It was plain for anyone to see that Vampire Eudite was dead.
Her torso remained seated in its chair, but her neck ended abruptly. Her head, crushed into a pulp, lay on the floor nearby.
It was a truly gruesome way to die.
I’d been so focused on following proper etiquette—keeping my head down and avoiding eye contact when addressing her—that I was slow to realize she was already gone.
"Someone... someone killed her, right?"
Ageha spoke as she stared at the corpse. She wore a grimace, as if she had just seen something she wished she hadn't. No one would want to look at a body that had been so brutally murdered.
"Looks that way."
It was difficult to imagine a common dungeon monster killing her. Part of the reason was that Vampire Eudite was stronger than any beast, but the wound on her neck was also far too clean.
It was a cross-section that looked as if it had been sliced by a single, sharp stroke of a blade.
Furthermore, considering her torso was still upright in the chair, there was a high probability that Eudite hadn't even noticed the enemy's presence until the very last moment. To be able to do such a thing, the attacker had to be someone other than a monster—someone with a will of their own.
And it had to be someone with enough power to kill a True Ancestor effortlessly.
Just who could it be?
I searched for an answer, but I couldn't come up with a single lead regarding the culprit.
First, it couldn't have been Ageha, since she had been with me the entire time. Parasitic Sword: Puppeteer had turned into a massive beast; if a creature of that size had approached, Eudite would have noticed it instantly. Even if she had been destined to lose, she would have at least been killed while standing and fighting.
Was there anyone else in this place capable of rivaling her? I had explored this dungeon many times, but I had no memory of such a powerful entity.
"Hey, Kiska. What are we going to do now?" Ageha asked anxiously.
"Right. For now, let's focus on getting out of the dungeon."
Now that I knew I couldn't rely on Vampire Eudite, we had no choice but to escape on our own. Finding a way to return Puppeteer to her human form would likely be more efficient once we were back on the surface anyway.
My major concern was the possibility that the person who killed Eudite might come after us next. The fact that I didn't understand their motive was the most frightening part. If they were a thrill-killer, they might target us for no reason at all.
Whoever they were, they had killed a True Ancestor without a struggle. They had to be terrifyingly strong. If we were forced into a confrontation, we would undoubtedly be killed.
◆
From that point on, Ageha and I worked in silence to strengthen ourselves for the escape.
First, I visited a hidden room to obtain a Crystal of Wisdom, allowing me to acquire the Swordsmanship skill. Then, I made use of a hidden room guarded by Golden Living Armor, which provided a massive amount of skill points.
Though I lacked the help of Parasitic Sword: Puppeteer, who had been my primary support until now, the greatsword I'd borrowed from Ageha was surprisingly easy to use. I was able to clear the room of Golden Living Armor without any issues.
"Um, Kiska. I have a request. Is that okay?"
"A request? What is it?"
"I want to fight alongside you!" Ageha asserted.
I suppose she felt bad that I had been doing all the fighting while she watched.
"I see. Then shall we fight together?"
"Wait, really? You're okay with it!?" She looked shocked, as if she hadn't expected me to agree so easily.
"Why are you so surprised?"
"Because I thought you'd tell me no."
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have let a girl fight, but her true identity was the Hero. She was already far more powerful than I was. If Ageha was willing to contribute, it would be an incredible asset.
"In that case, we'll start your training immediately."
"Okay! I understand!" she replied with an energetic nod.
◆
"Look, Kiska! I did it! I beat it!"
Ageha rejoiced in front of the monster she had just slain. I watched her with genuine admiration. Even though she had lost her memories, it seemed her body instinctively remembered how to fight. She was subjugating monsters without a hint of struggle.
True to her nature as the Hero, her movements were far more refined and efficient than my own.
"Hey, Kiska. Praise me!"
"Good girl, good girl."
As I patted her head, her expression softened into a look of pure bliss.
By then, I had returned the greatsword to Ageha for her own use. In its place, I was using a one-handed sword I had looted from a Golden Living Armor.
"Alright, let's keep moving forward at this pace."
"Yeah!"
With her fighting by my side, our combat power had effectively doubled. My relationship with Ageha was going perfectly well, and at this rate, we might even be able to defeat the dungeon boss.
That was the naive way I was thinking at the time.