24 23. Smoked heart.txt (1/2)

--I want to fulfill my love.

After listening to the conversation in depth, it wasn't that Arti had a special fondness for anyone.

Of course, she said it would be best if Arti herself could fall in love and fulfill it. However, she was despicable, as if she had given up on something, saying that she was not the kind of person who could fall in love.

So, as a compromise, she asked me to introduce her to someone who is in love with her.

He said that if he could see and feel someone in love, and see it come to fruition, he would have nothing left to lose.

It's a corny story.

And it's also a stinky story.

But I thought Arti's eyes were too bright for a lie.

When he talked about this thing called love, Arti was as young as he looked.

He looked like a maiden in love with love.

I thought about how to respond to this hope.

I thought about it and thought about it.

I decided that the most appropriate thing to do would be to pretend to be a bearer.

As long as you're saying you don't have the will to fight, you've decided not to engage Arti.

After all, it's also uncomfortable to thrust a sword at Arti with a girl's face. It's also calculated that as time goes by, the safety of boss battles will increase due to the rise in levels.

As a pretext for pretending to undertake it, Arti and I start walking through the 11th level for now.

Of course, I don't believe everything Arti says, so I'm not letting my guard down.

Arti makes me walk in front of him, always watching from behind. I avoid strong enemies and choose weaker ones that don't require me to devote much of my consciousness to them.

Such a distorted and hastily formed party of two continues to talk while walking through the eleven layers.

''--I mean. As a girl, I don't think I'll be able to die without knowing love at this point. That's why I'm thinking.

...... Are you old enough to be a girl?

I've been alive for at least a thousand years. ...... Like I was supposed to?

You're an old woman. The sooner you reach Buddhahood, the better. It's better for everyone.

'You're a rude man, Christ. To grab such a lovely girl and call her an old lady. ...... That's not the way to treat a woman.

We introduced ourselves lightly and called each other by name.

By the way, no more flames are leaking from Arti's body.

He wraps a bandage containing a spell to suppress the flames without gaps (for some reason, I had to help him), and wears normal clothes over it. He also wears a cloak and his hood is deeply covered, hiding his face.

I was saved because I didn't want anyone to see me collaborating with the flame humans.

To a third party, it would only look like I was walking with a human girl.

'Mm. We've got a monster up ahead, Christ.

Yeah, so it's combat. I'll cover you from the back.

And then a battle with a monster occurs for the umpteenth time.

Of course, that monster is the one I chose with my magic 《Dimension》.

I decide on a path so that I can encounter a monster that doesn't have to let down my guard against Alti while fighting.

''Then I'll go: ......!

Arti attacks the monster with his flaming sword in his hand.

Moving with the speed of a Tida, he slashes with the monster's stiffness - without a moment's hesitation, the monster is mortally wounded.

”-- Ice Quickly Made Arrow.

Then I throw a magic arrow to stop it, and the monster turns into light and disappears.

Arti picks up the fallen magical stone and throws it at me.

Then he looks at me with a look of pride as he catches the magical stone. He seemed to want me to say something, so I decide to praise him appropriately.

'...... yes yes. It's great, great. Just go ahead and move on.

'Mm. You're cold to your well-meaning collaborators: ....... You can give me honest praise here.

'You praised me for being awesome. You're the boss monster, so of course you're awesome.

That's not very straightforward. Christ.

Arti slumps his shoulders as he does, and begins to proceed as he is told.

As I mentioned earlier, Arti doesn't lose his cooperative attitude.

Although he has a chatty side, he's showing his willingness to contribute to my labyrinth search with his actions.

But that doesn't mean I can't trust him easily.

As long as they are monsters, I can never trust them no matter what. ...... That determination is also seen to fade the more we touch each other.

It's the 'display' that judges Alti as a monster. And it's her self-identification. Without it, I would judge Arti as a sub-human unique to another world.

In this other world, beastmen and dragon-humans, who are not much different from monsters to me, are integrated into life. If I didn't have a 'display' and Arti didn't call himself a monster, but approached me in the friendly manner that he does now, I would have become a party without a doubt.

Yup.

She is that close to people. She speaks with the same intelligence as a person, she has emotions like a person, and she looks like a person. That's what bothers me. It shakes my feelings and diminishes my resolve. Really, is it right to reject Alti?　Isn't that the worst thing a person can do?　You're not just undermining the 'people' who understand each other--

--Let's stop.

If you think about it any longer, the ”? You're not going to be able to get it to work.

You're not going to be able to find a way to make it work.

There's no need to worry about it.

All monsters are on alert.

If you are committed to that, it's easier on you mentally and physically.

I reaffirmed my commitment.

I won't trust this monster called Arti until the day I die. I'll pretend to trust it and try to keep it away. Pretend to buy time by pretending to be undertaking and raise Alti to a level where I would be able to defeat her for sure.

--if I ever have to face her, then that's when I'll do it.

Then it's fine.

'Then let's move on. Sure, Alti makes the battle easier, and since the eleventh level is fine, let's go to the twelfth level.

'Huh. ....... You're a delinquent, Christ, you can trust me with 12 layers.

Alty seemed to be enjoying himself.

He smiled happily and led the way.

I follow behind him, trying not to look at Alty's face, fighting the emotions swirling in my chest.

◆◆◆◆◆ ...

Now, Christ!

Okay!

I aim at the monster's forehead, which looks like a giant gorilla, and throw my sword at it.

The sword, released with all my strength, pierces the monster's head without going crazy. With that, Arti also pierced the monster's torso with his flaming sword.

The monster, whose brain and heart were destroyed, quickly turned into light and disappeared.

I collect the sword and magic stone I threw and collect the magic stone. At the 12th layer, the experience value received from the monsters has risen dramatically. The experience value does not seem to be decreasing with Arti's help.

''Twelfth layer monsters are a piece of cake. Christ.

'Yes. It's easier now that Arti is playing the vanguard.

I pretend that I'm gradually trusting Alty more and more.

I act out Arti's devotion to me.

'Huh, not so much. You can leave it to me.

'You're healthy. You too: ......

Arti seems satisfied with my words.

He's actively taking down the monsters and standing around to make sure his attacks don't reach me.

But for me, I don't want to maintain this state of affairs.

It's exhausting to be on the lookout for any moment to get into a battle with Alty and keep worrying about the remaining MP. I'd like to say that I trust Arti as soon as possible and end my search for the labyrinth.

So I decided to stage (or create) that breakaway event myself.

The plan is simple.

The plan is to have Arti help me out after I showed an opening against a small fry monster.

This is to save time, but it's also to find out what Arti's true intentions are.

If Arti sees an opening and attacks me, it's a simple matter. All you have to do is hit the trapped Arti with a grand counter. After that, we'll fight or run away as planned.

If Artie sees this opportunity and tries to rescue me, the plan is working. I will praise him for saving my life and pretend to trust him with my life. I pretend that I'm going to do what he wants and suggest a different course of action.

'Then let's take out more monsters. I'd like to take out every single monster on the 12th level for future use.

Yeah, I got it.

This is how we defeat the 12 layers of monsters.

Arti is the dangerous vanguard and takes care of most of the fighting, while I repeat the simple task of stopping them over and over again.

In the middle of it all, I find a suitable monster and execute my plan.

''--Alti!　It's moving fast!　Let's surround ourselves with them!

That's a great idea. Then I'll come around to the back.

I suggested, taking on the agile-looking quadrupedal beast.

It was a nimble monster to look at, so Arti agreed without hesitation.

Arti took a unique step and turned beautifully behind the beast.

As planned, me and Arti had the monster between us. At the same time, we both attacked the monster - pretending to do so.