Chapter 7

Chapter 8 Into the Depths 1 “Mr. Logan. Would you mind if I changed my clothes here?” “H-huh? Yeah, go ahead.” The chief vassal of House Mercurius gave a slight bow to his lord, took off his jacket and pants, pulled light armor out of his Bag, and put it on skillfully. A Bag! Is he a former adventurer? No. There’s no way. This man is a noble to the core. I highly doubt that, as a noble and a knight, he went out of his way to choose adventurer as his holy occupation. Hey, this is no time to get lost in thought. “Allow me to change as well.” Logan bowed slightly toward Julius and Pan’ja, and then he also put his clothes into his Bag and pulled out and equipped leather armor. Pan’ja grabbed his overcoat and hat hanging on the rack and stored those, too. He then grabbed Julius’s overcoat and got him ready to depart. 2 House Mercurius’s carriage was parked in front of the guild. There were knights stationed next to it. They seemed quite capable. “Please ride with us, Mr. Logan.” “Actually, the labyrinth is just over there, so I’m going to walk.” “I see.” Once the boy and the chief vassal got into their conveyance, Logan began guiding them on foot. The knights followed diagonally behind without a word. He brought them to a location near the entrance to the labyrinth where the carriage would not get in anyone’s way. The chief vassal and a man who looked like a sorcerer descended from the carriage. The coachman did not move from his seat, and the knights stationed themselves next to the doors. Julius would be waiting here. “Mr. Logan. This man’s name is Skant. He is an engraver, but he also knows some offensive and defensive magic.” “That puts me at ease.” The chief vassal drew a longsword from his Bag and fixed it to his hip. He has an impressive dignity about him. He’s probably on the high end of A rank. No, maybe S rank. Logan drew a war hammer from his Bag. “Okay, let’s go.” “All right.” Logan walked toward the entrance. The chief vassal followed behind him diagonally, and the engraver trailed Pan’ja. Logan wasn’t sure why, but he felt a strange sense of unity as they moved toward the labyrinth. With this trio, forget the sixth floor. We could probably make it to the ninetieth floor. My heart is racing for the first time in years. “Hey!” The engraver suddenly raised his voice. Someone had emerged from the labyrinth. Whoever it was seemed small. What is a child this little doing here? Anyone could enter the first floor of the labyrinth, even without a holy occupation. As a result, people with nowhere else to turn for money sometimes raided the first floor for the purpose of collecting bronze coins. Those people usually died. The monsters of the first floor, spiny rats, attacked enemies who projected hostility toward them. People inexperienced in combat did not know how to direct their aggression, which resulted in them being swarmed by countless rats and nibbled to death. In Micaene, it was common for parents when scolding their children to threaten to throw them into the first floor of the labyrinth if they didn’t behave. While Logan was puzzling over what this kid could have been doing there, the engraver ran up to the child. The boy had black eyes and black hair and looked to be around seven or eight years old. He was covered in dirt and injuries all over his body and face. He had a worn-down knife in his right hand and a bracelet in his left. “This is it! This is it!” yelled the engraver after he ran to the kid. Logan and the chief vassal both walked up to join them. Oh? Even though we’ve aggressively crowded this kid, he isn’t the least bit scared. The chief vassal bent down and looked the child in the eyes. “I’m sorry to ask this of you, but could you show me that bracelet?” The boy handed it over straightaway. The chief vassal looked at it for some time. He then returned the bracelet to the kid, stood up, and signaled to their carriage. One of the knights brought Julius over. The chief vassal bowed to his young lord. “This boy has Alestra’s Bracelet.” Julius’s eyes lit up. The chief vassal got down on one knee, looked the boy in the eyes again, and spoke. “I am Pan’ja Raban. What is your name?” “I’m Panzel.” He wasn’t the least bit timid, but he was well-mannered. Logan saw the chief vassal’s lips curl into a slight smile. “Did you obtain this bracelet in the labyrinth?” “Yes.” “Could you share with me how you came to claim it?” “My mother is sick, so I went into the first floor of the labyrinth to find some bronze coins. This was my third time today.” Third time! If that’s true, then he did not survive by chance. This boy knows how to direct his hostility toward the spiny rats he wants to fight while avoiding the rest. “The second spiny rat I killed today dropped two bronze coins. I gathered them, and when I looked up, it was right in front of me.” “What was right in front of you?” “A monster. It was huge. And it had the body of a human and the head of a bull with giant horns.” “That sounds like a minotaur.” “Really? I don’t know what that is, but it was holding a shortsword in its right hand and this bracelet in its left hand.” “A shortsword and this bracelet… So what happened next?” “I thought that if I didn’t fight, I was going to die, so I attacked it with my knife.” “Huh?” He attacked it?! Even with a regular minotaur, most people would wet themselves if they saw one in person. This minotaur is obviously a unique monster. And the boy says he attacked it?! “At my height, I could only reach about this high on its leg.” The boy tapped his own calf with the bracelet. “But then I passed out because I’d used up all my strength.” “What? Right in front of the minotaur?” “When I woke up, I was lying on top of a flat boulder, and this bracelet was on my stomach. It looked expensive, so I was wondering if I could sell it. Then, when I left the labyrinth, you all came up to me.” That seemed like the end of the kid’s story. “Because you obtained this bracelet in the labyrinth, in accordance with the rules, it is now yours. However, this bracelet is a prized possession of this boy’s father and a treasure of our family. I would like to give you a suitable price for it. How does that sound?” The boy named Panzel looked back into the chief vassal’s eyes, then looked at Julius. “This bracelet belongs to your father?” Julius nodded and said yes. Julius was slightly bigger than Panzel and probably older, too. Panzel seemed more mature, though. “All right, you can have it. I don’t need any money.” Panzel held out the bracelet for Julius. Julius smiled from ear to ear and took the bracelet. “Thank you, Mr. Panzel.” The chief vassal gave Logan a look, directed him to a spot slightly away from the others, and spoke in a quiet voice. “Mr. Logan. The bracelet has been returned to us. You have my gratitude for your assistance.” “What? But I didn’t do anything.” “Following your advice is what led to this result, so clearly, your insight had value. Now that we have the bracelet back, I need to return to the estate right away and give my report.” He was probably reporting to the Heavenly Blade’s wife and Julius’s mother, a princess of royal blood. “I understand. That would be best.” “I’m sure many adventurers are already aware of Lord Percival’s death.” “Actually, no. We do not inform adventurers who recover items in the labyrinth of the identity of the person who dropped them. I’ve sworn the guild employees to silence. The death of Lord Percival will become a major event, so it would be problematic for us if it turned out we were wrong.” “I never would have expected you to go that far. I am greatly obliged.” “With this kind of case, however, rumors will gradually spread. It’s obvious the owner of those items was someone of high social standing. There aren’t many adventurers among the nobility, so I’m sure a number of people will surmise the victim’s identity.” “That I don’t mind. I will just be grateful if the guild does not officially report the death of Lord Percival.” No matter how far a rumor spreads, it remains a rumor. If the guild officially recognized the Heavenly Blade’s death, and the royal court became aware of it, that would put House Mercurius in a difficult position. “That will be no problem, but I’ll need to tell the finders that a noble has made a proposal to buy back some of the items. I’ll omit your name.” “Mr. Logan. I will notify those within the family that Lord Percival died of illness. I will then get started on preparations so that Lord Julius can assume his post as head of the family without issue.” “I see. Got it. The Micaene Adventurers Guild will never officially recognize that Lord Percival died in the labyrinth.” “Thank you very much.” The chief vassal bowed deeply and continued speaking. “Tomorrow, I am going to send two vassals. The engraver Skant will be with them. I would like to request some adventurers to guide them to the sixth floor.” “Understood.” Logan had heard from the Heavenly Blade himself that in order to avoid attending official functions and visiting the palace, he would say he was ill as an excuse, and it seemed on paper that Percival was officially a sickly man. His habit of holing himself away in the labyrinth was probably common knowledge at the palace, though. 3 The chief vassal asked Panzel where he lived and about his lifestyle. He thanked him again for the bracelet and then handed him a silver coin, which he said represented a promise. He asked Panzel why he’d said he didn’t need any money, and Panzel answered, “If something my father owned became someone else’s, I would be sad.” Logan wondered if the boy had experienced that kind of thing before. Regardless, whatever the chief vassal was planning, Logan didn’t think he would harm the boy. Logan then made some arrangements, separated from the group, and went back to the guild. When he returned to his office, he was greeted by that mountain of documents crowding his desk, taunting him for the amount of work he still had left to do. If I’m not here, have the manager do it. He should be able to handle 80 percent of this just fine. It took him until late into the night to finish everything. When he arrived at work the next morning, a messenger from House Mercurius was waiting for him. The messenger had a list of the items House Mercurius wanted to buy back. The chief vassal seemed to have decided that he wanted nearly everything, aside from the consumables. Julius probably asked him to buy back all his father’s stuff. They even attached an offer, put forward without waiting for the assessment to be completed. It was a higher price than the guild likely would have asked. That may have been a message to the guild, saying to just forget about this bothersome process and go ahead and let them buy the items back. This is an incredible amount of money they’re offering. The recipients will have nothing to complain about. Raika’s Ring, Ende’s Shield, and Bolton’s Charm had especially staggering prices attached, but Logan wondered if the prices might still be low, considering their true worth. Ende… Ende… I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before. Hold on. Wasn’t that the name of a dragon god worshipped in the eastern part of the Gorenza Empire? The two knights and the engraver from House Mercurius arrived at the promised time, and Logan introduced them to two veteran scouts he had standing by for them. The chief vassal had agreed to pay as if they were being escorted to the middle levels, so he’d been able to find adventurers to take the job in no time. After seeing them off, he turned back to the mountain of documents but, having too much on his mind, couldn’t focus on work. From Panzel’s testimony, he could definitely assume the minotaur had had Alestra’s Bracelet. It was strange, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. If the minotaur had obtained the bracelet, there could be no doubt that it had killed Percival. The shortsword the minotaur had been holding had most likely been Kaldan’s Dagger. It was very hard to imagine a minotaur holding a shortsword instead of axes. Logan spent so long pondering the matter that evening fell before he knew it, and the House Mercurius knights returned to the guild to make their report. They’d ended up searching down to the eleventh floor but said they had found no engraved items. “Has Mr. Gil Linx shared anything about his investigation?” “Not yet. It seemed like he had business at the royal palace, so he probably just hasn’t had time to come back here. If he says anything, I’ll contact the chief vassal.” “Thank you very much.” They said they’d placed flowers on the sixth floor under Julius’s orders. So in the end, they still understood nothing about Percival’s death. Not one thing had been solved definitively. At the very least, Logan could take solace in the fact that the minotaur seemed to attack humans only on rare occasions. The overwhelming number of eyewitness testimonies more than confirmed this. Even Panzel, who’d attacked the minotaur himself, had not been harmed. But a minotaur that didn’t attack people was quite bizarre. Anyway, fretting about it wouldn’t get him anywhere. All he could do was be patient. “Now seems like as good a time as any…” Logan grabbed some alcohol off a shelf and opened a drawer to get a glass. The Serruria shell was sitting right next to it. He’d been so busy that he hadn’t even thought to check it. There was no way Gil was going to die, so doing so would have been a waste of time. But Logan froze when he opened the drawer. The Serruria shell was there, but the bluish-purple light that represented Gil’s life force had gone out. Logan was rendered speechless. He tried to pick up the shell with his trembling hands but ended up shattering it instead. He felt like his world was falling apart. 4 Pan’ja Raban’s heart sang with glee. He was grief-stricken over Percival’s death, but Percival had been so brilliant and larger-than-life that an ordinary man such as Pan’ja could not even begin to guess at his way of thinking. There were many who saw Percival as a boorish noble who could do nothing but fight. Those people didn’t understand the first thing about him. Percival actually had a brilliant mind and superb political acumen, to the point where he may have been the smartest noble in the country. After much deliberation, though, Percival had chosen a road that did not make use of those abilities, instead following a path he thought would keep the country at peace. Exploring labyrinths was a hobby of Percival’s and a cover. He had lived and died doing what he loved, so he had probably been satisfied in the end. Besides, Percival had not been someone Pan’ja had to spend time worrying about and protecting. Pan’ja’s most important mission was training the vassals who would support Julius. Their men were quite skilled and excelled in a number of different areas—some were useful for their knowledge and wisdom, others for their combat prowess. Together, they were beginning to add up to more than the sum of their parts. Looking at their vassals as a whole, however, he had felt that something was missing. Then he met the boy named Panzel. The boy was still young. Pan’ja did not yet know what kind of talents he would develop, but he had a hunch this boy was the one for whom he had been searching. Pan’ja had been bewildered when he’d heard that Alestra’s Bracelet was not among Percival’s dropped items. There was no way Percival would have allowed himself to lose the bracelet, knowing the dilemma that would cause his son. It was his belief in Percival that convinced Pan’ja that his deceased lord had given Panzel the bracelet and sent him to the entrance of the labyrinth. That Percival, who’d so loved the labyrinth, had found the boy. The bracelet was proof. Just from speaking with him briefly, Pan’ja could tell the child had great character. Consequently, he found himself heading to Panzel’s house to meet with his mother and to invite the boy to serve House Mercurius as a vassal. Panzel turned out to not be home. His mother was the only one there. She got out of bed and welcomed Pan’ja inside. After the chief vassal introduced himself, she bowed to him politely as one would to their lord. “I never thought I would have the honor of meeting you, Lord Adol Sou La Vald.” Pan’ja felt so shocked, the sky and the earth may as well have been reversed. It was strange that anyone would remember that name, and it was stranger still that they would believe someone with that name still lived. No one should have known his true identity. Somehow, though, this woman did. “My husband was the grandson of Eisha Goran.” What in the world was going on? That would make Panzel Eisha Goran’s great-grandson. The same Eisha Goran who had thrown away everything so that Pan’ja could survive. Pan’ja was speechless. 5 The minotaur was in the boss room of the fiftieth floor. When it had reached the highest floor and decided to aim for the lower floors, it had put the shortsword in storage, pulled out the longsword it had acquired from the fight with the three humans, held it with its right hand, and begun its descent. It searched for the staircase on each floor and worked its way down the labyrinth. It entered many boss rooms on many floors but found no enemies strong enough to satisfy its craving. It finally began encountering somewhat challenging enemies from the thirtieth floor onward. The boss of the fiftieth floor was a giant lizardman. It held a scimitar in each hand and attacked with a series of moves that exhibited force, speed, and finesse. It would also kick and headbutt if given the chance, and its tail packed a serious punch. The minotaur took a liking to this enemy. During their long, entertaining battle, the minotaur’s longsword broke, so it used the giant club it had gotten from the boss of the thirtieth floor to finish off the lizardman. Clubs weren’t bad, but the minotaur was more interested in swords. It could not stop thinking about that swordsman’s skill. The minotaur was convinced the sword was the weapon of choice for those who aimed for greatness. But sword blades were often fragile. The minotaur’s got nicked considerably when exchanging blows with clubs. Not many swords could withstand a swing with the minotaur’s full force behind it without breaking. It wanted a large, heavy, sturdy sword that it could wield at full strength and use to slice its enemies. When the lizardman’s body vanished, the two scimitars it was holding disappeared with it, but a bigger, more beautiful scimitar appeared in their place. The minotaur sat down and stared closely at its reward. If only it were a little bigger…a little heavier… But it was still a wonderful weapon. It sensed a great strength in the sword. The minotaur decided to make that scimitar its main weapon for the time being. After a moment’s consideration, with the scimitar still in its right hand, it used its other hand to pick up the club it had set on the ground. In its right hand, a sword. In its left hand, a club. While thinking back on the lizardman’s dual-blade technique, it tried picturing itself fighting while holding both these weapons. It sensed a presence. The minotaur turned to see a group of six adventurers walking into the room. There was a thief, a swordsman, a sorceress, an archer, a war priestess, and a spellblade. They were talking to one another while remaining in strict battle formation. “Hey. That teleporter mistakenly sent us to the tenth floor instead of the fiftieth floor.” “No, this is definitely the fiftieth floor. Just look outside the room.” “Okay, then why is a minotaur here?” “Hmm. Maybe it moved.” “Ahhh, that explains it. I guess even a monster would get sick of being killed in the same room over and over again. Every now and then, they probably need a change of pace and look for a different room to get killed in. Come on—don’t be stupid.” “Whether it’s supposed to be here or not, this thing seems stronger than a minotaur has any right to be.” “That’s true. Well, as long as it drops some good stuff, it makes no difference whether it’s a minotaur or that dumb lizard, right?” “Actually, minotaurs are known for giving pretty crappy drops.” “Ha-ha-ha. I don’t think that’ll be true for this one. Just look at it. It’s holding a Blood Scimitar in its right hand and a Turtle Crusher in its left.” “Those are both blessed items, huh? And one of them is a rare drop. This minotaur sure knew how to give us a warm welcome. Earthbind!” The adventurers were slowly advancing on the minotaur while they chatted, and once they reached an appropriate distance, the battle began. That they were able to start fighting without a strategy session or anyone giving orders was a sign of this party’s excellent chemistry. Every time the sorceress cast the movement-binding spell, the minotaur jumped slightly, causing it to miss. The sorceress uttered a short incantation, casting Haste on the thief and then on the swordsman. Haste was enchantment magic that increased attack and movement speed. The thief wheeled around to the minotaur’s flank, threw a flash bomb at it with his left hand, then with his right, jabbed at its abdomen repeatedly with his saber. The war priestess prayed, and the swordsman became wreathed in a special aura. This was magic that raised magic defense and physical defense for a short period of time. The flash bomb went off right next to the minotaur’s face, releasing a blinding light accompanied by an explosive sound. That was all the item did, but bestial monsters hated them. This minotaur, however, didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the light or the sound and kept the thief at bay with its club. At the same time, it swung its scimitar down diagonally and cut off the swordsman’s head. The minotaur changed the trajectory of the sword in midair at a right angle and sliced open the war priestess’s left shoulder. It lowered its head just in time to avoid a magic arrow, which sailed over it. It then pushed off the ground from its crouching position and charged forward. The spellblade shot fire daggers at it, but the minotaur simply endured the barrage without even trying to dodge or defend. The attack did not do much damage. The magic arrow caused a geyser behind it, erupting in a giant pillar of water and releasing a large amount of steam. The minotaur sent rocks flying with its club. It charged low and impaled the spellblade with its horns. The rocks hit the sorceress square in the stomach while she was trying to retrieve a blue potion. The minotaur continued to charge forward with the spellblade still pinned to its horns. The thief caught up to it and planted his dagger into its back, but it just fell right back out and onto the ground. The minotaur swung its scimitar at the sorceress, who had dropped the potion. The archer finished readying another magic arrow. Quickly changing the direction of its charge to the right, the minotaur prevented the archer from firing because the sorceress and the magic warrior were now in the way. Using its scimitar, the minotaur cleaved the sorceress’s torso clean in two. Its club whooshed through the air as it threw the weapon at the archer. “Call!” the war priestess cried out. The archer, spellblade, thief, and war priestess all then teleported away. This was a summoning skill that worked on party members within a certain distance. After quickly losing two people, they decided they could not defeat the minotaur. Making use of the items they had on hand to distract it, they made their escape. 6 “What are you saying?! We just lost two people! If such a dangerous monster had become the boss of the fiftieth floor, why didn’t you tell us that before you teleported us there?!” “I’m very sorry for your loss. Had you purchased information on the labyrinth beforehand, we would have told you about the minotaur everyone has been discussing of late.” “That only makes this worse! You didn’t even think to suggest that we buy information!” “Right now, in Micaene, even children know about the minotaur. Any adventurer, no matter how much of a beginner they are, should know about it as well. It’s already common knowledge that the creature won’t attack unless you attack it first.” “We didn’t know anything about that! It’s been two years since we entered this labyrinth!” “Even the guild did not yet know that the minotaur had made it to the fiftieth floor. That, however, is probably only temporary. It is natural to assume it will continue to descend to the lower floors. It was simply bad luck that it happened to be there when you decided to challenge the fiftieth-floor boss.” “Because of that, we engaged it without any idea how strong it really was! This is all your fault!” “I’ll say this clearly. Arriving at this town for the first time in years and then quickly challenging the fiftieth floor of the labyrinth without any preliminary research is a failure brought about by your own carelessness. You could have turned back as soon as you saw the lizardman wasn’t in the boss room. The minotaur made no move to attack until you engaged it, correct? You assumed that risk of your own accord. You must take responsibility for your own actions when challenging a labyrinth.” The archer Deeditt had no comeback for the manager. The party had gotten their start in this town before deciding to travel and challenge other labyrinths in order to become strong enough to defeat the lizardman. They had also completed various jobs along the way. They had gained experience, upped their ranks, and obtained good equipment. After arriving in Micaene, they’d celebrated their long-awaited return by requesting the teleportation service to the fiftieth floor as soon as they visited the guild. They didn’t think there was a chance they would lose. They believed they had become strong enough to handle it. For that reason, just this once, they’d skipped the information-gathering step they always performed after reaching a new area, thinking they knew the boss of the fiftieth floor well enough already. They had been careless and arrogant, and now two of their friends with whom they’d adventured for so long were dead. Deeditt stopped arguing and instead just stood there, clasping his hands together in deep regret. 7 The minotaur was still in the boss room of the fiftieth floor. It had taken a liking to fighting the giant lizardman and wanted a second scimitar, so it was waiting for it to respawn. It leaned against the stone wall and thought back on the fight it had just had with that party. They had been careless. They had greatly underestimated its strength. Thanks to that, it had been able to turn the tide of battle in its favor very quickly. But how would the encounter have gone had they not been careless? They were not that strong individually, but their teamwork was impressive. Humans had a great number of techniques. It had learned a variety of new ones from that fight. Humans sure made for interesting enemies. The minotaur looked forward to its next brush with them. Its hunger—its lifelong companion—continued to rage, but the minotaur had learned to take enjoyment in this as well.