Hourglass

A few days later, Raellan informed us that all preparations were complete. We, who had already finished all preparations and were waiting, gathered straight at the plaza in front of the Imperial Palace as soon as we received the message.

Yunis, who no longer challenges the labyrinth, said she would look for things she could do to help us from the outside. After asking me several questions, she left with Amber for the city of Dirot, where the Arcadia Academy is located. It was to find the hidden gem I mentioned before.

As I waited quietly in the corner, many people glanced at us furtively. I had erased over 100 names from the kill list while waiting to re-enter the 4th floor, so it seems I’m attracting more attention than usual because of that. Or maybe it’s just amazing to see a murderer standing proudly in front of the Imperial Palace.

Finally, Raellan approached with what appeared to be a group of people. Those who followed behind didn’t seem to have reached the realm of transcendence, but the one matching shoulders with Raellan was clearly not an easy opponent.

The rescue team were all wearing masks, but Raellan didn’t wear a mask this time. He had planned it in advance to show everyone that he was with the Lily. There was also the reason that if everyone was wearing masks, those helping us might become more wary.

“These are our lords that you must protect on the 4th floor.”

At Raellan’s words, a woman wearing a fancy dress extended her hand, adorned with many rings, towards me.

“I’m Valentine, the flamboyant Master of the Scarlet Magic Tower. It’s a pleasure to meet you like this, Lily.”

Just in case, I put magic power in my hand and shook hers. As expected, flames briefly erupted from our clasped hands, leaving only smoke before disappearing. A wizard with a full beard, who was on the opposite side of Valentine, introduced himself.

“I am Colton of the Azure Magic Tower. I will assist you on the 4th floor under the Magic Tower Master’s orders.”

As I nodded, a silent-looking, giant man in full-body armor, who had been following behind Raellan, glared at me and said.

“I’m Derock, the Guild Master of the Adventurer’s Guild. Behind me are executives who follow me and mercenaries hired under contract.”

Derock, pushing Colton’s shoulder and stepping forward, looked down at me and said.

“We will definitely keep our contract, so you must also keep yours.”

I don’t know what the contract is, but Raellan will take care of it. Instead of answering, I extended my hand and shook Derock’s. Surprisingly, he didn’t do anything childish like squeezing my hand. Still, he lives up to his size.

“Alright, everyone, hold out the bracelets you’re wearing. I’ll infuse them with magic power.”

While Raellan was putting magic power into each of their bracelets so that everyone would start from the same place, Valentine, with her red eyes gleaming, slipped next to me.

“Is the 4th floor really just a place where we have to block the monsters that are rushing in?”

At Valentine’s voice, which seemed to be probing me, I deliberately asked in a low voice.

“Are you doubting me?”

“Of course. As far as I know, there have been people who have gone to the 4th floor, but no one has come out yet. Unless you have a way to communicate with the people who went up to the 4th floor, there’s no way to know the information about the 4th floor.”

It’s a valid suspicion. But there was no need to reveal the truth.

“It’s information obtained from the best information guild. It’s absolutely correct.”

After I made up a plausible excuse, Valentine gave me a seductive smile, as if she understood.

“…I heard you fought with the Guild Master of Modest, but they’re still a client, I see.”

I had forgotten. It was rumored among the people that Estelle and I had fought and split up. Still, I didn’t show any signs of embarrassment and answered.

“Didn’t you know? The Guild Master has changed.”

“…Huh?”

Valentine, who had been flustered, suddenly narrowed her eyes and looked at me.

“Could it be… did you change the Guild Master?”

Since it was a misunderstanding that was good for explaining the situation, I didn’t say anything. She must be the type of person who thinks silence is agreement, because she was nodding her head on her own, so it seems she misunderstood as I intended.

Raellan finished filling everyone’s bracelets with magic power and said as he filled my bracelet last.

“The other Magic Tower bastards are too slow and are still on the 3rd floor, so they can’t help us. At least, I gathered those who can enter the 4th floor.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“The real hardship starts now.”

Raellan turned around, clapped his hands, and focused everyone’s attention.

“We’re entering now. You’ve already heard the explanation of what the 4th floor is like, so you know. If you stick together, you live, and if you scatter, you die. I’m going to kill or kick out anyone who acts individually, thinking they’re unnecessary. Everyone, act accordingly.”

***

[You have re-entered the labyrinth.]

[You are currently on the 4th floor.]

No sooner had the dark labyrinth walls come into view than Ellie waved her staff, creating a giant sphere that emitted light. The sphere, which floated into the ceiling-less sky, brightly illuminated the surroundings.

“It really has the same structure as the 1st floor.”

Valentine exclaimed and stuck close to me. Somehow, that action was a bit burdensome. It was partly because she was wearing a revealing dress, but it seemed like her chest kept touching my arm intentionally.

What was important now wasn’t her chest. Suddenly, the floor began to flash orange.

“The shining part of the floor is the area we have to protect. When a monster wandering the labyrinth enters the area, an hourglass will appear above its head. If you don’t clear out the monsters in the area by the time the hourglass is completely empty, your head will explode.”

The adventurers were buzzing, as if they hadn’t heard the explanation that their heads would explode. Raellan waved his staff, silencing the commotion with a dazzling light, and said.

“Anyway, if you can’t kill the monsters that enter the area before that, you’re going to die, so there won’t be any idiots worrying about their heads exploding later, right?”

The buzzing disappeared at Raellan’s harsh words. Still, they’re skilled people who have climbed up to the 4th floor. They roughly grasped what they had to do on the 4th floor.

“First, everyone, follow the labyrinth walls to check the end of the area and come back. It would be good to figure out how many paths the monsters can invade from and come up with countermeasures.”

The strategist Raellan skillfully gave orders. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to agree that it was right for one person to give orders. Despite their high positions as Magic Tower Masters and Guild Masters, they immediately acted on Raellan’s words. It was partly because they had a weakness, but surviving in the labyrinth was the most important thing, so they were showing unity.

“I’ve floated familiars above each of your heads. The familiar will record the path on its own, so just go to the end and come back here.”

As Raellan said, a somewhat mean-looking, opaque owl flapped its wings above my head. It was emitting a bit of light, so it seemed like it could act as a light even without Ellie’s sphere.

I first headed to the nearest end of the area along the wall with Lamine, who was nearby. Fortunately, there were no forks in the road in the middle. The place we arrived at was full of traces that seemed to be the corpses of monsters. It wasn’t that the area overlapped with someone who had entered the 4th floor first, but looking at the torn traces of the corpses, it seemed like monsters had killed monsters.

“Can we set up a barricade?”

At Lamine’s question, I nodded. When I wrote the story about the 4th floor of the labyrinth, I wrote it thinking of the tower defense games I enjoyed at the time. Of course, there are also ignorant monsters that destroy the barricades blocking their path, but most of them will judge that the path is blocked and detour to another path.

“If we block the path with magic, we can lure them to the other side.”

“But we have too many people right now. Considering the special environment of the labyrinth, the maximum number of people who can fight on one path is two.”

“Raellan probably knows that too. He’s going to have two people paired up to be in charge of each area, and block the other places. That’s because it’s efficient.”

Lamine nodded, then glanced back and whispered to me.

“Do you happen to know that Ellie met His Majesty?”

“…Ellie, you say?”

It was the first time I was hearing this. Of course, Ellie had no obligation to explain to me who she was meeting… but the fact that she met Bella, who she doesn’t usually get along with, somehow made me feel uneasy.

“It seemed like she came after getting some advice from Yunis… I don’t know the details either. That’s why I asked you. But, you don’t seem to know either.”

“I’m hearing this for the first time too.”

“…It probably isn’t a bad thing. That kid likes you a lot. You don’t have to worry for no reason.”

Thinking belatedly that she was talking behind Ellie’s back in a place where she wasn’t, I turned around without a word at Lamine’s attempt to smooth things over. When I returned to the place where we had been with Lamine, Raellan was drawing a simple map in the air using magic.

Raellan, having completed the map, carefully examined it and gave us orders.

“Block the forks with barricades. It’s impossible and inefficient to completely prevent monsters from entering the area. If we time it right, it’s okay to allow some monsters to invade. We’ll block this fork from behind and then combine our strength to drive them out all at once.”

Everyone nodded without much complaint at Raellan’s explanation. Having memorized even the names and abilities of the adventurers, Raellan skillfully matched combinations and assigned two people to each area.

“Lily, who isn’t restricted by space, will play the role of providing long-range support to places that need help from behind. Unlike magic, there’s no need to move your body, so it will definitely be a big help. If you don’t want your head to explode, don’t be proud and shout for help to the familiar above your head right away. Then Lily will gladly help.”

Raellan raised his staff.

“Remember that our goal is survival.”

No sooner had those words ended than hourglasses floated above our heads.