(135) Miri’s Adventure 7
Translator: Tseirp
Illuminated by the moonlight, a shadow moved southward.
And it was at a speed faster than a horse and the shadow was larger than a horse. As it would stand out on the highway, it pushed forward by weaving between the trees.
The trees looked like they were avoiding the girl seated on the large shadow.
No matter how little the swaying was, the girl was used to riding on transport developed by the excellent science and technology of the current day j.a.pan so it was hard to say that she found it comfortable.
The speed was about 100km/h. It was an unusual speed given that they were weaving between trees.
As evidence, the person riding together with her behind her had an extremely poor complexion.
“I will kill you if you puke on my back … if you want to puke, do it to the sides.”
She ― Miri, said as she glared at the person riding behind her ― Norn.
However, Norn could not answer her. Since instead of words, a different mixed substance would spill out of her mouth if she opened her mouth.
After Fenrir, the white wolf they were riding on, heard that, it slowed down its speed. Since it would probably be intolerable if she puked on top of its back. However ― its owner Miri didn’t permit it.
“What, you slowed down without me specifying it?”
With a single sentence from Miri, Fenrir’s speed increased even more than before ― the time it would take for Norn to collapse became even shorter.
Then, after thirty minutes.
Looking behind, Norn’s face was deathly pale. She was still barely breathing but that expression showed that she no longer even had the strength to vomit.
Looking at her, Miri let out a soft sigh,
(If she’s come this far then I no longer need to worry about her puking.)
Having such thoughts, she made Fenrir continue running for another hour.
It was a miracle that Norn continued to hug Miri’s small body even after her consciousness left her.
If her grip loosened by even a little, Norn’s body would have been shaken off and she probably wouldn’t be uninjured.
“We’re here.”
Miri said that and Norn was let off Fenrir. Fenrir was too much of a nuisance so she used s.p.a.ce-Time Magic and housed it in an alternate s.p.a.ce.
The benefit of using s.p.a.ce-Time Magic to house items is that not only items but also living organisms can be housed within. However, the things stored inside the alternate s.p.a.ce are all in the same place so,
“I’ll kill you if you touch anything inside.”
When she ordered it, ‘Kun~’ Fenrir flinched like a puppy and nodded. Then, she stored Fenrir in the alternate s.p.a.ce.
Well then, Miri pondered on what to do with Norn.
It would be easier to store her inside the alternate s.p.a.ce too but it wouldn’t be a good idea to let her see the things inside.
Deciding to just leave her there and finish what she came here to investigate, she began walking away when,
” … U …. n.”
She heard Norn groan. It seemed like she woke up.
“Norn, we’re here.”
“Eh? Miri-chan, we’ve arrived but … this place doesn’t look like Belasra?”
“I have something I’m interested about here. You can follow me but don’t touch anything.”
Miri said that before she headed towards the stratified cliff.
Then, she carefully examined those strata but she couldn’t really tell due to the darkness.
Because of that, she made a net of Darkness thread and enveloped the entire cliff like a defensive net.
That’s when Miri saw it.
“Here it is.”
It was a nondescript wall at first glance.
But ― when she tried to place her hand on it,
“Miri-chan, your hand ― !”
“It’s been sucked in. It’s an illusion wall frequently used as a hidden door within labyrinths.”
” … Ah … those.”
Norn recalled what happened recently and sighed.
She was captured by bandits and the hideout of those bandits was behind an illusion wall. She was unconscious the entire time she was captured but after that, she found that there was an illusion wall there when she went back to see the place she was trapped at.
Her thoughts returned to that time.
“Then, this is a labyrinth?”
“Probably … right.”
Miri retrieved the Darkness net and stretched it inside.
Then, after confirming that there weren’t any monsters inside, she entered.
“Ah. Miri-chan, please wait for me!”
Norn followed after her.
Then, Miri and Norn were rendered speechless.
It was because there was a conspicuous sword stuck on a pedestal and mysterious words written in a large font using white ink on the wall.
【Welcome to Centaur’s Labyrinth!】
Centaur.
A mythical animal with a human’s torso and horse’s body. In this world, Otherworld, they apparently used to exist but when Miri … or rather Miri’s previous incarnation Kaguya, came to this world, she heard that they became extinct soon after, before she had the chance to encounter them.
(Does this labyrinth have some kind of relationship with those Centaurs?)
In the first place, she came here because it’s one of the locations where her power was sealed at.
She stopped by to figure out who dispelled the seal and if he/she had any clue to the whereabouts of the other seals.
Because the seal was broken, she sensed the flow of the magical power from this location.
“The age of the words is comparatively new … is there any relationship between my seal and the Centaurs?”
” … Eh? These letters, I feel like I’ve seen them before though.”
Miri and Norn both thought deeply about the words.
Incidentally, Norn was the person closest to the correct answer at the moment.
That’s natural because those words Norn felt like she’s seen them before were actually written by Jofre.
Jofre and Elise who discovered this labyrinth discussed whether to name the labyrinth Labyrinth Jofreli or Labyrinth Elise but ultimately, they decided to name it after the discoverer of the labyrinth, making it Centaur’s Labyrinth. Hence, those words were written there.
“Miri-chan, what do you think this sword is for?”
“That sword is a trap. Well, there’s no idiot who will get caught in such a cla.s.sic … trap.”
” … Ah, sorry, Miri-chan.”
When Miri turned over to look, she saw Norn standing still in her pose of having pulled the sword out as well as the hole that it was pulled out from.
Miri and Norn fell downwards head first. But ―
“I said it before, there’s no idiot who will fall for such a trap.”
A spider’s web nest made from Darkness thread extended from Miri’s body and stuck to the ceiling, preventing them from falling into the hole.
“Th … thank you, Miri-chan.”
The person who triggered the trap, Norn, was dangling after being wound round-by-round by the Darkness thread.
“Well, the floor would return soon so wait for a little … hn?”
Miri suddenly noticed something and extended her Darkness thread.
The Darkness thread extended endlessly … and then, looking at the empty s.p.a.ce ahead, she chuckled.
“So it’s like that …”
Miri peeled off the Darkness thread that was stuck to the ceiling and fell towards the bottom of the darkness.
“Noooooooooo … ”
Leaving only Norn’s sorrowful scream, the Centaur’s Labyrinth returned to its original state.
The darkness led to a long slide.
The slide had many curves but other than some slight pain to the b.u.t.t, there weren’t any other problems but Miri forgot.
Norn was continuously rocked on top of Fenrir just moments before so she was in a groggy state.
“I’m already … at my … limit … uuu”
After that, it is better to keep off record what awaited the two of them for the sake of Norn’s honor.
Author’s note:
Norn-chan, transformed into a pitiful character. Actually she was a creation that I quite liked.
TL note:
Miri is so savage lol. Poor Norn.