"How's it look!"
Eleven stood in front of Lizel and Gil, spreading his arms wide, saying, "Ta-da!"
The equipment he had ordered had finally been completed after a week. It was indeed scheduled to be finished today, but he apparently went to pick it up first thing in the morning.
The weapons were ready on the same day, but the armor naturally took longer after the materials were provided. Especially since it was made of rare materials that required high-level processing.
Since Lizel and Gil had given quite a few specific instructions regarding the design at the armor shop, and knowing it would take time, they had left earlier, so this was their first time seeing it.
Eleven was striking a pose with his jacket spread open, but incidentally, this was the dining hall of Lizel and Gil's inn. He was attracting quite a lot of attention in the crowded early morning, but he himself was delighted to be showing off his new equipment.
Lizel and Gil looked up at Eleven, who was standing beside their table, while they ate breakfast.
"Yes, you look like a proper adventurer now."
"Even if the leader says so... no, nothing. I mean, I was an adventurer before too."
"Before, you looked no different from some street thug, didn't you?"
Eleven pouted at Lizel, who nodded, remembering his previous appearance.
However, Lizel's opinion was valid; his previous attire was far too light for an adventurer. While Lizel and Gil also appeared lightly armored because they didn't wear metal armor, their defensive capabilities far exceeded their appearance.
Eleven had been fighting with minimal protection, only covering his vital points, with equipment that offered almost no defense. Whether it was due to his skill or a desire for more excitement, to others, it was nothing short of madness.
Compared to Lizel and Gil, his armor was lighter, but it was likely designed to avoid hindering his movements.
"Flashy"
"It's just the lining and accessories, right? It's better than all black... Ugh,"
Eleven caught the fork that flew at him, his face contorting.
Gil also wanted to stop wearing all black, but when asked what other color would be good, he didn't have any particular preference.
Furthermore, he didn't have any specific design preferences, and he certainly didn't want to leave it to Lizel or Eleven, so he had already resigned himself to the fact that he would probably end up with similar equipment if he left it entirely to the craftsman.
Even so, he didn't like being told what to do, so he threw the fork.
"Since your appearance is so flashy, your clothes should be too, otherwise you'll stand out."
"As expected of the leader, you understand!"
"Honestly, I thought it would be even flashier."
"If I use too many bright colors, I won't be able to sneak around at night. With this, I can just close the front."
Lizel remembered that Eleven was a thief when he said that so nonchalantly.
He tended to forget because he was always so affectionate towards him, but his years of experience as a thief leader weren't for nothing.
He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but when he wasn't with this party, he was still quite troublesome.
"Since I've got new equipment, I want to go somewhere challenging!"
"Then let's do that today. Let's look at the requests at the guild, and if there aren't any good ones, let's go into a random dungeon."
"Is that okay? Oh, give me a bite."
Eleven, who was sitting next to Lizel, said with a puzzled expression.
Lizel always decided on the requests. He didn't expect his opinion to be readily accepted.
Lizel smiled wryly as he offered him a piece of fruit dessert from his plate, his mouth open towards him.
"Because Gil doesn't express his opinions. He doesn't say which requests he wants to accept, so I just decide arbitrarily."
"Hmm. So, if I said, 'I want to do this,' would you do it with me?"
"We're in a party, so of course!"
Lizel smiled naturally, and Eleven, unaccustomed to this feeling, instinctively looked away.
Eleven, who easily hides his emotions and displays false ones, is undoubtedly only so easily swayed by Lizel. Incidentally, he doesn't hide his emotions at all towards Gil. This is also unusual for Eleven.
Lizel finished his last bite, and with a playful expression, stood up, looking at Eleven, who was still facing away.
"Gil, are you ready to go?"
"Yes."
"Then, right away—"
"Is it okay to leave your room unlocked?"
"That's right," Lizel said, and left the dining hall, heading up the stairs.
In his original world, he didn't have the habit of locking his room, so he often forgot. He didn't lock it because he wanted the knights to be able to enter in case of an emergency.
Following Lizel with his eyes, Gil looked down at Eleven.
The gaze looking up at him didn't contain the same affectionate feelings he directed towards Lizel. The combative gaze, striving for equality, was directed at Gil precisely because he stood beside Lizel.
"Does my big brother know?"
"Know what?"
"That he's just an adventurer? What kind of joke is that?"
Eleven said, sounding exasperated, implying he was talking about Lizel's true identity.
He almost thought, (Why doesn't he just ask him?) but then realized that wasn't the point.
What he wanted to know wasn't Lizel's true identity, but whether Gil knew it.
He hadn't intended to hide it in the first place. If he nodded, it would confirm that Lizel wasn't just an ordinary adventurer, but that was something that was obvious just by looking at him.
When he nodded, Eleven simply said, "Oh, I see," and easily accepted it.
The sound of footsteps descending the stairs could be heard.
The two, who would never mistake Lizel's footsteps for anyone else's, stood up and headed towards the door to leave the dining hall.
They heard the landlady's words sending them off, "Have a good trip."
"Will he tell me someday?"
"He'll tell you if it becomes necessary. I just don't think he'll say it for no particular reason."
"Ugh, is that such a vague reason?"
"But that's possible for the leader," Eleven said, laughing happily, and overtook Gil.
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"Hey, hey, hey, look at this equipment! Isn't it amazing? The price is outrageous, but the performance is incredible!"
"Did Lizel have anything to do with the design?"
"No."
"I think you're being completely idiotic. Please don't come near me."
"Come outside, you!"
It's good that they're having fun. Lizel glanced at the guild's reception desk and looked at the request board.
Those two are still like cats and dogs, but after seeing them put their hands on their weapons several times after meeting each other, Lizel told them to "keep it within the bounds of a verbal argument," and that's how things settled down.
Once you get used to it, those around them who don't know anything might even think they're good friends. It would be a big problem if you said that to them, though.
Actually, Lizel is subtly interfering with them at a speed and range that they can't see, but only Gil notices, so as long as he doesn't tell Lizel, there's no problem. Even Gil is leaving it alone because it's not bothering anyone and it's not a big deal.
Lizel looked at the request board, scanning through the requests, wondering what to do. Gil is rank B, Eleven is rank C, and Lizel is rank D. The party rank is the average of the members' ranks, so even if Eleven joins the party, the party rank remains C.
This means they can only accept quests up to rank B, but Eleven and the others can easily defeat monsters at that level. Their desire to fight challenging enemies won't be fulfilled.
He thought it would be better to accept quests to raise their rank and earn rewards, but he wondered if it would be better to explore the dungeon and defeat a boss on their own, as he moved along the wall.
Incidentally, normally, you don't enter a dungeon without accepting a quest. Accepting a quest of the appropriate rank means you're at the appropriate level, and trying to venture into floors beyond your rank usually leads to the risk of total annihilation.
"Should we just go into the dungeon regardless of quests?"
"We could accept a quest and complete it along the way, couldn't we?"
"Ah, I see. What do you think, Eleven?"
Just before Lizel turned around, the two who had been silently engaging in a battle of wits with pens and other objects turned towards them as if nothing had happened.
Ignoring Gil's exasperated expression, Eleven walked towards Lizel and Gil with a light step.
"Isn't there anyone out there that even my big brother would struggle against?"
"You just want to test your abilities, don't you? Why don't you charge into a group of Elementals?"
"My exposed skin would be in terrible shape. Aren't they troublesome because physical attacks don't work on them?"
"But Gil was cutting them down easily before."
Since occupying the quest board during the busy morning hours would be a nuisance, they headed to a table at the edge of the guild hall. They couldn't leave until they decided on a destination.
Lizel watched the two talking, wondering inwardly if it was alright for them to go to a place that was too difficult, as he would only be a hindrance. Despite appearing to be involved in various activities, Lizel doesn't have high combat capabilities. He can easily handle weaker opponents, but he's powerless against stronger ones in a head-on confrontation. In a one-on-one fight, he'd likely be defeated instantly.
Therefore, when facing a dungeon boss, he focuses on providing support, but when he's with Gil, who can usually handle things on his own, it's unclear if his support is even necessary. According to Gil, fighting alongside him makes things easier, though.
"Hey, is it true that if I join your party, I'll get all that incredibly powerful equipment? I'm sure my skills are good enough, right?"
"It seems you're mistaken, but Eleven paid for everything himself and has the skills to gather the materials on his own. Would you like me to introduce you to some shops?"
"Oh, I'm sorry..."
Lizel replied calmly to the voice that had interrupted his thoughts.
Since Eleven joined, these kinds of incidents have increased. Because Eleven, unlike Gil, isn't well-known, it seems more people think they can join the party if they just push hard enough.
Now that he's upgraded his equipment, it feels like these type of people will only increase.
"Why do they want to join our party so much?"
"Well, of course, everyone wants to join a party full of skilled people, especially since the leader seems rich, so they probably think they can live luxuriously if they join. There are a lot of people who don't have a fixed party like us, and just team up with whoever they need at the time, so weaklings get cocky and try to join."
"Basically, we each use our own money, so there's no living luxuriously off someone else's money."
While many parties with fixed members manage their funds collectively, Lizel simply divides the rewards into three equal parts.
This is what they do when teaming up with random adventurers as Eleven mentioned, but even then, they rarely divide the rewards perfectly equally. They would decide on the distribution of rewards in a tense, almost hostile atmosphere, considering who had achieved the most in battle.
However, Lizel was completely unaware of this, and Gil, who was in a teaching position, had never been in a party before.
Eleven also knew about this, but since an equal distribution was fine with them, Lizel would continue to peacefully divide the rewards into three equal parts and give them to the other two without ever learning the truth.
"So, have you decided on a destination?"
"Yeah, 'Spirit Garden' seems like a good place."
"Isn't that where a lot of elemental creatures appear? Wait, are we really going to charge into a group of them?"
"We're not going to charge in! My big brother said the boss there only uses magic attacks, so it's perfect, isn't it?"
It would be ideal for testing the performance of his equipment, which, thanks to the use of mithril and dragon scales, almost completely nullified magic attacks.
Even though it supposedly nullified magic, Lizel didn't want to deliberately get hit, so he had never actually seen the equipment nullify magic attacks. Was it really okay?
He recalled that the parts of his body covered by his clothes hadn't felt hot from the underground dragon's breath, and he glanced at Gil.
"Will it really neutralize the attacks?"
"I don't know, I've never been hit by one properly either."
Would it really be okay?
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After being jostled in the carriage for a little less than two hours, they finally arrived at the Spirit Garden.
They arrived at the garden.
Incidentally, the line happened to break just as Lizel and the others were at the front, so they were able to sit down without any problems.
The phantom wolf cushion was still proving incredibly useful. Gil closed his eyes as soon as he sat down, and Eleven happily chatted with Lizel the whole time.
Eleven, somehow overwhelmed with emotion by Lizel's smiling nods, went off on a tangent at one point, but we'll skip that part.
"This is Eleven's first time here, right?"
"Yeah."
"It's convenient having Gil around."
"I don't really remember anyone besides the boss, though."
They looked at the gate, standing alone in the middle of the grassland, like something out of a fairy tale castle.
Following Gil's suggestion, Lizel had also accepted a quest related to this labyrinth.
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[Believing in the Infinite Potential of Monsters]
Rank: A-B
Client: Monster Researcher
Reward: 30-50 silver coins (depending on quantity)
Request: Collect the water that the Water Elementals wear.
Note: The water currently known to contain high magical power loses its magic when the creature is defeated, so collecting it while the creature is alive is desirable.
(※From the Guild)
This request has no precedent, and it is unknown whether it is possible or impossible, so there is no penalty for failure.
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"Why would you choose something like this...?"
"If we succeed, it'll be a new discovery, right?"
"How are you going to do it?"
"I brought a bottle, just in case."
In other words, he had practically no plan.
Why were they trying to confront an opponent that could easily inflict serious injuries with just a bottle?
Gil often said that Lizel was smart but also an idiot, and Eleven finally understood a little of what he meant. Of course, Lizel thought that if push came to shove, they could just defeat the enemy, and he was confident that they wouldn't be at a disadvantage against the elementals, which is why he accepted the request in the first place.
However, he gave a look that clearly said, "There's no way I'm going to use a bottle," and stepped into the labyrinth.
The inside of the labyrinth was, as the name suggested, a fantastical landscape that looked like it could be inhabited by spirits.
A strange light, neither day nor night, illuminated the surroundings; it wasn't dark, but it wasn't bright enough to see far into the distance.
The softly floating lights flickered and disappeared when touched. The lush vegetation and the corridors visible here and there certainly resembled the gardens of some castle.
Unlike a cave-type labyrinth, the garden that stretched across the entire floor made it easy to lose one's way due to the lack of a defined path.
However, if you knew where the next floor was, you could proceed straight there without any obstacles. If you didn't know, you'd have to search the vast space meticulously.
"Where do the Water Elementals appear?"
"...Around the middle floors, I think."
"You're not very sure, are you?"
"How can I remember everything?"
This was the kind of perspective only someone like Gil, who had conquered numerous labyrinths with overwhelming speed, could have.
Because he didn't struggle with the monsters that appeared along the way, they didn't leave much of an impression, and because he didn't spend much time conquering them, he didn't remember them.
"Didn't they say there were 40 floors in total? Let's start from around the 20th floor."
"It would be nice if we found some treasure chests."
"That would be interesting."
"I'm always serious."
"You have a deadpan expression whenever you open treasure chests."
They stepped onto a faintly glowing magic circle and teleported.
They arrived at a place like a gazebo built in the garden, and for now, they started walking down the corridor that stretched out in front of them.
Looking left and right, the fantastical garden stretched out as far as the eye could see. Even walking along the corridor doesn't guarantee you'll reach the next floor, so you'll probably have to go through the garden as well.
After walking for a while, a light, distinctly different from the lights floating around them, slowly approached.
"Oh, just like big brother remembered!"
"But there are no water elements."
"They'll probably show up eventually."
The approaching creature was a fire element.
Element-type monsters are creatures that appear to have magic power concentrated around a core, burning brightly.
They are about the size of a person's embrace, and while they have what looks like eyes, it's unclear if they can actually see. It's a labyrinth, so things don't have to make sense.
There are various types of these monsters, such as fire elements that are surrounded by fire, and water elements surrounded by water.
They continue to move unless their core is destroyed, and because they lack a physical body, the only way to defeat them is to attack them with their weakness attribute. After all, even the core is a mass of high-level magic power, and physical attacks are ineffective.
"It looks like things will get complicated if many different types of elements appear at once."
However, their movements weren't particularly fast, making them easy targets for Lizel.
When he fired a water-attribute magic bullet at the core, several of the elements vanished as if they had been erased.
"That's a good match!"
"How did Eleven defeat them?"
"I used a sword with elemental properties. When you channel magic power through it, the element manifests. But with this sword, it has magic reflection, so I think I can just cut them normally."
Trying to cut an element's core with a normal sword is like trying to cut water, but with a sword blessed with magic reflection, even a mass of magic power won't regenerate after being cut.
Therefore, it can inflict fatal damage on the elements.
Lizel nodded, pleased with his purchase, and Eleven happily twirled the sword in his hand. Thinking it would be faster to wander around this floor with the magic circle than to go down another level, they repeated the process of slashing and shooting at the elements several times, until finally their target appeared.
It was enveloped in water that seemed to be burning, but where fire would normally scatter sparks, water droplets were scattering instead.
They quickly defeated the fire and wind elements that appeared with it, and then the three of them faced each other, wondering what to do next.
Occasionally, it would launch attacks like tackles or shoot out lumps of water that would cause excruciating pain if they hit the solar plexus[1], but they easily dodged them. Incidentally, the lumps of water were coming at them at considerable speed, so Lizel was being pulled or shielded by the other two.
"Ah, it looks like it's not going to work."
Eleven, who had swept a bottle through the element's body, showed them the empty bottle.
The water that had presumably entered the bottle the moment it separated from the main body had simply reverted back to pure magic.
Incidentally, they had tried putting one of the water elements into a bottle when it collapsed into a puddle after being defeated, but as the request had stated, it had simply turned into ordinary water.
"Hmm, does that mean the core defines the attribute? But if the core doesn't have a physical form, I don't think there's a spell that can transform magic into water, and while it's similar to water magic, how does it construct the magic...?"
"Big brother, behind you!"
"Ah."
Gil crushed a crystal snake that was slithering along the ground, attempting to attack Lizel from behind.
The snake, its body broken in two, writhed for a while before finally giving up.
Until now, Eleven had been warning Lizel, but recently he'd realized it was faster to warn Gil or protect Lizel himself.
He knew that Lizel wasn't underestimating the dungeon or so foolish as to not understand the suicidal nature of his actions. He figured it was simply a sign of trust, which wasn't a bad thing. He just wish he'd at least stop doing that to the point where he can fight while thinking at the same time.
"Hmm? If the magic power disperses the moment it separates, maybe I don't need to overthink it... Even if it's not logical, there's a reason for it, and if it's just other magic power following the attribute that manifested first..."
"Hey, to your side!"
"Ah, sorry."
He was pulled aside with an arm around his shoulder, and a mass of water passed through the spot where he had been standing.
Eleven was nimbly circling the water element, playfully repeating the action of filling a bottle with water. When he put the mass of water shot from the main body into the bottle, it didn't turn into magic power; it was just water.
"Can't we get the core or something?"
"That would be dangerous, I think. Ah, but I see."
Lizel took something out of his spatial magic and held it in his hand for a while.
He nodded once, beckoned Eleven over, and put what he was holding into the offered bottle.
"Here, instead."
"What's this? Isn't this a magic stone?"
Eleven shook the bottle, and the round stone bounced against the bottom with a clink.
Magic stones, which are used as cores for magic tools, have the property of storing magic power. Unlike the white golem, which absorbs all the magic power it touches, magic power won't be absorbed unless it's poured in through a specific process.
Lizel told Eleven to try collecting water with it, and he nodded, wondering why. He repeated the motion, sliding the bottle as if to gouge out the main body.
The water inside the bottle didn't turn into magic power; it just sloshed around in the transparent glass.
"Wow, amazing! Why?"
"I infused the magic stone with magic power to manifest the water attribute. It's a fake core."
With a swift slash of his sword, he defeated the water element, and Eleven looked at the bottle, holding it up to the light. If it would decompose into magic the moment it left the core, then he wondered if he could create another core.
It wasn't something that could be explained by logic in the first place. He thought that if they wanted to fix the attribute, they just needed a standard, so he tried using a magic stone as a substitute for the core, and it seemed to have worked.
Even Lizel didn't expect it to work, but he laughed, saying it was worth a try.
He thought that since it was a labyrinth, they might turn into monsters the moment they held a fake core, but it seemed that monsters weren't born that easily.
"Will it disappear when we leave the labyrinth?"
"If it disappears, it disappears. We'll just honestly admit to failing the request."
How decisive.
Eleven couldn't help but let out a cry of admiration at Lizel's firm declaration.
And so, the three successfully completed the request and headed to the lowest level, their original destination.
"Wow, amazing! Incredible!"
A giant body enveloped in blue flames swung its arm in a single sweep.
Contrary to its stocky appearance, it launched a swift attack, but the spreading flames of the aftershock rushed towards them.
Eleven dodged it by leaning back with a smile.
The name of the giant of fire was Element Master, the strongest boss in this labyrinth, waiting at the lowest level.
Its appearance, like a giant mass of fire with short limbs growing out of it, boasted a colossal size that made them look up in awe.
"With that way of dodging, if you had stuck your stomach out like before, you would have been burned."
"I wouldn't have dodged like that before! But seriously, this thing doesn't take any damage!"
Smiling at Eleven, whose tension was at its peak, Lizel aimed his gun at the cavity at the top of the giant's body.
The Element also had a cavity for an eye. Whether it was actually an eye or not was unknown, but since it was clearly in the position of an eye, whether it was functional or not, it was undoubtedly an eye. Instead of using the wind-element bullets he usually relied on, he used water-element bullets to shoot straight through one of its eyes.
A guttural groan, like flames erupting from a mouth-like slit, escaped the giant's body as it clutched its wounded eye.
"Gil!"
Lizel, who had the remaining eye fixed on him, quickly retreated, and Gil, in turn, rushed towards the Element Master.
The greatsword, swung from bottom to top, vertically severed the giant's leg. The gap created by the flames quickly closed, but the giant, slightly off balance, couldn't bring down its other raised arm.
Not one to miss this fleeting opportunity, Gil swung his greatsword down, widening the wound, and extended one hand to the side, glancing at Eleven.
"Big brother, you're the best!"
"I wouldn't forgive you if I weren't wearing gloves!"
Eleven, who had already run towards the Element Master, licked his lips and leaped towards the outstretched hand.
He landed on the palm with one foot, bending his knee, and then, propelled by a powerful force, he launched himself into the air.
He laughed at the sudden upward surge, and at the apex of his trajectory, he inverted himself and held his twin swords ready. Right beside him, the intact, hollow eye was staring at him, and Eleven grinned.
He swung his twin swords with all his might. The attack, aimed at the base of the raised arm, only grazed the surface, but it was incredibly sharp...
With a single sword strike, he severed the giant's thick arm.
"Gah,"
Eleven, who had begun to fall along with the giant's body that had lost its balance and collapsed to the ground, adjusted his posture in mid-air.
At that moment, the hand that had been covering the giant's eyes, even as it fell, lunged towards Eleven.
"I'm going to get hit," he thought, covering his face with one hand while raising his sword. Just then, a rapid series of gunshots, so close together they sounded like a single continuous blast, erupted, and the flames forming the giant's palm were torn apart and dispersed.
"So you thought I was a hindrance, huh?" Eleven laughed, landing gracefully despite the considerable height, and waved his hand.
"Thanks, Leader!"
"Yes. Now, the finishing blow?"
With a heavy thud, the giant's body fell to the ground a moment later, and a gust of wind swept over it.
The Element Master's core is located in its head. Unless you defeat it like this, you can't even reach it.
Moreover, it's quite large and hard, so Eleven's quick slash in mid-air wasn't enough. Gil might be able to shatter it with a single blow, though.
Prompted, he slashed at the core, which was nestled within the burning flames before him. With a clanging sound, a crack appeared on the surface.
"Wow, it's so hard! Element-type cores don't have a physical form, so why is this one so hard?"
"It's not the core that's hard, it's the protective shell. It's what's protecting the core."
Eleven thought it might be dangerous for Lizel, who was approaching leisurely, but since Gil casually stood beside him, he figured it was fine and carved a cross into the core (or shell, as Lizel called it).
He thrust his sword with all his might into the center of the crack, and the shell shattered like thick glass. Just as the Element Master was about to get up, bracing himself with his hands, Eleven, moving with almost invisible speed, struck him multiple times.
The moment he recoiled, grimacing at the viscous, water-like sensation, the core suddenly glowed intensely.
"Oh yeah, this thing exploded at the end."
"Huh!? Hey, Li...!"
Immediately afterward, a violent storm of wind spread out from the core with a deafening roar.
The force of it gouged the floor, kicking up dust and covering everything in white.
The explosion, which would have been fatal to anyone nearby, was far beyond the point where the fact that the Element's attribute was fire but the flames didn't spread was considered a small mercy.
"Cough..."
When the dust finally began to settle, a voice coughing violently rose from a spot slightly away from the epicenter of the explosion.
A hand was waving to clear the swirling dust, but it wasn't doing much good.
"Cough, cough... I can't believe it, why did you forget?"
"I told you I can't remember everything!"
Eleven, with tears even welling up in his eyes, looked at Gil with an expression that seemed to say, "Why is this person so unfazed?"
It wasn't that Gil wasn't affected by the dust.
He was frowning intensely, but his usually rough-looking face didn't show much difference.
Eleven was muttering about how his new clothes were getting covered in dust as he brushed it off his shoulders.
"Cough."
"Ah, it's still a little smoky."
"Mm,"
At the moment of the explosion, Lizel, who had been carried to this distance by Eleven, lifted his head.
He coughed involuntarily, and Eleven covered his mouth with his hand, pulling up his sleeve. When Lizel smiled reassuringly at the face peering at him cautiously, the hand supporting his back slowly withdrew.
Eleven, who had been watching Lizel as he moved away, suddenly yelped as he felt a tug on the back of his head.
"Ah, sorry. I forgot I was holding it."
"Why were you holding that?"
"It just caught my eye the moment you protected me. It would be terrible if it caught fire, wouldn't it?"
"You moved surprisingly well for you."
What Lizel was holding in his hand was Eleven's bright red hair.
Lizel had probably grabbed it to protect Eleven, assuming the blast would naturally include flames, but he seemed to have done it almost unconsciously, judging by the fact that he forgot he was holding it.
Lizel tentatively accepted Gil's ambiguous compliment—a mix of exasperation and admiration—that he was becoming a little more like an adventurer, since he was able to react quickly in a critical situation.
He loosened his grip, letting the hair flow freely through his fingers.
"I like this red; it's beautiful."
Eleven froze for a moment when Lizel smiled and thanked him for protecting him.
However, he quickly smiled back as if nothing had happened, his demeanor unchanged.
Lizel looked again at the gouged ground around them, wondering why, despite feeling the strong wind, he hadn't been blown away.
"The reason the blast didn't hit us directly was..."
"Because big brother cut it in half right behind me. If it had just been me, I would have been blown away even if I had moved back this far."
"Because I remembered being blown away the first time."
Even Gil, it seemed, couldn't completely avoid that blast the first time.
Remembering that he should have cut it down then, he apparently stood in front of Lizel and Eleven and swung his greatsword. The sword wind was so powerful it could even cut through the blast wave; even Eleven was astonished, thinking, (That's beyond human capabilities.)
Gil glanced at him for a moment, but quickly looked away. Eleven accurately understood his intention and smiled proudly.
"You defended well," that's what he meant. Because Eleven took that action, Gil was able to swing his sword.
"No loot from this boss, huh?"
"The book said there were top-grade fire magic stones... Oh, isn't that one?"
"They scattered everywhere from the blast. Last time, it was too much trouble to pick them up, so I just left."
"What a waste!"
The three of them chatted while wandering around the room, picking up the scattered magic stones.
A portion of the water element that hadn't disappeared even after leaving the labyrinth was safely delivered to the guild.
Incidentally, the bottle had a message card and ribbon attached, saying, "I look forward to you grasping the truth."
Since it was for a researcher, elaborate wrapping would only be a hindrance, so it was a simple design that didn't interfere with opening and closing, but it was becoming a hobby for Lizel.
Incidentally, Eleven, like Gil, didn't understand the meaning of it. He watched Lizel and Judge decorating it along with Gil.
Eleven waved goodbye to Lizel and the others, and as he walked back to his base alone, he touched his new, flawless equipment.
He had been aware of it himself, which is why he readily agreed to Lizel's suggestion to get better equipment, despite having plenty of money but never bothering to get good gear before.
It was a change in his consciousness that would even change his very nature.
He could fight as he was. He could win. He could kill. But he couldn't protect.
If things had stayed the same, he would have put Lizel in danger. Eleven traced his equipment as if clutching his heart, and a faint smile appeared on his face. The person he used to be, who said they disliked having too good equipment because it took away the thrill, is nowhere to be found.
The person who felt unparalleled pleasure in battles where life and death hung in the balance has now discovered an even greater sense of comfort.
Not only does he not dislike this change at all, but he even feels an overwhelming joy; it seems he's completely captivated by Lizel.
"Just as I wished."
He had never protected anyone before.
If anyone other than Lizel had been with him at that time, Eleven would have even used them as a shield.
Only after Lizel thanked him did he realize that in that sudden situation, he had no other option but to protect him.
It was a mistake that Eleven couldn't immediately respond to the overwhelming exhilaration he felt from his smile, even though he was shocked.
There will probably be more opportunities to protect him in the future. He doesn't intend to put him in danger, but when that time comes, he'll respond with a confident smile, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Eleven walked with a light, almost soundless step, his mood clearly cheerful, and grabbed his own hair.
He ran his hand along it, and when he reached a certain point, he respectfully lifted it, as if taking the hand of a master he served.
The hair he quietly pressed to his lips was still his own, but Eleven deepened his smile and quickly let go.
His red hair immediately swayed behind him like a snake, as usual.
"Besides, big brother only draws his sword after making sure he's protected, huh?"
Eleven hummed a tune and disappeared into the already dim alleyway of the twilight.
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Author Misaki Note:
Eleven commutes from his base of operations. He's with a group of elite individuals.
I think these skilled individuals would make great adventurers, but they say it's not their cup of tea.
[1] The solar plexus, or celiac plexus, is a complex, radiating network of nerves located in the upper abdomen behind the stomach and in front of the aorta. As a key component of the autonomic nervous system, it regulates involuntary functions like digestion and blood pressure, acting as a "brain" for the abdominal organs.