The Labyrinth’s Garden

 

As though emerging from the bottom of a deep lake, her consciousness gradually surfaced.
As she awoke from her slumber, the existence known as Ria was being reconstructed.
Her senses returned. She clearly experienced her sense of touch.
(I.. can move…?)
In the dark, she reached out. Something crisp broke, light flooded her eyes.
She could shift her body. From her fingertips to the tips of her toes.
She recalled that memory. She’d needed to cut off her leg. Did Lulu reattach it?

Still not entirely lucid, Ria wondered what happened to her as she got up.
She was sleeping on a bed in the nude. It was a cabin with a strong wooden aroma. There were black fragments from something on the bed, it seemed to be what had surrounded Ria.
(Where… is this?)
Daylight streamed in from the wooden floor. If she were out of the dungeon, why was she in a cabin like this?
A change of clothes were left for Ria on top of the chair sitting next to the bed. There were boots left below it as well. All things she had given to Serge before the battle.
There were neatly folded underwear. On that subject, though she told Serge he didn’t have to do something strange like that earnestly, he answered with a discouraged expression.
“Nee-chan, I’m not at the age where s.e.xual desire comes out yet. Besides, I’m just not interested in the contents.”
Smiling while recalling that, Ria dressed. There were neither weapons nor armor. Neither was the magic bag there. They probably all melted in the giants stomach. There was the dagger with the seal.
Though her equipment felt very disheartening, Ria left the cabin.

“Wow…”
Filled with light, a field br.i.m.m.i.n.g with flowers extended before her.
The sun was almost directly above, yet it shined with a gentle light. There were large trees spread out here and there, producing shade.
From the nearest tree came a figure running towards her.
“Nee-chan~”
It was Serge. Though he was running with a smile on his face, he was worried about Ria.
“That’s good, you woke up.”
“And Maal?”
Though she vigorously clapped the boy on the top of his head in an embrace, Ria worried about the other person’s survival.
“I conveyed the message to Maal. I’ve been waiting for Nee-chan to hatch from the egg.”
He said something that she couldn’t ignore.
“Egg?”
She didn’t understand. However, she a.s.sumed it was probably the fragments that covered the bed.
“Huh? I thought it was something from Nee-chan’s gift though.”
Though Serge tilted his head, Ria had no clue what it was. When she used Self Check, it appeared that Gifts were unleashed.
Dormancy, it was like molting. There was also Super Regeneration too. She guessed it was better than High Speed Regeneration.
“Apparently, looks like it. Since it was the first time I’ve gotten that injured.”
In that case, it’s good. According to Serge, a black eggsh.e.l.l covered Ria’s fainted body. Then without reacting at all, a week pa.s.sed.
“A week huh…”
“After a day went by, Maal went back to the surface. I stayed behind because of the lord of the labyrinth’s story…”
“The lord of the labyrinth, that means this is inside of the labyrinth?”
Though she expected it, she wondered how they reproduced the sun in the labyrinth.
“It’s because there’s eleven floors in the labyrinth. More accurately, it seems closer to another world though.”
Another world again, that’s a big scaled story.
“Then, what of the labyrinth’s lord?”
She somewhat raised her guard. Since it was an existence that could produce such a gentle place, it probably wasn’t wicked. It might have close to a human’s sensibilities. She could judge that based on Serge’s appearance.
Though at the same time, they must be the owner of an immense power.
“O~i, Labyrinth~”
Serge waived his arms towards a big tree. From there, a fluffy light headed their way.
It wasn’t that big. Around thirty centimeters at most. In the light, she could make out the appearance of a winged fairy.
Even so, Labyrinth?
“Oh my, you woke up.”
The soft light dimmed, showing the appearance of a tiny fairy wearing a green dress.
“My name is Labyrinth. The lord of this labyrinth.”
Her face was full of a powerful curiosity. Ria remembered this gaze. It was the gaze she’d felt throughout the dungeon.
Continuing her sentence, Ria froze.
“The same as you two, I am a reincarnated person.”

 

 

For the time being, after finishing her self introduction, Labyrinth spoke with a smile.
“Being born as a princess was a great use of points~”
Though that was a misunderstanding, it was easily corrected. Labyrinth had a Gift called Fairy’s Mind’s Eye and could use Identify on Ria.
“Dragon’s Bloodline huh? That’s the same Gift Anaia had. Though it seems you have more skills than Anaia, you still haven’t drawn out the power of the Gift.”
While casually saying momentous things, Labyrinth filled me in on information from after the Cyclops was defeated.
After Ria fainted, her body was immediately covered by a black sh.e.l.l. In front of the two other confused people, Labyrinth appeared.
Labyrinth said that she was the lord of the labyrinth, teleporting the two and the egg to this area.
Since it was a dragon’s egg according to Identify, she recommended to wait and see what happened. The two people agreed.
Before teleporting Maal to the surface and the egg to the bed, they received their rewards. After that, she had reminiscent talk of j.a.pan and the like with Serge, watching him practice magic.
“Reminisced about j.a.pan? Even though it’s been a thousand years…”
Ria’s question was reasonable, though Serge already thought that at first. Due to reincarnating into this world, twenty-first century j.a.panese seemed to be scattered through the ages. When she heard what year Labyrinth died in, it was just a little before Ria.
“I chose the Gift of Genesis Magic. Then by raising my level in the Great War a thousand years ago, my Gift sublimated into Labyrinth Creation. Since then, I’ve always been training adventurers.”
She didn’t say explorers. When Labyrinth made this labyrinth, that t.i.tle was more common.
“Why train them?”
“It will be time for another Great War soon right? In preparation for that, I’m raising the mankind side’s strength.”
However, she shook her head. It might have been too gentle of her to not allow casualties.
Though they wouldn’t lose everything when they die, since she cultivated them at such great pains, she wanted it to be more intense. Though in the last one hundred years, only one person other than Ria’s had made it to the final floor.
“By the way, what was that person’s name?”
“Not telling. It’s personal information. Well, I believe you’ll meet them naturally in the Great War.”
Though she thought the Ogre King said the person was named Ars, confirming it didn’t matter.

She forgot about it due to the reincarnation-related talk, there was something else important.
“There was talk about getting a wish when you capture the labyrinth…”
“By all means, don’t hold back. So long as I am capable.”
She pretty much confirmed it. Seeing this labyrinth, she could do considerable things.
“In truth, I was a man in my previous life, but…”
You can’t return to being a man? Thought Labyrinth, folding her arms and pondering the question.
“This is the first time I’ve heard of having a different s.e.x than your previous life… That aside, it is easy to become a man. It can be done with magic. Though you don’t just want to look like a man, you want to have all functions of a man as well?”
Ria nodded. Labyrinth had an apologetic look.
“If that’s it, it is possible. Though, since it requires your genes to be rewritten, you’ll have to start over again from a baby…”
Saying in addition to that, there was a high possibility that her memories would disappear.
It was the same as being unreasonably impossible. She expected it, but was still greatly disappointed.
“Then, is there any other way…?”
“No, perhaps…”
There was a small possibility, but before bringing it up, Labyrinth spoke.
“If it’s Valis, he might know. He’s lived much longer than me, and knows details concerning the Dragon’s Bloodline.”
Dark Dragon Valis.
Again, a big name appeared.
The only one of the Five G.o.d Dragons that visibly supported humans. Settled in the northwest continent’s Labyrinth of Darkness, it’s said he is preparing to battle the demons that will soon arrive.
“That Azelford… I wonder if he hasn’t died yet? Or that elf, Corfus. The other Five G.o.d Dragons are sure to have abundant knowledge as well. There have been a few clues, but I don’t know which continents they’re on, don’t have any expectations. They probably changed their names and faces anyways.”
Azelford was a great sage that took residence at Sacred Mountain Cyrus. Rufus was his apprentice when he was young. For Ria, he was her teacher’s teacher.
Corfus lived in the depths of the Oomori Woods at the northeast of the continent, an ancient elf clan. Though he was a legendary figure, he was reasonably favorable towards humans.
Nevertheless, the names of those legendary figures came out like bangs.
Though her name didn’t leave its mark on history, Labyrinth might also be a legendary hero.

“Due to that, the wish is impossible. Is there anything else? If you’re a warrior, are you not interested in amazing weapons?”
Speaking of a weapon…
“In the fight against the Cyclops, I used all of my weapons, but I wonder if they could be fixed if possible?”
“Eh? I’d do that much for free. Here.”
When Labyrinth waved her hand, all of Ria’s armor and weapons appeared in front of her. Of course, that included the exploded katana.
It was a bonus that Carlos’ crushed and distorted armor was restored as well. The shield wasn’t a magic item so it was okay.
“Ah, the magic bag isn’t there. Since it’s a magic item that uses a bit of power, that needs a wish.”
“By the way, what did Serge and Maal get?”
When she asked, Serge proudly took out a thick grimoire.
In the grimoire was written all of the magic known by Labyrinth, including magic lost nowadays. Though he couldn’t use it yet, it even had genesis magic, he’d never let it go. It was under a special magic that made it so only Serge could read it.
Maal seemed to receive the ability to use magic. More accurately, it drew out her talent for magic. Having Fairy Eyes, Maal already had apt.i.tude for spirit magic, so it manifested as that. For more information she’d have to ask Maal.
“Simply, I want to be stronger…”
“In order to get stronger, this labyrinth is here. Though this is the ideal environment for strengthening, it’s impossible for it to happen instantly.”
She had a point.

But Ria was still troubled. When the wish she wanted granted the most became impossible, she couldn’t think of another one.
She was the princess of a country after all. If it was something that could be solved by money, she could manage it somehow.
“How about a magic sword? Inexperienced n.o.bles bring them in, there are a lot.”
Unfortunately, she didn’t excel much at handling swords. Even though her Swordplay Skill was high, she found katanas more manageable.
Katanas were a comparatively minor weapon in this world. There was complexity in its manufacturing process too and almost never existed as a magic weapon.
“Though I want a katana, there probably aren’t many katanas better than this one.”
It was the katana that the Ogre King gave her. But Labyrinth didn’t understand the merits of katanas.
“If you want a katana so much, how about I make one?”
Seeing Ria’s devotion to katanas, Labyrinth proposed such a thing.
What was a katana? It wasn’t something that could be made so easily. Ria knew it well from her previous life.
“That is, with genesis magic. If it’s not a magic item, it’s pretty easy to make.”
“Labyrinth, I was given the chance to see many katanas referred to as famous in my previous life, but to be honest, the katanas of this world are almost nothing compared to the Wazamono.” [TN: Wazamono]
That’s how it was. Even the katana the Ogre King gave her was incomparable to Nagasone Kotetsu. If she had Nagasone Kotetsu, that fight against the Cyclops would have been effortless.
“If you’ve seen a lot of them, I believe you could make more. The manufacturing method and manufacturing process, do you know them?”
“Of course. Not just once or twice, I’ve actually seen them temper the blade.”
It was to the point she could release a book about it.
“Using genesis magic, you can ultimately manifest your own imagination. If you have your ideal katana inside yourself, you can make it.”
If so, if that’s true, it was definitely attractive.
“I could divide a part of my ability, giving you a magic called Weapon Creation. At worst, you could produce the same katanas that you’ve seen. Ah, magic weapons are still something else though.”
She could make an identical katana. That was sufficiently attractive.
“Then let’s go with that.”
She readily nodded. Labyrinth placed her small hand on Ria’s forehead.
“The ability will flow across for a moment. Be careful not to collapse.”

Along with Labyrinth’s voice, she felt something warm flow into her.
It had the appearance of a flame.
Heating iron, the flame forged it.
It was a nostalgic thing. It was something she yearned for.

Together with the memories filling her mind, Ria was awarded a new ability.

 

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