Legend

Leaping out from behind the rock, Set sensed something flying towards him and forcefully tilted his body to the side on reflex.

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The next moment, a magic shockwave passed the spot where Set had just been, living up to the name of Jewel Sniper.

Rei was holding onto the Death Scythe.
Normally, Set wouldn’t have been able to move like he just did with scythe weighing over 100kg on his back.

However, that was if it were an ordinary scythe.

Both Set and the Death Scythe had been created by the Magic Beast Art, so Set was able to move around without being weighed down by the Death Scythe, just like Rei.

That said……

「Tch-! It’s still a nuisance if it shoots continuously.」

Rei shouted as he clung tightly to Set so as to not fall off.

The reason for his shout was was the shield of light that he had used to cover Set and himself.

Although it could block almost all attacks, its protection only extended to a single blow.

The single use shield was already starting to fade like haze.

It was needless to say what had happened.
Its single use defence had been consumed.

「Set-!」

「GURURURURURU~!」

Set gave a loud cry in response to Rei’s call.

Using the time bought from the magic shield, Set flapped his wings vigorously.

Rei felt his surroundings flash past from Set’s back.

At teh same time, magic shockwaves pierced through the air, tracing the path Set had taken as he advanced in a zigzagging trajectory.

Using the boost of speed from the time bought by the magic shield, Set avoided all the magic shockwaves shot by the Jewel Sniper.

Of course, in terms of pure speed, the shockwaves were faster, but their trajectory was only straight lines.
It was hard for them to hit Set, who was flying in a zigzag pattern, so the shockwaves ended up only piercing rocks at the end of their trajectories.

「Set, can you see the Jewel Sniper!?」

「Guru~, Gurururu~!」

Set gave a confident cry in response to Rei’s question.

As a Griffon, Set had the upper body of an eagle and sharper vision that came with it, compared to his other senses.
Set’s eyes firmly captured the Jewel Sniper, which even Rei could only roughly guess the position of from the attacks it launched.

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Set’s eyes caught sight of an insect shaped monster that was motionless on top of a rock about 1km away.

There was a red jewel embedded on its back that suddenly started to shine.

「Guru~!」

Flapping his wings greatly, Set changed his direction again as another shockwave passed his previous position.

「GURURURURURURU~!」

Set gave a loud cry as he zigzagged his way forward.

It wasn’t just a cry.
It was one of Set’s skills, King’s Awe.
Those who heard his cry would be forced to cower or have their movements slowed.

They were about 700m away, but it still seemed to have some effect.
The shockwaves flying towards Set became noticeably more sporadic.

Even so, Set couldn’t completely stop it’s movements because the distance had reduced its effect, King’s Awe being only level 1 might also have had an effect.
At 500m, another shockwave flew past Set.

Avoiding it, Set forcibly changed his direction again.

300m, even Rei could see the Jewel Sniper on the rock.
Set dodged another shockwave by doing a barrel roll as Rei clung to his back, holding the Death Scythe in his right hand.

100m, Rei released a flying slash from the Death Scythe to intercept another shockwave.

30m, pouring magic power into the Death Scythe, Rei directly slashed a magic shockwave apart.

……And, at 0m, Rei reached out from Set’s back as Set flapped his wings to kill his speed.
Landing right next to where the Jewel Sniper was, Rei succeeded in securing it while being careful not to touch the jewel on its back that released the shockwaves.

The Jewel Sniper seemed to be completely dedicated to sniping.
Even after it was caught by hand, it had no means of countering other than stretching out its short legs to resist.

Finally free from being attacked, Rei was able to relax as he turned to look at the Jewel Sniper he had caught.

In terms of appearance, it would be best described as a giant ladybug.

The Jewel Sniper didn’t have wings like a ladybug as it had a large jewel embedded on its back.
However, its shape and figure that matched the circular jewel reminded Rei of a ladybug.

(That said, I don’t know if ladybugs exist in this world.)

Fortunately, after grabbing the Jewel Sniper with his hands, it didn’t fire out any more shockwaves and just moved its legs as it tried to escape from Rei’s hand.

As he watched it, he felt that it had some sort of charm to it.

(Even though it was shooting at us a little while ago, it feels strange……hmm?

As he held his grip while on Set’s back so as to not let the Jewel Sniper escape, he suddenly saw something on the ground.

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「Is that the corpse of an adventurer?」

As Rei said that, he saw a corpse lying on the ground, wearing armour and holding a sword.
It was definitely the corpse of an adventurer.

「Why is this here……I don’t have to ask that, do I?」

The corpse had a fist sized hole in the middle of its body.

It was a hole like one would expect if Rei had hit someone with a spear thrown with all his might.

He didn’t need to think about what had caused the hole.

「Charming, isn’t it?」

Rei smiled at the thoughts he had just a minute ago.

At first glance, it looked like a ladybug and it seemed charming.
The jewel embedded on could even be called beautiful.

However, it was still a monster with a history of shooting at people from a distance as its name suggested.

「Set, get down to the ground.
Since we’ve found it, we should take it back to the guild.」

「Guru~」

Set gave a brief cry at Rei’s and descended to the ground with a flap of his wings.

Set landed on the ground with barely a sound, even with Rei on his back.
After landing, Rei stored the Death Scythe in his left hand into the Misty Ring while holding onto the Jewel Sniper in his right hand.

Touching the dead adventurer, Rei stored him into the Misty Ring.
As there was no point in staying any longer, he got back onto Set as they headed back to where they had come from.

When catching the Jewel Sniper, it had only seemed like a moment to them due to the concentration required, but flying a distance of 1km would still take some time.

That said, it was still tens of times faster than walking along the ground.

Considering the maze below them, the difference might even be hundreds of times.

「Over there.」

「Guru~」

Flying through the air, they eventually found Elena, Vihera, and Byune.

They didn’t know that Rei had caught the Jewel Sniper yet, but they still came out from behind the rock where they had been hiding because they trusted in Rei and Set’s abilities.

「Well, whether they fully trust me or not, it’s better than having no trust at all.」

「Gurururu~?」

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What’s wrong? Set seemed to ask.
Rei shook his head as he stroked Set.

Set descended to the ground with a happy cry and a good mood.

「Mm!」

As soon as he landed, Byune rushed over to him with barely any expression as usual.

Her expression aside, from her attitude, she was clearly interested in the result as it was related to the request she had received.

「Byune was worried whether you would be able to catch it alive……but, it seems those worries were wasted.」

Seeing the giant ladybug like monster with a jewel on its back in Rei’s right hand, Vihera spoke with a small smile.

「I’ve kept my promise.
……Just to double check, I’m exchanging this for the Cyclops magic stone, is that clear?」

Byune gave a small nod at Rei as he held out the Jewel Sniper with its back facing the ground.

Seeing that, Vihera gave a small laugh to indicate there were no issues.

That said, since all the Cyclops materials, magic stone, and proof of subjugation were stored in the Misty Ring on Rei’s right arm, there was no real point in trying to pull anything funny.

「In that case, the deal is complete.」

Rei also nodded as he held out the Jewel Sniper.

「I would like to say that this guy fires out the magic shockwaves from the jewel on its back.
It seems like it can’t shoot out any shockwaves if you hold its body like this, so please be careful.
Just in case, don’t turn its back towards anyone.」

「Mm.」

Byune nodded as she collect the Jewel Sniper, her request target, from Rei’s hand.

「Heh, looking at it from the side, you can see the bright red jewel on its back.」

「Mm.
It’s certainly rare to see such a beautiful jewel.
It’s no wonder that they’re so rare and valuable.」

Vihera commented as she looked at it from the side and Elena nodded back unusually in agreement.

「Anyhow, you’ve done what you came here to do, right? What do you plan to do now? We’ll naturally go through the maze and go to the stairs to the 15th floor.」

「……Mm.」

「Unfortunately, we have to head back.
After all, there are various problems with holding onto a live monster……I personally wanted to clear the dungeon with Rei though.」

The moment Vihera said that, Elena cleared her throat from beside Rei.

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「Oh? Do you have a cold? You have to be careful with your health you know? You could drag Rei down.
Oh, but that’s fine.
If that happens, I’ll join Rei’s party.」

「It’s none of your business.
Rest assured, I’m in good health.
Instead, why don’t you bring the item of your request back early.」

「Mm!」

At Elena’s words, Byune, who was holding the Jewel Sniper in her hands, gave her usual response as she tried to hurry Vihera along.

「Fu~, well, we are holding onto a live monster, so it might be better to hurry back.
Then, Rei.
As for the materials you are holding onto, I’ll be waiting at the guild, so please pass them back there.」

「I understand.
We’ll find the stairs to the 15th floor as soon as we can and come back up to the surface.」

「Yes, thank you.
Come on Byune, let’s go.」

「Mm!」

At Vihera’s words, Byune bowed her head slightly towards Rei before starting back in the direction they had come from.

Seeing them leave, Elena suddenly muttered.

「By the way, monsters shouldn’t be able to get close to the rooms where the magic circles are……but familiars are fine?」

「They should be fine.」

Rei nodded back simply at Elena’s question.

Seeing Elena just look at him, Rei shrugged his shoulders before continuing to explain.

「In the first place, the magic circles might keep monsters away, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used to transfer monsters.
That was shown by the Goblin Bandit Mage.
If so, it should be possible for adventurers to forcibly transfer them.
Once they reach the magic circle……they can probably be transferred.」

「……Your words seem a little unsure for how confident you sounded.」

Elena looked at both Rei and Set with some doubts.

「Set isn’t exactly the same, but you still need a way to bring monsters back above ground if you tame them in the dungeon right? In fact, the inn we’re currently staying in has a space for monsters that were tamed inside the dungeon.
They said they had to build a new stables specifically for those monsters.」

「……Now that you say that, I remembering hearing that from the inn staff.」

Elena muttered and nodded as if she remembered something.

「Well, this can wait, shall we go find the stairs to the 15th floor? Those two will be waiting for us in the guild.」

「Guru~」

Set gave a cry at Rei’s words and Elena gave a nod as well.

Like that, Rei’s party resumed their search for the stairs to the next floor.