Mushoku Tensei (WN)

Chapter 12

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[]

The rough story from last time: After hearing that Roxy was missing in the "Teleport Labyrinth", Rudeus was stained with the color of despair. However, within his hands was "Exploration Record of the Teleport Labyrinth" which described almost everything about the labyrinth.

---

Roxy is in a pinch.

After hearing that, even now, the impulse of wanting to jump into the labyrinth is spurring me on.

The location is the S-ranked Teleport Labyrinth, but luckily I had obtained a book describing a past exploration attempt.

I had already investigated things in regards to teleport magic circles as well.

If you have the time to observe each magic circle, then I"m sure just as written in the book you can conquer the labyrinth.

However, first we need to organize the situation.

Organizing the situation is important.

Roxy and Zenith might be in a fight against the clock.

In just five minutes, if the rescue is late, any chance to just barely save them might disappear.

However, for this reason, we can"t afford to be impatient.

After organizing the situation and carefully preparing, we have no choice other than to definitely rescue them.

In a restless state, we might overlook something.

Overlooking something, making a mistake, then the probability we"ll have a misstep increases.

As a result of that, let alone five minutes, one day, two days, even three days might end up being wasted.

We have no choice other than to proceed carefully.

This a setting where we can"t afford mistakes.

If we were to fail, I"m sure that would connect together with "regret".

Regardless of the shape, if because of my mistake we were unable to save Roxy or Zenith, I"m sure I would have a large regret remaining.

"Dad. Here I have with me a Teleport Labyrinth book, a record of adventurers entering deep inside."

First, I presented the existence of the book.

"Exploration Record of the Teleport Labyrinth."

It was the book that Sylphy, disguised as Fitts-senpai, once recommended to me.

It"s a book with the shape of the taboo teleport magic circles written in detail.

Different than other books, it"s a book that paints out a description.

The reason it was able to escape the censors.h.i.+p of the Magic University would simply be good luck, or else because this is an adventurers record I"m sure.

Also, there"s the possibility that this book is fiction as well.

The teleport labyrinth is a labyrinth that no one has conquered.

The possibility that it"s a fictional adventurer"s record exists as well.

Though I think that probability is low.

The shapes of the teleport magic circles written in this book actually resemble the real thing.

In reality, I investigated teleport magic circles myself as well, but this book has the most accurate moreover detailed ones written.

As a result of comparing it to other books, there"s no mistake.

However, it might be... a different "Teleport Labyrinth".

We can"t just ignore the possibility that more than two labyrinths exist in this world filled with teleport traps.

Even if the t.i.tle of the capturing book is the same, if the contents are different, there"s no meaning.

"If the contents of this book are the same as the labyrinth we"re facing after this, then I"m sure this book will be very useful in regards to exploring the labyrinth."

After I said that Paul and the others" eyes were wide open.

"Hey Rudi... Wh, Why do you have something like that?"

"I thought it would somehow be useful, so I brought it from the library in Magic University."

"I see..."

For now, I"ll keep hidden things about the teleport magic circles.

What we need to ascertain right now are the contents of this book and the contents of the labyrinths we"re about to go towards after this.

"Please confirm this. And then, if it seems like it will work as a reference for exploring the labyrinth, let"s make use of it."

After Paul took that into his hands and spent a moment gazing at the cover, he then pa.s.sed it over to Gisu at his side.

After receiving the book, Gisu asked...

"Then, I"m going to read it?"

"...Please do."

Why Gisu, I had such thoughts as well.

However, since everyone had faces as if that was natural, I didn"t ask.

In regards to Paul and their party, Gisu took that sort of role I guess.

He can do anything which is why he does everything, I certainly remember hearing that some time ago.

For example, "mapping" and "organizing information" in regards to exploring the labyrinth as well, I"m sure he"s the one doing it.

"Dad. While Gisu-san is reading it, please tell me about the labyrinth."

Straight from the front, I asked Paul various questions.

All of them were trying to confirm things written in the book.

"Sure, it"s fine."

"The types of monsters and names."

"Their numbers up to the level they"re on."

"The situation inside and the color of the magic circles" etc...

Paul smoothly informed me about them.

First, there were five types of monsters.

Since Paul had only stepped foot down to the third floor, there seem to be monsters they haven"t seen yet as well.

Misfortune Spider, [Tarantula Deathlord] [1]

It"s a huge poisonous spider. Even though it"s a tarantula it spits out webs. Its poison can be healed using elementary detoxification. B rank.

[Iron Crawler]

A caterpillar that is like a heavy tank. Hard and heavy. B rank.

[Mad Skull]

It"s a humanoid monster covered in mud. Since inside of its body a person"s skull is buried, that is the weak point. A rank.

[Armored Warrior]

Rusty armor with four arms. In each of its hands, it holds swords with a good cutting edge. A rank.

[Little Devil] [2]

It"s a monster with long arms, legs, and sharp claws. It moves by crawling along the walls and ceiling. A rank.

The careful part would be how many floors.

This, we don"t know.

According to rumors, it"s said to have six or seven floors, but among all those who entered until now, no one has seen the Guardian.

How far the first floor goes is a difficult talk as well, but according to the book, where the spiders are making a large quant.i.ty of nests is the first floor.

The place where a large quant.i.ty of caterpillars and spiders are is the second floor.

Mad Skulls can be found commanding groups of caterpillars and spiders on the third floor.

After you get to the fourth floor, the spiders and caterpillars disappear, it becomes just Mad Skulls and Armored Warriors.

And then, after you get to the fifth floor, the Mad Skulls disappear as well, it becomes just Armored Warriors and Little Devils.

On the sixth floor, it"s nothing but Little Devils.

Things after that aren"t written down in the book.

The situation inside.

From the first floor until the third floor, the inside of the labyrinth is an "Ant"s Nest".

A curving tunnel with complicated pa.s.sages and dead end rooms.

And then, it seems there"s always teleport magic circles inside of the room.

According to the book, it seems that it changes into the shape of a stone ruin around the fourth floor.

Paul and the others haven"t made it down to there yet.

Just, information about the monsters and the state of the vicinity up until the third floor, they had gained some amount of information about that from numerous adventurers" trial-and-error it seems.

A model of a teleport magic circle.

It gives off a bluish-white light and has a strange complex design carved into it.

After hearing the details I think it"s the same as the teleport magic circles I"ve seen numerous times.

The things I heard from Paul were mostly the same as the contents I had read in the book, the things they saw match together.

"This..sure is amazing.. Haha!! As expected of senpai. You really..brought along something amazing!"

Around the time the explanation ended, Gisu closed the book while shouting with a somewhat excited voice.

It seems he finished skimming it.

He"s a considerably fast reader.

Or maybe he only read the parts that they"ve touched on.

After seeing Gisu"s state, Paul raised his voice in surprise.

"Hey, Gisu. Is it really..that amazing?"

"Yeah, it"s amazing, Paul. If the things written in this are real, then clearing up to the sixth floor is already easy."

In his excited state, Gisu handed the book over to Talhand.

Talhand gave a sidelong glance as he started to read and Gisu started to explain the contents written in the book to Paul as he couldn"t hide his excitement.

"All of the things we couldn"t figure out were written down. Which magic circles are fine to take, which magic circles are no good. Taking which magic circle will lead to which place and even what will be waiting on the other side!"

Somehow, it seems according to what Gisu saw, this book is "real".

However, Paul was glaring at Gisu with a serious look.

"I see, and, using that book, do you know what happened to Roxy or Zenith?"

"That is..we don"t know though."

Gisu made a face like he had cold water poured over him.

"Gisu, don"t get very excited. We already can"t afford anymore mistakes."

Paul said that in a low voice.

Carefully.

I"m sure we have no choice other than to proceed carefully.

If we blindly believe the things written in the book and end up being annihilated there"s no hope.

"..I get what you want to say, Paul. But you know, in addition to the book, we"ve got an additional reliable vanguard and rear guard as well. First, we should be glad, right?"

While saying that, Gisu looked over everyone surrounding us.

Following along, Paul looked over them as well.

And then, he stopped his gaze on me.

"Ah..that"s right I guess..sorry about that. It"s just like that."

On Paul"s face, a smile floated up like he had some composure.

No matter how desperate of a situation it is, some amount of composure is required.

I"m sure Paul understands something like that as well.

"Alright, after we all finish reading it, let"s decide on the formation."

In an energetic voice after regaining himself, the atmosphere of the place softened a bit.

The members going into the labyrinth are five people.

Paul, Elinalise, Gisu, Talhand, and I.

Elinalise and I replaced Vera and Shera.

Since the labyrinth is narrow, even if we try to enter with a large number, we"ll just end up being a hindrance to each other it seems.

In order for Elinalise to replace Vera and I to replace Shera, it became a formation where we completely stole away their job.

Elinalise the Tank.

Paul the Sub-Attacker.

I"m the Attacker and Healer.

Talhand can become both Sub-Tank and Sub-Attacker.

These four are in charge of the combat side.

Talhand"s role is somewhat vague.

It seems he can use earth magic up to intermediate level.

However, it seems he plays it by ear as a Magic Warrior.

Since he"s the utility type, supposedly he can fight anywhere.

Even though he looks clumsy, he"s quite skillful.

No, all dwarves were skillful, weren"t they?

"Looking forward to working with you!"

It seems he"ll end up standing right in front of or right behind me, he patted my shoulder with a sociable feeling.

For some reason, I got chills down my back.

"Rudi is fundamentally in charge of the magic. After the combat ends we"ll depend on you for the healing as well, can you do it?"

"No problem."

Offense and Recovery.

Even though it"s my first time in a labyrinth I have numerous plain jobs.

However, during the time when I was an adventurer, my role was something like that as well.

I"m sure there"s nothing we can"t do.

With these four people, Gisu is added on.

He"s useless in combat, but he can perform everything outside of that at a high level.

Confirming the map, establis.h.i.+ng the direction to advance, management of food, sorting the raw materials. He has the judgement to withdraw from the labyrinth as well.

He works as the control tower and does odd jobs.

I guess it would become a feeling like a Director.

Since exploring labyrinths isn"t just about combat, naturally as it is having someone take on roles like this is necessary.

The remaining three people.

It"s become that Vera, Shera, and Lilia waiting on standby at the entrance of the city on support duty.

You could call it house-sitting, but it seems this itself is an important job in its own way.

At the time when large clans explore a labyrinth, I"ve heard that they a.s.sign people to house-sitting.

The majority of the preparations can be left to Elinalise and Talhand, the pros.

I"m an amateur when it comes down to exploring labyrinths.

If I make use of my knowledge from my previous life then I can think of this and that, but at the present I"ll put that aside.

First, I"ll follow along the pros" way of doing things.

And then, if there are any parts that I can think of something it would be fine if I make a suggestion.

A suggestion.

In my knowledge from my previous life, I don"t know if the things I learned from Rogue-like type games will be effective. [3]

"First it"s about our initial objective, but it"s the third floor."

After deciding on the formation, Paul declared that.

"There, we"ll make clear of Roxy"s whereabouts."

We don"t know if Roxy is alive or not.

However, in the case that she"s alive, after we secure her, we"ll return at once from the labyrinth.

Depending on the condition Roxy is in, we"ll have her join the party after she has recovered and then venture even deeper into the labyrinth.

The six of us will check the fourth floor and beyond which we haven"t been able to reach yet.

And there, after we arrive to the greatest depths, we"ll search thoroughly all around and try to find Zenith who is believed to be there.

We don"t know how many days it will take.

It"s become an exploration wait and see. [4]

That night.

It became that I would be sleeping in the same room as Paul and Lilia.

It seems to have been the technician Gisu"s refined way of creating a s.p.a.ce for just us family.

Even though I say that, the time I"ve spent with Lilia not as family is longer.

Since the time I was born up until having my sister, she was a maid after all.

I can"t help but see her as a maid.

Paul sees Lilia as a wife, but as a second wife.

Zenith is number one, Lilia is number two.

I wonder if Norn would be number three.

Aisha would be fourth and I"m even further below I guess.

"It"s the first time I"ve slept in the same room as Rudeus-sama isn"t it."

"That"s right."

Speaking of Lilia, she seems to give off a respectful att.i.tude in the atmosphere as if she only sees Paul and I as her employers.

Being brought along with that atmosphere, I became somewhat respectful myself.

"Husband"s snoring is loud so without reservation please order me."

However, the contents of Lilia"s words were light and overflowing with humor.

"Ah, yes.."

In regards to that I was unable to return it overflowing with humor.

What it would be good to talk about, I don"t know well.

How did I use to talk with Lilia again.

During the time we were in Buina village I feel it was considerably business like.

".."

Since a while ago Paul has done nothing but look at me and hasn"t said anything.

I wonder what it is, it"s a strange face.

It"s not quite to the level of a grin, but his cheeks are becoming loose, that face.

"Umm, Rudeus-sama."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Is Aisha getting along properly?"

I thought over the answer to Lilia"s question.

The topic of our family.

That"s right, we"re family.

Then, it would be fine to talk about the family.

"Yes. Aisha is giving it her best."

"She hasn"t done anything to trouble Rudeus-sama?"

"Yeah, nothing at all. She takes care of all the cleaning as well, it"s a big help."

"Is that so, it"s fine if she hasn"t said anything selfish."

"If she would be a bit more selfish then it would be more comfortable for me though."

After saying that Lilia quietly smiled.

It was a smile of relief.

"How about Norn-ojosama and Aisha? Have they been getting into fights?"

"That"s right.. there"s some awkwardness, but for the time being there"s no conspicuous antagonism. The fights are almost charming."

"I told her to always stand down to Norn-ojosama, but why did it end up becoming like that..."

While saying that Lilia let out a sigh.

"It can"t be helped, Aisha is still a child as well. Isn"t it important for the parents to give them an equal amount of love."

"I see..that might be the case. Aisha is my child, but since she has Husband"s blood in her as well..."

"Things like blood don"t matter at all do they. We"re family after all."

"...Thank you very much."

Paul didn"t enter into the conversation.

He was just listening to my exchange with Lilia since before with the same expression and thinking about something.

"What is it, dad. Since just now, you"ve been grinning."

"No, somehow, it"s nice, I was just thinking."

While scratching the back of his head Paul"s face went red as he seemed to be embarra.s.sed.

"What is?"

"That Rudi has. Properly become an adult and the scene of him talking to Lilia."

The exchange between his adult son and his wife.

Lilia isn"t my mother, but in regards to Paul they"re both family.

It might be deeply moving.

Maybe it"s something I"ll understand as well when my child grows up.

"Come to think of it, Rudi. You, got married didn"t you."

"Yeah. Just about half a year ago."

"I see, to think that Rudi would, just that other time we met, even though you were still this small."

"My height has grown considerably over these past few years after all."

Before I realized it my height had gotten to about the same as Paul.

I"d say around 170 cm.

Paul is a bit taller, but I might still grow a bit more, I think I might eventually overtake him.

"It won"t be good if we don"t have a grand celebration with everyone when we return."

"That"s right. After all dad, it"s your first grandchild. You"ll be Paul-ojichan."

"Stop that, I"m still not that old after all."

Even while saying that Paul was making a face like he didn"t hate it.

And then it changed to a smile.

"That you"ve made a child, you mean, Rudi. You"ve become a "man" as well now right?"

"Husband, I don"t know if you should be saying anything too vulgar.."

Paul with a grinning old man-like smile floating on his face rebuked Lilia.

"Isn"t it fine, you know I, I always wanted to have this sort of talk with Rudi once."

"However."

"I"m sure you"re interested as well, about Rudi."

"I feel that it"s unfair to use that way of saying it."

"And, and, who was your first partner? After all Sylphy? Or else maybe Eris? If I remember you said you separated, but didn"t it come down to that kind of talk when you separated?"

It seems Paul wants to have some vulgar Boys Talk.

I do have a part that wonders if it"s alright to talk about that at this kind of time though...

Well, it"s not like I don"t understand.

It"s been the first time he"s seen me in a while and I"m sure Paul is in high spirits as well.

I"m sure he just wasn"t able to make this sort of face in front of everyone earlier.

I have some parts where I"m happy to see Paul again for the first time in a while as well.

Since Paul and I get along well after all.

The day after tomorrow we"re entering the labyrinth, that sort of composure will disappear.

For just today, it should be fine to unfasten that restraint and talk about it.

"Dad has a bit of confidence, in regards to that, after all. I"ll hear you out on it all. Even if I look like this, during the time when dad was young I played around quite a bit after all." [5]

It can"t be helped, why don"t I keep you company then.

This sort of partner that I can frankly talk about out in the open like this, it"s only somewhat but I felt I wanted it as well.

"That"s right, then there are a number of things I want to ask about though.."

"Really now, even Rudeus-sama.."

"Lilia is saying it like this, but if it comes down to the other side she"s quite intense."

"Husband!"

"Come to think of it, at some point already, there was a time when Lilia-san tempted you right. Please tell me about the situation at that time in detail."

"Even Rudeus-sama, please stop it!..Really."

While watching us like that Lilia let out a voice with a sigh mixed in.

However, that face was smiling.

After that, we continued to talk like that until late into the night.

Late night.

The lights are out and I"m laying sideways on the bed.

I wonder if Paul and Lilia are already asleep.

On the bed nearby I can hear a steady sleeping breath.

It seems the two won"t start messing around after confirming that I"m asleep.

Paul did say he was trying to abstain until Zenith is found.

I"m sure he"s properly abiding by that.

I got a bit excited from the talk with Paul and I can"t sleep.

I couldn"t have ever possibly thought that the day would come where I have real experience and can take part in the ero talk.

In life you really never know what can happen.

Well, putting that aside.

In regards to the matters this time.

After all, this time I might be dancing in Hitogami"s palms again.

I have such a feeling.

Thinking about it, the only reason I was able to obtain that book was because I went to the Magic University.

If I hadn"t gone to the Magic University and been told to investigate the teleport incident, I would have never encountered that book and been in a situation to challenge the Teleport Labyrinth without anything.

That suggestive Hitogami"s speech was the same as well.

Whether I regret it and about putting my hands on Rinia or Purusena.

I have the feeling like he spoke in such a way that he knew I would oppose him.

If Hitogami hadn"t said anything, or else if Hitogami had said to "Go".

I have the feeling that the probability that I would have "stayed" would be high.

I"ve had rebellious feelings towards the Hitogami after all, and it might be about the same weight as things with Sylphy on that scale.

In that case, I"m sure I wouldn"t have just done something irresponsible.

For example, I might have tried to dispatch Ruijerd, Badigadi, or otherwise Zoldat.

I wonder if the Hitogami acted while antic.i.p.ating all of that.

All of the things that I would need to rescue Zenith, I went to the school in order to obtain.

I wonder what in the world the Human G.o.d [Hitogami] is...

Really, I wonder what he wants me to do.

Could it be that he really just finds it enjoyable to watch me?

The same as always, I don"t know what his endgame is.

Just, there"s no mistake that he"s my ally.

I wonder if he might show up again around tonight.

That timing would be way too convenient I guess.

If things go well, then I"ll give something to him as an offering.

Though I don"t know what that guy likes, so I don"t know if he"ll be happy.

While thinking that I fell asleep.

Hitogami never appeared in my dream.

Teleport Labyrinth.

If you were to just take a glimpse it appears to be nothing but a cave.

There"s no special feeling.

It"s just a hole opened up in just a cliff.

There are many spider monsters in its vicinity and many monsters trapped those spiders" webs, just that.

Even if you were to see a photo, I"m sure no special feelings of any kind would come up.

However, if you go there yourself it"s different.

From there you can almost intuitively feel that it"s a labyrinth.

Something eerie.

However, I also felt something that was stimulating my curiosity.

I wonder if all labyrinths have this kind of atmosphere.

"Well then, Rudi. We"re going just as we arranged, is that fine?"

"Understood."

Paul patted my shoulder and nodded.

We took the formation we arranged the other day and entered the labyrinth.

It"s my first labyrinth, but I"m not really all that excited.

It"s just the pressure of trying not to make a mistake.

"Husband, the fortunes of war be with you."

"Everyone, please take care."

Lilia, Vera, and Shera were returning to the city from here using horses.

During the time when a large clan conquers a labyrinth, they create a support camp at the entrance of the labyrinth as well.

However Lapan is thankfully only one day away, or even half a day away if you hurry.

There"s no particular need to setup a camp outside of the cave.

"Now then."

The inside of the cave is dark, but it wasn"t to the point of seeing nothing.

The interior of the cave was s.h.i.+ning, to a dim degree.

However, this darkness would be fatal I"m sure.

"I"m going to make some light."

"Yeah."

Soon after entering I used the spirit scroll I got from Nanahos.h.i.+.

The bright light spirits flew up and started to circle around above us.

Gisu invoked the same scroll as I used.

Since his role is that of the scout, he needs a different light source from us.

We tested it out yesterday, the scroll can be used by even Paul and Gisu.

Naturally, since it lasts longer with more magic power, it"s still best if I use it, but it seems the consumed magic power is almost nothing.

With this, we were delighted at not having to carry along a torch.

After all, it would be a hindrance to have one of your hands sealed off.

The light from the spirits is brighter than a torch, even with little magic power they last a long time.

If this was to spread, torches might disappear from the market.

"Paul, your son sure brought along a lot of useful things."

"Well yeah. He"s the son I"m proud of after all."

Paul put his hand to his chest with a boasting spirit and Talhand let out a voice mixed with amazement.

"It doesn"t seem he has a father he can feel proud about himself though."

"Don"t say that, since he"s bothered over it."

With a sigh mixed into the voice Paul"s shoulder drooped.

"Look, let"s hurry and get a move on?"

With Gisu"s words we ventured further into the cave.

First floor. [6]

We start walking through a cave like an ant"s nest.

The walls and ceiling have white threads stretched all around them and even further inside there"s bluish-white teleport magic circles s.h.i.+ning.

There I sent the light spirits and it gave off an almost fluorescent light.

"Occasionally there are magic circles that don"t give off any light so caution is necessary, was it?"

"That"s right Rudi. Make sure you firmly step in Gisu"s footprints."

Gisu was leading about ten steps ahead.

He wears unique boots.

The places where he steps leave behind footprints with a deep cross mark.

It seems the bottoms of his shoes have something like a cross shaped iron plate attached.

Of course, they"re not a magic item imbued with magic power.

I wonder if they"re something born from the wisdom of adventurers.

They seem like they help to prevent slipping and they clearly leave behind footprints as well, a useful item.

Although, on this first floor it"s easy to spot the teleport magic circles.

The monsters that appear on the first floor are the [Tarantula Deathlord].

However, on the floor, there were different spiders that the Tarantula Deathlord probably use as their staple food.

It"s a spectacle that would probably cause someone who hates spiders to faint.

Inside of that group of spiders there are clearly outlined voids.

They"re void places that are either circular or square in shape. There"s a teleport trap.

If someone doesn"t like to step foot on the spiders, then, in no time at all, they"ll be teleported somewhere, is what it means.

As a result, we continued walking while stepping on the spiders with a [Crunch].

It"s not a very good feeling, but it can"t be helped.

Well then, the countless B rank Tarantula Deathlords haven"t come out into the pathway.

Occasionally there"s one or two of them, but after they"re discovered by Gisu they"re quickly exterminated by Paul.

Up until now there"s no place for me.

"He~...Well, if it"s like this it"s easy going."

Paul has two swords in his hands and is rapidly advancing.

Two swords.

One of them is the thing he was almost always holding at the house. His beloved sword I"m sure.

I don"t know if it"s has some sort of special power, but it"s cutting the Tarantula Deathlords in two in a single strike.

Rather than the cutting edge of the sword, I"m sure it"s Paul"s technique.

In his left hand is a sword with a shape I"ve never seen before.

I guess it would be categorized as the so-called short sword.

It"s not short enough to be considered a dagger, but not long enough to be a long sword.

It has a hand-guard that covers around the hand and somewhat curved double-edged sword. [7]

The reason there is a hole in the center of it, I wonder if it"s so it doesn"t get stuck to things it cuts?

He"s not using it very much.

Paul fundamentally fights using just the sword in his right hand.

I wonder what he uses the sword in his left hand for.

The results of his chuunibyou I wonder?

"...Really, it"s easygoing isn"t it!"

It doesn"t really matter though.

Each time he finishes one off Paul does a fleeting glance towards me.

Annoying.

I wonder if he"s thinking something like he wants to show off to me how cool he is.

I understand that Papa is cool already, so I"d like for you to not let your guard down.

"Paul! Properly look ahead!"

Look, Elina-obaachan"s reprimands have started flying.

"It"s fine I say, we"ve already entered the first floor any number of times, it"s easy."

"That negligence will cost you your life you know."

"I get that, even if you didn"t say it?"

"In the first place, you"ve been going too far since just now. I"m in front right!?"

"If it"s on the first floor then, there"s no difference is there?"

Elinalise and Paul started up a dispute.

Behind me I heard Talhand say, "Really now, they"ve started." and let out a sigh.

"Putting myself aside, it"s Rudeus"s first time in a labyrinth itself, so as an adult properly show him how things are done as an example!"

"That"s why, I was trying to loosen that tension, it"s become the opportunity for conversation right?"

"Stop spouting lies, just now I felt you giving off the flippant atmosphere exactly like the time when Zenith just entered the party!"

"No well, if you"re going to say that I can"t deny it though. What"s this, you"ve, considerably started nagging haven"t you."

"It"s only natural. Paul is similar to my son after all. I"ll do the scolding as well!"

After saying that and Paul laughed a bit.

"What do you mean son, since you"ve spent such a long time with Rudi, your feelings have even transferred to me? Stop with that. If you act like my mother then I"ll start getting gooseb.u.mps." [8]

"...Oh my, Rudeus you didn"t tell him?"

"What?"

"That Sylphy is my grandchild. The fact that he"s married my grandchild would mean you"re related as well. Since that"s the case, the parents of that grandchild, Paul and Zenith, you two are the same as my children as well."

Paul"s legs stopped.

He slowly turned around towards me and came back.

The formation crumbled and everyone stopped their feet.

"He..Hey, what does this mean Rudi..Sylphy is her grandchild, it sounds like Elinalise is saying some ridiculous things though."

Come to think of it, I didn"t say it did I?

"Somehow, it seems that Rawls-san was Elinalise-san"s child."

"Rawls was? That guy, never said a single word about that."

"Well, it seems various things happened in the past and he was keeping quiet about Elinalise-san"s existence."

"Ah..I see now..It"s not like I don"t understand."

"Rather than that, let"s keep moving ahead. Be careful to absolutely not let your guard down."

"Ye..Yeah."

Paul said words like he understood and returned to the advance guard.

"Seriously..A connection between my family and Elinalise has been made you say..Seriously.."

While leaving behind such muttering.

It seems it was a considerably large shock.

The first floor was easy.

Just as Paul said, he must have come down a number of times already.

With breaks in-between, we continue down the pa.s.sage and end up breaking through a large room with Tarantula Deathlords crowding about in it.

Cleaning up the swarms of monsters is my role as the magician.

However, before we entered the first large room, Talhand gave me several pieces of advice.

"Listen well. Don"t use fire."

"Why?"

"If you use fire, then poison will fill the room. It"s especially necessary to be cautious on the deeper floors."

"...It can"t be cured using detoxification?"

"It can"t be cured."

By poison, he"s probably referring to carbon monoxide poisoning.

If you use fire in a closed off s.p.a.ce, the oxygen will be consumed and your consciousness will eventually get hazy.

This is the same, even with fire magic.

"After that, attacking the ceiling is forbidden, as well. You understand the reason, right?"

"It"s because the cave might collapse, right?"

"That"s right. That"s why, it"s better not to use water much either. Use ice as much as possible."

"Understood."

If you were to use a large amount of water, the ground would become loose.

Well, some water should be fine, I"m sure. There"s earth magic, as well.

Even though I say that, if while using earth magic you unknowingly start using the earth from base supports inside the cave, it could be a problem.

If you take out the support for the interior of the cave, it"s possible it might lead to a cave-in.

Then, I"m sure ice is the safest.

The safe choice is to go with what has been suggested.

For that reason, I went with the choice of advanced water magic, [Blizzard Storm].

It"s magic that rains a large amount of ice spears.

In order for Paul and the others to not get caught up in it, I start cleaning up the ones around the crowd"s center.

"Oh, as expected of Roxy"s disciple, the magic you use is the same..."

I heard Talhand"s murmur from behind.

It seems Roxy used [Blizzard Storm], as well.

That makes me a bit happy.

"Moreover, chantless, huh? I can understand why you"re Roxy"s proud disciple."

While triumphantly listening to Talhand"s words, the spiders were annihilated.

We advance ahead.

After clearing through the spider nest, we step on the teleport magic circle inside.

Walking through the pa.s.sage, aiming for yet another spider nest.

We"ve repeated that about five times since we entered the labyrinth.

Of course, in regards to the magic circles, it"s to investigate whether there are any differences in the book to reality.

We know where all of the magic circles on the first floor lead to, but it was for the sake of confirming the book"s credibility.

Two-way teleportation.

Shape, color, characteristics.

We continued forward while checking these off, to make sure everything matches.

It was roughly one hour between arriving at each magic circle.

Since we repeated that five times, in terms of time, it would be about five hours, I estimate.

In the final room, there was a magic circle that had a stronger hue of blue and was somewhat larger than the others.

The deeper blue colored magic circle was the magic circle that leads to the next floor.

The final room on the first floor was full of spider nests.

There, two magic circles were lined up.

They"re magic circles with a similar shape, if it was someone who doesn"t know anything, I"m sure they wouldn"t know which is the real thing.

Nearby, on the side of one of the magic circles, a large circle mark was carved into the stone.

This is something that Gisu left the last time as a marker for the correct one.

After confirming that there were no mistakes within the book, we stepped onto the magic circle.

The second floor.

Second floor.

From here on, there are giant steel caterpillars [Iron Crawlers] crawling around.

The small spiders on the ground have disappeared, and there"s a decrease in the number of spider nests.

The ground floor has become smooth.

The [Iron Crawlers] with a height of about one meter and a width of about two meters, give off a plump impression.

They"re close in image to the worms that come out in Nausicaa. [9]

Just as they appear, they"re solid and tough.

And, unlike their appearance, they"re fast.

Rather than a slow caterpillar, they have speed more like a centipede.

It seems like they"re allies with the tarantulas- while the iron crawlers tank, the spiders shoot off sticky threads from behind.

If you get caught in the sticky thread then the crawlers, with a body weight of about one ton, will trample you it seems.

The iron crawlers are tough, even Paul can"t defeat them in a single hit.

No need to even mention Elinalise.

That"s why, it"s my turn there.

I can fire two magic spells at the same time.

While firing [Blizzard Storm] at the spiders in the back, I finish off the Iron Crawlers that Paul and Elinalise attract with one hit, each with a rock bullet.

It seems the iron crawlers are tougher to kill with a normal rock bullet, but I don"t have much issues.

Mine easily pierces straight through.

Even though I say that, as expected of a worm, I"d say, if the place it hits is not an instakill, they writhe, struggling about violently.

"With this, there"s no place for me to take a turn."

Since I was energetically working, Talhand muttered that uninterested from behind.

He"s stationed close behind me for the sake of whether it"s needed.

Even though I say that, in order to avoid falling into that sort of worst case pinch, I"m making sure to follow the three points to remain careful about, including the one Gisu said.

Therefore for the time being, Talhand has nothing to do.

However, that"s fine.

If we can have some reserve strength remaining as we advance, then that gives me a sense of relief.

The Tarantula Deathlords continued to send their sticky threads flying.

I didn"t think that tarantulas make spider webs, but I"m sure these guys are different.

Occasionally, they make it over to where I am, but since I have my Demon Eye opened it will never hit.

Even if it were to hit, they have no attack power. If I just burn it with fire magic, there"s no problem.

"Ah, d.a.m.n it.."

"Ueh... It"s sticky isn"t it."

Even though I say that, it doesn"t seem like the advance guard can avoid it all, so Paul and Elinalise end up all sticky from the threads.

"Here, don"t go wasting too much now!"

Although it would be fine for me to burn off the sticky threads, since Gisu has some kind of liquid that can melt the threads, I just weaken them with it.

It seems to be some kind of unique chemical circulated on Begaritt Continent, and it is harmless to the human skin.

It does no harm, but Elinalise was grumbling about how it makes the skin rough when it was spilled.

It"s almost like detergent.

Maybe I"ll try taking some home and was.h.i.+ng dishes with it.

"Alright, let"s take a break for a moment here."

After the combat.

With Gisu"s words, we sit down on the spot.

Talhand and Elinalise remain standing on lookout, just like that.

After Paul sat down, he immediately started to unfasten his armor and sword, wiping the body fluids of the monsters from the surfaces.

During the short break, he finished inspecting his equipment in an instant.

It was a familiar way of doing it, and Paul ended up asking something a pro would ask.

"What"s wrong? Rudi, you should finish up quick as well."

"Ah, yes."

After receiving a somewhat harsh rebuke from Paul I inspected my equipment as well.

Even though I say that, since I"m just firing magic from a long range, there"s few places to check.

Nevertheless.

Paul is quiet.

During the time of the first floor every time we had a break like this he would somehow come out asking, "How is it?", but as expected now that we"ve gotten to the second floor his seriousness is apparent.

Daddy is cool. [10]

"Cheh... It"s stuck to it."

While Paul was rubbing the fluids on his armor with some kind of cloth he was cursing.

"How about trying to use the chemicals that Gisu used just now?"

"That"s for dissolving the threads, right?"

And while saying that, Paul put some of the chemical on the cloth and started rubbing it.

And then, it was almost a surprising level of white.

No, the armor wasn"t white though.

"I... it came off didn"t it? Thank you."

"No-no."

As I thought, it"s detergent.

If I buy some before I return home, I wonder if Sylphy would be delighted.

If possible, it would be good if we could make it to the other side, though.

After Paul removed the filth, he quickly put the armor back on, put his sword on, and walked over towards Elinalise.

Just as I was thinking about changing places with Talhand and Gisu, they called out to me.

"Senpai, lookout is fine."

"Is it fine?"

"Don"t mind it, that old man hasn"t worked after all. Rather than that- it"s about from here on out- I"d like to hear a bit of senpai"s view."

"Is it fine for dad not to join in?"

"It"s fine, rather than that guy, senpai is smarter after all."

While Gisu was saying those sorts of abusive things, he took the book and a map out of his bag.

What he spread out was two maps.

One of them was cleanly mapped out, but the other one was produced as we stopped along the way.

"We"ll soon be at the third floor. The place we lost track of Roxy is... here. If we"re lucky, Roxy should still be in the vicinity of there. If it"s just as the book says that is."

"Yes."

According to the book, it seems the teleport traps are made to only teleport to the same floor as they"re on.

Even if they"re called random warp, the moment you step on them you won"t suddenly find yourself in front of the boss on the lowest floor or anything.

Roxy warped on the third floor. [11]

According to the book, if you step on a teleport trap, then you"ll go straight to the monster"s den.

We don"t know if the magic circle she stepped on was random or else the one way pa.s.sage.

In any case, if she"s still alive, then the probability that she"s on the third floor is high.

Of course, there"s also the possibility that she luckily managed to escape to the second or first floor, as well.

However, these two floors were ones Roxy had explored a number of times as well.

If it"s someone who has as much ability as Roxy, then she would have already been able to move around the second floor. And then, it wouldn"t be strange for her to have made it out of the labyrinth by now.

It doesn"t seem like she is past the third floor, after all.

"Useful magic for the purpose of searching, you don"t have any right?"

"Yeah, I don"t have any."

I could try thinking about the application of magic I can use right now, but I can"t quickly think of anything.

"It"s fine, with your intuition, Senpai, but where around here do you think Roxy would be?"

"Intuition you say...."

"In this labyrinth, we can"t really just go walking always following the right hand side and searching thoroughly after all. If we"re going to search, then that sort of thing is necessary as well."

"Then, how about around this area."

For the time being, I try pointing to a relevant blank s.p.a.ce on the map.

"The eastern area from where she was teleported, huh? Then, let"s search around there."

How relevant.

I feel like it would be efficient to just search thoroughly, following the right hand side, though.

However, we have no one in this place who can do a scientific a.n.a.lysis.

In any case, we have no choice other than to walk around searching places we haven"t checked.

"Honestly, without Roxy, we couldn"t break through the second floor. It"s thanks to senpai. Those iron crawlers are troublesome."

"I"m sure."

The monsters here have a bad affinity with Talhand"s specialty attribute.

In terms of combat potential, if it comes down to it, Paul could get entangled in the threads as well, and can"t properly take care of the advance guard.

Vera is unreliable as the advance guard, as well. There"s no way she could follow through as well as Elinalise.

In order to pa.s.s through here, I"m sure someone who can use ice or fire type magic is necessary.

Therefore, if Roxy ends up missing, it"s not strange for their progress to be at a stand still.

Rather, after Roxy disappeared, I"m amazed they even managed to come back.

"We thought we could manage something, but after all, there are few magicians in this area. And not a single person has the backbone to challenge the teleport labyrinth, as well."

It seems Gisu tried to do something in his own way.

Thinking about it, the time when we got here he was trying to persuade someone in the guild, as well.

It didn"t seem to be going well though.

"I"m sure Gisu-san has had various troubles as well."

"He~... It"s fine. Rather, didn"t I say it"s fine as newbie? If you use the honorifics then my back gets itchy?"

"...I get it newbie. Next time, I"ll introduce you to a cute female monkey, you can scratch each others backs."

"Oh, that sounds nice. There isn"t a red-light district around here, after all. Rather, who are you calling monkey? Hey!"

There"s a variety of things I"d like to talk with Gisu about as well, but I"ll put it aside for now.

I confirmed things about the route from here on out with Gisu.

The map Gisu made was truly easy to read.

However, if you were to compare it to the first floor that had been completely mapped, there were a number of holes on the second floor.

If Zenith or Roxy happened to actually be inside of one of these holes... Such a thing better not happen.

It leaves me a bit uneasy, but first we should check the third floor.

Rather than starting at the closest place, the second floor, we should search in the place with the highest probability.

"Gisu, approximately where are we right now?"

Elinalise stuck her head in.

In response Gisu pointed to a spot on the map.

"Right now, we"re around here."

"Then, soon we"ll be at the end of the second floor, right?"

"Yeah, but spiders and iron crawlers will still come out."

"For the composition of the monsters to change midway, it"s a troublesome labyrinth isn"t it?"

Elinalise suddenly flipped back her hair.

Even her proud hair rolls were effortlessly getting soft.

"By the way, Gisu, why do you call Rudeus Senpai?"

"Ihih... In the Dorudia race prison, just a bit..."

"Dorudia prison, you say, that one from what Ghyslaine said before? What happened with that?"

"After we return, I"ll tell you about it in detail."

While grinning and laughing, Gisu discontinued the conversation.

The Dorudia race prison, how nostalgic.

The me from back then had so much freedom.

I can"t get away with that appearance now.

Oh my, on top of the bed it"s always that appearance, isn"t it?

It seems I have the composure to have such a conversation now as well.

And then, we arrived at the third floor.

In terms of time, it was about 10 hours, I"d say.

It was exceedingly fast.

"I thought it would take a few days to get here."

"In order to get to places without the map that might be the case."

The nonchalant murmur I let out was picked up by Paul.

I guess it"s only natural that advancing as you fumble about and using the map as you advance are different.

There"s already no more small spiders on the floor.

Occasionally, there"s some sticky threads on the wall, but the presence of living things is weak.

In exchange for that, I get a somewhat eerie feeling drifting about from deep darkness within the dark cave.

From here on out, it"s the real thing.

First, we"re going to find Roxy.

"..."

Thinking that, I feel like I can smell the nostalgic scent of Roxy drifting about.

No, it"s not my imagination.

This is Roxy"s scent, it"s Roxy"s presence.

There"s no way I would be mistaken.

I can feel something stirring within my chest.

Here.

I"m confident in Roxy"s continued existence.[12]

--Roxy"s POV--

I heard a small noise and woke up.

The surrounding area is dark and narrow.

It"s a confining s.p.a.ce.

This room I had reached at the end of all of the teleporting was narrow, like a cradle.

The size of the area is barely enough to allow one or two people to lie down.

Even the ceiling hangs low.

It"s low enough to nearly brush the top of my head.

At this height and narrowness.

As long as I am occupying this area, no demon will metastasize here.

As I sit at the very edge of this s.p.a.ce, I recline against the wall behind me and fix my gaze on what lies before me.

There is a Magic Formation there.

And this Magic Formation s.h.i.+nes with a ghostly pale light.

It is a Metastasis Magic Formation.

When I place a single foot on it, I will be teleported somewhere.

The most probable place is to a monster den.

A room of death, filled to the brim with different kinds of demons.

One Month Ago.

I blundered into a trap.

The only excuse I can make is [It couldn"t be helped.]

During a battle, I leaped away to avoid an oncoming attack, then I took a step backwards, and then I tripped on a stone.

This caused me to stagger forward with my other foot,

And with that step I landed on a Metastasis Magic Formation.

Before we entered the combat, we had confirmed there was a trap there.

And yet, I easily wound up stepping on the trap.

Ahead of where I metastasized, there were an absurd number of demons.

There were 20, no... 30... I guess?

I am a magician.

I myself happen to think that I am an excellent one.

Even though I cannot use the chantless magic, I can use chanting omission, so I am able to cast faster than most other magicians around.

But despite all the enemies I"ve become accustomed to battling...

There was never a panic I had felt like this one.

I expected to be wiped out immediately.

No matter how many I destroyed, demon after demon kept surging forward.

As demons continually began to appear one by one and fill my field of vision.

The demons of this labyrinth, after all, knew the routes of all the metastasis magic formations.

And so, this place had become a demon"s nest.

This place was where demons lie in wait for their victims, the so called [Trap] room.

I was prepared for death.

But I still fought.

My magic was not infinite however.

And my intuition tells me sooner or later it"ll run out, and I"ll probably end up succ.u.mbing.

I know my limits.

I probably have about 30% of my MP left, no it"s probably closer to 20%, and the number of enemies it seems hasn"t decreased at all.

Only the number of corpses has increased, and the demons still continue to surge forward one after another.

It was a complete and utter checkmate.

There will be no rescue for me.

Was I forsaken by everyone after all?

If I were in someone else"s shoes, wouldn"t I leave behind such a clumsy woman?

No matter how much magic I can use, a fool who walks into traps is a burden.

No, I don"t think they deserted me.

Rather, Paul was also in the range of the trap"s activation, did he metastasize to another location?

With the obvious lack of fighting potential, did he have to withdraw temporarily?

Either way, help hasn"t come.

While I fought desperately, I couldn"t help but begin to lose my composure and began to sob and wail.

I felt the magic power within me decrease ever steadily.

Meanwhile, I noticed one bright light.

In this wide room were six magic formations.

Yet, not a single demon has appeared for a while from around any of them.

Perhaps, there might possibly not be any more demons around the place where the magic formations are.

It"s All-or-Nothing.

I used every spell at my disposal to break through the swarm of demons, and I launched myself onto the magic formation.

And at last, I had arrived at this room.

I had managed somehow to survive.

It was pure luck.

I could produce as much water from magic as I wanted.

I had a bit of food stored in my backpack.

Somehow I will recover my magic and escape from here.

And so I spent the rest of that day in thought.

The next day, I stepped on the metastasis magic formation.

And the destination point was a pa.s.sage I was still unfamiliar with.

Apparently, being teleported to these random locations was a typical characteristic of the metastasis magic formation.

However there were no signs that there were people nearby.

I was doing the mapping by myself, in order to escape the labyrinth, I continued moving forward.

Though I had thought about waiting for a rescue effort, but there was the possibility that the rest of Paul-san"s party had been wiped out as well.

I can say with confidence that the metastasis trap is a terrible thing.

I walk around the pa.s.sageway, and discover 3 metastasis magic formations.

I make a mark on a nearby rock, and jump into the first one.

I metastasize to an unfamiliar pa.s.sage.

I repeated this action several times.

If I don"t do things this way, I won"t be able to advance in this metastasis labyrinth.

While I try and be careful not to step on a trap, or any of the metastasis magic formations hidden in or by rocks, I advance ahead.

Have I managed to advance ahead, or have I ended up just going back? I just don"t know.

I cannot seem to grasp where my current location is in this metastasis labyrinth.

My senses are unreliable.

Though I am uneasy, I must somehow keep on moving forward.

And I need to secure some new food supplies.

So I defeat a demon, eat its meat, and continue onwards.

How many times have I metastasized into a demon"s den?

I fight desperately, and find similar magic formations where demons don"t emerge from.

Then, I return.

To this same narrow room.

How many times have I repeated this I wonder?

Five times? Ten times?

The magic formation before my eyes always sends me to a different point.

However, I somehow always end up returning back here.

I became drained, mentally and physically.

As could be expected, I was tired.

My biological clock tells me about a month has now pa.s.sed by.

And after a month of going around and around, there are no useful results.

The fights are not easy.

No, there is never an easy fight.

I receive many attacks, blood loss often causes my consciousness to dim.

How many times now have the demons begun to run into the magic formations to block themselves from my magic?

I began to think that these demons actually have brains after all.

In the end though, I cannot help but just waste my magic power breaking through their blockade.

I feel like I"m being cornered.

My joints ache.

I ate all the food already.

The demons here are tough and taste horrible too.

If I don"t use detoxification magic when I am eating, my body health becomes poor.

I can feel my physical strength falling.

Only my magical power do I possess in excess.

I have no idea what will come next.

Will there be many more enemies?

Will there be more cleverly coordinated enemy attacks?

Will my magic be exhausted, and my limbs torn from my body and eaten by these demons?

Only good luck will allow me to avoid having to break through a group of demons just to end up back here, the next time.

Just thinking about that prevents me from stepping onto the magic formation in front of me.

Perhaps the demons here have realized my existence.

They know that I am in the narrow room.

And they know when I step on this magic formation in this narrow room, that I will once again be returning to that den.

Surely they are waiting for me.

Hiding, and waiting for that moment when I finally make my fatal mistake.

I have a hunch.

That there won"t be a next time.

[...]

It was here. It wasn"t when I came here that I became truly conscious of my own death for the first time.

Surely no one will discover my corpse.

I doubt there will be any items left behind to be discovered after I die.

I will die, unable to leave a trace.

Scary.

I am so scared.

My back teeth began making a chattering sound before I had realized it.

Impulsively, I wanted to just unleash a loud shout, but instead I just gripped my staff tightly.

How many times have I looked upon death up until now?

I had lived as an adventurer, so I have witnessed people dying in my presence before.

I"ve seen a demon cleave a powerful warrior in half like a withered branch right before my eyes.

And I"ve seen an intelligent magician squashed like a tomato by a demon right before my eyes.

An accomplished and clever thief, a nimble swordsman...

All of them I have seen die in my presence.

On the days I saw such things, I dimly became aware that my turn would also come someday.

But at the same time, I also thought [At least I am safe!]

However, now that I actually have to face it, I am scared.

What have I managed to accomplish up until now?

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