The Mightiest Hero of Black ~My Party Members Betrayed Me so I’ll Stick With The Strongest Monster~ - Chapter 46

Shion’s Side
At the bottom of the stairs was a basement with stone walls.

It was supposed to be quite spacious, but the numerous weapons and armor on the walls and floor made it seem smaller.

“Looks like they even have a magic tool. And that’s ……”

There was a bottle on the shelf with a pointy ear in liquid form. He’s pretty sure they’re elven ears. He heard that there are no elves in this area, so they must have traveled far or purchased them from someone.

…Treasure Chest?

There was an unlocked treasure chest in the back of the room, which the man with the full plate had not mentioned. Shion drew his sword and lightly slashed the treasure chest first.

He did this because he feared that it was a monster disguised as a treasure chest.

There was no reaction, so it seemed to be authentic. So, Shion put his hand on the top box of the box – and stopped its movement.

And just in case, he decided to use dark magic.

Aria’s Side
Aria, who was left alone in the room, had a lot of time on her hands.

“Ahhhh, I’m so bored”

She is not that nervous because she thinks that Shion would not be in a tight spot. So, she lies on her back on the bed and starts to fantasize that Shion is in trouble and Aria is going to save him.

She enjoys the crazy story of how Shion finds Aria attractive and suddenly proposes to her after saving him.

“Ehehe, ehehehe”

She can’t stop her weird laugh when she imagines the scene where she says yes to the proposal and even kisses him.

Only to have it stiffened by a scream that came unexpectedly.

“Giyoyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!”

Her ears ached as she listened to the dying voice.

For a moment, she wondered if it was Shion, and then she decided that it was definitely not. First of all, the voice quality was too different. It was very high-pitched.

And in the past, Aria had heard something similar to that.

“Isn’t that Mandragora’s scream just now!?”

Mandragora.

It is a plant-based monster. When you pull it out, the roots, which have a human-like shape, emit a mighty scream.

The screams are highly dangerous because if you hear them, they could kill you.

Earplugs would have made things a little better, and in fact, Aria was able to prevent this from happening, but even so, listening to it at close range made her feel worse, with headaches and vomiting.

Aria paled a little, thinking it might be a trap.

There are several ways to use Mandragora as a trap. For example, you can keep it in a dark place like a treasure chest.

Because the monster tends to scream the moment it makes eye contact, its malice is directed at the person who opened the box.

No matter how invincible Shion is, he would surely take heavy damage if he gets hit unprotected.

“Now it’s my time to shine! Wait for me!”

Aria immediately ran out of the room. She was on the first floor, so she dashed straight through the lobby and put her hand on the front door——

“Ouch!”

She felt a sharp pain in her side. She was speared by someone who was hiding near the entrance.

Thanks to the reflexive twisting of her body, she was only grazed, but if she hadn’t done that, she would’ve been poked in the abdomen for sure.

Aria drew her sword to strike back at the person who had been blending in with the darkness. …… This time, she felt the killing intent from the other side and jumped back from the spot once.

“……, the innkeeper, and maybe his wife”

Aria expressed her displeasure at the wife, who stood up with a muffled laugh.

She was clutching a large hammer and looked like a different person than when the day was bright. The innkeeper speaks in an inchoate tone.

“We don’t want to fight you if we can help it. We don’t, but when we tried to leave the …… room, we were told to kill you”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but trying to kill a hero is pretty impressive”

“I know, I know. But, you know, there’s a reason I have to. You already know that, don’t you?”

“You’re part of the Resistance. Including the priest”

“You’re the king’s dog. I’m not going to try to persuade you. We’re both former adventurers, after all. Together, we can even beat a wyvern”

If it were only a wyvern, Aria would be able to defeat it with ease. There was no way she didn’t know that, so Aria guessed that she probably had other strengths as well.

What caught her eye was that they emit slight gold brilliance.

“Your eyes, they have light magic in them”

It’s a spell that allows you to maintain daylight vision in the dark.

“I’m impressed. No matter if you’re a Hero, it’s not going to be easy against us in this darkness”

“Why don’t you stop talking and let’s do this already?”

“Right then!”

The two of them threw a nearby desk at the same time. Aria cuts it down with a fast movement of her sword. Pieces of wood rattle and fall to the floor.

She dodged the spears and hammers coming at her from both sides by rolling sideways and jumping backward.

“Damn it, she’s fast”

“Honey, I’ll go there”

“Right”

“Sorry, I can’t deal with that kind of thing”

The former adventurer and his wife are not small fry, but they are about the bottom of the middle of the pack among those she has fought as a hero.

A jet of water shot from each of Aria’s outstretched hands. The momentum is so strong that the couple is unable to escape and gets caught in a puddle.

“Ugh, what the ……?!”

“What the hell is this? It’s sticky!”

It is not just water, but a highly viscous substance that, once applied, slows down the opponent’s movements.

There was no way Aria would let them escape when they were completely open, and the first thing she did was land a powerful body blow to the wife’s abdomen.

As soon as he let out a short moan, he fainted and fell to the floor.

“Well, I have a few questions for you, but I don’t have much time. Anyway, where are the light magic users? I’m assuming it’s the priest though….”

“…”

“Well, okay. Are the kids asleep?”

“Hehe…. This might sound like me being a over-proud parent, but they are much more skilled than us at our prime. I’m sure they already finished their job by now”

“Don’t you go assuming they can kill Shion just because they’re a little bit stronger than you”

“Shion? No,no,no… I’m sure the priest can handle things over there. What I meant was the Familiar”

Aria was taken aback by how little she knew. The innkeeper added something to fuel more her frustration at her reaction.

“It’s hard to beat if you take it seriously. But no matter what kind of beast it is, it is defenseless in its sleep. And they’re good at assassinations”

It was strange when they thought they could assassinate humans and magical beasts in the same way, but Aria didn’t go into it anymore.

She asked the innkeeper about the priest, the sister, and if there was a trap in the basement, but he stubbornly refused to tell me, so she gave up.

“Well, then, we’re done”

“Gugeeeeeeeeee!!!”

She punched him so hard the innkeeper folded his body into a crook, his mouth moving violently, and then fainted.

Aria went back into the room and pulled off the curtains, and used them to bind them so that they could not move.