Going back a short while in time.

  Rei’s group were making their way through the maze like, intersection filled, passageways of the third floor while reading their map. Although they weren’t lost, the endless similar surroundings had started to slow their progress.

  Aside from the same looking surroundings, they also had to be cautious of traps as well as the monsters that frequently attacked them.

  The monsters were just low ranked monsters that could be killed in a single strike. But every time one appeared, they would have to stop, kill it, take out it’s magic stone and so on……


  「Tch, Sword Bees again. There really are a lot of them today!」


  A single strike of the Death Scythe cut through the bodies of several Sword Bees, which fell to the dungeon floor.

  「Kyi!」


  Yellow flew over behind Set while chased by a Sword Bees.

  「Gururururu~!」


  Set opened his beak with a loud cry. Set used Fire Breath as Yellow flew past him.

  Set had many ranged methods of attack. However, the one with the best combination of range and firepower was Fire Breath. Set turned his neck as he spat out fire, pouring hot flames over the 10 Sword Bees chasing after Yellow. The Sword Bees fell to the ground as their bodies burnt up.

  Elena also swung her sword whip as she slashed 5 Sword Bees in one stroke.

  Rei’s fireball turned the last few Sword Bees to ashes, ending the battle.

  「Hah, I wonder why these monsters are attacking us. They should just go look for those guys who wanted Sword Bee magic stones.」


  Rei gave a sigh as he took out a magic stone from a Sword Bee using a material stripping knife. He then cut off the ‘sword’ that grew from it’s tail end, which was it’s proof of subjugation.

  「Well, don’t say that. Weren’t we told to bring back as many magic stones as possible? It’s not a bad thing considering that.」


  Elena dismantled some Sword Bees herself, copying Rei’s actions, as she replied.

  It wasn’t hard for her to cut off the ‘sword’ that grew from their tails, but she seemed to be unfamiliar with taking out the magic stones buried in their hearts, making her take a bit longer.

  However, she was still much faster and cleaner than the time Rei had dismantled a Water Bear shortly after coming to Elgin.

  「She did say she wanted us to bring back more magic stones, but there surely has to be a limit. ……Sword Bee magic stones are also small, so they won’t be worth very much.」


  「Still, despite the trouble, it would be better to sell these magic stones than for the residents of Exil to run out of magic stones, right?」


  「……Given the number of people in Exil, they basically use magic stones like water.」


  As they talked about that, Rei stored the Sword Bee magic stones and proofs of subjugation into the Misty Ring.

  「At the very least, beast like monsters could be kept as food……but, these are insects.」


  (Well, I have heard that wasps, beehives and bee larvae are considered high class foods in Japan……they’re all related to honey though, insects are a different matter. No, that’s really a pointless constraint on myself seeing as I’ve eaten Orc meat as if it were something normal.)

  Although it was a monster, Orcs were humanoid monsters that stood on two legs and wielded weapons in their hands. Rei was able to eat Orc and Lizardman meat without much hesitations, but he just didn’t feel like eating insects.

  On the other hand, Set just stabbed his beak into them and ate them like snacks. Yellow seemed just as interested in them as Set as it ate some as well.

  「Come on, let’s keep going. If we keep moving, it won’t take as long to reach the stairs to the 4th floor.」


  「……We really need a thief.」


  Rei gave a sigh as he thought of their slow speed due to being wary of traps before they started moving again.

  Elena gave a small smile in agreement.

  「Guru~!」


  As they relaxed for just a moment, Set suddenly gave a sharp cry.

  Realising the vigilance in Set’s cry, Rei immediately readied his Death Scythe without a word. Elena also held her sword whip at the ready.

  Rei clicked his tongue as he quickly looked around, ready to respond to attacks from any direction.

  Currently, they were in the middle of a crossroads. In other words, the enemy could be coming at them from the front, back, left or right.

  Fortunately, Set was looking to the right of the crossroad, so even if enemies came from different directions, the strongest one would come from the right. Rei waited while ready to cast magic in a first strike.

  Elena spoke up quietly beside Rei.

  「……Is it an enemy?」


  「Definitely. However, our current location isn’t great. The direction we came from……no, there’s no point.」


  Set pulled on Rei’s Dragon Robe with his beak and shook his head as Rei was about to bring up the option of going back the way they came.

  「In that case……it would be best to quickly defeat the enemies coming from the right as fast as we can.」


  「That can’t be helped. However, considering the enemies we’ve run into on this floor, I can roughly predict what they’re going to be.」


  Well, yeah.」


  Rei gave a small smile at Elena’s words.

  Almost all the monsters that had attacked them had been Sword Bees. And, it seemed that despite the presence of Set, there was something else suppressing their instinctive fear. That didn’t leave many options. In other words……


  「I knew it.」


  Rei muttered as he saw the monster that appeared from the end of the passageway.

  Sword Bees were normally 30cm in length, but the Sword Bee in front them was nearly 3 times as large at 1m in length.

  「A rare or higher ranking species, it could also just be a queen bee. ……What do you think?」


  「You don’t know, Rei?」


  「Yeah, unfortunately. It isn’t in my monster encyclopedia.」


  Maybe monster encyclopedia’s with pictures and more information could be found for sale in a labyrinth city like this compared to Gilm? As Rei thought of that, he tried to recall the monster from the monster encyclopedias he had read as well as Zepairu’s knowledge. However, he couldn’t find any information on the huge Sword Bee in front of them.

  「In that case, it would be better to treat it as a queen bee. The likelihood of it being a queen bee is probably more likely than it being a rare or higher ranking species.」


  Elena spoke as she looked at the Sword Bees trying to surround them and held her sword whip, ready to swing it at any time. Rei started to pour magic power into his Death Scythe as he nodded.

  It was Rei’s magic that broke the balance of the two sides observing each other.

  『Fire, follow my will and burn your enemies.』


  Along with his incantation, a 30cm fireball was created at the tip of the Death Scythe.

  『Fireball!』


  As soon as the magic was completed, the fireball flew through the air as it attempted to burn the queen bee.

  「Kikikikiki-!」


  The wings of the queen bee began to rub against each other and a high pitched sound that seemed like a cry echoed out. No, it was clearly some sort of cry. A large number of Sword Bees threw themselves in front of the fireball as if to protect the queen bee. Rei clicked his tongued as he saw the Sword Bees’ protect their queen.

  (The queen bee is the only one that can make them work together. In that case……I’m afraid we’ll have to kill the queen bee first.)

  Making a quick decision, Rei looked over at Elena.

  Understanding what Rei wanted to do with a glance, Elena swung her sword whip out.

  The tip of the sword, controlled by Elena’s magic power, headed for the queen bee as it avoided other the Sword Bees, drawing a complex trajectory in the air……but, just as it was about to hit the queen bee, a Sword Bee stopped the tip with its body.

  「Gurururururu-!」


  Seemingly finding a gap, Set used Wind Arrow to strike the Sword Bees around the queen.

  「The path is open! It’s your mistake for misjudging our strength!」


  With a shout, Rei threw a spear that he took out from the Misty Ring.

  The spear, which was pierced through the air as it was thrown out, stabbed, crushed, destroyed and smashed through any Sword Bees that threw themselves in its way in an attempt to protect the queen……yet, as it was about to strike the queen bee’s large torso.

  「Kikikikiki-!」


  The queen bee rubbed it’s wings against each other again, creating a wind barrier between Rei and the Sword Bees, hiding the figure of the queen bee.

  Although Rei’s spear pierced the wind barrier, it’s path clearly veered away from the queen bee.

  「Wind magic!? ……I didn’t think it had a hidden trick like that.」


  「Rei, no. I can’t see Sword Bees approaching from any other direction. It seems that they’ve withdrawn.」


  「They’ve retreated? I see, in that case.」


  Just as Rei said that, the wind barrier lost it’s power and the area behind it became visible again.

  Of course, the queen bee was no longer there, just a few Sword Bees that had been pierced by the spear, which was now stuck in the wall.

  The worst part was that the corpses of the Sword Bees that had been struck by the spear were then caught in the wind barrier, tearing them to pieces.

  Rei gave a sigh as he clicked his tongue.

  「I had expected it to run away because it let its subordinates die……but to destroy the bodies of its subordinates. Don’t you know that we’re trying to collect magic stones, materials and proofs of subjugation?」


  「……That might actually be possible. Insect monsters basically aren’t very smart, but sometimes, I’ve heard that strangely intelligent individuals would appear. This may be one of them. As expected of a queen bee……what do we do now?」


  Elena asked while only half expecting a response from Rei.

  As far as their current situation was concerned, this was the first time they had encountered a Sword Bee queen, and of course……


  「I haven’t absorbed a magic stone from one of them before. Of course I’ll chase after it.」


  「That’s what I thought. This is why I can’t leave you alone. I’ll have to go with you.」


  Elena was a loss for words for a moment before she continued speaking.

  She considered herself to have great appeal, but unfortunately it had no effect on Rei, who’s focus was now completely on the queen bee’s magic stone.

  Rei looked towards the direction the queen bee had likely left and thought about it for several seconds before coming to a decision.

  「I’m sorry Elena, I’d really like to get the queen bee’s magic stone. We can head straight for the stairs to the fourth floor after that.」


  「Haah. ……I understand. Well, I had expected it to happen because of who you are. I wish you’d care a little more for me though.」


  Elena gave a sigh when she realised her appeal had no use. However, Elena couldn’t deny that she was in agreement with Rei’s decision.

  「Well then. Let’s go. However, it looks like this path leads to another crossroads……Set, can I leave it to you?」


  「Gururu~!」


  Leave it to me, Set seemed to say with a cry. Seeing that, Rei gave a smile and stroked his head.

  Set squinted his eyes for a moment before immediately breaking out into a run.

  The scent still lingered for now, but as time went by, it would become more difficult to follow.

  Rei and the others started to run after Set.

  Originally, they had planned to advanced while keeping an eye out for traps, but if they continued to do that in their current situation, the queen bee would definitely escape. Considering that, they judged that it would be better for them to run through the passageways, catch up with the queen bee and kill it, even if it meant putting themselves at greater risk.

  Both Rei and Elena understood each other’s thoughts just by looking at each other.

  (Fortunately, all the traps on the third floor aren’t too big of an issue.)

  Rei thought to himself while chasing after Set.

  Elena ran alongside him with Yellow sitting on her left shoulder. It was a party of two people and two monsters, but Rei felt strangely satisfied at their ability to communicate with each other without wasting time on words.

  They ran through the dungeon, past many crossroads, without hesitation. Sometimes they went straight, sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left.

  Ocassionally, they would run into a monster the moment they turned a crossroad. However, since most of them were low levelled monsters like Goblins, their heads or bodies would either be slashed by Rei’s Death Scythe and Elena’s sword whip, or be crushed by Set’s forefeet.

  The unluckiest one was a Goblin that had gotten caught on Set’s shoulder as he passed by. As a result of pushing the Goblin against the wall and running without slowing down, there was less than half a Goblin left by the it fell from Set after being scraped against the wall.

  And……


  「Guru~!」


  Set gave a short cry.

  Hearing that, Rei thought that they had caught up with the queen bee when heard the noise of fighting.

  There was the sound of shouting, screaming and objects slashing or slamming into something. Hearing that, the voice of the adventurer who had talked with them at the stairs passed through Rei’s mind.

  When they finally turned the corner, Rei saw what he had been expecting.

  He cast the magic that he had prepared earlier just in case and burned up all the Sword Bee that had been a short distance away from the adventurers……


  「Do you need help?」


  Rei called out.