Depths of the Otherworldly Labyrinth (WN)

The cathedral of Whoseyards… Its huge and majestic building was one of the most representative symbols of the country of Whoseyards. It was located on the 9th block and surrounded by many public institutions.

When I heard it was a cathedral, I had thought it was a larger version of a western church, but my vision of it didn’t match its real-life counterpart.

If I had to describe the cathedral using one word, it would be “fortress”. An area the size of several Tokyo domes enclosed by a man-made river and further surrounded by tall coniferous trees and an iron fence to hide the interior.

At the center of it all was a tall construct that overshadowed even the conifers—a fortress tower.

To enter the castle, one had to pass through a huge drawbridge over the man-made river.

There was only one place where the drawbridge lowered. That meant that, fundamentally, the whole place had only one entrance.

The huge drawbridge, fifty meters wide, hadn’t been raised and remained lowered throughout the day. Dia had told me that it wasn’t customary to draw the drawbridge, so there seemed to be no need to worry about being forced to cross the river.

That said… the drawbridge was heavily guarded up for it.

There were several dozen knights standing guard over the drawbridge at all times. At the end of the bride was a huge gate, and on either side of the gate was a raised platform. I could spot small garrisons near the platform. It was clear that they were determined to not let any sketchy character pass, no matter what.

I contemplated how to cross the river.

At that moment, there were knights standing guard every ten meters around the perimeter of the river. There would be even more guards the next day. Therefore, I concluded, entering wouldn’t be as easy as freezing the water and climbing over the fence. Above all, it would be difficult to find a way inside other than through the main gate.

All I knew was the way from the main gate to the cathedral that Dia had told me of. If I took different entrances, the time loss would be less predictable.

‘Should I go through the main gate, or should I cross the river…’

It might be better to decide after comparing the thickness of the security on D-day. If the security around the rivers didn’t change the next day, I’d choose to cross the river.

* * *

* * *

As I was simulating my intrusion, I caught a peculiar presence with «Dimension». It was easy to tell to whom that abnormally high-temperature body belonged.

“—Heya. You’re hard at work, I see.”

Alty the Guardian called out to me from behind.

“What do you want?”

“I already knew the situation. So, I’m here to check on you.

Alty talked with her eyes that seemed to see through everything. Maybe she’d heard of Lastiara’s circumstances from either Dia or Maria. Or perhaps she perused her cheat of an ability to eavesdrop on either of us.

And she had a question for me on that front.

“Check?”

“What is the reason for you to save Lastiara? If it is love, then I must prepare to assist you.”

Still a fan of romance, as always.

She seemed to really make everything about romance. She was right on the money that time, though. I mused a little, then shook my head.

“I’m not driven by love or romance. I’m here for a simpler reason.”

After all, that emotion was already gone. Such a beautiful thing no longer dwelled in my heart.

Something that I didn’t have couldn’t be a reason. It would be disrespectful to Lastiara, and I couldn’t accept it either. So what I had left was a very simple reason.

“Which is?”

“It ticks me off. I can’t stand being played around like this. That’s why I’ll break all of Lastiara’s ties.”

By that, I meant it was frustrating to be played around by this other world, by the Skills, by the magic, by the countries, by the cultures, and so on, and so forth.

One must have free will. I couldn’t continue my exploration if my free will was taken away from me.

Thus, I would go against the «???» Skill and help Lastiara, and after all was said and done, the two of us would explore the Labyrinth with Maria and Dia.

“Hm… I don’t really get it, but… If you tell me it’s not out of love, then it will be hard for me, one who lives for love, to help you out.”

“You don’t have to do anything. If your presence is discovered, our position as collaborators will be in jeopardy. If you want to help, help us in the Labyrinth, not in the towns.”

“Mhm, got that. I don’t want to do anything that might jeopardize Maria-chan, the girl I’m rooting for right now, so I’ll just sit it out for this one.”

Alty was surprisingly understanding, and with a very kind look on her face, she added:

“But I don’t want you to die. Light a fire if you think you’re in danger. As long as there’s fire, I can help you out. I’ll keep myself open for you and companion, Christ, so feel free anytime.”

With those words, Alty turned on her heel.

“You have my thanks.”

“Don’t mind it. We’re collaborators, after all.”

Alty’s voice was trembling when she replied—not from sadness or other negative emotions, but from joy. She was smiling, albeit a small one.

“Fufufu, a little more… Just a little more…”

With such a disheartening laugh, Alty disappeared.

She looked suspicious, but I couldn’t put a finger on it. Alty was a monster, so there must be something only she could understand. It was exactly the same laugh as Tida’s, after all.

There was not enough time to try to understand her, not then. I had to start with Lastiara rather than wasting my brain power on her.

I shifted the gear in my mind and moved on to the next step.

The next step was shopping and researching at the library. Shopping was for tools and weapons I would use. While at the library, I would look into Whoseyards and its Holy Birthday.

However the die rolled, it was always better to know the chances.

—I didn’t get any information that was particularly noteworthy, though.

All the library offered was all I already knew. I had no choice but to look into magic, which was my next objective.

There was a high possibility that I would face battle, facing a large number of people.

I looked for the spells that I might need to leverage. Of course, researching the spell didn’t mean I could get my hands on it. Nevertheless, I kept digging into the books and looked. I read the details of the spells I laid my eyes on again and again until I memorized them.

Why did I do that?

—It was so I could make them.

Sometimes ago, Maria and Franrühle had told me it was impossible to create spells. At the time, I didn’t argue with them back, but in reality, I had already created quite a lot of spells.

While they were only extensions of an application of their base magic, I’d made five new spells: «Dimension Gladiator», «Dimension Multiple», «Ice Quick Arrow», «Daytime Snow», «Ice Flamberge».

Maria said that creating magic was only a thing of fairy tales, but all along, I had been thinking that this world was very much like a fairytale.

I knew that only ‘a handful of people,’ like heroes in epics, could create magic. Which was precisely why I was confident that I could create magic, too.

I finished my research on magic and left the library. As I walked around, I envisioned my new magic.

“I’m sure I’m part of those people… —Magic, «Dimension», «Freeze»…”

With a small murmur, I mixed the two invoked spells together.

The image of the spell was already solidified. I’d researched it in the library for that reason. Creating an image from nothing was difficult. However, if the image of it already existed, then creating similar magic was easy—that had already been proven.

—I carefully worked out the magic.

If possible, I prefered to practice in the privacy of my home, but a second spent not practicing was a second wasted.

The path behind me was slightly frozen. It was such a small freeze that anyone had to stare to notice it.

With small icicles growing out from my footsteps, I walked back home.