Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: 6th Floor
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Dialogue is the most fundamental way for people to communicate with one another.
Through conversation, misunderstandings can be cleared up, wounds can be healed, and relationships can be sorted out.
"Ellie."
"..."
But that's only when both sides have the will to talk.
If there's no desire to communicate, then even starting a conversation is impossible.
Ellie bit her lower lip and avoided my gaze.
I could guess what was going through her mind.
'A stepmother she doesn't get along with, and a man fooling around with that stepmother in her room.'
It was a seriously tough misunderstanding—one that absolutely needed to be cleared up.
"Yesterday... haa. Ellie, it seems like you've got a huge misunderstanding. What happened yesterday was—"
But I couldn't finish my sentence.
"Students, please gather for a moment."
Someone called out from afar. It was the academy professor overseeing this entire 6th-floor expedition. Damn it, why now of all times?
Ellie shot to her feet the moment she heard the voice, trying to move away.
"Ellie. Hold on a sec."
I grabbed her wrist to try and continue the conversation, but...
Slap!
Ellie shook off my hand immediately. Her bloodshot, hollow eyes—clearly from a sleepless night—stared at me.
"...Uncle. You don't have to make excuses."
"No, it's not an excuse."
"My stepmother... objectively speaking, she's a good person. It's just that I'm a pathetic idiot, so she treats me this way. I didn't know you were in that kind of relationship with her. You two have a nice life together."
Ellie spat out those words in a rush and ran off toward the professor.
Left alone, I let out a dazed sigh.
Her reaction was even more negative than I'd expected. I had no idea where to even begin.
"Balkan. Take a look at this. It's your share."
That's when Joey Hogg approached and handed me a backpack.
Right. Time to focus on the job for now. I'd have to find pockets of time to talk with Ellie later.
Rummaging through the backpack, I found it stocked with just about everything: mid-grade potions, preserved rations, you name it.
"Pretty high quality, huh? Mid-grade potions, even. And a ton of food."
"The academy doesn't skimp on stuff like this. Good for us."
Just in case, I'd brought the jerky Diana made, but it turned out to be unnecessary.
"So, who's the lady next to you?"
A woman in robes stood beside Joey Hogg.
"This is Gelsia, the assistant mage overseeing the students we're escorting."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Gelsia. I specialize in mid-grade wind-attribute magic."
The assistant mage Gelsia scanned me over with lightning-quick eyes before lifting the corner of her mouth slightly.
We exchanged brief introductions and joined the rest of the party.
One dwarf tank, one axe warrior, one swordsman, two mages, one cleric, one baggage carrier.
It was the most balanced party composition I'd seen yet.
'The students are treated as non-combatants, but five apprentice mages...'
"Don't get arrogant out there. Investigating phenomena and scoring high is important, but your safety comes first. Listen to your escort explorers, got it? You never know what dangers lurk in the labyrinth. Everyone understands?"
The professor's voice carried from afar.
He looked just like an elementary school teacher briefing kids on a field trip.
The students, who had been listening with bored expressions, dispersed and headed to their assigned parties.
Five students approached our group.
"Looking forward to working with you, explorers!"
"Ah, please keep us safe..."
"Whoa, male explorers..."
Thankfully, there were no rowdy kids who seemed likely to cause trouble.
"Yeah, the pleasure's ours. We'll get you safely to the 6th floor."
"No screwing around—let's get there in one piece, alright?"
"Yes!"
The biggest hassle I'd anticipated for this labyrinth run—dealing with the students or the assistant mage—didn't seem like it would be an issue, at least not yet.
"...Hmph."
Ellie was still avoiding my eyes.
But that was for the best. Aside from the labyrinth's own dangers, she was the only thing I needed to worry about.
"Alright, everyone hold hands. Time to head in."
A portal recognizes a single party as a maximum of 15 people.
Exceed that, and even if you're all in physical contact, everyone gets scattered across the labyrinth.
That's why the whole group can't cross at once.
The larger the party, the more splitting up is necessary.
'That's why the academy hired five escort parties.'
The other escort parties were already crossing portals with their students and entering the labyrinth.
The academy students and party members lined up single-file, grasping hands.
I took position at the far right end and offered my hand to the girl on my left.
"..."
"What're you doing, Ellie? If we don't hold hands, we'll get separated. You planning to leave me behind?"
The girl was, of course, Ellie. She alternated her hollow gaze between my hand and my helm.
"...That's not it..."
"Ellie, if you don't like it, wanna switch with me? I'm loving this. Heh heh..."
The puppy beastkin girl standing next to Ellie grinned weakly at me.
Ellie's face soured instantly.
She acted right away.
"No. I don't want that."
Grip!
She seized my hand firmly and looked up at me.
"...Just this once, Uncle."
"Got it. Looking forward to layer 3 too."
"..."
Ellie didn't reply.
Squeeze—
But she kept holding my hand tight.
Our party crossed the portal like that.
"Lucky us—we dropped right in the center of the layer. No need to move unnecessarily."
Assistant mage Gelsia unfolded a map.
It wasn't just any ordinary map. It was a special one made by the academy.
An artifact map that displayed the labyrinth structure up to layer 8 and tracked the positions of academy students via magic.
"The students in other parties dropped not far from the center too. They'll probably reach it in half a day."
"Then we might as well patrol nearby and clear out some goblins while we wait."
"Good idea. Have the students rest while we do."
Jubel the cow beastkin swordswoman—who'd been eyeing Gelsia's map like it was treasure—along with Hitollis the cat beastkin cleric watching over the gawking students, and Gregor the lizardgirl baggage carrier, headed out on patrol.
"First time sitting still right after entering the labyrinth."
"Tell me about it."
Joey Hogg, me, and Ramel the harpy mage stayed behind to guard the academy students.
Normally, you'd rush straight to the next layer upon entry, but we weren't.
This was at the request of Professor Mangkostil, whose reputation was suspiciously stellar.
—No matter what, prioritize the students' safety above all else.
The professor put student safety first.
It was a tedious job that ate up time and supplies, but it was the safest way to explore.
'Drop somewhere via portal, then all parties converge on the layer's central area...'
Barring drops near the edges, everyone always gathers in the center.
Once survival of all students on that layer is confirmed, they head to the next.
"Makes sense why they gave us so many supplies. If we were just a regular monster-hunting party, who'd waste time on this?"
"Not all bad, though. More heads means we can brute-force any bullshit that comes up. Safest method, really."
"True..."
We kept watch casually and killed time.
Soon, Jubel's patrol group returned with their report.
"Heard that omen from last week happened. Saw some new monsters—patterns more varied than layer 1 stuff. Still layer 1 level, though."
Jubel shrugged it off, but cleric Hitollis looked thoroughly creeped out.
"And... something else weird. Under the new monsters' feet, there was this creepy, horrifying black something rippling."
We nodded at their report.
"Hm. Guess the omen brought new monsters."
"Layer 2 might have new trap patterns too. Gotta be careful."
It was more or less what we'd expected. The omen that brought disaster and change to the labyrinth.
Explorers who entered last week took the full tsunami of changes head-on.
We'd come this week, after things had mostly stabilized—no flailing in the waves for us.
"Ah, they're starting to arrive."
About three hours later, the other escort parties began trickling into the center.
"Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five... all students accounted for. Time to head to layer 2."
The explorers nodded at Professor Mangkostil's count.
Thirty-odd explorers with at least layer 6 skills marching together? New monsters or whatever, nothing stood a chance.
The group reached the end of layer 1 by nightfall and began crossing the descent portal.
"..."
Flash—
My neck prickled oddly, so I looked back. Ellie flinched and whipped her head away.
"Gregor. Mind if I stand on the right?"
"Huh? Sure, whatever."
I swapped places with Gregor and stood next to Ellie.
I extended my hand toward her.
"...I said just that one time, Uncle."
"Looking forward to layer 3 too, Ellie."
"..."
No need to rush.
Forcing open wounds on someone you're trying to heal will only leave deeper scars.
Just take it one step at a time, slowly earning back her trust.
"...This is really, really the last time...!"
This would be the first step toward reconciliation for this wounded mother-daughter pair.
"...Insane stud. Owner not enough, now the daughter too... mother-daughter combo..."
I ignored Gregor's shocked mutter.
In the sticky darkness, two puppets entwined in sloppy copulation.
Slap! Slap!
"Groh, grooooh..."
"S-save, sa... ve me... Stop, stop... Hieeek..."
They resembled humans in form, but they were no such thing.
The bull-headed, muscular brown-skinned humanoid monster, the Minotaur, indifferently lifted its hips to the man's desperate pleas.
Sticky fluids dripped from the Minotaur's lower body.
The man, soaked in the monster's pheromones, already had his eyes half-rolled back. His brain, shattered by excessive pleasure, no longer functioned.
There was a reason a mid-layer 13 explorer like him had met such an end on mere layer 7.
He'd been on his way back to the surface after a labyrinth run.
Exhausted from the grueling delve, supplies and food running critically low, his party had hit its limit.
Of course, the root cause was the unexpected disaster: that omen.
Flustered by new traps and monsters, the party scattered before they knew it. Alone, he met the all-too-common fate of many male explorers.
He became the monster's seed sower.
The Minotaur grinned twistedly as it received the superior seed from the man who'd toiled to reach mid-grade explorer status.
A monster's seed grows beyond its innate limits, scaled to the violator's rank.
"Furruk. Furrrr."
The Minotaur gazed at its offspring, now fully matured. Superior genes made their growth unnaturally swift—
Splat!
The layer 7 Minotaur's thoughts ended there. The last thing it saw was its own wriggling seeds.
The monster seeds, casually killing and devouring their dam to sate themselves—the Minotaur born from a layer 13 explorer—approached the fallen man.
Layer 13 explorer's gear draped the body of this Minotaur, transcending layer 7 origins.
"Furrrr."
As it swung the gear with a low growl, the remaining seeds bowed their heads.
Satisfied, the Minotaur turned its eyes toward a distant light.
A large, circular glow flickering red and blue.
What explorers called ascent and descent portals.
Seeing it, a faint [Darkness] shrouded the feet of this innately exceptional Minotaur.
Toward that which any normal monster would instinctively avoid...
The Minotaur reached out its hand.
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