STGB Episode 514

Episode 514

Every world has its legendary tales.

Raphdonia is no different.

Someone exploring the labyrinth is saved by an unknown entity who speaks to them and saves their life, or someone narrowly escaping being devoured.

Such stories have existed for a very long time, almost like folklore.

Of course, none of them has ever been proven true.

“Every explorer has fantasized about it at least once,” Erwin remarked with a hint of sarcasm.

Could there really be a rational being in this labyrinth that could communicate?

“Interesting……”

Unlike Erwin, Amelia’s eyes sparkled the moment she heard the term “natives.”

“What happened to the corpses at the entrance? Was that the work of those ‘monsters’ too?”

The female explorer tilted her head at Amelia’s question.

“Corpses… at the entrance?”

“You don’t know? There were three of them.”

After Amelia described their appearances, the female explorer flinched.

“McHolden, Printon, Rick… They were kidnapped during the first attack. We didn’t see them in the village where we were held. To think they ended up like that…”

“First attack? Start from the beginning. Tell us everything in detail, from the moment you split from Hex Clan.”

“Huh…? How do you…?”

“They’re the ones who told us about this island.”

“…I see.”

“If only we had followed them back then,” The female explorer muttered softly and then continued.

“After splitting from the Hex Clan, we started exploring deeper into the island.”

The newly discovered area.

And the new kinds of monsters that appeared there.
Without any prior information, the battles were tricky and there were many dangerous situations, but at that time they were motivated.
“Tentaculan, Diamont, Guldar Squirrel, Papagonas, Vailonta… We named each new monster we encountered. It felt as though we were embarking on a grand adventure, straight out of a history book.”

Papagonas, Vailonta…? These were monsters we hadn’t even encountered yet.

But, more on them later…

“As we headed for the center of the island, we found strange tracks.”

They found footprints leading towards the centre. Each print was at least twice the size of a human’s, and it looked like several individuals had passed through. But…

“They were all shaped differently, and they were flat. Almost as if they were wearing shoes…”

Believing they had discovered another new monster, they excitedly followed the footprints. The already thick forest grew denser, and at some point, all the typical monsters vanished entirely.

After advancing further, “That’s when the first attack happened.”

Monsters ambushed them from all sides, and despite their desperate resistance, three were abducted.

Among them was the clan leader’s lover.

Naturally, the Silver Lion Clan went mad and pursued them further into the island.

“But there was a limit to how much we can endure. We suffered second and third attacks, and many were killed.”

Worse, despite their sacrifices, they failed to kill even one monster.

“It took us too long to realize they were smart. They communicated with each other in their own language and moved in tactical formations.”

Realising this, the Silver Lion Clan turned and fled.

The leader, whose lover had been kidnapped, was furious, but when persuaded to return and seek help from Baron Jandel, he nodded in agreement.

But by then, it was already too late.

“We ran into their traps on our way back. We were retracing the path we’d come in on, but the traps weren’t there before…”

They fell into these traps and were all captured. Their eyes were covered, and they were taken to the monsters’ village.

“So, how did you escape?”

“Well… one of the monsters secretly came and freed us…”

“Freed you…?”

From what they described, it was a much smaller monster compared to the others.

They said it seemed like a child……

“Were you close?”

“No. We couldn’t even communicate.”

“Then why did it free you?”

“We… don’t know either. The monster came to our cell, stared at us all day, and tried to talk to us, but that was it.”

Hmm, I see.

“Maybe it was sympathy.”

As I was thinking, Amelia blurted out her thoughts without filtering.

Hearing that, Erwin chimed in:

“Now that you mention it, my little sister did something similar once. It was during festival season—she was so fascinated by the livestock we kept that she visited them every day, then let them all go the night before the festival.”

The explorers’ faces stiffened at the comparison, but they didn’t argue. They, too, suspected that they had been treated like caged animals, and perhaps a child’s compassion had saved their lives.

“Haha… Kids will do that sometimes…”

Anyway, that was the end of their story. After that, they told us everything they could about these ‘monsters’ – their appearance, their strength, the approximate number of inhabitants in the village, and so on.

Once I’d gathered what I needed, I made a decision.

‘This is good enough to continue exploring.’

Considering the size of the village, seven of us are far from enough, but the monsters they described varied greatly in strength.

Like a society made up of people.

Not all members are warriors.

The problem is that since they’re familiar with the terrain, they have the geographical advantage……

Well, if things get tough, we can always run away without looking back.

“Now, guide us. To the village.”

“……Are you really going?”

“We came to explore, so we’ll explore.”

“…….”

As I said that and patted one of the explorer on their shoulders, the explorers made faces as if they had eaten something bitter.

“We… can tell you the location, but going there yourself, Baron……”

“Yes! We’ll just get in the way anyway!”

Their responses clearly showed they did not want to return there.

“Do you have a boat?”

“Y-Yes! My companion Myurton has a summoning mark for a boat.”

“Then that settles it. You’re free to leave.”

“…What?”

“Good. Then it’s settled. You can go now.”

“……Huh?”

“What’s the problem? If you think you can make it to the coast alive and then take the boat to the rocky island, you should go.”

For the record, the monsters we’d encountered on the way here had been level 3 to 4 on average.

Fortunately, since they were all explorers, communication was easy.

“……We’ll guide you to the village.”

“Good.”

Since it seemed like we’d be together for a while, we exchanged names.

Marina, Chen, Krian, Dennis.

Dennis the Spearman was part of a small team, while the other three were members of the Silver Lion Clan.

Well, it seemed the clan was pretty much disbanded by now.

“Jandel, from here on, I’ll take the lead.”

So, the formation had to be adjusted slightly.

“Emily, you?”

“They said there are traps in the forest.”

“But that’s exactly why I should—”

“Jandel, you’re our leader. If you get hurt or captured, who will lead us?”

Amelia argued with that logic and moved to the front.

She claimed that she’d be better at spotting traps if she took the lead, and true to her word, she led the team while skillfully spotting traps ahead.

As a tank, it felt strangely comforting.

‘Being protected… isn’t so bad…….’

Anyway, after about two hours of travel, we reached our destination.

But……

“Here… this is it. There was definitely an entrance under this tree… huh?”

Under the tree roots they had crawled out from, there was no entrance leading underground.

“What’s going on?”

“I, I don’t know.”

“Did we come to the wrong place?”

“No! Impossible! You saw it earlier, Lord Baron! We found the shoe I dropped nearby!”

He didn’t seem to be lying…

Considering the possibility of mistaking the tree, we checked all nearby trees, but the entrance remained elusive.

‘Does the entrance open and close somehow?’

I still don’t know how it works, but it’s clear that there’s a village hidden down here.

Because we just spotted a child wandering around.

Sssss…

“I’ll handle the left side.”

“Then I’ll cover the right.”

As soon as we spotted it, Erwin and Amelia rushed in to block its escape. They subdued the target in an instant.

Blue skin, large eyes, tusks curving upward, and a skull oddly elongated at the back—almost like an alien.

“Kyaaah!”

The captured monster thrashed violently, screaming like a wild animal. But only for a moment.

“Quiet.”

Worried about causing a commotion, Amelia brought a dagger to its throat. The monster stopped struggling and slowly looked up at me.

[“P-please spare me…”]

It was speaking in the ancient language.

***

If I can read and write ancient languages fluently, then it is of course possible to speak them.

Although it feels a bit awkward.

[Is it you? The kid who freed these four.]

When I spoke in the ancient language, the monster looked at me with surprised eyes.

Just a moment ago, it was begging for its life.

[Are you not going to answer?]

[Y-yes… I was the one who freed them.]

[Why?]

[Because… I felt sorry for them…….]

Hearing that, a familiar cliché came to mind.

You know, the one where a kind-hearted child accidentally shows kindness, only to bring about irreversible consequences.

“Jandel, what’s this thing saying?”

“It says it freed those four because it pitied them.”

Although I said this to Amelia, the four, who overheard the conversation, looked displeased.

“A cursed beast dares…”

“Baron could you tell them? That I’m not thankful at all. After how brutally they killed our comrades, did they think we’d be grateful?”

Of course, I didn’t translate that.

Of course I didn’t translate that. After all, it was the first talking monster I found in this labyrinth. Better to keep things friendly and gather information.

[“What are they saying?”]

[They’re thanking you for helping them.]

[Is that… so…….]

Surprisingly, the little monster easily accepted my words.

Perhaps because of the difference in appearance and language, it was difficult for him to read emotions from facial expressions and voice tones.

As always, kids seem to be the same everywhere, curious even in such situations.

[How can you speak our language? Aren’t you a monster?]

[Monster…?]

Although his boldness was admirable, it was a comment that was hard for humanity to overlook.

[Why are we monsters?]

[Because… you look different from us. W-well, even though we can communicate…….]

Was this what it was like?

Like how in the land of the Lilliputians, an ordinary person becomes a giant.

[Alright, if we’re monsters, then what are you?]

When I asked with a smirk, the little monster answered without hesitation, as if stating the obvious.

[We are…… humans.]

Somehow, the conversation had turned quite philosophical.

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