Chapter 35

When I returned to the new house with Lastiara, Maria was the first to greet us.

“Welcome ho—!?” Maria started, but she choked on her words the moment she saw Lastiara. However, she quickly recovered herself and moved to play the host for our guest.

And so, here we are.

Maria, Lastiara, and I are sitting at the same table for dinner.

On the table is a spread of Maria’s home cooking. The ingredients are simple, but the dishes are clearly labor-intensive. Maria must have bought the food with her own money and spent quite a long time preparing it.

—Naturally, there is only enough for two.

I couldn’t exactly snatch food away from Maria, so I pushed my own portion in front of Lastiara. Even if she had just become a “comrade,” Lastiara was a guest in this house. This was the result of trying to avoid a situation where a guest had nothing to eat.

However, the moment I moved my food in front of Lastiara, I felt the temperature in the room drop. Specifically, a cold front seemed to be emanating from Maria. When I glanced her way, she was wearing a very pleasant smile—a rare, full-faced grin that she kept fixed squarely on me.

S-she’s smiling, so… it’s fine, right?

“Wow, incredible…! This is it. This is exactly the kind of food I was looking for. It’s so warm. Hey, is it really okay for me to have this?”

Lastiara asked for permission to eat, looking genuinely delighted. Apparently, Maria’s home cooking hit her strike zone perfectly. To a sheltered lady, this kind of commoner’s meal might be a rare delicacy.

“Uh… yeah, I think it’s fine? Right, Maria?”

“…Yes, of course. I don’t mind at all.”

I sought Maria’s approval with a fair amount of trepidation.

Maria maintained her flawless smile. Even with a guest like Lastiara present, her lack of openings was terrifying.

“She says it’s fine, Lastiara.”

“Then, I’ll dig in without reservation.”

Lastiara folded her hands and reached for a wooden spoon.

Then, Maria spoke to me.

“However, that leaves the Master with nothing to eat. Please, eat my por—”

“You prepared this with your own money, Maria. It’s not right for you not to eat. I have some emergency rations stored away, so don’t worry about me and—”

“I figured you would say that, Master!!”

Maria cut off my words as I had cut off hers.

Uncharacteristically for the usually calm Maria, her voice had a sharp edge to it. My response clearly hadn’t pleased her.

I understood that it was frustrating for her that I wasn’t eating the meal she had specifically prepared for me. But she didn’t have to get that angry…

“Hmm. It seems like me eating this is causing trouble after all.”

“No, please don’t worry about it, Lastiara. Please, enjoy the meal.”

Lastiara stopped her hand as she was about to eat, seeing the tension. Maria answered her, but Lastiara continued as if she’d just had a brilliant idea.

“I know. It’s not good for one person to be left out. As comrades, we have to avoid that kind of situation… Hey, Christ, why don’t we eat together? Sharing meager rations is a staple in adventure stories.”

“W-wait a second. When you say ‘eat together,’ do you mean both of us picking at the same dish?”

“Exactly. According to my knowledge, that’s what comrades do. Besides, it sounds fun. Come on, Christ.”

Saying so, Lastiara pulled her chair and the food closer to me. She seemed to believe in the common sense of adventure tales without a shadow of a doubt.

“I-if that’s the case! Master and I will share, so Lastiara, please eat your own portion properly! I cannot allow the Master and a guest to behave like that!”

“Oh, don’t call me a guest… You really don’t need to worry about that. I’m going to be your comrade from now on, after all.”

“I… I see. A comrade, is it?”

It seemed Maria had assumed Lastiara was just a one-night guest. However, Lastiara viewed herself as a partner who would share in future joys and sorrows.

Thinking this was a good opportunity, I spoke up.

“In that case, why don’t Maria and Lastiara share the dish? You two don’t know each other well yet, so it can serve as a way to bond. As for me, I’ll take my meal slowly, like the host of this house should.”

This should satisfy both Maria’s and Lastiara’s demands. I felt it was a masterful stroke of mediation.

“That’s a great idea, Christ!”

“Huh!? Wait just a minute!”

Lastiara stood up as if everything were solved. She pushed the food back toward me, grabbed her chair, and moved right next to Maria.

“Alright, let’s eat together, Maria!”

“No, while I appreciate the offer, I’ll dec—”

“Don’t be shy! Let’s take turns feeding each other!”

“Hah!?”

It seemed the “dinner policy” had finally been decided.

This was perfect. If those two could stay on good terms like this, things would be smooth sailing.

I enjoyed my meal with relative elegance while watching the two of them start to eat in a frantic flurry across from me.

“I like this girl~! She’s so tiny and cute! And even without a collar, her Class is… ehehe, her Class is—ufufu, hahah! How interesting. She’s so adorable and pitiable—”

“Uwah! Hey, please don’t cling to me! Ah, you’re touching me in weird places—!”

Wonderful.

I had worried that increasing my party members would only increase my headaches, but I was wrong. If I could use Lastiara’s brand of “trouble” to cancel out Maria’s “trouble,” my own hands would remain free.

I was able to focus on my food alone, calmly contemplating the Labyrinth without any mental distractions.

—And so, leaving the “better-friends-than-expected” duo to their own devices, I finished my dinner in peace.

Since it was late by the time we returned, we decided to head straight to bed.

At that moment, I naturally nudged Lastiara. “Oh, by the way, Lastiara. Since we’re all here, why don’t you sleep with Maria? Comrades sharing a room and talking deep into the night… it’s like a scene out of a story, right? There’s no problem between girls, after all.”

The result: Lastiara, with a brilliant smile, practically abducted Maria. I thought I saw a rare, desperate look in Maria’s eyes as she sought help, but I decided I hadn’t seen a thing.

Now, I could finally rest. Plus, their friendship would deepen. A virtuous cycle.

I chose the room furthest from theirs, leaned my sword against the wall, and collapsed onto the bed. Since my MP was drained for the day, I couldn’t do any magic experiments before sleep. Focusing only on healing my physical fatigue, I drifted off.

Early the next morning, I was experimenting with magic in the living room when a haggard-looking Maria appeared. She greeted me in a low, hollow voice.

“G-good morning… Master…”

“Morning.”

I decided not to ask for details. However, she seemed to be glaring at me, so I made a mental note to find a way to make it up to her later.

Now that Maria was up, I ended my experiments. I had managed to set up a Connection in the corner of the room, so the experiment was a success. However, it turned out that maintaining the Connection constantly drains mana—it felt like my maximum MP was reduced by about 100 just to keep one active. Magic conditions are quite varied, it seems.

Lastiara had disappeared earlier that morning, but she returned a little later lugging a large hemp sack. Apparently, she had gone to gather tools and supplies for the Labyrinth.

I hesitated on how much to explain regarding my [Inventory]. Dia might have suspected something, but it was an ability I hadn’t explicitly shared with anyone. At the very least, I didn’t intend to reveal everything to Maria and Lastiara yet.

However, looking at Lastiara, it was clear that we would eventually face long-term expeditions. When that happened, I’d inevitably have to use [Inventory] in front of them. It would be less troublesome later if I presented a bit of information now.

“Lastiara. If your luggage is too bulky, let me take it.”

“Hm?”

“This magic item bag has a lot of space inside. I can look after the smaller things for you.”

Not everything, just a glimpse. I used a mundane-looking bag as a proxy to pass off the power of [Inventory] as a “Magic Item Bag.”

“Heh, hmm… a Magic Item. I can’t say I’ve heard of such a thing, and I like to think I’m well-read…”

“…So, are you lending it to me or not?”

“…I think I will. It’s much better to have my hands free.”

She probably sensed something was up, but she didn’t pry. She took water and rations out of the sack and handed them to me. I placed them into my [Inventory]. Including Lastiara’s supplies, the sheer volume of resources I now carried was massive. This should be enough to ensure no setbacks for Maria’s training.

With preparations complete, I called out to the two of them.

“Alright, Maria. Let’s go.”

“Yes, Master.”

I had Maria check her equipment, and we prepared to leave. Lastiara followed. On the way to the Labyrinth, Lastiara pulled me aside and whispered. It seemed she didn’t want Maria to hear.

“—Hey, Christ. Are you really taking Maria along?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, looking at her status with my Eye of the Pseudo-God, I think it’s going to be rough for her. She has the ‘Cooking’ skill, so I figured she was strictly the housekeeper…”

I wasn’t sure if her skill was exactly the same as my [Display], but Lastiara was clearly worried about Maria’s stats.

“Maria is a comrade for exploration.”

“But she doesn’t have the talent. She doesn’t have many skills, and most importantly, her ‘Dex’ is lacking. She’ll hit a wall soon in the deeper floors. Is that really okay?”

Lastiara questioned my choice of personnel. I could tell she was subtly suggesting I leave Maria at home.

“I don’t choose people based on talent alone. Maria has things she can do in the Labyrinth.”

“Hmm… I see. Well, fine. Just don’t blame me if Maria dies.”

She said it with a completely casual expression.

I wanted to object to her view on life and death, but in reality, Lastiara’s clinical perspective was more suited for the Labyrinth. I took her warning head-on and shot back firmly.

“I won’t let her die. Not ever.”

“…I suppose that’s fine too. I actually quite like that kind of drama. Whether it’s a tragic end or a comedic one, it’s all ‘delicious’ to me. Ufufufufu.”

“…You have terrible taste.”

“Setting that aside, do you have a goal for today? If we just dive in without a plan, it’s not very fun for me. Personally, I’d like to aim for the 30th floor.”

“The 30th floor is uncharted territory for humanity… For now, we’re aiming for the 20th. But considering Maria’s level, it might take a few days.”

“A few days, huh… That’s a bit of a problem for me. Enemies up to the 20th floor aren’t interesting at all, so I want to get past them quickly.”

“I want to progress quickly too—”

“In that case, I have a great idea!”

Smiling, Lastiara gripped the sword at her waist. Since my house was close to the Labyrinth entrance, we reached the massive, imposing hole in no time. At the entrance, Lastiara drew her sword from its sheath and declared:

“This is taking too long, so I’ll just kick all the trash aside. Christ, you just focus on looking after Maria.”

With that proclamation, Lastiara took the lead and charged into the Labyrinth.