Chapter 40

“Welcome home, Master.”

“I’m back. Also, stop with the ‘Master’ thing.”

When I returned straight home from the hospital, Maria was there to greet me. I gave my usual warning about how she addressed me, but at this point, I had mostly given up, so it came out sounding half-hearted.

“Maria, are you feeling okay now?”

“Yes, I’m fine. My level went up, and I suppose I let it get to my head. This was the result of overestimating myself and not knowing my place.”

Maria bowed her head, appearing composed.

As far as I could see, she didn’t seem to be bothered by what Lastiara had said to her anymore.

“No, it was a lapse in judgment on my part. I was overconfident in my own plan and failed to see when it was time to pull back.”

“Hehe. I knew you’d say that, Master. Thank you.”

Maria let out a small giggle and thanked me.

“Why are you thanking me? Because of my mistake—because of me, you were put in danger, Maria.”

“But that mistake happened because you were thinking of me, didn’t it?”

Maria continued, her smile remaining fixed.

No.

It wasn’t something noble like that.

I had pushed Maria too hard for the sake of my own self-preservation. Subconsciously, I was simply trying to avoid a scene I had witnessed once before.

“You’re being over-analytical. I don’t have the luxury to be that considerate of others right now.”

“No, that’s not true. You couldn’t decide on a retreat because you didn’t want to make me sad, right? You hesitated because you didn’t want to destroy my dream, didn’t you?”

Maria spoke as if I were some kind of saint.

But that was an unfair evaluation.

While there might have been a sliver of truth to it, the root cause lay in my lack of decisiveness and mental fortitude.

“I’m telling you, you’re wrong…”

“Hehe.”

Maria just smiled at my continued denials.

However, after smiling for a few moments, her expression suddenly darkened as she continued speaking.

“—But it’s a fact that I’m no longer of any use in the Labyrinth. Now that I know I can only be a burden to you, what am I supposed to do…?”

The words spilled out of her as if she were at her wit’s end.

I was startled by the sudden drop. Her expression was so bleak it made the Maria from just seconds ago feel like a lie.

Of course, there was no way she wasn’t bothered by it. There was no way anyone could process their feelings in just the few hours since returning from the Labyrinth.

“Calm down, Maria… It’s not like you’ve suddenly become useless. You can take your time here and look for something you can do.”

“Is it… okay for me to stay ‘here’?”

When I said “here,” Maria asked back with a look of disbelief.

Exasperated, I asked her in return.

“Did you… intend to leave?”

“Of course. I will absolutely repay my debt to you. But I no longer have a reason to keep imposing on this household any further…”

“Wait, wait, wait…! Where did that confidence from before go? You’re taking this way too hard. Are you an idiot?”

Just the other day, she had been overflowing with confidence, yet now there wasn’t even a shadow of it left. Faced with such a drastic change, I could only manage a sharp denial in my panic.

“That confidence… it was a ‘fake,’ you know…”

Maria replied with a self-mocking tone.

I didn’t know what was making Maria so timid.

But one thing was for certain: I didn’t want to see her looking so sad. Her current state reminded me of the first time we met. If Maria wasn’t standing tall, it would be a problem for me.

If she wanted to leave with her head held high like before, I wouldn’t mind. But if she left with a face like that, I’d end up feeling so sick with regret and worry that I’d want to throw up.

“There’s plenty for you to do. You can cook here. I’m leaving this house in your hands, Maria.”

So, I tried to give her a reason to exist—any reason would do. The first thing I could think of was cooking. With her skills, I knew I could leave the housework to her without any worries.

“But before, you said you didn’t need cooking…”

“That was just an excuse to get you to come to the Labyrinth. At the time, I absolutely wanted you to come with me, so I said something mean.”

It wasn’t a lie.

Back then, I truly felt that I wanted her help in the Labyrinth more than I wanted her to cook.

“Is that how it was…?”

“So, I’m asking you this time. I want you to cook for me every day in this house.”

At this point, I truly wanted to ask this of her.

When I made my earnest plea with a straight face, Maria replied with a troubled look.

“E-every day…? Sigh, you’re saying such foolish things as usual, Master. That’s a very embarrassing thing to say. Especially when you don’t even mean it like that…”

“Yeah. Now that I’ve said it, I feel incredibly embarrassed…”

Maria looked at me with an exasperated expression, just like she always did.

As long as Maria regained her spirit, I didn’t care what kind of look she gave me.

“In that case, I’ll gratefully accept the job. Thank you, Master.”

“Yeah, I’m counting on you.”

We shared a bitter smile and exchanged a new contract.

The dark shadows from moments ago were gone. However, since my insight wasn’t sharp enough to see through Maria’s acting, I couldn’t be completely at ease yet.

“Well then, since we’re at it, let’s cook together today.”

“Together?”

Since I couldn’t be fully sure she was okay, I decided to gauge her condition by cooking together.

“Yeah, I want to see your skills, Maria. I’m confident in my own, but I’m probably no match for you.”

“Oh, please. There’s no way I could beat you, Master.”

“No, you have a talent for cooking, Maria. I told you before that I can see talent, right? I can see your talent for cooking.”

“A talent for cooking…?”

“Yeah, there’s no mistake. You should be confident.”

“Talent for cooking…”

Maria’s expression seemed to brighten, if only a little.

It would be a huge help if this could solidify her sense of purpose.

I began to teach Maria my knowledge of cooking with thorough care, hoping she would come to love it. In return, I had her teach me about the cuisine of this world, and our conversation grew livelier than expected.

Just like that, the two of us stood in the kitchen and began preparing dinner.

While she cooked, Maria’s expression remained bright.

Relieved that my choice wasn’t a mistake, I continued cooking happily with her. For a brief moment, I truly forgot about the Labyrinth and lost myself in the work of cooking.

“I’m hooomeee! Wow, something smells great!”

Just as Maria and I were finishing up the dinner preparations, Lastiara returned as if she had timed it perfectly.

I left the remaining tasks to Maria and confronted Lastiara. I felt Maria’s expression shift slightly, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

“Hey, Lastiara. I have a lot to say to you.”

“W-wait, wait! I want you to hear me out first!”

The moment I spoke with a voice thick with anger, Lastiara immediately began making excuses.

She rattled off words in a flustered manner.

“It’s not like I made you take a break from work without thinking, Christ. It’s the result of a lot of thought! I figured you were probably too considerate of the shop staff to reduce your hours yourself… so I did it for you. You know, since you’re indecisive in the strangest ways.”

“Yeah. It’s true that the efficiency there isn’t great. However, there were still things I wanted to gather information on at that tavern. Besides, the tavern has its own needs. If they suddenly lose a staff member, the shop won’t be able to run.”

“I thought about that, too! I have all the information up to the 23rd floor, and if the shop can’t manage, we can just send Maria to help.”

She seemed intent on slipping away by emphasizing that she possessed the necessary information. However, the shop’s circumstances were a separate issue.

“I’ll concede the point regarding information gathering. But there’s no way a third party should just decide to swap someone’s job like that. Besides, it hasn’t even been decided that Maria would do it.”

“Ehh? All you did was wash and clear dishes, right? Anyone can do that. And Maria, who has a cooking skill, would be much better at helping with prep anyway. Above all, wouldn’t a cute girl be better for the shop? As for whether Maria will do it… hey, Maria, you’ll do it, right?”

Lastiara called out to Maria, who was still cooking.

“If it’s for Master’s sake, I will absolutely do it.”

Maria answered with a voice that was unnecessarily full of determination.

Hearing that, Lastiara gave me a look that said, “See?”

“Urgh…!”

I groaned, unable to counter Lastiara’s masterful evasion.

I could have kept nitpicking and digging my heels in, but there was no real reason to go that far. There was certainly truth in what Lastiara said.

Seeing that I had gone quiet, Lastiara continued.

“With this, even if we need to gather information, we can just ask Maria. See? A perfect division of labor. Even you wouldn’t be overprotective enough to object here, right, Christ?”

If possible, I didn’t want Maria to work at the tavern.

That was mostly because the clientele included many thugs, but Maria’s level already solved that problem. While she couldn’t keep up with us, Maria’s strength was on par with a veteran explorer. If I objected here, I wouldn’t be able to avoid being branded as overprotective.

With no other choice, I decided to shift the topic. I simply couldn’t stand letting Lastiara act all triumphant.

“But we’re not done yet. It doesn’t change the fact that you did whatever you wanted on your own, and Maria’s involvement is only after-the-fact consent. Your selfishness hasn’t been forgiven.”

“O-okay! I wonder what’s for dinner tonight?”

“I don’t mind talking while we eat. Lectures make the food taste better, after all.”

“No, they make the food taste worse for me…”

Sensing the tide had turned against her, Lastiara tried to change the subject again.

I didn’t allow it, however, and followed her to the table, taking my own seat.

Seeing this, Maria began to set out the finished dishes.

—And so, our second dinner began.

Throughout the meal, I lectured Lastiara endlessly on her selfishness. Midway through, the silver-tongued Maria joined in, so Lastiara couldn’t find an opening to push back.

In the end, Lastiara kept taking hits from both my and Maria’s scolding until she finally slumped her shoulders and gave a small apology. With that apology, the day came to an end.

As the three of us parted to sleep, everyone was smiling.

The dark atmosphere born from the trouble in the Labyrinth had completely vanished.

At least, that’s what I thought.