Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Fairy Spring
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We walked down the passage a short way and arrived at the next room.
The deeper we went, the more the underbrush thickened, until by the time we entered the room, the floor was carpeted in grass like an open meadow.
"What... is this place?"
"Is this real grass?"
Everyone looked down at the floor with bewildered expressions.
Grass and flowers sprouted thickly from the labyrinth's stone floor.
An unidentified glow permeated the room, illuminating the entire space so brightly that we didn't even need lantern light.
"How can flowers grow like this underground?"
"Anything can happen in a labyrinth."
All the spaces we'd explored so far had been underground tombs.
Cold stone floors filled with graves, corpses, and skeletons everywhere we went.
This place, appearing so suddenly in that environment, felt utterly alien, as if a chunk of space from somewhere else had been pasted on.
Everyone looked around the room with curious eyes and came to a conclusion.
...Suspicious!
All of them gripped their weapons, faces tense as they scanned the surroundings.
"No monsters in sight for now."
"There could be traps like before."
No one trusted the peaceful atmosphere, bracing for hidden traps or monster ambushes.
It was a fine sign of how well they'd adapted to the labyrinth.
"What's that over there...?"
As everyone surveyed the room, their gazes naturally converged on the center.
In the middle of the room sat a small spring of indeterminable depth.
"A spring?"
"...Why would there be one of those in a labyrinth?"
Grass and flowers growing in a labyrinth was weird enough, but a spring gushing water?
After all the bizarre things they'd endured in the labyrinth, everyone approached it warily.
"Isn't it dangerous...?"
"Could be poisoned."
"What if a monster comes out of the water?"
"Hold on, you guys. Don't get too close."
Lia, shield raised, took the lead and slowly advanced toward the spring at the room's center.
Ian followed close, observing the spring.
He checked just in case, but sure enough, it was that spring he knew.
This was a friendly space.
No monsters appeared, and it posed no harm.
"It's fine. This one's safe."
With safety confirmed, Ian called out to the group.
They'd all seen him gather and study labyrinth materials over time, so no one found it odd that he knew about such labyrinth fixtures in advance.
Only after hearing it was a known safe spot did everyone relax and lower their weapons.
"Let's rest here before we go."
"It's really safe?"
"A place like this in a labyrinth..."
Now that the tension had eased, it really did look like a great spot to rest.
Much better than cold stone or gravesides.
Everyone cautiously set their gear down on the grassy floor and looked around.
Naturally, during the break, the group gravitated toward the spring in the room's center.
They gathered around the mysterious spring, chatting.
"Why's there a spring here?"
"Think there are fish in it?"
"Whoa... Wouldn't labyrinth fish be super expensive?"
"...If there were any, they'd probably be monsters."
They peered in while chatting, but nothing seemed to be living inside.
The water was crystal clear, but something like a shimmering light swirled beneath the surface like waves, obscuring the depths.
It looked clean enough, but no one wanted to drink water from a labyrinth spring, so they kept their hands out.
Rin turned to Ian, figuring he knew more.
"Captain. Do you know what this spring is?"
"Hold on. I'll show you."
Ian pulled out a small mana crystal—one of the items they'd acquired during this expedition—and carefully dropped it into the spring.
The crystal bobbed on ripples for a moment before sinking below like something had snatched it.
"Ah!"
"It disappeared!"
Ripples briefly disturbed the calm surface.
Then, moments later, something floated up.
Ian reached out and carefully fished it up.
"This is..."
What rose from the spring was something Rin recognized.
A drink bottle stamped with a shop name.
A popular fruit drink sold in Labyrinth City.
"......"
"......?"
"??"
They'd been watching, expecting something amazing.
Everyone stared at Ian with baffled looks.
"Is this for real?"
"Looks real."
Rin took the bottle, cautiously opened it, and sniffed.
It didn't smell spoiled or old.
If anything, the fresh fruit scent wafted up like it'd just come from the shop.
Since he'd said it was fine... Rin took a careful sip.
One sip...
Two sips.
Three...
"Hey! You gonna drink it all yourself?"
"Puhah."
Rin, who'd downed half in seconds, exclaimed with sparkling eyes.
"This is the real deal!"
"Wait, me too!"
The sight of a sudden drink in the labyrinth heart sent everyone rushing at Rin.
"No, we can just trade for more! Captain! Can we do it again?"
"Not right away. Put in an item when that glows, and it swaps for something else."
Ian pointed to a small stele by the spring.
It wasn't glowing now since they'd just used it, but it would faintly shine when ready.
The Fairy Spring—a random labyrinth object.
It swapped any item dropped in for a random other item of the same grade.
But items being what they were, junk far outnumbered valuables.
The odds of something amazing were practically nil.
Less a big-score gamble, more tossing in worthless materials like they just had.
If you got consumables or potions, it was a win.
"Yeah. Don't put in anything too valuable."
Ian handed out a few more low-value mana crystals.
"Rin, no hogging the next one!"
"Why not!"
Watching them bicker around the spring felt like kids at play, so Ian chimed in.
"Don't get too rowdy and fall in."
"...What happens if you do?"
"...Huh?"
It took items, gave rewards.
In the game, there'd never been an option to drop a mercenary in.
If a person fell in...
"...Just don't fall in."
"......"
Everyone took a step back from the spring.
The group spent a while swapping items at the spring, but results being random, inedible junk came up more often.
Eventually tiring of the game, they each found a spot they liked, lay down, and rested.
Ian took a long rest in the Fairy Spring room.
Beyond this room lay another of unknown details.
Ian guessed it was the boss room.
Having heard that, everyone was resting to recover stamina for the finale.
Everyone except Tanya.
"This one... oh, I've seen this too."
Tanya wandered the room, checking each flower and plant on the floor.
Truth be told, she didn't know much about such ingredients.
So she yanked up anything vaguely matching dictionary descriptions or looking promising.
Growing in a labyrinth alone made them worth at least silver coins; rarities fetched gold.
Labyrinth-harvested materials were prized for alchemy and magic research. All sold high.
Porters didn't just haul supplies in—they brought back spoils on return.
Collecting these was Tanya's job, earning her a cut of the extra loot profits as bonus.
"Whew..."
Having pocketed a bouquet worth a gold fortune, Tanya looked up with a slight frown.
"What was that?"
She could've sworn she'd heard a voice.
Tanya scanned around puzzled, but everyone was scattered, resting quietly.
No one had called her.
"...?"
Thinking she'd misheard, she turned away—but then again.
A sound, unmistakably.
Not quite a voice, but an eerie, unidentified noise.
Like song or murmur.
Tanya realized it was calling her.
"Wh... who's there?"
Tanya followed the sound's source.
The spring in the room's center.
That's where it came from.
Not language with clear meaning, but signals like bundles of emotion and intent.
Tanya felt it calling her.
"No way... Me?"
Too suspicious to approach closely, she stayed back a bit.
Staring at the spring, Tanya quietly asked.
...It wants something?
Sensing that, Tanya picked up a mana crystal from the floor.
But a wave of negation came—no, not that.
Then something in her pouch trembled.
"This...?"
Tanya pulled out her pouch.
The charm Ian had gifted her before.
The gem called the Fairy Stone.
"Is this what you want?"
...Probably affirmation.
Hearing the spring's odd voice, Tanya shook her head vigorously.
"No way, this is a gift from the captain..."
The spring seemed to want it.
Tanya recalled Ian's explanation of the spring.
...Nothing bad inside.
The first friendly entity they'd met in this labyrinth.
Tanya remembered how dropping items in got something else back.
If she gave it what the spring wanted...
What would it give?
Fidgeting with the Fairy Stone in her hand, Tanya hesitated, then cautiously asked the spring.
"If I give you this... can you protect us?"
It was a precious gift from Captain Ian, but not as precious as that.
"Help us all get out of the labyrinth safely. Then it's yours."
...Affirmation.
Tanya felt a will to help flow into her.
Tanya held up the Fairy Stone and carefully dropped it into the spring.
Like the other items, it floated on the water, rippling, before sinking moments later.
Tanya waited quietly before it.
"......"
Nothing surfaced.
It scammed me...?!
Tanya collapsed to her knees before the spring.
After the long rest.
With final preparations done, the group headed for the labyrinth's boss room.
Facing the last fight of the expedition, everyone moved with tense faces.
"Tanya? What's wrong?"
"Ah, n-nothing."
Mika noticed Tanya's gloomy face and asked, but Tanya shook her head in a fluster.
...Should've known better than to trust labyrinth things.
Everyone was already tense; explaining would just sour the mood.
Tanya sighed quietly, unheard by the others.
Behind them, a few small orbs of light rose silently from the spring and trailed after Tanya.