Chapter 133
Chapter: 133
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 133
>Chapter Title: Labyrinth (2)
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>“Why are you here?”
Seongjin didn’t bother hiding his bewilderment, and Orden swept back his bangs as he shot back.
“That’s what I’d like to know. Just where the hell is this place?”
“I don’t know either. Why are you asking me?”
“I was chasing after Your Highness and ended up here, so shouldn’t Your Highness know best?”
“You were chasing me? Why?”
Orden furrowed his brows at Seongjin’s question.
“Because the presence of someone who’d been fine up on the upper floor vanished in an instant—why wouldn’t I come looking?”
“……”
In short, when Sigurt Sigursson activated the barrier, to Orden down below, it must have felt like Seongjin’s presence had suddenly poofed out of existence.
He’d already been wondering why the prince wasn’t at the banquet and was lingering on the second floor instead. Then, the presence of someone who’d been perfectly fine just disappeared, so of course he had to go searching.
“But when I finally got to the second floor, there you were, Your Highness, surrounded by things like butterflies or whatever. So I ran toward you, and suddenly my body plummeted somewhere. Next thing I knew, I was here.”
“Ah……”
This guy really got caught up in something pointless out of sheer meddling.
Seongjin clicked his tongue.
“Why didn’t you just leave it alone?”
Orden’s face crumpled at that.
“You call that something to say? Of course I had to!”
“Huh?”
“Of course……”
As Seongjin stared at him, the man trailed off and averted his gaze slightly.
“…I have a debt to repay to Your Highness.”
Seongjin blinked for a moment.
Wait, did this guy actually try to help because he thought something bad had happened to me?
“I appreciate the sentiment. But what good does it do if you end up falling in here with me?”
It would’ve been better if he’d done something about Ricardo instead.
“Well……”
“And keep this in mind. If we get out of here thanks to me, you’ll owe me again. Got it?”
“……!”
Seeing that indignant look on his face was kinda funny.
[What are you, a loan shark? Why does it feel like the principal keeps growing the more I struggle to pay it off?]
‘Did you think the debt you owe this body would be forgiven that easily?’
Well, since he was already here, he’d better make himself useful.
Seongjin smirked and patted Orden on the shoulder.
And at that moment.
〚Would you like to □ party invi□ to %rd□10-nim?〛
〚Accept / Re□ect〛
A shattered text window popped up in front of his eyes.
…Huh?
Seongjin tilted his head, staring into empty space, and Orden tensed as he asked.
“What… Is something there?”
“Hm? You can’t see this?”
“See what?”
“Hmm……”
Seongjin thought for a second, then extended his arm toward Orden.
“Hit me.”
“…Pardon? What do you……”
“Hit my arm once.”
“……?”
Orden eyed Seongjin suspiciously. But faced with Seongjin’s utterly innocent expression, he hesitated briefly before reaching out and lightly tapping his sleeve.
And then.
“…What is this?”
It seemed the text window had finally appeared in front of Orden too. Now that Seongjin couldn’t see what Orden could, it looked like only the recipient could read it.
“Accept… or something?”
As Orden uttered the word “accept,” a new window appeared before Seongjin’s eyes.
〚■■■ ■■-nim has accep□ed %rd□10-nim’s party invi□.〛
〚Party formed with %rd□10-nim.〛
It really felt just like a game.
“…Accept.”
On a whim, he said it aloud.
It actually worked. If that’s the case…?
Looking somewhat triumphant, Seongjin shouted into the air.
“System!”
“……?”
“Minimap! World map! Status! Stats! Party! Quest! Log out! Log out!”
Unfortunately, nothing else happened. As the Demon King had explained, it must not function properly in this broken world.
Even a map would’ve been a huge help in getting out of here.
“Your Highness? What in the world are you……”
Orden looked utterly baffled by the prince’s sudden antics, but moments later, realization dawned on his face. Seongjin could practically read his thoughts.
Oh, right—this guy’s the infamous utter wastrel. He really isn’t right in the head.
[Why is the embarrassment always mine to bear!]
The Demon King sighed.
In any case, Seongjin felt he needed to give some explanation to Orden, who was clearly confused after getting dragged into his mess.
“I don’t know what this place is either. But one thing’s for sure: the one who sent us here is Young Lord Scarpino. He pulled some incomprehensible trick on me.”
Telling Orden this was another dimension wouldn’t fly. So Seongjin focused on the culprit instead.
Orden’s demeanor immediately turned fierce.
“Scarpino! I knew it!”
Come to think of it, this guy had been suspecting Scarpino as the backer of Milo Merchant House all along.
Seongjin recalled how Orden had once menacingly threatened Isabella. Back then, he’d seemed like some reckless fool living off pure bravado.
But after running into him a few times lately, Seongjin had started thinking Orden was more level-headed than he’d assumed.
“I started suspecting Ricardo when he tried blackmailing me with the Dark Church’s insignia. What does it mean for him to have something so suspicious? Isn’t it proof he’s connected to the Dark Church? It wouldn’t be strange at all if he pulled some shady stunt.”
Orden rarely attended their usual gatherings, but he’d accepted the invitation this time purely for the investigation, he said.
“Especially his sister, Isabella—she’s even more suspicious. While looking into Milo Merchant House, I found out she’s the one from House Scarpino who mainly deals with them.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But when I casually brought up Milo Merchant House and such matters to her, she acts like she knows nothing, bold as brass!”
…That’s unexpected.
“And that’s not all. I ran into her by chance at the manor today—you won’t believe this. Just the other day, she pretended to be so terrified to gain Princess Amelia’s sympathy, and now today she comes smiling at me like she doesn’t remember a thing. She’s a creepy woman!”
“……”
Definitely. That’s pretty odd.
Seongjin pictured Isabella hopping around with a pin stuck in her arm.
Hm, she didn’t seem like someone who could hide things skillfully.
“…So, what do we do now, Your Highness?”
Having vented his suspicions and calmed down a bit, Orden asked in a slightly subdued tone.
“Well, we need to find the exit first.”
Whether beating down Ricardo or investigating Isabella, none of that could happen until they got back to Delcross.
After a brief discussion with Orden, Seongjin decided to head back the way he’d come. Partly because Orden, who’d arrived later, might’ve landed closer to the exit—but more importantly.
“There was a corpse where I first woke up. I only glimpsed it, so I’m not sure, but it looked like he was wearing an Imperial Palace Guard uniform.”
Orden hadn’t had time to check it properly either, having rushed over after sensing Seongjin’s presence closing in. They agreed it’d be best to go back and investigate more closely.
Orden seemed to take it in stride, but to Seongjin—who knew this wasn’t Delcross’s home dimension—that corpse carried huge implications.
‘An Imperial Palace Guard means someone from Delcross crossed over here before, right?’
[Yeah. The Dimensional Storyteller probably didn’t just fling us here randomly.]
Given how sudden it all was, he’d likely sent them to the place most familiar to him.
A labyrinth wasn’t somewhere you could enter and exit easily.
It seemed the guy had an easy way to connect Delcross and the labyrinth, and such shortcuts were usually fixed to specific locations.
[If we can find that path, we might get back more easily than expected.]
The Demon King sounded a bit more upbeat.
And so, Seongjin trudged along the pitch-black corridor with Orden.
‘But the more I think about it, the more absurd it gets, doesn’t it?’
[What?]
‘That Sigurt guy. Inviting the Holy Empire’s prince to his manor and then openly trying to make him vanish……’
Especially with Sir Masain having clearly witnessed Seongjin entering the manor.
Even if he erased all traces by sending him to another dimension, he couldn’t escape responsibility for the disappearance.
No matter how you sliced it, it was an utterly impulsive decision. Especially considering Ricardo Scarpino’s position afterward.
[Hm. Maybe the Dimensional Storyteller decided to fully abandon his Ricardo avatar.]
‘This easily?’
[It might not have been as simple for him as you think.]
Seongjin’s provocation might’ve been more fatal than expected.
The guy’s leisurely attitude had shifted abruptly after Seongjin said this:
-What if that’s what I want? What if I ask Father to properly deal with you?
No way—just that?
[If that became the condition for your father to act freely, would you still call it ‘just’?]
‘…Fair point.’
Wait a second, this is just like…
It was the same with Captain Bruno. The decisions I make seem more important than I thought?
Come to think of it, Sir Sharon had said something like that too.
-From now on, Your Highness’s every move will be a major milestone determining the path of our Monster Subjugation Unit.
Seongjin had a thunderbolt realization.
‘Am I… kinda amazing? Maybe I’m not just some ordinary guy?’
The Demon King scoffed.
[That’s the delusion most kids with good parents have.]
‘…What’d you say, you punk?’
[Besides, you were never anywhere near ordinary to begin with. Light-years away. Total psychopath.]
‘Shut up!’
How long had they walked following Orden’s lead?
The straight-seeming passage unexpectedly had forks or sharp turns. The moss on the stone walls thinned out the further they went, and the surroundings seemed to brighten gradually.
Felt like they were choosing the right path.
“Pretty complex layout, but you remembered the way well.”
Orden replied nonchalantly.
“I just took the middle path at every fork.”
“……”
He really was refreshingly simple-minded.
“Just around that corner.”
They finally reached a massive cavern. Its entrance yawned open, allowing a clear view inside.
The area around the entrance was ringed with intricately carved reliefs, giving off an ominous vibe.
“I woke up in there.”
Orden strode toward the entrance.
Seongjin peered into the cavern, but it was too dark to gauge its full size. From the echoing air bouncing back from the empty space, though, it felt quite spacious.
Orden glanced back at the hesitant Seongjin and reassured him again.
“It’s fine. Earlier, there was nothing but that one corpse.”
“Mm, alright.”
If so.
Pushing aside his nagging unease, Seongjin followed Orden.
But the moment they crossed the threshold together, a sharp beep sounded in Seongjin’s ears, and a text window popped up.
〚Party me□ber en□ered. Labyrinth Lo□d has respawned.〛
“…Huh?”
Whatever it was, it didn’t feel good.
Orden flinched and halted too, so he must’ve seen the same window.
“What is this……”
Seongjin and Orden both tensed, drawing their swords from their waists in unison.
Grrrrrrr……
The cavern that had been empty just moments ago.
From its depths came a low-frequency growl, and suddenly, two red glares pierced the darkness beyond, gleaming menacingly.