Chapter 4

Chapter 5 Memories 1 In the end, night fell without Logan being able to dispatch a new party. He went to work the next day determined to take more resolute, concrete action against the minotaur. He ended up overloaded with clerical work, however, and before he knew it, it was evening. A group of adventurers who had made a day trip of investigating the early floors of the labyrinth returned and gave their report. This time, the minotaur had been spotted on the sixth floor. It did not initiate combat with humans, but there had been eyewitness reports of it killing other monsters. It seemed like the rumors about the minotaur had spread considerably in the last few days. Because the creature would not attack unless you attacked it first, though, only a small number of people were taking this unusual situation seriously. The next morning, Logan received shocking news. An adventurer medal and several items had been brought to reception, which likely meant someone had died. After inspection, it was determined that they belonged to Percival Mercurius. 2 Logan descended to the first floor of the guild and went to the reception area. The Heavenly Blade’s dropped belongings were piled unceremoniously on the floor. It was a veritable mountain of goods. He could tell at a glance that some of the items were exceedingly rare. About twenty young adventurers stood around the pile. “Mr. Logan. There is no doubt this adventurer medal is his.” “This is the group that found it?” “Yes.” “Who is their leader?” “This man here.” The receptionist gestured to a man named Chiran. Logan knew him to be a D-rank scout. “I’m not anyone’s leader. I found the pile of stuff, but I couldn’t take it all back alone. There were also some items I couldn’t put in my Bag for whatever reason, so I asked passing adventurers for help.” “I see. Chiran, sorry to ask this of you, but please wait a moment. Hey! Inspect this medal again for me. I want to see it for myself.” The employee inspected it again right in front of Logan, but sure enough, there was no mistaking it was Percival’s. Turns out he was level 98. Even considering his prowess, that’s much higher than I thought. When adventurers died in the labyrinth, they left behind their medal and their items. It was the duty of all adventurers to deliver to the guild any dropped medals or personal belongings they found. If a month passed without the owner showing up, half the items went to whoever had found them, and the other half went to the guild. The deceased adventurer’s family was given the first opportunity to purchase the wares, but it was rare for the family of an adventurer to have much money. In the event that the family did buy back one of their dead loved one’s belongings, the most the average person could afford was a cheap trinket to keep as a memento. The more valuable items were rarely reclaimed. The finder had the right to choose whether to be paid in cash or in kind for the guild’s share, and if they chose to be paid in kind, they had priority in choosing which items they received. It was common for expensive items to have seals of ownership engraved on them, so they were easily traceable if they were stolen or ended up on the black market. Because reporting the items was a surefire way to legally obtain something you wanted, the rarer a dropped item was, the more likely it was to be delivered to the guild. At any rate, the pile of loot left behind by Percival was objectively enormous. As an adventurer’s level increased, so did their Bag’s capacity. There was no way an ordinary adventurer would have been able to store so much. So the Heavenly Blade is actually dead… Logan had Chiran and the other adventurers give him the details about how the items had been discovered. No one denied that Chiran had found them first. He had promised the rest of them a reward of ten gold coins each to help transport them. Ten gold coins, huh? Logan counted the adventurers other than Chiran. There were eighteen of them, which meant he’d promised to pay 180 gold coins. There were many exceptional treasures among this pile that had a rather plain appearance. These young adventurers probably hadn’t realized what a horde they had stumbled upon. Chiran was pestering him to go ahead and appraise the goods. That was understandable. He was likely uneasy about whether or not he could actually pay the 180 gold coins. They were all going to be in shock, though, once they heard how much this haul was worth. Logan ordered the employee in charge of reception to explain the rights of the finder and to carry out the procedures according to regulations. He also ordered them to make a copy of the inventory once the wares had been appraised. As Logan turned toward the staircase to return to his room, his feet were oddly heavy. He felt like he’d suddenly aged twenty years. The sixth floor? That’s ridiculous. It wasn’t strange that the Heavenly Blade had been on the sixth floor. He’d never once used the transport service, preferring to delve into the labyrinth and return to the surface by running. Nevertheless, it was unthinkable that a monster strong enough to kill the Heavenly Blade could have been on the sixth floor. The labyrinth was a place where unforeseen dangers lay around every corner. By himself, even the Heavenly Blade was at risk in its deepest floors. He probably wouldn’t have been able to defeat the final floor’s metal dragon in a one-on-one fight. But the sixth floor? There’s no way. There’s absolutely no way. Logan couldn’t imagine a monster getting the best of Percival. Which meant that whoever had killed him couldn’t have been a monster. Whoever did the deed had probably set some kind of cowardly trap. Percival had been such a great swordsman that he could have handled dozens of opponents by himself in a fair fight, and the labyrinth was not a place to which you could send an entire armed force all at once. It was a place where your skill alone decided whether you lived or died. You couldn’t just succeed by investing a lot of money in soldiers or weapons. Political power had no influence there. That’s why the Heavenly Blade loved the labyrinth. He made it his home, turning his back on the glory and drama of the outside world. He wanted only to be an adventurer. And someone killed him. Damm it all! Who the hell did it?! And what kind of trick did they use?! 3 “Logan! You’re in there, aren’t you?” Logan jumped with surprise. It was Gil’s voice. It seemed he had called out multiple times. “S-sorry, Gil. Come on in.” Gil Linx opened the door and entered the room. Logan stood up and invited his guest to sit on the sofa, then took a seat across from him. “My apologies for coming so late. The king had a number of assignments for me. Our conversation went on for quite a while. I ended up staying at the palace overnight, then spent the better part of the following day completing the tasks that were most urgent.” Listening to Gil’s soft voice finally calmed Logan down. “Sounds like you’ve had it rough, too. Did you eat breakfast already?” “I ate with the king. The princes sat with us, too.” “Princes?” Logan asked, emphasizing the plural. “That’s right. At first, only the king’s second son was there, but his majesty summoned the eldest prince after I asked how he was doing.” “No way! You never cease to amaze me, Gil. Were the queens present?” “Only the second. The king said the first queen was coming down with a cold and was refraining from breakfast that morning.” “This morning, too, I’m sure. I’ll bet it was the second queen who told the king she was sick.” “Hmm. Is that what you’ve heard?” “Am I wrong?” “That I don’t know. Still, I think the first and second queens are both kind people at heart. It’s only natural for there to be discord when it comes to power and position at court, but it’s irresponsible to blindly assume things about other people.” “Hmm. I seem to remember you telling me something similar several decades ago.” “Ha-ha. Was I telling you about how those we view as monsters may actually think of us as the monsters?” “That was it! That was a bit of a shock for me. You convinced me that the way humans treat monsters is more unjust than the fate to which we condemn the worst of thieves.” “That’s looking at it from a human perspective. What monsters view as happiness and unhappiness, justice and injustice, good and evil, success and failure, gain and loss differ from the way humans think. I do believe, though, there is some logic or value that humans and monsters share.” “That may be because you spend more time with monsters than you do with humans. Hold on—you haven’t become a monster yourself, have you?” They both laughed merrily. Before Logan knew it, his gloom and anger had subsided, and his usual clearheaded frame of mind had returned. “Oh, by the way, there was a fistfight by reception on the first floor. What was that all about?” “Huh? A fistfight? That’s news to me. Did that happen just now?” “It seemed to have something to do with the transportation of goods. I heard someone complaining they deserved a higher reward than promised, and some of them were demanding extra items as compensation.” “Ah, I see. I’m not surprised that came to blows. I can’t exactly blame them.” “Now, that’s a surprising sentiment coming from you.” “That reminds me. I need to tell you about what’s going on.” Logan explained the situation. He then asked Gil for advice on how best to expose the coward who had set some kind of trap to kill the Heavenly Blade. “You’re coming at this from the wrong angle.” “How so?” “Think about it carefully. The start of all this was the initial report of the aberrant minotaur. That minotaur definitely exists and is gradually making its way up to the higher floors. The disappearances of Eisel’s daughter’s party and Percival are parts of the same case.” “I can’t deny the possibility, but—” “It is hard to imagine any of them could have been defeated by the minotaur. Regardless, at this point, the beast is our only lead.” “Well…” “As you said yourself, Percival’s death may have been wrought by human hands. If you make that assumption, however, it will take the investigation outside the labyrinth. Where does your duty lie?” “Hmm…” “In any case, a minotaur roaming beyond its designated area is undoubtedly abnormal, and this issue cannot be ignored. Wouldn’t you agree?” Logan didn’t respond. Compared to the death of Percival, he just couldn’t conceive of the minotaur’s strange behavior as that big a deal. “First, we need to find the monster and kill it. If we then decide there is no connection to Percival’s death, we can begin the search anew.” Logan needed some time to digest those words. After a lengthy silence, he responded with a firm tone. “You’re exactly right. As you say, we need to start with the minotaur.” “I’m glad we’re on the same page. I’m going to the labyrinth. I’ll start at the first floor and work my way down to the tenth until I find the beast. And then, I’ll kill it.” Logan didn’t thank him or apologize. He knew Gil wouldn’t want to hear it. It would probably even offend him. He just bowed his head deeply instead. “Before I go, I want you to have this.” Gil was holding a seashell in his right hand that was about the size of an ear. “Is that…a Serruria shell?” “That’s right. Its color is similar to the Serruria flower, which is also known as the Blushing Bride. Like the first love of a young maiden, its color is heartrending yet fleeting at the same time.” “What’s with the sudden poetry? Are you remembering someone special?” Rather than answering Logan’s teasing question, Gil simply brushed aside long-distant memories and put the shell to his mouth, light reflecting off it in all the colors of the rainbow. He blew into it with a light puff of air, rustling his white beard in the process. A bluish-purple ball of light formed in the shell. “This shell now stores some of my life energy. As long as this ball of light is shining, that means I am still alive.” “Hey, what’re you saying? Are you planning on dying before me? Actually, hang on a sec. Didn’t I hear that the king of the underworld granted you an immortal body after you collected on a debt?” Gil laughed. “These rumors never cease to amaze me.” Gil’s parting gift put Logan at ease. Now that he had calmed down, he realized just how shaken he had been over the Heavenly Blade’s death. Gil was truly kind. “Thank you, Gil.” The great sorcerer smiled broadly. Then, just as he was about to teleport, he seemed to remember something and spoke. “I don’t know if there is such a thing as a happy way to die, but if you find a way that you want to live and are able to proceed that way until the moment you die, I think you could call that a happy life. No one can place value on a person’s life except the one who lived it. Other people will evaluate your time on this earth by their memories of you—provided your corpse isn’t the first image that comes to mind—but that is not the true value of a life.” After delivering what almost felt like a final request, Gil Linx headed to battle. 4 Logan had met Gil Linx about forty years ago. One day, when Logan was at a guild in the border province of Sheradan, which was located in the southern part of the continent, Gil found him fighting with a guild employee over the reward for a mission and helped him out. Gil was already an S-rank adventurer at the time. He politely explained to Logan the basics of being an adventurer, after which Logan realized his mistake and apologized. Gil then pointed out that the guild had added an unexpected request after Logan had accepted the job and told the employee to increase the reward. The employee obeyed while humbling himself profusely, and it was then that Logan realized just what kind of people S-rank adventurers really were. S-rank adventurers held a special place in the world. You could apply to become an S-rank adventurer after reaching level 61 or higher or after reaching level 51 with distinguished service. Being level 51 or above meant you possessed combat strength equivalent to the most elite knights in the kingdom. The most well-known S-rank adventurers often ended up taking on the role of envoy or arbitrator for issues of international concern. They were also occasionally given temporary command of military units and asked to contribute to strategy sessions. S-rank adventurers were small in number and often employed by royal families or various lords. In order to maintain their free positions, they looked to the guild for patronage. To an Adventurers Guild, an S-rank adventurer was a top commodity and also a trump card that allowed them to reject any interference that threatened their high level of independence. For that reason, in high-priority cases, it was practically the guild’s duty to act as mediator for S-rank adventurers and protect their rights even if it meant negotiating against a country. After their meeting at the guild, Logan spent a period of time being led around on adventures with Gil. Gil had probably noticed Logan’s true identity from the beginning. Logan was not human. He was a half-dwarf. Humans were under the belief that dwarves had died out in ancient times. In reality, however, dwarves were still around, and their land was located in the sprawling highlands just southeast of the center of the continent. A single human family had taken up residence there after getting lost and stumbling across it, and their youngest daughter had grown up there and married a dwarf. Logan was their child. Dwarves were shorter than humans but had strong muscles and bones. Their stamina was exceptional, giving them unparalleled staying power during long battles. Also, their life span was about three times longer than humans. Logan was a drifter at heart. Despite knowing that he would never be allowed back home if he left the land of the dwarves to join the world of humans, he’d set off on a journey without a clear destination in mind. His mother had taught him how to speak the human tongue, but he’d had no experience with human culture, much less an understanding of their customs and values. Gil taught him how to make sense of the human world and also how to live as an adventurer. They adventured together for two years before parting ways, then met again four years later by total chance. They had both been participating in a secret mission to save a shrine maiden who had been confined by a high-ranking priest of the Holy Kingdom of Roahl. The adventurers with whom they’d been working dropped out one after another, until eventually only Gil and Logan remained. Outnumbered four to two, they’d ended up having to take on a group of temple knights, but wielding a shortsword in each hand, Gil had ended up taking out two of them by himself without using any magic. Now that I think about it, I’ve never asked him why he didn’t use magic in that situation. After that, they adventured together for nearly five years. That was the period when Gil had learned to use teleportation magic, and they’d ended up spending those five years traveling all around the world so he could set up teleportation sites. Speaking of teleportation, they experienced some incredible scenes during their travels. The lord of one of the regions to which they’d traveled ended up aiming for their heads and dispatched a group of knights to chase them down. Gil had hidden Logan in some tall grass and run into a labyrinth while ensuring their pursuers saw him do so. They subsequently proceeded to blockade the entrance to the labyrinth. Logan had been startled when he saw that. You couldn’t teleport out of a labyrinth. It was possible to move around within its confines by means of teleportation, but the labyrinth and the outside world were not connected magically. There was no way to leave other than by stepping out of the first-floor entrance. Whether or not their pursuers had known that Gil could use teleportation magic was irrelevant. Whatever one’s abilities, a person could leave a labyrinth only through its entrance, and now that he had gone inside, Gil was as good as stuck. “Come on, Gil. Are you planning on sticking it out in the labyrinth until they leave? You really should have brought me with you…” “No way. That would take forever.” “Gil! How in the world did you get out?” “Ha-ha. Sorry for making you wait. All right, shall we move on to the next town?” “H-hey. Isn’t it impossible to teleport out of a labyrinth?” “So they say.” “No, I’ve definitely heard that the labyrinth and the outside world aren’t connected magically.” “That’s right—they’re not. So all you need to do is connect them.” “Huh?!” Gil had been inventing new spells and improving upon existing magic over the course of the entire trip. He was a genius in the truest sense of the word. After they parted ways for the second time, Gil had made the Baldemost Kingdom his new base of operations, gained the trust of the king, and had been invited to the kingdom’s institute for magic. Logan had settled down in Ardana. He eventually rose to rank S, but then his surroundings had become significantly more restrictive, and he was constantly being crowded by people wanting to form a connection with him. When Logan grew fed up with it all, Gil had visited him and used his teleportation magic to take Logan to Baldemost. Carrying someone the distance from Ardana to Baldemost with one teleport was an unprecedented act, but nothing Gil did could surprise him anymore. Gil introduced him to the leader of the Micaene Adventurers Guild at the time, who found him a party. The group was comprised of Logan, who wielded a war hammer; Zorn, who wielded a longsword; Saika, a sorceress specializing in enchant magic; and Mejiana the thief. A little while afterward, a sorcerer named Gargos who specialized in offensive magic and a priest named Zofu were added, completing the party. They were incredible. Logan was their S-rank leader. Zorn was rank A at first but later advanced to rank S. Saika, Mejiana, and Gargos were all B ranks when they joined but later became A ranks. Zofu went from a C rank to an A rank. For nearly ten years, they had the time of their lives exploring the labyrinth. They even invited two temporary party members and took down the metal dragon twice. They also completed requests on the surface—always the most difficult ones. Eventually, the glory days came to an end. Zorn died, and Saika and Mejiana retired. Gargos also fell back from the front lines and became an instructor for the next generation. Zofu received a divine revelation and departed for a remote region. With Logan unable to go into the labyrinth much anymore, the guild leader named him second-in-command and gave him on-the-job training. He passed to Logan all the information he had collected over the years and died soon afterward. He had recommended Logan as his replacement. Logan had been leader of the Micaene Adventurers Guild for around ten years now. He couldn’t remember how long exactly. He’d quickly grown tired of this life as well. He hated being stuck in one place. When Logan had come to this town, he was a strong warrior in the prime of his life, and truth be told, he was too young to be considered an old man even now. He was starting to think the day he would leave his work to his successor and rejoin the path of adventure was drawing near. Logan opened the top drawer of his desk. Inside the Serruria shell, the soft, bluish-purple ball of light was shining. Its light warmed his heart.