Chapter 36

A vast corridor was packed to the brim with countless beasts.

It was a “swarm” of monsters.

As long as I had my detection abilities, this was a sight I should have never encountered.

If one were to take simultaneous attacks from multiple monsters, there was a risk of losing their life even if they were above the recommended level. I had heard a story in the tavern once about someone who had a terrible experience after running into a swarm, and since then, I had been extremely careful to avoid them.

The fundamental rule of the Labyrinth was for a large group to hunt a single monster.

At the very least, it should be one-on-one. That was the golden rule.

I had turned a blind eye to exceptions like boss battles, but frankly, taking on multiple opponents usually wasn’t worth the effort.

“Heh… hehe—ahaha, ahahaha!!”

In the midst of that “swarm,” Lastiara laughed as she continued to fight all on her own.

She dealt with the sheer violence of their numbers as if it were nothing.

Maria and I watched her from a distance behind.

I observed Lastiara’s combat by picking it up through my magic, Dimension.

Dressed in a single thin garment that offered no defensive power, she coolly ducked through the beasts’ claws. Then, she slashed at them with her sword as she dodged. It was a repetitive process. Despite possessing high-level swordsmanship skills, her swings were sloppy.

Occasionally, she would unleash a flash of steel that made my eyes widen, but more often than not, her swordsmanship was haphazard. Rather than thinking she was good at handling a sword, the first impression her movement gave was that she was good at handling her own body.

She likely knew how to use magic as well, but I saw no sign of her using it at all.

While analyzing Lastiara’s tactics as a human being, I also observed the other person with me.

“Wh-what is she… that person…”

Maria stared at Lastiara’s battle in a daze.

I brought up Maria’s Status on the Display and checked the progression of her experience points.

This was important information analysis.

One could even say it was more important than analyzing Lastiara’s tactics.

This was the first time I had entered the Labyrinth in a three-person party.

If this were a game, the distribution of experience points would change because the party size had changed. I had to confirm whether it resulted in a penalty, a bonus, or if the distribution method shifted significantly.

I had Lastiara handle the task of gathering experience while I closely monitored the fluctuations in experience for the three of us.

“Master, just who is that person…?”

While I was analyzing with the Display, Maria threw a question my way.

I answered her while continuing my analysis in parallel.

“I don’t know her very well either. But it’s certain that she’s someone special. For now, I think it’s enough to know she’s a knight girl who just loves diving into the Labyrinth.”

“I see…”

As Maria and I spoke, it seemed Lastiara had finished the annihilation.

Shaking the blood off her sword, Lastiara walked toward us with a composed stride. Incidentally, she was hardly splattered with any blood herself. She looked like she still had plenty of energy to spare.

“Phew. It’s finally over. I’m a little tired, I guess.”

“That’s why I told you we should take the long way around.”

“I hate taking detours because it’s a waste of time. Let’s just hurry up and get to the deeper floors.”

“Good grief…”

Lastiara hated being on the lower floors, so she had personally carved a path through the swarm of monsters blocking the shortest route.

I had suggested a detour, but this worked out well in its own way.

A state where a constant stream of experience points was coming in was convenient for my analysis.

Thanks to that, I was able to confirm four rules, albeit tentatively.

1. Even if only one person fought while the others rested, experience points were properly granted to all three.
2. The effective range of the party system didn’t change much whether there were two people or three.
3. In a party of multiple people, a slight penalty was applied.
4. The distribution method for experience hadn’t changed from when there were two of us; it was still divided equally.

I felt like I was getting a good grasp on the tendencies of the party system.

“Alright. Well then, shall we head to the next floor?”

“Let’s go—! I’ll take the lead!”

Saying that, Lastiara took the lead again and proceeded through the Labyrinth.

She was walking quite fast, likely because she really wanted to reach the inner depths quickly.

I followed behind Lastiara with the feeling of watching a child heading straight for the toy section. Just then, I suddenly became concerned about Maria.

Lastiara’s pace was quite brisk. It was fast enough that an ordinary person would quickly lose their breath. I was fine, but with Maria’s stats, fatigue might be building up.

Thinking that, I looked over at Maria—and saw that her face was pale.

“Wh-what’s wrong? Maria…!”

Maria was walking right behind me, and her hand looked as if it were about to grab the hem of my clothes at any moment.

“Master… don’t you feel anything? After seeing Lastiara just now…”

It seemed that seeing the battle earlier had filled her with intense fear.

Certainly, to someone with low ability, Lastiara would appear to be an overwhelming mass of violence. I, too, had once felt an eerie, chilling dread toward Lastiara.

“I suppose so. Lastiara might indeed be a bit scary. …But despite that, she has a fairly pure side, and she’s not a bad person.”

I thought to myself that “pure” was one way to put it.

She might not be a bad person, but there was no doubt she was a handful.

“It’s because she’s pure that she’s terrifying…”

Even hearing my words, Maria couldn’t seem to wipe away her fear.

She described her as terrifying specifically because she was pure. I also felt that Lastiara was the type who might innocently crush an insect. I didn’t completely misunderstand her feelings.

“It’s okay. If anything happens, I’ll protect you, Maria. I believe I’m strong enough to protect you from Lastiara.”

“Eh? Master, can you win against someone like Lastiara…?”

“I won’t say it’s a guaranteed victory, but I think I have a considerable advantage. She seems to have many mental openings, and I don’t feel like I’m inferior in sword skill. So, it’s alright.”

To put Maria at ease, I padded my win rate and spoke to her gently.

In truth, there probably wasn’t a massive gap between Lastiara and me.

If a difference were to arise, it would be the situation.

If I had to fight while protecting Maria, I’d be at a disadvantage.

If I could fight freely on my own, it would be an even match.

That was about the gist of it.

Regardless, I wanted Maria to feel safe, so I continued to act with composure.

“Even if that’s true… honestly, I’m the one who’s supposed to be protecting you, Master…”

For the time being, it seemed I’d managed to convince her that Lastiara wouldn’t be a threat as long as I was around. At the very least, the look of sheer terror had vanished from her face.

…Probably. Maria was quite skilled at putting up a front and acting tough, so I couldn’t be entirely certain.

Next, Maria began to fret over her own position.

Thinking she was about to restart the “slave versus friend” debate, I quickly cut in.

“No, don’t worry about that. If anything happens, I just want you to focus on yourself, Maria.”

“Focus on… myself? Does that mean—”

As she spoke, Maria’s face shifted, as if she had suddenly realized something.

However, she quickly wiped the expression away and shook her head.

“No, it’s nothing…”

I could no longer read her heart.

Now that she’d closed herself off like this, I had no idea what had crossed her mind.

Maria forced a change in her expression and began to speak with a smile.

“Ultimately, it’s just that I lack strength… That’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? Besides, if I think about it calmly, I already knew Lastiara wasn’t a bad person. In fact, she’s a good person.”

“Eh? R-really?”

Even though I was the one who said she wasn’t bad, I found it hard to agree when someone called her a flat-out “good person.”

“Last night, I shared a bed with that innocent girl and we talked for ages. I think I understand Lastiara’s personality better than you do. For some reason, she’s taken an absurd liking to me.”

“True… she does seem to be quite fond of you…”

Maria’s face brightened.

Her step seemed to grow lighter as well.

She moved from behind me to the front, stepping out into the Labyrinth without hesitation.

“Well then, let’s hurry. We’ll be left behind by Lastiara.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

I continued through the Labyrinth, watching Maria’s back.

Since I was walking behind her, I couldn’t see her face.

Actually, if I used Dimension, I could easily check her expression. But I would never be able to see the “expression” of her heart.

I wasn’t assertive enough to force her to reveal her inner thoughts in a situation like this.

Still, I walked on, vowing in my heart that no matter what happened from here on out, I would protect Maria and Maria alone.

Deep into the depths of the Labyrinth—

As we challenged the Labyrinth again and again, I grew accustomed to dealing with the monsters.

I felt it especially as we drew closer to the 20th floor.

To begin with, the monsters that appeared were ones I was “used to” (familiar with).

For someone like me who had played many games in my original world, there weren’t many monsters that felt completely new. Most of them bore at least some resemblance to something I’d seen before.

While I was taken aback by the unreality of it at first, I now had enough composure to think, Oh, this guy looks like a monster from that one game, whenever a new one appeared.

In contrast, Maria and Lastiara beside me were heart-stricken by the grotesqueness of the creatures every time a new variety showed up.

Thus, while fighting a wide array of monsters, we eventually reached a floor deep enough that Maria was effectively reduced to a non-combatant.

I had thought about warning them that we were going too deep, but I missed my chance to speak up, and now we were on the 19th floor.

After all, Lastiara was instantly killing every monster that occasionally appeared. On top of that, the three of us—Lastiara included—were still completely unscathed. Even though I thought about stopping our progress, I couldn’t think of any convincing words to justify it.

As the three of us walked along the Main Path of the 19th floor, a monster with a body massive enough to block the entire passage appeared.

It stood on two hooved legs, its lower half covered in dark brown fur. Its upper body was muscular and human-like, while its head was that of a bull. It had a foul look in its eyes, and its hands tightly gripped a giant axe.

A Minotaur…?

“Ohhh—! What’s this? It’s a strange one.”

“H-how disgusting… It’s huge…”

Lastiara and Maria were astonished by the monster they were seeing for the first time, while I silently gathered information using Display.

It really was a Minotaur…

The name was likely a near-miss because the language was being translated, but…

It felt a bit strange to see something so familiar in this unknown, alternate world.

I relayed the information I had obtained to Lastiara.

“It’s a Minotaur monster. It’s likely a power-type, but which one of us is going?”

“Maybe I should protect Maria this time? I’m starting to feel a sense of crisis regarding her low opinion of me.”

Surprisingly, Lastiara yielded the battle to me.

Usually, if there was a monster she hadn’t seen before, she would slash at it without hesitation. It seemed she had finally begun to realize that her behavior was creeping Maria out.

Hearing her offer, Maria flatly refused.

“No, thank you. I’d rather be alone than have that.”

“Wha—! I’m hated that much already?! Even though we slept together yesterday!”

“That was what one calls being ‘held captive’.”

“Hmm. But when you’re all prickly like that, it just makes me want to tease you more.”

Lastiara approached Maria while talking and ended up hugging her.

“Wa! Wait, why are you clinging to me?! Think about the time and place!”

“There we go. Christ, I’ll handle things here.”

Apparently, that was Lastiara’s version of “guarding.”

Playing around with companions in the Labyrinth was one of her objectives. She probably found this fun.

Lastiara held the struggling Maria down with one arm. Maria’s strength had increased considerably, but she was still powerless against Lastiara’s high stats. It looked like there was no chance of Maria diving into the fray out of a mistaken belief that I was in danger.

I turned back toward the Minotaur with a sense of relief.

The Minotaur, breathing heavily, was already right in front of me.

Rank 20.

This was the first time I was facing an opponent of such a high rank.

From my experience so far, “Rank” could be considered as the appropriate level for the encounter. The recommended levels I’d heard at the tavern and the Ranks shown by Display were always close in number. In other words, this Minotaur was a monster that a Level 20 explorer would normally face.

I had reached Level 11 yesterday, but there was still a 9-point difference in the numbers.

However, my stats were originally comparable to a Level 20 person.

“—Magic: Dimension · Gladiator. Magic: Form.”

A great axe, roughly three meters in size, was swung down toward my body.

I dodged it by a hair’s breadth while constructing my spatial magic.

I wasn’t intentionally aiming for a narrow miss to show off. On a floor this deep, I was starting to lose my margin for error.

If I were alone, this was an opponent I would have wanted to face only after diligently leveling up and having 100% confidence in my victory. But this time, Lastiara was here.

If things turned dangerous, Lastiara—who possessed power equal to mine—would back me up. More importantly, Lastiara could use healing magic. She didn’t like magic herself and rarely used it, but the peace of mind knowing she could heal me even if I got hurt was significant.

Previously, if I suffered an injury, I had no choice but to return to the surface. But now, I could continue exploring even with some wounds. In other words, I could afford to take a few risks.

I dodged the Minotaur’s axe, being careful only to avoid major injuries. In parallel, I began attaching a large number of Form bubbles to the enemy’s body.

The reason I could afford such a lavish use of MP was because I was splitting the combat duties fifty-fifty with Lastiara. Thank goodness for parties.

Now that the Minotaur was covered in Form bubbles, there was likely no chance of it catching me. I had already confirmed during yesterday’s battle with Sera Radiant that the more these magical bubbles attached themselves, the more my spatial perception increased.

Once I confirmed that the Minotaur’s axe was no longer a threat, I moved on to my next magical experiment.

“—Magic: Form. Magic: Freeze.”

I created an exceptionally large bubble and sealed magical cold within it. Previously, the Freeze spell could only lower the room temperature, but thanks to my increased Magic stat and the condensation within the bubble, it transformed into a cold beyond comparison.

I finished the magical construction while fighting.

Then, I mixed it in with the other bubbles and slowly moved it to the Minotaur’s feet.

The Minotaur wasn’t paying attention to every single one of the countless bubbles. Without any issues, the new magic landed on the Minotaur’s leg.

The cold sealed inside erupted, freezing the Minotaur’s leg and the ground together. Abruptly losing its footing, the Minotaur’s posture crumbled significantly.

A combined technique of Form and Freeze—

“—Magic: Dimension Snow.”

—I guess. I’m glad it worked.

I’d been a little frustrated that I couldn’t pick up the Little Snow freezing magic the other day, so I had devised something similar.

With that, the experiments were complete.

I lunged at the Minotaur while it was wide open, aiming to sever its head.

My sword dug in until it was blocked by the neck bone. I had been worried the blade wouldn’t pass through due to the level difference, but it seemed I was still fine. As expected, the power of the sword itself was great.

I gave up on decapitation and pulled the sword back to slash the blood vessels instead.

With the sensation of a tendon snapping, blood began to geyser from the Minotaur’s neck.

Driven mad with rage, the wounded Minotaur swung its great axe wildly. However, perhaps due to its anger, the attacks lacked precision. There was power, but the skill and speed had dropped.

This time, I deliberately dodged by a hair’s breadth and crushed both of the Minotaur’s eyes.

That was checkmate.

Facing the Minotaur as it bled out, I focused solely on dodging. The enemy’s eyes were crushed and its movements were erratic, so it was easy. Since I was at it, I took care not to get hit by the splattering blood.

In this manner, by layering light attacks whenever I saw an opening, the Minotaur eventually ran out of strength.

As per usual, it vanished into light, leaving behind a red magic stone.

I hadn’t handled it as effortlessly as Lastiara would have, but it was a decent result against a Rank 20 opponent.

I checked my experience points.

On the deeper floors, even when split between three people, a single monster provided hundreds of experience points.

Next, I picked up the magic stone and checked its details.

It felt like I could learn magic if I swallowed it, but it was, so to speak, a “raw” item.
I was too terrified to actually put it in my mouth.

As I stared at the Semi-Third Grade Flame Magic Stone, Lastiara and Maria, who had been keeping their distance, returned.

“Good work, Christ. You were saying the 20th floor was too early for us, but that was easy.”

“No, that wasn’t ‘easy’ for me. It was a good match. I need it to be more of an overwhelming victory…”

“Eh? More overwhelming than that? Wouldn’t that be closer to just harvesting wheat?”

“I’d prefer it that way.”

“Uwaa…”

Reaching the “deepest part” of the Labyrinth as if harvesting wheat.

Hearing my ideal, Lastiara looked at me with a face that said she couldn’t understand.

“I know it doesn’t align with your ideals, Lastiara. But… that’s exactly why we’re a good match.”

“No, if our ways of thinking don’t match, we don’t match, right?”

“When we explore the Labyrinth together, I’ll leave everything that looks dangerous to you. You’d find that more fun, wouldn’t you? I’ll stay in a safe spot and steadily take the leftovers. See? No one loses out.”

“W-well, I guess that’s true… But, hmm, it’s somehow different from what I imagined…”

“Reality is often like that.”

“Ehhh.”

We joked around as we regrouped and continued along the Main Path of the Labyrinth.

Maria looked relieved and was checking me over for injuries.

Is she going to do that every single time I fight…? Maria…

“Maria, I’m not hurt. You don’t have to worry so much every single time.”

“N-no. It’s not that I’m worried…”

Even from my perspective, I could tell Maria was abnormally concerned for my safety.

Could it be she thinks that if I die, her shield against Lastiara will be gone?

I patted Maria’s head and smiled, saying, “Don’t worry.”

At that, Maria turned red and glared at me.

She was likely angry at being treated like a child. I hurriedly pulled my hand away, turned back toward the depths of the Labyrinth, and spoke to Lastiara.

“Hey, are we almost at the 20th floor?”

“Yeah. Just a little further, just a little further.”

Lastiara had been leading the way this whole time. Her personality wasn’t the only reason for that. Apparently, Lastiara had experience stepping into the 23rd floor—the limit for humanity—all by herself. Of course, while we were sticking to the Main Path, there were monsters that would intrude upon it, as we’d just seen. The deeper the floor, the stronger that tendency became. Even so, her experience of reaching the 23rd floor was reassuring.

Maria and I walked on, guided by Lastiara.

Before we finished crossing the 19th floor, we were ambushed by monsters several more times.

However, since they only appeared one at a time, either Lastiara or I could handle them without issue.

And after overcoming several monster ambushes, we finally arrived at the threshold of the 20th floor.

I spread my Dimension magic out in all directions so I could respond to whatever might happen.

Slowly, we descended to the 20th floor.