章 14: The Burden
"So it was like this. Considering you had 'abandoned us' for the sake of the party, as your 'Boss,' I'll be magnanimous. I forgive you." Dante said and took a big juicy bite from the ox meat which he was holding with both hands.
The party was currently sitting around a burning pile of bones, having a feast on the short-legged ox. Its delicious meat was becoming their strength as they talked about the fight.
While Dante and Ulfred were in the middle of the fight, Nathaniel had discovered something. The pygmy skeletons ignored him and the blonde girl. They had a few chances for attacking the two but instead went after Dante and Ulfred, as if they didn't see them.
The cave was always dark. It was impossible to see something without a light source. Furthermore, they were skeletons. They didn't have eyes. How could they see?
The monsters of this dungeon were below the tenth level. Therefore, they shouldn't have any mana. Then how did they detect the party?
The answer was simple. Sounds.
After realizing this fact, Nathaniel quietly lied in wait for in hopes to land a fatal attack to the high level skeleton. He wasn't someone who believed odds, so just in case, he waited in the darkness.
Fortunately, he succeeded in landing a critical blow. Otherwise, their adventures would come to an end before it yet to start.
Now the party members were using their lowest voices in their conversations.
"I heard what you said about me, Boss. You hurt my feelings."
"Hmph, you could have told us a few words beforehand."
"No way. Then I might have been the next target. Furthermore, they could even target the blonde here."
When the topic came to the blonde, everyone's gaze turned toward her, causing her to feel a jolt on the surface of her skin.
Dante had an odd expression on his face. He had accidentally knocked her down with a punch before. They didn't even know her name yet.
"Hey, blonde. How did you get into Catacombs? We couldn't pay attention to you in that ruckus. I'm sorry about that."
Dante pretended like he had not punched her before. He didn't even seem like he would mention it in the future.
Blonde, "..."
When she had felt the gazes that fixed on her, her lake-blue pupils started to tremble. She made eye contact with Dante for an instant, and in the next moment, she immediately evaded his gaze.
While giving fidgets, her gaze wandered the surroundings frantically. A while later, she seemed to gather some courage, and her eyes started to focus on Dante's face slowly. She opened her mouth. Her cheeks felt like they had caught fire. She was finally about to say something, but with a squeak, she evaded his gaze again with a flushed red face.
Under the gazes of three males that glued her face, she was continually pinching the ox meat on her hands with her small fingers and sometimes squeezing it firmly. There were two tear droplets at the corner of her wide open eyes.
Two minutes later, her gasping sounds were unusually loud as if she had run at her top speed for an hour.
Yes, she was breathing hard now because she had held her breath in the process of trying to say something.
Dante, 'This cannot be normal! Someone like this girl cannot exist! Something is wrong here!'
"Boss, you made her cry. How can you be so rude to a girl?"
"What did I do? She did this to herself! I did nothing wrong here!"
Dante continued to stare at the girl. However, this time, his brows were furrowed.
The blonde was an amnesiac like any other newcomer. A person could be innately shy. He could understand that. But this blonde... was hopelessly shy. It didn't make any sense.
Actually, was she a shy person? Was she timid, fearful… or incredibly nervous? Dante wasn't sure.
"Alright! I'm calm. Now I'm gonna ask you some questions. If your answer is yes, nod your head. Otherwise, shake it. Did you understand me?"
The blonde nodded dispiritedly.
"You wanted to come with us instead of joining Niles, that's why you had entered the catacombs after us, right?"
She nodded.
Dante didn't ask how because he knew he couldn't get a proper answer. Still, he was a little happy. Her answer meant she had chosen him over Niles.
"Did you gain EXP in the fight?"
She nodded again.
"Interesting. So even if a participant doesn't do anything in a fight, he or she can still earn EXP. We have to do experiments on this subject."
In which circumstances a participant can gain EXP in a fight? This question was important. Furthermore, knowing the labyrinth's rules could make them stronger even faster. It was an essential knowledge.
"Can you fight?" Dante continued.
She neither nodded nor shook her head, instead kept pinching her piece of meat.
She knew what she could do or what she couldn't do. When facing this question, she couldn't shake her head for some reason despite her answer being an obvious no.
"Do you have a name?"
Another nod.
"Can you tell us your name?"
And another nod.
"..."
'Then tell it already!'
"Are you mute?"
She firmly shook her head.
"Are you dumb?"
She shook her head even stronger. There was also a trace of anger on her beet red face.
"Sigh... Then I have to give you a name. Calling you 'girl' or 'blonde' annoys me." Dante's voice became colder.
"From now on, until you can manage to say your own name, I will call you 'burden.'"
The burden's cheeks puffed out, and her eyes have gotten misty. She looked like she was about to burst into tears, just with another word that will come out of Dante's mouth.
"Do not give me that face. A burden is what you are now. You can't fight, you can't even talk. Basically, you are useless." Dante's words were harsh.
"I don't know what your problem is, but you can't go on like this. This world doesn't allow participants like you to live long, and do not expect someone to help you without waiting for anything in return. Only fools would do that."
"We happened to carry you until this point, and I'm not gonna send you away for now. You can tag along until we finished with this dungeon. However, you are all alone after we come out of this place."
"If you truly want to be a part of this party, try to change yourself. Then we'll acknowledge you as one of us. That's all I want to say to you."
Dante's words were undoubtedly the harsh truths. He neither hesitated nor held back his tongue. From Dante's or from another participant's mouth, the blonde had to hear these words. The earlier she heard these words, the better for her.
Naturally, Nathaniel and Ulfred had the same mindset. They didn't cut his speech or didn't reprimand him. They may be a little soft-hearted compared to Dante, but they weren't blind.
The burden was looking miserable now.
She suddenly had found herself in a brutal world. She was aware of herself, but due to her being an amnesiac, she didn't know why she was like this.
She knew she was nothing but a burden to the party. However, even a true burden wouldn't want to own the word burden as a name.
So she had no choice but to squeeze a few words out of her mouth.
"I-I-Iona... Iona is my name... N-not b-burden."
Her voice sounded weak and trembling, but it was still dream-like to the ears.
Dante's eyebrows jumped upwards. He didn't expect her to talk so soon.
In fact, he didn't want to accept this weirdo as a fellow party member.
He sighed from the inside, 'I hope the weirdos around me won't increase in numbers in the future. I'm already surrounded by them.'
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