34. Opportunity Comes

“Shion.”

“Yeah.”

“Give me some water. Hehehe.”

I took out a water pouch from the dimensional pouch and handed it to Yuria.

“I didn’t realize how thirsty I’d be.”

“Right. We sweated a lot, after all.”

Yuria and I lay on the same bed, staring up at the same ceiling.

It was a dreamlike moment.

It was also the moment I understood why men become so helplessly infatuated with women.

“Shion.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s something I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“What’s your goal? How far do you plan to go?”

“The labyrinth?”

“Yeah. I’m curious about how deep you want to reach.”

Yuria rolled onto her side to face me, her eyes searching mine.

A girl nestled in my arms, asking about my dreams.

What answer should I give her?

Should I say, like a boy dreaming big, that conquering the labyrinth’s deepest depths is my dream?

Or should I be realistic and say I’d be content stopping near the underground city?

“Hmm. I’ve never really thought about it clearly.”

I decided to be honest.

The floor I wanted to reach-

I hadn’t set a specific goal yet.

Until now, I’d just gone as deep as I could.

Besides, my original goal of buying a slave was already half-achieved thanks to Yuria.

After all, the reason I wanted to buy a slave in the first place was to find a wife who wouldn’t cheat on me.

I’d also earned more money than most low-rank adventurers could ever dream of.

Honestly, if I just stuck with Yuria in the guild, became a guild-certified instructor, and guided beginners around the upper layers, I’d make more than enough to live comfortably.

Yeah, I’d lost sight of my goal a little.

Because I’d already secured a stable survival right in the labyrinth city.

Now, I stood at another crossroads.

Should I keep moving forward?

Or settle here?

That’s why Yuria was asking me about my future direction.

She must have been wondering whether I’d stop here or go further.

“What about you, Yuria?”

I decided to ask her instead.

What was her goal?

How deep did she want to go?

I’d already achieved half of my goal.

So, what mattered now wasn’t my goal-it was hers.

“Well, me? Hmm. As an adventurer, Yuria wants to reach the end of the labyrinth. But as your girlfriend, your wife… I don’t know.”

Yuria hesitated for a moment.

I waited quietly, letting her gather her thoughts.

Decisions about one’s path should always be made carefully.

It’s their future, after all. Personal choices should be respected, not interfered with.

“Actually… I should stop, right? You gave me two conditions at the start. First, a slave who would love only you. Second, someone domestic, not an adventurer. That’s what you needed.”

“…”

I had no response to Yuria’s answer.

Her words about stopping weighed heavily on my heart.

Somehow, it felt like I was the one blocking her path.

Was it okay for someone like me to stand in the way of a person who might have become a Platinum Badge?

If not for me, couldn’t she have soared even higher?

Had I become her cage, stealing away her freedom?

The thought made my chest tighten.

I had wanted a slave wife who would obey my every command unconditionally.

But I didn’t want Yuria to become a slave without a sense of self.

Because I liked her, I wanted her to stay out of the dangerous labyrinth.

But at the same time, I didn’t want a Yuria who had lost her wings.

Conflicting emotions tangled in my head.

“Yuria.”

“Yeah?”

“I want to know your true feelings.”

“My thoughts? That was my thought just now.”

“No, I mean… Well. Are you really okay with giving up being an adventurer?”

“…”

Yuria opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Giving up being an adventurer-

That meant giving up on moving forward.

For me, it didn’t matter.

I was a 21st-century modern person, utterly secular and pessimistic.

My life was the most important thing, and if I had money, I could throw away the labyrinth and everything else.

But she was different.

Her childhood was painted by the labyrinth city.

Her adolescence unfolded within the labyrinth.

Her entire life was steeped in the labyrinth.

Maybe, more than I realized, Yuria was deeply entangled with the labyrinth.

And her talent was undeniable.

At such a young age, she was already on the verge of reaching Gold Badge.

If she underwent mana adaptation once or twice more, or gained another ability-

She’d become a Gold Badge adventurer, officially recognized by the labyrinth city.

Silver Badges were more common than you’d think-they were proof of experience.

But Gold Badges, the mark of true veterans, were rarer than expected.

‘And then there’s Yuria’s mother, Moira…’

A Platinum Badge.

Universally acknowledged as the strongest woman in the labyrinth city.

A monster who wielded five magic eyes and two magic swords.

The one who had reached the 7th Floor alone and returned.

Even if she was just flirting with me playfully now,

Even if she was buried in paperwork at the guild-

She was still a legend who had defined an era.

Could Yuria, raised under such a figure, really give up the labyrinth?

Her mother was someone who could be called a hero.

And judging by that worn-out armor, it seemed her late father had also wanted her to become an adventurer.

Maybe someday in the distant future-

Yuria would regret today’s decision.

And after regretting-

She might resent me.

Before that happened-

I wanted her to achieve her own goals, fully and clearly.

“Shion.”

“Yeah. I’m listening.”

“Is it okay if… I tell you the truth?”

“Yeah. Tell me honestly.”

“Well… I…”

Yuria seemed hesitant, as if afraid I might push her away.

“No matter what you decide, it won’t suddenly ruin what we have now. So tell me.”

“…Okay. Thanks.”

Finally, Yuria seemed to gather her resolve.

“I… want to go down to the 7th Floor. I want to see the utopia Mom talked about.”

“The utopia on the 7th Floor?”

“Yeah. The fairies’ nest. Or the place called the hatchery.”

The 7th Floor of the labyrinth.

Probably the deepest layer humanity had reached so far.

Yuria wanted to go as far as her mother had.

“I’ve heard the 7th Floor is beautiful.”

“Yeah. Really, really beautiful, she said.”

“Alright. The 7th Floor it is. Let’s go there together.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah. The 7th Floor. Not right away, of course. Maybe before we die?”

“Hahaha. Right. We’ll reach it at least once before we grow old and die. Okay. Let’s go see it together next time.”

I didn’t tell Yuria to give up being an adventurer.

Instead, I promised we’d reach the 7th Floor together someday.

Someday.

---

In the upper floors of a high-class lodging in the labyrinth city,

Leah Lionell, the daughter of the Lionel family, asked the witch Rien, who was lounging in her room.

“Hey, Rien. Has the porter come back up yet?”

“Hmm? Ah… hold on…”

Rien’s ability, Search Tracking.

Using this, Leah had been tracking Shion’s location for the past few days.

She wanted to meet him as soon as he emerged from the labyrinth.

For some reason, his face kept floating in her mind.

“Ehh…? The porter… seems to have already come back up…?”

“What? Really? When?! He was still underground earlier!”

“Uh… it’s been… a while since he came up…”

It had been quite some time since Rien last activated Search Tracking.

By now, Shion had already returned to the surface, finished his report, and even had a post-mission meal.

“Why didn’t he come find me right away? Why?”

Leah’s frown deepened at Rien’s answer.

Had she been the only one who wanted to see him so badly?

For some reason, she also felt like she’d lost to him.

“Maybe he was tired and went to rest, my lady.”

“You think so…?”

At the words of Rika, the knight who had been meditating with her eyes closed, Leah nodded as if it made sense.

Rika watched Leah, who had been talking about the porter nonstop for days, with quiet satisfaction.

‘So that’s why she was so eager to enter the labyrinth. My lady, really.’

She was completely off the mark.

Leah hadn’t been waiting for the porter just because of the labyrinth-

But Rika, who had built walls around romance, couldn’t possibly grasp such delicate emotions.

Despite being a woman herself, Rika was a bit dense.

“Well, yeah. He’s been going in and out of the labyrinth for days. He must be exhausted.”

“Yes. He’s probably passed out asleep by now, my lady.”

“Yeah, yeah. That makes sense, right? Nothing’s wrong, right? Should we go see him? His bed might be uncomfortable. Wouldn’t he like it if we got him a room at our place? Last time, I noticed he prefers budget-friendly lodgings.”

“Huh…? Go see him now…?”

“Well, I’m curious. He’s also my life’s savior.”

“That’s… true, but…”

“Let’s go.”

“Ugh…”

Rien reluctantly put away the book she’d been reading and stood up.

“I’ll come with you, my lady.”

“Okay. Let’s all go, just take a quick look at his face, and come back.”

And so, the Porter Comfort Squad was formed.

Excluding Erika, the priestess currently doing volunteer work at the temple, the three of them set out to find the porter.

“Is this the place…?”

“This is the complete opposite direction of the porter’s usual lodgings?”

“Huh? Then where is this…?”

“I don’t know either!”

“It seems to be a residential area, my lady.”

“Right. Why did we end up here? The porter lives in lodgings.”

“Umm… that building over there… I can sense something from it…”

Rien pointed hesitantly at a two-story detached house.

It looked quite expensive.

Not quite the vibe of a noble’s mansion, but the kind of sturdy home a Gold Badge or higher adventurer could afford.

‘No way… the porter…’

Unlike Rika, Rien had a better grasp of the lady’s feelings.

She was definitely 120% smitten with the porter.

But at this hour, in someone’s house instead of his usual lodgings?

‘There’s definitely… something going on…’

Rien had a strong feeling they shouldn’t go any further.

“Leah, let’s… go back. This doesn’t feel right…”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well… it seems like there’s some situation… Maybe we should wait until he comes to us…”

“True, showing up unannounced at a stranger’s house at this hour just to see the porter is a bit much.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’d be rude. I must’ve gotten too excited.”

Leah nodded obediently.

Outside the labyrinth city, her noble status might have carried weight, but here, it meant nothing.

Acting on impulse could lead to trouble later.

“But at least he’s back safely. That’s good.”

“Yeah… that’s a relief…”

“By the way. The porter went into the labyrinth with the guild leader’s daughter, right?”

“Uh…!? Uh… yeah…?”

“Those two… they’re not just acquaintances, are they?”

“From what I’ve heard, the porter seemed completely uninterested.”

“Just the porter? What about the guild leader’s daughter?”

“Apparently, she was all over him.”

“…”

“L-Leah! Let’s just go back… There’s nothing we can do right now…”

“Yeah. Right. You’re absolutely right.”

Leah clenched her fists.

While the porter was in the labyrinth, she had done some research on him and the women around him.

So she knew.

About Yuria.

“They said she’s about to become a Gold Badge. Good.”

She had no intention of giving up.

She and the porter had already made a contract to explore the labyrinth together.

‘After all, he and I are labyrinth partners. Opportunity will surely come.’

The lady’s eyes narrowed slightly.

She had no intention of letting anyone monopolize the porter.