"This way."
Rien pointed toward our destination.
Following her lead, I used my Map Creation skill to guide us along the most precise path possible. She pinpointed the rescue targets with her Search Tracking, and I charted the course forward.
"Monsters ahead."
Hachi, the monk, spoke without opening his eyes. He seemed to possess an auditory Inung, judging by the way he focused entirely on sound.
"Rat bastards…"
At Hachi's warning, Rohan—the warrior whose spirit seemed on the verge of snapping—drew his sword and stepped forward.
A purifying aura enveloped his body, instantly washing away the negative energy radiating from the approaching enemies. It wasn't a buff from Hachi, nor did it look like a Paladin's Blessing of Purification.
An Inung, then.
I felt a flicker of envy. A purification-type Inung was an incredible asset for a front-line warrior, especially in the Sewers. The vermin crawling out of these tunnels were notoriously filthy.
"That man… he's stronger than I thought…" Rien murmured, her eyes widening.
Despite his ragged first impression, Rohan plunged into the pack of seven Ratmen alone. He slaughtered every last one of them without taking a single scratch. His swordsmanship was seasoned and ruthless, exactly what you'd expect from a vanguard leader.
His mind might be unstable, but his skill was the real deal.
He's certainly earned his Silver plate.
He didn't hesitate for a second, striking vital points with surgical precision. Even if the monsters on the upper floors were relatively weak, his fearless charge was impressive. Adventurer plates didn't lie; he had the strength required to navigate the Underground City.
"Silver-plated adventurers are in a different league," I said. "You need that level of skill just to survive the Underground City."
"Just how… dangerous is it down there?"
"Ridiculously so. The variety and sheer number of monsters jump significantly."
"Ugh… I really hate the Labyrinth…"
Rien looked like she might never set foot in a dungeon again after today. It was a grim reality—those who fear the Labyrinth are eventually devoured by it. If you can't stomach the terror, it's better to stay outside. There's nothing more dangerous than a teammate whose fear makes them unpredictable.
"Screech!"
"Squeee!"
The remaining Ratmen recoiled, broken by Rohan's momentum.
"Get lost, you vermin," Rohan snarled.
The Ratmen scattered like common house rats encountering a tiger. They realized they stood no chance—for now. They'd likely return later with a larger swarm. That was their nature.
"Swarming like that… it's so gross…"
Rien unconsciously grabbed my sleeve as she watched them flee. To her, the creatures were physiologically repulsive. I couldn't blame her; seeing dwarfish, humanoid rats scurrying through the filth was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
Still, having her constantly tugging at my arm was distracting. It would be more efficient to just hold her hand.
"Excuse me, Rien. It's hard to walk when you're pulling on my sleeve."
"S-s-sorry…"
She apologized, but her grip didn't loosen. Her eyes were trembling. The sheer volume of the swarm had rattled her.
If I leave her like this, she's going to break.
That wouldn't do. Rien was our compass. If she lost her composure, we wouldn't make it in time. Just as I had comforted the Young Lady before, I needed to stabilize her mental state.
"Ah…!"
"Are you feeling a bit more at ease now?" I asked, taking her hand.
"Uh… yeah… sorry…"
"Don't mention it. Just stay like this until you feel stable. Let's keep moving."
"Okay… thank you…"
I firmly grasped Rien's trembling hand, and the shaking subsided almost immediately. Sometimes, simply feeling another person's warmth is enough to keep the fear at bay. Over the last six months, I'd learned various ways to maintain my own sanity; human contact was one of the most effective.
A hug would have been better, but we couldn't afford to stop. A handhold would have to suffice.
I wasn't doing this to flirt. I needed my guide's mind to be sharp. If holding her hand was the price for her mental stability, it was a bargain. Besides, a promising witch like her wouldn't fall for a mere porter anyway.
"Um… Porter?"
"Yes?"
"Those… rat-humans?"
"The Ratmen?"
"Uh-huh. Are there usually… that many of them?"
"Oh, yes. They're everywhere. There are probably more Ratmen in these sewers than there are Horn Rabbits in the Breeding Grounds."
The first floor of the Sewer District was essentially a massive Ratman den. These creatures, the size of medium dogs, hunted intruders to feed on their corpses. They had perfect night vision and carried a weak venom in their claws and teeth. While not immediately fatal, the toxin would slow an adventurer down as the nicks and scratches piled up.
Worse, they were walking petri dishes of disease and parasites. Purification was mandatory after a fight; otherwise, you'd end up infested with lice and fleas.
But their greatest weapon was their numbers. They bred so fast it was impossible to track their population. If the Sewers weren't cleared regularly, they would form a legion in weeks. The Labyrinth City had suffered through several such disasters in the past, which is why the Guild issued constant cleaning quests.
For a beginner party, they were a nightmare—not because they were hard to kill, but because they were relentless and disgusting.
"Aren't you going to collect the corpses?" Rien asked.
"They're not worth the effort. Their hides are too filthy to be used for much."
"So they really are just useless, overpopulated monsters…"
I could have found a use for them if I were desperate, but I had no desire to touch them. Besides, Ratmen were cannibals. If we left the bodies, the survivors would feast on their own kind.
A full Ratman won't take risks.
Once they've gorged themselves on the dead, they're less likely to attack a dangerous group of adventurers. Leaving the corpses behind actually lowered our encounter rate.
"There's the teleportation stone."
"Let's go."
We reached the first-floor stone quickly. As expected, the priestess and the knight were nowhere to be found. We had to go deeper. Would they be on the second floor?
*
"On the second floor, you need to watch the ceiling and the walls."
"Because of the Slimes?" Rien asked, still holding my hand.
"Exactly. Ambush is their specialty."
Slimes were essentially living traps. Unlike other monsters, they were silent, clinging to surfaces before dropping onto an adventurer's head. If one latched onto your face, you could suffocate in seconds. If you lost a comrade that way, the scent of the body would draw the Ratmen, and the party would be picked apart one by one.
"Then… what if my head gets swallowed?"
"Slimes have a central core. You just reach in, grab it, and pull it out."
"That's it?"
"That's all it takes. But people panic when they can't breathe, and that's when they die. Real-world experience is the only way to stay calm."
"I see… it's harder than it sounds in the moment…"
Knowledge is useless if your body freezes.
Thwack!
As if on cue, a Slime dropped from the ceiling directly onto Hachi's head. I watched closely to see how a Silver-plated adventurer would handle it.
Pop!
"Wow… he made it look so easy…" Rien whispered.
"That's how it's done. Hachi-ssi is a pro. You can survive too, Rien, as long as you don't lose your head and find the core."
The moment the Slime landed, Hachi's hand blurred. He snatched the core and ripped it out. The viscous body of the Slime tried to cling to its heart, but once the core was removed, the struggle was over.
Crunch!
Hachi crushed the core in his fist. The jelly-like substance lost its elasticity and splashed onto the floor, dead.
"We should be collecting that in glass bottles," I noted. "Though we don't have the time right now."
"We collect Slime jelly too?"
"Yes. That fluid is the main reason adventurers even bother with the Sewers."
Slime jelly was incredibly versatile. The Alchemists' Guild used it as a catalyst, and the Adventurers' Guild bought it in bulk.
"It's a key ingredient for detergents and bleaches."
"Oh, I had no idea…"
It was used in the expensive shampoos favored by nobles and was essential for industrial-grade bleach. Slime jelly was a pillar of the Labyrinth City's economy, mainly because Slimes were so rare in the wild.
"They aren't on the second floor either…"
After cutting through more Slimes and Ratmen, we reached the next teleportation stone. The knight and the priestess were still missing. The situation was turning grim.
Could they really be on the fourth floor?
I could feel the Labyrinth's sticky malice.
"Let's go down."
As we stepped onto the stone, my heart began to race—not with excitement, but with dread. I was already bracing for the worst-case scenario.
Perhaps…
The thought that we might not even find bodies crossed my mind. We were moving as fast as possible, but time is the one thing you can't outrun. If they had fallen to the monsters early on…
No. Panicking will only get us killed.
Rohan and Hachi were clearing the path in silence. Two vanguards, no healer, no ranged support—they were pushing themselves to the limit, Silver-plated or not. I couldn't ask them to go any faster.
All I could do was pray. I didn't even pray for them to be alive anymore.
I just hope their bodies are intact.
The resurrection fee wasn't the issue; the Young Lady's family could afford that. The real fear was that there wouldn't be enough of them left to resurrect.
At the very least, Rien's Search Tracking was still active. If she lost the signal, it meant the priestess was gone beyond recovery.
As long as that skill held a lock… I could allow myself a sliver of hope.