Author's Note
Oraaah! Let's move forward!
"Hmm, it really is a maze, huh..."
The map seemed to be filling up steadily, but I hadn't progressed any further into the dungeon so far. I could vaguely imagine that one of those forks in the road would be the correct one, but I never imagined that the hole I entered through and the hole I exited through would be completely different. Although it felt like I was moving in a straight line, I might come out of the same hole I entered through, or even if I re-enter the same passage I came out of through the same hole, I might come out of a different hole. So, it seemed like if I made a mistake, I would be thrown out randomly.
"Judging from Hannes' movements, it appears to be turning back at a certain point."
From the movements of Hannes, who had secretly been using Marking, I realized that I had not been going straight, nor was the passage at the end of the hole making a gentle U-turn. Thanks to having Hannes using Marking, the map was filling up at twice the speed, which is nice, but it seemed like the map of the filled in corridors didn't connect to this room full of holes. It was as if I warped the moment I entered the hole...maybe I actually did warp.
"………………Ahh!!"
Having an idea in mind, I decided to throw the iron ball with all my might into one of the holes.
"And one more thing!!"
If the two iron balls did not return from the same hole, but flew out of different holes, this would prove the hypothesis. If they were warped every time they entered the hole, then either there was a gimmick similar to that of the Forest of Fairy Tree that we encountered on the way here, or there was no correct answer from the start.
"—Ah."
As I was keeping my eye on the map and the hole, the dot representing Hannes suddenly stopped and, after a beat, started retracing its steps at high speed. If I tapped the dot to see more detailed information, I could see that Hannes' HP had decreased quite a bit. It seemed that the iron ball I threw hit Hannes from behind.
"—Ichijouooooooooooooooo!!!!!!" (Hannes)
"—Oh! It's been a while, Hannes!" (Rena)
Hannes swung his axe at me with furious force, but my Great Sword extended his shadow to block it.
"You bastard! Hey! Hey!" (Hannes)
"Your vocabulary is dead." (Rena)
"That's because you slammed an iron ball into the back of people's heads!" (Hannes)
"It was an unfortunate accident." (Rena)
Or rather, I see... so even if Hannes is hit by that thrown attack suddenly to the head, which is a weak spot, he won't die, and he'll only lose a moderate amount of HP. As expected from his appearance and fighting style, he seemed to have considerable durability. If you want to kill him in one hit, you'll need to make sure to cut off his head.
"By the way, where was the hole we just went in from?" (Hannes)
"Ah? ...I think it was the fifth one from the right on the second row from the top." (Rena)
"Is it this one?" (Hannes)
"...It looks like it's in the bottom center." (Rena)
"I see, so if you don't go straight ahead and just turn back, you'll come out through a different hole?" (Hannes)
Hmm, I thought maybe it was similar to the Forest of Fairy Tree...but if there are no patterns or hints, then it's probably not that. It might be possible to advance by entering certain holes in a set order and proceeding through all of the passage areas that were isolated from this location, but finding that out would be a pain.
"This is getting a bit tedious now." (Rena)
"But still, don't destroy indestructible objects, okay? Unlike an iron ball, if you destroy a wall, it will sink into a sea of data, which is no joke." (Hannes)
"...Is that even possible?" (Rena)
"I don't know." (Hannes)
"A little bit." (Rena)
"Shut up." (Hannes)
He stared at me with a fixed gaze, but he just turned his face away and didn't reply any further. Well, all we need to know is that this may be a risky method... Let's save destroying the wall for last.
"Even so, I was excited to start the race, thinking that this was a great opportunity to part ways... but this has ruined it." (Rena)
I thought I was finally able to run a decent race, but now I was back to square one.
"Don't say that someone who suddenly interfered ruined it." (Hannes)
"...I—diot." (Rena)
"Okay, you want to pick a fight, huh? Come on, I'll take you up on it." (Hannes)
"Not for sale." (Rena)
"You're really picking a fight!!" (Hannes)
"Hehe." (Rena)
Well, being with Hannes was fun in its own way, and I never got bored of "playing" with him, so it was fine. If there was another crossroads, then that was when we could just start the race again.
"What are you laughing at? It's disgusting..." (Hannes)
"What a cruel thing to say to a lady." (Rena)
"R-R-?" (Hannes)
"...Oh my, are you perhaps looking to pick a fight?" (Rena)
"Not for sale, idiot." (Hannes)
"Then we have no choice but to plunder it." (Rena)
"What?! That's dangerous! Don't just swing your weapon out of nowhere!" (Hannes)
When I swung my Great Sword at Hannes' head, he crouched down in a panic, clutching his head, and let out a cry of protest.
"I don't know if it was a revenge against me or what, but wasn't it you who said it wasn't for sale? Things that can't be bought with money have a set price, and they can be taken with power or violence." (Rena)
"That's a phrase that's unfamiliar to the average person, huh?!" (Hannes)
Is that so? Is that a word unfamiliar to you, Hannes?
"—Well, it just occurred to me." (Rena)
"—I'll kill you!" (Hannes)
I jumped backwards to dodge the axe's sweeping attack and throw the slender knife I had taken out at Hannes.
"Maybe because I'm a member of the nobility, you thought that this was normal for members of the nobility? ...If you publicly stated something like that, you would be stripped of your nobility title. It's outrageous." (Rena)
"I don't want you to lecture me on common sense!!" (Hannes)
In the split second that it took him to flick the knife, I focused the shadow energy onto Great Sword... Seeing me doing this, Hannes also wrapped several of the golden chains he has been using a lot lately around his axe. Well, this was just a warm-up for both of us, with the intention of killing each other casually—so I pulled out my weapon..
"—Raaah!!"
"—Hmph!"
A shock wave ran through the space, accompanied by an explosion sound like a large Japanese drum being struck, shaking our hair...A powerful force field was generated and lightning even flashed in the center of Hannes and me. The axe swung from above and my Great Sword swung from below to intercept it did not come into contact with each other, and they both stopped moving and trembled as if blocked by an invisible wall. It was strange how this happened, how the weapons were clashing without even touching.
"Guh!"
"Hm!"
The force field, which had been pushed to its limits, was then released, pushing us away, and blowing away everything around us.
"Cough, cough... what was that just now?" (Rena)
"...dunno." (Hannes)
Hmm, I wonder if the abilities that Hannes used are special.
"...I mean, there's a hole in it." (Rena)
"Huh? …Seriously?" (Hannes)
Perhaps due to the battle that had occurred earlier, the ice on the ground just before the stairs leading up to the upper level had shattered, revealing a staircase leading down. I couldn't believe that such a physical method could open up the path, so I was a little confused.
"No, but... isn't this ice pretty thick?" (Rena)
"That's right. If it was just an attack to try and destroy it, it probably wouldn't make it to the stairs." (Hannes)
Is it the kind of road that's difficult to find at first glance?
"Hmm, what is this... feeling of unease?" (Rena)
"Well, I think this kind of setup is the classic one, don't you think?" (Hannes)
"Is that so... I thought seriously about it and wondered if there was a certain order in which to go through the holes, but now it seems ridiculous." (Rena)
Apparently, the plot twist of "There was another true path!" was a common one, but I personally felt like it could have had a little more of a twist. Well, even though it was a coincidence, I was lucky to discover the next path early, so that was good.
"...It's good to have a parting of ways, right?" (Rena)
"That's right..." (Hannes)
"This isn't a race." (Rena)
"Don't say it. Don't say it." (Hannes)
It's strange, isn't it? Hannes and I were supposed to be "playing" to see who could conquer a newly discovered dungeon first, but before we knew it, we had been spending more time together.
"Well, I don't mind since it's fun." (Rena)
"Ha! The one who gleefully caused the disruption, say something!" (Hannes)
"Men?" (Rena)
"……Hah?" (Hannes)
"Huh?" (Rena)
"Huh? No, huh? Men?" (Hannes)
"Yes" (Rena)
"No, not yes." (Hannes)
"No, I was told that if the other person ends their sentence with 'ra'[1], you should say 'men' to complete the word ramen between close friends." (Rena)
"...By the way, who told you that?" (Hannes)
"My mother. I never really had the chance to do this, but now I'm finally experiencing it and I'm overjoyed." (Rena)
"Really?...But that's a lie." (Hannes)
"――" (Rena)
That's so stupid... My mother told me with such glee, "Phew, try it when you make some friends... hehe, tell your mother when you try it, okay? Bwuh!" and it was a lie... So you're saying that.
"You've been surprised so much." (Hannes)
"...Did it show on my face?" (Rena)
"No, just the atmosphere." (Hannes)
"I see, for now, forget about what happened earlier." (Rena)
I should have realized this when my mother started stifling her laughter while teaching me...I failed. It was a little embarrassing, so I should forget about it and move on...
"Sorry, Ichijou――" (Hannes)
'"Ha! The one who gleefully caused the disruption, say something!" "Men?" "……Hah?" "Huh?" "Huh? No, huh? Men?" "Yes" "No, not yes."'
"—I was recording it." (Hannes)
I slowly turned around to look up at Hannes, and he looked down at me with a look that seemed to genuinely make fun of me.
"—turn it off!" (Rena)
I swung my Great Sword with all my might, dodging the attack and running down the stairs as Hannes chased after me, activating multiple spells to attack him.
"Well, I was recording it for the sake of my strategy... and now I have some good material to use in a counterattack!" (Hannes)
"Hannes!!" (Rena)
"This is revenge for me being tied up and smoked with poisonous gas, you idiot!!" (Hannes)
This is no good, this is not good...I can feel my face getting hot, which is unusual for me.
"Are you also a human being, Ichijou?" (Hannes)
"Of course!" (Rena)
I am my mother's only daughter.
Author's Note
By the way, there is also a route you can take without destroying the ground.
And I got some fan art again!
This time it's a huge amount!
First up, Shimitama has drawn Maria-chan for us shortly after the release of the third volume!
It's super cute!
And from Carol Lewis, a regular fan art poster, I received some fan art of Ichijou Reina and an illustration celebrating my birthday!
I'm so happy! Thank you so much for everything!
And here is fan art of Rena from "Kokonoe"!
Thank you so much!
And we received a huge amount of fan art all at once from "Neruko"! Thank you so much!
I'm really happy that you drew so many of them!
This is also my first time seeing Alexei fan art!
And finally, here is fan art from "H.A.L" to celebrate the release of volume 3 of Rena!
I'm so happy! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much to everyone! Thanks to you, we were able to release the third volume!
There was a slight delay in processing the data, but the electronic version has been sold successfully, so thank you for your support!
Translation Note
[1] The previous (Hannes') sentence, "Ha! The one who gleefully caused the disruption, say something!" is originally 「ハッ！ 嬉々として妨害行為をしでかした奴が何か言ってらぁ！」which ends with らぁ (raa) and then Rena replied with 「めん」(men). That completes the word "ra-men". Though, I still haven't found the English equivalent.