NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51
“…Eliaernes. I don’t think that place where we took our exam last time was a labyrinth, just like you said.”
As regular classes wrapped up, evening settled in.
Stella, diligently spooning at her beef stew, unexpectedly whispered a topic into my ear.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Today, I had a class about the labyrinth, and it suddenly reminded me of that time…?”
“See? I told you. The real one is on a whole different level. Normally, it’s hard to even breathe from all the magic in there.”
“…Do you talk like you’ve actually experienced it?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“You said you saw it in a book last time.”
“I did see it in a book.”
“Hmmm…”
“What? Why are you acting like that?”
Stella, glancing at me with her annoying little snicker, chuckled softly.
“It’s just funny how you talk about something you’ve only heard and seen like it’s a given.”
“What? Are you bragging about having experienced it?”
“I’m not bragging, but I’ve definitely experienced it. And it wasn’t as hard to breathe as you said. Just a bit uncomfortable, maybe?”
“You must have been stuck in that ridiculous labyrinth.”
“Wh-what? No! When I came out, the adventurers said it was a 5th rank labyrinth?!”
“Wow. Impressive.”
“…This is so frustrating.”
In the past, I wouldn’t have believed Stella’s words, but now, I just take it in stride.
I had also just attended a class about labyrinths.
And in that lecture, I learned an incredibly shocking fact that I had never read at home.
The Labyrinth had created its minions.
Starting from a Dark Mage to a Mage and even Apostles.
The minion of that woman, the Dark Mage, had only appeared publicly for about 15 years.
But judging from the Dark Mage’s level, it seemed she had been receiving the Labyrinth’s powers long before those 15 years.
Even so, the creation of these minions happened recently.
After nearly 300 years of living quietly, why would she suddenly start doing such things?
What on earth prompted her to create minions?
Trying to understand a Demon Race, especially a Legion Commander’s thoughts, is crazy, but still, one could make some inferences.
The actions of the Labyrinth were utterly incomprehensible.
She used to take great pride in her abilities, insisting the labyrinth must always be perfect.
Even though she had startled us by suddenly expanding the labyrinth, she would dismantle it just because a part of it displeased her.
Why would that Labyrinth act this way?
If the minions receiving the power of Sloth were to create a labyrinth, it would clearly turn into a ridiculous one.
Moreover, the Empire even set ranks for these haphazardly emerging labyrinths.
From Special to 7th rank.
Special being the highest, and 7th being the lowest.
According to the professor’s explanation, a Special Labyrinth could only be breached by at least three individuals of 6th rank.
In my view, they all just seem like ridiculous labyrinths.
Compared to the labyrinth directly created by the Labyrinth itself, they’re child’s play.
Could that Labyrinth be going senile for real?
“What are you guys talking about?”
Just then, Yurasia, who had just picked up her dinner, sat down across from Stella and me.
Pina, who followed Yurasia closely, also sat beside her with sandwiches in both hands.
“Talking about the labyrinth.”
“Huh? The labyrinth?”
“Yeah. Remember the one we took our entrance exam in? That Stella girl was so scared she cried like a baby—”
“AAAH! NO! NO!!”
“Whoa, damn! What the hell? Why are you screaming like that?”
“I’m not! I’m NOT!! Stop lying!”
“It’s not a lie! If you had gone a little further in there, you would’ve been ready to wet yourself!”
“AAAH! NO! NO! SHUT UP!!!”
GwahAAAH! I promptly shoved a large piece of eggplant into Stella’s mouth.
“Mmph?! Ugh…”
Suddenly, silence descended.
Indeed, eggplants are not tasty.
Yurasia watched Stella, who kept gagging, and smiled bitterly while tying her long hair beautifully, tilting her head slightly.
“So, Stella, have you really experienced being trapped in a labyrinth?”
“Ugh, uhh… Yeah, a long time ago.”
“Seriously… weren’t you scared?”
“Huh? Of course not! I’m a silver-ranked 1-star adventurer! There’s no way I’d be scared of a mere labyrinth. Hmph.”
“You were mad scared. Just talking about it makes you tremble.”
“Hey! You! Stop saying that!!”
“Hhmmpff! Hhhmmm! Hmph.”
“Wha… what?!”
With Stella shaking her fists, ready to hit me, I couldn’t help but smirk before munching on some cherry tomatoes that Yurasia had handed over.
“Well, you managed to get out in one piece, huh? So how was it? Was it totally different from the labyrinth we encountered during the entrance exam?”
Meanwhile, Yurasia, her eyes sparkling with curiosity about the labyrinth, asked.
“Well… it was definitely different. The labyrinth I was trapped in had magic infused in the air. So it felt… sticky and suffocating?”
At Stella’s explanation, Pina, with her cheeks puffed out, also started to sparkle with interest.
“And because of that magic, my mana control was a bit sluggish. Hehe, well? I’m a Mage of Shadow Lance, you know? Hehe. So I pride myself on being the fastest in magic implementation. But even I found it a bit hard to use my magic there. But it wasn’t a problem!”
Clap, clap, clap! Pina cheered, clapping her hands.
Yurasia also gasped in admiration, “Wow…”
As Stella’s shoulders lifted, she began to grandly recount her tale.
Her excited chatter was rather cute, and I held my tongue.
Stella didn’t seem to want to interrupt me, so she continued with even more enthusiasm.
“So! I managed to escape. Hehe. What do you think? If you remember what I said, you can get out of any labyrinth without trouble.”
“Listening to you, it really seems a Mage is a must-have in a party…”
“Exactly! Since there’s so much they can do with magic, they’re pretty much essential! Hehe.”
I agreed with that.
In Gebihenum, a Mage is a necessity.
From starting fires to sneaking into places using Silence magic, casting sentries with magic, and when it rains heavily, raising the ground to create ceilings, standing walls during hurricanes, fixing cracked ground, and even utilizing teleportation magic to escape when the sky collapses.
Just like that.
Setting combat aside, in Gebihenum, the quality of life drastically changes.
“So… why wasn’t there a Mage in the Hero’s party?”
In the meantime, Yurasia brought up a very sensitive subject.
I had been saving this topic for later when we’d be closer since I didn’t know how Stella would react.
But Yurasia had decided to poke the knife…!
“Well, it could be that in a normal continent, maybe, but Gebihenum is such a barren land. I wonder how they lived without a Mage there…”
I tried to keep my expression natural as I glanced around and stole a look at Stella’s face.
Stella…
“…Right. I’ve actually been curious about that too.”
Seems she had no clue.
Does she really have zero information about her ancestors?
“So I had one guess.”
Clearly unaware, she spoke with a clever-looking, yet obliviously empty expression, “I wonder if the Saint took over the role of the Mage.”
“…Uh. Could that be possible?”
“I’m not sure, actually. The concept of Divine Power isn’t widely known in this world. But from various materials I’ve seen, there’s information suggesting they purified plants that grew with magic and used them as food. So maybe… they achieved more than even magic could offer.”
What she said wasn’t that they purified magic; we had simply reached a level where we were fine eating such things.
“I’ve even heard they turned water infused with magic into wine.”
It wasn’t that they turned water into wine; the liquor was legit.
“I even heard that they somehow managed to make a fire in the demon realm, where not even a tree for firewood could grow… so perhaps the miracles that the Saint performed were truly miraculous.”
They used the corpses of Demon Race as firewood.
And that was done not to survive, but to have a good time at campfires with drinks every time.
After all, we were a standard Hero party.
In other words, we were different from the so-called Hero parties.
The self-proclaimed Hero parties would hire a pack mule to carry all sorts of artifacts.
And they would have at least ten members.
On top of that, they would hit up the Empire at least once a fortnight to buy supplies, stock up on preserved food, and purify the magic in their bodies.
Those who claimed to be slightly stronger Hero parties would stop by a checkpoint at the edge of the Demon Realm just to do a quick maintenance.
In contrast, we didn’t do maintenance at all.
The necessary supplies were simply what we ‘borrowed’ from the Demon Race… or rather, used, while chewing on monster meats, and Luna purified the magic.
The reason?
The sheer laziness was the biggest factor.
We preferred to think about killing one more Demon instead of traveling back and forth.
“So, Eliaernes. What do you think?”
I swallowed the piece of meat I had been chewing and looked at Stella.
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because it’s you. You’re the one most interested in the Hero party around here.”
“That’s not true.”
“What are you talking about? You’re always up until late at night reading about the Hero party.”
“…When did you sneak a peek?”
“I didn’t sneak a peek! I just saw it! Seriously! Ugh! How ridiculous. Anyway, what do you think? Was there really no Mage in the Hero party? Or…”
Stella lowered her voice, glancing around.
“Was the Mage killed, and the records erased?”
Seeing her seriously ponder this question made me think she really knew nothing about her ancestors.
“W-well, it’s possible they might have hidden it out of fear that it would lower morale or something, right? What do you say? Sounds plausible, right?”
It seemed beyond mere ignorance; it felt like she just lacked thought altogether.
…Have I been trying to keep watch over this dumb girl all this time?
I suddenly felt a wave of self-loathing.
As I glared at her with cold eyes, Stella frowned and snapped.
“…What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What?”
“Why are you looking at me so rudely?”
“What rudeness? I mean, there might have been a Mage. Even if there wasn’t, I’d think the Hero party would still be strong.”
I shook my head and randomly tossed out some suitable comments while munching on the last cherry tomato.
Eventually…
Ding, ding. The bell rang, announcing 7 PM.
“Yikes… it’s already 7.”
Yurasia, looking dejected, stood up from her seat.
“You said you’d head to the Arant Museum, right?”
“Yeah…”
Yurasia needed to go to the museum for an assignment her professor gave regarding tomorrow’s Tactical Weapon lecture.
And we hadn’t even gotten started yet, and she already had homework.
How scary.
“Wanna come with if you’re bored?”
“Hehe. No, it’s fine. I’ll be back before 9, at least!”
“Really? Then bring back some Tanghulu.”
“Eww… Eating sweets before sleeping is bad for your teeth.”
“I brush well.”
“Ugh… Then I’ll buy just one for you.”
[Please be careful, Yurasia!]
“Hoho. Okay. You too, Pina, keep it up!”
“Sis, have a safe trip!”
“Yep, thanks.”
With Yurasia smiling brightly at the offer to go along, she wiggled her hand as she walked away.
And then…
“Pina. Let’s get moving too.”
[Yes!]
Stella, who had decided to help Pina with her studies starting today, also stood up.
“I’m heading to the Mana Training Room with Pina, what about you?”
“I’m going to my Personal Training Grounds.”
“…Personal Training Grounds? Can a 1st-year use that?”
“Normally, no. But the Vice Headmaster gave me permission, so I can use it.”
“…Really?”
“Why? Are you jealous? Want to use it too?”
“…No? Not jealous? No way!”
She had just been staring at me as if she was jealous a moment ago.
Hehe. I chuckled and grabbed my plate as I stood up.
“Really? I was going to say we could go together if you wanted to use it, but I guess the Mana Training Room seems more comfortable for you.”
“…Uh, yeah?”
“Anyway, good luck. See you in the morning.”
With Stella’s expression looking somewhat vacant, and Pina bouncing with excitement over studying with a friend, I walked away.
*
Three hours later.
A labyrinth appeared at the Arant Weapon Museum, where Yurasia had headed.
The offering to the labyrinth was a 6th rank Swordsman.
The generated rank was…
Special.