Vol 1 Chapter 14 – Luring【Vol 1 – Spoiled Princess Arc】

The surroundings were dim, and I couldn’t see very far ahead.

Since the ground had caved in from Princess Debora’s explosion, we should be on the second floor, but…

“How do we get back outside?”

“…Just take the stairs up and we’ll be out in no time. …You could hurry off alone, you know.”

“I can hear you, gloomy girl. Once we’re outside, you’d better watch yourself.”

A tense mood settled immediately, yet, as Miriam said, climbing the stairs would get us outside quickly.

This was only the second floor—shallow territory—so truly vicious monsters almost never appeared.

“Still, the second floor? Then I guess we won’t find any monsters as strong as I’m hoping for.”

“No, that’s not necessarily true.”

“Huh?”

Princess Debora spoke lazily, hands laced behind her head, and I contradicted her.

“In a dungeon, even shallow floors can spawn powerful monsters.”

Had only weak creatures ever appeared near the entrance, dungeons wouldn’t have been feared so much.

Perhaps a magic academy would even have used them for student training.

Yet that’s almost unheard-of—well, maybe in a royal academy.

The reason is…

“…the ‘Beginner-Killer Room.’”

“Begi… what?”

Unfamiliar with the term, Princess Debora tilted her head.

If all she’d seen were dazzling hero tales, her ignorance made sense.

“It’s a small chamber where monsters appear far stronger than the floor’s usual level.”

Even on the first floor, a room might spawn beasts from much deeper—those are called Beginner-Killer Rooms.

“Heh. But as long as we don’t enter, we’re fine, right?”

“No, it isn’t that simple…”

Many novice adventurers think like Princess Debora.

But no one knows where the Beginner-Killer Rooms are.

“…Huh? Isn’t that strange? Then how does anyone know about them?”

“A Beginner-Killer Room moves through the dungeon as if alive. Once it swallows someone, it shifts elsewhere.

Because of that, no one can pinpoint its exact location.”

“…What is that?”

Even ever-cheerful Princess Debora paled.

A room isn’t a living thing—yet it relocates. She grasped how abnormal that was.

――――――Some adventurers claim a dungeon is alive.

This room is one big reason for that belief.

“No worries. Since the Beginner-Killer Room moves around, running into it is rare.”

“R-right. Don’t scare me like that.”

Thud!

Princess Debora kicked my shin, huffed, and stomped off ahead.

Ah… this dull pain is exquisite…

“Are you okay, Erik?”

Miriam stepped closer, concern in her voice.

Truly, she’s kind…

“Yes, well enough…”

“…I still dislike royalty.”

With icy eyes, Miriam stared at Princess Debora’s back.

Those frosty eyes don’t suit her usual cuteness.

…Though, thinking of her turning them on me sends a thrill down my spine.

“Please don’t be so hard on her. Princess Debora surely has troubles of her own.

Just as we have our struggles, a princess has hers.”

Probably, anyway.

I’d like a long relationship with Princess Debora, who grants me such rare explosive pain.

Likewise, since gentle Miriam is essential to my masochistic path, their relationship turning irreparably sour would be a problem—for me.

My comment made Miriam pout.

“…Erik, you defend that pint-sized princess a lot.”

“Well… do I?”

She wields such marvelous torment.

I’d gladly stay by her side forever…

“…Whatever.”

Miriam turned away with a quiet huff.

While I puzzled over her reaction—

“Hey—hurry up already!”

Princess Debora’s lively voice rang from ahead.

“Coming, Your Highness.”

First, we needed to get out of the dungeon.

Given this unexpected mess, it couldn’t be helped.

◆

We reached a fork with two passages.

Both corridors were dim, their depths unreadable.

Even so, Miriam and I had visited this area several times, so we couldn’t get lost.

First-timer Princess Debora turned, her big round eyes asking:

“Which way?”

“…Right.”

“…Then why are you dragging the Hero’s arm left?”

“…Tch.”

“You’d better remember this, you brat.”

P-Princess Debora just used a tone I’d never heard…

Haa, haa… please direct that at me next time…!

Miriam, too, was growing less restrained.

Within a party, a little bluntness isn’t a bad thing, at least inside a dungeon.

“Hmm…”

I muttered to myself.

Something felt off… very off…

“Is something wrong, Hero?”

Done glaring at Miriam, Princess Debora trotted over.

“It’s just… I thought the stairs were closer…”

“…True.”

Miriam, following the princess, nodded.

My unease came from the dungeon feeling larger than I remembered.

“But it’s only the second floor—you two should have the map memorized, right?”

“Indeed. According to my mental map, we ought to have reached the stairs already…”

As Princess Debora said, King Rei had sent us here several times.

We always passed through this shallow floor, so even without a map we knew the layout.

Yet we were taking longer than expected to reach the stairs.

“Huh… Hero’s mental map is useless.”

“Oof…!”

Thank you for the harsh words, Princess Debora!

Perhaps I’m merely mistaken.

Though titled a Hero, I handle many duties for King Rei.

I’ve explored dungeons by his orders, but compared to professional adventurers, I’m practically a beginner.

“…Something’s wrong. It shouldn’t be this wide…”

It wasn’t only me—sharp-minded Miriam was troubled, too.

Better assume something’s up.

“…Erik, maybe we’re under magic attack…!”

“What!”

Miriam’s suggestion jolted me.

I hadn’t considered that at all.

Still, us getting lost on such a shallow floor seemed unlikely.

If we weren’t mistaken, then someone was making us lost.

As for why…

Generally, the people like me, yet I’m also a pawn moving by King Rei’s orders.

Some surely hate the king enough to want him dead; that resentment could spill onto me.

And traveling with notorious “Spoiled Princess” Debora only adds fuel.

Thanks to my skill I’m alive, but others have died from her blasts.

Anyone harboring a grudge would see the sparsely traveled dungeon as the perfect chance.

“Hm…”

Ah, to be the object of such hatred… delightful.

But why herd us around like this?

Keep us circling until we die?

No, unlikely.

King Rei and Prince Orace know we’re here.

Given the king’s doting nature, if we don’t return in a day he’ll dispatch search teams.

We’d be rescued quickly.

So, what’s the goal…?

Thinking this far, I reached a truly enticing—no, terrifying—idea.

Maybe it isn’t a spell to mislead us, but to guide us.

And at the destination waits something able to kill us before any rescue arrives.

Even on this well-charted second floor, there is one thing that could erase us…

“Hero—this way’s right, yeah?!”

“Ah, wait a moment!”

I looked up to see Princess Debora already at another fork.

Ignoring my opinion, she lightly stepped into the right corridor.

Down that path might lie something wonderful for me—

—but extremely dangerous for Princess Debora and Miriam!

“Let’s go, Miriam!”

“…Right!”

We dashed off.

Fortunately, the princess wasn’t running; turning right, we caught up quickly.

“Hmm? This place is really open.”

Princess Debora looked back at me, puzzled.

She was right: after those narrow, dark halls, this area spread out like a plaza, faint lights glowing overhead.

“No way…”

Miriam’s face went paper-white; her voice trembled.

But my eyes were fixed not on her—

—they were drawn to something writhing in the back of the chamber.