Chapter 25: Trade City Heizen ③ – The Thing Lurking There
I hurried over.
The two of them were safe, each holding a different sword in their hands.
“Are you alright?”
“Shaldina is fine-desu.”
“I’m unharmed too.”
Whew. Good.
Still, for the pile to collapse like that—it wasn’t as deadly as I’d feared.
But Crisis Judgment doesn’t predict danger. It only tells you whether danger is present or not.
“…”
Anna Kreutzen also let out a sigh of relief.
Just as Mineha and the others joined up with us, something burst out of the collapsed garbage heap.
“Look out!”
“Kyah!”
Bid reacted immediately, grabbing Mineha and leaping back.
What was that? What just happened?
“Uwah… huh?”
What burst out was a large, gray, writhing tentacle.
The garbage heap collapsed even further, and we pulled back.
“What is that?”
“A monster!?”
“A monster?”
A monster in a garbage dump…?
No—actually, that had happened once.
Even if the incident with the puppet-box mimic has been erased, I still remember its horror.
“Ohoho, I recognize that. That’s a Gold Eater.”
As expected of the witch. Gold Eater…?
So that reaction I sensed deep inside the pile was this thing?
“I’ve heard of it. A dungeon monster that hides among treasure.”
“That’s one of those?”
Inside treasure…?
Is it some kind of mimic relative?
“Yes yes. If you approach a treasure pile carelessly, it grabs only women with its tentacles.”
“Wh-what!? Those exist!?”
…Only women?
“Mhm mhm. A trap monster that laughs at the idea that ‘treasure rooms have no monsters.’”
A shiver ran down my spine. Treasure rooms are supposed to be safe—
a sort of “safe area.” Yet this thing lurks there?
Did it settle naturally, or was it planted to guard treasure?
But still—capturing only women?
Mineha said in a disgusted voice:
“What does it even do after catching them?”
“Well well, I only know up to that part.”
“You’ve seen one, right?”
“Yes yes, but only seen it.”
“What about men…?”
“Hm hm. From what I’ve heard, it kills them.”
“…”
“…”
Me and Hoss fell silent. That’s way too extreme.
“I have a really bad feeling about this. Witch, how strong is that thing?”
“Hmmm. Judging by how developed it is… about mid–Gold Rank, I’d say.”
“That strong!?”
“Well, treasure rooms are usually deep inside dungeons. According to legends, in the deepest vaults, people have even seen Supreme-class Gold Eaters.”
Supreme-class—that’s—
Before I could finish, the garbage mountain erupted.
Garbage burst apart, and countless tentacles and a single eerie red eye emerged.
Everyone except the witch readied their weapons.
I equipped Banish and the Knife from the Other Sea—
…then paused.
I put the knife back on my belt and grabbed Mokusen, my spear with a wooden shaft.
In this cramped space, Mokusen was easier to use. Long weapons were better for tentacles anyway.
The Gold Eater lashed out.
I struck a tentacle with Mokusen—hard.
It felt like hitting stone.
“Ghh—too hard!”
Hoss tried cutting one with his halberd, but it bounced off.
“This hardness… it’s like the Relic Fortify!”
“That the relic Lupi has?”
Then one tentacle started crackling with electricity. A Lightning relic!?
As I tensed, Shaldina was grabbed.
“Mfff!? Wh-what are you doing-desu!?”
“Shaldina!?”
“W-what are—!?”
Bid was also snared.
“Anna! Watch out—Kya!”
Mineha tried to shield Anna Kreutzen, but her attack was deflected.
“Oho? That looks like the Relic Reflect.”
“Reflect!?”
That was bad. If it could reflect attacks, it might reflect Banish too.
“We’ve gotta save them!”
“Y-yeah!”
Shaldina’s mouth was sealed by a tentacle.
“Mmmmmm!?”
Another tentacle tugged at her maid uniform—
Seriously!?
Meanwhile, Bid was wrapped tightly, her limbs bound like a snake had coiled around her.
“H-help…!”
She looked at us with teary eyes.
“You pervy tentacle!!”
Mineha struck the lightning tentacle in anger.
Other tentacles tried grabbing her, but she blocked them with her star shield.
Hoss protected Anna Kreutzen.
And for some reason, none of the tentacles went after the witch—they avoided her completely.
At least she was safe. And Mineha was holding her own.
We needed to free Shaldina and Bid.
Even if the tentacles were trying to pull at their clothes—that was definitely not okay—
it didn’t seem to be trying to harm them otherwise.
It wasn’t trying to eat them either.
Just what was this Gold Eater trying to do?
Anyway—eliminate the Reflect tentacle first.
I rushed in.
The Reflect tentacle was the thickest one, smooth like marble.
Perfect. Time to test the new relic.
I activated Saint of Azure. My mind went still.
The tentacle reacted, swinging at me with full killing intent.
Now.
I used Slow-Mo. Something clicked inside my mind.
The world—time—slowed.
The tentacle swept toward me in slow motion.
Clumsy-looking, but deadly.
If it hit normally, I’d be done.
I could dodge… but instead, I braced my arms.
Suddenly Slow-Mo cut out.
The tentacle slammed into my gauntlets—
and froze. Completely still, like time itself stopped.
“…?”
A sharp cracking noise rang out.
A deep fissure spread along the Reflect tentacle—
and it shattered like breaking stone rather than flesh.
“What the—? Something’s off.”
“?”
I expected a scream from the Gold Eater, but it didn’t react at all.
All the tentacles fell limply and stopped moving.
Shaldina and Bid were freed.
“Oh no…”
Anna Kreutzen hurried to Shaldina.
Shaldina was unconscious and half-undressed; her bunny-print underwear showed.
…Why rabbits?
Bid was safe; Mineha helped her stay upright, though she was trembling.
Both safe. Thank goodness.
But what just happened?
The witch walked right up to the Gold Eater’s face—without hesitation.
“Watch out!”
“Hmhm. Just as I thought—this thing is already dead.”
“Dead?”
“Look here. A crack in its eye. The damage from the Reflect tentacle traveled to the core.
Its eye is surprisingly soft, you know.”
A long fissure ran from the shattered tentacle to its face.
“…Ugh, what a nightmare.”
“Are you okay?”
“Somehow. But Wof-kun—what did you do?”
“This gauntlet has a new function: Reflect.”
“That’s incredible but… why did it break?”
“Hmhm. Wof boy, explain.”
Everyone stared at me.
I cleared my throat.
“I hit its Reflect with my Reflect. It attacked me, my gauntlet reflected it, then it reflected that reflection, then my gauntlet reflected that— and the amplified rebound was too much for it.”
“So that’s what happened.”
“Yes.”
The power must have multiplied with each reflection until the Gold Eater couldn’t endure it.
“It just got too strong.”
“…Yeah.”
“I don’t fully get it, but Wof-kun’s gauntlet is amazing.”
“Fufun. I upgraded it myself,”
The witch said proudly, her tails twitching.
“But really, gauntlet gems shouldn’t be that tough…”
The blue gem on my Azure Holy Gauntlet sparkled smugly.
I ignored it.
“Uu… Wof-sama’s is so hard… desu…”
“…!”
Shaldina muttered that faintly in her half-conscious state.
Anna Kreutzen’s face went bright red.
“…”
“……”
“…”
“……”
We all fell silent.
Painfully awkward.
Then Shaldina added:
“Uuu… Wof-sama… something that hard… no good-desu…”
“—!!”
“SHA-L-DI-NA! WAKE UUUUP!!”
I screamed.
Oh, and the swords Bid and Hoss picked up?
They weren’t the target ones.
They’d grabbed whatever was closest when the heap shook.
Even so, both swords glowed green—usable, sellable weapons.
The two yellow swords?
Fortune’s Wheel gave no reaction.
Probably broken when the pile collapsed.
Too bad.