I Became a Slave Collector in the Labyrinth City

“There are more people than I expected, even though it’s evening.”

“That’s right.”

The cathedral was still bustling with people.
It must be because there have been so many deaths after the Great Shift.

“By the way, porter. Does the cathedral in the labyrinth city always operate this late?”

“Yes. The cathedral in the labyrinth city operates 24 hours a day.”

It’s difficult to check the time separately when you enter the labyrinth.
Some people buy expensive watches or use inconvenient hourglasses, but most adventurers roughly judge how many hours have passed by their body clock.

As a result, quite a few people have their day and night reversed because they can’t gauge time well.
There are surprisingly many situations where they come out to find it’s the middle of the night.

That’s why the cathedral in the labyrinth city operates 24 hours a day.
They need to resurrect the dead quickly before they decay.

“Wow. It’s really splendid. The cathedral ceiling is full of paintings..!”

“Yes. Because they have a lot of money.”

As we entered the cathedral, priests and nuns were bustling about busily.
The young lady couldn’t close her mouth as she looked at the cathedral while passing by them.

The cathedral ceiling had paintings like Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, and the decorations standing here and there were also very splendid.

Since they make money from resurrections, the interior can’t help but be luxurious.

“There should be a basement entrance somewhere around here.”

“Basement?”

“Yes. The resurrection room is in the basement.”

We surely had to go underground.
I forgot where it was because it’s been too long since I came.

In the end, we could only find the entrance leading to the basement after asking a very busy-looking nun about the location of the resurrection room.

“So this is the resurrection room.”

“Yes. The place where Rika will wake up.”

After wandering for a bit, we arrived at the resurrection room in the cathedral basement.
As we entered the resurrection room, a priest in sanitary clothing greeted us.

“Fortunately, the condition is relatively good.”

“There won’t be any problems reviving her, right?”

“Yes. The head is there. Hands, feet, arms and legs are all attached. The internal organs are slightly lacking, but I think we can fill them with cow or sheep organs.”

“Cow? Sheep?”

When he said they would replace Rika’s lost internal organs with those of livestock, the young lady asked the priest back as if to say ‘what nonsense is this?’

“Yes. We need to fill in the missing parts separately. It’s essential for proper attachment.”

“I see…”

“If you don’t like animal parts, monster parts are possible too.”

“Ah, no. That’s fine.”

The young lady shook her head vigorously.
Animal parts would be better than monster parts, I guess.

“Now then, about the cost. First, she’s a beginner who hasn’t gone through mana adaptation even once. And this is her first resurrection. Her rank is quite high, but not enough to emit sword aura. I think about 140 gold coins should do.”

Fortunately, it didn’t exceed 200 gold coins.

“Do I have to pay the cost right now?”

“No, it’s an amount you can pay off. But please be aware that until you pay off the full amount, the revived person’s identity will belong to the temple.”

“I understand.”

The young lady nodded.
Soon a document came out, and the young lady wrote her name and stamped her seal on it.

“Good. You’ve chosen to pay later. Then we’ll start the resurrection.”

“Okay..”

Rika’s corpse entered the resurrection coffin.
They’ll revive Rika using some kind of incantation developed by the Goddess Church.

This is called the elixir of resurrection.

“It will be finished by tomorrow morning when you come. Well then, take care.”

The priest bowed his head slightly and saw us off.

“Young lady, could you wait a moment?”

“Huh? Why?”

“I’m going to hand over the belongings and corpses of adventurers found in the labyrinth.”

“Ah, okay okay. I’ll wait.”

Afterwards, I was able to go back to the busy nun, hand over the adventurers’ corpses, and receive a few small confirmation slips.

If I take these to the guild, they’ll increase my reputation points.

“Then let’s go back. We’ve finished our tasks.”

“Okay. You worked hard. Thank you again for saving our team members.”

“It’s nothing.”

It’s all because of money, after all.

“So, young lady.”

“Yes. You’re talking about the compensation, right?”

“Yes.”

It’s good that we communicate well.
You immediately understand what I’m trying to say.

“First, you rescued Erika and Rika, so 30 gold coins. Right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

It was 20 if alive, 10 if we brought back even the corpse.

“And for rescuing me. My family will probably prepare a separate reward for this.”

The reward prepared by Count Lionel.
It’s likely not to end with just gold coins.

“For now, here.”

The young lady took out a leather pouch from her chest and handed it to me.

“I filled it with just 30 gold coins. Is it okay if I give you the price for my life later?”

I nodded and received the money pouch the young lady handed over. When I slightly opened the entrance, it was full of shining gold coins.

She probably put in almost all the money she had.
The young lady probably didn’t think she’d need this much money in such a short time.
In the first place, it’s rare for people to carry around hundreds of gold coins.

It seems she’s already contacted her family.
I’ll probably be able to receive the price for the young lady’s life soon.

In the first place, 30 gold coins is absolutely not a small amount of money.
There are many people who risk their lives to earn 30 gold coins.

‘I can buy a slave with this.’

Then it’s almost over now.
Most of the tasks that needed to be handled have been handled.
I’ve received almost all the compensation I should receive.

The connection between the young lady and me.
It will probably end soon too.

“Here’s your adventurer badge, young lady.”

The young lady’s adventurer badge and family seal that I had kept as proof of contract.
I took out the adventurer badge to hand it to the young lady, then took it back.

It’s not simply because I haven’t received all the payment that I’m not giving it.

“What? Why are you taking it back?”

“Young lady.”

“Yes?”

“You’re going to keep entering the labyrinth, right?”

“Well. Yeah. That’s right.”

“Even after experiencing this? Are you really going to keep entering?”

“…..”

When I asked while looking straight into her eyes.
The young lady avoided my gaze and didn’t answer.

“Young lady. We haven’t known each other for long, but. I’m saying this because I’m worried.”

“Do you really have to say those worried words?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, but I must say it.”

The young lady glared at me.
As if telling me to stop.

But I have to say it.
It can’t be helped.

I don’t want her to die.

“You don’t suit being an adventurer. How about giving up on your dream of being an adventurer and returning to your hometown, to your family?”

I know it’s presumptuous meddling.
Of course, I know I’m not in a position to tell someone to give up on their dream.

But.
If you keep entering the labyrinth like this.

Surely one day.
I felt like I would find the young lady’s dead body in a corner of the labyrinth.

“Hey, porter. Who are you to tell me not to enter the labyrinth?”

“….”

“Do you feel like a hero after saving someone weaker than you? Do you want to nag and meddle? Why are you interfering?”

Sharp words.
But I couldn’t answer her words.
Because it is meddling.

“If the young lady and I were truly complete strangers with no relationship at all. I wouldn’t have given such advice. No, I wouldn’t have cared at all.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It was a short time, but. I felt some affection for you. That’s why I came to this conclusion. Young lady, if you keep going into the labyrinth like this. There will surely be a moment when you can’t come out alive luckily like this time.”

“At such times, with resurrection…”

“Young lady, resurrection is not absolute.”

“I know that too.”

“No. You don’t know.”

You think you can enter the labyrinth recklessly because you have a lot of money and there’s a cheat-like technique called resurrection?

No. Not at all.

How many people who die in the labyrinth do you think can be resurrected?

If there are 100 corpses.
50 of them can’t be revived.

Above all, the corpse recovery rate in the labyrinth is not that high.

It’s because rescue teams were formed with gold badge adventurers due to the Great Shift that we were able to recover corpses to this extent.
Usually in the labyrinth city, there are more cases where they can’t bring back corpses even if they want to, or can’t revive them because they’re damaged.
Not everyone has a spatial pocket.

And it means you can revive relatively intact corpses.
It doesn’t mean you can revive everything unconditionally.

Just the sewers in the upper levels are a place where it’s difficult to properly collect corpses.
If you die in the sewers, your corpse disappears after being eaten by monsters that make corpses their staple food.

Let alone the underground city.
There are almost no monsters that dislike eating human corpses.

“Young lady. I understand well that you’re a noble young lady who doesn’t care about society’s gaze and is very lenient towards resurrection. But there are cases where revival itself is impossible.”

“…”

“Do you know where I went after telling you to wait just now?”

“..I don’t know.”

“The crematorium. I handed over the adventurers’ corpses I picked up from the labyrinth to the crematorium. Why? Because they were in a state too horribly damaged to be revived.”

“Are you saying, I’m going to die?”

“No. I’m just saying don’t die in the labyrinth unnecessarily.”

The young lady stared straight into my eyes.

She’s pretty. Her eyes are extremely beautiful.
How can a person’s eyes sparkle so much?

It’s like they captured the stars in the night sky.
She’s probably the most beautiful person I know.

It would be a waste of her face to die meaninglessly in this rotten labyrinth.
To be more honest, I’ve developed a slight crush on the young lady.

Why, you ask?
Well, because she’s pretty.

So I don’t want the young lady to die painfully in the labyrinth.
Although it was just one night, we overlapped our bodies and slept together.

We shared body heat.
There was even a brief sexual exchange.

Those various situations and the useless emotions that arose from them made me worry about her.

‘She’s still not listening, is she.’

I hoped she wouldn’t die.
But she looked determined.

She’ll enter the labyrinth again.
Rather, the more I try to stop her, the more she might want to enter the labyrinth due to reverse psychology.

Still, I had to say it.
So that I wouldn’t have any lingering attachment to her.

I said what I wanted to say.
Even if she dies in the labyrinth, I won’t have regrets about not being able to stop her.

Yes, this is enough.
It was just a one-night relationship in the first place.

It wasn’t such a deep relationship anyway.
Let’s not give too much meaning to this brief encounter.

That person and I are not anything…

“Hey, porter.”

“Yes?”

“You’re worried about me, right? That I might die somewhere.”

“…That’s right.”

“Then you know. Can’t you just keep protecting me?”

“Pardon?”

The young lady took one step closer to me.

“You protect me. Don’t tell me not to enter the labyrinth. Just come with me every time I go to the labyrinth. You can save me coolly like yesterday in every crisis situation.”

“No, that’s…”

“Why, you tell me not to go in. Who are you to say that. If you hate me dying so much, just follow me around and protect me.”

“That’s…”

As I’ve said several times.
I have a policy of not making exclusive contracts.

There are various reasons, but I disliked losing my freedom the most.
And I also really disliked having someone I formed too deep a connection with die in the labyrinth.

“I’ll meet all the conditions you want. I won’t insist on making an exclusive contract. I’ll only enter the labyrinth on the days you want. Let’s enter the labyrinth together.”

“No, why are you so obsessed with the labyrinth?”

“If you become my labyrinth partner, I’ll tell you then.”

What’s a labyrinth partner now?
It’s not like a sex partner or something…

Haah, this young lady is really driving me crazy.

My head is getting complicated.
The young lady saying she’ll meet all the conditions I want, so enter the labyrinth with her.

“All the conditions I want. You’ll meet them all, right?”

“Yes. If you want.. even this and that…”

“Excuse me? What did you say?”

“Ah, no. Nothing.”

Why are you blushing?
What exactly is “this and that”?

“First, young lady.”

“Yes yes.”

“We need to ask the opinions of your other companions. If they all don’t want to enter the labyrinth. Then you give up too. Don’t think about finding new party members.”

“Okay.. I understand.”

“And.”

“What else?”

“I’m going to buy a slave.”

“Huh? Why are you suddenly talking about that..”

“Don’t interfere with my private life. My dream is to get lots of slaves.”

“Well, I don’t really have a reason to interfere. We’re just labyrinth partners anyway.”

“Yes. That’s fine. And this is not an exclusive contract. Also, I might present my own strict standards.”

“It’s okay. If I can have a capable porter like you as a companion. I’ll allow all the conditions you want.”

“Yes. I understand. Then the first condition.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t enter the labyrinth arbitrarily without me. You’re too much of a novice.”

“Alright. I didn’t really plan to go in without you anyway.”

Her attitude of accepting all the conditions I would set was quite satisfactory.

Honestly, I’d prefer if she didn’t enter the labyrinth at all.
But since she says she’ll enter no matter what,
I have no choice but to go along with her for a while.

“Let’s talk about the details over dinner. I feel like I’m going to collapse from hunger.”

My stomach growled.
For now, it seems we should talk about future conditions while eating something.