episode_0031

Grace disappeared.

I immediately headed to her inn.

The innkeeper also said he knew nothing.

When I unlocked the door and entered her room, the cards and magic stones obtained from the last expedition were still there.

It doesn’t seem like she left without paying, as she said before.

Because she said it was for personal reasons.

Could it be that she perhaps moved to another party?

I immediately went to Rain.

“She hasn’t come to the guild even once,” they say.

“…Is that so?”

“Well, it’s common for parties to break up and members to disappear. Mr. Kairek was expelled from his party just recently, wasn’t he?”

That’s true.

Hans also said he had moved around numerous parties before joining ours.

It wouldn’t be right to be insistent here.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Shall I find you new party members? As a guide?”

“Not yet. I’ll talk with the party members first.”

“Okay.”

Actually, I have a rough idea of why Grace left.

The coin I received from her before fighting Jay.

The man I saw at the [Green Apple Tavern].

Anyway, it’s clear that Grace is connected to the underworld.

She must have her own reasons.

I could head to the tavern right now, get information, and find her.

But would that be right?

Is it right to do that much for a party member I’ve only met for a short period, less than two months?

Besides, after the battle with Jay, I resolved not to get involved with that side at all.

There’s no reason to intervene.

Still, it’s a pity.

Is it because she was the first party member?

“……”

It’s right to let go of the lingering attachment.

Because if there’s a relationship that leaves, there will be a relationship that comes.

“It’s common for party members to change frequently!!”

I share drinks with Kairek.

“It’s natural to have lingering feelings for the first party member!!!”

“Really? So you were the same, Kairek.”

“My first party members all died!! But you can meet yours later, can’t you!”

They say Kairek’s first party members all died on the 2nd floor.

“You don’t have to go that far just to comfort me.”

“No! The Labyrinth is originally a place where countless lives die and disappear. Steel your heart!”

“…Okay.”

Just then, Hans opened the dining hall door and entered.

“How is Luca?”

“They say there’s still no sign of improvement. They also say they don’t know how long the coma will last.”

“What do we do now…?”

Grace left, and Luca is in a coma.

It’s a completely unexpected situation.

Just a few days ago, we were determined to go to the 4th floor.

Suddenly, the party is half-broken.

What should be done in a situation like this?

Seeing me like that, Kairek patted my shoulder.

“We must go back into the Labyrinth! That is the life of an explorer.”

“I suppose so.”

“Find party members, even temporarily.”

“……”

“If you don’t do that, I will leave the party.”

“No. You’re right. I’ll find party members we can travel with for a while.”

Kairek is right.

Explorers must enter the Labyrinth.

No matter how the situation changes.

*

The next day, after eating lunch, I headed to the guild.

However, Rain wasn’t visible.

So I asked another receptionist.

“She’s been dispatched for a while.”

“I see.”

She also has her own life.

Naturally, there’s nothing I can say about it.

In the end, I ended up asking someone I’d never met before to find party members.

It didn’t take long to find them.

Because there was a separate list of those who temporarily joined parties like part-timers, rather than officially recruiting party members.

Of course, the number wasn’t large.

That’s natural.

Because good explorers usually look for places where they can stay long-term.

That means I probably can’t expect much from the skills of temporary party members.

Should we give up on the 4th floor for a while?

I revised a few plans I had made.

Just then, the receptionist showed me some documents.

“There’s quite a wide range of options for guides.”

“Why is that?”

“Because guides are usually hired on a temporary basis most of the time. Most of them don’t have combat abilities.”

“They don’t have combat abilities?”

“Yes. Guides with combat abilities are so popular that they’re almost on par with mages. Of course, they’re much less capable compared to mages!”

That was something I learned for the first time.

Grace was quite a popular catch, then.

I scrolled down the documents, checking the people.

There wasn’t anyone among them who particularly appealed to me.

In that case, my choice was someone with a lot of experience.

“…Let’s go with this person.”

“Next, you said frontline. Since there are plenty of frontliners, please choose from these.”

Again, I chose one person from the numerous options.

*

Two weeks passed since then.

Luca still hadn’t woken up.

There was no news of Grace.

Despite that, we couldn’t stop.

We prepared to enter the Labyrinth again.

There was still a little time left until the Labyrinth reset.

The goal was to climb up to the 2nd floor safe zone like last time, spend time there, and then make a dash for the 3rd floor opening.

The party members are as follows.

“Hoo… I’m nervous.”

“Haha! Don’t be nervous!!”

Hans and Kairek.

The sturdy shield and bow of our party.

“……”

The human male warrior silently cleaning his sword.

His name is Daybek.

As you can see, he’s a warrior.

His weapon is a greatsword.

“Let’s head in soon!”

The middle-aged male guide.

His name is Lloyd.

His main weapon is a light crossbow.

He said not to expect combat abilities.

And so, five men entered the Labyrinth.

As soon as we entered, Lloyd unfolded a map and checked the surroundings.

Unlike the 2nd and 3rd floors, the structure of the 1st floor is always the same, so there’s a separate map.

But it seems to be taking a little time.

“Ah, it’s here! We’ll head east!”

Following Lloyd who found the way, we moved.

“It’s a monster.”

After about an hour, we encountered a goblin, but…

We passed by.

There was no reason to unnecessarily hunt it and waste energy.

We arrived at the 1st floor safe zone before the day ended.

A short break.

He guided us better than expected. He wasn’t very reliable at first, but.

At this level, he’s not lacking compared to Grace.

“Are all guides like this?”

“Ah, usually they are. I’ve worked as a guide for 1st to 3rd floors for several years.”

“They say guides usually have low combat abilities.”

“That’s natural. Guides put the necessary cards into various areas like smell and sight, so their combat power decreases.”

“Explorers who can fight, then…”

“They’ve obtained good cards. I have no money and no luck, so I have 2 for smell. 2 for sight. 1 for stamina. It’s roughly that feeling.”

“I see.”

“Well, thanks to that, I got to guide a mage before retiring. And even [Witch Slayer] Ivan and [Madman] Kairek.”

“Did Kairek have such a nickname?”

“Didn’t you know? Well, I guess a rookie mage might not know. He tore apart that guy on the 4th floor with his bare hands…”

Lloyd, suddenly seeming excited, unpacked various stories.

Just then, Kairek approached.

“Let’s head up soon.”

“Ah, I understand!!! Everyone, prepare!”

The back of Kairek leaving after saying that.

For some reason, he looked a little lonely.

*

We went up to the 2nd floor, but the situation was different from the 1st floor.

It seems Lloyd finds the way reasonably well, but…

“Move, move!!”

Unlike Grace, his monster detection was ambiguous.

We were already attacked before Lloyd even spoke.

We just let it pass since it was a plant-type monster that only launched ranged attacks, but…

As expected, I shouldn’t expect much from his detection ability.

“……”

Kairek had an atmosphere of not being pleased.

Well, still, we can’t just get rid of him now, can we?

As long as he finds the way well.

It took us 3 days to reach the 2nd floor safe zone, which we reached in one or two days when we were with Grace.

“Oh, we set a new shortest time this time! As expected, mages are good. Mr. Kairek is also like that.”

Lloyd was extremely happy.

“Not bad.”

Listening to Kairek, it seems that even though he lacks detection or combat abilities, he’s decent at finding the way.

About the level of a 1st~2nd floor explorer.

“Can you guide us to the 3rd floor?”

“O-of course!! Just trust me.”

*

After the Labyrinth reset, we went up to the 3rd floor.

Our destination this time is the [Blade Canyon] in the south.

A place where many beast-type monsters gather. Compared to the [Orc’s Sanctuary], it’s not a good hunting ground.

The reason we chose this place was purely because of a request.

As the name Blade Canyon suggests, blade-shaped crystals are said to be found here.

Those crystals are a medium for alchemy. Workshops place countless requests for them.

Lyman used to shout that it was unfair how it was treated differently from [Sky Iron], but it’s natural because Blade Crystals are important items unlike Sky Iron, which is just one of many materials.

And so we entered the maze heading south, but…

We had been going around in circles in the maze for several days.

“Hmm…”

Lloyd tries to find the way by putting his ear to the ground like Grace, but…

“It’s this way!!”

Contrary to his confident attitude, it only led to dead ends.

“I-Isn’t it this way?”

“Dodge.”

Lloyd, who didn’t even detect the monster that suddenly appeared.

Thanks to that, Daybek got a little injured.

“Can you really guide us on the 3rd floor?”

Daybek suddenly started getting angry.

Indeed, how many times has this been where we failed detection and got ambushed?

Of course, I have the status window so I roughly know and can react, but Daybek couldn’t do that.

“I-I can find the way well?!”

Lloyd, panicking.

“You can’t even get through the maze right now!”

“Mazes originally rely heavily on luck!!”

As expected, only Hans could mediate the two fighting.

“Now, now, calm down and let’s take a little break, shall we?”

Thanks to Hans’ friendly approach, the two stopped fighting.

But from then on, they didn’t even look at each other.

Only after quite some time had passed did we get through the maze.

As soon as we exited the maze, a massive canyon came into view before our eyes.

That place is Blade Canyon.

The upper part of the canyon was covered in many blade-shaped blue crystals.

To collect those, we had to find the way again.

“Follow me closely!”

Following Lloyd, we entered the canyon.

Inside the dark canyon. Everyone except me held torches.

A feature of Blade Canyon is the countless blade-shaped blue crystals, but also…

Kyaaaaaa!!!!

Krrrrl!!!!

All day long, the cries of all sorts of monsters echoed within the canyon.

I wondered if it was possible to act as a guide with all this noise, but…

Still, he said he finds the way well, so we should follow.

Acting alone without trusting the guide is more dangerous.

After walking for about 30 minutes like that.

Slowly, the light completely disappeared, and darkness welcomed us.

And for the first time in a long time, the roaring stopped.

But then, Kairek and Daybek quickly took their stances.

“……?”

A status window popped up before me, who was flustered.

『Killing intent detected. Drawing 3 cards.』

[Strike (1)] [Flash (0)] [Fireball (1)]

Huh?

“Wait…”

Lloyd’s head, which was ahead, was torn off.

Eaten by the mouth of a wolf.

Padddrrrt!!!

Lloyd’s head being crushed.

Blood spattered widely around.

“This bastard came into a wolf den?!”

The shouting Daybek cut off the head of one approaching wolf.

“Mage-nim!!!”

Hans, who had somehow come next to me, blocked the wolf’s attack.

Kairek blew away all the wolves that had bitten him.

Krrrrl!!!

The roaring that immediately began to be heard.

It happened in an instant.

First, I use a card.

[Fireball]

The surroundings brightened due to the red flames swirling around my body.

Countless wolves visible between the canyon’s rocks.

No, how did we not know anything until they approached like this?

“When the roaring disappears in the canyon, it’s common sense that you’re surrounded!”

“Not knowing that, this guide bastard tricked us!”

Daybek, after sticking a torch onto his helmet, swung his sword towards the continuously charging wolves.

Kairek shot arrows, pushing back the wolves.

I cast an enhanced Fireball towards the wall beside me.

Hwarrrrlk!!!

The wolves easily dodging the Fireball.

But the enhanced Fireball spread around and stuck to the wolves’ fur.

Krrrrl!!!

Seeing the wolves falling, I summoned the Auto Defense Golem.

“Shield.”

The Auto Defense Golem cast a shield around me.

[Strike]

A strong impact struck one wolf.

But it wasn’t dead yet.

The wolves hit by flames also put out the fire among themselves.

If it’s like this, I can’t do anything for 1 minute.

“Tsk! We must retreat first!!”

Daybek shouted while slicing one wolf.

Our judgment wasn’t different.

“Let’s run!!”

“I’ll open the way!!”

Wolves covering all directions.

Kairek fired a harpoon arrow towards the canyon wall.

Kwaaaaang!!!

The canyon wall collapsing.

Rocks fell down in a shower.

The wolves dodging.

We immediately ran to the opposite side.

Kairek breaking through the charging wolves with his bare hands.

It was a situation where an archer was acting as a charge leader, but there was no one to say anything.

Seeing the wolves falling down in a shower every time Kairek swung his arm, I threw a card.

[Flash]

I escape far ahead with Hans.

The wolves are no longer visible.

Looking back, Daybek was passing Kairek.

“I’ll block the way!!!”

Kairek, who recovered the harpoon arrow using [Arrow Recall], broke the canyon again.

Kwaaang!!!

The rocks falling down in a shower blocked the wolves.

The wolves unable to cross the rocks.

Sad howling could be heard.

“Let’s get out of here as we are.”

“Okay!”

Not being able to retrieve Lloyd’s explorer tag wasn’t polite, but. Still, shouldn’t we stay alive?

We escaped from the wolf den.

After running for about 10 minutes. We found a place where a ray of sunlight came in and took a spot.

“What on earth happened?”

To be suddenly attacked by a pack of wolves out of nowhere.

“Hmph, that guide bastard lied about his abilities. He must have been a guide just hanging around the 1st~2nd floors.”

Daybek muttered while applying a potion.

Certainly, up to the 2nd floor wasn’t bad, but from the 3rd floor onwards, something was very clumsy.

Just then, Hans handed me a canteen.

“It seems he exaggerated his abilities a bit, thinking, ‘Since there’s the Mage-nim and Mr. Kairek, won’t it be okay?’ When they work on floors 1~2 and see the rewards of the 3rd floor, their eyes go crazy.”

“That’s true.”

Even if he went once and his abilities were exposed and he got fired, he would have already made a killing on the 3rd floor, so it wouldn’t have been a bad situation.

“Looks like he didn’t know he would die.”

“It’s arrogance. It’s originally hard to find decent people among those low-level guide bastards.”

Daybek, spewing abusive language.

It seems he’s experienced situations like this often.

“Anyway, it’s a big problem. There’s no place where a guide’s importance is as high as Blade Canyon.”

“Is that so?”

“Attacks from the darkness are so frequent, and because of the beast’s roars, it’s difficult to react first most of the time.”

“That’s certainly true.”

A situation where you really don’t know when you’ll be ambushed.

Continuing to fight in this kind of combat environment is impossible.

Leaving the request aside, staying alive is important for now.

I made a decision.

“As soon as the red portal opens, let’s go outside.”

“Time remaining?”

“21 hours.”

“Tsk.”

Survival out of nowhere, huh.

“…It’s not easy.”

“The Labyrinth is like this originally. Mage. Especially people who travel temporarily like me feel it even more keenly.”

“Haa…”

I thought this expedition would go reasonably well, but…

“Then what should we do for the remaining time…?”

Just then.

A status window appeared before my eyes.

『Combat Start. Drawing 3 cards.』

[Strike (1)] [Shield (1)] [Force Field (2)]

“Prepare for combat!!!”

A spider charged towards me as soon as my words finished.

Puook!!!

Daybek’s sword pierced the spider’s body.

Green blood from the spider’s body poured onto his body.

Just when the spider’s legs, moving rapidly, felt disgusting.

The spider was already split in half and flew behind me.

“Aaaaargh…!!”

So disgusting.

As I immediately drove out the darkness with a torch, countless large spiders were surrounding us.

But the highlight, as expected, was the giant spider descending from the ceiling.

“Self-destruct.”

The Auto Defense Golem that popped out of the subspace soared into the sky and exploded.

Purrrrng!!!!

Leaving the giant spider, which was pushed back considerably, behind, the spiders that had been surrounding us began to charge towards us.