Is It Wrong to Explore the Dungeon Even Though I’m Overpowered? (Danmachi SI- WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 56: Echoes of Knossos

Thankfully nobody objected verbally, other than a few suspicious looks from Gros and his group, as well as the newly arrived Ranye, looks the others were quick to pacify.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this though, Rei-chi?” Lyd asked with a worried look on his maw. “We will be fighting against other adventurers. Your own kind.”

At his words, some of the other Xenos also threw me concerned looks, clearly aware of the position I was putting myself in. A few even reassured me that they could handle the situation on their own.

Smiling at their concern, I shook my head and addressed them.

“Thank you for worrying about me, but there’s really nothing to worry about,” I said calmly before my expression turned serious. “There are people in need of rescue, and that’s all that matters right now. Their race plays no part in that. Whether I have to fight Humans, Xenos, or anything else, the only thing we should be focusing on is rescuing them.”

My words seemed to catch them off guard. I noticed several of the Xenos who had been looking at us with suspicion quietly turn away and begin preparing to leave.

“Thank you for your help, Reinhard,” Ray said, giving me a grateful look and a small smile.

I returned it with a nod.

“Now, if it’s not too much trouble, may I know who was taken?” I asked, turning my attention back to Ranye, who still had a reluctant frown on her face. “I have an ability that helps me locate individuals if they meet certain requirements.”

Of course, I was referring to my Bounty Tracker perk, which allowed me to locate any being as long as they were listed by the Company.

A moment later Ranye let out an annoyed huff before finally answering.

“They captured Yuno, who is a Unicorn, and Carl, a Carbuncle. Now let’s move already! We’re wasting time!”

Without waiting for a response, she turned and dashed forward, clearly ready to track down the kidnappers herself.

“Thank you,” I called after her.

She ignored me completely as the Xenos quickly mobilized and left the safe area.

Not taking any offense, I immediately opened the tracker and searched for the two names. A moment later, I let out a small sigh of relief when both appeared.

Zooming in on their location, I saw that our targets were moving slowly through the Large Tree Labyrinth, surrounded by numerous other dots.

One name stood out immediately.

Dix Perdix.

‘That name again…’

I remembered seeing it the last time I was tracking Emma’s sister, Sophia.

‘The Ikelos Familia, huh?’

Shaking those thoughts aside for now, I focused on the immediate problem.

Turning to the two girls beside me, I spoke with a serious tone.

“Rem, I want you to escort Marie to the 18th floor at your own pace and wait for me there. Things are about to get dangerous, and I can’t afford to split my focus between protecting you and searching for the others.”

Both Rem and Marie frowned slightly at my words. But Rem, being the more experienced of the two in situations like this, nodded firmly.

“Leave it to Rem, Reinhard-kun.”

“Be careful, Reinhard,” Marie said softly, looking up at me with worried eyes.

“I’ll see both of you soon.”

Giving them a reassuring smile, I nodded once before taking off at a sprint.

I caught up to the Xenos only moments later.

“Rei-chi! Thank you for doing this again,” Lyd said, clearly relieved to see me.

“No problem,” I replied with a small smile before my expression turned serious again.

“Anyway, I have good news. I know where your companions are.”

My words caused the Xenos to exclaim in surprise before they all started muttering excitedly among themselves.

“Really, Reinhard?” Ray asked as she flew beside me.

“Yes,” I replied with a nod, my expression serious while I kept track of the Xenos’ location through my HUD.

There was only one problem.

I was getting a bad feeling.

Like our time was running out.

A slight frown formed on my face, something Ray quickly noticed.

“What is it?” Ray asked, trying to hide the worry in her voice.

“I’m going ahead,” I said seriously before raising my voice so everyone could hear me. “Everyone! I’m getting a bad feeling, so I’m going ahead to intercept them. Please do your best to catch up. Your kin are currently on the 22nd floor and heading upward.”

I was about to dash off when I felt someone grab my sleeve. Turning, I saw Ray looking at me with a mixture of worry and mild annoyance.

“What do you mean you’re going ahead, Reinhard?” Ray asked with a small frown. “Are you saying we’re too slow to keep up with you?”

Grimacing slightly, I let out a quiet sigh before answering honestly.

“If you want the truth… then yes,” I admitted. “I can run much faster than this. Traveling at the same pace as everyone will only slow me down.”

Ray opened her mouth to argue, but Lyd suddenly stepped in, patting my back with a grin.

“Let him go, Ray,” Lyd said. “Thanks for the info, Rei-chi. We’ll be right behind you.”

I nodded gratefully.

Giving Ray, and everyone else, one last reassuring smile, I spoke firmly.

“Don’t worry. As long as they’re still alive, I promise I’ll save them.”

With those words, I kicked off the ground.

The force of my sprint cratered the stone beneath my feet and sent a powerful gust of wind tearing through the corridor, causing several Xenos to cry out in surprise as I shot forward.

I need to hurry.

Water splashed beneath my boots as I ran across its surface, my Divine Protection allowing me to treat it like solid ground. Any monsters that appeared were either avoided entirely or cut down in a single motion as Est flashed through the air.

Then, gathering strength in my legs, I leapt.

The world blurred as I cleared the massive vertical distance in one bound, soaring from the 27th floor all the way to the 25th before landing in a thunderous impact.

Without slowing down for even a moment, I kept running.

=====

Large Tree Labyrinth — 22nd Floor

Moving through the jungle-like environment of the 22nd floor was a group of adventurers numbering around fifty. While that wouldn’t normally be an unusual sight, since expeditions were often carried out by entire Familias or large groups, there was something about this particular group that immediately screamed suspicious.

The first and most obvious sign were the two massive cages they were carrying. They were so large and heavy that the group was forced to move at a slow pace. Thick cloth covered the cages, making it impossible to see what was inside.

The second clue came from the sounds.

Pained groans and weak grunts occasionally escaped from inside the cages.

And finally there were the adventurers themselves.

They were the rough sort of people you would instinctively label as dangerous at first glance. The kind of people you’d avoid in a dark alley.

Their expressions made things even worse as they laughed and mocked whatever was trapped inside the cages, throwing disgusting leers toward the covered bars while discussing the horrible fate awaiting their captives.

“Man, I wish we could’ve caught ourselves a Harpy or a Siren,” one of them said while licking his lips. “Those ones are especially beautiful, even if they are monsters. I wouldn’t mind having some fun with either of them.”

His words earned several crude laughs and nods of agreement from the others as they imagined such a scenario.

Their disgusting conversation was suddenly interrupted by a voice from the front.

“Pick up the pace!”

The shout came from a man with black hair and goggles resting over his eyes. He wore a brown jacket with dark pants and carried a red spear lazily over his shoulder.

“I heard rumors that those bastards from the Loki Familia, and that new upstart, the Sword Saint, have been seen wandering these floors the past few days,” he barked before turning around and continuing to lead the group.

Behind him, the others lowered their voices and began whispering.

“Do you think the rumors about the Sword Saint are true?”

“You mean how he’s the fastest person to level up in the history of Orario?”

“And how some people say it’s only a matter of time before he reaches the same level as those monsters in the Loki and Freya Familias?”

“Yeah. I heard he’s so strong that nobody has ever seen him get injured.”

“They say he always comes back from the dungeon looking spotless. Not even a speck of dirt on those fancy clothes of his.”

“Speaking of that, nobody’s ever seen him wear armor since he became an adventurer. The bastard always dresses like one of those rich nobles.”

“His Familia’s also full of beauties. The Sword Saint’s the only man there.”

“The bastard probably doesn’t want to share.”

“Yeah, he could leave a few girls for the rest of us!”

Their jealous rambling suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

Something slammed down in front of the group with explosive force.

The ground cracked.

Dust and stone burst outward as a crater formed in the middle of the path, forcing the entire group to halt in shock.

“I’m afraid this is as far as you go, Ikelos Familia.”

A smooth, baritone voice spoke from the center of the crater just as the dust was suddenly blown away, revealing the very same man they had been talking about.

“Now please step away from those cages… or I might have to get a little rough.”

Reinhard van Astrea finished with a serious expression as he stood there with sword in hand, looking completely calm, as if he hadn’t just threatened an entire group of adventurers by himself.

“Hehehe… speaking of the devil.”

Dix Perdix let out an amused, dark chuckle as he immediately recognized the figure before them and tightened his grip on his spear.

“You’ve got some balls thinking you can order us around like you’re better than us just because you’re some hotshot in the city.”

“I will not ask again,” Reinhard replied calmly, still completely unfazed.

His nonchalance only irritated several of the adventurers further.

“Why should we?” Dix asked as he stepped forward with an arrogant smirk. Several others joined him at his side with similar expressions.

“Do you even know what’s inside those cages?” Dix continued mockingly, tilting his head before laughing when the red-haired teen didn’t immediately respond.

“Monsters. We’re carrying monsters, you dumbass! Since when was it illegal to capture monsters?”

“…Those are not monsters.”

Reinhard finally spoke after a brief moment of silence, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“What you’re carrying in those cages are Xenos. Intelligent beings capable of thought and reason.”

His answer surprised them for a moment.

Then Dix burst into laughter, nearly doubling over.

“Hahahaha! So you do know! You know what they are and you’re still trying to save them.”

“You fucking idiot. I hate bleeding hearts like you. Since you know what they are though, we’ll have to kill you!”

With those final words, Dix seemed done talking.

He lunged forward with his spear, several of the other adventurers charging alongside him.

In response, the Sword Saint’s expression never changed.

He simply raised his sword.

Some of the smarter, or more experienced, adventurers noticed the faint glow beginning to gather around the blade.

They ignored it.

After all, what could a single adventurer possibly do against fifty?

“…Then you leave me with no choice.”

Those softly spoken words were the last thing they heard.

Reinhard swung his sword.

Their world turned white.

And then they knew no more.

=====

Back with Reinhard

Lowering Est’s sword form, I scanned the damage we had caused and felt a bit of relief when I noticed that I had managed to render most of the Familia unconscious, leaving only those at the back who had been guarding the cages still standing.

While I could have easily erased them from existence with an attack like that, thanks to my near-perfect control over my energy, I had managed to turn what would normally be a lethal strike into a non-lethal one.

“F-Fuck! W-What the hell just happened!?”

“O-One attack… H-He just took them out with one attack!”

“What was that!?”

Turning toward the panicked shouts, I saw the remainder of the Ikelos Familia descending into chaos. My display had not only taken out most of their members, but also their Captain and Vice-Captain, who were level 5 and level 4 respectively.

I began walking calmly in their direction, preparing to render them unconscious as well. After all, I intended to capture everyone here so I could later sell them to the Company while I was still alone.

One adventurer noticed me approaching and immediately panicked even more, throwing his weapon aside and backing away nervously.

“I-I surrender! Please don’t hurt me!”

“You can have them! We’ll even tell you where we take the others!”

His words caused the rest of them to turn their attention toward me as well, and similar reactions followed as they began pleading for mercy while slowly retreating.

Raising an eyebrow at that last statement, I mentally decided to leave him for last so I could ask a few questions.

“I’m afraid none of you will be going anywhere,” I said calmly. “I did warn you at the beginning, but you chose to ignore it.”

Panic immediately spread across their faces as they turned and attempted to run.

Unfortunately for them, I was much, much, faster.

Within moments they were all lying on the ground unconscious, leaving only one behind.

The same one who might know where their base was… and where they took the others they captured.

Stepping forward, I stopped just in front of him and lowered my sword until the tip hovered inches from his neck.

“Now… what was that about telling me where you take the others?” I asked calmly.

The thug frantically nodded.

“I-I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you!”

“Then start talking.”

=====

An Hour Later

Slowly walking back toward the deeper floors while lost in thought, I traveled alongside Yuno and Carl, the Xenos I had just rescued. We did our best to remain hidden and succeeded thanks to my heightened senses and the help of Bounty Tracker, which alerted me if anyone was nearby.

Luckily, that wasn’t the case.

Yuno and Carl had been wary of me at first, but after I healed them with one of my Elixirs, bringing them back to full health and stamina, and after they smelled the presence of their fellow kin on me, they had finally begun to trust me a little.

Taking the lead, I informed them that I would accompany them until we met the rescue group halfway. After that, we would go our separate ways.

Meanwhile, my mind was still reeling from the information I had obtained.

After extracting everything the low-level adventurer from the Ikelos Familia knew, I had learned quite a bit, things that made me seriously ponder the ramifications of what would happen once the people of Orario discovered that something like the Knossos existed.

If handled correctly, every adventurer in the city could potentially gain direct access to the 18th floor straight from the surface.

Such a discovery would completely change the way expeditions were conducted. Being able to skip so many floors would save enormous amounts of manpower, time, and supplies.

I definitely need to have an urgent talk with Hestia and Artemis. This could bring huge changes.

I gave a determined nod before briefly glancing down at the jeweled eyeball-like object in my hand before returning my attention forward.

There had also been another, more pleasant surprise.

After successfully capturing all the adventurers from the Ikelos Familia and hiding their bodies where nobody would find them, I realized that once the bindings fully took effect due to the Delayed Response curse, I would finally have enough credits to deal with that annoying restriction.

The curse forced me to wait a full 24 hours before any purchases or sales would take effect.

After months of being here, I had finally accumulated a little over 500 credits, which allowed me to reduce the curse by one level.

Now the only requirement was that I had to be inside my Demiplane whenever I made purchases or used any Company services.

It was still a bit inconvenient, but infinitely better since purchases and effects would now happen instantly.

Of course, there was a downside.

Thanks to that large future purchase, my balance would drop back down to 61 credits.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I both sensed and spotted two familiar figures approaching from the distance.

Lyd and Ray were making their way toward us leading the group of Xenos that had come to help.

I wonder if the Ikelos Familia were working with someone else…

Speaking of which, I might have to do something about their god as well.