I swung my pickaxe to the ring of stone splitting. My only breaks came in ten-second spurts, when the pickaxe broke apart in my hands and I had to summon a new one with the <Dungeon Management Tool>. I checked my status screen periodically, and every time I saw my stamina drop below two digits, I chugged a magic potion and went back to work.
“This passageway is supposed to open up to the right. Stop digging to the left!”
“Aye aye, ma’am! My bad, ma’am!”
“Aye, ma’am! Watch the rear! Not enough room in the back, ma’am—this is as far as we can go!”
“Keep that rope taut! Don’t drop the load!”
The labyrinth’s passageways blazed with light from the hundreds of torches and lamps we’d gathered. Workers dug out soil and rock cubes and loaded them into baskets, where they were lifted up and out of the labyrinth, one after another. We didn’t have enough hands, so we’d asked the ladies of the village to take over management of the crew, issuing orders and directing the flow of materials. Their level of organization was a lot higher than the workers’, thanks to all that time spent managing meals for dozens of hungry laborers. I watched my stamina plummet again and again, but my fighting spirit burned brighter than ever. Man, I wished I could see all the progress from a top-down view. I thought back to the discussions in the village when I’d come begging for help.
“New construction, and you need it done quick? What are you up to, boy?”
I’d started with Barry.
“I want to bring back two of the traps we scrapped from the initial design: the drain floor and the killer pitfall.”
The first was a barely noticeable trap, one that constantly sapped the stamina from intruders. It was a small thing, but quite effective over the long haul. We’d initially forgone it because it wore out the maintenance workers as well, and because it was tricky to set up. The second was a ruthless trap which put the hunters’ lives at risk, so I’d decided against using it out of concern for their well-being.
“Oh yeah? How long do you have?”
“We only have until dawn three days from today, and we’ll need to rearrange as much of the labyrinth as we can by then. Feel free to use every drop of coagulant we still have left.”
“Oof, talk about tight deadlines. Best get started right away.”
“Fez told me everything. How many laborers do we need?”
Next, I’d gone to the mayor’s house to secure workers.
“Every Daemon the village can spare. I know I’m asking for a lot here.”
“So many? We’ll have to arrange to care for the children, at least. This will cost a lot more than last time.”
“...Can I ask how much?”
The mayor thought it over, calculated the undiscounted price, and gave me his fair assessment. Well, that blew up my budget.
“I get what the mayor’s saying, but this is crazy. Working this fast, we’re definitely going to see some injuries. I hope you’re prepared to provide treatment for everyone!”
The mayor put out a summons, and the villagers gathered to discuss terms. More and more people congregated, until it seemed like the entire village was there. For whatever reason, Deneb ended up their representative.
“Aoiiii, what’s got you all in a hurry? This is gonna cost you a fortune! I don’t see how you stand to make any money if you go rushing around like this.”
I looked at Ann and Mary, and I had my answer. I mentally braced myself for the teasing.
“I have to do this because my family’s in danger.”
“So there you go, everyone! He’s doing it for his family.”
“Family? Makes sense.”
“Yep, no reason to try to talk him out of it.”
“Oi, Chief, let’s get rolling. Where do we start?”
“Jenny, round up all the women just like before. We don’t have a second to spare.”
A tear sprang to my eye. I wanted to thank them all from the bottom of my heart for their support, but honestly, I was too damn embarrassed. Best to just pretend I’d never delivered that cheesy line.
“Okay, Aoi, what do ya need me to do?”
“What, you’re gonna help?”
When Fez came to me offering his services, I was so shocked I gave him a rather rude response. I’d hired Donnel and Carla to fight in the first place, so I was planning on asking them to do that once again, but when it came to Fez, I honestly hadn’t even thought about how I could put him to use. I supposed I could forgive myself this one. When you’re orchestrating this many people, it’s only natural to forget someone.
“Can you go buy some rope from the village? Don’t skimp—it’ll need to be strong enough to support people’s weight. Oh, and how about you put some of those potions at your stall on sale at a cheap price? I’m sure they’ll sell like corncakes.”
“Sure, but who’s gonna take the hit for my loss?”
“I was thinking this could be your contribution to the cause.”
After a long pause, he answered in a chipper tone of voice.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna fly with the missus. She’d probably rip my tail off and beat me to death with it if I cut into the store’s profits like that.”
Apparently he’d been balancing the value of our friendship against the risk to his own life and limb.
“Aoi, we’re done with this side of the tunnel, just need to get the blocks out. The chief said to stick to the plan!”
“Got it!”
Once I secured the blocks to a rope, Fez, who’d put on a headband and joined the workforce, started lifting them up. I sprinted down the tunnel to my next digging spot. I worked away, carving into the solid bedrock below the first floor of the labyrinth, turning it all into stone blocks. As we progressed down the line, the labyrinth slowly changed shape under the influence of my <Dungeon Management Tool>. The reinforcing wood holding it up began to bow in places, under the weight of many dug-up blocks we’d glued together with coagulant. The whole thing looked like it was made of pixel art. By this point, we were clearly skimping on the aesthetics a bit.