Chapter 71 - Volume 2 Chapter 32 Meeting Face-to-Face (1/2)
—Raust—
After a slight hesitation, I followed Master into the passage.
Going down into the white stone ground passage, I looked up and saw Master a little ahead of me strengthening herself and increasing her defense with magic.
After quickly preparing for battle, Master took one look at me and opened her mouth.
「Raust, draw your dagger. Stay alert from here onwards.」
Without waiting for my answer, Master began to walk into the passage.
Looking at Master’s back, I muttered.
「Ahh, so that’s why.」
At that time, I finally understood why I got chosen to accompany Master instead of Ronaldo-san.
Master walked slowly in the narrow passage while keeping her eyes on the surrounding.
Her behavior was caused by the assumption that we would fight in this narrow passage.
Assuming a fight indoor, Ronaldo-san who wielded a greatsword would be at a disadvantage, and in the worst case, it could even get in the way of the battle.
Same case with Zieg-san.
Narsena, a martial artist, could fight indoor, but she wouldn’t be able to utilize her speed which was her best arsenal.
Unlike Master, Armia who needed to chant her magic and couldn’t fight in close-quarter combat would just become baggage.
Considering these circumstances, Master chose me, who was handicapped the least in an indoor fight, to accompany her.
Her judgment was rational.
And above all, that conveyed how serious she was.
That in turn showed how abnormal the man, the branch chief, was.
「Who, what are you…?」
The words I murmured were filled with my amazement of the Labyrinth City’s Branch Chief.
Master’s cautiousness and my unconscious fear toward him caused my tension to rise as well.
My tension peaked when Master, who walked in front of me, stopped.
「Found him.」
「-!」
In response to her words, I looked over her shoulder and saw a firm door.
I spontaneously activated magic detection, but I couldn’t detect what was behind the door at all, my face scrunched up.
Despite my magical detection, it was as if I couldn’t understand anything.
It was my first experience.
And this abnormality told me, above all, that there was something behind the door.
Perhaps noticing the abnormality I detected, Master whispered at me.
「You can also understand that man’s abnormality, right? I also don’t know what is behind the door.」
Her stern face made me even more uneasy.
However, we couldn’t stay here forever.
With a firm determination, I opened my mouth to Master.
「Let’s go.」
After looking into my eyes as if to make sure I meant what I said, Master began to walk toward the door.
We reached the door immediately, then Master looked at me.
I nodded silently, clutching my dagger.
With that as a signal, Master opened the door.
The next moment, what was behind the door that opened with a loud noise was revealed.
There were only a few lights like in the passage.
The small light illuminated a room that seemed rather bleak for people to live in and Hanzam who stood in the back.
And then, like being attended by Hanzam, there was an old man in a white robe with long white hair sitting next to him.
「-!」
The moment I saw him, I instinctively understood.
This old man was the person that Master was wary of.
And this man was the one who was hindering magic detection.
There was something about the old man that I could instantly understand.
Reflexively understanding that this old man was of the same rank as Master, I held my dagger in front of me.
However, even when being pointed with daggers, the old man’s attitude didn’t change.
「That’s a lot of noise. Don’t you think you should at least knock?」
There was no hostility in his voice.
On the contrary, the old man talked to us intimately, like he was dealing with his own child.
I realized that I felt a familiarity with the old man’s good-natured demeanor, which made me even more cautious.
I couldn’t lower my dagger despite remembering what Master said about avoiding a fight.
「It’s kind of lonely that you don’t even reply.」
Seeing us like that, the old man stood up with a mutter.