice.

“The catastrophe that struck the capital is set to happen in this city as well…”
“….”
“And how many more casualties will there be? How utterly horrifying…”

He clutched his head for a long while, then finally rose to his feet, his face set with resolve.

“…Hecate, Achilles. Let’s go with them. We’ll head out and see for ourselves what’s going on.”

Patroclus’s gaze finally turned to me.
His eyes trembled a little, but beneath the tremor lay a hardened resolve.

“Mr. Setanta, and to you guests, would you mind accompanying us for a while?”
“…”
“I want to go and see with my own eyes whether there’s truly no way to resolve this…”

* * *

Not long after that.
Inside the imperial capital.

“Sir James, please pull yourself together. We desperately need your help right now.”
“Ugh, uuugh…”
“Come up onto the teleportation magic circle, quickly. You’re the only knight who came back alive from that labyrinth.”

Captain Lampad, commander of the Imperial 7th Knights, was coaxing and soothing the half-deranged James, doing everything he could to draw him into the magic circle.

“It’s been quite some time since we received word of the disturbance through the Magitech Communicator. We can’t afford to dawdle any longer.”
“…”
“What if the disaster that struck the capital happens all over again? No, what if this time it claims even more lives? What then?”
“Ugh… uuuaaagh!”

Grab!

“…!”

James, who was about to bolt, was stopped right there by the Captain.
Creak, the veteran’s sturdy forearm clamped around James’s trembling wrist.
As though he meant to crush the bone itself.

“Sir James. Please do not drag the honor of our Imperial Knights into the mud.”
“Hah, haa, huff…!”
“Now that you wear this cloak, dyed in the color of the Great Mage’s mana a thousand years ago… we are bound to protect the lives of the people.”

Lampad’s eyes slowly narrowed.

“We Imperial Knights wear these blue cloaks for the honor of the Imperial Court, and to save the people of this land.”
“…”
“The sword you carry, and the cloak across your shoulders, are not meant for running away.”

The truth was that both the honor of a knight and the justification of protecting people’s lives
had long since shattered into pieces, broken apart by all manner of ‘dirty work.’
Even so, in this moment, with everyone watching,
the veteran of the Imperial Court could play the part of a knight more honorable and noble than anyone else.

“I, too, am hesitant. But I’m standing here only because I’ve pushed past my fear.”

Because, right now, a hostage has been taken.

“So, Sir James… You too, come up onto this teleportation magic circle, quickly.”

Back during the raid on the Underground City the other day.
The Ailand girl he had secretly pulled out, ignoring orders…
is now under the Imperial Court’s watch.

“Sir James, I’m not asking you to enter the labyrinth. I simply want you to accompany us so you can survey the situation and, through your valuable experience and knowledge, help us reach a better outcome.”
“Uh… uuuh.”
“Come here already. If we dawdle any longer, the teleportation magic circle we built with such effort might be canceled.”

And so Lampad had no choice but to cooperate fully with the Imperial Court.
All because of the Ailand girl he had rescued.

She was the trace of the terrible sin he had committed, and at the same time, the fruit of his atonement…
Now she had become a perfect hostage.
And that turned him into nothing more than the Imperial Court’s lapdog.

“Sir James, I’ll take that as your agreement.”
“……!”

Whoosh!
Lampad lightly seized James by the collar and flung him into the teleportation magic circle.

“Wh-whoaaa!”

…Thud!
James tumbled across the knights’ feet for a while before lifting his trembling head.

“Captain…?”
“Hurry up and teleport us! Destination: near the city wall! Alright, everyone, get ready!”
“C-Captain…! Aaah! Aaaaaaaah!”

Along with James’s dying scream.

Woooong.
In the blink of an eye, the knights who had been standing on the teleportation magic circle vanished without a trace.

* * *

Together with Patroclus’s group, we left the mansion and made our way toward the area near the city wall.

“They say all those people who died in the capital were because of this strange phenomenon, too…!”
“Oh, heavens… Why on earth has such a catastrophe befallen the Empire!”
“…”

Crowds were thronging at the city wall gate.
Everyone was voicing their anxious worries.

‘Thankfully, they’re not blindly unleashing attack magic onto the eroded areas this time.’

Whether it was because of the chain of events in the capital that had taught them about the Red Erosion phenomenon,
the Imperial Army was clearly showing a far more cautious attitude than before.

“…”
“…”

The Imperial soldiers conducting the inspection seemed to be discussing something among themselves.
Fear was written plainly across every one of their faces.

‘So the city gate hasn’t been shut yet.’

Why were they still keeping the gate open…?
Were they calling for outside reinforcements?

No sooner had I thought that than—

“Waaaaaaah!”

A battle cry rose from far off, and a band of Imperial Knights in Blue Cloaks came into view.

And there, through the crowd, I caught sight of someone.

“Aaaaah!”

A face that looked oddly familiar, letting out a shriek like a goat being slaughtered.

‘…James?’

【An Eye for an Eye】
-Find whoever took part in the attack on the Underground City and take your revenge!
◆ On Quest success: 1 Player Point acquired

“Lord Setanta! That, that guy over there…!”
“…Keep your voice down. We’re not alone here.”

The moment Rian reacted, I jabbed him in the side to silence him.
We were smack in the middle of an Imperial city, and the heroes of the Rom Federation were standing right beside us.
If we drew unwanted suspicion, we’d be in trouble.

“….”

Ailin was staring off into the distance without any noticeable change in expression, though her eyes, as expected, were fixed on James and the Imperial Knights.
…They looked strangely pleased, too.

“H-huh…?”

Hecate rolled her eyes like a puppy that needed to relieve itself, glancing back and forth between Ailin and James.
True to her sharp instincts as a hero, she seemed to be catching on to something.

‘This is why I hate heroes with sharp eyes.’

Pretending to shove my way through the crowd, I slipped sideways and used my broad frame to shield Ailin from view.

“…This looks like an early-stage erosion that hasn’t yet transformed into a labyrinth.”

I spoke to Hecate with a perfectly calm face.
If she was about to notice something, all I had to do was draw her attention elsewhere.

“As long as we don’t provoke it from our side, there won’t be a sudden mutation like the one in the capital.”
“….”
“The labyrinth in the capital pulsed like a living heart, didn’t it? It’s much the same this time. Just as blood sprays when you cut something, it will react to outside attacks, so as long as we’re careful about that-”

As if to tell her not to worry,
I was in the middle of giving her a rough explanation of the situation when it happened.
It was just as they were giving a rough explanation of the current situation.

“Uh… uuugh!”

Just then, James began convulsing from far away, thrashing his limbs and sobbing in hitching gasps.

“W-we’re, we’re going to die… All of us, we’re going to be swallowed by that labyrinth…!”
“…Hm?”
“Ah, aaah… AAAAAAAAH-!”

With a shriek that would have put a goat to shame, he broke away from the formation.

…Ding!

[Warning! – The Second Soul Fragment of the Great Mage is reacting to the fear and noise around it!]

And right on cue, a system message surfaces.

[Warning! – In response to stimuli in its surroundings, the Labyrinth begins to expand its territory.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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