Chapter 12

“—Hey. Why did you decide to dive into the Labyrinth anyway, Christ?”

“Why…? To live, I guess…”

On the way back from our highly successful exploration, Dia and I were making idle small talk.

“To live…? You’re capable, Christ. You don’t exactly need to go out of your way to earn money in the Labyrinth, do you? You’re already working at the tavern, and you’re a good cook to boot.”

“That’s true, but… even so, I have to dive. How should I put it… maybe to live as myself?”

I had to conquer the Labyrinth in order to ‘live as Kanami Aikawa.’

I had to hurry up and discard this ridiculous alias, ‘Christ.’ That was the true answer… but since I couldn’t exactly tell him that, my response ended up sounding terribly abstract.

“To live as yourself…?”

It was only natural for a question mark to practically pop up over Dia’s head.

I quickly tried to turn the conversation back on him.

“Speaking of which, what about you, Dia? Why the Labyrinth?”

“…Mine’s simple. I want money.”

Now that he mentioned it, he had said before that he wanted money and power.

For Dia, that seemed to be a definitive life goal, one he could answer without a moment’s hesitation.

“Right, you did say you wanted money and power… but why do you want them so badly?”

“It’s a simple reason, too. If you have those two things, you can get anything. Honor, status, women, food, freedom, happiness—everything goes exactly the way you want it. That’s why I want them.”

Dia spat the words out as if nursing a grudge.

I felt something akin to obsession or even malice in his tone. It was clear that some past circumstance was driving his fixation on wealth and strength.

However, our relationship was likely still too shallow for me to pry into the details of his past.

“That’s a pretty worldly dream…”

“Maybe. But isn’t that just what a man’s dream is?”

“No, I don’t think that’s necessarily true…”

“No way. Even you must want it deep down, Christ. Having money, living in a mansion, surrounding yourself with beautiful women, eating delicious food. Every human being has those kinds of desires.”

“Hmm, maybe so, but…”

Perhaps because of the morals and values ingrained in me from my original world, I didn’t have positive feelings toward those kinds of desires. In my old world, a nice house and good food were taken for granted. Because of that, I prioritized spiritual fulfillment over material satisfaction.

Was it because I had been steeped in such a soft world for too long that I felt there were things more important than money and greed?

“In my hometown, the people with money and power did whatever they wanted. No one could defy them because of the private armies they kept. Since he was a Lord, he could squeeze as much money out of the commoners as he pleased. He used his wealth to keep beautiful slaves around him. He was able to live exactly as his desires dictated, and he looked happier than anyone else… This country is crawling with people like that, too. Nobles, powerful families, people who struck it rich in the Labyrinth—the so-called ‘wealthy’ crowd.”

Dia continued to talk, as if appealing to something deep inside.

“I’m going to join those wealthy ranks. And with that power, I’ll make sure no one can defy me. If I do that, everyone will acknowledge me. Only then will I finally be recognized as ‘me’…”

Dia concluded his monologue with a powerful sense of will.

I might have misjudged him.

I had honestly thought he was just a child lacking in actual ability, keeping himself together by maintaining a front of vanity. But his core was solid. Whatever his goal was, he was looking straight ahead and moving toward it with everything he had.

“You’re amazing, Dia… Unlike me, your heart doesn’t waver at all…”

“…N-No! I’m not amazing at all! I still have no power and no money! I know perfectly well that right now, I’m only getting by thanks to you, Christ!”

Thinking he might have spoken too passionately, Dia shook his head awkwardly.

“—!”

Feeling the shift in Dia’s emotions so closely—I felt a wave of dizziness.

His power-laden words had eroded the mental defenses I’d unconsciously set up.

I understood what he was saying all too well.

Certainly, the kind of happiness Dia spoke of was one possible path.

In this world, I should be able to obtain that money and power with ease. At this point, it wasn’t even a distant future. That was how much of a cheat my magic and the ‘Display’ system were.

From here on, if things turned out that way.

If I had money and power, if no one could defy me, if I had status and honor, if I could have any woman I wanted, if I obtained a life of ultimate luxury and could satisfy every single craving…

Even then, would I still want to ‘Return’?

I was shocked that Dia’s words had led me to such a human dilemma. In spite of myself, my heart had been deeply shaken.

“Christ…? Are you okay? You look pale.”

“…No, I’m fine.”

You shouldn’t listen to other people’s dreams and ambitions lightly.

While reflecting on that, I squeezed out a mutter.

Whenever I touched upon Dia’s ‘humanity,’ cracks appeared in my psyche—the part of me that continued to perform optimal, game-like actions. I felt like I was losing sight of my victory conditions in this alternate world. My most important conditions…

“I’m… fine…”

Even as I repeated it, the dizziness only grew stronger.

So, using my lack of MP and poor physical condition as an excuse, I decided to part ways with Dia in a hurry.

To my short parting words of “See you later…”, Dia shouted back, “…Alright, see you tomorrow! Get some good rest, Christ!” He seemed completely fired up for tomorrow as well.

After seeing off the overly earnest Dia with a forced smile, I started walking through the town alone.

When I checked my status, the experience points required for a level up had accumulated.

However, I didn’t feel like performing a game-like level up right this second.

“…”

Until this very moment, I had thought of nothing but ‘clearing the game.’

I looked at the town to clear the Labyrinth, gathered information to clear the Labyrinth, and worked to clear the Labyrinth.

But today, I wanted to look at the town without thinking about those things.

I knew the reason myself.

It was likely because I had come into contact with Dia’s raw, human emotions.

Because of that—I found myself wondering where the young man with a sword on his back who just passed me was born, and what kind of wishes he lived for. I wondered what the personality of the beastman woman who passed next was like, and for what purpose she was walking.

“Ah…”

The others whom I had looked down upon deep in my heart as NPCs… I had come to understand that they were living as individual human beings with blood flowing through their veins.

I felt like vomiting.

The feeling of unreality was being painted over by reality, and reality was being painted over by unreality.

At the end of that sensation—

—Along with the ‘Display,’ my mood inverted, and the nausea subsided.

It couldn’t be helped.

Someday, I had to bring this game-like roleplay to an end.

It was just that the realization had come a little sooner than expected.

I gazed at the crowds of people filling the bustling town.

Instead of the gamer-like perspective of viewing them as mere numerical values on a “Display,” I began to observe them properly—as people living their lives.

Right…

I’ll change my mood today and head somewhere I’ve never been before…

With that thought in mind, I dove into the crowd to truly accept this other world.

Right here, right now, I began to take my first steps into my new life, one foot after the other.

During this first walk through the other world, with my mood adjusted by the skill “???”, I stopped by the church to handle the routine business of leveling up.

—Then, I saw a human bound in chains, and I came to a halt.

In Dia’s stories, the topic of slaves had come up as a matter of course.

Even in the history of my own world, slaves had existed.

Naturally, they existed in this world as well.

I had intended to spend today’s excursion purely as an observer to feel closer to the people of this world, but the existence of slaves sparked a major hint regarding my Labyrinth conquest.

Even as I felt a twinge of self-loathing for linking everything back to the Labyrinth, I became absorbed in the practicality of the idea.

Perhaps it was thanks to the skill “???” that had activated earlier, but I was able to think very calmly.

In the midst of this reality-filled world, I began to run rational calculations.

With the “Display,” I could find slaves who possessed talents suited for the Labyrinth.

In other words, picking out a selection of slaves and having them handle the Labyrinth conquest for me wasn’t a bad option. It was a plan born of a cold calculation, but I felt it was worth considering.

I immediately headed toward the rougher parts of Wald, searching for a place where I might find information on the slave trade.

I spotted people who appeared to be slaves being moved by carriage.

Using “Dimension,” I tracked their destination.

I navigated through back alleys that a normal person would never find, following them through an underground passage. Following cautiously, I found a simple, weathered door set into a stone wall. It was the kind of building you’d never find unless you already knew it was there.

I observed the interior with “Dimension” and gathered that it was a slave auction house. Since my MP was running low, I couldn’t perceive the deeper sections. I set my sights on a man who looked like he was in charge of greeting customers at the entrance and boldly entered the building, pretending to be a client.

The interior was magnificent, resembling a nobleman’s manor from a movie.

A corridor so deep I couldn’t see the end branched off in two directions from the foyer.

“—Ah, greetings, good sir. What business brings you here so early in the day?”

A tidy-looking man greeted me with a polite bow.

“…A friend recommended this place. I just came to see how things look.”

For the time being, I decided to use smooth talk to gather information.

Having gained confidence from several Labyrinth runs, I figured that even if things turned violent, I could manage as long as I focused on escaping.

Besides, I had a fair bit of confidence in my “acting.”

I fabricated an aura suggesting that, despite my youth, I possessed the financial power required to be here.

I was nearly as tall as an adult, so as long as my attitude remained firm, I should succeed.

“I see. However, we only operate during the late hours of the night, so what you can see while the sun is high is limited.”

“…Is that so? In that case, could you teach me a bit about how things work here so I’m prepared for tonight?”

“Of course.”

I thought I might be treated coldly since I wasn’t an immediate source of profit, but he allowed my questions more readily than expected.

Perhaps the unit price for a single customer here was just that high.

I chose my questions carefully so as not to arouse suspicion.

“Right. First, what I’m curious about is—”

“Yes, that would be—”

While keeping the conversation going to gather intel, I observed my surroundings.

Within the current range of “Dimension,” I could sense the slaves who had been brought in by the carriage earlier. It seemed they were currently being groomed. To improve the “product” appeal, they were being bathed, made up, and adorned.

The number of chained slaves exceeded several dozen.

I continued to observe the treatment of the slaves while extracting information from the attendant.

After some time had passed, a single slave appeared in the lobby where the man and I were talking.

Through “Dimension,” I could tell she was lost. She had been wandering around this large mansion alone for quite a while.

She was a young girl with black hair.

Her dark eyes were hollow, and her body was gaunt.

Perhaps her grooming wasn’t finished yet, as she was dressed in nothing but a miserable scrap of cloth.

“…Is that a slave there?”

I asked, already knowing the answer.

Then, I immediately “Observed” her to see her basic status.

Three skills and she possessed mana, which was rare. She had talent above the average.

However, compared to myself or Dia, the difference was truly like heaven and earth.

She was far from being an outlier.

“Ah, I… I am…”

The first to react was the slave named Maria.

A hint of color returned to her hollow eyes as she stared at me.

She looked as if she had found something shining—a look like that.

“…My deepest apologies. Hey, someone! Get that slave to the back!”

The attendant noticed her too and snapped his fingers to call someone from the interior.

Even so, the slave girl kept her eyes fixed on me.

Then, haltingly, she whispered.

“…My name is Maria. My name… is Maria.”

Though we were some distance apart, I heard her clearly.

In a thin voice, she uttered a name commonly found even in this other world.

I was flustered by the sudden self-introduction—and perhaps out of habit from my original world, I found myself reflexively introducing myself in return.

“I’m Christ…”

The moment the words left my mouth, I realized my blunder.

There was absolutely no benefit to revealing my name in a place like this.

No matter how flustered I was by the suddenness of it, I had let my guard down too much.

While I was drowning in regret, the slave girl was taken away by a person who emerged from the back.

Even as she was being led away, she never stopped staring at me.

For a certain reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off her, either.

I didn’t want to speculate on what her eyes were wishing for.

The attendant wiped his forehead and offered an apology.

“I am truly sorry, sir. For such an unsightly display…”

“No, it’s fine…”

I realized I was more shaken than I’d thought.

Was it because of that girl Maria’s hollow eyes? Perhaps I was too tense being in this place, or maybe the fatigue from the Labyrinth was still lingering.

In any case, I had confirmed that I could “Display” the statuses of slaves.

When I returned next time, searching for a talented slave should be no problem.

It was best not to linger any longer.

“Now then, regarding the next point—”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll come back another time. I’ve learned everything I needed to know for today.”

“…Understood. We look forward to your next visit.”

With my back to the man bowing respectfully, I left the establishment.

I had successfully gained knowledge about the slave trade; things had gone perfectly.

And yet, I didn’t feel good.

As the sun was setting, I made my way toward the tavern where I worked.

My feet felt unusually heavy.

But I moved those heavy legs, desperately looking only straight ahead.

As if I were dragging shackles behind me—