Chapter 3:
Nachtlibelle
THE FOLLOWING DAY, I STOOD BEFORE THE party’s house. Nachtlibelle was a large, A-rank abenteurer party with over a hundred members. Thirty percent of all boss monsters had been defeated by their hands.
This place was huge. It looked more like a mansion.
“Do you need something?”
A young man who I assumed to be a guard addressed me while I was looking around instead of knocking on their gate. I must have looked pretty fishy.
“Um… I do. A friend introduced me. Uh, here’s their business card.” As soon as I reached into my bag, the guard took up a fighting stance. I must have looked even shadier than I thought. I took a few steps back and flashed him a harmless smile. “Fweh heh heh.”
Crap! I was so nervous I ended up laughing. He’s just gonna think I’m even weirder!
“Oh, I’m not anyone suspicious! Um, uh… Here, look! Take this!” I hurriedly handed over the business card Heidemarie had given me.
The guard took it, giving me a suspicious glance. “Heidemarie has friends?”
That’s right. He didn’t ask whether I was a friend of Heidemarie’s, but if she had friends in the first place. In other words, she didn’t.
“Well, it does have the official seal of approval…” He seemed to be checking it against something.
“Heidemarie told me I’d be here on a test? Or something… Heh, heh! I don’t really know myself.”
Suddenly, the guard seemed to have an idea of what I was talking about. “Then you must be Wim Strauss.”
“Um… Yes, that’s me.”
Suddenly, he looked very apologetic. “I’m so sorry! I did hear about you! My deepest apologies. You came earlier than I was expecting and… I’m so sorry I was so rude! I’ll call Heidemarie over.”
“Welcome to Nachtlibelle, Wim.”
Heidemarie brought me into the foyer. It was lavish—the pinnacle of luxury. When I looked at the high ceiling, I saw a glistening chandelier. Beside me was an indoor fountain.
“But what was with you, Abel? I told you Wim would be coming.”
“I’m sorry. Um, perhaps this isn’t the best turn of phrase, but he didn’t look like the Wim. I really do apologize.”
“How could you mistake him?”
“Well, you told me he was a dashing, gallant man.”
“No, I didn’t! Wim, I promise I didn’t!”
The young man from earlier wasn’t a guard, but a man named Abel. So, Heidemarie did have friends she could banter with. Thank goodness.
“Hey, Heidemarie,” I whispered in her ear.
“Eek! Wh-what is it, Wim? You shocked me.”
“What did he mean by the Wim?”
“Oh. You’re famous, surprisingly.”
“Huh?”
The two led me to a large room. Based on the layout, it seemed akin to the table on the first floor of Drachenflügel’s party house—a meeting room of sorts. A group from Nachtlibelle was gathered inside and preparing for something. They seemed to be getting their gear in order…as if they were about to dive into the labyrinth.
Each member had an air about them. Just by looking at someone’s sword, it was obvious that it had been custom-made by some famous blacksmith. Similar equipment was piled together, giving off a relaxed, hard-to-describe air surrounding the band of seasoned fighters.
If Heidemarie wasn’t here, it would have been too much for me. I would have run.
One of these fighters stood out against the others. She was well-built, dressed in light silver armor that allowed for much mobility, with an unnaturally long, oddly shaped weapon at her hip. What caught my attention was her beautiful, long silver hair. It was so smooth it reflected light like a halo. She seemed almost…divine.
I immediately knew who she must be. She was famous, after all.
“Here he is, Camilla.”
“Ah, the famed support caster.”
She was the renowned “silver-haired” Camilla, the leader of Nachtlibelle and one of the strongest warriors in all of Filburn.
“So, you’re Wim. You’re smaller than I thought. No, my apologies.”
“Aha ha ha…”
She really was huge once she came close. In fact, she was probably the tallest in the whole party, even among the men. Her aura was incredibly imposing, but she was amazingly beautiful. It was as if she were a statue uncovered from ancient ruins. She had an artistry about her that went beyond sex appeal. I was in awe.
“Welcome to Nachtlibelle. I’m Camilla, its leader.”
“U-uh, it’s nice to meet you. I’m a member of Drachenflügel—ex-member, that is, since I was fired, but… My name’s Wim Strauss. It’s nice to make your acquaintance.”
She stuck out her hand and I took it into a handshake. Her grip clamped down my hand with astounding force.
“I’ve heard all about you from Heidemarie. We at Nachtlibelle welcome all talent. I hope you’ll take in our party and realize our worth.”
“Huh?”
“We likely do things differently from Drachenflügel, so you’ll just be our guest for today’s labyrinth dive. You’ll support us from the back. Though we may have you fight as well, I’m sure you will do fine.”
Huh?
“Hey, Heidemarie.”
“What?”
“What was she talking about?”
“Didn’t I say this would be a test? We’re heading into the labyrinth.”
“Huh?”
“Show her what you’ve got!”
I was essentially coerced into accompanying Nachtlibelle on a labyrinth dive. Not to mention that our destination was the ninety-seventh floor—one before the ninety-eighth floor, which was the new front line that Drachenflügel had just carved a path to.
Traveling between floors in the labyrinth was quite unique. There was no land joining them together, nor were there staircases. Instead, multiple teleportation circles existed on each level, and stepping on one would teleport you to a teleportation circle on another floor.
Each floor had a single boss monster, and once it was defeated, an additional set of teleportation circles would appear—one of which always led to a new floor. The tricky part was that the many teleportation circles could transport you across multiple floors. The only thing we knew for certain was that it was impossible to cross above the newest floor, and sometimes, one of the teleportation circles that appeared after defeating a boss would connect to a much lower floor.
In order to dive deeper into the labyrinth, you needed to know how these teleportation circles were connected, and using them effectively could greatly reduce the time needed to arrive at your destination.
“Sorry, Wim, but could you put this on for a bit?” Heidemarie suddenly said as we were traversing the well-known paths. “Nachtlibelle uses secret teleportation circles. You’re still an outsider, so sorry about this.”
“So, the rumors were true.”
I did as she told me and put on the blindfold. I had heard that larger parties operated with their own information networks—when they discovered teleportation circles, they would conceal them to give their own party an advantage. It was only a rumor, but it was apparently true.
Now that my vision was completely dark, I began to stumble. I really wanted something to help stabilize myself.
“Here, hold on,” said Heidemarie. I was in no position to be picky, so I reached around and felt my hand collide with hers.
“Wow. You’re bold to hold my hand in front of everyone like this.”
“I just couldn’t see…”
“It’s hard having to stoop down, right? Take my shoulder.”
“Got it.” I obeyed and placed my hand on her shoulder.
We arrived on the ninety-seventh floor. Now that the boss had been defeated, it was time to thoroughly investigate the places that had been impossible to search through before, which meant it was the start of a violent race between parties.
This was bad, no matter how I spun it. I was definitely going to hold them back!
“My job is enemy detection, but my equipment isn’t up to snuff… I’ll put out a circle that encompasses Camilla at the front and Heidemarie in the back, and I guess I should be on alert for traps that’ll cause cave-ins or create holes in the ground. No, maybe it’s best to assume things haven’t changed in here… No, I can’t do that. This is my first time entering the labyrinth with around fifty people, so maybe I should leave everything I can to them and stop thinking so hard. No, if I’m going to weigh them down, I at least need to pull my weight.”
“What’s he mumbling about, Heidemarie?”
“This dive has a lot of firsts for him. He’s just nervous. He’s the cautious type.”
“I’m sure being cautious is a good thing,” said Camilla, looking straight at me. I was scared she was going to see through me. “But I can’t call getting cold feet safe, boy!”
She then slapped me on the back.
“Hwah?!”
“You’ve dived on this floor with the B-rank party Drachenflügel, right? You defeated the boss before we could. Keep your chin up.”
“Right…”
“Our main goal today is to work on our map. We’re just going in and coming right back to the surface. Just do what you can.”
Camilla was so nice that I felt tears forming in my eyes. “I’ll do everything I can.”
“All right! Show us what you’ve got, boy!”
She had the reassuring composure of a veteran. If a woman like her told you to remain calm, you would be naturally inspired.
I wasn’t too enthusiastic about being called “boy,” however. I had long passed that age, or so I thought. I was short, though, and well aware I lacked the valor of a grown man. However, a woman like Camilla must have already accounted for such mistakes. Having fought for so long on the front lines, she must be able to see the bigger picture that I couldn’t.
For a moment, I grew curious about her age, but I put that thought aside. I could rest assured knowing that I was in good hands.
I drew in a breath, forced my shoulders to relax, and looked upwards slightly. It was as if my sight became clearer. I had done a dive on this floor before, and it was composed of what made up the rest of the labyrinth. The air was thick with lifeforce, tinting our surroundings blue. The walls were glowing. Some were completely flat, and others were bumpy like the walls of caves. Others had plants on them or animals scurrying about.
All in all, this floor resembled a cavern.
‹તમે વારંવાર આવો છો.›
“Huh?!” I heard something, a whisper in my ears.
“What’s wrong, Wim?”
“Was I just hearing things?”
Was that some monster’s cry? No, I wasn’t sensing any nearby enemies, and nobody else seemed to have heard anything. It didn’t seem like an arrow had passed by my ear, either.
“Isn’t it a precursor to some trap? You should report it.”
“It didn’t feel like that. Maybe I was hearing things. No…”
It was impossible to predict what might happen in the labyrinth. If auditory hallucinations could be an omen, it was best to proceed with caution. I decided to expand the range of my monster tracking.