On this chaotic battlefield, both sides were currently caught in the tension of slaughter and desperate escape.
The humans were terrified by Spider's overwhelming power. Their minds were filled with fear and despair, and all they wanted was to escape this horrible place as quickly as possible.
Spider, meanwhile, was venting her anger to her heart's content, launching merciless attacks against the humans who had invaded her territory.
Yet in the middle of all this, a completely unbothered human suddenly appeared, catching both the humans and Spider off guard.
Before anyone could recover from the surprise, however, Spider quickly noticed something suspicious about Ash.
It was a strange food scent.
To Spider, the smell was unbelievably tempting and instantly drew all of her attention.
At the same time, she noticed Ash's hurried attempt to wipe his mouth clean.
Those discoveries caused Spider's already angry mood to erupt completely.
'Y-you, you, you!! You can use space magic, and while I was away, you went out to eat good food without taking me with you? Then what am I? Some poor woman working herself to death supporting the family while raising a useless deadbeat who's lazy, loves eating, and spends all day enjoying himself?'
Spider had already been angry. Now she was even angrier.
Following the smell, she pounced at Ash with all her limbs flailing, as though he were the real intruder.
In the blink of an eye, she landed on him. Her face pressed right against his, all eight eyes fixed on him while she let out endless squeaks.
The sound was especially sharp amid the chaotic battlefield, almost like a harsh accusation directed at Ash.
As for the humans who had barged into her home... She barely cared about them at all.
She had only fought back because they attacked first. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a single living human left at the scene.
The humans were already stunned by what they were seeing.
They had been completely overwhelmed moments ago and thought they would die here today, slaughtered by this terrifying white spider just like their companions.
They never expected such a turn of events.
The appearance of this mysterious young man, Ash, gave them a bit of hope again.
Their expressions were complicated.
Surprise.
Confusion.
And a small amount of expectation.
They hoped this young man could change the situation and give them a chance to escape.
For the moment, they stopped running and watched the interaction between Ash and Spider nervously.
No one dared make a sound.
It felt as though even the smallest movement might trigger another attack from Spider.
"D-don't be so enthusiastic~ I know you're happy that I came back, but don't cling to me this much~"
Being caught sneaking food away had made Ash somewhat nervous.
He tried his best to stay calm.
A forced smile appeared on his face as he pretended nothing had happened.
He even reached out and gently placed a hand on Spider's head, hoping to calm her through a light pat.
But Spider was like an upset wife who had been holding in grievances.
She slapped his hand away and continued squeaking at him nonstop.
"T-this lord...", Ronandt spoke carefully, "Th-this monster lord is your?"
"She's basically mine, though she doesn't listen very well sometimes."
"T-then! Could you please spare—"
"The issue isn't with me. This little thing is usually pretty gentle. You people obviously made her angry, didn't you?"
Although Ash usually considered himself fair and kind, he still gave the group a scrutinizing look.
However, the moment he finished speaking, the old man did something completely unexpected.
With a thud, he dropped to his knees.
"I was wrong! Please forgive me, Monster Lord! We'll pay any compensation you want! Please spare us!"
"Lord Ronandt?"
The shameless action of humanity's strongest mage left the summoner staring in shock.
Even Ash and Spider were caught off guard.
After all, this was the first time either of them had seen someone beg a monster for mercy.
The intruder's sudden and extremely sincere apology caught Ash by surprise.
'It feels like...'
'He surrendered a little too fast.'
'Aren't you supposed to give me some threats first?'
'Then I will teach you a lesson.'
'Or maybe release Spider on you first.'
'Then you will cry and kneel while apologizing and repenting.'
"Hm, what should we do?"
'You can't hit someone who is smiling apologetically.'
'The man also seems genuinely sincere.'
Unable to follow the proper process, Ash unconsciously looked toward Spider again, whose face was still pressed right in front of his.
After all, Spider was the one directly involved.
He felt she should make the decision herself.
Spider, who was also stunned, stared back at him.
'What's wrong with this guy? What exactly did he just say?'
'I can't understand you either, so let's decide in a simple way...'
Ash silently reached into empty space and pulled out a freshly roasted duck.
'You even have a skill like that? Quick! Let me taste it~~! Give it to me! I'll temporarily forgive you!'
The moment she saw the roast duck, such an ordinary food item, Spider's eyes lit up and she immediately lunged forward to bite it.
"Wait a second! I was planning to give this to you anyway, but don't rush."
Ash pressed a hand against her face and forcibly pushed her back.
Ignoring Spider's scythe-waving protests, he used sign language to imitate walking, pointed at the humans on the ground and the roast duck, then grabbed his own neck and tilted his head to indicate killing before pointing at his forehead.
A normal monster definitely wouldn't understand.
Spider, however, instantly pointed at the roast duck without even thinking.
Thus, a somewhat vague deal was reached.
Ash handed over the roast duck to Spider, who immediately began savoring it.
Only then did he turn toward the old man, who had raised his head, while everyone watched in surprise.
"Anyway, hand over money and food."
"Huh? Of course that's possible, b-but we didn't bring much money here, and after wandering around the upper layer for a while, we've almost used up all our supplies..."
"Then teleport back first and bring back money and food. Remember, only you can go first."
Ash felt he was being very generous and offering a pretty good deal.
But Ronandt looked troubled, "This place is a little too far away. My teleportation magic isn't enough to do that without a magic circle as a marker..."
"Is that so? Then... I'll just go with you."
"I-is that so? Right... You can definitely do that..."
After seeing Spider's stats through Appraisal, he had already fallen into despair.
Even admiration.
Then he looked at Ash's status...
He couldn't see anything at all.
Appraisal failed completely.
That wasn't simply beyond ordinary monsters.
In his estimation, it had to be on the level of the Queen Taratect, a mythical existence.
The realization crushed the confidence Ronandt had once carried.
Along with admiration for such an overwhelmingly powerful being, only bitterness remained.
He had finally come to understand that there were very few things humanity could truly accomplish in this world.
The limits of humanity were visible.
As a result, he felt no desire to resist.
Even after using teleportation magic to bring Ash back to the Empire's magical research institute, he didn't dare call anyone to deal with him.
After all, it was already fortunate enough that Ash wasn't hostile to the Empire.
How could he dare do such a thing?
There wasn't even any need to keep hostages.
Ash alone was probably enough to destroy the imperial capital.
———
When Ash returned again, he appeared in front of the spider cave.
Behind him was a mountain of food.
The sight was astonishing.
There were all kinds of foods.
Freshly cooked dishes still giving off steam and delicious aromas.
Juicy roasted meats.
Sweet cakes.
Hot soups.
Each item looked like a work of art carefully prepared by a chef.
There were also preserved foods suitable for long-term storage, carefully packed into bags for future use.
Every bit of the freshly prepared food and stored supplies had been obtained by Ronandt using his authority within the palace.
Besides that, three large chests filled with gold coins sat unnoticed in a corner.
The sight made Spider cheer excitedly.
All eight eyes shone like stars.
She immediately threw herself into the pile of food.
Like a hungry child spotting their favorite candy after a long time.
She dove headfirst into the pile, completely ignoring the artistic presentation many dishes had originally possessed, and started devouring everything as if she had been starving for years.
At that moment, it seemed like the entire world consisted only of the food in front of her.
"Lord Ronandt, t-this is..."
The summoner looked at Ronandt with a strange expression.
Transporting this many items without preparing a destination circle beforehand or having anyone receiving them from afar was unbelievable.
"You..."
"Don't look at me. This isn't something I can do..."
Ronandt stared at Ash, his face filled with obvious admiration.
Ash paid little attention to them.
Seeing Spider so happy, he also revealed a satisfied smile.
Following the agreement made earlier with the humans, he directly teleported all the remaining hostages back to where they belonged.
At that moment, Ronandt suddenly approached him.
The white-haired old man rubbed his dry hands together.
His face was covered with a flattering smile.
Anyone seeing him now would find him ridiculous.
No one would associate him with the title of humanity's strongest mage.
Yet he didn't care about such things at all.
Using a tone bordering on fawning, he said:
"I absolutely won't cause trouble! I can wash clothes, cook meals, do anything! I'll pay whatever money is needed! Just let me follow you and this lord! Let me stay! I'll gladly be a servant or a slave!"
"Wait... what?"
Ash stared at him in disbelief.
During his earlier trip to the imperial capital, he had already learned roughly who this old man was through conversations with others.
In his impression, the strongest people of empires were usually extremely loyal.
Once they accepted a mission, they wouldn't stop until they succeeded.
Even huge differences in strength wouldn't change that.
But this old man... To achieve his goal, he was willing to bend in ways that were almost admirable.
"I have no other intentions. I only wish to serve you and this lord. Following you would be the greatest honor of my life."
Ronandt looked completely sincere.
A near-crazy fire burned in his eyes.
His expression was so earnest that it almost seemed impossible he was lying.
Even though they had only met for the first time.
That gave Ash a headache.
It wasn't that he completely disliked him.
People who knew how to read a situation were actually quite likable.
But in the middle and lower layers of this labyrinth, most monsters were stronger than Ronandt.
Even those weaker than him were usually poisonous.
Despite being the strongest human in the world, Ronandt would barely be able to move around here.
To be honest, bringing him along would only be a burden.
He might even cause more trouble for both Ash and Spider.
"Sorry, but I don't like having old men wash my clothes. Just go back honestly."
As he spoke, Ash directly raised his hand, preparing to teleport him away.
Seeing this, Ronandt hurriedly waved his hands.
His eyes were filled with pleading.
"W-wait! At least tell me who you really are! Why—"
"Just a traveler passing by."
Ash interrupted him without hesitation.
As the last words left his mouth, magic light flashed in his hand.
Ronandt was instantly teleported away, leaving him no chance to continue pestering him.
After dealing with Ronandt, Ash finally turned toward Spider.
Wearing a gentle smile, he lightly patted Spider's head while she continued stuffing herself.
Like an elder soothing a child, he said earnestly, "You're still young. All this food is yours. As for this money, I'll keep it safe for you. When you grow up, I'll return it. If you agree, say squeak. If you don't agree, say you don't agree. What do you think?"
'What are you talking about? Trying to steal my food? Don't even think about it! This is all mine! You selfish food-hogging guy! I haven't completely forgiven you yet! Don't think you're getting any food from me again!'
Spider stopped eating and raised her head.
She looked at Ash with complete caution.
Now that she knew his true nature and knew he had secretly eaten good food without her, she immediately smacked away his hand with her front legs and let out threatening squeaks.
She looked exactly like a cat protecting its food.
However, Ash wasn't upset by her reaction.
On the contrary, seeing Spider's amusing food-guarding behavior made his smile grow even wider.
He lightly patted her hard head again.
Then, while Spider was busy eating, he quietly stored the three large chests of gold inside his storage space.
In truth, he wasn't lacking money.
The monster remains found throughout the underground labyrinth were enough to sell for more money than he could spend.
Still...
Keeping someone else's money safe felt surprisingly nice.
Especially when they didn't know you were keeping it.
———
After those uninvited humans barged into their lives, the two of them ended up with an extremely abundant food supply.
The food was varied and high quality, completely different from before.
At least for Spider, her meals had become much more normal.
She no longer had to run around every day searching for food, eating strange bugs or foul-smelling apes.
Now she could freely enjoy delicious food that actually suited her tastes.
However, despite this seemingly positive change, Spider's attitude toward Ash did not improve.
On the contrary, after discovering he had secretly enjoyed good food by himself, her resentment toward him was considerable.
Several days passed without her speaking to him.
Of course, even if she did talk, Ash couldn't understand her anyway.
But that didn't mean her heart was calm.
Several parallel minds inside her chattered nonstop like a flock of sparrows.
They never stopped muttering behind Ash's back.
More specifically...
They spent their time listing all of his crimes for abandoning her in danger while he went off to enjoy delicious food by himself.
Even though Spider carried plenty of resentment toward Ash, she never relaxed her training.
With abundant food available, she had more energy than ever and trained even harder.
Before long, a new goal appeared in her mind.
Challenge the Earth Dragon.
The Earth Dragon had once looked down on her.
In the past, Spider herself had believed it was an opponent she could never defeat.
But now she had decided to challenge this powerful enemy and move beyond the days when she could only run away.
Ash, meanwhile, acted like an overly worried father watching a child leave home for the first time.
When Spider went to challenge the Earth Dragon, he quietly followed behind.
"Whoa... they're fighting so fiercely. Is this really okay?"
Watching the intense battle from a distance, his eyes were full of concern.
He remained ready to step in at any critical moment.
Spider, however, had her own determination.
When she first noticed Ash following her, she firmly rejected his company.
Although Ash couldn't completely understand what she meant, her nonstop head-shaking and arm-waving clearly told him she didn't want him interfering in the battle.
So now he simply watched from nearby.
The battle was incredibly fierce.
Spider and the Earth Dragon both fought with everything they had.
They exchanged attacks without giving way.
Every strike carried tremendous force.
The air around them hummed from the impact.
The aftermath of the battle kicked up waves of dust, while the enormous three-dimensional crater became engulfed in flames.
Watching from the side, Ash felt several times that Spider was in danger.
More than once, he nearly rushed forward to help.
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