Guidance (3)
Rydia quietly studied the boy before her. There was an old rumor that those born with pink hair were especially beloved by the Goddess of Love. The temple had never officially confirmed it, of course, but the tale had spread far and wide. After all, no matter their age, gender, or race, people with pink hair were said to possess striking beauty and intense desires. If the rumor held any truth, then the boy in front of her had to be the Goddess's favorite.
Even without proper care, his pink hair gleamed with health. His skin was smooth, untouched by any cosmetics. His features were refined, and the occasional mischievous glint in his eyes could make any woman weak in the knees—though most of the time he was disarmingly casual, almost defenseless in his words and actions. To Rydia, who had never taken much interest in the opposite sex, Yona was already an incredibly charming child. Give him a few more years and a little grooming, and he would grow into a man worthy of being called a peerless beauty.
But Yona's greatest peculiarity lay not in his appearance.
"Yona. You eat it like this."
"Okay."
Yona followed her lead with somewhat clumsy movements, continuing his meal. He's strange, just like I thought.
Yona didn't know the finer points of etiquette or the proper order in which to eat certain dishes, yet the way he handled his utensils was oddly natural. In truth, he was simply a cutlet enthusiast from Earth who needed to slice into tonkatsu at least once every three days to feel satisfied, but Rydia—who knew nothing of that—saw something else entirely.
He understood the bare minimum of table manners, yet he clearly wasn't used to expensive food. That was a trait usually found in priests who valued frugality above all else. It was completely off the mark, but to Rydia, who had already begun suspecting Yona of ties to Those Who Swallow the Twilight, it felt deeply significant.
Those Who Swallow the Twilight. A fanatical heretical cult that worshipped the Goddess of Love. While every other god had brought the world to ruin through their own foolishness, they alone had loved all things without exception. The cultists believed the Goddess of Love was the one true deity and the sole rightful owner of every miracle in existence. Because of that conviction, they committed any atrocity without hesitation—dissecting those who had obtained the miracles of dead gods within the labyrinth to steal their power, conducting human experiments to determine how far a person could go while still receiving the Goddess's love, and carrying out countless other twisted studies targeting those with pink hair said to be favored by her.
They saw every act as repayment for the Goddess's affection, so they never wavered or questioned themselves. Naturally, the orthodox church that also worshipped the Goddess of Love denounced them as heretics, and many nations and adventurer guilds labeled them an extremely dangerous criminal organization, hunting them down whenever they appeared. They had made enemies of the entire world.
The reason Those Who Swallow the Twilight had survived this long and continued spreading their infamy was simple: their main base was not on the surface, but inside the labyrinth. And Rydia believed Yona was a child who had been kidnapped at a young age and raised in one of their branches.
Three years ago. Rydia hadn't personally experienced the incident that led Elly to retire from adventuring. Back then, her skills had been insufficient to join the subjugation operation. Still, she had heard enough from Elly and conducted her own investigations to piece together the general situation.
The branch Elly and the other high-ranking adventurers had targeted. Two major experiments had been underway there. One involved using fragments of the Mad God's remains to see if they could control monsters blessed with madness. The other was… "Does the Goddess still love even a child who knows nothing of love?"
The first was simply the work of madmen among madmen, but the second had been shocking enough to become a major topic of discussion at the time. They would take children so young they couldn't even remember being loved, then thoroughly brainwash them—killing their emotions, forbidding them any warmth from others, and hammering in nothing but praise for the Goddess. Once that foundation was set, they would move on to destroying even the children's minimal self-love. They banned clothing, ordered self-harm, and tortured those who refused. Through every possible method, they shattered not only shame but the very instinct for self-preservation, breaking their spirits. They made the children believe they were worthless in both body and soul, that they had never been loved and were unworthy of loving anyone in return.
Most died or went insane during the process, but even those who survived became nothing more than empty dolls. What Those Who Swallow the Twilight taught these hollowed-out children was the art of killing. If caring for someone was love, then its opposite—killing someone—must also be a form of love, or so they reasoned.
After interrogating captured prisoners, the next stage was to pit these children against each other until only one survivor remained, then check whether the Goddess's power would manifest in that child… Fortunately, the research never reached that point. The subjugation force, including Elly, had arrived while the children were still learning combat techniques.
Elly-senpai is an idiot, but she's a good person. Even knowing it would interfere with the mission, she wouldn't have been able to just leave them behind.
Elly had pitied the children and wanted to rescue them so they could live normal lives. But that had been the problem. These children possessed nothing except the forced faith and combat skills that had been drilled into them. Watching the branch of Those Who Swallow the Twilight be destroyed before their eyes and the fanatics they had believed were absolute beings fall one after another—what must they have thought? They felt threatened. Even though that faith had been forced and false, it was the only thing they had, and they believed it was being taken from them. So they branded Elly and the adventurers as enemies.
That was why Elly had been stabbed in the back while fighting a rampaging Floor Guardian. If Yona had been one of those children, didn't it explain far too many things? The way he killed without hesitation, the attitude that suggested he placed little value on his own body or pain, his strangely vast knowledge, his behavior that often defied common sense… and that abnormal obsession with Elly. If Yona was a child thoroughly broken by Those Who Swallow the Twilight, then everything that had never made sense before suddenly did.
Of course, there were several practical issues. Location, for one. Elly's final subjugation operation had taken place on the sixth floor, in the middle levels of the labyrinth. Moreover, the branch had been reduced to chaos by the battle between the Floor Guardian and Elly. Even if someone had somehow survived that mess, would it really have been possible to find a safe zone and escape the labyrinth? …Under normal circumstances, it would have been nearly impossible. But at the time, most of the monsters on the sixth floor had been manipulated by Those Who Swallow the Twilight to target only the subjugation force. If someone had been lucky enough to survive there, the labyrinth might have recognized their achievement and granted them a corresponding reward. For example… growth at a speed impossible for a child of that age.
"Haa."
Perhaps because her thoughts had grown too complicated, Rydia let out a sigh without realizing it, failing to properly enjoy the delicious meal. Yona, who had been sneakily eyeing her plate, flinched in surprise and quickly pulled his fork away. Then, as if nothing had happened, he asked with a worried expression.
"Rydia? Is something bothering you?"
"Yeah. I got sad because you were trying to steal my steak."
"Steal it?! I was going to share! Look, like this…"
"Trading salad for meat is an unfair deal."
"Tch."
Such a shameless attitude. Yona had been like this from the very first moment they met. When she tried to save him, he had exploited an opening to escape on his own. Then, pretending he knew nothing, he had thanked her for coming to rescue him.
"…Yona."
"Yes?"
"When you took down the Twin Daggers Clan Leader, why did you pretend not to know?"
"Cough, cough!"
He hadn't expected her to suddenly ask something like that. Yona choked, hurriedly drank some water, then laughed as if he couldn't believe it.
"What, were you spacing out because you were curious about that?"
"Answer me."
"Well… it's not really that big a deal…"
Yona averted his gaze, looking slightly embarrassed, and continued.
"I really like rescue stories."
"Rescue stories?"
"Yeah. You know, right? A woman—er, man—kidnapped by villains. Then a hero appears dramatically to save them. An intense first meeting. Emotions that start with pity and admiration deepen as they get to know each other, eventually turning into love… It's a common, cliché story, but that's exactly what makes it romantic, don't you think?"
"…I don't really get it. I don't read that kind of book."
"I'll recommend some good ones later. …Anyway, our first meeting with you, Rydia, felt like the beginning of a rescue story. So I just said the kind of thing a kidnapped man might say."
"Rescue…"
Rydia mulled over Yona's words. Could it be that Yona saw Elly not as an enemy of his faith, but as his savior? If Rydia had possessed the ability to peer into people's hearts, she might have noticed Yona internally fuming over the "one-trick rescue story" criticism from his past life. Unfortunately, she had no such ability.
Come to think of it, Elly-senpai ultimately decided to trust Yona. Regardless of his true identity, she had said she wouldn't doubt the unwavering goodwill he showed her. Suddenly, Rydia realized she had been far too fixated on Yona's past.
What kind of person was the Yona I actually saw? He had tried to understand Elly and Rydia's feelings, attempted to draw a line even while seeking revenge, and for some reason kept staring at their chests while grinning and asking to touch them. Of course, he had bad habits with his hands, seemed a bit like a psychopath, and enjoyed toying with women's hearts, but…
No, those problems are way too big.
Even if Yona's past was exactly what she suspected, he had become a much better person now. Perhaps in the distant future, he would become an even better one.
But I can't just leave him alone.
Someone still needed to teach Yona proper common sense and how to live. And that was precisely her role, as the one tasked with guiding him.
"Yona. Once you're done eating, let's go get dessert."
"Huh? If that's what you want, Rydia, sure."
"Let's go shopping too."
"That'll help with digestion. Perfect."
Yona nodded nonchalantly. At the sight, Rydia wore a sly smile.
There's still plenty of money left from what Elly-senpai gave me. If I take him around all the nearby dessert shops, get some weapons custom-made at the forge, and charge it all to his tab… Yeah. I can extend the guidance period.
A few months at most wouldn't be enough to teach Yona how to live a normal life. Rydia had made up her mind to take responsibility for Yona's future.
Unaware of the deep misunderstanding and heavy sense of duty that had created this tragedy, Yona secretly swapped his empty steak plate with Rydia's while she was lost in thought. He was still growing, after all.