Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 136: My Mother-in-Law is a Great Partner

"Ah, you're here!"

When we arrived at the guild after finishing dinner, Edwin greeted us warmly. It seemed she had been waiting for me.

"Ms. Rosier is waiting in the parlor. She said she came regarding the Giant's corpse."

"Rosier?"

"Yes. She's here as the representative of the Church."

They mentioned the Church would be sending someone, and it turned out to be Rosier. It’s always better to deal with someone I know; it makes things go much faster.

"Ho-oh. I bet Rosier volunteered just so she could see you."

"You think so?"

"Probably. So, should I excuse myself now?"

"No, Yuria! Why are you acting like this again?"

Yuria was teasing me, pretending to be sulky. Perhaps she was half-serious, though. With three women around now, it was becoming quite a task to keep everyone happy.

"Hehe. Just kidding. Let's go together."

"Phew. Alright, we'll go meet Rosier. Ainhel, you go get your Adventurer Badge made and wait for us on the first floor."

"Understood."

Leaving Ainhel behind, we headed to the parlor where Rosier was waiting.

As we opened the door and walked in, Rosier, who looked like she was about to rush over and hug me, immediately corrected her posture and cleared her throat upon seeing Yuria standing behind me.

"Ahem. It is good to see you, Sion. And you as well, Yuria."

"Yeah, hi."

"It's been a while, Rosier."

"Yes. Very. I have missed you very much."

"Hah. So you missed my Sion that much, did you?"

"Yuria, please do not be so sarcastic. Of course I missed him."

"Hey, I wasn't being sarcastic. It was just a completely innocent question. Why are you overreacting?"

"Is that so? My apologies, I must have misunderstood."

Rosier deflected Yuria's provocations with a deadpan expression. Seeing this, Yuria clicked her tongue, crossed her arms, and sat down at the table, looking bored.

I often forget lately, but Yuria was originally quite prickly and abrasive toward others. She acted that way toward me in the beginning, too. Until she received some 'bedside education' from me, she was always like this.

"Well, shall we get down to business?"

"Let us."

At my suggestion, Rosier sat down and handed over some documents. It was a corpse sale agreement along with several other papers. Since the Giant's corpse was worth a fortune and there were an unimaginable number of body parts to be sold, the contract was quite extensive.

"First, the Saintess has agreed that the Giant's corpse should be sold as previously discussed in the labyrinth."

"The flesh and blood go to the Alchemist Guild, and the vital parts go to auction, right?"

"Correct. To prevent any potential theft, the Church will be in charge of the sale. Do you have any objections?"

"No, that's fine with me."

"Excellent. Then, could you please sign here?"

"Just a moment."

No matter how much the Church loved money, they weren't bold enough to openly embezzle funds when the Guild was involved as an intermediary.

"With this, the contract is complete."

"Great. Thank you for waiting."

"A short wait like this is nothing to me. In fact, the time spent waiting for you, Sion, was actually quite pleasant."

Rosier tucked the documents into her bag and gave a small smile. She usually maintains a stoic expression, so that tiny smile she reserves only for me is truly beautiful.

"Good grief. Are you openly wagging your tail now?"

"Is it not natural to do so for someone I like?"

"Tsk."

Yuria clicked her tongue in annoyance and forced Rosier, who was about to stand up, back into her seat.

"Is something the matter? Do you have more to say?"

"Business is over, so let's have a private chat."

"A private chat?"

"Yeah. Sion and I went house hunting today."

"A house? Could it be..."

"Yep. Exactly the kind of house you're imagining. It's quite big."

Rosier looked visibly delighted at the news that we had found a place to live together.

"Like Yuria said, it's quite large. Would you like to move in and live with us?"

"Really? Is that truly alright? I might be an inconvenience. I am usually a woman of few words and live a quiet life... I might ruin the atmosphere..."

"Why are you worrying about that? Leah and I are both loud enough as it is. Sion needs someone quiet around for his emotional stability. Right, Sion?"

"Uh, I suppose so?"

"See? Sion says he likes the idea. Then it's settled. Your Master says he wants you there. Are you going to refuse? Do you not want to be with Sion?"

"How could you say something so hurtful? Since you are welcoming me, I will gladly accept. In fact, thank you for suggesting it first."

Rosier reached out her hand to Yuria, and Yuria grabbed it firmly and shook it.

"It's going to get busy. The house is pretty run-down, so we need to do renovations. We'll have to keep an eye on the workers to make sure they don't pull anything funny."

"I prefer being busy. It will bring life to my otherwise dull routine."

So, I'll be living with Yuria, Lady Leah, and Rosier. I wonder if the three of them will continue to get along once we actually start living together, but the mansion is huge, so there will be plenty of private space. It should be fine.

"We're going to clean the house tomorrow, so let's meet in front of the Guild."

"Let us do that. I hope you both have a safe trip back. I shall take my leave now."

"Okay!"

"Bye, Rosier."

Rosier picked up her briefcase and headed back to the Church.

"Well, it's certainly going to be lively."

"Yeah. I hope everyone gets along."

"I won't fight in front of you."

"Hey. Just don't fight, period."

"Hmph. I get jealous when I see you being all lovey-dovey with other women."

"About that... I'm sorry."

"Forget it. Just don't expect to get any sleep tonight. Got it, Master?"

"...Yeah."

She calls me Master, but in reality, she's the one playing with me. I might be whipped by Yuria, but I'm happy, so I guess it's fine. At the end of the day, she does follow my lead.

"Anyway, let's go see the Guild Master."

"Right. We need to hear the full story."

All that was left was to face Guild Master Moira. I had to know for sure if she had really made a contract with Roah. This was something I couldn't just let slide.

Because inside Moira's belly... my child might be growing right now.

*

"Mom! I'm in."

"Good grief. Knock before you enter."

Yuria barged into Moira's office without any prior notice. Moira only took her eyes off her paperwork when she saw me following behind.

"I see. The two of you coming together. What is it? Something important?"

"Actually, there's something I'd like to ask you quite seriously."

"Seriously? What is it? Speak. I'll answer any question from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our Guild's pride and joy porter."

"Mom. Isn't your reaction a bit different from how you treat me?"

"You're my daughter."

"And he's your daughter's boyfriend!"

"Exactly. He's my daughter's boyfriend, not my daughter."

"...."

Well, she wasn't wrong about the boyfriend part. For both Yuria and Moira.

"So, what is your question?"

"It's... did you happen to discover a strange altar on the 7th floor of the labyrinth?"

"An altar on the 7th floor? No, I didn't."

"Did you see an altar with some kind of idol, or anything like that?"

"Hmm. Let me see. I don't recall. There are so many strange things on the 7th floor."

Moira said she didn't remember. Did she fail to find the altar?

"Mom. Do you really not remember? That day you came up alone. Are you sure you didn't see anything?"

"Yuria. I told you not to talk about that. You shouldn't go digging into people's wounds like that."

"This is important. You didn't... make a contract with something inside the labyrinth, did you? I'm asking because I'm scared."

"...."

At Yuria's question, Moira fell silent again. She closed her eyes for a long moment, seemingly reminiscing about the past.

"Hmm. The events of that day ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are coming back to me. What exactly is it you want to hear?"

"I want to know about the entity you met and the conditions of the contract."

"Unfortunately, I did not make a contract with that thing."

"You didn't make a contract?"

"No. It showed me a Transfer Stone and offered a god-awful deal. My comrades were all dying, and I had to make a choice."

So she did encounter Roah.

"What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were the conditions?"

"They were absurd. First, it told me to kill all my comrades. Then, it told me to sleep with it and conceive a child. I suspect it was trying to achieve a new method of Regression. It probably intended to come up to the surface by taking over the body of the child I gave birth to."

"That's insane... So what happened?"

"I trampled its offer without hesitation. None of the bastards playing games like that in the labyrinth are sane. They're either crazed demons or monsters steeped in the malice of the labyrinth."

Moira's eyes burned with rage. Even the eye hidden behind her eyepatch seemed to smolder.

"I was furious at its games. I smashed everything in sight, then dragged my dying comrades along until I found a proper Transfer Stone."

"Ah..."

"Yes. And in the process, they all died. Only after all three of my comrades were gone did I finally find a Transfer Stone. I buried their bodies on the 7th floor and escaped alone. Does that satisfy your curiosity? I did not make a contract with any entity."

Moira hadn't made a deal with Roah. She had struggled until the very end and managed to escape the labyrinth alone.

"By the way... if you two know about this, does it have something to do with that new human?"

"You saw him?"

"Yes. A peculiar human. I even doubted if he was truly human."

It seemed Moira had already sensed Ainhel, whom we had left on the first floor.

"I suppose that man made a contract."

"Yes. He said he received a strange proposal just like you did, and that's how he survived."

"What was the request he received in exchange for the contract?"

"To survive until the end of the world."

"Hmm. What could a monster of the labyrinth gain from that? It doesn't seem related to Regression. Do you have any more details?"

"He said he learned the secret of eternal life."

"Yeah, that's right. He said it's an incomplete method, but it allows one to essentially eliminate their lifespan."

"Eternal life. I wonder what it hoped to gain by granting that."

"Maybe its goal was simply to torment him."

"Perhaps. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠things that live in the labyrinth are an incomprehensible lot."

Though the exact purpose remained a mystery, we decided to accept it for now.

"Is that all you had to say?"

"Yes. We'll head back for today."

"Alright. Get home safely."

Now that my questions were answered, it was time to go. We had to stop by the Magic Tower before going home, though. I needed to show Helena—who had taken over the Dragon's body—to the Tower Lord.

"Ah, Sion. Wait a moment."

"Yes?"

"Come here for a second. I have something to discuss with you privately. Yuria, you go down first."

As we were about to leave the office, Moira called me back.

"What is it?"

"Well... it seems it happened."

"What did?"

"The pregnancy. I think I'm pregnant. My period has stopped."

"...Really?"

Moira nodded with a serious expression. I didn't know how to react; I stood there flailing my arms for a good while before I finally managed to calm down.

I had gone and gotten my mother-in-law pregnant.