The Tale of A Man Who Believed That His Reincarnation Had Granted Him A Japanese Sword And The Greatest Battle Sense, Only To Have The God Finally Inform Him "Huh, I Didn't Give You Any Combat Sense… That's Scary…" - Episode 41

After leaving the hall where we had made a campfire using a magic fire sheet, both Utsuho and Alice became noticeably quieter.

At the same time, as if in contrast to their silence, the deeper we ventured into the dungeon, the more creatures began attacking us in overwhelming numbers.

Tornadoes with murderous intent, as if the wind itself had gained consciousness and was striking at us. Stone statues shaped like grotesque creatures that tried to crush any human who passed before them. Venomous caterpillars clinging to the ceiling, ambushing from the shadows. Skeletons clad in rusted armor, swarming in sheer numbers.

Compared to the dungeon’s earlier sections, the latter half was an absolute death trap. Alice focused solely on navigation and mapping, avoiding combat entirely. Utsuho stayed close to Alice, ostensibly to protect her, occasionally throwing knives from behind but never directly engaging in battle.

For me, it was actually convenient since I could fight freely. However, even as I swung my katana at the frontline, I could feel the unspoken tension between Alice and Utsuho. There was no open arguing—just a silent battle of wills.

Throughout our journey, Utsuho ensured that Alice never had a chance to position herself behind her. She always stayed at the very back while moving through the dungeon, kept her eyes on Alice whenever she checked directions, and never sat with her back to the wall during breaks. She even stole glances at Alice’s mapping magic, copying the dungeon’s layout into her own notebook.

Her attitude was so blatant that she might as well have just said it outright. Watching the two interact up close wasn’t exhausting, but it did give me a slight stomachache.

After several short breaks, we continued trekking through the dungeon for about five hours. Then, suddenly, our path opened up. The narrow dungeon corridors abruptly ended, revealing a dense cluster of buildings—an underground city.

The square buildings, made of stone and mud, resembled the ancient architecture I had seen in Redinbara, though these structures looked much older. The buildings lined up to form streets, with some significantly larger ones standing among them.

Looking up, the ceiling of the dungeon was shrouded in complete darkness, like a night sky, making it impossible to gauge the true size of this place. “Underground city” seemed like the most fitting term for it.

It had the air of something steeped in history, yet it also felt strangely hollow. Despite the numerous buildings, there was no sign of life. When I turned back, I saw Utsuho scanning our surroundings with caution while Alice stood with her head down, eyes lowered.

“Alice, is this the dungeon’s deepest level?”

Alice remained silent, unmoving. She made no effort to use her relic exploration magic or mapping magic. She simply stood there in eerie stillness. Kirke’s warning echoed in my mind, and instinctively, I shifted my stance to face her.

Utsuho, standing behind Alice, locked eyes with me. She was already gripping her knives, ready for battle.

“One thousand one hundred seventy years. Do you know what that number means?”

Alice’s voice was completely different from before—deep, cold, filled with seething resentment.

Without hesitation, Utsuho struck, driving her knives into Alice’s throat and heart from behind. But even as the blades pierced her, Alice’s voice continued.

“That is the approximate time that has passed since the Great Witch Angelica was slain alongside the king.”

Utsuho twisted her knife deeper into Alice’s neck, attempting to sever it entirely. But Alice’s left arm, bending unnaturally, grabbed Utsuho’s left shoulder and, with inhuman strength, flung her toward me.

Utsuho twisted mid-air, landing quietly at my side in a low stance, knives raised.

“Tsk… Capturing a foolish swordsman and retrieving the relics was supposed to be such a simple job. But thanks to this damned beast, things got complicated.”

Alice’s left arm, now a mangled mess, moved as if it were a broken puppet. Bones cracked and realigned as she forcibly straightened it, emitting an eerie popping sound.

This was no longer the Alice I knew.

“Who… are you really?”

“Hah? Does it really matter who I am? Fine. As thanks for clearing a path and dealing with Angelica’s monsters, I’ll tell you.”
“I am a member of the cult seeking to revive the Great Witch Angelica. Thanks to you, the path is now open, and the cult can freely enter and leave this place.”

She smirked, but her voice was cut off before she could say more.

Utsuho, moving with the speed and precision of a great feline predator, lunged forward on all fours and closed the distance in an instant.

“Deadlock Embrace.”

With a monotone voice void of emotion, Utsuho whispered the words.

In a blink, she drove two knives into Alice’s chest, then pulled them apart, splitting open her ribcage as if gutting a fish. Without hesitation, she plunged her right hand into Alice’s exposed chest and crushed her heart.

Alice, who had been traveling with us until moments ago, collapsed forward before she could even comprehend what had happened. Her fingers twitched weakly, but like a drained puppet, they refused to move. Bl00d gushed from her chest, pooling beneath her.

“Ha… Don’t… mess… with me… My comrades… will come soon… If I can just get the book—”

She fell silent.

Her cape, now soaked in bl00d, darkened to crimson. The staff she had clutched slipped from her grasp, sinking into the pool of bl00d.

“…Alice.”

“Illegal exploration. A dungeon linked to Angelica. A magic user. Secrets. Given all these factors, it would have been impossible not to suspect her, Enri-sama.”

“To be honest, I had a feeling this would happen from the moment we first met in front of the Adventurers’ Guild.”

Just as Kirke had advised, I never took my eyes off Alice in the dungeon’s deepest level. That had allowed us to act before she could. That was a good thing… and yet, something still didn’t sit right.

Why had she chosen this moment to reveal herself?

If this was truly the dungeon’s final chamber, then there should be relics related to Angelica nearby. If she had waited until we found them, she could have acted at a more advantageous time, possibly catching Utsuho and me off guard.

But now, Alice was dead—eliminated with Utsuho’s swift assassination techniques—leaving her true motives and plans a mystery.

As I gazed at her lifeless body, I recalled our first encounter at the guild. Even if she had only approached me to use me, our time adventuring together had still been real.

“Before she died, she mentioned ‘comrades.’ If she was telling the truth, there might be pursuers.”

Utsuho, wiping the bl00d from her knives, suggested, “It would be best to destroy the relic before it falls into someone else’s hands.”

I agreed. Before we left, Rito had warned me about Angelica’s cult. If there really was a relic here, we needed to eliminate it before they could use it.

Splitting up, Utsuho and I searched the underground city. Fortunately, she quickly found a large temple-like building.

Peering inside, she noted multiple layers of traps. At the end of the trapped corridor, there was a chamber that seemed designed to hold something. Given the level of security and its unique architecture, it was likely where the relic was kept.

The mention of a “book” by Alice also suggested it was a magical tome.

Without wasting time, Utsuho began disarming the traps one by one.