Life Isn't a Boiled Egg—It's a Labyrinth (3)

Late at night, a woman who could not sleep hummed to herself as she worked the loom.

"Just a little more and it'll be finished. It'd be such a shame to simply go to bed now~."

Slap, slap—the sound of the night sea drifted in through the window. She was just thinking the waves sounded unusually close tonight when the room flooded blue in an instant.

It was nothing like faint moonlight. This light was clear and brilliant, of an entirely different grain, rippling and swaying like water.

...What is this? It feels exactly as if I'm being swallowed by a wave.

The princess was overwhelmed by a mystery unlike anything she had ever felt. And with it, a holy man's voice rang out, echoing as if from a great distance.

The woman dropped to her knees on reflex. That voice was not human—the growl of the waves, the breath of the deep, or a storm, layered one upon another into something supreme.

This is... an oracle?

The sacred moment she had heard of from her father, King Minos. A sensation that seemed akin to that one sent a thrill racing through her whole body.

"Yes, Lord Poseidon."

Surely it was he, the master of the sea. The princess composed herself to receive his word with reverence.

Ah! He had deigned to descend before a mere human, all to protect the people of Crete. Her heart swelled at the mercy an almighty being was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠willing to bestow, and with tears brimming in her eyes, the princess answered the call.

"I shall obey your will and set it there at once."

Ariadne gladly carried the golden spool to the place on the shore the oracle had named.

"Whew. That was such a heart-pounding moment! I was sooo nervous we'd get caught."

Hena said it with a laugh, the spool already in her hands. Pascal seemed to find the situation pretty funny himself. He'd turned his head, but I could tell he was biting back a laugh. I'm right, aren't I? Aren't I?!

We pulled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it off with office supplies.

We had grabbed the projector from the conference room and slipped into the palace of Crete in the dead of night. Small and handy—that little beamer really was convenient to carry.

Human civilization did its part, too.

Onto my phone I had downloaded a water-gazing video, along with the playlist below, straight from YouTube.

Haha. I couldn't believe it had worked that well. Installing the AI voice app had been worth it!

I'm grateful the team followed me out this late.

When I said I'd go alone, Hena and Pascal came along, insisting it might be dangerous. ...Sniff. They actually volunteered to work overtime with me!

Then again, in a place like this, the Greek gods might actually be real.

...Poseidon wouldn't fly into a rage because I impersonated him, would he?

"......"

Nah. No way. God or not, how could he know about every single thing?

...Nursing a slightly terrifying thought, I headed back to the office.

And so, the next day.

"Good morning! Have you brought your reporting equipment?"

The Minotaur Prince greeted us in front of the maze, personally walking us through the procedure for entering the theme park. At last, the moment had come...!

"Yes. Since we'll only be experiencing it once, we thought it best to prepare properly, so we've come ready for anything."

Pascal answered with the ease of a man who had mastered office life. Mm. So this was what it felt like to watch your boss's survival skills in action.

"As expected of professionals! Excellent. Then by all means, experience the pre-opened Maze Theme Park!"

With the excited Minotaur seeing us off, the three of us stepped into the maze. We had taken only a few steps past the entrance when—

Rumble—!

The walls of the maze shifted, rewriting the layout in an instant. The entrance we had come through vanished, and with it any way back out.

Seriously, an ordinary person with no gear could never clear this.

This difficulty was outright insane, wasn't it? But we had an item. Haha. With this, we weren't going to die trapped in here! I took out the spool.

Items with unusual properties can be looked up in the database with Vanta Bot's image analysis, right?

Just as Hena had told me, I photographed the spool with the AI, and a description like this had come up.

When I unwound the end as the description instructed, a luminous gold light wavered along it.

"Show us the way to the exit."

The moment I named the destination, the tip of the thread glanced this way and that, as if it possessed a will of its own. Then—flick—it shot off down one path of the maze.

"Oh! It was so worth going to get it!"

"Right? We'll be able to get out safely."

We walked along that golden strand.

It's just like the hero in The Wizard of Oz, walking the yellow brick road home.

Thinking of that classic film adapted from a fairy tale, I pressed on. How long did we walk? Strolling easily between the walls of the maze, it almost began to feel as if we had come to a theme park for fun.

"Oooh, they're selling merch!"

No wonder. Here and there stood unmanned souvenir stalls like the ones at an amusement park, along with coin-operated analog arcade machines.

Hena seems oddly excited, too.

We chatted in a slightly brighter mood. A field trip to an amusement park during work hours—not half bad, maybe?

"Ah, balloons over there!"

My colleague stole a glance, as if she wanted the jellyfish-shaped one.

"Don't slack off watching the front."

"Okay..."

The sight of a deflated Hena pulled a tiny puff of laughter out of me before I could stop it.

"The golden thread is turning down the path on the right."

The spool now guided us into a passage that bent sharply right. The moment we followed it in, the atmosphere changed all at once.

"...Oh."

In place of the pristine white partitions we had seen until now, the corridor was built of crumbling, mottled stone. Brave heroes of Crete, locked in combat with beasts, were painted across the walls.

"It got all creepy all of a sudden."

"Yeah."

Unsettling as it was, we had no choice but to follow where the golden thread led. And then—

Ding—

...A red light came on in the tile beneath our feet.

"What's thiiis?"

Red. A color that, by long tradition, carried the meanings of danger, warning, prohibition. ......Which made it a slightly ominous sign. I was scanning the surroundings, on guard for any change, when—

Thud-thud-thud-thud—

...A rumble like thunder rose from the ground. At the same moment, Pascal shoved us back in a hurry.

"Everyone, fall back!"

BOOM—!

"Hhk—!"

What had slammed into the wall where Hena and I had been standing a second ago was an enormous beast: a pure-white bull monster with brutal horns. Unlike the Minotaur, though, it possessed none of a human's reason. It was a four-legged animal.

Hiss, huff—snorting savagely, it wheeled toward us.

So this is what they meant when they said there were traps...!

Thud, thud—the bull pawed the ground, heavy and deliberate, as if gathering itself to leap again.

"Run! Follow the golden thread!"

Pascal shouted, shoving us onward. Obeying the boss's order, I caught a glimpse over my shoulder of his silver claws and fangs.

"Hah, hah...!"

"Hhk...!"

We ran until it felt as if our hearts would burst, and what came into view was a fork that bent sharply away.

Left this time. It's left, isn't it?

The golden thread kinked into the left-hand alley and led us on. A sweet tang rose in my mouth. With no time to steady my gasping breath, I turned into the alley—and what appeared before my eyes was a corridor of cold metal walls.

Ding—

"—!!"

The instant my first foot landed on that stretch, a blue light flared in the tile.

Shing—!

"Aaaaah!!"

Clang—!

Blades poured down from above. Startled, we flung ourselves to either side.

"Kyaa—!"

Hena, tumbled onto the opposite side, wore a look of pure panic. I could see blood. The blade must have grazed her leg.

Rumble—

No. Not now, of all times...! The walls of the maze were moving, the structure changing......! I scrambled up in a flash and tried to run to her, but I was already too late.

Thud—!

A wall split the two of us apart.

The team. I have to get to the teammates who got separated.

I tried to use the spool, but my hand closed on nothing.

Did I drop it on the other side of the wall?

This was driving me insane. What are you even good at?!

...Figures, for a guy who couldn't even land a proper job until he was pushing thirty.

Nothing but poisonous thoughts chased one another. If I'd had real strength, could I have helped Pascal? If I hadn't been such a fool—if I'd just been a little quicker—Hena wouldn't have been hurt. Had it been arrogance to think a single spool would get us out safely?

Unlike everything until now, spent together with the team, the terror of being alone for the first time in a strange world closed in on me.

Contact them through Vanta Chat... no. They're each in the middle of their own fight. They won't have a second to spare. Even if a message got through, nothing would change.

I felt as if I were about to lose my mind, but I couldn't just stand there.

Even now, I have no idea what kind of situation Pascal and Hena are in. Quickly—somehow...!

I had to recover the spool and find the team again! So I took a step forward with a trembling heart.

Ding—

......A green light came on in the tile. Only then did the wall of the maze register.

The section... it's already changed?

Here and there, murals showed the figure of an owl together with a goddess bearing a shield and a spear.

Like before—a light at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the threshold of a changed section.

......The trap wasn't about to trigger, was it?

Rrrumble—

As if it had read my mind, the wall at the back of the narrow passage began to move, closing in. By now there was no other branch I could escape through—only a dead-straight alley, sealed tight.

The way ahead is blocked too!

I ran forward to get away from the wall behind me, only to meet another wall. Set into that massive surface was a single door.

Clack, clack—

I wrenched the handle again and again, but it was locked.

"C-calm down. There's still time. Carefully. Look it over carefully..."

I clutched my shaking body and scanned the surroundings, forcing myself to ignore the ominous groan of the massive wall as it advanced.

There's a sign above the door?

The words written on it read: