Chapter 63: Into the Labyrinth

“Then, please take care of Olivia and the house for about 4 days. You know where the Druid club is, right?”

“Yes!”

“Good. Olivia is a friend who can’t see well, so I hope you, Marine, will take good care of her. Don’t bully her, okay? You need to get along well. If you want to live long.”

“Yes! Leave it to me!”

“Oh, and if you need to go out, make sure to wear a parasol and leash. Got it?”

“I understand!”

The leash is a symbol indicating slave status.

With this, others won’t interfere.

Marine is a slime human, so she might be mistaken for a monster and get stabbed.

Therefore, a leash is essential for outdoor activities.

“I’m off. Take care, everyone. Olivia, if Yuria returns while I’m gone, please explain things to her.”

“Okay. I understand..! You must come back…”

“Of course. We’ll just be wandering around the upper levels, so nothing serious will happen.”

Now that I’ve left Olivia in Marine’s care, I should be able to go down without worries.

‘We agreed to meet in the morning, so I should head out soon.’

The sun has just risen.

It’s a very good time to enter the labyrinth.

‘Did I forget anything?’

I don’t think so. I properly packed my weapons too. Perfect.

‘Ah, the heretics.’

Come to think of it, those heretics who attacked me haven’t been caught yet.

After inquiring at the guild, I learned that they haven’t managed to catch all the heretics yet.

However, I heard from Edwin-ssi at the guild yesterday that the heretics’ activities have significantly decreased since the arson incident that day.

Moreover, the heretics must pay for all the arson damage.

In other words, if a heretic is caught alive, they’ll have to work in the mines to pay for the damages.

It seemed the victimized merchants’ association had probably sent out assassins.

This is probably why the heretics are keeping an even lower profile.

‘I hope the heretics continue to behave themselves.’

I could only hope nothing would happen.

It’s not like I can find out the location of the hidden ones.

And I can’t give up going to the labyrinth because I’m scared of heretics.

I hope the city’s self-purification process actively hunts down the heretics.

“Oh! Porter-ssi! Over here!”

“What! You’re late!”

“I’m sorry, Young Lady. I see everyone was already here.”

I thought I came early, but everyone had already come to the labyrinth entrance and was waiting for me.

“Ugh. I don’t want to go in…”

“Huff. Huff. Aren’t you excited?”

“Not really…”

Rien looking down from the morning, and Rica looking full of energy from the morning.

“I’m nervous.”

“Me too.”

Priestess Erika slightly trembling her hands in nervousness, and the Young Lady looking calm.

“The 3 nights and 4 days botanical garden exploration might be quite tough, but everyone will be able to endure well.”

And me, who will command them.

Now that all members have gathered, it’s time to enter the labyrinth.

The Young Lady’s party’s second labyrinth entry.

As we moved together, I could hear surrounding adventurers whispering.

“…Is it a harem party?”

“…The man must be quite capable.”

“…It’s all women.”

The gender ratio is quite extreme.

The problem is that among these four people, only the Young Lady has feelings for me.

The other three are just colleagues.

You could say there are no special feelings between us.

Rien is a comrade with whom I rescued a colleague.

Rica is a gym friend I exercise with.

I haven’t met Erika-ssi that often to begin with.

It’s a structure where romantic feelings can’t develop even if they wanted to.

Above all, the Young Lady is openly showing her affection for me, so those three aren’t shameless enough to try to touch me.

“Well then, shall we go in?”

Let’s stop the random thoughts here and start going in now.

We gathered in front of the transfer stone.

I went in first, and the rest followed.

---

“Ugh. I’m dizzy.”

Lady Lea, who had only gone through mana adaptation once, felt slightly dizzy.

This is the common post-transfer dizziness experienced when entering the labyrinth.

It’s a symptom that disappears after more mana adaptation.

“It’s been a really long time.”

“Indeed.”

As I lit the torch, Rica whispered while looking around as if feeling nostalgic.

The botanical garden that can be entered through the eastern entrance.

It has the advantage of being relatively low in difficulty as plant-type monsters crawl out.

‘No nest-like rooms in sight, and no monster houses where monsters are concentrated nearby. Is this the outskirts?’

I explored the surrounding terrain with map creation.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it seems we’ve transferred to the outskirts of the 1st floor.

Since our party has no intention of going down immediately anyway, the outskirts might be better.

We can create a rough map by going around the outskirts.

Moreover, since we came in for education this time, not just for experiential learning, it was better to wake up in such outskirts rather than in monster-concentrated areas.

“Now then, before we move, from now on we’re going to light our torches. Everyone, take these flints.”

“I already know how to light a torch.”

“Aha. Rica-ssi already knows. Then please light it quickly.”

“Um, Porter-ssi. Is this some kind of evaluation?”

“Yes. Lighting a torch is truly the basics of basics.”

“But I have Holy Light…”

“Holy Light? Will you cry in the dark when your holy power runs out?”

“What?”

The priestess shrank back in surprise as my voice slightly raised.

Come to think of it, last time we entered the labyrinth, she substituted light sources with Holy Light.

I know. The Holy Light used by priests is convenient and good.

But the labyrinth is not a comfortable and fun playground.

When you run out of holy power, will God turn on Holy Light for you instead?

I wanted to say something last time too, but I was in a lower position then, so I kept my mouth shut.

But now our relationship is a bit different from then.

Now I’m the superior, and Erika is the subordinate.

How dare a newbie in a learning position talk back to the instructor?

I wanted to start shouting and giving mental education right away, but I’m still a kind angel instructor, so I smiled and ordered again.

“Come on, stop talking and use the flint.”

Because they had agreed to completely follow my words inside the labyrinth, everyone started lighting fires with flints while sneakily checking each other’s reactions.

We need to be clear about these things before we go.

We didn’t come here as a joke, and we’re not just going to do experiential learning and leave.

We’ll be going in and out of the labyrinth continuously in the future.

If that’s the case, it’s better to firmly establish the basics from the start.

“Porter.. Doesn’t his smile look a bit scary…?”

“I think so too.. Only his mouth is smiling…”

“….”

“Um, did we get scolded…?”

Baby birds chattering, unable to hold back even for that short while when told to light torches.

Usually, when a man is alone in a female-dominated group, he has to endure women’s chatter, but I didn’t.

They clearly asked me to be their guide.

They asked for education, so I’m just educating.

“You there, no chatting.”

“Yes…”

“Ugh.”

“What, you still haven’t lit your torch? Are you slow? Are you a turtle?”

“Look, I’ve lit mine. See? It’s burning well!”

“Yes. Rica passes.”

“Just a moment.. It’s not working well…”

“Rien. What are you doing? Monsters will come at this rate. Do you want to become monster food?”

“Ah.. Damn it.. Just a moment..”

“I’m done too. How is it?”

“Yes. You did well. Lea passes.”

“You’re not using honorifics anymore…?”

“I’ll omit them in the labyrinth. I’ll just call you Lea.”

“That might be better actually. Heheh.”

The Young Lady grinned when I called her name.

But wait, what are Rien and Erika still doing not lighting their fires?

“You there, Erika and Rien. What are you doing? Are you making torches?”

“Ah, no! It’s done! All done..! Ta-da…!”

“Hmm. Late, but you lit it. Rien passes too. Now then, lastly, Erika.”

“Ah! Well, you see. I think there’s something wrong with my torch..”

“I made that torch. I gathered wood, wrapped cloth around it, fixed it with wire, then applied resin. I made it in the exact correct way. Are you saying I made the torch wrong?”

“Ah, no, that’s not it… Porter-ssi, you’re scary…”

Erika on the verge of tears.

Did I push too hard?

No, using a torch is really the basics of basics, so it’s right to get scolded if you can’t even light a fire with flint.

“Erika. Don’t feel fear over something like this. And Erika will be in charge of torches for this labyrinth trip. Since you came in last, to increase your proficiency, Erika-ssi will light the torches from now on.”

“Uwaah.”

I handed 7 spare torches to Erika.

It’s not extremely heavy, but it has a decent weight, so it would be quite a tough job for the frail Erika.

Of course, if it’s urgent, I’ll light the torches.

Making Erika carry 7 torches was a kind of penalty.

People work harder when there’s punishment.

When I first entered the labyrinth, a Silver Badge adventurer treated me like this.

Thanks to that, I can now light a torch with flint within 5 seconds.

“Now, that was a very basic evaluation. The labyrinth is dark. You need to light a torch within 5 seconds to be a veteran. You should be able to light a fire as easily as eating spaghetti with a fork. Understand?”

“Mmm…”

“I understand.”

“Yes…”

As soon as you enter the labyrinth, you need to secure a light source immediately.

Unlike monsters that detect enemies and allies by sound and smell, humans without search-related abilities become toys for monsters the moment they can’t secure their vision.

Light could be considered one of the most important elements in the labyrinth.

“Now then, from now on I need to draw a map. Lea and Rica, clear the path at the front. I’ll tell you the direction. And Rien and Erika, save your magic and holy power as much as possible. Understand?”

“Yes. I got it.”

The Young Lady stepped forward with a confident expression.

She’s a thief.

In the labyrinth, a thief is a guide, a scout, and furthermore, a tomb raider.

They can be said to be the ones who first detect enemy movements, first disarm traps, and first explore paths.

I’m going to evaluate those most basic things.

‘It should be fine since Rica is following right behind.’

I stood at the very back of the party.

I should be able to handle enemies approaching from behind.

“Sion, there’s a fork in the road.”

“Let’s go right. We’re going to go around the outskirts today. If we turn left, we’ll go to the center, so we’re going right.”

“Understood.”

The Young Lady carefully moved forward.

We plan to continue searching like this for at least 4 hours.

“Hmm… Wait a moment. It’s a trap.”

“Let me see. Arrows will fly out. Young Lady, can you disarm it?”

“Yes. I can do it.”

The Young Lady took out some tools from the tool bag attached to her waist and disarmed the trap.

Her hand skills are quite good.

“How was that? Fast, right?”

“You learned properly.”

“Yes. My skills teacher was strict.”

“Good. Excellent.”

“Hehehe. Thank you.”

The Young Lady couldn’t hide her smile, seemingly pleased with my praise.

This speed is quite fast.

She’d be in the upper ranks among beginners.

“Well then, let’s continue. Monsters will probably appear soon, so everyone get ready for battle.”

There’s quite a large room ahead.

It felt like gardeners guarding the botanical garden where vines and grass have grown lushly would be gathered there.