THE GREAT ELROE LABYRINTH DISASTER INVESTIGATION CORPS
I look around at the gathering troops.
These are knights of the Renxandt Empire.
I’ve been recruited to guide them through the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
Unlike us labyrinth guides, the knights have never entered the labyrinth before.
As a result, my son is explaining the basics of the labyrinth to them.
“The place you knights have been sent to survey is in an area about ten days’ journey from the entrance. That’s ten days to get there. Ten days to investigate. And ten days to go home. If we don’t have at least thirty days’ worth of rations, we’ll have to go back partway through. Ideally, it’d be best to bring at least ten days’ worth of extra supplies.”
The reason the knights are being dispatched is that the number of monsters in a certain area of the labyrinth has recently increased.
Their goal is to investigate the cause and thin out the monster population, but I question whether knights who have never once entered the labyrinth will truly be able to do this job properly.
The area where the monsters have been appearing in great numbers is the shortest route between the continents of Kasanagara and Daztrudia.
The Great Elroe Labyrinth, which connects these two continents, is the largest and most dangerous dungeon in the world.
However, as the ocean is occupied by fearsome water dragons and thus too hazardous to sail across, this valuable passage is the only reliable way to travel between the continents.
Therefore, despite being aware of the danger, there are many people who use the Great Elroe Labyrinth to travel.
Which is exactly why our occupation of labyrinth guide exists.
This is also the only means of cross-continental trade, so our kingdom of Ohts profits greatly from having an entrance to the labyrinth.
So if the number of monsters keeps increasing and it becomes more difficult for people to traverse the labyrinth, it’s a problem for both the Ohts Kingdom and the labyrinth guides.
If the kingdom loses some of its commerce and labyrinth tolls, there’ll be less jobs for us.
So the troubled Ohts Kingdom asked its ally, the Renxandt Empire, for help.
Though it’s technically an alliance, the reality is more like Ohts is a vassal nation of Renxandt.
Ohts is a small kingdom whose only source of income is the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
Its military power is low, its territory small.
Without the entrance to the labyrinth, it probably wouldn’t even be able to keep up the pretense of being its own kingdom.
This current problem is too much for such a kingdom to solve alone.
Though it could also be said that this reflects just how impressive the wealth Ohts gains from the labyrinth is.
The profits from intercontinental trade. Traffic to the labyrinth. And the materials obtained from the monsters in the labyrinth.
This all enriches the Ohts Kingdom.
In exchange for a portion of that wealth, we’ve gained the backing of the powerful Renxandt Empire.
The Renxandt Empire doesn’t want its share of the profits to disappear, either, which is why they’ve sent their knights to deal with the problem.
So it would be best for everyone involved if the cause of the monster outbreak could be found and destroyed during this outing.
One can only hope.
“There are many poisonous monsters in the labyrinth, so carrying an antidote is essential. Not to mention a light source, and fuel for it. One that uses fire is best. That way, if you get caught in a spiderweb, you can burn it immediately. And so, knights, we have provided a list here, if you would be so kind as to procure the supplies. Your guide will be equipped with a Spatial Storage item, so you can leave the transportation of the supplies to us. Oh, and why not write a letter to your family? This will probably be a long journey.”
After my son’s rapid explanation, the most the knights can do is nod dumbly.
If this is what we can expect from the knights sent to resolve the incident, then I fear for the future.
I’ll just have to support them as best I can, so the letters they send to their families won’t become their last will and testament.
It’s been eight days since we entered the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
We’re drawing close to the area where the outbreak is occurring.
I wasn’t expecting very much from the knights, but they’ve turned out to be rather skilled as far as battle is concerned.
At first, I was afraid we’d just been given a bunch of spoiled young men from noble families, and they did indeed largely turn out to be the second and third sons of aristocrats.
However, the Renxandt Empire’s strength is not to be underestimated.
This unit is not playing around.
“Our unit may be a mishmash of noble blood, true enough, but we have as much training and battle experience as any other corps. And this is a group of people who are unable to inherit titles of their own, after all. Everyone here is desperate to improve their standings through success in the field.”
Or so I am told.
Some of the knights scoffed at my role as labyrinth guide at first, but once they experienced the difficulty of navigating here for themselves, their complaints soon subsided.
After a few days and nights in the constant darkness of the labyrinth, it becomes impossible to distinguish the passage of time, which is taxing on the mind and body alike.
We must pause for rest from time to time, of course, but this is a dangerous labyrinth where monsters are constantly roaming around.
Since it’s impossible to relax completely in these circumstances, one can hardly get enough rest to fully recover, and soon no one has the energy for grousing.
It was also a great help that the captain of the knights quickly picked up on the difficulty of the labyrinth and instructed his men to follow my directions at all times.
The captain seems to be quite a capable man.
Thanks to him, the group has proceeded without losing anyone thus far, despite it being their first trip through the labyrinth.
Usually, a few people drop off, and we have to retrace our steps to find them.
But while I’m glad the knights turned out to be more competent than I expected, I still can’t shake the feeling that something is going to go wrong.
We haven’t reached the area the reports were about yet, but there are already more monsters than usual.
No casualties, either, but there have been several injuries.
There’s a healing alchemist in the party, so it’s not a major issue, but not knowing what might happen is the most frightening aspect of being in the labyrinth.
We brought a great deal of antidotes, and some of the knights have acquired Poison Resistance in battle along the way, so nothing too terrible should happen.
But the ominous feeling still persists.
Could the queen be lurking somewhere near?
It’s not impossible.
The fact that taratect hunting has been all the rage on the Daztrudia side lately must mean the queen has laid eggs.
In other words, it came to the Upper Stratum.
The queen taratect is a walking natural disaster, one that transcends S rank.
The only record of one ever being defeated was very long ago, and it came at the price of the life of a hero as well as an entire army.
Even with that one gone, there are still five remaining in the world.
And one of them lives in the great labyrinth.
It usually stays in the lower areas, but when it lays eggs, it ascends to this layer, the Upper Stratum.
Hopefully, it went right back down afterward, but it’s occasionally been known to stay around for a while, so we can’t let our guard down.
Still, since the taratect outbreak is near the Daztrudia entrance this time, it’s doubtful the queen would come all the way here to the Kasanagara side.
If, however, by some tiny chance we should run into that creature, all our lives may very well be forfeit.
We should avoid any large passages the queen would be able to traverse.
I suppose my other big concern is that there’s an entrance to the Middle Stratum near the site of the problem.
Could it be that some powerful monster has emerged from the Middle Stratum and chased the monsters that lived there from their home?
But does such a powerful creature even exist in the Middle Stratum?
The adventurer who explored the Middle Stratum in the past reported that the monsters there were not particularly strong.
Though it wouldn’t be surprising for a powerful monster to emerge from the Lower Stratum beneath it.
The queen is said to make her home in the Lower Stratum, but there are rumors that an even lower layer than that exists, the Bottom Stratum.
It’s not known for sure whether this is true, though. It would be foolish enough to deliberately enter the Lower Stratum, never mind an even lower area.
I suppose the other possibility is that some monster from those depths somehow crawled its way up through the Middle Stratum.
What a ridiculous idea.
Our thirteenth day in the labyrinth.
We arrive at our destination, prepared to exterminate monsters and investigate the cause of the outbreak.
But there’s just one problem.
“There aren’t any monsters.”
“Hmm. The report said there was an abnormal number of monsters around here, but I don’t see any signs of that.”
“Yeah. If anything, there were tons more on the way here.”
The number of monsters we encountered along the way certainly was large.
Normally, we’d try to avoid battle as much as possible, but this time, part of our mission is to thin out the monster population.
So every time we spotted one, the knights went into action.
As a result, the journey that was supposed to take ten days ended up taking twelve.
If we want to have enough supplies for the journey back, we have to finish our investigation as quickly as possible.
“Well, this is still only the first day of the investigation. No need to panic. Besides, if the monsters aren’t here anymore, that’s a good thing for us. It means the incident has already been resolved.”
“I certainly hope so.”
I respond lightly to the captain, but personally, I doubt things will wrap up that easily.
The bad feeling I’ve had since we entered the labyrinth has only gotten stronger.
When I get such a premonition, it usually doesn’t lead to anything good.
Better to stay on our guard.
The fifteenth day.
“There really are no monsters here. Perhaps we should explore the large passage we’ve been avoiding?”
“Hmm. The large passage…”
Our investigation hasn’t yielded any results.
It’s only natural, since the monsters we were told to investigate aren’t here.
But I’m reluctant to agree to the captain’s proposal.
It’s unlikely the queen would be about, but still, there are other strong monsters lurking in the larger passages.
In particular, the earth dragon, a dangerous monster with exceptional physical strength.
I would rather avoid entering the large passages if possible, but given our current goal, we might not have much of a choice.
“Very well. But, Captain, if it turns out to be too dangerous, we must retreat immediately.”
“Of course. Listen up, everyone! We’re heading into the large passage now! We’ll be retreating at the first sign of danger, so keep your wits about you!”
The troops advance at the captain’s command.
“Here it is.”
“Understood. We’ll proceed with caution from here.”
We enter the large passage. I look around carefully. There don’t seem to be monsters…at all.
“No monsters here, either?”
“Hmm. From what I’ve heard, isn’t the large passage supposed to have a lot of monsters?”
“Indeed. I’ve never seen one this quiet. It’s rather eerie.”
“Then we should proceed even more cautiously.”
My terrible premonition gets even stronger.
Every instinct is telling me that heading this way is dangerous.
“This can’t be good. My bad feeling about it isn’t going away.”
“Me too.”
The captain is sweating.
Similarly, cold sweat appears on my forehead.
We move ahead carefully.
Then my eyes fall on something.
“Is this…a spiderweb?”
“It must be a taratect-type monster.”
An enormous spiderweb.
Its creator is nowhere to be seen.
Judging by the size of the web, the creature that created it has undoubtedly grown to adulthood.
“Do you think…whatever made this web…is the source of the disturbance?”
“I’m sure of it. Look at this.”
I point farther down along the web. There, the half-eaten corpse of an earth wyrm is caught in the thread.
It’s even defeated an earth wyrm. At this rate, it might have evolved into the greater classes.
Taratects increase drastically in strength as they evolve.
At the top, the queen is a legendary-class beast.
Newborn spiders, on the other hand, are F rank, the lowest possible.
It goes without saying that the changes brought on by each evolution are huge.
The greater taratect is a very rare evolutionary form.
Its strength is rank B, nearly even rank A.
If one of them has defeated an earth wyrm, it’s possible that it’s already reached A rank.
“Can you take on an A-rank monster?”
“Not likely. Perhaps if we were fully prepared to be completely wiped out in the process, we could take it down, but short of that, it would be virtually impossible.”
“Thought so. Then we should go back. We’re out of our element here.”
“I agree. Better to escape as soon as possible.”
The captain and I are in total agreement.
Just as we exchange nods and turn to leave, a powerful chill assaults my senses.
My breath catches in my throat.
The spiderweb behind us…
Something has appeared there.
I exchange glances with the captain.
Nodding again, we slowly turn back.
Then my eyes meet with something else.
A spider.
It looks similar to a normal taratect but not quite the same.
A small black spider monster, with its front legs shaped like scythes.
Immediately, I know.
This thing is bad news.
I don’t know how it appeared so suddenly, but it’s extremely dangerous.
My body stiffens with fear.
Greater taratect?
No.
This thing is far beyond that level.
“Retreat!”
The captain’s exclamation brings me back to my senses.
We run away at full speed.
Formation be damned.
We simply pump our legs as quickly as we can, desperate to escape from that thing.
I don’t know how far we ran before we finally escaped the large passage.
I looked back several times, but it wasn’t chasing us.
Sighs of relief run through the group.
Once the captain, too, has taken a deep breath, he immediately does a roll call.
Not a member is missing.
“Let’s leave the labyrinth right away.”
“Yes. We must contact our kingdom. The likes of us can’t do anything about a beast like that.”
It’s not as if we fought it at all.
But it was easy to tell at a single glance.
That thing was a horrifically strong monster.
The reason why there were so many monsters on the way here must be that they were chased out of their homes by that thing.
And the reason why there were no more monsters in this area was that they had all fled.
That monster is easily above an A rank.
At worst, it might even be an S rank.
Only a hero or a group of elite warriors from every kingdom could take on a monster like that.
Ordinary people like us would never stand a chance.
“Zoa Ele.”
Someone mutters.
“What’s that?”
“That monster. It’s a spider monster that’s supposed to be an ill omen. But I didn’t think they were normally that terrifying.”
Apparently, that monster is a species called a Zoa Ele.
But I’d never heard of such a creature appearing in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
Perhaps it’s a mutation of the taratect species?
The knight says it was different from any normal Zoa Ele, so it must be a mutation of some kind.
At any rate, there’s nothing else we can do here.
We escape from the labyrinth shortly thereafter.
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