<h4>Volume 3, Chapter 6.2</h4>


    Trantor: Larkin


    Editor: Weasalopes


    「…There’s nothing yet.」


    「The traps from awhile ago were stupid but considering how many there were the absence of them is kind of creepy.」


    「Right?」


    The levels above them had been rigged in areas that would have been difficult to notice. The worst trap would probably be where one was caught in an explosion, got covered in soot, and their hair fried. But other than that the number of booby traps was enough to annoy anyone.


    Compared to that, it had been 10 minutes since they had begun their exploration of the passageway and they hadn’t encountered a single booby trap.


    「We’ve reached a t-junction.」


    「What should we do? This is really bothersome. 」


    「Let’s check it out for now.」


    Mio proceeded with utmost caution toward the suspicious t-junction, carefully making sure to examine everything. The t-junction gave her a bad feeling.


    「The passageway itself doesn’t seem to be rigged with anything. 」


    「But, you feel something is strange don’t ya?」


    「Yes. Something’s off. 」


    The fact that there were no traps was the only thing they were certain about. The two of them had high sense capabilities and intuition, and something had raised their suspicion.


    「In this case, it wouldn’t be strange if the structure itself is a trompe l’oeil. If so, then we’d discover something by attacking the framework.」


    While saying so, Hiroshi pulled out a spirit level that he had used during construction and ced it at his feet. The spirit level revealed that the area was perfectly horizontal since the bubble was fixed in the center.


    「Next.」


    So as not to provoke a miscalction, Hiroshi stretched his arm as far as he could and ced the spirit level further ahead. The bubble formed on the right side.


    「The passageway is nted, to the point where if ya were to ce a marble it would roll off. 」


    「It’s that inclined?」


    「Hmpf, whoever did this must have a lot of time on their hands to pull off something of this caliber. 」


    At Hiroshi’s words, Haruna tilted her head. The passageway had been expertly built to the point where she narrowly didn’t feel a sense of unease and Makoto, Tatsuya, and the Norton sisters hadn’t even been able to pick up on it at all.


    「M’kay, the passageway is nted so we’ll go with a pattern.」


    「Are we going with a ‘rolling stone’?」


    「Yup.」


    Everyone agreed.


    「Just how nted is it? 」


    「Enough for ya body to barely sense where it is in space. They’ve also installed a bunch of mechanisms so that while your body thinks it’s walking straight ahead it’s actually headed downwards. 」


    「You mean a ghost slope?」


    「Yeah something like that.」


    「That’s wily.」


    「You’re saying that now? 」


    Hiroshi and Tatsuya grumbled about the crafty structure that had clearly had a lot of time and thought put into it. Even though it was a sinister structure, they didn’t feel bloodlust or a mysterious aura. If anything, the purpose of this structure was to withhold a secret from trespassers and was meant to divert them, so they could rte.


    「The problem with this situation is that we don’t know whether we should block the stone from rolling all the way to the bottom or just it roll.」


    「Wait, you’re already certain that a giant stone ball is going toe? 」


    「Based on the circumstances I will even promise ya that it wille.」


    Hiroshi affirmed his prediction to the mystified Judith. The traps they had faced at the upper levels pretty much backed up his deration, and their current environment didn’t seem like it would betray his promise to Judith.


    「Okay. I’ve understood that a giant stone ball wille rolling down, but what do you mean blocking it from reaching the bottom or letting it roll to the bottom?」


    「Well with this type of trap, there are usually two oues. One is that if you avoid colliding with it you’ll be able to continue onto a different route, another oue is that if you let it roll to the bottom it might trigger another booby trap.」


    Hiroshi politely answered Prim’s question. What made this trap bothersome was the fact that the oue could go either way.


    「In this case, the problem is that we don’t have enough grounds to determine what oue it’ll be.」


    「That’s right. Makoto, do you have any ideas?」


    「My observational skills aren’t that great, and if I had happened to notice something I bet you guys and Haruna would have already figured it out.」


    「Hm, I guess so.」


    Meanwhile, Mio was exining to the Norton sisters that in cases like this where Tatsuya’s skills weren’t adept for the situation he would always ask Makoto, whose skills also weren’t adept for this situation, and how it had be something resembling a ritual. The fact that this always happened without fail was a bit tiresome.


    「If we split up into groups to check out the structure of this trap we run the risk of getting separated.」


    「So, we should prepare for the worst and stick together.」


    「In that case I’ll be at the very back.」


    The worst scenario would be if it was necessary to stop a giant stone ball the size of a giant buddha statue. This was because other than Hiroshi, no one else in the group had skills capable of dealing with a stone ball of that size.


    「Depending on the situation, it’ll be really bad if the stone ball doesn’t break, so it’d be better to carry a maul.」


    「I’m counting on you.」


    「Sorry about entrusting you with something dangerous.」


    「Don’t worry I’m not afraid ‘cause this is just like a honey trap.」


    If he got caught in the trap he’d beughed at by that mean-spirited woman and if he didn’t get caught in it his existence would still be denied by that same mean-spirited woman. As for Tatsuya, it’s easy for him to ignore verbal abuse, but it’s difficult for Hiroshi.


    「As usual you find rtionships with women more frightening than an actual life-threatening situation…」


    「But Makoto, you find monsters less frightening than straight guys, don’t you? 」


    「…I can’t refute that.」


    The three of them spoke while they made changes to their formation and entered the t-junction. Hiroshi climbed up the incline in order to buy the others time while the rest of the group looked for a ce to hide within the passageway’ framework.


    Mio led the group in charge of surveying the area and advanced 10 meters until the end of the passageway was visible, when suddenly a loud vibration was heard.


    「It’s here!」


    「Hiroshi! Are you okay!?」


    「It hasn’t picked up much speed yet so we got time!」


    The heavyweight Hiroshi thrust himself at the boulder that was slowly tumbling toward him and


    brought it to aplete stop. The stone was somewhat heavy but Hiroshi was fully capable of supporting it with one hand; it actually wasn’t as heavy as he had expected to the point that if the stone were to hit one of the Norton sisters at full speed she would survive.


    「This stone seems to be made out of mostly paper-mache.」


    「How heavy is it?」


    「It’s a bit heavier than my maul. The surface is as hard as a rock but I’d say it’s quite hollow.」


    「No wonder I couldn’t sense any bloodlust despite the sinister aura. I’m not saying we can’t let our guard down a bit but this ce doesn’t seem like a theme park either.」


    「How are things over there?」


    「There seems to be some sort of mechanism deep in the passageway. Or rather, it looks like a stone is blocking the way through.」


    「Then it looks like we ought to smash this stone huh?」


    「No, wouldn’t it be better if we smash it after inserting it?」


    「Really? Alright there’s a possibility that it has to roll at full speed so I’ll move it back and let it roll from there.」


    「Got it. 」


    Once the n was decided the stone-imitation was rolled back to the top with a heave-ho.


    After he reached the peak, Hiroshi took out two linchpins, secured them into position, and tied spirit silk around one of them making it easy to swiftly pull it away between the stone and the wall.


    As Tatsuya watched the spirit silk, that they seemed to never get rid of, being put to use he felt somewhat grateful.


    「The setup isplete. Is there room for avoiding it?」


    「I think so.」


    「With this amount of people we barely have enough space.」


    「Yeah. Sorry about that.」


    「Nah, you don’t have to apologize.」


    Hiroshi looked at where the group stood, his face paled as he realized how closely they were all huddled together. However, since he was the tank of the group he was able to stand at the edge. Meanwhile, with the excuse that if things were to go wrong she should stand closeby to cast an aid enchantment, Haruna was able to secure a spot next to Hiroshi. She was so close that she was practically glued to him. Then, she realized how dangerous this was for her.


    Uwah…


    She couldn’t have imagined how bad it was for her heartbeat to be this close to the man she had a crush on, even if he was nearlypletely covered in leather armor. She felt sorry about seeing his pale face but suddenly her mind steadily went nk as she noticed things that haven’t captured her attention before, such as his scent, his burly physique, and the texture and temperature of his skin that could be perceived and felt through the thin areas of his clothing.


    「Here we go.」


    Hiroshi showed no signs of noticing Haruna’s reaction, nor Judith’s, even if his face had paled at feeling their bodies against his, as he made his announcement and removed the linchpins.


    In the next moment, the boulder-like paper mache ball slowly began to roll, then as if some kind of mechanism had been involved, it rolled faster than they had predicted along the incline, and crashed with arge amount of force.


    The ceiling above the ce where they stood was higher than expected, this meant that even if an error were to ur and someone was run over by the paper mache boulder, the boulder would easily roll over one’s body and one wouldn’t suffer much damage. Even Mio hadn’t been able to detect the fact that the carefully constructed mechanism and the ground that had been constructed in such a way to serve as a cushion, meant that the entire structure’s purpose was to serve as an attraction.


    「Hm, let’s see.」


    Hiroshi scrambled as fast as he could away from that area. If he stood there any longer he was sure his sanity point would drop to zero. Haruna suddenly felt lonely as Hiroshi’s warmth disappeared along with him as he skittishly hurried away. She then unconsciously let out a sigh at his absence. This man was indeed enveloped in his phobia.


    「Hmm, well, I know the reason but, Haruna, you’re bright red aren’t you?」


    「Um Judith, so are you?」


    「I don’t want to hear that from you?」


    It goes without saying that because the girls had been able to be in such close proximity to the guy they had a crush on, all of their faces were red, and there was a strange tension in the air.


    「So, what did you think?」


    「I guess you guys are happier than if it was your birthday, huh?」


    Makoto looked at Haruna teasingly and Haruna replied softly since she was still bewitched by what she had experienced. At the moment, Haruna resembled a Buddhist priest who had relinquished all earthly desires and seemed to be veering off that path.


    「Well, if this situation hadn’t ured you probably wouldn’t have ever had an opportunity to get that close to him.」


    「Haru and Judith are so sneaky…」, Mio said while reproaching Haruna and Judith with her gaze. She ignored their conversation and looked over to where Hiroshi now was. Hiroshi was examining the area where the paper mache boulder had collided.


    「It seems that the top of the slope is a dead end, so even if we go back it’ll be blocked. But, while it seems we can’t make a new path, by the texture of this stone, if we strike it a bit we might be able to get through.」


    「So we’re doing the same thing as back in the forest dungeon? 」


    「Yup, something like that.」


    The rest of the group stared at Hiroshi and Tatsuya as they got to work. Haruna’s heartbeat was yet to calm down. She wasn’t sure what she was doing that ced a burden on Hiroshi.


    「I’ll knock it down in one swing.」


    「Go.」


    After Hiroshi received Tatsuya’s permission, he swung the maul down with all his might. Little did he know, if only he had investigated further he would have found a switch at the top of the slope. If one pressed that switch then the hidden pathway would have opened. But since they had beenpletely ignorant of that, the group had to resort to brute force to get through.


    After they broke through the wall they decided to take a rest. As they rested, their faces changed into ones of annoyance and they recounted the events that had happened up until this moment.