Chapter 91

I apologize for the delay in updating... "Bait for the monsters..."

Those words imply that the adventurers were deliberately allowed to escape.

In other words, Ronaldo used the escaping adventurers to lure the monsters away from the labyrinth city.

It was a possibility I had never even imagined.

Under normal circumstances, I might have dismissed it without much thought.

But as I was filled with shock, I realized something.

...That no monsters had come to the labyrinth city since the group led by the lich arrived.

Narseena, who was standing next to me, whispered in surprise at the same time I reached this conclusion.

"Could it be that the monsters were moving away from the labyrinth city...?"

"Narseena...?"

"Ah, um, hehehe..."

Narseena gave an ambiguous smile in response to my reaction to her words.

Her attitude seemed to be trying to cover something up.

Seeing Narseena like this, I recalled that she had been the first to notice the orcs when the lich brought the monsters.

Could it be that Narseena...

"...So, you used the adventurers as bait to delay the monsters from reaching the labyrinth city. Is that what you're saying?"

It was Sieg's voice that brought my attention back to Ronaldo.

Sieg approached Ronaldo with a serious expression.

However, it was the master who answered the question, not Ronaldo.

"Can you think of any other explanation? There's no way the adventurers could have escaped without being noticed. It makes much more sense to think that they were allowed to escape on purpose."

The master, who had somehow crossed his legs and sat in a chair, pointed at Ronaldo with his foot and said this.

Despite the master's clearly displeased attitude, Ronaldo responded.

"No, it's not that grand. It was just a desperate measure because I noticed the adventurers' escape too late."

"Liar."

"If I had planned it, I would have limited the number of escaping adventurers to about a hundred."

Ronaldo calmly continued, despite the master's disbelief.

However, a hint of regret had crept into his expression.

"I only realized the adventurers were planning to escape when they were already eighty percent prepared."

"You were outsmarted?"

To the master's still skeptical gaze, Ronaldo produced a piece of paper.

He spread it out on the table for us to see.

...The paper contained words that incited the adventurers to escape.

"This is...!"

We instinctively understood that this was the paper used to incite the adventurers' escape.

"When I realized, the paper had already been distributed to most of the adventurers. If I had handled it poorly, many more adventurers would have escaped by now."

...We understood that the current situation was much better than it could have been.

However, there was one thing I couldn't understand.

"How did you...?"

Indeed, with this paper, it would have been relatively easy to secretly inform the adventurers to escape.

Even so, it was hard to imagine how the adventurers managed to get so many to agree to escape without Ronaldo or Sieg and the others noticing.

Narseena answered my question.

"...The guild staff, right?"

"Yes, they were likely the main culprits. They incited the adventurers and planned this escape. ...It's incredibly foolish."

I recalled what Narseena had told me about the escaping adventurers being accompanied by guild staff.

At the time, I had assumed the guild staff were being used by the adventurers and forced to escape.

However, the guild staff were not such simple people.

I remembered the time when the Sword of the War God was embedded.

The guild staff were involved then as well.

Why hadn't I realized the possibility of their involvement this time?

As I regretted this, Ronaldo continued with a rare look of frustration.

"The guild staff in the labyrinth city have a manual for what to do during a labyrinth outbreak, and they are supposed to follow it. ...These guild staff pretended to follow the manual while secretly distributing this paper to the adventurers."

In emergencies, adventurers are feared as potential criminals.

Therefore, during a labyrinth outbreak, the primary responsibility of the guild staff is to control the adventurers.

In other words, the guild staff, who had the most contact with the adventurers, likely used this to persuade them.

"Judging from their efficiency, the guild staff must have decided to abandon the labyrinth city the moment the outbreak began. ...This is the first time I've seen all the guild staff flee during a labyrinth outbreak."

Ronaldo's eyes held a cold light as he spat out these words.

"..."

The rare display of negative emotion from Ronaldo startled Sieg, and I realized Narseena had moved from beside me to behind me.

Even for Sieg and Narseena, who were Ronaldo's disciples, it was unusual to see him so openly angry.

...However, the actions of the guild staff were understandable given their reaction.

The guild staff, who wield significant power, are obligated to take the lead in emergencies.

The fleeing guild staff had greedily taken their privileges and fled the moment an emergency arose.

I felt a deep disgust, beyond mere anger.

Honestly, I didn't care if the guild staff and the adventurers were killed by the monsters.

The master, who had been calm until now, now showed a level of frustration I had never seen before.

"I knew the guild was profiting by exporting materials from the labyrinth to the outside world and favoring certain adventurers while oppressing the less capable ones, but..."

"It seems they were even more corrupt than I thought."

Ronaldo said this calmly, but with a chilling gaze directed at where the guild staff usually stood.

"Unforgivably foolish. ...Without the secret persuasion of the others, who knows what would have happened."

Ronaldo sighed and then turned to me as if remembering something.

"By the way, Laust, could you thank them on your side? In the name of the ultra-class adventurer Ronaldo, I will formally reward them after the outbreak is over."

"...Huh? Wouldn't ordinary adventurers be happier to hear it from Ronaldo rather than me...?"

I tilted my head in confusion at Ronaldo's sudden request.

The "them" Ronaldo referred to were likely the adventurers.

If so, I doubted the adventurers of the labyrinth city would be happy to be thanked by me, with whom they had a conflict.

Ronaldo continued, noticing my confusion.

"No, they said they have a debt to Laust. Was it Maaner?"

"Maaner!"

Indeed, Maaner and the others had become friendly with the townspeople, but they were still seen as just another group of adventurers by the guild staff.

Seeing them train the town's children, one could tell they were different from other adventurers, but the guild staff didn't know this.

It made sense that Maaner and the others could persuade other adventurers to stay without arousing suspicion.

I was surprised by Maaner and the others' efforts, and Ronaldo continued, looking somewhat pleased.

"They said they would help for Laust's sake. I didn't expect to gain allies as well as dealing with the mutated ultra-difficult monsters."

"..."

Ronaldo's words left me speechless.

They were undoubtedly words of encouragement for me.

"...Well, you are my disciple."

Following Ronaldo's words, the master, twirling a strand of his red hair, added softly.

Though his attitude seemed casual, I understood that he was trying to praise me.

Words from the ultra-class adventurer and my teacher, who had taught me the ways of an adventurer, were more gratifying than anything else, and I found myself smiling naturally.

Thinking I needed to say something, I opened my mouth, only to realize someone was gripping the hem of my robe strongly.

Confused, I turned around to see Narseena, who was even more delighted by Ronaldo's words than I was.

"Hehehe..."

Narseena's cheeks were flushed with excitement, and she gripped the hem of my robe even tighter, unable to contain her emotions.

When she noticed I was looking at her, she was visibly flustered and averted her eyes.

"...Ah."

She looked at her hand gripping my robe and quickly let go, blushing and laughing awkwardly.

Perhaps she had been holding my robe unconsciously.

Though I had a fleeting thought that it might have been unconscious, I couldn't say anything to the blushing Narseena.

...Honestly, my heart was already full, and I had no room to comment on Narseena's actions.

Still, I had one complaint and whispered it softly.

"...You could be more proud."

There was no need for her to be embarrassed; I wanted her to be more proud.

Not only the mutated hydra, but also Maaner and the others' admiration for me wouldn't have been possible without Narseena.

The fact that I felt nothing towards the adventurers of the labyrinth city, with whom I should have had a conflict, was because Narseena was by my side.

So, I didn't mind if Narseena was proud.

...But now, I felt a bit embarrassed to express this to Narseena and turned my face away, as if to hide my flushed cheeks.

By the time I noticed, the atmosphere in the room had become warm.

"What's going on...?"

"Ha..."

When I asked, the only response was a sigh of exasperation.

Ignoring my confusion, the master, looking tired, spoke.

"Those two are always like this, so don't worry about it."

"Always...?"

"...Anyway, let's get back to the topic. We need to discuss our next steps."

The master, ignoring Ronaldo, who was looking at me with an ambiguous smile, tried to steer the conversation back on track.

"...May I speak for a moment?"

Laila, with a serious expression, spoke up at that moment.

The room's atmosphere, which had been slightly relaxed, tightened at Laila's words.

"Is the neighboring town, where the adventurers fled, safe? – Is there a possibility they could be caught up in the labyrinth outbreak?"

Laila's worried words made the blood drain from our faces...