However, Holly, who was guiding us from the front, turned back to glare at Cineraria with an expresshion full of loathing.
Cineraria couldn't see her, but it was a terrifying look.
Scary, really.
It feels like I'm surrounded by frightening women, both ahead and behind me.
As I was thinking this, Jasmine, who had been walking beside Cineraria, quickened her pace to walk next to me.
"Please don't take it to heart, Crow-san. Cineraria gets irritable when she's hungry."
"Ah."
"And it's not just with you. She acts like that towards all men. It's probably due to issues with her father..."
"Jasmine! Don't say unnecessary things!"
"Right, right. But you also have a problem, taking such an excessive attitude towards someone important for guiding us..."
While calming down an angry Cineraria, Jasmine moved back behind me.Admittedly, it's a risky strategy, but having these two as escorts while navigating the dungeon seems like the only option.
Their abilities are beyond question.
Cineraria aside, Jasmine is showing a more favorable attitude, so maybe things will work out.
Sensing my thoughts, Holly glares at Jasmine even more fiercely.
It seems like, with you, Holly, whether a woman approaches me with hostility or kindness, you react badly either way.
Seriously, give me a break.
With a sigh, I continued to move through the dungeon.
Holly had mentioned it was a high-level dungeon, and given that Cineraria and Jasmine had gotten lost for three days and nights, it's no surprise.
There were countless forks and detours.
In fact, as we kept wandering in circles, I started to lose my sense of direction, unsure of how we were navigating.
Without Holly's guidance, I definitely would have gotten lost.
All I could do was silently follow Holly's lead, walking on without saying a word.
Neither Cineraria nor Jasmine, who must be doubting whether my guidance is correct, said anything either.
"…Crow. Be careful where you step from here on out."
Without responding—to avoid looking like I was talking to myself—I simply nodded.
Holly pointed to the ground.
"See the stones with a different color? Those are traps. Stepping on a differently colored stone will activate them."
That's quite a classic trap.
You'd think they'd use stones of the same color to make it harder to tell which are traps.
Well, doing so might ensnare allies too, but then, the Demon Lord laying the traps probably doesn't have any allies, so what's going on here?
With Holly, not only can we find the shortest route, but careful observation also allows us to avoid traps, making the dungeon's structure quite peculiar in various ways.
It's almost as if it was designed to be conquered by a hero's party.
Well, such contemplations can wait for later.
"Cineraria-san. Jasmine-san."
I addressed the two walking behind me, adding "san" out of respect since I'm technically older.
"Please watch your step. The stones with different colors are traps. Try not to step on them."
"Huh? How do you know that?"
"More importantly, how can you tell the difference in stone colors in this darkness?"
Click. A stone beneath Cineraria's foot depressed.No sooner had I spoken than she stepped on one of the differently colored stones.
"Ugh! I told you not to step on the stones with different colors!"
"Quiet! It's your fault for saying it too late!"
I had thought that stepping on the stone would trigger a pitfall or something, but nothing of the sort happened.
However, an ominous rumbling sound started coming from behind us.
"Crow! Run! Sprint as fast as you can!"
"…!"
I was stunned to realize the source of the ominous sound coming from behind Cineraria and Jasmine.
"It can't be! This has to be a joke!"
It was a giant iron ball.
A huge iron ball was rolling towards us from the back of the corridor.
What a cliché trap.
It's like something out of a storybook.
"Both of you, run!"
Panicking, I ran from the iron ball.
Realizing the situation, both of them started running alongside me.
All three of us were fleeing from the iron ball like scared rabbits.
Too preoccupied to speak, both just ran.
"Ha... ha... ha!"
This is bad!
Regardless of the other two, my stamina won't last.
Even though Holly is possessing me and my physical abilities should be slightly enhanced, it doesn't seem like my stamina has improved much.
My strength has increased, and I've become faster, but I get out of breath quickly.
What to do?
What can I do?
Typically, the corridor doesn't branch off, and there's no way to dodge the iron ball without any diverging paths.
Well, if there were any, it would defeat the purpose of this trap.
If we don't reach a fork in the road or an uphill path by continuing to sprint down this straight path, we'll be crushed by the iron ball.
"…!"
I had an idea.
A stroke of genius, if I do say so myself.
"Down!"
I stopped running and threw myself to the floor.
"Crow!?"
Holly screamed in alarm upon seeing me suddenly lie down.
Without any hesitation, Cineraria and Jasmine continued their full-speed escape, leaving me behind.
Those two are surprisingly foolish.
They could have survived by doing the same thing as me.
With that thought, I lay on the floor and quickly rolled to the side, moving to the corner of the corridor.
Then, I stretched my arms up high, extending my body as much as possible to make myself as thin as possible.As a result, the iron ball rolled past me without crushing me.
"…"
It worked.
Considering it was a spur-of-the-moment idea, it turned out to be quite brilliant.
"…Cr-Crow… How did you not get crushed?"
Holly, who had simply phased through the iron ball due to being a spirit, was astonished.
Huh? Didn't she see why I was saved?
The reason I survived.
"Well, it's good that the corridor is square-shaped," I began explaining as I stood up.
"The iron ball is spherical, and the corridor is square, right? Even if a spherical iron ball rolls down a square corridor, it can't reach the four corners between the floor and the ceiling."
"…"
"If you can't reach the ceiling's corners, lying sideways in a corner on the floor allows you to dodge the iron ball."
"Really… You only seem to have cunning ideas…"
"…But what about those two?"
I looked in the direction the iron ball had rolled towards.
"I think they'll be fine. With the physical abilities of the saintly sword wielders, escaping that iron ball should be easy."
"Then, let's hurry and regroup."
So far, we hadn't encountered any monsters, but there was no telling when we might be attacked.
I jogged down the corridor the iron ball had rolled through.
"…Hmm? No forks in the road or uphill paths. How were we supposed to avoid the iron ball?"
"After continuing down this straight path for a while, you'll reach a larger space. That's where you can dodge the iron ball. Let's head there."
"Got it. They've probably made it there by now."
And so, I ran down the straight path for a while.
Then, I noticed something on the floor.
It was the Underworld Sword, shaped like a giant scythe.
Nearby, there was a piece of cloth that looked like a crushed black triangular hat and cloak.
"Gah!"
It was Cineraria, who had fallen.
Clearly, this was Cineraria after being crushed by the iron ball.
"Cineraria-san!"
This is bad.
If she was crushed by that iron ball...
"…"
Normally, all the bones in her body would be pulverized.
Her internal organs would all burst.
If it was really bad, her body could be squashed like a stepped-on frog, turning into a mushy mess.
I cautiously picked up the triangular hat that had been covering Cineraria's face to check on her.Her entire body was embedded in the floor, her eyes rolled back, but she seemed to be in one piece.
What a durable woman.
"Ugh... Ah..."
Cineraria seemed to be regaining consciousness.
"Cineraria-san, are you okay?"
"Ugh... Ah... Ki... Ki..."
"Ki?"
"Going to kill you..."
"What!?"
Cineraria, now conscious, began crawling towards me on all fours.
"I'll kill you... I'll kill you..."
Mumbling such things.