Chapter 162 - Exploration (1)

The day after my negotiation with the district manager, the whole team gathered for our second meeting. After settling all thirty-one issues we hadn't finished discussing last time, we planned our expedition together.

“Hmm, we'll need quite a few supplies if we're going up to the fifth floor.”

“Can I leave that to you? Bring an itemized list of receipts, and we'll cover it with team funds.”

“Sure. I need to stop by Commelby anyway.”

We also decided on a team name at this meeting. I'd thought Team Bjorn was good enough... but Aynar wasn't the only one with grand dreams for our name.

“Um... I came up with a name. What do you think of ‘Naraq’?”

“Naraq?”

“It means ‘those who walk the darkness’ in the ancient language. Pretty good, isn't it?”

Honestly, I wasn't sure about good. But apparently a black flame dragon dwelled in this twenty-four-year-old mage's right hand. Those who walk the darkness...?

“You have... pretty unusual tastes yourself.”

“... You're making fun of me, aren't you?”

Anyway, Raven insisted it was a hundred times better than a half-assed name like Team Bjorn. Just as we were about to settle on it, Aynar, who'd been dozing off, hurriedly joined the conversation.

“N-no!! I've already picked our team name!”

“Huh? Oh, do you have a good idea?”

“Our team is going to be called Apple Pie!”

“Apple Pie...? As in the dessert?”

Looking half dazed, Raven asked why, and Aynar answered without a moment's hesitation. Something along the lines of, “Because it's my favorite thing!”

“That's ridiculous...”

“What's ridiculous about it?!”

Raven sighed at Aynar's stubborn insistence and proposed a majority vote. Apparently she was certain we'd never support a name like that. Except...

“I don't care what we call ourselves. You decide.”

Mister Bear abstained.

Surprisingly, Misha voted in favor.

“Hmm, I think Apple Pie sounds fine... It's sweet and delicious, nyah.”

“What?! M-Mr. Jandel? Surely you're not going to use that ridiculous name?”

Honestly, I was torn. Siding with Raven would make it a two-to-two tie. I wanted to back Aynar and get this over with... but showing favoritism as team leader would hurt our mage's feelings. I had no choice but to offer a compromise.

“Let's just combine them. Apple Naraq.”

“...”

“Oh, would Naraq Pie be better?”

“... I'll take the first one.”

“Aynar, what about you?”

“I like that one better too! I like how it sounds!”

And so our second meeting ended with Apple Naraq as our official team name. Peaceful days followed: a repetitive routine of reading at the library and gathering the entire team every morning to practice working together.

Oh, the dwarf also dropped by unexpectedly.

[“Hahaha! It's been a while, Aynar! Miss Raven!”]

It was our third day of team practice. Apparently Misha had told him what we were up to, piquing his interest... We caught up a little, then parted ways. He said he'd already commissioned the renovations to turn the place into a smithy, and these days he was busy scouting blacksmiths to recruit.

[“Oh, your wife runs a tavern? I'll have to stop by sometime.”]

[“Yes, and be sure to try the mead. My wife brews it herself. It's our specialty.”]

Perhaps because they both liked drinking, he and Mister Bear got along surprisingly well. Hmm, they weren't going to become new best friends, were they?

Anyway, the days passed like that until, at last, the day arrived.

“I should start getting ready to head out.”

Today was the day the Labyrinth opened.

* * *

“Bjorn, are you ready, nyah?”

“Ah, give me a minute.”

Fully equipped for the first time in a while, I sling the backpack I packed yesterday over my shoulder.

CREEEAK.

I open the door and step out to find Misha and Aynar waiting.

“You haven't forgotten anything?”

“No!!”

Aynar answers at the top of her lungs. Beside her, Misha heaves a sigh.

“She shouldn't have. Everything important is in my backpack anyway, nyah.”

“I see.”

I've been thinking this more and more lately, but thank goodness I have her, at least. Doing this alone would've been far more exhausting.

“Oh, Bjorn. There's something in your mailbox, nyah.”

“Huh?”

Just as we're about to leave, Misha points at the mailbox outside my door. I open it and find a letter.

'The sender is... Nile Urbans?'

It's from the district manager. How long has it been sitting here?

RIIIP.

I tear it open and read through it. Though “read through” might be overstating things.

[I won't charge you for the damages.]

It's just one line.

Somehow, I can feel the district manager's pride in it... but it's a gesture of reconciliation in its own way. If he'd wanted to keep up our battle of wills even a little, he'd have sent a fine or a bill along with it.

'Smashing things really was the right call.'

When he'd asked what I wanted, demanding compensation had been an option. Instead, I hadn't mentioned compensation once, and I'd smashed his doors like a thug. I'd wanted to burn something into his brain: if he wronged me, he'd have to pay the price. And that price wasn't something like money.

'I probably don't need to worry too much about this anymore...'

I'd made it clear I hadn't joined forces with his daughter and had no intention of doing so. I'd also hinted that making an enemy of me would cause him serious trouble. Would he still let rage blind him and try something? It was safe to assume that wouldn't happen, at least until next year's election was over.

“What's the letter about, nyah?”

“Oh, nothing to worry about.”

I tear the letter to shreds and drop it in the trash on the first floor on our way out. Then we head to our meeting place, the central square in District 7. As you'd expect of a popular meeting spot, it's teeming with explorers waiting for their companions.

“You're one minute late.”

Raven grins at us the moment we arrive at the path on the three o'clock side.

She doesn't seem upset about our tardiness, though. If anything, she looks delighted.

“Come on, pay the fine. You agreed, remember?”

“Oh, right. The fine...”

For reference, fines had been one of the thirty-one items on our second meeting's agenda. Now, how much was it again?

“One thousand Stones per minute. There are three of you, so that'll be three thousand Stones.”

I obediently open my wallet and pay for all three of us. We wouldn't have been late if I hadn't wasted time reading that letter.

“By the way, Raven, where's your bag?”

Only while handing over the fine do I realize Raven isn't carrying anything on her back. I ask to make sure, and she gives an odd response.

“Oh, that?”

Raven's lips curl upward as she taps the ring on her index finger twice. A small, glowing portal opens in midair.

“Subspace...?”

“Yes. I thought I'd need it for staying in the Labyrinth. I sold off everything I didn't need and splurged on this with the money.”

Right. So subspace storage was something you could just buy if you decided to splurge. For you, anyway.

CLINK.

Making a show of it, Raven puts the fine into her subspace storage and closes the opening. Something aches in my chest. Is this what relative deprivation feels like? She was always whining about having no money... I'd thought she actually meant she had no money...

“By the way, Avman's late, nyah.”

While I'm struggling to suppress my envy, the conversation has moved on.

“He is. Surely he's not going to stand us up?”

“I'm not worried! He probably just got a little lost on the way!”

Raven laughs as if Aynar's suggestion is absurd.

“How could a Guide get lost?”

“Hmm, why couldn't he, nyah? I heard that ability is useless in the city, nyah.”

“But he lives around here.”

“Well... hmm, that's true, nyah. Then why is he late, nyah?”

“M-maybe he has an upset stomach?!”

The three women start chattering about Mister Bear's tardiness. I just keep my mouth shut. I plan to reveal his terrible sense of direction once we're inside the Labyrinth.

Anyway, how much time passes? By the time the crowded square has emptied out and I'm genuinely starting to worry, Mister Bear arrives.

“Sorry I'm late. Have you been waiting long?”

“Pay the fine first. You're exactly forty-five minutes late.”

“Oh, right. There was that...”

Mister Bear is relieved of a whopping forty-five thousand Stones before we've even entered the Labyrinth.

“Why were you late, though?”

“It's my first time coming here at night. Somehow, everything felt unfamiliar.”

“Huh? What's that supposed to—”

“Never mind that. Let's get moving. We might be late.”

I quickly cut in to stop the conversation. After having Unity magic cast, I lead the group straight to the Dimensional Plaza. It's well past midnight when we arrive, and the portal is gradually shrinking. If we wait a little longer, it'll be time to duplicate EXP...

'I'll decide whether to tell them after this expedition.'

We step into the portal.

* * *

「You have entered the first floor: Crystal Cave.」

* * *

The Crystal Cave has become an all-too-familiar sight. The moment I open my eyes, Aynar's echoing shout assaults my eardrums.

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!!”

“Eek! Y-you scared me!”

When Raven asks what brought that on, Aynar replies,

“I just felt like it!”

Oh, I know that feeling. I nod in understanding. She's back for the first time in six whole months, after all. For a born barbarian like Aynar, it must be an especially moving experience.

“Right, we really do have another barbarian now, nyah...”

Misha looks back and forth between Aynar and me and heaves a sigh, whereas Mister Bear is surprisingly unfazed.

“Still better than silence.”

After spending so long exploring alone, he apparently doesn't mind this kind of lively atmosphere.

Anyway, that's enough chatter.

“Avman, which one's closest?”

Mister Bear points in one direction. Checking my compass, I see it's south. In other words, our starting point this time is the ghoul sector.

'We're on the opposite side again, of all places.'

“You said we're heading to the Goblin Forest, so this should be the way. I'll lead.”

Mister Bear puts away his compass and takes the lead. I wonder if it'd be better to have him just tell me the direction and find the route myself...

'No, I need to see how bad it is.'

I need to know just how terrible his sense of direction is before I can judge whether practice can correct it. If he's truly hopeless, I'll navigate from now on, using him as a compass. I've picked up a few things from watching Rotmiller.

“Riate.”

Anyway, heading north from the south naturally takes us through the very center of the first floor: the Dark Region, where all four types of monsters appear. Before we even need to pull out a torch, Raven brightly illuminates our surroundings with a light-orb spell.

WHOOOSH!

Unlike the gloomy red light of a torch, it bathes everything in pure white. It's as easy on the eyes as being in the city. But there's one concern.

“I know it's only the first floor, but shouldn't you conserve your mana, nyah?”

“This much is fine. I regenerate it faster than I'm using it.”

“Oh, uh... I-I see, nyah?”

“Yes. And don't worry. Keeping this on won't interfere with my casting other spells.”

“...”

Misha presses her lips shut. Apparently she's getting a vivid demonstration of the prowess of real mages, the ones Dwalki spoke of so often in that bitter voice.

“You regenerate it faster? That's impressive. Even the mage I used to travel with couldn't do that.”

At Mister Bear's murmur, Raven's nose tilts proudly upward.

“Ahem. I hate to say it myself, but I'm rather confident when it comes to mana. You'll probably have trouble finding anyone who matches me at my grade.”

“Oh, really? So you're quite the impressive mage, aren't you?”

“You flatter me. You're a rank-five explorer and a Guide yourself, Mr. Urigfried.”

As the two of them heap praise on each other while we walk through the cave, we come upon a cavern about thirty meters in radius.

“Oh, this is where that rupture...!”

“Aynar.”

“...”

At my brief call, Aynar clamps a hand over her mouth. That only makes her look more suspicious, but fortunately everyone's attention is on the monument in the center of the cavern.

“I've heard about it, but this is my first time seeing it.”

Her intellectual curiosity piqued, as befits a mage, Raven approaches the monument.

As an explorer in her fifth year, Misha knows a thing or two as well.

“This is that monument, right? The one the Immortal King put up to honor the archmage who first discovered the Labyrinth, nyah?”

“Yes. That's the commonly accepted account.”

“Commonly accepted, nyah?”

“There's a hypothesis going around academic circles these days that he created the Labyrinth rather than discovered it. Oh, to put it simply... instead of observing the coordinates of another dimension and building a portal, the Great Sage created this entire Labyrinth dimension himself.”

Ever the compulsive explainer, Raven launches into a lengthy explanation. Aynar isn't listening at all, and Misha's response amounts to little more than accepting that such a theory exists. I, however, am intrigued.

“What makes the mages think that?”

“This very monument.”

“The monument?”

The moment I prompt her, Raven eagerly continues.

“The Labyrinth maintains a constant state. Even if its terrain is destroyed, it's restored by the next time the portal opens. That has led to speculation that dimensional travel involves not just spatial coordinates but temporal ones as well...”

“Ugh, my head...”

Aynar winces at the unending stream of difficult words. Raven pouts and offers a shortened version.

“This monument proves that spacetime magic was at least several times more advanced when the Labyrinth was first discovered than it is today. Creating space is impossible now, but perhaps it was possible back then.”

Even her shortened version is long, but...

“I see.”

I get the gist. Basically, mages thousands of years ago were proficient in dimensional magic, right?

'I'll have to look into the Great Sage too.'

Maybe there's a way to return to Earth besides the Gate of Abyss.

“So, are you done talking?”

“Oh, right. Let's go.”

Mister Bear, who's been standing some distance away, apparently uninterested in this sort of thing, urges us along, and we resume exploring. Then...

“Oh, it's the monument, nyah!”

About fifteen minutes later, we're back where we started. Even after watching the whole process closely, I can't begin to understand what mechanism this man's navigation operates on.

“What's going on, Mr. Urigfried?”

I immediately scrap my plan to train Mister Bear into a Scout.

“Ah, my mistake. Somehow, I thought we'd get there faster if we went that way...”

This isn't something training can fix.