The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter

I shot a cursory glance at the three of them, my sword still on my hand. Emma and Amr-san were still out cold and Phan was completely worn out. Well, she did take a powerful punch head on so we should be good for a while.

「Incredible fists as always.」

「You did a great job backing me up, too, Noir-kun. Thanks! How’d that bird fall anyway?」

「I increased its weight using my skill.」

「You can do that, too? Are you superhuman or something?」

I could tell from her gentle tone that it was a compliment. But Layla-san, that’s my line. If I get hit by your【Magic Fist】, I’m sure my insides will burst.

「If you don’t mind, can you tell me how your skill wor— I guess not. We’re from rival guilds after all.」

「It’s okay. I trust you. I’ll explain about my LP.」

And so I explained it to her concisely. Even how I could gain LP by kissing and cuddling with girls. It was a bit embarrassing to I tried to brush it aside, but Layla-san took interest.

「Cuddle with girls? Any girl will do?」

「Attractive girls will be more effective.」

「………What about me? Will it work?」

She turned her gaze away and started fidgeting. I felt my heart skipped a beat.

「O-Of course. I do think you’re attractive. And beautiful as well.」

「Will a hug do? I have to thank you for helping me with the Phoenix, plus we might have to fight some more so there’s no harm in replenishing your LP.」

I gotta say, replenishing would be great. But I’m kinda nervous even though it’s just a hug. It must be because it’s with someone who I recently just got acquainted with. We both wrapped our arms around each other. I did so just lightly.

「Are you sure this is enough? Wouldn’t it be better if we did it more properly?」

「You might… be right.」

「Let’s cast aside our embarrassment for now and just do it.」

「Okay.」

We hugged tightly. Her hair smells good…

「I’m sorry, Noir-kun. I reek of sweat, don’t I?」

「You smell like flowers.」

「You’re lying~」

Layla-san chuckled, thinking it was just a joke. But she really did smell like flowers.

「If you need cuddling, you can stroke my head down to my back…」

「All right, then. Just a bit, then.」

I pet her head and rubbed her back gently. Her hair was smooth and silky, it slipped right through my fingers. I checked and got 800 LP out of it. I must have been quite aroused. After the hug, I felt refreshed. We then talked about our next move.

「I’m curious about what happened to the other guy.」

「I don’t think our leader would lose to him, but…」

Phan was quite formidable. It wasn’t hard to imagine that the other guy isn’t a pushover either.

「How about this? One stays here, and the other checks out the situation at the hall.」Layla said.

「Sounds good. We can’t really carry all three of them.」

「I’ll go and check then. Sorry, but can you stay and watch them?」

「Okay.」

To protect Emma. That’s my duty. Layla-san turned her heels, took one step, then stopped.

「Leader?」

「Oh, there you are!」

The Ramuh team’s leader was running over to us.

「Leader, what happened to Phantom?」

「We got him. But the rest were injured so I came here alone to back you up.」

「Fufu… there’s no need for that. Me and Noir-kun took care of it.」

「Tada! 」Layla-san exclaimed jokingly as she presented Phan.

He squinted his eyes, examining her. For a split second, his face stiffened.

Hmm? Something’s off.

Was he surprised at Layla-san’s power? He should be aware of her strength already. There seems to be more to it. One more thing: did he wear earrings before? There was a stone tied to the earring’s chains that swayed slightly when he moved. Just in case, I examined him with my【Appraisal】.

Name: Tom Berthold

Age: 28

Species: Human

Level: 154

Occupation: Salesperson Thief

Skills: Gravity Manipulation C

I tried desperately not to let the surprise show on my face. He had the same family name as Phan and they were the same age. From his occupation I know now that he’s the other thief. Phan and Tom… Phantom…. Maybe they’re twins. It never really crossed my mind.

His skill was【Gravity Manipulation C】. It might only be rank C, but my senses told me it was extremely dangerous. He was high-levelled too.

Wait a sec. How is he disguising himself as the leader? He didn’t have skills like【Transform】or【Disguise】. Did he have something powerful enough that he could fool even Layla-san? His voice sounds the same too. Just maybe… I appraised his earrings and bingo.

It was called Earrings of Deception with the skills【Disguise】and【Voice Mimicry】imbued on it. He apparently could imitate a person with it. As for his clothes, he probably took them from the guy after taking him down.

「Are all three of them unconscious?」

「Yeah.」

He moved closer to them and I stood watch to make sure he doesn’t release Phan. We were behind him so I took the opportunity to whisper into Layla-san’s ear.

「Please stay quiet. He’s an impostor. If we destroy or take his earrings away, his true identity should be exposed.」

「…….He looks like the real one to me.」

「It’s a disguise.」

Layla-san was at a loss for words. That proved just how good his disguise was. If I didn’t have my【Appraisal】, I would’ve been completely deceived.

「Is this girl your friend?」

「She’s my childhood friend.」

「Why’d she take her?」

「Apparently the guy fell in love with her. What a sicko.」

I tried to taunt him. He simply laughed, but his eyes were raging. This guy has his hearts on his sleeve. So easy to read. That’s surprising. The problem now was how to land a surprise attack… whaaaaat?

「Hyaa!」

「Huh? Wai— What are you doing?!」

Layla-san rushed at him all of a sudden. Tom crouched down to avoid a huge right hook. But it was a feint. The real attack was a body blow from her left fist. He managed to dodge it adroitly, but he’s lost his balance.

「Go, Noir-kun!」

「You can’t fool me, Tom the thief!」

I brandished my sword, going straight for the earring’s chain hanging from his ears. All right! I sliced it off! His clothes stayed the same, but his appearance changed into a good-looking young man.

「…I see. You saw through my disguise.」

He unsheathed the sword from his waist to strike back. Layla-san and I moved back almost simultaneously.

「How’d you know it was a disguise?」

「Take a guess.」

「…No way. Appraisal? That’s unusual.」

「I won’t let you take Emma. I swear.」

「I’m sorry, but Emma-san will be my wife. I always get what I want, no matter what. It’s just my nature. The same goes for Phan.」

Then all of a sudden, I felt my weight suddenly increase, like I was being pinned down by something unseen. My body was extremely heavy. It was the same for Layla-san. This is bad.

「Since you’ve seen my skill with Appraisal, there’s no need to hide it. I’m using Gravity Manipulation. With it, I can add weight over a particular area.」

「What the… heck is this…?」

Layla-san put her strength into her legs to try to get out of the skill’s area of effect, but she couldn’t. Because he increased the gravity even more. So it wasn’t a hundred percent power before? It’s really hard to move. This is not matter we can solve by just getting the hang of it.

「Haa… Haa… It’s a rare skill, but it’s not all-powerful. It takes quite a toll on me as well.」

Yeah, his skill has this much power. He should be expending a lot of magic for it. I think it’s safe to assume that rank C【Gravity Manipulation】is not enough to completely crush us. I guess it comes down to a battle of endurance. No, wait…

「Exactly. It won’t be a battle of endurance. Not when I have this.」

「If you want to kill someone, then kill me.」

「Hmm… What to do…?」

Tom was planning to throw his sword above us. With the increased gravity, we might get fatally wounded.

「I just… have… one question…」

「Sure, but make it quick.」

「Even if you take Emma, do you think she’d want to be your wife? She’s not a thing. She’s human and that means she has feelings.」 I said, eyeing Emma behind him.

Tom laughed scornfully.

「That won’t be a problem. I excel at seizing the hearts of men. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just use magical tools to achieve that. I have a lot of stolen goods, after all. Okay, that’s it for our little talk. As you wish, I’ll get rid of you first.」

「One last… thing. Why don’t you ask her yourself if you can seize her heart?」

He looked perplexed, but as soon as he saw my smirk, he immediately turned around. Too late, bud. Emma was awake for a while now. And now he was well within her range.

「Don’t you lay a hand on Noir!」

Tom was hit square on his back by Emma’s specialty:【Wind Mass】. He could not mount any resistance from a close-range wind magic and was sent flying. He rolled over to my side. At the same time, his Gravity Manipulation skill was dispelled, freeing me and Layla-san.

「Haa… agghh… 」

I felt just a bit of pity at Tom who was gasping for air with his tongue sticking out. But I wasn’t going to let him off easy. Layla-san picked him up, binding his arms behind his back. I clenched my fist.

「I’m… I’m the phantom thief…」

「Good night. Ha!」

With all my strength poured into my fist, I landed a blow right at his solar plexus. I just copied Layla-san, to be honest, but it felt like it was a much more powerful punch than usual. I guess learning by watching others is also important.

Tom was knocked out cold easily and I was about to head over to Emma but saw she was already rushing over to me. I caught her as she jumped into my arms.

「Noir…」

「Emma, are you all right?」

「Yeah. I can move just fine. What about you?」

「Not so good, actually.」

「Lie down and rest!」

I went through a number of fights, summoned beasts included. The exhaustion I felt was nothing to sneeze at so I lied down. Emma let me use her lap as a pillow, soothing me.

「I was kidnapped, wasn’t I? I knew someone attacked me, but I lost consciousness.」

「It was dark so can’t really blame yourself if you were caught off guard.」

「You came after me… I’m happy you saved me.」

「I’m not cold-hearted, after all. I can’t let a sick thief take my childhood friend.」

「Mufufu… Then as thanks for saving me…」

*smooch*

Emma brushed my forelocks aside, and lightly kissed my forehead. Ahh, the trouble was worth it.

「You must be exhausted. Just rest for a while.」

「I’ll take you up on that. Oh, right. I only managed to save you thanks to Layla-san’s help. You should thank her.」

「Okay. You just rest.」

With Layla-san and Emma’s conversation serving as a lullaby to my ears, I let sleep overcome me. Wait, Layla-san is carrying the tied-up Tom on her shoulders. She apparently still had enough strength left. Impressive.

Ah, my eyes are getting heavy… Unable to defy my body, I closed my eyes and rested for a bit.