The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter

Chapter 101 Emma stopped moving

【Petrification Remedy】that I crafted, perfectly manifested its effects and returned petrified woman back to her original state.

The woman looks bewildered, probably due to her mind being unable to catch up with suddenly lifted petrification.

Nonetheless, up close she looks extremely strong. Her well-balanced, firm muscles stand out with her dark brown skin. The level is… 107. In addition, there are multiple combat skills.

While being a bit cautious of us, still in a state of confusion, she asks.

「Where is that woman?」

「Whom do you mean by that woman?」

「The one who has a snake’s tail… Or rather, who are you people?」

Before asking the questions ourselves, first, we explain the circumstances in order. Being a perceptive person, she immediately understood us and gave words of gratitude.

「You have my thanks for saving me from petrification. My name is Aisha. Twenty-five years old, from a rural town in the middle of the continent, I made a short stop here during my travel…」

「I’m Noir. We were surprised to find everyone in this town turned into stone statues.」

「That woman did it. She had a beautiful face. But, she had a tail…」

「So, that was a serpent.」

「Yeah. I immediately realized that she was dangerous. Because the people who saw that woman became stones. At first, I thought that it was magic…」

But for a magic it was too fast and too powerful. I have never heard of magic capable of turning people into stone one after another.

「That woman, looking downwards, asked me this. 『Do you know where is Veld’s house?』. I replied that I don’t and attacked her. I missed, then she raised her face… I don’t remember anything past that.」

I guess it’s safe to assume that she was turned into stone when their eyes met.

If it’s that kind of skill, then it is beyond evil. Probably, victory without 【Petrification Resistance】is impossible. By the way, the incident took place just a few hours ago. We came with amazing timing.

Perido-san, who learned the abnormality of the situation, says.

「I am acquainted with the lord of Hornest. We should go and report about this to him.」

「Perido-san, do you know something about Veld’s house?」

「Oh, I do.」

He nods. According to him, Veld is a noble and the mayor of Landan.

He is a mayor with a good reputation, who considers the needs of population and travelers, and was not the type to earn the grudge from people.

「To make living easier, he also was proactive in monster extermination.」

「I guess that’s it. He might be a good person from a human’s viewpoint but not such for monsters.」

As Layla-san points that out, silence follows. It wouldn’t be strange for a highly intelligent monster, capable of speech, to desire revenge, and it wouldn’t be strange if it wanted to kill the leader, the mayor.

「Perido-san, can you take a few petrification remedies and head with the report to Hornest?」

「What do you intend to do?」

「I will go to Veld-san’s house. If the mayor is petrified, I will undo it.」

「It’s dangerous. If by some chance the enemy is hiding there, you will turn to stone as well.」

「That’s why you are taking petrification remedies with you.」

「I see, so that’s what you had in mind.」

If by any chance we were turned into stone, it will be possible to save us using those. Maybe due to the influence of petrification, but Aisha-san seems to have muscle pain in her whole body, so she will tag along to Hornest.

「Don’t overextend yourself.」

「Yes, if there is a danger we will run away.」

Learning the location of the mayor’s residence, we rush there. On the way, I contemplate. Should I take【Petrification resistance】?

My LP is only slightly over two thousand. The required LP is the same as with【Poison resistance】so S is impossible, but A can be created.

I take【Petritication resistance】to avoid complete annihilation. I’d like to add the line『Nullification of Petrification effects induced by sight』but it’s impossible because I don’t have enough LP.

In the corner of the residential area, there was a large mansion that was better built than other houses around. This is the mayor’s house.

The front door was open.

「We better have a lookout at the front and back entrances. I acquired resistance, so I will go inside.」

「I will go as well!」

「Then I will go around to the back door.」

I go inside with Emma, Layla-san monitors the back door. Laura and Luna-san pair is on standby and will pursue the enemy was it to escape.

Trying not to make a sound, we sneak into mayor’s house. First, near the entrance, there is a woman turned into stone. From her outfit, she must be a maid.

Using petrified butlers and maids as guideposts we proceed through the hallway. And then we finally stop in front of a room that just as expected had the door wide open.

I strain my ears, but I can’t hear any conversations.

Leaning to the wall I quietly take a look inside.

There are no signs of people or monsters. When I resolved myself and went inside, there was a person who was turned into stone while reaching for the shelf. Emma goes around and checks the face.

「It matches the info we got from Perido-san. I think it’s probably the mayor.」

「What a shame. But we have the item, so let’s try to use it.」

「Noir, wait. What is that?」

The room wasn’t roughed too much, but in one area it was different.

On the floor near the wall were lying fragments of the broken glass, no, mirror?

「That is the only strange part. If that is a mirror then there is a frame?」

「Maybe petrification woman shattered it and then carried it away?」

So the theory is that petrification woman was looking for mayor’s house in order to find this object? This might be a sound reasoning.

Probably, the mirror was originally on that shelf. I mean, the mayor is reaching with his hand there.

「Hey, look at this.」

Emma found a bundle of dozens of parchments in the desk drawer. Upon reading it, it turned out to be the record of recent events.

Leading the troops exterminated bandits infesting Landan’s surroundings. Exterminated monsters, caught a repetitive shoplifter.

Among those, also was the following.

Vice commander of private corps Eiga committed a small theft, and it seems upon reprimanding an unjustified resentment was born. On the next day, Eiga stole money and treasures and ran away. Furthermore, a note was left behind.

『I will never forgive you』. What a terrible story. Being mayor is tough.

There also were listed the problems he planned to tackle from now on, among which…

「…This, it’s related to the current incident.」

Going east of Randan, there seems to be a cave at the end of the wetlands, and it seems that a vicious monster is dwelling there.

Caves are famous for their treasure and there seems to have been a number of people who tried to brave it. However, as none of them came back, a search party was dispatched, and found them as stone.

According to the sightings of the search party, a woman with the lower body of a snake was responsible for it. It’s thought that her eyes possessed the power of that sort.

「It’s the same as the one that attacked Aisha-san. The mayor was trying to defeat the petrifying woman.」

「Looks like he found the way.」

The strategy was explained on the line that Emma pointed to.

An item capable of nullifying petrification was acquired. The mirror of reflection, capable of fully repelling back any magic power reflected in it.

I see, if you could show it to the petrifying woman, you might be able to petrify her instead.

Even if it wouldn’t get that far, there was a chance that the opponent wouldn’t use her power fearing the mirror.

「Emma, why do you think this plan was exposed by the monster?」

「I have no idea at all. Because it has good intuition?」

「Hmm, I wonder if that’s the case…」

The problem is that there is no mirror anymore. And what we should do from now on. For now, let’s release mayor from petrification. I take out the petrification remedy and try to apply it. Then, I got a strong feeling of something being out of place.

「It’s strange…」

Why did the mayor turn to stone in such a position? The petrifying woman turns to stone those that made eye contact with her.

However, the mayor’s face is facing the shelf. Next to the shelf is the wall. With the direction he is facing, unless you pop the face from the shelf it is impossible to look him in the face.

I don’t think the petrifying woman who came from the entrance would do that.

「Perhaps, the petrifying woman can turn people to stone even without meeting their eyes. Emma, in that case… Eh?」

Immediately, a chill runs down my spine.

Emma was there. But it wasn’t a normal Emma. She turned into a statue.