Chapter 247 It's Like Heaven~
Everyone landed on the floating island after the battle.
In the center of the huge crater, there was no sign of Galahad. Whether he didn't drop anything by bad luck or if he evaporated from the overwhelming attacks of Garon and the others, there were no items left behind.
Seeing that even the magic stone, which always drops when defeating a labyrinth, was missing, it's possible he just evaporated normally.
However, it seemed Glen didn't think so.
After passing through the gate and going down the stairs, they set up a barrier and prepared to camp in the cave at the starting point of the 48th floor.
With a grin on his face, she approached Garon.
"Ahh, that's too bad, Garon~?"
She leaned on Garon's shoulder with an extremely annoying attitude.
"...What's too bad?"
Garon, who was being bothered, shot a really annoyed look at her.
Glen, on the other hand, just shook her head, even more annoying.
"You don't get it~? Well, Garon hasn't fought one-on-one like I have~. I'm talking about drops, a drops. You know, unless you clash head-on and overcome the trial, like with my Divine Spirit Bow, you won't get drops like this, for sure."
"...I don't care. I don't need a tower shield or that full-body armor. Even if I got them, I wouldn't have used them."
"Well, that's true! Haha, sorry! I said something weird. Don't worry, don't worry! Something good will happen someday!"
Glen pretended to be concerned, as if Garon had just made an excuse for losing.
But unlike Glen, the adult Garon silently brushed it off, even with a vein popping on his forehead.
"Hey, Aaron."
"Hm? What's up?"
Suddenly, Lucia started talking to me.
"In Glen's mind, she completely thinks she fought Albis... Is she okay, like, in the head?"
"Hm? Glen has never been okay in the head..."
I replied while tilting my head.
"What are you saying? It was Glen who defeated Albis, right?"
"Huh!?"
For some reason, Lucia looked shocked and turned to Fiona for confirmation.
"Phew, Fiona! Who defeated Albis!?"
"Eh? Why are you asking me all of a sudden?"
"Just answer me!"
"It was Glen, right?"
"!? !? L-Logan!"
Looking even more shocked, Lucia turned to Logan for confirmation this time.
"Who defeated Albis!?"
"Ah, it was Glen. That one-on-one battle was pretty good..."
"!? !? !? ...M-Mandela Effect...? I-I must have somehow switched to a parallel world...!?"
Trembling, Lucia muttered something to herself.
What the heck is going on?
* * *
Anyway, after defeating Galahad, we passed through the gate, went down the stairs, and activated the barrier magic tool in the cave to spend the night.
Then the next day, on the morning of the third day since we started exploring.
We were finally going to challenge the 48th floor.
"Wow~!! This place is amazing, it's like heaven~..."
Chloe sighed as she looked out at the view from the floating island.
And that feeling was something we all shared.
The 48th floor was a paradise above the clouds, with soft sunlight pouring down.
"The temperature is nice and warm..."
"Yeah, and the wind seems pretty weak too."
Agreeing with Fiona, I looked around.
Unlike the 47th floor, the 48th floor was back above the sea of clouds. Plus, there was no strong wind like in the 46th floor, just warm sunlight like a gentle spring day, and I didn't feel cold at all.
On top of that, maybe because there was almost no wind, it felt quiet.
"Hey, hey, I'm starting to feel sleepy."
"This is so relaxing."
"I want to sunbathe!"
Unusually, even the drunks, the pigs, and the girls from the Maiden Squad were feeling cozy.
"――Well, you all know this, but..."
Noah said, looking at us with a serious expression.
"You should tighten up a bit. This floor isn't that easy, you know?"
Noah said this with a pretty stern face, but――there was nothing to worry about.
It was an incredibly easy floor.
First of all, we hadn't fought any monsters at all.
There were monsters, but they seemed to be all gentle ones, and they wouldn't attack unless we did something first.
The only ones that appeared were the Holy Dragon covered in pure white feathers, the Angel Cat that looked like a mountain cat with wings, and the Saint Rabbit, a rabbit monster on the floating islands.
These guys weren't hostile at all; in fact, when they found injured members, they quietly came over and healed them with holy magic.
"Oh my~, how cwute~!"
As Claire from "Flames of Dominance" is being healed, she fed the Saint Rabbit from her food. The Saint Rabbit, showing no signs of wild instincts, eagerly ate the food from her hands.
"Kyuuun, kyuuun!"
After finishing the food, it rubbed its body against Claire as if to say thank you.
"How cute~!"
"Ah! That's so nice! Hey, Leader, let me pet it too!"
"Why is this little one so friendly~!!"
From that point on, the Saint Rabbit, for some reason, didn't want to leave Claire and the others. It ended up being carried by them or sitting on their shoulders as they traveled together.
Then, on a floating island where colorful flowers bloomed fantastically, after activating the barrier magic tool for lunch and a short break, something caught my attention.
"Hey, hey."
When I looked around, I noticed there were monsters inside the barrier.
Not just the Saint Rabbit that Claire had, but upon closer inspection, I saw pigs, maidens, and even Zara and Owen's party, all playing with their own Saint Rabbits and Angel Cats.
When did they all become friends?
The barrier magic tool doesn't repel specific beings like monsters; it simply creates a barrier to block physical entry and exit. So, if monsters were already inside, it was pointless from the start.
――Wait, why didn't I notice this until now?
I must have let my guard down.
There may be no danger, but a monster is still a monster. Plus, we can't keep them forever. I shouted to the Extermination Team members who were playing with the rabbits and cats.
"Hey, you guys! Hurry up and get rid of those monsters!"
The reaction was intense.
"Getting rid of them is cruel, Mr. Aaron!"
"That's right! These little ones can't survive without us!?"
"I can't just throw away something so cute! I can't do that!"
"You devil! Pervert! Naked!"
They were totally against it.
Am I the one who's wrong? I wondered, when Noah spoke up again.
"As Aaron said, before we reach the deepest part of this floor, it's better to get rid of them or kill them. This is a warning."
Noah's words brought even louder shouts.
"What are you saying!"
"Killing them? Don't you have a heart!?"
"Killing the kitties and bunnies isn't something a person would do! You scoundrel!!"
I can understand what they're saying, but it feels weird hearing this from these big guys.
Besides, rabbits are usually eaten as livestock anyway.
"Well, do what you want. I already gave you a warning, okay?"
Noah shrugged and easily backed down.
I decided to ask Noah and another person, Ickle, who has experience in clearing this level, along with Lucia, who has those memories.
"Lucia, what do you think?"
"――Kitty, you're so cute~."
It's no use. Before I knew it, I was so absorbed in petting the Angel Cat that had gotten close.
"Hmmm..."
No matter how cute they are, these things are still monsters, and I should definitely kill them... but for some reason, I just don't feel like it.
Even when I look around, no one seems to feel any sense of danger. Chloe, too, is petting a cat lying on its back, giggling creepily and muttering something to herself.
"Wow, this one's a male~. ...Ah! I've got it! I could anthropomorphize this kitty and pair him with another male... no, but wait!? Come to think of it, I've heard that rabbits have strong sexual desires! In that case, maybe I should anthropomorphize a bunny instead... or maybe a bunny who's in heat could forcibly assault the kitty in an interspecies scenario...!!"
...Wait, Chloe is acting normal?
I'm not confident in my own judgment. My head feels kind of fuzzy.
I decided to ask Fiona for her opinion.
"Fiona, what do you think?"
"Well... I think we should kill them while we still can. ...But, if I say that now, I'm sure everyone will oppose it."
It seems Fiona is also on the 'kill them' side, but she believes the others, who are captivated by the cats and rabbits, would oppose it.
Well, that's probably true.
"If we try to kill them or pull them away, they'll probably resist."
"That's right... If we fight them and end up quarreling among ourselves, that would be bad, and even if we kill them now, I feel like we'd just pick up more as we go further... I think this group can handle it, but... when we get close to the innermost floating island, I might have to forcefully kill them myself..."
I see. Fiona is as clever as ever.
"Got it, as expected of you."
As expected of Ms. Fiona. As expected of my wife...
"You're so cute, Fiona..."
"Um... Aaron? Are you back to your senses?"
"Your embarrassed face is cute too... I want to marry you..."
"Um... we're already married, you know?"
"Oh right... then I want to be all lovey-dovey..."
"W-we'll do that later... I'll do it for you later!!"
Fiona was so cute that I was in trouble, but after a short break, we finally made it to the deepest part of the strangely spacious 48th floor.
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