Chapter 3: Makoto Takatsuki Arrives at Labyrinthos
A lavish feast was served on the airship, and I ate and drank to my heart’s content.
As night fell, Lucy and I were shown to individual suites. Mine was a room filled with posh furniture and a soft, fluffy bed. It was worlds apart from my usual sleeping arrangement of huddling on the floor in the guildhall.
I can’t get used to the difference!
“Can’t sleep,” I muttered bluntly.
I’d mostly sobered up and now felt wide awake, so I stepped out to enjoy the night breeze. Apparently, monsters could attack the ship if we left the lights on, so the ones across the deck had been extinguished. My surroundings were rendered pitch-black.
Several beastmen with bird features were standing around the deck as lookouts. Did they have night vision too?
The night shift’s gotta suck.
I leaned on the railing and looked down past the ship. Flying over the ink-black nothingness made me feel uneasy. Without any towns below us, there were no lights in sight.
A voice spoke up from the darkness. “It is not like Japan, is it?”
“Oh, Fujiyan.”
The owner of the ship had appeared from behind me with an expensive-looking wine held in his hand.
“So? How would you feel about a nightcap?” he asked.
“Just a drop,” I told him. Fujiyan had become a real drinker.
He and I plonked ourselves down directly onto the deck, and he poured us both a glass, relying on the moonlight.
We tapped our drinks together with a slight ching.
“At night, the stars and moon are spectacular in this world, are they not?”
“You can’t even see the stars in Tokyo,” I replied.
I miss that sky...back in Tokyo with no stars.
Even in this world, though, there were barely any chances to sit back and stargaze.
Keeping that in mind, perhaps moments like this were more precious than I’d thought.
“And yet, to think, such a gorgeous sight as that moon is seen as an ill omen to this world,” Fujiyan mused. “Truly mysterious.”
“Moon magic is the least popular, right?”
Moon-aligned magic was the element among the seven which dealt with death and darkness. No one had taken the moon magic lessons at the Water Temple. I hadn’t been given any moon skills in the first place, so I had no reason to take those classes either.
“That is not all—the nation of the moon on this continent, Laphroaig, fell long ago. It is treated as a cursed land.”
“Laphroaig’s the country that betrayed humanity and sided with the demons a thousand years ago, right?” I asked. That was what we’d learned in history lessons at the temple.
“The moon priestess at the time was known as the Witch of Calamity, and she pulled strings from behind the scenes, I believe.”
“And that’s why no one uses moon magic,” I finished.
Water magic was the weakest type of magic.
Elemental magic had been forgotten.
Moon magic was loathed.
Incidentally, the strongest magic was sun-aligned.
“I’m glad my skill wasn’t moon magic,” I admitted. Although there was a certain longing I held toward darkness as an element.
“I have also heard tell that the moon priestess was taken down by the Highland Knights recently.”
“Oh? That happened?”
I hadn’t known that. Still...however evil the moon priestess had been in the past, the current one probably hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t my problem, but I still felt bad for her.
“There have been more monsters of late as well, along with predictions of the revival of the Great Demon Lord, so there is much unrest. I presume that by subduing the moon priestess, they are trying to ease the minds of the populace.”
“I reckon the one being subdued isn’t too happy about it.”
The wine gradually emptied as we spoke. It went down real easy, completely different from the cheap wines from the guild stalls.
“It would seem that there are many strong monsters within Labyrinthos as well. My esteemed Tackie, I do hope you will take care.”
“The tough stuff is below the middle layer,” I explained. “We’re going to be taking things easy up top, so we’ll be fine.”
“You are always one to feign aiming for safety before doing the most ludicrous of things, so I am rather worried.”
“I am?”
“You can hardly call facing that giant in single combat a sane action.”
“Well, it all worked out in the end.”
“Please,” implored Fujiyan, “restrain yourself from such actions within Labyrinthos.”
“All right already,” I waved him off, gulping down the remnants of my wine.
Whew, I’m a bit tipsy. Wine’s stronger than ale, right?
“By the way,” I started, while pouring a second glass. This was something I’d been curious about. “How are things with Nina and Chris?”
“Guhpff!” Fujiyan sputtered, spraying wine as he did. Oh, that sure hit home for once.
“Nina’s always so easygoing, but she seemed fiercer with Chris around,” I continued, grinning and verbally poking at my buddy. “I’ve only met Chris once, so I don’t know much about her, but she sure seemed rather infatuated with you.”
“Well...I do feel some affection toward the two of them...” Fujiyan admitted with a slight amount of embarrassment.
How manly! So he’ll admit it straight off?
“I cannot pretend to be ignorant with my mind reading,” he mused, staring off into the distance as he drained his own glass.
“Right, skills that are too powerful are a pain as well.” Being able to read minds meant that he couldn’t remain unaffected and aloof. “So, which do you fancy?”
“You are awfully probing today...” Fujiyan griped. “Both of them are my precious friends. And of yourself, my esteemed Tackie? How are things with Miss Lucy?”
“What do you mean?”
Lucy? She was a precious comrade. She did set my heart pounding sometimes though. She just had so much on show...
“Hmm, well my skill means I can understand your feelings. How dull.”
“Poor you.”
The wine’s getting a bit warm.
Water Magic: Freeze. My spell cooled the wine down. Yup, it’s better like this.
“How convenient,” Fujiyan commented.
“Want me to get yours?”
“No, I prefer it at room temperature, personally.”
“Fair enough.”
We stopped talking and silence fell between us.
Nights in this world were quiet. The only noises that broke the silence were the sounds of the beasts in the forest beneath us.
The only other noise was the warm breeze making the sails flap. I gazed vacantly down into my wine glass, peering at the moon reflected in its depths.
After a while, Fujiyan spoke up. “My esteemed Tackie, I believe you had a good relationship with Aya Sasaki.”
“What?”
That was a name I hadn’t heard in a long time. Aya Sasaki, or Sasa.
She was one of the few friends I had in my class. My late friend, now.
I’d had feelings for her...maybe? She was the only one who’d come over and hung out at my house in junior high. I do think I saw her as a girl though.
“Forget it...it is nothing,” Fujiyan insisted. “My apologies.”
“It would’ve been great to sit and drink with her like this,” I admitted. That could never happen though.
When we used to play games together, Sasa and I would talk about how she wanted to go off somewhere. I don’t think we’d have ever considered a different world though.
“We...have come a long way,” Fujiyan said simply.
“Yeah...we have.”
In the end, we drank the night away, even opening a second bottle.
◇
“We’re here’h!” Nina announced, waking me up as the morning sunlight streamed through the windows.
My head hurt... I stayed up too late last night. Though, it was the first time in a long while that we’d enjoyed ourselves like that.
I made my way out, staggering because of the hangover.
Argh, the sun’s so bright...
Lucy was already waiting outside, wearing casual loungewear.
“Makoto, look, look!” she cried, pointing off into the distance. My eyes followed her finger.
“I can’t see anything but trees and mountains.” The view from the ship was completely blanketed in green.
“Look, that way,” she insisted.
I used Clairvoyance to squint in the direction she’d indicated.
Right, that does look like a town. Lucy’s as sharp-sighted as ever.
“That is the Labyrinth Town,” Fujiyan told us. “Is it the first time you’re both seeing it?”
“It is. So, it’s a town where everyone’s an adventurer?” Lucy asked.
“Not quite. It’s a town of people involved with adventuring. As the numbers of parties challenging Labyrinthos increased, people looking to sell items and lodging to adventurers gathered in the area, alongside clerics from the temples for healing. The adventurer’s guild set up a branch office here to administer it all.”
“It’s the biggest adventurer’s guild in Roses’h.”
Labyrinthos could almost be called a gateway to success for the people on this continent. Therefore, an adventurer’s town had naturally sprung up by its entrance.
“Let us stop around here,” Fujiyan decided. “If we suddenly float above the town, we might be mistaken for a monster.”
“Got it, let’s get off here then,” I agreed.
We disembarked just within viewing distance of the town’s entrance. It had a simple gate and was lacking stone walls like the ones surrounding Macallan.
Anyone could see that it was a recently-established town.
“I think we should go check in at the guild,” I said.
“Right, I want to get all the information we can,” Lucy added.
“I see. Personally, I have a business deal scheduled, so I shall not be accompanying you.”
“I’ll guard the boss’h.”
Those two must have some trade deals to close or something.
“My esteemed Tackie, let us meet at the Hero’s Tavern this evening. It is the largest tavern within the town, so you should be able to locate it quickly.”
“Got it,” I answered with a wave. “See you later.”
Right, off we go!
“Wow, those clothes are so cute!” Lucy exclaimed as she headed over to the stalls and started perusing the products.
“Come on, we need to find the guild first.”
“Aww, let’s sightsee a bit first.” Lucy had gone full-on tourist.
What to do...? I wanted to get on with things, but refusing a shopping date with a girl seemed kinda inflexible.
Oh, good lad. My goddess had suddenly spoken up in my mind. Well, if she’s praising me for my choice, it must be the right option.
Are you sad that Fujiyan’s so popular with Nina and Chris?
Y’know, reading people’s minds all the time isn’t a good look.
Well, I am a goddess.
Damn it, fine! We’re in another world, so I at least want a girlfriend!
Why don’t you just confess to Lucy?
No way, Goddess. I need more affection points first.
I...I see...
Well, that response got her exasperated. It’s in my nature though—I’m always one to stock up on everything and anything before I challenge the boss.
Lucy and I flitted around, shopping for a while, before heading to the guild. It was right in the middle of town, so we found it pretty quickly.
The rest of the buildings were fairly simple, so the huge guildhall stuck out a fair bit.
In a word, it was like a fort.
As we passed through the massive entrance into the building, Lucy yelled out, “So many people!”
“Looks like they’re doing well for themselves.”
The space was filled with adventurers. They were particularly crammed around the counter that assessed slain monsters. I guess you could bring a lot of kills back to the guild because it was so close to the dungeon.
We headed over to the receptionist.
“Umm, so that’s Makoto Takatsuki and Lucy J. Walker, a party of two, both iron rank...”
The receptionist fluidly wrote down our information. She was pretty, but not very friendly. Also, she seemed rather tired. I guess because she was busy? Yeah, must be.
After all, there were way more adventurers here than in Macallan.
“Okay, you’re registered with the Labyrinth Town guild now. You don’t need to accept quests, so feel free to delve into Labyrinthos as you please. And if you kill any monsters, you can exchange them here at the guild.” Once we were finished registering, she asked, “Do you have any questions?”
“I’m good. Lucy?”
“Nope! Let’s go, Makoto!”
Lucy was pretty fired up. Honestly, so was I. There were adventurers everywhere you looked.
I saw shops that sold weapons, armor, and items. There were also ones that sold the hearty meals adventurers preferred. I also spied lots of alcoholic drinks on sale that I’d never seen before.
Adventurers were walking around and chatting as they ate and drank.
I’d thought that the guildhall in Macallan was pretty bustling, but this was on another level.
It was a festival, or at least felt like one.
Though, with that said...
“Let’s find somewhere to sleep for the night first,” I suggested.
“Aww, we can do that later. Let’s go look at the dungeon first!”
“Come on, we need a pla—”
As we chatted, someone interrupted us.
“Yo, girl, that’s a hot outfit.”
“If you’re heading for the dungeon, you should go with us, not this brat.”
“How ’bout an evenin’ together? I’ll take good care o’ ya.”
The sleazy comments were coming from behind us. We turned to see a bunch of rough-looking adventurers leering our way. I’d completely forgotten because we now spent so much time together, but Lucy was good-looking and her outfit showed a lot of skin, so she really drew the eye.
Guess they were going to threaten us.
“Come on, answer, elf girl.”
“You’re wearing such a sexy outfit.”
“We’ll party up with the girl. Kiddo, you head off home.”
There were over ten thousand adventurers in this town, so of course, there’d be some who were less than pleasant.
Lucas had told us that there would be experienced adventurers who went after young parties like ours. Macallan’s adventurers were all pretty nice, now that I thought about it. They’d even given us strange nicknames.
With that said, though, the best way to deal with this kind of thing was to avoid showing weakness.
I was an iron rank adventurer, so I could stand to be a bit bolder.
I decided to say something. Setting Calm Mind to 99%, I heaved a deep sigh.
However, Lucy beat me to it.
“You what?! We took down a griffin in Macallan! You’re the small fries. Clear off, go on, shoo!”
She always was a firecracker.
“C-Come on, Lucy.”
Her words might’ve been a bit too provocative though.
The leader-looking guy reacted just like I’d expected. His expression turned harsher and he even drew his sword. So you’re short-tempered too!
“Who you calling small fry?”
“You two took out a griffin? Pick a better lie.”
“You cheeky brats. I guess we’ll need to teach you a lesson.”
The leering scumbags circled us and the room started to get noisier. Sooner or later, the guild staff would probably put a stop to things.
I kinda feel like no one’s gonna take us seriously then, hmm...
The adventurer didn’t seem stupid enough to actually come swinging at us out of nowhere. He probably just didn’t want to back down after a cheeky adventurer had badmouthed him.
I took a step forward and put myself in front of Lucy to protect her. The leader’s blade shone in front of me.
Drawing your weapon’s just uncalled for...
I was just slightly mad, and I spoke to him almost conversationally. “Well, that looks like a pretty decent sword.”
“Ha! Obviously. This was smithed by the best in Highla—”
As he boasted, I moved.
Shing went my dagger as I drew and swung it.
I knew just how sharp my dagger was since I’d cut off the giant’s finger with it. The scumbag’s sword stood no chance—I sliced right through it like butter.
The tip of his blade fell to the ground with a clatter.
Man, this dagger’s seriously broken. Dagger of the Goddess OP!
“Ahhhhhh! M-My mythril swooooord!” he screamed out
Gah, it was mythril?
I really had done him wrong. Mythril weapons were stupidly expensive.
Well, he’d done us wrong first. I’d just needed to assert dominance.
“I suppose it was poor quality after all. I’m shocked that this little dagger could cut through it,” I said, looking down on him as much as possible.
“Y-You little...”
“You were the ones who started this. We’re Lucas Dalmore’s pupils. Picking a fight with us is picking a fight with him.”
“Guh, the dragonslayer...?”
“They’re with Lucas...?”
Well, the pupil bit was a lie. Lucas was a swordsman, and I was an apprentice mage. But Lucas’s name was pretty well-known around Labyrinthos.
He’d advised us to name-drop him if we ever got caught up with any of the worse examples of adventurers.
“Tch, come on, you guys.”
“Fuckers.”
“We’ll remember this.”
And with that, they left. Wow, Lucas really is well-known here.
“Phew, that was nerve-racking...”
“You’re Lucas’s pupil?” Lucy asked.
Come on, Lucy, why did you buy it too?
“I’ll explain later. Let’s go.”
“Wha? Hey! Quit pulling!”
And so, Lucy and I left the guildhall.
“Hmm, I didn’t realize he was that famous,” Lucy marveled.
“The name ‘Lucas the Dragonslayer’ used to be known by every adventurer,” I told her.
“Well, he has taken a lot of dragon subjugations.”
I remembered listening to a lot of his tales around the stalls of Macallan.
“How about a quick dungeon dive then?” I asked. “Emphasis on quick.”
“Yeah! I’m so excited!”
We made our way to the entrance of the dungeon in the center of town.
Guild personnel were assigned to count people who went through the entrance to Labyrinthos. Adventurers went missing every day in there, so the guild checked people in and out. It was almost like a theme park.
We told the attendee our names and that we’d be back within the day. If we didn’t return by tomorrow, we’d be added to the list of missing people that the adventurer’s guild kept.
Yeah, not so much a theme park—our lives were on the line.
“Hey, Makoto, where shall we go?”
“Hmmm, let’s see.”
I pondered as I checked the dungeon map (of the top layer) that the guild had sold me. The upper layer had been essentially explored out, so pretty much everywhere was already mapped.
Suddenly, my RPG Player skill screen popped up.
Where will you go?
Left: Green Cavern
▶Middle: Water Cavern
Right: Fire Cavern
“Huh, it’s been a while,” I muttered.
“Did you say something?” Lucy asked.
“Nope, nothing. Let’s head for the water cavern.”
“Figures... Of course you’d choose that one.”
The entrance to the vast dungeon (caves) was split into three routes, and I’d picked the one most suited to me. As the cavern’s name implied, small waterways and streams of water flowed alongside the path.
Even more water oozed from the walls in the cave, therefore, it was the water cavern.
“The constant flowing water means that the dungeon walls erode, so they’re weak to strong impact. We won’t be able to use your Meteo spell.”
“What?! Really?”
“Weren’t you listening to Mary?”
“Urk...” Lucy said, looking away.
I sighed. “The monsters up here are weak, so we should be fine.”
“There are minotaurs too, though. They’re high danger level, right?”
“Minotaurs just guard the stairs to the lower levels. They’re supposed to test adventurers heading down.”
“Hmm, then we just need to not go too far in! Got it.”
Once we’d agreed on that, Lucy and I started our exploration. There were dozens of puddles on the ground, and our feet splashed into them as we walked.
“Hey, heading in?” one party asked us as we passed by.
“Hi, are you heading back?”
We saw other parties as well. The dungeon really was doing well for itself; there were so many adventurers.
I’d even heard rumors that some particularly hardy merchants ran shops within the dungeon itself. Their prices were apparently ten times those on the surface.
“Monsters have been more active lately,” one of the adventurers told us. “Be careful.”
“A sign of the Great Demon Lord resurrecting?” I asked.
“Don’t say that. See you.”
“Right, thanks for the warning.”
Our thanks given, we all separated.
Lucy and I explored the upper layer like that for a while.
“Hup,” I said.
I’d sneaked around the back of a kobold that was staggering through the dungeon. I threw out mist to hinder visibility, used Stealth to silence myself, and then finally used the Dagger of the Goddess to cut it down.
“I’m done, Lucy.”
“This isn’t any different to hunting goblins,” she pouted.
The only monsters we’d come across in the dungeon so far were weaklings like kobolds and goblins.
“It’s not like we’ll need your magic to take care of these.”
“You can say that again...”
It was a bit of a letdown, I had to admit. The dungeon was big though, and there were many different types of monsters... But it nonetheless felt fairly similar to the area around the Forest of Fiends.
We relaxed, just a little, as we trudged along.
But suddenly, we heard screams coming from further into the cave.
“Gyaaahhh!!!”
“Someone, help!”
“Lucy!”
“Let’s go!”
“Hold on a second,” I said, stopping her. We couldn’t afford to rush here. “It might be better to wait.”
“We’re not going to help?”
“I checked with Scout, and they’re gonna flee in this direction regardless. Start casting. We need a small Stone Shot.”
“Got it!”
Sense Danger pinged in my head.
That sound means it’s a dangerous monster.
On this floor, there should only be weak monsters. However, there was a single type that was more dangerous.
A monstrous figure suddenly appeared from the depths.
“Here it is.”
“A minotaur!” Lucy exclaimed tensely.
They were the rulers of this floor. The beast had an ax in each hand.
Irritating.
“I thought you said they were only in the depths?!”
“It must have strayed. Or maybe it’s because of the increased monster activity.”
I readied my dagger. The minotaur was around five meters tall, roughly equal to the big ogres we’d fought. Its axes gleamed with blood.
I wonder if the screamer got away...
“M-Makoto. C-Can we deal with it?” Lucy asked, sounding slightly afraid.
“Well, we’ve got the chance, so let’s try out some stronger elemental magic.”
I shifted my dagger and peered around the area.
My RPG Player’s perspective displayed countless blue lights around us.
Yup, plenty of them.
“#@||?&!^*}{**#%~$&%+, <Hello, elementals,>” I called.
I’d barely even interacted with the elementals in this area, so I needed to give them a proper greeting.
“#@||?&!^*}{**#%~$&%+? <How about we play?>”
Suddenly, I could feel their interest focusing on me. Great, looking good.
“H-Hey! It’s already here! Stone Shot!” Lucy yelled out. She was panicking and quickly fired off her magic.
The stone was launched from her staff, and it headed for the minotaur. It rocketed toward the monster with speed and struck before shattering on impact.
Unfortunately, Stone Shot just wasn’t all that effective.
“N-No way,” Lucy muttered. It was a far smaller rock than her usual Meteo attack. She’d held back too much.
“Grraaaah!” The minotaur roared in anger, raising its axes and leaping forward.
If I’d moved a few seconds later, they would’ve split my head in two.
“Hey! Makoto!” Lucy cried out tearily.
I should be ready—there were plenty of water elementals here!
Water Magic: Flood Gaol.
“Gwoh?”
Water billowed up from beneath us, centered under my feet. It filled the passage in an instant, engulfing the minotaur, me, and also Lucy in the water.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
Ah, damn it. Lucy can’t breathe underwater.
I hurriedly linked hands with her. That way, my magic should work on both of us.
“Gwoh! Gwuf! Gah!”
The minotaur was trying to escape from the water. Not that it could.
Water Magic: Flow.
“’Round you go,” I commented, twirling my finger. The minotaur began to spin in a vortex as if it were in a washing machine.
The huge bull monster soon passed out and fell silent.
I let the summoned water flow away and thanked the elemental spirits.
Lucy was heaving for breath. Water breathing or not, suddenly being underwater must have been a shock.
“My bad,” I apologized. “You okay?”
“Y-Yeah...I’m fine. That was incredible! Was that high rank magic?”
“Yeah, I’m glad it worked.”
“What’s with that?! You can use high rank spells now?”
“Nope,” I clarified, “the water elementals helped me. They have infinite mana, so they just shared some with me. Controlling the finer details is the issue.”
That’s why Lucy and I had gotten caught up in the spell too.
“What shall we do with him, then?” I asked, looking down at the minotaur. We’d killed it, after all.
“We can’t exactly take it with us.”
“It’s times like this when I wish we had an item for storing things.”
I really hated that Fujiyan and his Storage skill weren’t here.
“Heyyy! You killed it!”
“Y-You saved us...”
“Thank you, thank you!”
Several battered adventurers appeared. They must have been the source of the scream.
Apparently, the minotaur had spotted Lucy while chasing them and had switched targets. Maybe her red coloration had made it angry.
“Monsters sure love you, Lucy.”
“That’s not something I want to hear...”
“Say, why don’t we help you carry it?” offered one of the adventurers.
“Oh! That’d be great,” I agreed.
We headed back out of the cavern, and the group told us more about Labyrinthos.
“So you’ve been here for half a year?” I asked.
“Yeah, we hit iron rank so we’ve been training up here,” said one party member.
“The monsters have been more active lately though,” another added.
“Yeah, the situation’s changed.”
“I heard that a blight dragon appeared in the lower layer.”
“A blight dragon?” I asked.
“They’re also called blight monsters,” Lucy explained. “They’re evil creatures that allied with the Great Demon Lord a thousand years ago. A miasma surrounds blighted beasts, and they breathe curses. Even glimpsing one is said to cause mental corruption...”
“It’s got nothing to do with mid-ranked adventurers like us,” the party leader said. “So we don’t really know the details.”
“You’re both incredible, though. You took down that minotaur with just the two of you like it was nothing.”
“Are you silver ranks? Or maybe super-young gold ranks?”
“No way, we’re iron ranks as well,” I told them.
“Whew! You’ve got a bright future!”
We made it back to the exit during our cheery chat and then notified the guild staff at the entrance that we’d returned. We then handed over the monster. Apparently, we’d know the results of the guild’s assessment and would receive the money for the minotaur tomorrow.
After that, we spent a little while hanging around the guild.
“Hey, do you think it’s getting a bit noisier, Lucy?” I asked later.
“Maybe something happened.”
“It has,” said a guild worker. “The Highland army is here.”
“Oh, the Soleil Knights, right?” I asked.
“They must be here for the blight dragon.”
“Still, feels a bit strange for the military to be interfering in an adventurer town.”
“Also, we’re in Roses, so they’re a foreign army.”
All the adventurers were talking about it.
“Shall we take a look?” I asked Lucy.
“Yeah!”
We meandered our way toward the entrance to the town.
“So these are the Soleil Knights...”
An area of the forest near the gates had been cleared and turned into a garrison. There were multiple tents set up, along with tethered horses and wyverns.
While they were all called knights, the group was like a huge party with literal knights, warriors, archers, mages, priests, and other jobs besides.
At a glance, the most obvious difference was in their equipment.
They were all wearing plain clothes with a red pattern, and their armor was coordinated. Adventurers usually had a mishmash of equipment, so it was a blatant difference. Their armor was inscribed with the name Althena.
So this is the strongest army on the continent... They sure look it.
The people in town were interested as well, and the number of spectators was gradually increasing.
“Ahh! It’s the Hero of Light!”
“The reincarnation of the Savior... It’s an honor to meet him.”
“He’s so dashing...”
The female adventurers were all commenting.
“Wow! So that’s the Hero of Light! I’ve never seen him before!”
Even Lucy was getting excited.
I guess he’d be something like an idol in this world.
In front of me stood a classmate I’d parted ways with about a year and a half ago—Sakurai.
Another of my old classmates, Yokoyama, was next to him.
Huh? Wasn’t there another person with him before?
Sakurai and Yokoyama’s outfits were both finer and more expensive than everyone’s around them.
Well, guess you get the VIP treatment when you have OP skills.
It’s not like I’m jealous! I thought to myself. But surely, this wasn’t the meeting my goddess had meant?
“Hey, why’re we leaving?” Lucy asked. “You know him, right? Why not stay and chat?”
“We’re not close at all, and he’s probably forgotten me by now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
We left the group of Soleil Knights at a quick clip. I wasn’t lying about not being close with Sakurai, the Hero of Light, but my reasons for not speaking to him had less to do with that, and more to do with my avoidance of a person near him.
It was the Water Priestess, Sophia Eir Roses.
The girl that’d taken one look at me and decided I was worthless.
I wanted nothing to do with her.
Still, though, if Roses’s princess was showing up here, something pretty big must have been going on.
“Hey, hey, did you see?” Lucy asked cheerily. “There were some real bigwigs with them. Even a princess!”
“Yeah,” I replied with disinterest.
“You don’t seem all that into it... But she’s the first in line to the Highland throne, Noelle Althena Highland! She was practically shining!”
“What? Seriously, I didn’t see anyone like that...”
“What are you talking about?! She was super noticeable.”
Hmm, guess I was paying too much attention to the water priestess. I think I might remember seeing someone in a fancy dress next to her though. Didn’t expect two princesses to come out all this way.
“Well, whatever,” Lucy decided. “It’s got nothing to do with us, so let’s go meet up at the tavern!”
“Shouldn’t we go back to the guild first and gather info?”
“We can do that later! I’m hungry!”
“All right, all right, I get it.”
I wanted a drink too, so yeah, time to meet up with Fujiyan.
We soon found the Hero’s Tavern. Rather than a tavern, it was more like a massive beer garden. There were tables and chairs all over the place outside, so the whole thing looked a bit makeshift. Regardless, adventurers were nursing their drinks all around the tavern. There weren’t enough chairs, so some of them were just sitting on the floor.
That looks fun! I’m all fired up!
“Mister Takatsuki’h! Miss Lucy’h! This way’h!”
Nina was waving at us, her long ears swishing back and forth along with her hand.
“You two have a minotaur already under your belt, I hear! I expected nothing less,” Fujiyan said, greeting us.
The table he’d commandeered was already piled high with food.
“Gossip spreads fast, huh?” I asked. It had only been, what, a few hours since we’d slain it?
“Wow! That looks amazing!” Lucy exclaimed before biting into a large serving of bacon and bread.
I ordered an ale and sat down. “What have you been doing then, Fujiyan?”
“I have been embroiled in negotiations to arrange periodic flights with the guild.”
“Whew, it’s going well then?”
“But of course. I have plans to connect, by air, both Macallan and Labyrinthos, and also Roses’s and Highland’s capitals.”
“Macallan sticks out a bit there,” Lucy commented.
She was right. It was like connecting Osaka, Tokyo, and Tottori, I guess?
“Lady Christina insisted.”
Well, that plan made more sense now—the Macallan lord’s daughter wanted it.
“You can’t go against your sponsor, I s’pose.” Sounded tough to me.
“Incidentally, Sir Sakurai seems to also be within the town.” Fujiyan told me this around a mouthful of meat as he chewed from the bone.
“We saw him earlier. He was with the Soleil Knights.”
“Oooh! The Hero of Light?! Both you and the boss know him, right’h?!”
Even Nina’s eyes were sparkling. Why was everyone so taken with heroes?
“My esteemed Tackie. While the hero skill is indeed popular, Sir Sakurai’s fame comes from his position as the Hero of Light.”
“Is that different from any other hero?” I asked, taking a sip from my slightly lukewarm ale.
“Seriously, Makoto?” Lucy asked.
“You don’t have enough worldly knowledge’h,” added Nina.
Huh? I’m the odd one out here?
“Holders of the hero skill are cared for deeply by their respective countries. Roses has the Hero of Ice and Snow, Great Keith has the Hero of Incandescence, and Springrogue has the Hero of Swaying Trees.”
“There are only a few in each country blessed with a hero skill, so they get the best treatment possible.”
“Hmm, wish I was one of them.” Yup, totally unfair.
“But, there has only ever been one Hero of Light in history.”
“What? Just the one?”
That...sounded about right? I did seem to remember it was famous. After all, even I knew about that skill.
“Abel the Savior. It’s a skill only he has ever had.”
“Then, a year ago, the second person with the skill appeared’h.”
“Makoto, no one has possessed the skill since Abel the Savior defeated the Great Demon Lord a thousand years ago.”
“Oh...I see.”
Getting a legendary skill that no one’s had in the last millennium... Yeah, that’d definitely draw attention. Plus, it was a skill unique to the savior of the world.
“When we first arrived, Roses claimed that the Hero of Light was under their dominion,” Fujiyan explained. “After all, the Water Temple was the place that sheltered us otherworlders. But then, Highland put pressure on Roses so they could claim him for their nation.”
“Oh, so that’s what went on behind the scenes.” I’d never known. Sakurai’s popular in this world and the last! “I’m impressed that you know so much.”
“I learned everything after I became a merchant. There is more to it as well. Apparently, Roses was given the first right of refusal for the rest of the otherworlders in exchange for giving up the hero of the sun.”
And the one responsible for that would be...the water priestess, Sophia. She’d definitely had a gleam in her eyes while she’d been evaluating us. Just remembering it got me mad.
“The Hero of Lightning is also of Highland, but the power of that position seems to be weakening.”
“Also,” Nina added, “the Hero of Light is Princess Noelle’s fiancé’h.”
“Wait, for real?” I hadn’t known that Sakurai’d gotten tangled up in that stuff.
“I’ve also heard rumors of his relationship with the water priestess.”
“You heard what?” The hell? Two countries’ princesses were after him? Was that why they were both here?
“Hmph, sounds like he’s the protagonist.” I downed my second ale.
“Oh, all of it is far from pleasant,” Fujiyan stated with a rueful smile.
“The Highland princes want his head. At least, that’s what the rumors say’h.”
“Apparently, Princess Noelle became the heir when she got engaged to the Hero of Light.”
“But before that, her brother had been the next in line to the throne.”
“Oh, right. Figures there’d be a bunch of backroom stuff with succession in big countries.”
“Our classmates Yokoyama and Kawamoto seem to have their own hardships as well,” Fujiyan added.
Those were the girls that used to hover around Sakurai. Must be hard to stand out when compared to a princess.
“There are even mutterings that this clamor with the blight dragon is some plot concocted by the faction against Sakurai.”
“Where’d you hear that?” Lucy asked.
Fujiyan sure had a vast information network. We spent the rest of our time chatting: about how we’d fought the minotaur, about Nina’s past experience of going a layer down in Labyrinthos, about how the Hero’s Tavern bought alcohol in bulk from the Fujiwara Trading Company.
We got swept up in the general mood and drank quite a bit.
And so, we’d spent a while enjoying ourselves. I thought I might’ve drunk a bit too much, so I was now sipping at some water.
“Is this seat free?” A man appeared, and his voice was smooth like a spring breeze.
“What?” Lucy and Nina both managed.
“Well now, this is a surprise,” Fujiyan said with wide eyes.
“Well speak of the devil...” I muttered.
“It’s been a while, Takatsuki, Fujiwara.”
The man who’d just appeared was the center of the continent’s attention—Ryousuke Sakurai, the Hero of Light.
Without waiting for an answer, he sat down in the empty chair.
He was now wearing a different, more understated set of clothes than before. They didn’t have a single wrinkle though, and so he stuck out amongst the dirty adventurers in the tavern.
“Th-The Hero of Li—mph.” Lucy had been about to yell out, so I hurriedly put my hand over her mouth.
“I-It’s nice to meet you’h... It is an honor’h.” Even Nina was oddly nervous as she spoke.
“I am surprised you knew that we were here,” Fujiyan said, voicing what was on both of our minds.
“I saw a report on how the proprietor of the Fujiwara Firm was a large supplier of ours.”
“Fujiyan, you went that far?” I asked.
“It was just a sweetener. The Soleil Knights are the biggest army on the continent, so being in their good graces does the opposite of harm.”
Should you really be laughing and talking about “sweeteners” like that...? Are we actually even the same age?
“Quite a few of us are fans of the stronger Macallan drinks, so we’re grateful for it,” Sakurai told Fujiyan with a pleasant smile. “But I didn’t think you’d be here too, Takatsuki! It was worth taking the time out.”
“Y-Yeah, it’s been a while. You seem well.”
Sakurai smacked me on the back like some American, and I cursed our reunion. No matter what he did, he looked so cool. Yeah, he hadn’t changed at all, the lady-killer.
“We heard you were here to take down the blight dragon?”
“Yeah, that’s right. We’re the newbies in the Soleil Knights, so we get all the annoying jobs.” The Hero of Light’s smile was slightly awkward.
“Shouldn’t be a problem for you though, right?” I teased lightly.
“No way! I only just got here after all,” said Sakurai. “Actually! If you’ve got the info, would you mind guiding us?”
“Ah! We’d be ha—mph!” Lucy was about to make a rash decision, so I covered her mouth again.
“We only just got here ourselves, so I don’t think we’d be much help.”
“Ah, that’s a shame.”
I doubted that he really wanted us to guide him, to be honest.
He told us a little about his hardships as the hero. Fifteen minutes passed as Fujiyan and Nina kept the conversation going with appropriate responses and praise.
Eventually, Sakurai said, “Well, I’ve got some plans,” and just let us be.
What’d he even turn up for? He hadn’t ordered a single drink, so maybe he’d just wanted a chat?
“Ahhh, I’m shaking’h,” Nina said. She was actually trembling slightly from nerves.
“‘He might not remember me’ my foot! You were super close!” Lucy exclaimed.
“Fujiyan, you weren’t friends with him, right?”
“Not in the slightest... Were you close with him?”
“Like hell I was.” We’d barely ever spoken in class.
“Makoto! Why’d you refuse?!” Lucy asked. “It was such a good chance!”
“Are you an idiot? They’re here to exterminate the dragon on the lower level. We can’t guide them there. Don’t take it so seriously.”
“Sir Sakurai certainly seemed serious,” Fujiyan commented.
“That’s fairly persuasive coming from you, Boss’h.” Nina must know about his mind-reading skill.
So Sakurai was serious then? What was he thinking...?
“Well, I might not get what’s going on, but let’s just have a drink,” I decided. I bit into some fries, even though they were already cold.
“Why are you so calm...?”
Lucy was aghast at my behavior, but I’d seen him every day when we were classmates, so of course, I wouldn’t get as excited as her.
“Ack, damn it,” I said, changing the subject. “We didn’t find somewhere to stay.”
“Worry not, my friend. I have already arranged accommodation for the two of you.”
“Thanks for that, as ever.”
Seriously, Fujiyan was a real help. He’d reserved us rooms in an inn for merchants. The plush beds were stuffed with feather down, just like they would’ve been in my old world. They were so soft!
◇
Fujiyan apparently had some meeting the next day, so he vanished off someplace with Nina.
Lucy and I continued our own activities from yesterday, heading deeper into Labyrinthos, and starting our second day of exploration.
“What route are we taking today?” Lucy asked.
“The water cavern.”
“Aw, again?”
“Calm down, take a look at this.”
I showed her the map of the upper level.
“The Great Waterfalls of Labyrinthos?”
“I heard it’s one of the best sights in this place.”
“Oh... Apparently, it’s popular with couples, and the guild takes tours out to it...” Lucy said. “Is this really a dungeon?”
I had to agree; it definitely felt more like a tourist spot.
“Because of all the monsters recently, there have been fewer tours as well,” I told her.
“Hmmm, couples...” Lucy murmured.
“You all right there?”
“Huh? Ah, it’s nothing! If you have to go, then that’s fine!”
She agreed, and the two of us set off down that path to the water cavern again. It was the second time we’d gone, so it was fairly familiar. We couldn’t discount the chance of another minotaur wandering into the place though, so we had to keep our guards up.
While the dungeon was dim as a whole, there were lighted stones positioned here and there, and the cavern itself seemed to be lit up in blue. The deeper we went, the bluer the light grew, like we were entering some phantasmal space.
Dungeons are so cool.
The monsters we came across were all weak, so we could take our time exploring. There weren’t many other adventurers on the same path as us, maybe because of the minotaur that’d been wandering the cavern yesterday. We gradually progressed but made sure to keep an eye out. We’d gone a fair bit into the cavern when I noticed...
Something was wrong.
Something was following us...but not a monster.
Something was keeping pace with us.
That means...
“Lucy,” I whispered. “We’re being followed.”
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