Chapter 79
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Lessons of the Labyrinth
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Ian slowly climbed the stairs in front of him.
A slight dizziness washed over him, along with a sensation eerily similar to the one he'd felt when first entering the labyrinth.
The thick darkness shrouding his vision parted, and light seeped through.
They were on the surface.
"Returned, have you?"
Spotting the Ian Mercenary Corps emerging from the labyrinth, the nearby labyrinth guards approached.
"Five members. All back safe."
The guard captain checked the entry log and confirmed that every single one had returned intact.
He grinned at the bedraggled Ian Mercenary Corps party.
"Congratulations, explorers. Haven't seen a full team return alive in nearly a year."
Maze survivors who returned bearing spoils.
The Ian party had now earned the right to call themselves labyrinth explorers.
It was proof of veteran mercenary status, but surprisingly, it didn't carry much weight when recruiting for ordinary mercenary groups.
Far too high a chance the survivors had warped personalities.
"Huh? Why the long faces, everyone?"
The labyrinth guards offered their congratulations on the safe return, but the members' expressions were oddly subdued for people who'd cheated death.
The guard captain nodded knowingly.
"Well, plenty must've happened in there. Still, count yourselves lucky to have made it out alive."
But the mercenaries—everyone except Ian—were deflated for a different reason.
They'd steeled themselves to risk life and limb, only to realize it had all been unnecessary resolve.
Finally, the guard captain turned to Ian.
"Any special circumstances with the group?"
"None."
"...Good. All present and accounted for—no inspection needed."
Mika blinked at the guard captain's final remark.
"Inspection?"
"Yeah. Sometimes only one comes back, or the group's in suspicious shape. We detain them for a mental eval."
The guard captain waved it off casually to Mika.
"Explorers occasionally stagger out not quite right in the head."
Mika glanced around at his words and suddenly realized the labyrinth guards had been encircling the exit from a distance.
She'd assumed they were posted to prevent unauthorized entry.
...They were there to stop people from leaving.
Soon enough, the guards cleared the path toward Labyrinth City.
Ian and his team savored sunlight and fresh air they hadn't felt in ages as they slowly made their way toward the city.
Back in the city, Ian's group opened the door to their base.
"We're home!"
Tanya called out, but no one answered.
"Ann? Karen? Seria?"
After setting down their gear, Tanya scanned the first floor with a puzzled frown.
The base was eerily quiet.
Tanya and the others first moved their luggage and equipment to one side of the first floor.
"No one's here?"
"Must be out."
After all, no one knew exactly when Ian's group would return. It wasn't unusual for the others to be away.
But Tanya sensed something off from the traces left behind on the first floor.
The kitchen had ingredients laid out, as if someone had been about to start cooking right then.
The lounge had scattered, uncleared items too.
Signs they hadn't planned to be gone long.
"Upstairs is empty too. The rooms are vacant."
At Tanya's report, the members checked the upper floor—but no one anywhere.
It wasn't just being out...
More like they'd suddenly vanished somewhere.
"Um, Captain? No sign of anyone."
"What about Louise? She should be in the basement."
At Ian's words, everyone glanced toward the basement stairs.
Come to think of it, there was one spot they hadn't checked.
"...The door's locked?"
-Knock knock
Ria descended the stairs and rapped cautiously on the basement door.
-.....
-...!
Thankfully, there was a reaction from inside the basement.
A bit of commotion followed, along with muffled voices, then the click of a lock—and the door swung open.
"It's the captain! You're back!"
"Let's ask him what to do!"
From within the locked basement appeared Ann's group—looking utterly worn out—and Louise.
"What on earth happened?"
Having heard Ann's plea for someone to do something, Ian turned to Louise.
Louise let out a quiet sigh as she watched the scene unfold.
It had happened about a day before Ian returned.
The basement lab, filled with alchemy equipment.
Louise placed the final completed purifier on the table and sighed.
"Phew..."
The reserve erosion purifier made with the last materials Ian had requested before heading into the labyrinth.
All that was left was to preserve it and store it away.
"Wonder how much this'll fetch..."
Louise murmured, peering at the iridescent purifier glowing through its glass vial.
After developing a new potion, the real headache was always pricing it.
Potions with established market rates for similar effects were one thing, but something this groundbreaking? Purely whatever the traffic would bear.
Such items required weighing countless factors.
A potion that purified erosion? It'd command a fortune, no doubt.
For labyrinth explorers, it was practically a spare life.
Even mercenaries who'd never dared before might give it a shot with something like this.
Only downside: the rare materials made mass production impossible.
And since Captain Ian seemed intent on using them all himself, it wouldn't flood the market anyway.
"Results should be coming in soon..."
Louise thought of the captain's party inside the labyrinth.
Having helped procure supplies, she had a rough idea of their possible exploration window.
Success or early retreat, it was about time for some word.
Just then, someone knocked on the lab door.
"Who is it?"
"Delivery out front."
Ann, Karen, and Seria entered, each carrying a few boxes.
"We'll set these here."
"Yeah."
The usual routine of sorting materials.
Louise paid it no mind and tidied up her recently used tools.
In that instant, a strange light flashed behind her.
"...Huh?"
Louise whirled around.
And she spotted the anomaly right away.
The erosion purifier she'd placed on the table had vanished without a trace.
"...! Where'd it go?!"
"What?"
"The potion that was here!"
"Huh? Must be somewhere else. You drop it under the desk again?"
Louise shot to her feet and yelled at Ann and the others, who were sorting boxes.
A cluttered lab where it was anyone's guess where anything was.
Materials going missing or mysteriously multiplying.
Potions coming up short—or ones thought lost turning up in some dusty corner of a shelf...
Such mishaps were everyday occurrences.
Having helped with lab organization for a good while now, Ann no longer made a fuss over it.
But Louise's face turned grave.
This wasn't some cheap potion or spare ingredient.
A vital brew using the captain's secret recipe and labyrinth-sourced materials.
Couldn't just shrug and write it off as a loss.
Louise bolted to the door and locked it.
"Hey, what're you doing?"
"It wasn't us! Check your pockets!"
"Quiet!"
She barked and blocked the door.
"No one leaves till we find it!"
"So you've all been stuck in here ever since."
"......"
They nodded wearily, faces drawn.
"Captain, it wasn't us."
"We turned the lab upside down. Nothing."
"Maybe Louise miscounted? Like she dreamed she made it or something..."
"You brats!"
The mood teetered on the edge of outright hostility.
After all, this wasn't a couple of missing coins—an irreplaceable treasure had gone AWOL.
Louise had no choice but to suspect the others present.
Ann and her friends were blindsided by the accusations.
They grasped each other's sides, but the prolonged standoff had frayed tempers anyway.
Tanya, starting to sweat, gauged the room.
She stole a glance at the fairy perched on her shoulder.
The erosion purifier.
So that's where the little one had gotten it from...
The fairy tilted its head quizzically at Tanya.
"Th-that thing..."
As Tanya hesitantly spoke up, all eyes turned to her.
"I-I think I took it?"
"?"
"?"
Louise included, even Tanya's friends wore baffled expressions.
A brief silence fell.
Louise sighed.
"Sigh... Tanya."
"Y-yes?"
"I get that they're your friends, but this isn't something to brush off. You're a key member of this corps now—time to act the part. Covering for friends so lightly in a case like this undermines the chain of command..."
Tanya got an earful from Louise.
Ann sighed too.
"Sigh... Tanya."
"Y-yeah?"
"Thanks for having our backs, but you weren't even here—saying you took it doesn't add up... We're pissed too, sure, but now that the captain's back, a proper investigation will clear it. No need to force such an absurd defense. We appreciate the gesture, but we won't exploit it to put you in a tough spot..."
Tanya caught heat from Ann as well.
"That's not it!"
Obviously, her abbreviated explanation left room only for misunderstandings.
Tanya shouted and elaborated on the labyrinth events.
"What I mean is... the fairy we met inside the labyrinth took it on its own to help me. Ran into this little guy by chance at the labyrinth's spring? If I ask nicely, it fetches stuff from far away..."
Tanya explained fervently, but the air grew icier by the word.
Her voice trailed off smaller... then stopped entirely.
"......"
"......"
The heavy silence lingered a moment before Louise turned to Ann's group with a pitying look.
"See? Told you—it's that important. Cures the weird symptoms labyrinth returnees get, and now it's gone... What a mess."
"L-let's search the lab one more time!"
"Tanya, just hold on! We'll find it!"
The other members—Rin included, who knew the truth—chuckled softly.
...No helping it. Time to prove it outright.
"You'll believe if I show you, right? Watch this!"
Tanya made her request to the fairy.
Something that'll shock Louise and my friends—bring it here...!
"...!"
Louise flinched and hunched.
Then Ann, Karen, and Seria followed suit.
"Eek...!"
"Wh-what the...?!"
Tanya stared at the assortment of colorful tiny garments fluttering down before her.
Exactly as requested—shocking items.
She screamed internally at the giggling fairy flitting about ahead.
How could you bring people's underwear...!
But the fairy just cocked its head.
Shocking stuff, right?
"What did you do, Tanya! Pervert!"
"W-wait! Okay, I get it—we believe you. Give 'em back."
Tanya flailed her head in panic.
"Hold on, that wasn't me..."
"You just said you'd show us directly!"
"I did, but this is... I mean..."
Tanya immediately applied the lesson she'd learned in the labyrinth.
Faced with an utterly hopeless situation, she spun on her heel without a second thought and bolted.
In the face of that total catastrophe, Ian finally stepped in and addressed Louise.
"...We ended up using the potion, so you're good to come out now."
"Y-yeah..."
Louise blushed furiously and averted her gaze.
...Far bolder designs than she'd imagined.