Chapter 53: The Sorrow of a Reincarnator

“What did you say..!?”

“Well, I’m sorry. While you were gone, I suddenly got a call from the guild. It looks like I have to go out of the city for a bit.”

After eating the hangover soup and Lady Lea returned to her lodging, Yuria also started preparing to leave.

It was even a top-secret mission to leave the city for a few days.

It seemed like some incident had occurred and she was going out to deal with the aftermath.

“Out of the city? So suddenly?”

“Yeah. It seems some strange guys have entered the city recently. There was a commotion in the slums yesterday because of that. When we looked into it, it seems to be connected with outside forces… You understand, right?”

“Ah.. Yeah.”

Yuria mumbled her words.

She’s probably going to kill someone.

Murder or torture.

I couldn’t know what Yuria would be doing, but it wasn’t something I could dare to stop.

Yuria is the sword of the guild.

Especially since her mother is the guild master.

Yuria is also deeply involved with the guild, and as the adventurers’ guild is a core institution of the labyrinth city, it’s involved in various incidents and accidents.

It’s natural that Yuria also has to step up when problems occur in the city.

Even if I don’t want to send her, I currently have neither the power nor the justification to hold Yuria back.

The guild doesn’t belong to just one person, the guild master.

The guild master is just a person who represents and manages the adventurers’ guild.

No matter how strong Moira’s influence is, she can’t fight against the entire leadership of the city.

Still.

Knowing all these circumstances, I cautiously try to whine a bit.

“I can’t go with you, can I?”

“Hehe. You want to be together. But I’m sorry. I have to go and come back quickly. Please watch the house with Olivia until I come back.”

Yuria, who was packing her things in a hungover state, threw aside her luggage and hugged me tightly when I whined.

“Have a safe trip. Be careful.”

“Yeah. Sorry for leaving so suddenly. Wait just a little. I’ll be back soon.”

Yuria kissed my cheek lightly and then hurried away.

I wonder what happened.

Probably there’s a reason she’s not telling me.

Since outside forces are involved, I think it might be related to the recent kidnapping incident in the slums.

I decided not to dig too deeply.

Because some information can endanger your life just by knowing it.

I just need to guard this house with Olivia until Yuria returns.

I’ll start training from tomorrow too, so time will pass quickly.

“Um.. Did Yuria leave..?”

“Yeah. She just left.”

“I see…”

As soon as she realized Yuria had left, Olivia clung tightly to my side.

“F-finally.. It’s just the two of us..”

“Hey Olivia. Wait. What are you doing?”

“N-no.. Don’t push me away.. Stay still..”

Olivia hugged me from behind and wouldn’t let go.

She even buried her nose in my back and smelled me.

“Sniff.. Haa… I feel relieved.. Um.. Sion.. No, master.”

“Y-yes..?”

“Don’t.. don’t let me sleep alone.. When I sleep alone.. I feel anxious.. At least while Yuria is gone.. Can’t we sleep together..?”

I needed to sleep with someone anyway because of those earth-bound spirits or whatever, the Loa.

This is good for me.

I was going to ask Olivia to sleep together, but it’s nice that she asked first.

“W-well, I understand for now. Let go. I need to clean up the table.”

“Okay.. I’ll help you..”

“No, just sit on the sofa. I’ll clean up.”

I felt like it would get messier if I let her help.

It’s difficult to entrust her with tasks since she can’t see.

“Um..”

“Yeah. What is it?”

“Can I.. talk about Earth…?”

“Sure, when it’s just the two of us.”

“Okay… Hehehe.. I wanted to talk about Earth.. There was no one to talk to.. It was so hard being alone..”

I’m a half-successful person in the labyrinth city.

Thanks to the spatial pocket ability, I don’t have to worry about money, and recently women have been flocking to me as if my luck with women has turned around.

However, Olivia’s case was different from mine.

She said she was born in a small minority tribe village in the South, and as soon as she became an adult, she ran away to the labyrinth city.

From this “ran away” phrase, I could already smell the harsh hardships.

There’s no way a small village would allow individual freedom.

In communalism, individual personality and freedom are always secondary.

Moreover, if women’s rights were thrown to the dogs, she was probably raised as one of the cogs in the community from the moment she was born.

She said the tattoos like scribbles on her body and unknown characters were also engraved without her will.

How painful it must have been.

It must have been a kind of halleh.

“I tried so hard.. not to forget by myself. About the information of this world. And my family.. and the dog I raised.. I tried so hard to remember everything.”

I wonder how she ended up falling into this world.

Olivia’s voice trembled severely.

“But I’ve forgotten almost everything. Their faces. Their voices. I can’t remember anything.”

“Olivia.”

“What should I do? The labyrinth stuff.. it’s my last weapon. I absolutely can’t forget it, so. I memorized it to death, but I can’t remember my parents’ faces at all.”

I approached her and patted her back.

Overwhelmed with sorrow, Olivia buried herself in my arms and cried for a long time.

My chest is damp. It’s wet with tears and snot.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. These things happen.”

“Thank you.. You’re so kind…”

“We’re from the same hometown.”

Olivia seemed to like the phrase “from the same hometown” and came to hug me again.

And she cries again.

She probably didn’t have many situations where she could pour out her true feelings and cry.

Since reincarnating in this world, she must have lived constantly watching out for others.

So I just let her cry.

I cried a lot on the streets alone in the beginning too.

No money, can’t fight, and couldn’t even read the writing of this world.

Before I got the spatial pocket, I couldn’t even buy a piece of bread freely.

“I’m so glad… To meet someone.. from Earth like me.. I’m so glad.. That there’s someone who understands everything I say..”

Computer, air conditioner, airplane, cell phone, mobile game, NPC, and so on.

Countless words that don’t exist in this world.

The only person who can understand all of these without any problem.

The first person in her life after reincarnation who could be called a companion.

With such a person appearing, she seemed to want to rely on me in many ways.

“Please.. don’t abandon me.. I’ll do anything you want. Don’t throw me away saying I’m useless.. I’ll memorize and recall everything about the labyrinth to death.. Please..”

“…”

Olivia begging not to be abandoned even if her usefulness runs out.

Even while forgetting her parents’ faces, she tried to remember information about the labyrinth by any means necessary.

Even when I first found her in the slave shop, she was half out of her mind, reciting the labyrinth strategy guide by heart.

She knew that it would definitely be useful someday.

In fact, before becoming a slave, she tried to use the labyrinth information herself to make a name for herself.

“Alright. Olivia. I won’t abandon you.”

“R-really… Promise.. Make a promise too..”

“Pinky swear?”

“Yes.. Pinky swear…”

I hooked my pinky with Olivia’s and promised.

Not to abandon her.

‘As long as she doesn’t cause problems.’

There’s still a lot of information I haven’t heard.

Also, when another great change occurs someday, that is, when the labyrinth is updated, I’ll need someone to tell me the information.

“Thank you… For promising..”

“It’s nothing.”

As I stroked her back, Olivia buried herself even deeper in my arms.

“I want to… get closer…”

“Aren’t we close enough already?”

“No.. Not just.. physically closer.. I want to be.. in a more intimate relationship with you, master..”

“Intimate relationship?”

“Yes.. So you won’t just leave.. Please embrace me more..”

“Are you afraid I’ll leave you behind?”

“I’m scared… The labyrinth is.. dangerous.. Even with the information I give you.. it’s still dangerous..”

That’s right. The labyrinth is dangerous.

No matter how much information Olivia provides, in the end, it’s me who has to act on it.

You never know when you might die.

That’s why Olivia is saying now that she wants to get closer.

“How can we get closer?”

“Well… Like this…”

Perhaps because she can’t see and misjudged the position, Olivia kissed right next to my lips.

“Th-that wasn’t… your lips…?”

“Yeah. It was slightly to the side.”

“Ah.. Ah.. O-one more time..”

She tried to kiss my lips again.

“Ah.. This isn’t it either..”

“That was my nose just now.”

“O-one more time..”

Finally, Olivia managed to kiss my lips with difficulty.

“Did I succeed…?”

“Yeah. That was successful.”

“Um.. With this.. Have we gotten a bit closer…?”

“Well. Maybe we’ve gotten a little closer?”

“Thank goodness…”

Olivia’s actions can’t simply be dismissed as love.

This too must be her own survival strategy.

I am Olivia’s current master.

From her perspective, I’m someone from her hometown who doesn’t treat her badly.

If I abandon her, she doesn’t know where she’ll end up.

That’s why she’s acting out love right now.

No, whether this is an act or not doesn’t really matter.

In any case, the fact that she needs to make a good impression doesn’t change.

Well, whether it’s real love or fake love isn’t really important.

What’s truly important is whether I’m satisfied with Olivia’s actions.

‘Satisfied. Very satisfied.’

Olivia was cuter than I expected.

All she could come up with after racking her brains to make a good impression on me was just a kiss.

Should I call it a virgin-like idea?

She didn’t offer her body asking to be taken, and it was interesting that she felt shy and thought we had gotten closer just by pressing lips together.

“I have to go out for training from tomorrow too. You’ll be alone at home a lot.”

“Okay..”

“I’ll prepare meals for you before I leave. Make sure to eat properly even when you’re alone.”

“Yes..! Thank you for caring..”

I’m planning to go to the martial arts hall from tomorrow morning.

After exercising a bit, I need to go to the black market in the afternoon to learn about Loa.

And I’m thinking of borrowing and reading the Monster Dissection Appreciation book that’s said to be in the library.

‘I’ve heard about monsters from Olivia, but it’s better to learn separately.’

I should prepare as much as I can before the subjugation operation starts.

I’ll also have to proceed with conquering the upper levels with the young lady’s party.

So let’s enjoy today’s rest as much as possible for now.

From tomorrow, I’ll have to move busily again.