Chapter 1143 (2/2)

Wendy’s face twisted into a maze of wrinkles. Although talking about Randidly got her upset, nothing upset her more than talking about the political figures who had demanded to accompany the expedition. “Pah! The stupid idiots. It’s much easier and cost-effective to create an amulet like what I gave you. It will vastly reduce the effect the miasma will have on you. But to ask for an entire suit of armor of the shielding material-”

Wendy’s thin fingers twitched. Smirking, Rejt turned away and scanned the rest of the forward camp. Although fifty people wasn’t a large number, the fact that they had political accompaniment meant that there were almost as many tents as there were people. Most were small storage tents or hastily dug latrines screened by thin cloth, but many individuals required their own sleeping quarters.

The entire rest area of the 20th floor was filled with the sea of tents.

As a figure strode rapidly over to the edge of the chasm where Rejt and Wendy were staying, Rejt’s smirk widened. “Speak of the devil… hey, Armgrast, how do you feel about your ministers' requests we take a quick break so that they might protect themselves more fully?”

The lion-headed man glowered at Rejt as he came to stand next to the two of them. Just as quickly, however, his eyes flicked away and were drawn down to the depths of the abyss. “Humph, you know that I would gladly leave these fools behind… by the way, can you still see-”

“Yes,” Rejt interrupted. “Her trail is still there. Leading deeper into the darkness and miasma.”ignition

Lazareth Armgrast bared his very impressive fangs, but Rejt had spent enough time around the prince to realize that it was actually worry that animated his face. “That foolish woman… why would she go alone? Why would she leave the damned rope of bedsheets when she ran away? Was she making fun of me? Did she think I wasn’t strong enough-”

“She probably thought you were a pigheaded misogynist,” Wendy said unhelpfully.

Lazareth’s eyes flashed. “My head is that of a noble Lion, you glorified librarian.”

Wendy sighed with an aggrieved expression that seemed to express something like, this idiocy of yours is probably exactly the reason why Azriel didn’t stay, but Rejt cut into their bickering before they could escalate.

“It’s been four days since we have left the surface, and we’ve already made it down to the 20th floor. Of course… we know the reason why your ministers are hesitating now, just like the Dukes from the Shelley Kingdom. We had pretty reliable scouting reports up to the 20th floor. But beyond that…”

Lazareth sighed. “...Yes and no scouts have returned from beyond the 30th floor, I know. All this while we don’t even know how deeply the Hell Dungeon extends.”

“At the very least, we are not quite wasting time entirely by remaining here for a break,” Wendy said. “All of us have developed the Miasma Resistance Skill, yes? And the deeper we go, the thicker the Miasma is… and the faster the Skill grows. It is an ugly truth, but the longer we remain, the better equipped we will be to move forward. In addition, the rewards from the Trial by Miasma connecting Paths are extremely generous. So-”

“Yet every day, more and more of the people of this world die,” Lazareth hissed. “How can you calmly accept death like this?”

“Why are you getting so upset when those emotions accomplish nothing!” Wendy snapped back.

“Because I am a man with empathy,” Lazareth Armgrast stepped to Wendy, towering over her small-statured form. “Not some chemically warped midget machine-”

“Suffice to say, we need more information on the lower floors before we can convince the political dead weight we carry to proceed with any sort of speed,” Rejt interrupted smoothly.

Truly, it is the tragedy of my existence that I am constantly asked to guide the foolish, Rejt shook his head, remembering the first few times he had met Randidly Ghosthound. For all their potential, to be afflicted with such quarrelsome pupils… ah, did I perhaps shine too brightly in my past and the Progenitor was jealous of me…?

“...which might be true, but we can only wait for those damned scouts to come back with that intel,” Armgrast grumbled. “If I had only known… I would have made sure that I was the leader of the scouting party-”

“I volunteered earlier today.” Rejt interrupted again. He reached in his pocket and used his large, earthy fingers to pull out a paper with the official stamp of the expedition on it. “ To be a scout. I have been given leave to lead a three-person scouting party into the depths of the Hell Labyrinth to prepare for the expedition’s descent.”

The other two stood and stared at Rejt for several seconds as the implications of what he was saying slowly dawned on them.

Wendy spoke first. “...you, when did you become so scheming…?”

“But…” Lazareth continued to wrestle with his thoughts. “But if… if she goes, the rest of the expedition will refuse to move. They need her technology-”

“Such a tragedy.” Rejt smiled.