Plight of a Hero
Ellis’s group returned to the transport area inside the adventurer guild safely thanks to the Ring of Return. As soon as they had appeared, though, they overheard a fierce dispute with the receptionist.
“Please! We are in a hurry!” A group of young people wearing gaudy armor were appealing to one of the receptionists.
The receptionist they were talking to was clearly bored from having to repeat themselves to the young adventurers.
“I have already told you many times. There is already a party currently exploring the Wight Labyrinth. Please wait until they return.”
But the young people didn’t back down. “If they only entered the labyrinth this morning, it will take them days to return! We need to seal the Demon Lord as soon as possible. You have to understand!”
Wight Labyrinth?
Seal the Demon Lord?
Ellis became interested in the words of the young man. She silenced the other four from saying anything and observed the situation for a little while longer.
A large man standing behind the one arguing with the receptionist stepped forward. “Gray, let’s just go straight to the labyrinth without the guild’s permission.”
However, on behalf of the young man called Gray, another lanky man objected. “Dams, do you know the location of the labyrinth?”
A woman with high skin exposure spoke up. “Gise is right. If we don’t have the adventurer guild supply us with a guide, we won’t be able to find the labyrinth’s entrance. How about Cliff tries and persuades the receptionist?”
Then a strange fairy-like guy who seemed really unreliable shook his head against the woman. “Peach, that’s asking way too much from me.”
The first young man tried appealing to the receptionist again. “Please! At least tell us where it’s located!”
Gray. Dams. Gise. Peach. Cliff.
Ellis repeated the names of the group, etching them into her brain. Then she motioned the four that she had previously stopped to take action.
The five took a detour around the reception hall to approach the counter without the receptionist seeing them. They made their way to a table nearest to the s.p.a.ce where the argument was taking place, and they all sat down. Then Ellis waved to the receptionist from where she was sitting.
“Ms. Helen. We came back.”
When the receptionist Helen noticed Ellis waving to her, she showed a relieved expression knowing that this headache would finally end. She then put on a business tone and addressed the arguing explorers.
“As the leading party for searching Wight Labyrinth has returned home, it is now accessible. Would you like to hire a guide right now?”
Then, the lanky man called Gise noticed Ellis and stepped out of the group to talk to her.
“Did you go to Wight Labyrinth?”
“Yea.”
Ellis consciously made her answer very simple.
Gise’s companions, who were until now completely ignoring everything else in the adventurer guild other than the receptionist, suddenly gathered near Gise as if they were following him.
“If that is so….”
Before Gise could ask any questions, though, the giant of a man called Dams interrupted.
“What’s this? If a little girl like this is going to explore the labyrinth, then it will be an easy victory for us!”
However, the young man Gray reproached the giant and began talking to Ellis.
“This rude way of talking must be stopped! Please, forgive our rudeness Mademoiselle.”
Uwaaa. This makes me feel gross.
This was the general feeling of everyone in Ellis’s party.
The young man is wearing flashy armor, but the head on his shoulders clearly belongs to a b.u.mpkin. At best, he’s simple. At worst, he’s filthy.
Ignoring the meaning of Ellis’s silence the flashy woman Peach stepped forward and started speaking.
“Gray, in your information, doesn’t it say that it will take days to explore Wight Labyrinth?”
Then Gray, who looked like he returned to his normal self, asked Ellis while still using that nauseatingly sweet tone of his.
“Mademoiselles, could you tell me about that labyrinth that you wonderful ladies tried out today?”
It really was a nasty way of speaking. This was the common impression owned by all the girls, so Ellis decided to deal with this on her own.
“Who are you?”
To Ellis’s question, the giant answered with a booming and powerful voice as if he was announcing it to the world.
“We are traveling the world in preparation for the battle once the Demon Lord awakens!”
They’re battling the Demon Lord.
They might be the Braves.
Ellis decided to show off for the time being.
“I’m sorry. A lot of skeletons attacked us in the first room, so we ran away.”
Ellis dropped her line of sight and made as if she was going to cry. Her performance was joined by Reeve and the others who also turned away as if to hide their shame.
“Aren’t you ashamed of relying on information from these little girls!?”
While taking the abuse from Peach, Gray bowed to Ellis.
“I’m sorry, Mademoiselles.”
Gray continued to the receptionist.
“Can we go now?”
“I will provide a guide if you’d like. If you’d like.”
Although the receptionist Helen took the time to repeat the phrase, “If you’d like,” n.o.body paid it any mind and Gray’s party members all left the adventurer guild for Wight Labyrinth with a guide.
The members of the hall silently watched the Brave group head out for the labyrinth, and the silence pervaded the guild after they were gone.
………
“Pffft.”
Someone couldn’t hold it in anymore.
And with that as the signal, the whole guild hall erupted into laughter all at once.
Every adventurer in the guild knows that Ellis, Reeve, and Frau were able to easily kill minotaurs and sleipnirs by themselves. Ellis was the daughter of the former head of the infiltration unit, Angus. Reeve was rumored to be a daughter of a fallen aristocrat, and Frau was the daughter of Theseus, the adventurer guild master himself. These three alone had the resources and skills to murder those monster cows and horses.
In addition, they now had Claire, the daughter of two famous magicians who worked under the workshop guild master Flint, and the beastgirl Katie, who was said to be Baltis’s secret weapon.
So the guys of the adventurer guild had come to believe that these girls could accomplish anything. At the very least, they knew right away that the line, “we ran away in the first room,” was a complete lie.
One of the people who knew Ellis from her job of driving the Lily Garden carriage called out to her from her table.
“So Ellis….How was it really?”
“Of course, we cleared it completely.”
From Ellis’s words, the laughter in the guild hall only increased in volume.
If what she said was true, that Wight Labyrinth was completely cleared, then you wouldn’t find anything there if you went now. Just an endless number of traps in every hallway, door, and empty treasure chest.
As everyone in the hall was laughing, Frau made a serious face.
“The Wight Labyrinth was very different from previous information. I would like to talk to my father about it, if possible.”
“Please wait one moment.”
Helen nodded to Frau’s request and excused herself to the back of the guild hall.
She came back soon after.
“Please go ahead to the interior room.”
“Thank you, Helen.”
The five girls gave Helen a bow and then went to the back room of the adventurer guild.
“Ah, our jewelry, you came back already.”
“I will hit you.”
After Frau and Theseus finished their traditional father-daughter exchange, Frau began to explain the situation with a serious look.
First of all, there were never any records of a transparent a.s.sa.s.sin or a rotten giant ever appearing in that labyrinth. The wight last boss was also much more powerful than it was in past accounts. The wight should have been able to cast spells at {Fire Bullet} level at most, but this one suddenly cast {Flare Burst} and almost wiped out the party.
Flare Burst = Required MP: unknown. Causes an explosive heat wave centered around the caster that deals 20 damage.
“There were also some absurd magic tools.”
Following Frau’s instructions, Ellis lined up the magic tools they had received in order in front of Theseus.
“Amulet of Silence.”
“Purification short sword.”
“Resistance plate armor.”
“Demon Lord’s Mark.”
“Bond bracelet.”
“What’s with this?”
Theseus appraised each item himself and voiced his surprise over the abilities of each item. He examined each item in turn while thinking.
“That reminds me, those noisy guys from before were yelling about it. What’s a Demon Lord?”
It seems that he overheard the entire disturbance from back here. What a tough old man.
“It might be that you girls entered a unique labyrinth.” Theseus eventually explained.
Unique dungeons are said to be labyrinth mutations. And as soon as a unique dungeon appears, someone aiming for that dungeon will soon come forward. In one opinion, they are the work of the G.o.ds themselves. In another, the devil’s. It is said that every time one appears, the incident is left in history.
“I have never seen a unique labyrinth before, but with these powerful and unique magic tools, I think that explanation is our best bet.”
Then Ellis suddenly had a realization.
Perhaps this dungeon was originally set up for the Hero to clear by chance?
“Hahaha.”
Ellis accidentally let out her laughter. The other four heard her.
“What’s wrong?”
Ellis gave them a ‘later on’ wink and turned back to the adventurer guild master.
“So what are you going to do with these items?”
“Because the Resistance plate armor is unfortunately for men, we will sell it to the guild. Likewise, since no one in our group uses short swords, we will sell the Purification short sword as well. As for the other three, we will hold on to those. However, I have no idea what the Demon Lord’s Mark does.”
“I understand. Unfortunately, I have never seen this Resistance plate armor before either. Let the adventurer guild hold on to it for now, and I will get your money to you after I consult with Baltis, Maria, and Flint.”
After their talk with Theseus was finished, the girls returned to the reception desk to receive the money from their liquidation. The Purification short sword sold for 4 million ril, and Katie made sure to receive a payment certificate for her 800 thousand ril share. On their way home, she would have to pay 80 thousand to the thief guild.
Once everyone’s business was taken care of, the girls bought some food for dinner and made their way home.
“I am tired today, so there will be no night section!”
After the five girls finished their dinner, they all decided to take a long, relaxing bath.
While soaking in the bathtub, Reeve started to happily laugh.
“What do you think those guys are doing right now?”
Following that, Frau also started to laugh from her corner.
“Monsters and treasure take awhile to revive, but traps reactivate pretty quickly.”
In response to that, Claire looked interested.
“You mean the traps on those doors and empty treasure chests. The ones with the electric shocks, explosions, and melting traps?”
“That’s right.”
“Terrible.”
Katie continued to swim around in the water not giving any thought to the party from before.
Ellis, on the other hand, felt untold pleasure different from usual pulsing through her from fulfilling her purpose. The Hero’s party was hara.s.sed in the best possible way upon her first meeting.
Ellis was satisfied with a sense of accomplishment.
Meanwhile, at night in the adventurer guild.
“What’s going on!?” Dams complained loudly.
“Did you really send us to the labyrinth?” Cliff seemed dissatisfied.
“Hey you, you guys deceived us.” Peach was obviously trying to pick a fight with Helen.
“Stop Peach. But we can’t be satisfied with this. Can you give us a satisfying explanation?” While holding Peach back, Gray also started to complain to the receptionist.
In the fuss that restarted at the guild reception desk, only Gise was thinking about the possibilities of why the labyrinth was empty.
“Perhaps it’s because we dived in after that female party?”
However, the receptionist did not oppose any of their arguments, and she calmly gave them the facts alone.
“If there are no monsters or treasure within the labyrinth, then you have no choice but to wait until they all reappear.”
Gray drops all polite language in favor of getting some straight answer from this receptionist who so clearly shows that she doesn’t want to deal with them.
“If so, how much time until it revives?”
Helen however, is a professional, and she keeps her administrative tone as she deals with Gray.
“If it is an advanced labyrinth, it usually recovers in about 3 days.”
It’s late, though, and Helen wanted to go home, so she continues to say, “Well then, reception’s hours are over.”
Declaring so, Helen, in a professional manner, puts up a closed sign and ignores the rude people in front of her.