Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054922300995/episodes/1177354054922329686
Mark’s party “Dawn Star” was also at the raid where Ryu was abandoned in the dungeon.
And, in fact, it was Kate who cut Ryu’s leg with a knife.
Of course, Kate didn’t want to do that.
But she did it because she had no choice, as instructed by Jorma, the leader of the raid.
Goji gave her the knife and forced her to do it, saying that she had to make sure that Ryuujin was immobilized so that he could do his job.
The “Dawn Star” was quite promising among the newcomers to the party. They would rise through the ranks in the near future. It was a common practice of the adventurers’ guild in this city to make these people accomplices.
Before departure, Kate and Mark were summoned by Daniel and Jorma, who explained to them how to escape in the event of danger—that is, how to let the other adventurers survive by having one of them become the rock from which the others would be thrown away—they were briefed on how to escape from the situation.
And that the most qualified person for the job at the moment was Ryu.
Kate could understand why they said that.
Ryu is an adventurer who “may or may not” exist. He is not a person who is desperately needed in this town.
They explained to her that it often happens that those who are in charge of keeping monsters at bay are driven by fear and run away before they can get to them. In order to prevent this, they would leave them there, unable to move.
They used to use paralyzing magic, but that would also prevent them from activating their magic barrier.
Therefore, they began to cut the muscles in their legs so that they could not move.
They also explained that the magic tool of the barrier also served as a self-destruct mechanism.
The barrier does not last that long. And after the barrier expires, the self-destruct function is activated. This damages the monster and prevents it from pursuing by collapsing the cave.
Of course, the person who uses it dies, but they say that this is only to give the monster a moment’s peace of mind before it attacks them.
In other words, Ryu is sure to die.
But Kate was fine with that.
It was rather convenient. Kate had always felt guilty about Ryu, even if only vaguely.
When he became a slave, she only kept him at a distance and did not try to help him. After reuniting with him as an adventurer, she tried to be kind to him, but in the end, she said terrible things to him and banished him from the party.
(It was also Daniel, the guildmaster, who advised her to expel him from the party.)
Must she continue to feel guilty about this for the rest of her life? Kate’s anger boiled over at the thought.
It was not her fault that Ryu was incompetent. Why should she be made to feel guilty for it?
Ryu’s incompetence will probably never change.
No one can save him from his incompetence.
If that is the case, why should she feel guilty as long as Ryu lives?
If Ryu is dead and gone, Kate can forget about Ryu and live her life with a clear mind, can’t she?
Then they encountered the dragon, the leader ordered them to retreat, and Kate, at Goji’s urging, slashed Ryu’s leg and fled.
Kate had no hesitation.
There, Ryu was supposed to be dead.
Mark, Kate, and the rest of the party returned to town, but Jorma and the others said they would keep them informed, so they returned to the inn to rest.
But the next day they went to the guild and were told that Ryu had returned alive.
Kate felt relieved, but then her guilt grew even worse. Kate had slashed Ryu. Ryu would remember that. She has no face to show.
What’s more, Ryu said he was going to have a mock battle against Jorma’s party for the rank-up examination.
She quietly went to take a peek at the guild’s training grounds, and to her surprise, Ryu had overwhelmed Jorma and the others. Moreover, in what was probably revenge for having left him behind, Jorma and the others were beaten to a pulp until their hearts were broken.
Kate and Mark watched this from the audience.
After the mock battle, Ryu looked at the audience.
She thought she saw eyes with Ryu.
……It was as if she was being told that they were next.
Saying they were tired from the raid, Mark and Kate’s party decided to take a break from the activity for a while. But they couldn’t stay on hiatus forever.
But if they went to the guild, they would see Ryu. They said that Ryu has been showing up at the guild every day. Mark and Kate wondered if he was waiting for them.
So, instead of taking requests at the guild, they decided to go into the dungeon to hunt and collect materials to sell.
Although it was a dungeon where they were defeated by a dragon, Kate thought that she and her friends would have no problem as long as it was a shallow floor.
However, dungeons are full of dangers. Although not that deep, “Dawn Star” made a mistake. They were attacked and captured by a giant arachnid monster……
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― ― ― ― ― ― ― ―
Inside the dungeon, all the members of the “Dawn Star” were wrapped in the threads of a giant arachnid and hung in a web.
The arachnid would wrap its prey in the thread so that it could not move, and then slowly pierce it with its tubular beak to suck the “contents” of its prey.
The arachnid, however, was not hungry, so it was not preyed upon immediately, but was stored for a while.
In addition to the party, the white bones of an adventurer, presumably hung as bait, fell at its feet.
Ryu, who was called incompetent and left behind in the dungeon, survived, and they, who were said to have a promising future and left Ryu behind, died.
How did this happen?
What went wrong……?
Kate repeated the question to herself as she waited for the time when the spider tube would be pierced, but no answer came.
Kate thought she would just die.
But then something unexpected happened.
The giant arachnid that had captured them suddenly died, and its corpse disappeared as well.
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