Chapter 5: Sharing Body Heat Makes You Warm
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 5: Sharing Body Heat Makes You Warm
“It’s cold.”
Wrapped in a blanket, the young lady trembled slightly.
I felt a bit of a chill myself.
After all, the Labyrinth didn't come equipped with underfloor heating or fireplaces.
More than anything, the young lady’s clothes seemed a bit thin—likely because she had come dressed in a 'thief' concept.
“The Labyrinth is naturally cold. The chill seeps up from the stone floor.”
“Ugh. I feel like my face is going to freeze solid if I sleep here.”
“That happens quite often.”
That’s why it’s common practice to build a fire when sleeping in areas below the 5th Floor, where overnight stays become necessary.
The upper levels, from the 1st to the 4th Floor, are structured for day trips, so there’s usually no need to sleep there. However, the 5th Floor Underground City is so vast that camping out is practically a requirement.
Anyone active on the 5th Floor is an adventurer worthy of being called a veteran, so most of them know how to build a fire and settle in for the night.
“Unfortunately, we can’t light a fire.”
“I figured.”
We were currently in a semi-hidden state.
The moment we lit a fire, the light, smoke, and the scent of burning wood would spread.
It would attract monsters. With only the two of us in the party, attracting more monsters would be truly dangerous.
I might be fine, but the young lady had already reached her physical limit.
“Is there no other way? You have all those strange items.”
“Hmm.”
I did have a magical tool I’d bought after much deliberation.
‘If I use the Heat Orb, it’ll radiate warmth for five hours.’
With that, we could sleep without worrying about our faces freezing, even without a fire.
However, I decided not to take it out for her.
Because it was the only one I had.
Furthermore, it required fire to recharge.
So, I decided to save it for a true emergency.
I had a better method, anyway.
“In times like these, adventurers overcome the crisis with each other’s body heat.”
“What? Each other’s body heat?”
“Yes. Pressing skin to skin is excellent for maintaining body temperature.”
Indeed, it was the most fundamental solution to the cold.
Even penguins in the Antarctic huddle close together to endure the freezing winds and protect one another from the chill.
It was the same principle.
If you’re cold, you just have to hold each other.
It would be best to be skin-to-skin, but I held back, knowing that doing that to a noble lady would lead to a real disaster.
“What do you think, My Lady?”
“Y-you shameless... Hey, no matter what, I’m the daughter of a Count. You expect me to share my body with a man I just met today? Are you insane? This is lese-majesty!”
“Huh? No, My Lady. What are you talking about? I’m just saying we’ll be warmer if we stick together. What on earth were you imagining... Good grief.”
“Ugh... You, seriously. Argh, I’m going crazy.”
“Come now, My Lady. It’s no big deal. Why are you so angry? You’re the one who said the stone floor is cold. I’m telling you, we’ll be warmer if we just stick together, no strings attached.”
“You really... If you tell anyone about today, you’re dead. If rumors start spreading in the streets that you slept with the lady of the House of Lionel, or that you touched her body... I will seriously kill you. I mean it. I’m not lying.”
“Goodness. I’ll keep it a secret until the day I die. Now, now, don’t keep wasting sleeping time. Come here. I tend to have a lot of body heat.”
“You. You really. Ugh. Uuugh. So annoying.”
“Are you starting to hate the Labyrinth now? This is the adventurer average. Once we escape this time, don’t even come near the Labyrinth again.”
“Shut up...”
When I slightly opened the blanket I was wrapped in to let her in, she reluctantly approached me.
“How is it? Is it a bit warmer?”
“Yeah. But you really do have a lot of body heat.”
“It’s warm, right?”
“....Yes.”
“I guess having a lot of heat is just my constitution.”
A long time ago, when I went to an oriental medicine clinic, they told me I was a 'Taeyang-in' or something.
There was no scientific proof, but I had always run hot since I was a kid.
“Even if it’s uncomfortable, please get some sleep. We need to rest at least a little if we’re going to move again.”
“I know...”
The young lady, now in my arms, fidgeted for a long while.
Sleeping while sitting up isn't great for your health, but what choice did we have?
In a situation like this, we couldn't afford to be picky about every little thing.
The daughter of the House of Lionel.
Leah Lionel.
She closed her eyes, trembling slightly.
‘I must be crazy.’
This was, of course, the first time she had shared body heat with a man in such close proximity.
In fact, she had never been this close to a man, period.
Aside from the occasional hug from her doting father, men had been distant figures in her life.
It was the result of her brother, who adored his younger sister, and her daughter-fool of a father fundamentally blocking any man from approaching her.
The fact that they had attached a female knight, a witch, and a priestess to her when she left home to become an adventurer said it all.
Regardless, while wandering the Labyrinth after being caught in the Great Cataclysm, she had developed a slight, faint favorable impression of the porter.
From her perspective, the porter, Sion, was the first man she had ever been close to, and a reliable protector she absolutely needed to survive and return home.
‘It’s warm.’
His ability, the Subspace Pocket, had provided solutions for most of their crises.
She wondered how many items were packed in there; all sorts of things kept popping out.
From food to weapons and armor, and even Fairy Dust that could be used as a substitute when torches were unavailable.
This showed how thoroughly this man had prepared and braced himself.
He was entirely different from the typical, thoughtless adventurers.
He had probably poured all the money he had earned until now into purchasing survival supplies.
And that was the truth.
If Sion hadn't equipped himself with such a variety of items and had only saved money to buy slaves, he would have already bought two virgin slaves.
Sion was serious about his Labyrinth runs.
Since one never knew what would happen in the Labyrinth, he poured every bit of money he made into survival gear.
It was something only possible because he had a Subspace Pocket.
Using his inventory as a warehouse, he had kept it packed to the brim to increase his survival rate.
‘When we talk, he’s smarter than I thought. I can sense intelligence in his speech. He doesn't seem like an ordinary commoner.’
The jokes he cracked when she was tense, or the various things he said to help her relax.
And the profound knowledge of the Labyrinth he occasionally showed, along with manners that never crossed the line.
He was somehow different from the rough and crude adventurers she had heard rumors about.
Furthermore, the fact that he had prepared this thoroughly after only six months in the Labyrinth City meant he hadn't been lazy in his studies.
Even though he was clearly a foreigner from the East, he had no trouble communicating, and his understanding of the Continental Common Language seemed very high.
In fact, Sion had studied the Continental Common Language for the past six months.
Perhaps it was a privilege of being a Transferer, but while listening and speaking came naturally, reading and writing were the results of his own separate study.
‘Was he a noble of the Ryu Kingdom?’
Leah imagined.
The various countries of the East.
Among them, the Ryu Kingdom was a warring state where civil wars occurred frequently.
Because of that, nobles or warriors of the Ryu Kingdom who had lost in power struggles often drifted into the Labyrinth City.
‘Maybe he was a young master.’
Sion might be one of those cases.
A fallen noble who had lost a power struggle, drifted to the Labyrinth City, and was now living as a porter.
Someone who might return one day after earning money and growing stronger.
‘He said he wasn't going back.’
Leah had asked him indirectly, curious if he had any intention of returning to his hometown.
But he had said he had no intention of leaving the Labyrinth City.
‘Could it be that there’s a reason he can’t return to the Ryu Kingdom?’
Perhaps.
He might have some special story, rather than being just an ordinary noble.
Leah’s imagination only grew.
She had enjoyed imagining things like this since she was a child.
‘A smart porter from a noble Ryu Kingdom background, with a Subspace Pocket and Map Creation. He’s a talent our party absolutely needs.’
Having tentatively decided to think of Sion as a fallen noble of the Ryu Kingdom, Leah desperately wanted to hold onto him.
Though she had become a bit afraid of the Labyrinth after being caught in the Great Cataclysm, she still had a burning desire to explore it.
To her, Sion was the ultimate talent.
‘I want to keep him by my side somehow.’
Perhaps Sion already had a party he was under exclusive contract with.
If they were outside the Labyrinth City, she would have used external pressure to pull him away, but that didn't work inside the Labyrinth City.
The Labyrinth City was the domain of adventurers and the Guild.
It was a structure where the influence that outside nobles could exert was relatively weakened.
Contrary to Leah’s thoughts, Sion didn't have an exclusive contract with a party yet.
He preferred the freedom of going into the Labyrinth as he pleased.
He didn't want to be tied down anywhere.
Most importantly, there were plenty of parties looking for him even without an exclusive contract.
Just by having a Subspace Pocket, he could significantly increase his reputation.
Being called upon by name was better for raising his market value.
‘But this guy really is warm.’
As she continued her thoughts, Leah surrendered her body to the encroaching drowsiness.
Sion’s embrace was warmer than she had imagined, and perhaps because he held her gently without being overbearing, it felt incredibly cozy and stable.
It was her first time sleeping in a man’s arms.
Leah thought it wasn't as bad as she had expected.
‘Did she fall asleep?’
Her breathing was steady.
She had been tossing and turning for a while, probably lost in thought, but she had finally drifted off.
‘I think I can find a Transfer Stone if we move around just a bit more.’
You can use a Transfer Stone to go down to the next floor or go back up.
There was no way to move between floors other than using a Transfer Stone.
Moving between levels through holes in the ceiling or floor, or via stairs, wasn't considered a floor transition.
Even if you moved that way, you were ultimately still on the same floor.
Moving by physical means was not a floor transition.
Only moving between levels via a Transfer Stone was recognized as a floor transition.
In short, it meant that several layers could be divided within a single floor.
And adventurers called these divisions within the same floor 'Layer Division.'
The problem was that there were no separate Layer Divisions in the upper levels from the 1st to the 4th Floor.
‘A staircase appeared on my map. Layer Division has occurred in the upper levels.’
A staircase had been drawn in my Map Creation skill, my internal mapping.
This was something that had never happened before.
Over the past six months of Labyrinth runs, I had mapped out all the upper-level Labyrinths known as the Botanical Garden, the Breeding Grounds, the Sewer, and the Underground Graveyard.
I had never seen anything like this.
Something that should only happen in the 5th Floor Underground City was now happening here in the upper levels.
‘It seems like a new phenomenon added to the upper levels by the Great Cataclysm.’
Layer Division had appeared in the upper levels.
This could be a very serious problem.
‘The difficulty is going up by the day.’
They said the last Great Cataclysm was roughly ten years ago.
‘Back then, the upper levels were divided into four. This time, Layer Division has even occurred within those levels.’
There was no telling what phenomenon would occur in the next Great Cataclysm.
As the difficulty increased, survival became even tougher.
‘For now, I have to go.’
Should I investigate?
Or should I just ignore it?
The answer was already decided.
‘There’s a high probability that the Transfer Stone will be located below the Layer Division. Whether I like it or not, I have to go down. With the young lady.’
We had to go down the stairs.
Ultimately, to find the Transfer Stone and go up to the 3rd Floor, we had to descend the stairs.
And naturally, the lower side of a Layer Division was more dangerous. Especially if this really was the 4th Floor...
The 4th Floor itself was already damn dangerous because of the Bunnymen and Vorpal Rabbits, but it could be considered even more dangerous now because of the Layer Division.
To think we had to go down to a place where the difficulty would jump by 1.5 times.
Perhaps new types of monsters had appeared.
‘I just hope we can make it back up alive.’
If I were to imagine the worst-case scenario based on what I’d gathered so far, it would be that Bunnymen were now appearing on the 3rd Floor as well.
And that even stronger monsters had appeared on the 4th Floor. Of course, that might not be the case. But in the Labyrinth, you always have to assume the worst.
‘Terrible.’
The young lady and I. Could the two of us escape this situation?
My worries only deepened.