Chapter 72: Get out alive (1)

Chapter 72: Get out alive
(1)

The
Labyrinth Investigators, sent by the Temple, gaped at the unfamiliar
sight.

A
sickening stench of blood wafted into their nostrils.

Blood
stained the walls and floor of the Labyrinth.

There
was a frothing at the mouth, red-eyed and stunned rabbit girl.

The
man who had boldly laid her on the ground like a thug, then rose to
his feet, a blood-soaked twin axe in his hand.

It
was a creepy scene, like a crime scene of an indiscriminate killer.

“⋯Whoa.”

His
short sigh sent chills down the spines of the Paladins.

They
were considered high level powers even in the temple.

It
was immediately apparent that the man before them was weaker than
them.

But
why?

The
dozen Paladins all thought the same thing.

That
if they fought now, there would be a lot of blood.

There
was something about the man in front of them that made them think
that.

As
the frightened Paladins reached for their swords, Nate Elin stopped
them with her right arm behind her.

Then,
looking at the man before her, she opened his mouth.

“First
of all. I’d like to know what happened to you.”

***

I
explained the events to Nate Elin.

“⋯Of
course.”

She
listened to me with a calm face, then sighed and furrowed her brow.

“You
mean to tell me that you entered the Labyrinth to capture an outlaw,
that the outlaw stabbed your party in the back with a
second-to-eighth floor transition trap, and that you fell on the
seventh floor while chasing them and battling them, and stumbled upon
us?”

“Yes.”

“And
you expect me to believe that?”

I
expected this reaction.

Honestly,
I don’t think I would have believed it if I were in Nate Elin’s
shoes.

I’ve
been involved in more than my fair share of transference traps than I
care to admit but believe it or not, I told her exactly what I went
through.

“I’m
serious, I need you to see this.”

I
pulled out a montage of Gurmimi and Reichem and showed it to Nate
Elin.

“Hut,
that guy is⋯!”

The
male priest, who had been watching Nate and I interact, looked at the
montage of Gurmimi and gasped, as if he had realized something.

Nate
Elin looked at him and asked.

“Do
you know her?”

“Ah,
yes. She’s a pretty notorious slave hunter and virginity hunter, half
of the rape victims around the Outlaw Zone have been raped by her.”

The
surrounding Paladins stiffened at that.

“So,
a dick hunter?”

“You
fucking bitch!”

“We
dare not even try it… No, ahem. To do something that goes against
the teachings of the Mother Goddess!”

“How
dare she commit such filthy acts as if she were breathing? That
shameless bitch!! I can’t forgive her!”

A
group of virgins who were forced to have spider webs hanging from
their lower bodies under the teachings of the Earth Mother.

The
Paladins glared at Gurmimi with bloodshot eyes.

Nate
Elin’s expression was not pretty.

She
glanced back and forth between the rabbit’s head in the montage and
Gurmimi on the ground beneath me, then nodded.

“The
montage bears the seal of the Guard, so I’m pretty sure it’s for the
arrest of an outlaw.”

“You
believe me?”

“Yes.”

Nate
Elin folded the montage and handed it back to me.

“If
you fell to the seventh floor by yourself, is the rest of the party
still on the eighth floor?”

“Yes.
But since the battle was just about over, they will probably come
straight up. It’ll take a day or two at the most.”

Actually,
it’s not easy to survive alone in the labyrinth.

I’m
new to the seventh floor, so I don’t know any resting spots or areas
with fewer monsters.

Not
only that, but I have to do everything by myself, including eating,
resting, and fighting.

Plus,
I have to keep an eye out for outlaws who might wake up at any moment
and cause trouble.

Unless
you’re on the first floor, where there are only goblins.

On
the seventh floor, with all its traps and minotaurs, it’s nearly
impossible for a low level explorer to survive on his own.

But
so what?

Regrets
are meaningless and the past can’t be undone, so I just have to grit
my teeth and deal with the situation.

“⋯Hoo.”

Nate
Elin glanced at me, then sighed and looked at the Paladins behind
her.

“We’ll
be resting around here today.”

“What?”

I
let out a dumbfounded sound at the out-of-the-blue statement, but it
was quickly drowned out by the cheers of the Paladins.

“Rest,
rest, rest!”

“Unpack
your bags! Let’s eat!”

“Quiet!
There are monsters coming!”

“We’ve
beaten all the monsters around here anyway, so it’s no problem.”

“Will
the rest of the kids on the fifth floor be okay?”

“Don’t
worry too much. They’re elite, too. Do you really think they’re going
to get beaten on the fifth floor?”

“Right.”

They
chattered excitedly, as if glad for the respite, and in one fell
swoop, they laid down a bed and started a fire.

Nate
Elin, who had dropped her pack and was perched on top of it, gestured
roughly to me.

“Don’t
go hustling and bustling, just settle in. I don’t mind an extra
person.”

I
took that to mean we were on the same side for the rest of the day.

There
would be no outlaws or reformed explorers to point their swords at
the paladins of the temple, so safety would be assured.

‘Come
to think of it, she even told me not to die because Serif is
worried.’

Perhaps
that was why she decided to take me in.

“Thank
you.”

As
I bowed my head in rare favor, Nate Elin turned away from me and
waved her hand once more.

“If
you’re so grateful, you’d better be nice to Serif.”

Did
this woman have nothing but Serif in her head?

“Yes.
I’ll be very nice.”

“⋯That’s
it.”

Well.
I’m easy to understand.

***

“You.
You’re messing with the wrong person.”

I
thought I heard the sound of teeth grinding somewhere, and then
Gurmimi beneath me was looking up at me with a venomous glare.

I
didn’t feel much of a threat, despite the murderous tone of her voice
and expression.

Since
she couldn’t be killed, the wound on her thigh was stopped from
bleeding, but the muscles in her limbs were delicately torn to
prevent her from struggling.

‘I
had been trained and massaged by Idelbert, and I knew where and how
to squeeze to keep the body from giving out.’

Thanks
to making full use of that realization, Gurmimi was left with nothing
but a grin on her face and no ability to move a finger.

“Yeah,
you shouldn’t have touched me, you asshole.”

Pfft!

“Kahak!”

I
slammed my fist into the crown of her head as she struggled to look
up from the floor.

“I’m
the fucking leader of the Great Blues Clan! Being punched by a mere
man when I can’t move!”

Gurmimi,
who had been beaten without being able to fight back, seemed to have
realized her situation again, so she stopped threatening me and
started lamenting her situation.

“Hey,
let me ask you something.”

“Ha.
Whatever you say, I won’t answer.”

Gurmimi
shut up as I reached for the time-tested means of communication.

The
red rabbit’s eyes stared up at the axe blade resting on the bridge of
her nose.

“⋯What,
what do you want to know?”

As
it turns out, axes are great conversationalists. It has the power to
make even the most spoiled, unredeemable scum want to talk.

“Do
you know a girl named Cachile…no, Denshi? She’s about as tall as
my butt. She dresses like a total slut. She must have been a slave to
your clan.”

“Slave?
⋯Oh.
Now that I think about it, I think I heard that Vesta gave a slave
with that name to a junior wizard she loved⋯”

“Haven’t
you seen that bitch in the Outlaw District lately?”

“I
don’t know. I ain’t interested in female slaves.”

This
asshole is a consistent asshole. Her eyes showed that she really
didn’t know and didn’t care.

‘I
was hoping she’d know something about her, since they’re from the
same clan, albeit in different ranks and locations.’

The
search for the snitch was unsuccessful.

Now
that it was clear that the motive for the crime was to fuck and
enslave a man with the Hobgoblin staff, there was only one question
left.

“Talian.
Or should I call her Reichem? What the fuck is she doing?”

A
mage with an unusual illusion spell and a figure carrying the
hobgoblin staff.

Judging
by the status window, she was clearly named Reichem but Gurmimi had
always called her Talian.

Maybe
she wanted to hide her name? I don’t know.

“⋯Damn,
I didn’t even realize that, so there’s no point in using a
pseudonym.”

Gurmimi
sighed deeply and hung her head in defeat.

And
from her mouth, the truth of the matter was revealed.

***

Reichem
betrayed her tutor for an absurd reason.

Professor
Arpo had postponed her graduation for ten years.

‘That
asshole thinks I’m some kind of research slave.’

As
the days passed, her hair fell out and she had female pattern
baldness.

Tears
streamed down her face. She lived with evil but even that was no
longer enough.

“My,
my son was mauled by a monster while exploring and became an idiot! I
heard that the Hobgoblin staff contains the power to magically embody
male corruption pheromones. If you open it, you might find a way to
save my son!”

In
the midst of her hellish research slavery, a golden opportunity
presented itself.

After
a decade of being treated like a slave, Professor Arpo had developed
a great deal of trust, and he was open about his weaknesses.

His
assistant, Reichem, did as the professor asked and succeeded in
arranging a favor and gaining access to the Hobgoblin’s staff.

In
the carriage on the way to the Professor with the Hobgoblin’s Staff,
Reichem pondered.

‘If
I take this with me, will the professor live happily ever after with
his son, who has been restored by miraculous odds?’

As
she thought this, a great hatred rose in her heart.

‘My
life is ruined, but he gets to live happily ever after?’

There
was an outlaw faction that she had been in contact with for some
time.

Vesta
of the Blues Clan, a criminal who had come to her home because she
was coveting her illusion magic.

Vesta
offered a great deal of money and a large number of male slaves in
exchange for her services. It was a much better future than rotting
away under Professor Arpo.

BANG!

Reichem
used illusion magic to lure the coachman into a back alley, where he
crashed the carriage into a wall.

Reichem,
the research slave, died while the illusionist and outlaw of Clan
Blues, Talian, was born.

Balkan
sighed deeply as he watched Reichem shoved into the backpack of Joy
Hog’s party approaching in the distance.

“Grad
students are dangerous, after all.”