29. Run, Rat

“I’ll take the corpses and run to the location with the transfer stone. Everyone else, head to the building with the transfer stone first, kill Hati’s group, and wait for me.”

“No, you crazy bastard! How the hell are you going to break through a horde of High Orcs alone?!”

“With this. I’ll break through with this.”

Calming down Yuria, who seemed agitated, I pulled out a glass bottle.

A potion I got for free from Rafnel’s Atelier.

“If I drink this, I’ll turn into a rat for about an hour. My intelligence stays intact, apparently. I’ll drink this, sneak into the building where the corpses are hidden, collect everything into the spatial pouch, then run to the transfer stone. It’ll work.”

“Hey, Shion. No. That’s too dangerous.”

Rohan shook his head in refusal when I said I’d charge into the orc horde alone.

From his perspective, he had every reason to feel guilty.

He came in to retrieve corpses but ended up with a concussion, while I was the one lifting logs.

But I was fine with it.

When we rescued Rika and Erika, Rohan carried the logs for me plenty.

This was just mutual aid.

“Does that kind of drug even exist in the first place?”

Hachi, who had been listening to my plan, asked skeptically.

He didn’t seem to easily believe in the existence of a potion that turned you into a rat.

“It might… exist…”

“Is that true, Horaru?”

“Yeah. It’s possible if you use a secret art only the highest-ranking druids who’ve mastered alchemy can perform.”

The highest-ranking druids, huh.

So Rafnel was a druid who practiced alchemy?

“But Shion. Who made that potion?”

“An elf who lives in the eastern red-light district of the labyrinth city.”

“Red-light district?”

“A prostitute from the brothels made something like this?”

“No, how would a brothel worker… Wait, for semen collection? Or is she some alchemist freak obsessed with men?”

“Shion, you go to places like that?”

“No! That’s not it. There’s a hole-in-the-wall shop in the neighborhood where the brothels are.”

“A hole…?”

“Not that kind of hole! And Yuria, I don’t go to those places, so don’t get the wrong idea.”

“Really? Should I believe you…?”

Yuria let out a sigh of relief.

I corrected her before she could get any weird misunderstandings.

“An elf. Hmm. Must be an elderly one. Truly, you’ve met a remarkable person.”

While the others were busy with their weird assumptions, Horaru just marveled at the potion in my hand.

Then Rohan, who had been silently listening, spoke up again.

“Don’t you think we’re burdening you with too much?”

He seemed to be feeling something akin to guilt.

I waved it off.

“If you really feel bad, just give me three of the Hati corpses you caught.”

“Huh?”

“That should be enough compensation for turning into a rat.”

“Is that so? Hahahaha! Fine. I’ll transfer all the rights to the monsters I’ve caught in this labyrinth run to you.”

Rohan laughed heartily.

“W-wait. I’m not swept up in the mood to donate my share. Make sure you calculate properly.”

“Yep. Of course.”

Louis quickly secured his own share, worried that everyone might get carried away and donate money to me.

Yeah, this is how adventurers should be.

Rohan’s just overly generous.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

Before drinking the rat transformation potion, I downed two stamina tonics at once.

I knew it was insane, but I had no choice.

I couldn’t stop or collapse midway.

I had to stay conscious until the party picked me up.

“Sigh. I might pass out, so… take care of me then.”

“Sorry for entrusting you with such a heavy task.”

“It’s fine. Thanks to you, Rohan, I was able to rescue Erika and Rika too. And anyway, the reward for this job will come from the lady. Don’t worry too much.”

The lady said she’d pay me for my life, after all.

Once we got out, I’d get the money and immediately buy a slave-

“Be careful, Shion.”

“Huh? Yeah. Got it. I’ll be back.”

Lost in thoughts of buying a slave, Yuria suddenly grabbed my hand.

This girl’s been getting more touchy since we entered the labyrinth.

She’s been openly expressing her feelings toward me.

Making her affection impossible to ignore.

Honestly, it was a little overwhelming.

Not that I disliked Yuria, of course.

I didn’t hate her.

In fact, I respected her as an adventurer and even had romantic feelings for her.

That was the problem.

‘I never planned to date an adventurer.’

Moreover, Yuria wasn’t even my slave.

An adventurer who could die any day, and not even a slave-who knew when she might change her mind?

I’m sorry, but Yuria…

Didn’t qualify to be my wife.

So I kept my walls up.

Even when she blatantly showed her feelings, I pretended not to notice.

If I got swept up in her emotions, I’d end up dating her, and then-

I really wouldn’t be able to handle the aftermath.

Yeah, I’m a coward.

That’s why I kept avoiding Yuria.

‘But…’

It didn’t feel right to keep ignoring her feelings when I knew how she felt.

Maybe I should make time to talk things out properly.

“Yuria.”

“Yeah?”

“Once this labyrinth run is over… let’s have a serious talk.”

“A serious talk?”

“Yeah. A serious talk.”

“W-wait, why are you making that face while saying something serious… Pfft.”

“Huh? Ah, damn it.”

Yuria looked down at my lower half and laughed.

I had an erection.

A side effect of the stamina tonic.

“Goddammit.”

“Sh-Shion… Don’t tell me you’re the type who gets off on dangerous situations…?”

“No! No way! It’s a side effect of the tonic! Stop slandering me, Louis!”

Explaining the effects further here…

Would just make me look pathetic, justifying my erection.

Let’s just get out of here. I need to leave this damn labyrinth.

Staying here too long is driving me insane.

“Ugh, whatever. I’ll be back soon, so keep the transfer stone ready!”

I drank the rat transformation potion.

It tasted like sweet melon soda.

“Squeak…?!”

My body rapidly shrank.

A bizarre sound, like bones and muscles breaking, echoed as my vision dropped drastically.

So it really was magic.

Just one potion turned me into a rat.

Looking closely, the effect was instantaneous.

If used right, you could probably turn enemies into rats.

Like, what if I threw it into a dragon’s mouth?

Could I turn a dragon into a rat? Probably not.

But they said there were side effects.

I didn’t feel anything yet.

Must be the type that shows up after the effect wears off.

“Squeak!”

I stuffed my scattered clothes and belongings into the spatial pouch.

The clothes I’d been wearing were too big now and had all fallen off.

‘I can still use my abilities even as a rat.’

Mapping was still active. Good.

I lost the ability to speak, but I didn’t need it since I’d be running alone.

“Squeak!”

“He really turned into a rat…!”

“Let’s move before Shion’s potion wears off!”

Rohan opened the building’s entrance.

They ran toward the transfer stone.

I ran toward the corpses.

‘The scenery looks different with this low perspective.’

Even my senses felt off.

Antennae? Whiskers? Yeah, whiskers, probably.

The whiskers near my snout detected air currents and monster presences with extreme sensitivity.

I also seemed to have some night vision.

Even running in the dark didn’t bother me.

And so, avoiding monsters, I ran to the building Rohan had mentioned.

‘That’s the one.’

Soon, I reached the building where the corpses were hidden.

Nearby, orcs were roasting beast meat over a fire.

If I’d come with the party, we’d have been spotted immediately.

Carefully avoiding detection, I found a rat hole and slipped inside.

‘Somewhere in here… Found it!’

There they were.

Six bodies buried under a pile of dirt.

I quickly crawled over and stored them in my inventory.

The decay didn’t look too severe yet.

They should still be revivable.

‘Done!’

Corpse retrieval-success.

Now, just run toward the transfer stone.

‘Nothing else will go wrong now, right? This is really the end, right? Stop screwing with me.’

Please. Haven’t I suffered enough?

Any more would just be unfair.

‘Huff… Huff…’

Mentally coaxing the labyrinth, I kept running.

Being a rat made me fast, but my stamina drained just as quickly.

“Squeak… Squeak.”

I took out some dried fruit from my inventory and chewed on it.

If I didn’t eat something along the way, my heart might give out.

‘I might actually die.’

My erection was gone.

The tonic’s effects were fading.

Even after two bottles, I was already struggling to keep my eyes open.

Probably because Scylla had drained my life force so much.

Damn labyrinth. Once I get out, I’m resting for at least… no, seriously, at least two months.

‘So hang in there. Just a little further…’

I forced myself to keep running.

Half-closing my eyes, relying on instinct and senses.

Ran and ran.

“Over there! I sense a small animal!”

“Shion! Here!”

Soon, I saw the party waiting for me by the transfer stone.

A pile of Hati corpses was stacked in one corner.

“Squeak!”

I dashed toward the corpses.

The tiny rat paws brushed over them, and the stacked bodies vanished into the spatial pouch.

“Huff… Huff…”

Now my mission was truly, completely over.

Couldn’t I call myself the best corpse retriever in the labyrinth city now?

“Shion!”

“He’s exhausted! Let’s get him out of here fast! The monsters will swarm us soon!”

Someone picked me up.

Now I could finally pass out, right?

Then, I felt my body crossing through the gate.

My consciousness faded.

When I wake up, please let it be outside the labyrinth.