16. Nobles’ Perspective on Revival

Outside, it was late afternoon.

The sky just before sunset.

The air was cool, and the breeze blowing through seemed to announce that this place was no longer the labyrinth.

The victims of the Cataclysm who had gathered outside the labyrinth had also been mostly dealt with by now.

The injured must have been moved to relief stations.

And the corpses-they would have been sent to the Church.

Most of the adventurers who had collapsed in despair at the labyrinth’s entrance had also disappeared by now.

They must have either gone to the guild or re-entered the labyrinth.

‘Judging by the lack of pain in my body…’

It didn’t seem like I had undergone Maso adaptation.

Since Rohan and Hachi had taken down most of the monsters, aside from the few I’d killed on the 4th floor, there hadn’t been much opportunity to gain experience.

“Ugh…! Agh…!”

Just then, Erika, who had been standing beside me, clutched her chest and doubled over.

“I-It hurts… It hurts… My body… Ugh…!”

“Erika, it’s just Maso adaptation. Don’t panic-everyone goes through it. Calm down.”

“Ah… Ugh… Okay…”

Since I’d expected this, I was able to quickly grab her shoulders and steady her as she convulsed.

Even if you’re aware of what Maso adaptation entails, experiencing it firsthand is a different matter entirely.

Especially for those who had barely escaped death-some people still suffered seizures even after leaving the labyrinth, overwhelmed by the lingering uncertainty.

In such cases, it was best to reassure them quickly.

Hearing someone say it’s nothing serious surprisingly helps ease the mind.

Come to think of it, the young lady had also been startled and flustered back then.

I wondered how Rien had handled it.

“Rien, were you not too shocked by your first Maso adaptation?”

“Me…? Well, I… was startled, but I didn’t have time to panic…”

As expected of a mage-type class where meditation was part of daily life.

Her mental fortitude was on par with a monk’s.

Rien had woken up alone in the underground tomb, chased by the undead, before being rescued.

She’d even mentioned having her arm slashed by a skeleton back then.

Right after escaping, she underwent Maso adaptation, gained an ability, and immediately re-entered the labyrinth-all to save me and the young lady.

And after rescuing us, she immediately plunged into saving Rika and Erika.

That wasn’t just any ordinary mental strength.

Though she’d nearly broken down at one point, the single thought of having to save her comrades had pushed her into a semi-awakened state.

Honestly, while Rien herself was utterly sick of the labyrinth, her talent was overwhelming.

The fact that she’d survived being thrown into the labyrinth-meant to kill her-time and time again was proof enough.

She was a natural fit for the labyrinth.

“Ugh… I’m starting to feel it too…”

Rien seemed to be undergoing Maso adaptation as well.

Given that she’d descended to the 4th floor at Level 1 and wandered around, she must have gained quite a bit of experience.

As for me, Rohan, and Hachi-there were no changes.

Even though Rohan and Hachi had taken down the 4th-floor boss together, they didn’t undergo Maso adaptation.

It must mean they’d reached a point where monsters from the upper floors could no longer trigger adaptation.

“Agh…! Agh…!”

Erika, who had been undergoing Maso adaptation, suddenly clutched her head.

A headache-this meant she had gained an ability.

“Congratulations, Erika.”

“S-Something just… entered my head.”

“You’ve gained an ability.”

“Lucky you.”

“An ability on your first labyrinth dive. That’s some luck.”

Hachi and Rohan, who had been watching from the side, chimed in as well.

Gaining an ability on your first dive was a stroke of luck.

Not everyone got one right away.

Just look at the young lady.

Though it had been her first dive too, she hadn’t gained an ability back then.

I, for one, underwent Maso adaptation quite late.

Since I’d entered as a porter, I’d rarely had to fight monsters.

In any case, Rien and Erika-both of whom had gained abilities on their first dive-were exceptionally fortunate.

“Hey there! Survivors?!”

The guards stationed at the labyrinth entrance came running toward us.

“If anyone’s injured, we can provide emergency treatment here.”

“If mobility is an issue, we can call an escort team to take you to the relief station.”

An older-looking guard and a rookie approached, asking if we had any injured.

‘I’m fine for now, but Rien and Erika…’

Rien still had an unhealed wound on her arm.

Though we’d applied medicine and wrapped it in bandages, blood was still seeping through.

She’d need proper holy prayers or something.

As for Erika, while she didn’t seem physically injured, she was mentally exhausted.

She seemed better now, but she definitely needed rest.

“I think I should head to the relief station.”

“Same here.”

“Then let’s all go together.”

Rohan and Hachi were pretty badly injured.

They’d both pushed themselves too hard in battle.

Especially Rohan, who had been at the frontlines-his condition didn’t look good.

“Since no one seems to have mobility issues, we’ll return to our posts.”

“Thanks.”

The guards, seeing no one who needed immediate assistance, returned to their original positions.

For now, there were roughly three things we needed to do.

First, escort Rien and Erika to the relief station.

Second, find the young lady’s lodging and inform her of the situation.

Third, take Rika’s body to the cathedral with the young lady.

Beyond that, we’d also need to report Cataclysm-related information to the Adventurer’s Guild and hand over the bodies of the adventurers we’d recovered from the labyrinth.

We’d also have to discuss with Rohan when and where to meet before heading into the underground city tomorrow, and we’d need to turn in the monster corpses we’d collected in the labyrinth to the guild.

Lastly, I’d have to collect the reward for completing this request from the young lady.

‘Busy, busy.’

Procrastinating wasn’t a good idea.

It was better to handle everything I could in one go.

“Let’s head to the relief station first.”

As we moved toward the relief station, I asked Rohan when we’d be entering the underground city.

In exchange for helping with this rescue mission, I’d agreed to accompany them into the underground city.

“Originally, I planned to go in tomorrow, but I’ve changed my mind. Just Hachi and me entering the underground city would be insane.”

“Right.”

Obviously.

Surely he hadn’t actually thought the three of us could handle it alone?

We’d obviously need to recruit more allies.

“Let’s take tomorrow to prepare. We’ll gather more people to join us. We should go in fully equipped.”

“Sounds good. I’ll post a recruitment notice at the guild later.”

“You’ll handle it yourself?”

“Yeah. If I mention we have a porter with an extradimensional pouch… we’ll probably get quite a few applicants. There must be others besides you, Rohan, who want to retrieve comrades they left behind.”

“True…”

Some time had passed since the Cataclysm had swept through the labyrinth city.

Adventurers who’d regained their senses would start diving again.

For various reasons.

Some to find their fallen comrades.

Others to take advantage of the labyrinth’s post-Cataclysm renewal.

Though, admittedly, more people would probably leave the labyrinth city than return to the labyrinth.

A gap would form among mid-tier and rookie adventurers, excluding the high-rankers.

Without new recruits, the city’s economy would stagnate for a while.

The absence of mid-tier and rookie adventurers-for those who had no intention of leaving the labyrinth city, this was practically a golden opportunity to make a fortune.

Anyway, back to recruitment…

‘Rohan and Hachi are strong, reliable allies, sure. But the darkness of the underground city is too thick for just two vanguards to handle.’

I didn’t count as combat personnel.

My role was purely support-I couldn’t be considered a fighter.

So, we’d need at least two more rearguards and a priest on the team.

That way, we’d have a stable enough formation to explore the underground city.

“Forming a proper conquest team might be a good idea. Since I have an extradimensional pouch, supplies won’t be an issue.”

No matter how many people joined, I could carry enough supplies to sustain them.

So, assembling an official conquest team would likely increase our survival rate.

“A conquest team would definitely be more stable. But we’ll discuss that further at the guild tomorrow. Forming a team isn’t something we can decide on our own. The scale is too large.”

Rohan was right.

In a way, a conquest team was akin to a ‘private army.’

An armed force stronger than the city guard.

If adventurers formed conquest teams at will, the city’s higher-ups wouldn’t take kindly to it.

‘If we formed a labyrinth conquest team without involving the Adventurer’s Guild, we’d definitely face sanctions or suppression. Not to mention, we don’t even have the funds for such a large-scale operation.’

From the perspective of those running the city, the emergence of a superhuman group with abilities was a disaster in itself.

They might even label it a rebellion, drag a few people in for torture, and behead them.

The mere thought was terrifying.

And at that scale, it’d be better to either receive guild support or join a guild-formed conquest team.

“Right. We’ll discuss that at the guild tomorrow. And we’ll handle the White Crocodile’s corpse then too.”

“Good.”

As we coordinated our plans, we soon arrived at the relief station.

Rohan and Hachi were taken to intensive care, while Rien and Erika went to the examination room.

“I’ll go report to the young lady first. Get treated and rest up.”

“Mm… Thanks, porter.”

“Thank you for saving us.”

Leaving the two at the relief station, I headed straight for the young lady’s lodging.

She must have been waiting desperately for news of us.

She was probably beside herself with worry.

It was best to deliver the news quickly.

…And I had to tell her about Rika, too.

“Fancy inn.”

Being nobility, she must have been staying at a rather expensive place.

The neighborhood itself was one where the well-off resided.

Then again, for an all-female team, it made sense to stay somewhere secure.

It wasn’t like they were short on funds.

“What brings you here?”

The inn’s receptionist eyed me sharply.

I was in a rather disheveled state.

Covered in blood and dirt, so to speak.

An outsider barging in like this-of course they’d be wary.

“I’m here to see the young lady. Here, this.”

I showed the seal of the Lionell family, which the young lady had given me as proof of our contract.

The receptionist’s expression changed immediately.

They must have already heard something about me from the young lady.

“Ah! You’re the young lady’s porter?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll inform her right away. Please wait in the first-floor reception room.”

“Sure.”

I was led to the first-floor reception room.

This was my first time in a high-class inn.

Honestly, the money spent staying at a place like this would be better used on survival supplies.

I wasn’t some highborn noble’s child, after all. A porter just needed a decent place to eat and sleep.

“Oh, they serve coffee too.”

While waiting, they offered complimentary coffee and cookies to pass the time.

As I was stuffing free sugar cubes and cookies into my inventory, the young lady soon entered the reception room.

“Porter! You’re safe!”

“Yeah. I’m exhausted, but I’m fine.”

“Thank goodness… I was so worried when you didn’t come back…”

The moment she saw me, the young lady rushed over and hugged me.

Ah, I must reek right now.

A mix of sweat and blood-it should’ve been unpleasant, but the young lady didn’t seem to mind as she hugged me tightly, overjoyed.

Her way of expressing herself was rather rough.

She must have been that happy to see me.

Surely, there were no other feelings involved.

“But where are the others? D-Don’t tell me…”

Pulling away and sitting across from me, the young lady finally noticed the absence of the others.

“Rien and Erika are safe. They’re probably receiving treatment at the relief station now.”

“Whew… That’s a relief… Huh? Just Rien and Erika? What about Rika…?”

“That’s what I came to tell you.”

The young lady’s expression darkened visibly.

She seemed to have sensed what I was about to say.

“Rika died on the 4th floor of the upper-level sewer section in the labyrinth.”

“…Ah.”

Upon hearing the news of Rika’s death, the young lady covered her face and bowed her head deeply.

A storm of emotions must have swept over her.

Rika hadn’t entered the labyrinth of her own will.

She’d only gone along with the young lady’s stubbornness and paid the price.

Of course, she could be resurrected through the Art of Resurrection.

She’d live again.

But.

From a ‘noble’s perspective’-that is, the young lady’s perspective-it would be as if she had socially died.

In noble society, resurrection was synonymous with the corruption of the soul.

In the labyrinth city, resurrection was something anyone could achieve with enough money.

But outside the labyrinth city, resurrection was seen as forcibly dragging the dead back, defiling them.

Especially among conservative, rigid noble circles, resurrection was even harder to accept.

And the reason for this negative perception of resurrection could be understood just by looking at the struggles for titles among noble children or the throne among royalty.

After all, if a political rival you’d painstakingly assassinated through schemes just came back to life, it’d be a problem.

It was a way of saying that those who couldn’t even protect themselves in life should just stay dead.

Once it became public knowledge that someone had been resurrected, they’d lose any chance of making political statements again.

The implicit message was: if you don’t want that, then don’t die in the first place.

Moreover, if resurrection were widely accepted, the influence of the Holy Kingdom and the Church would grow too powerful.

This was why both the royalist and noble factions in the kingdom vehemently opposed resurrection.

If the Church’s power grew too much, it’d just be a headache for everyone. It felt like they were all keeping each other in check.

Of course, the labyrinth city, where various factions’ interests were tangled, didn’t care at all about the opinions of external nobles and freely used the Art of Resurrection.

In any case, as a knight, Rika might never be able to return to her family-let alone find a husband-if she were resurrected.

If Rika’s family was an honorable knightly house and particularly conservative, it’d be safe to assume her identity would be tied to the labyrinth city forever.

“Rika… is dead.”

“Her body is intact enough to be resurrected. What would you like to do, young lady?”

“I…”

The young lady would want to bring Rika back.

But Rika herself might not want to be resurrected.

“I’ll have her resurrected. I’ll handle the aftermath.”

“Understood. Then let’s head to the cathedral.”

“Mm… Hey, porter, aren’t you tired? Are you sure you can keep running around?”

“I prefer finishing all my tasks before resting peacefully.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

I accompanied the young lady to the cathedral.

I’d confirm Rika’s resurrection, then head back to my lodgings and pass out.