Chapter 09
“…I told you I don’t just eat anything I find.”
“You said you only pick out the good ones. Sure, if you say so.”
“……”
“I knew you were going to say that.”
This time, I was the one left speechless.
No, seriously, I really did only eat the good things…
From Isarel’s point of view, I must have looked like an idiot who’d shove anything into my mouth without knowing whether it was dangerous or not.
…Well, I guess to someone who doesn’t know the situation, that’s exactly what it would look like.
This world is a novel, and I know the content of that novel.
Even if I tried to explain that I was eating items because they’re beneficial, they’d probably treat me like I was insane.
I quickly changed the subject.
“…Anyway, I’ll go check where the door appeared, since I summoned it. Let’s wait here for now.”
Isarel, who had been quietly watching me, let out a small sigh and then moved aside to resume his sword practice.
It didn’t take long for a door leading down to appear.
Once the lost soul told us the door had formed, I didn’t want to waste any more time loitering around here.
Before we set off, I checked my bag again.
After confirming that all the necessary items were still inside, I said to Isarel,
“The flower’s effect won’t disappear immediately after it’s picked.”
“I see.”
“Yeah. So we’re going to pull the flower out and take it with us, but we have to reach the door before it completely wilts and loses its effect.”
Isarel listened seriously and nodded.
At that moment, Felix cut in.
“O-oh, okay. Then what should I do?”
“……”
My mood instantly soured.
I stared at Felix in disbelief before answering.
“I wasn’t planning on taking you with us.”
“…Huh? What?”
“Wait, don’t tell me you really thought you were coming with us? Without an ounce of shame?”
“Of course… that’s what I thought…”
Wow. This guy has absolutely no shame.
I frowned at Felix, then glanced at Isarel.
Isarel had a calm expression as he checked his attire and then inspected the condition of the sword at his waist.
Hmm… what should I do?
This is tricky.
Isarel, at this point in the story, was still not bad—just an average, decent person.
He only truly falls into darkness after witnessing his sister Beatrice’s dead body.
Despite showing reluctance here and there, he had obediently followed my instructions so far.
And although he needed information about his sister from me, he had still done his best to treat and take care of me when I woke up.
In short—he wasn’t perfectly kindhearted, but he was still a reasonable, decent human being.
Actually… no, maybe he is kindhearted?
Originally, Isarel fell into this tower because he was trying to save his sister.
Thinking about it that way, he’s honestly more hero-like than Leonard, the actual protagonist.
But if I coldly ditched Felix here, what would happen?
He would understand, of course…
Isarel already knew I had a grudge against Felix.
So he might not think abandoning Felix was wrong.
But if similar things kept happening…
Yeah. Felix hasn’t actually done anything particularly harmful yet.
Maybe I should take him for now.
Worst case, I can use him as a shield and toss him later.
To be honest, the trials from the 5th floor onward were no joke.
Having even one person to use as a shield could mean the difference between life and death.
I made my decision and spoke coldly.
“I’m not going to look after you or anything. If you insist on following, then do it on your own strength and keep up. I won’t stop you. How’s that?”
“Okay, I can do that.”
Felix nodded eagerly.
“I won’t get in your way, I’ll try to help. So please trust me.”
“Sure, whatever.”
Felix kept emphasizing that he’d be helpful—
Probably afraid I’d change my mind and abandon him after all.
…Well, we’ll see about that.
I shot Felix one last cold glare, then turned to Isarel.
“Alright. I’m pulling the flower.”
“I’ll do it.”
Isarel bent down and pulled the flower out by the root.
Then he carefully placed it into my bag himself.
“Good. Let’s go.”
I ordered the lost soul I had summoned earlier to guide us to the door.
The lost soul nodded and began leading the way, and Isarel and I followed behind.
Naturally, Felix scrambled after us.
“Are you really bringing him?”
Isarel asked, glancing briefly at Felix rushing to keep up.
I let out a small sigh and nodded.
“What choice do I have? He insists on coming. And if we leave him here, he’s clearly going to die. I can’t just ignore that.”
“……”
“He said he wants to help, so I’ll give him one last chance.”
Isarel gave me a complicated look.
But only for a moment. Soon, his voice turned dark.
“If that’s your decision, I’ll follow it. But if he threatens you or tries to harm you again—”
“Yeah?”
“Then I won’t hesitate to eliminate him. Do you agree?”
Wow… that’s reassuring.
It felt like I’d acquired a knightly bodyguard I never asked for.
I smiled faintly and nodded.
“If you do that for me, I’d be grateful. I completely agree.”
“Good.”
With a cold expression, Isarel glanced at Felix.
I also turned back to check on him.
Our eyes met, and Felix brightened instantly—just happy that we looked his way.
And maybe feeling suddenly bold, he made a ridiculous suggestion.
“Uh… should we… maybe all hold hands while we walk?”
“……”
“Huh? Isn’t it kind of scary since it’s dark?”
He had no idea what we’d just been saying about him, which was probably the only reason he could spout such innocent nonsense.
“‘Your god sent down His agent, and he gladly delivered you to salvation.’”
This verse was the very first line of the ancient scripture shared by both continents.
Reciting it aloud was the condition to open the door, and as soon as I finished speaking, the door opened.
Since the flower was now useless, I tossed it aside and crossed the threshold with Isarel.
The familiar staircase greeted us.
Behind me, Felix muttered,
“Come to think of it, opening the door itself isn’t hard. Getting to the door is the difficult part. Must be intentional…”
Half of what he said was nonsense, but this time, he actually had a point.
I guess he wasn’t part of the protagonist’s group for nothing.
With that thought, I started descending the stairs.
After a while, the air became noticeably humid.
And then, from somewhere below, a strange beast-like howl echoed faintly.
“W-what… what was that?”
Felix jumped and looked around.
“That sounded like… an animal crying…”
Good hearing.
He was right.
Below us was a swarm of demonic beasts.
Beasts who fought each other endlessly, and even while fighting, were desperate to fight more.
A long river, deep enough to reach our knees.
And seven small islands scattered within that river.
That was the environment of the underground 5th floor.
There were more beasts fighting in the river than there was water.
We would have to push through them, island to island, to reach the exit.
And, of course, there were no bridges.
Only water separating each island.
To clear the underground 5th floor and descend further, there were no special items or conditions.
We just have to fight like crazy through the beasts and reach the door.
