If you don't want to just drift through life, you have to go through time.

"Frilian, sit up straight!"

"...Yes, I'm sorry."

In a relatively spacious room in the dungeon, Truman ordered Frillian to sit upright. His demonic appearance was far more frightening than the gloomy and terrifying dungeon itself.

Frillie looked pitiful.

Truman was even more furious upon seeing this, shouting, "You bastard! You swore you had a method for exploring the dungeon and told us to follow you. We've only been here for less than an hour, and you're already saying you're lost? Are you kidding me?!"

He shouldn't have trusted Frillie.

Thinking back to how Frilian acted like a seasoned veteran, ready to show me around, before we entered the dungeon, I really wanted to slap her.

Where does this confidence come from?

Is it Sally Yeh?

Frillie's fingers touched back and forth.

"It's not entirely my fault. I was using the methods you taught me, Truman, such as the right-hand rule, breadth-first search, and depth-first search... It's all Truman's fault for not teaching me properly that I got lost."

"Is it my fault!?"

Truman almost laughed out of anger at her.

Regardless of whether I taught Frillian this twisted logic, even if I did, it's just game theory, and applying it in real life would be utterly idiotic!

"Please don't be angry, Mr. Truman."

Instead, Philon stood beside Frilian, protecting her from behind, like a mother protecting a child who had made a mistake.

"Now we need to figure out how to explore the maze, or at least find a way out."

"Indeed... Alright! You're the one I choose, little golem!"

Truman summoned the little golem.

Philon asked, somewhat puzzled, "What are you planning to do? Are you using the little golem to find the right path?"

"No, that would be too time-consuming." Truman crossed his arms and said confidently, "Philan, let me teach you another lesson today. As the saying goes, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line!"

"What do you mean?"

"It means—"

With a loud bang, the little golem spun rapidly like a top, breaking through the underground city wall and revealing the path behind it.

"If you hit a wall, smash it down hard and find the right path! Up or down, there has to be one! That's it! Spin, little golem!"

Truman and the little golem ran out in a flurry.

"How could this be...?"

Philon was dumbfounded. Watching Truman's retreating figure, she murmured softly, "Shouldn't we be using the map now to find the right path and get out quickly? Why...?"

"It's probably because of you, Philon," Frilian said, patting her slightly dirty clothes as she stood up.

"Because of me?"

"Philan, isn't this your first time exploring a dungeon? As I just mentioned, this is an opportunity for you to gain experience. Perhaps that's why Truman used this method."

"So, Lady Frilian said she got lost, also so I could gain experience?"

"…………Um!"

That's absolutely not true!

Although Philon knew that Frillie was lying, she didn't call her out on it to avoid making the atmosphere awkward.

After seeing the wall that Truman had destroyed, the two followed the hole and chased after him.

That's when I realized it.

This underground city is very large.

The part buried underground is much larger than the temple appears from the outside, and is unexpectedly intricate.

If they hadn't forcibly broken through the wall, they wouldn't have known that all the passages in the underground city were quite similar, even deliberately creating the illusion that they had been there before, causing them to doubt themselves, lose their way, and never be able to get out.

Truman's approach was too unrestrained.

But just like a piece of paper folded several times to try to confuse adventurers, Truman pierced through the paper in one go, jumping out of the two-dimensional perspective and changing the angle so that they could better understand their location and direction.

The two quickly caught up with Truman.

They rushed straight ahead.

They did encounter monsters along the way, but with the combined efforts of the three, no monster could stop them, and the hidden traps were safely avoided with the help of the little golem.

Since there was no sun or watch, it was impossible to know the exact time, but based on my own feeling, it was at least 5 or 6 hours.

There weren't many battles.

Most of the time was spent traveling.

But the result was good; they finally reached the deepest part of the maze, where a large, heavy, ancient gate, about 10 meters high and adorned with mysterious patterns, appeared before them.

"Hmm, the BOSS's room..."

"It seems that the lord's quarters being guarded is indeed the correct one."

"Lady Frilian, the way you've been so eager to try this since just now is not like you at all."

The three of them sat cross-legged on the ground.

They gathered together for a strategic meeting.

"We've reached the deepest point. Turning back now is impossible; we should at least give it a try... So, I'll hold off the BOSS, while Frilian and Philon attack from both sides, okay?"

"yes!"

"Leave it to me."

Although it's obvious, I still have to say that this is probably the most reasonable allocation.

With the golems around, Truman could hold them off for at least a minute. A minute might be short for others, but it would be enough for Frillie and Philon, and he trusted them.

"Okay, then—"

Truman and the little golem each took one side and forcefully pushed open the door to the BOSS room.

"—The monster has been activated!!"

Upon entering the room, the first thing they heard was the monster's roar, deafening and causing the floor to tremble violently.

The three of them covered their ears and looked closely.

It turned out to be a gigantic minotaur. Standing about 5 meters tall, it had enormous bull horns on its head and wielded a worn-out axe. It wasn't wearing armor, but it did have a breastplate. The aura it exuded caused everyone to involuntarily frown; it was undoubtedly a formidable foe. Moreover, it was a warrior-type, making it a troublesome opponent.

"The Minotaur?"

"What is that?"

"A monster that has appeared in mythology, and it is also an indispensable part of various anime and novels."

"Truman, Philonise. What I'm saying is, this monster's name isn't Minotaur, but that doesn't matter anymore. What we need to do now is figure out a way to defeat it!"

Frilian floated in the air, creating distance between them.

Philen followed closely behind.

Truman looked at the BOSS, who was panting heavily and had red eyes because someone had trespassed on his territory, and couldn't help but twitch his lips. It didn't seem right for him to trespass on someone else's property.

but--

"The Minotaur must die!!"

With a wave of his hand, the little golem immediately started spinning rapidly like a top, then bounced high into the air and crashed into the minotaur.

"Hooray————"

The little golem was too fast, and the minotaur was too clumsy, making it impossible for him to defend effectively. However, thanks to his thick skin, even after being hit dozens of times by the little golem, he remained energetic and could even roar and retaliate from time to time.

However, it didn't work.

Truman was able to effectively restrain him with just the little golem, not to mention that he now wields a magic wand and can cast spells.

However, that was not his job.

"Serious Magic Attack!"

With Philon's soft shout, a faintly discernible beam of magical light descended from the sky, piercing through the minotaur and creating a deep crater in the ground.

The minotaur roared in resentment, but could only turn into ashes and vanish completely.

Isn't this pretty easy?