How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 222

247. Sky Labyrinth (2)

“……Whew, that corpse gentleman finally left.”

While I was inwardly relieved that nothing major had happened, Cruise landed nearby and pointed his staff.

“Kugh! Where is he? Where did that lich go?!”

“Unfortunately, he’s off work. Seems he’s the type who doesn’t work on weekends.”

I just brushed it off with some nonsense.

There was no way he could pursue anyway.

Cruise seemed to have come to the conclusion that chasing was difficult as well, as he let out a long sigh.

“Haa…… Seriously, I don’t know what’s going on today, or how it’s happening.”

“I sympathize with that…… Hmm, but how did you find this place, Cruise?”

Where we’d land was pretty much random.

For him to have found us meant he was nearby from the start.

“I was lucky. As soon as I landed here, I was moving to assess the situation, and I saw you guys nearby. ……And.”

Cruise trailed off and shifted his gaze.

There, Princess Resilia was still unconscious.

“……So she got caught up in this after all.”

“Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to be harmed. ……At least, that’s what I gathered from a quick look. Cruise, please take a look later.”

“I will. ……Before that, Aileon? Surely you won’t say this is a coincidence too, will you?”

“…….”

I had no excuse.

I definitely instructed the princess on how to use it and activated the artifact.

There’s no way that would have happened if I didn’t know the effect beforehand.

“I won’t make excuses. I have some circumstances. But the explanation…….”

Around that time, the princess was starting to show signs of waking up.

“Let’s do it all at once when she wakes up too.”

“Alright. But by any chance, is this…….”

“It’s as you guessed, Cruise. Leaving out the detailed explanation, let me tell you the conclusion first.”

I shrugged lightly and said the answer.

“This is a dungeon.”

* * *

I wonder what the princess will say when she opens her eyes?

Will she get angry and throw a tantrum for being rude? Or will she accept it calmly?

The answer is simple.

“Uwaaaaaaa…… I’m doomed!”

She clutched her head, groaning and falling into confusion.

That’s a normal reaction.

“I’m dead when I get back to the Empire…….”

“You’ll be dead if you can’t get out of here too.”

“Ugh, uwaaaaaaa…….”

It’s strangely amusing to see her groan even more when I subtly point out reality.

She’s probably experiencing a mix of crisis and guilt for causing trouble.

“……Aileon.”

Cruise looked at me with a ‘what are you doing’ look.

I know.

I know I shouldn’t tease her.

“But who is she anyway…… Just now, you said ‘princess’?”

Cruise seemed to have questions too.

Seeing as the princess was in a panic and couldn’t explain, should I do it for her?

“That person is the princess of the Empire. Her real name is Resilia.”

“……But her name is.”

“It’s fake. She seems to have come in disguised.”

I told him the general circumstances.

Then, Princess Resilia seemed to have heard my words and protested.

“W-Wait a minute! How can you explain all that! What about my position?!”

“Huh? That’s none of my business.”

There’s no reason to care.

Besides, this is a dungeon where the eyes of the world can’t reach.

Who am I supposed to be mindful of?

“Do you perhaps think your authority will work here?”

“……S-Surely not here…….”
The princess’s expression froze as she thought of something strange again, and she shrank her shoulders.

“Hehehehehe. What do you think? Well, here is a dungeon that no one knows where it is. We are the only ones here…… Ouch!”

“Enough, Aileon.”

Cruise, unable to watch any longer, poked my back with his staff to stop me.

“Aileon, don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“I was just joking a little.”

“……Whatever.”

Cruise let out a long sigh and glanced at the princess.

Even though he looks like that, he’s probably inwardly troubled about how to treat her.

“I won’t get involved in what I just heard.”

Then, he clearly stated his position.

“……Let’s be honest. You’re saying you find it annoying to get involved in royal affairs. Kugh.”

This time, I was poked in the waist.

Stop poking me already!

I also put aside the jokes and stated the same position as Cruise.

“Anyway, this is an emergency. It doesn’t matter what affiliation we have or what we’re thinking right now.”

Above all, I encouraged her to activate the artifact and transfer here.

If I got her involved, I have to take responsibility.

That’s why I forcibly used my strength to grab the princess at the moment of transfer.

Abandoning her here would be a loss considering the future.

“R-Really?”

“At least, we won’t coldly abandon you if things go wrong.”

“Aren’t you going to say that and then push me off a cliff later?”

“Have you only lived being deceived…….”

I can say anything with words, but for now, she has no choice but to believe me.

“Whether you believe it or not, that’s up to Your Highness.”

“……I’ll believe you.”

In the end, after some conflict, she barely managed to get up and bowed her head as if to greet us.

“Then I’ll greet you again. I said a fake name back then.”

She must have thought there was no point in hiding it.

“I am Resilia Rupalette Gelunaos, the Third Princess of the Forellos Empire.”

“Aileon.”

“……Cruise Elphament. I’ll say it again, what you heard here will be as if you didn’t hear it when we leave the dungeon.”

After introducing ourselves, I wanted to explain the current situation.

“First of all, as I said, this is a dungeon. And the artifact that Your Highness used is like a key to this place.”

In other words, it’s an admission ticket.

If you have it, admission is free, and you can bring as many friends as you want!

“……A dungeon.”

“Didn’t you know that much?”

The princess, whose face had turned pale, shook her head.

“I…… I didn’t know that much…… I just heard it was a precious treasure.”

“Hmm…… Let’s say that’s the case.”

I ignored the meaningful words for now.

Meanwhile, Cruise tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

“But a dungeon…… That’s strange. Why is something like that in the royal palace treasury?”

“The royal family probably doesn’t know the reason either. The person who left this didn’t leave any records.”

In fact, the records were deliberately destroyed.

The person who obtained this at the time, the king of that era about 200 years ago, hid it out of concern for misuse.

I didn’t explain the reason for that for now.

It’s also related to the identity of the treasure here, and they’ll find out when the time comes.

“And the strange man who appeared at the banquet…… Let’s call him Phellentronel for now.”

“That was definitely the name.”

“His goal is also this. The treasure stored in this dungeon, he wanted this key to get it.”

For now, they don’t ask any other questions.

“Before that, if what you’re saying is true, doesn’t that mean that strange man is also somewhere in this dungeon right now?”

“That’s right.”

“I see…….”

The fact that she’s not particularly surprised probably means she had a hunch.

Above all, it would be a problem if Phellentronel wasn’t here.

‘From the beginning, this is a plan to isolate that guy from his organization…….’

Even if we overwhelm him in a fight in the royal palace, he’ll eventually retreat if he’s at a disadvantage.

If that happens, it’ll turn into a long-term battle.

In that case, it’s better to isolate him by using what he wants as bait.

‘Isolate only the boss by using the desired place as bait and cut off his head.’

Since he fell into this place, he won’t be able to retreat because of his goal.

‘Above all, this is originally the place where Sylvester defeated him in the original story…….’

In the original story, Phellentronel normally obtained the key and used it to enter the dungeon.

And Sylvester, who chased after him late, has a final battle with him.

I shortened that process.

‘Anyway, since he was rushed here, he didn’t have time to bring his subordinates unlike in the original story. He has to fight alone.’

That’s right. He’s alone.

It’ll be much easier to deal with compared to the original.

Besides, I’m here, and Cruise Elphament is here too.

We won’t be at a disadvantage if we fight.

‘Originally, I was going to prepare more and trap him…… But it can’t be helped.’

The plan has to flow flexibly.

There’s enough chance of winning.

But…….

“From the moment he fell into this place, he’ll be moving immediately.”

“I suppose so……. We have to stop him.”

“……Excuse me? Then does that mean we’re going to conquer the dungeon too?”

Resilia asks anxiously.

She probably thinks it’s a joke.

But unfortunately, it’s not a joke.

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait for escape or rescue?”

“It’s difficult. Above all, you can’t get out once you come in here.”

“……What? That can’t be! We can just use this, right?”

What she held out was the key she activated to enter this place.

However, I shook my head, saying it was useless, and picked it up.

“This artifact is only for entry, not for exit. Above all, there is a barrier on the dungeon walls that blocks the creation of teleports or gates.”

“……I thought my senses were strange since a while ago.”

“It’s not that activation is impossible at all. But…… It probably won’t be easy.”

Kmelz Alfrence escaped easily, but that’s because he’s one of the top black magicians.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult for our current level to imitate the same thing.

I also tried spatial transfer, but when I designate outside the dungeon, I feel like the coordinates keep getting misaligned due to interference, so I don’t even dare to use it.

In short, we can’t get out.

“If you want to get out, there will be a transfer device on the top floor where the treasure of this place is sleeping. We’ll have to use that.”

Whether we like it or not, we have to conquer the dungeon.

“Can’t we dig a tunnel…… Can’t we get out that way?”

“That’s also difficult. Do you know where this place is located?”

Resilia couldn’t answer, and Cruise also looked around, rolling his eyes with suspicion.

“Come to think of it, I forgot to ask. Aileon? Where exactly is this place? If we were blown away by transfer, it doesn’t seem like it’s nearby?”

In the worst case, he’s considering the possibility that we were blown away outside the kingdom or to a distant remote area.

“Fortunately, this is a point within the territory of the Selbas Kingdom. It’s not that far from the royal capital. But…….”

Then why can’t we get out easily?

The question lies here.

I pointed below the floor with my index finger.

“The royal capital is currently under our feet.”

“Under our feet?”

“Yes. Below this.”

Below this dungeon. On the ground.

To the puzzled women, I told them the exact location of this place as described in the original story.

“This is a dungeon located in the sky.”

In the sky, about 50 kilometers above.

Roughly a little above the stratosphere, that’s where the dungeon is located.

It’s called the Sky Dungeon.

“Wait! The sky?”

“Dungeons aren’t always just underground.”

It’s a place where the light is under the lamp, or rather, the sky is high and we can’t find it.

That’s what this place is.

‘And by now, Sylvester will have realized it too. I left that behind just in case.’

* * *

Around the time Aileon was explaining information about the dungeon.

“What? This is a dungeon?!”

Alnix’s scream-like voice echoed through the walls and ceiling inside the dungeon.

That’s because Alnix was lucky enough to find Sylvester a little while ago and heard some information from him.

As soon as a monster popped out after hearing that sound, Sylvester’s sword pierced the monster’s heart and Alnix’s fist crushed its head.

“Calm down, Alnix. You’re stimulating the monsters.”

“……Sorry. I was a little surprised. ……Damn it, it’s like it was a lie that I was at the banquet until a little while ago. Suddenly a dungeon! Does that make sense!”

“I understand how you feel.”

Sylvester was also barely suppressing his confused feelings.

The reason he could stay calm was because the situation wasn’t that desperate.

If he had been blown away empty-handed, even he would have been desperate, but now they have their usual equipment, and even…….

“……So where do we have to go to get out of here?”

“…….”

Alnix glanced over Sylvester’s shoulder at the letter he was silently checking.

The reason they didn’t panic was because they had information.

It’s thanks to this letter.

The letter contained some information about the dungeon, though not in detail.

At least it was enough to determine what to aim for and what the current situation was.

“So Aileon left this behind?”

“It seems so…….”

The reason he had a complicated expression was because the name written at the end of the letter was Aileon’s.

If this was an anonymous letter, neither of them would have believed the contents.

“When did he have the time?”

“……When or whatever…….”

He probably left it when he received the equipment.

At that time, the situation was urgent, so he didn’t even notice it was inserted.

From the beginning, there was no room to even guess who gave it to him.

“Putting that aside, what on earth is Aileon…….”

What on earth is Aileon thinking?

This is like…….

“It’s like he knew this would happen?”

“There’s no way.”