Chapter 65: Backflow
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65: Backflow
“Huh? Did you hear some—”
“—Shh.”
I reached out and stopped Rika as she tried to stand up.
We must not answer.
That thing isn’t human.
My intuition was screaming at me.
Never.
No matter what happens, we must not respond to that thing.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Everyone, keep your voices down. And do not answer.”
The party fell silent, watching my every move.
Soon, the voice drifted in again from beyond the wooden planks.
It was a chillingly emotionless voice.
—Is anyone there? Hello?
I knew it.
That’s not a human.
Listening closely made it certain. There was no pitch or inflection in the voice. No emotion behind the words.
It was bizarre.
A woman wandering the Labyrinth alone?
Even if she were a Gold Badge capable of soloing the upper levels, it was suspicious. Why would a Gold Badge go out of their way to talk to us?
There was absolutely no reason to.
The Labyrinth is the perfect place for a murder to occur.
Unless it’s a special situation like a Raid Force or a Subjugation Campaign, it’s basic etiquette for different parties to avoid each other.
The fact that it specifically sought us out to talk was proof enough that it wasn’t human.
You must never answer things that aren’t human.
That is basic common sense in the Labyrinth City.
“...It definitely... spoke to us...?”
“A person wouldn’t ask if there are ‘people’ there. They would’ve asked if ‘anyone’ was there. Or they would’ve cleared the planks and broken in, whether their intentions were malicious or not. There is no reason... to just stand there talking, waiting for someone to answer.”
“...”
“Crazy... What the hell is that?”
Only then did everyone realize the entity beyond the planks wasn’t human.
For a long time, we stared at the wooden planks blocking the entrance.
We couldn’t look away. We had to keep our eyes fixed on the entrance until it disappeared.
We have perceived you, but we have no intention of talking.
We stared intently to convey the message: So, get lost.
This was the way to repel that thing.
“Is it gone...?”
“Yes. It seems so.”
Soon, the creepy presence beyond the planks vanished.
“Pant, pant, pant. W-what... what was that? What was that, Mr. Porter...? Please, tell me...”
Erika, the priestess, seemed to have felt something different from the rest of us.
Her lips were pale blue, as if she were paralyzed with fear.
“A-after hearing what Mr. Porter said... it felt different... It was so... dark... pitch black... murky... Pant, pant...”
“Erika, calm down. It’s gone. Just breathe.”
“R-Rika. You feel that way because you didn’t hear it. That voice... I thought it sounded familiar. It was definitely... definitely the voice from back then.”
“The voice from back then?”
“There is no Goddess here.”
For a moment, Erika’s voice sounded slightly different.
As if something else had briefly entered her body and left.
The torch in the room flickered. The temperature dropped a few degrees.
“It definitely... it definitely said that... right next to the dead Rika... It... it whispered that...”
Erika continued to mutter, recounting the events of that time.
Her state was abnormal.
I immediately pulled a small light stone from my inventory and waved it in front of her.
It was a new item I’d bought recently. This would heal Erika’s mind, which was being encroached upon by the darkness.
“Erika. Erika.”
“Y-yes...?”
“Hold onto this.”
Light brings hope.
The light stone was an item that transmitted a bright energy just by looking at it.
As if possessed, Erika grabbed the light stone, closed her eyes, and offered a prayer.
A short prayer dedicated to the Goddess.
I let out a sigh as I listened to her prayer.
What Erika had encountered back then was likely the ‘Darkness of the Labyrinth’ itself.
“It’s my first time encountering it so directly as well.”
“Your first time encountering it directly?”
“Yes. It’s something that could be called the Labyrinth’s Malice... itself. Let’s just call it the Labyrinth’s Darkness.”
It was a few months ago.
I had heard the story from an archer I’d gone into the Labyrinth with once.
He told me that if someone speaks to you from the entrance while you’re spending the night in the Labyrinth, you must never answer.
“What happens if you answer?”
“It will take it as a sign that you want to communicate.”
“Communicate?”
“Yes. What kind of communication that is... you’ll probably only find out after you’re dead.”
Most stories about the Labyrinth’s Darkness ended with the victim committing suicide.
That thing is an entity that cannot exert physical force.
Therefore, it doesn’t attack us directly.
Conversely, it’s also impossible to hunt it.
There was no way to deal with it other than knowing the countermeasure in advance and following it.
Still, as long as you know the countermeasure, you’re guaranteed to survive, so it’s relatively easy to handle.
“How chilling.”
“That wasn’t a ghost or anything like that just now...”
“Probably not. It’s a type of phenomenon.”
Just as shadows are cast where there is light.
That thing was literally the darkness and malice of the Labyrinth.
You could even call it a wandering trap.
It was a kind of natural phenomenon that couldn’t quite be classified as a monster.
“Phew. But we drove it away, so it should be fine now. The fact that it appeared is also proof that there are no monsters nearby.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, Young Lady. Its purpose is to disturb one’s peace. From what I’ve heard, it’s a phenomenon that crawls out purely to screw with adventurers when there are no monsters around.”
“Aha... the Labyrinth is insane.”
“The further down we go, the more things like that will crawl out to mess with adventurers without warning.”
“....”
At my words, the Young Lady fell silent.
Her goal was to descend to the very end of the Labyrinth.
I wanted to make her give up, but her resolve was firm.
“Descending into the unexplored regions is madness.”
“You’re right. It is madness. But...”
The Young Lady admitted it was a crazy idea.
Continuing to descend the Labyrinth is insane.
We got off easy because this was the upper level.
If we were deeper, that Labyrinth’s Darkness would have pursued us relentlessly.
It’s important to know when to take your loot and get out.
‘Not that I’m in any position to stop her.’
I was in a situation where I was being forced to enter the deepest part of the Labyrinth.
Since I was targeted by the villainesses of the Labyrinth City, I had to see the face of the Labyrinth Lord before I died.
I didn’t want to involve the Young Lady in that journey.
The same went for Yuria. I didn’t want to take Olivia with me either.
Wouldn’t it be enough for just me to enter that deep abyss?
Even if I were to find companions to go to their deaths with...
I at least didn’t want to take Yuria and the Young Lady.
I would have to form a new party of my own.
A party made up of people who wouldn’t mind dying at any moment.
“Sigh. Can we go back to sleep now?”
“Yes. You should really be able to sleep now.”
“That’s a relief...”
“Ugh... damn Labyrinth...”
Rika lay back down and closed her eyes.
As expected of a stoic female knight, she was quick to adapt.
Erika still looked a bit frightened, but she seemed to have regained some peace of mind thanks to the light stone and pulled her blanket over her head again. Rien was already asleep.
Only the Young Lady and I remained awake, staring into the darkness.
“Hey... Sion.”
“Yes?”
“Can I sit next to you?”
“I haven’t washed today, so I probably smell.”
“The same goes for me.”
“Am I going to have to smell the Young Lady’s scent...?”
“Hey!”
“I’m joking. Come here. You don’t smell, Young Lady.”
The Young Lady approached me with an exasperated look and sat down right next to me.
She didn’t have much of a body odor. If anything, I was the one worried about smelling.
“Sion, strangely enough, you have almost no body odor.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Is it because you’re an Easterner?”
Maybe.
Even on Earth, Koreans tended to have very little body odor.
“Being close like this... it’s warm.”
“It is. It’s warm.”
I thought it was a bit cold.
But being close to the Young Lady, I could feel her warmth.
It reminded me of when we slept huddled together during the Labyrinth Eruption.
Back then, we were really stuck together, and I was holding her.
Soon, the Young Lady leaned against me and fell asleep.
I closed my eyes too.
I needed to get enough sleep to move tomorrow.
The Labyrinth exploration with the Young Lady’s party proceeded smoothly.
Aside from the monster wave on the first day and the Labyrinth’s Darkness, the second day passed without any major incidents.
Now, we just had to spend one more day in the Labyrinth before heading out.
We had entered with a goal of four days and three nights from the start.
“This is a Transfer Stone.”
While wandering around and mapping, we managed to find a Transfer Stone.
I immediately drew the Transfer Stone onto the map.
The location of a Transfer Stone is vital.
“Are we going down?”
“What should we do? What do you all think? Give me your opinions. Should we go down, or should we start heading up?”
I asked the party for their input.
They were now fighting the Gardeners without any issues.
Rika’s combat ability was so high there was nothing to critique, and the Young Lady’s movements had improved significantly.
Rien was good at assessing the situation.
And Erika, aside from the torch incident on the first day, was now pulling her weight.
I thought going down wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“I think we could try going down.”
“It seems fine to go down.”
“Maybe just for a little bit...”
“I’ll follow the majority opinion.”
Everyone wanted to go down.
Now, what choice would I, the party leader, make?
“Let’s not go down.”
“Huh? What? Why?”
“Things went too well yesterday and today.”
“Huh? That’s the only reason?”
“Yes. In my experience, when things go too smoothly, it’s the Labyrinth’s warning that it’s about to kill one of you.”
“No, what kind of crazy talk is that?”
“I’m telling you this as a survival expert Porter who’s in his sixth... no, seventh month now. When you feel good? When the atmosphere is great? When you think things are going well? That’s exactly when you should leave the Labyrinth. I’ve seen quite a few parties get wiped out because they missed that timing.”
“...”
“Then why did you even ask us?”
“I thought at least one of you might be hesitant to go down. Let’s stop this Labyrinth run here and start pulling out.”
We could have spent one more night, but since we found a Transfer Stone, we might as well leave.
There was no point in spending another day on the hard stone floor.
“So this Labyrinth run ends on the 1st floor.”
“It’s always like this in the beginning. You tumble around on the 1st floor a few times, then you move down to the 2nd. You just have to take it step by step.”
“Alright. Let’s end this run here.”
“Yes. That’s a good choice, Young Lady.”
Everyone seemed convinced.
More than anything, since it was the third day, we were starting to smell.
I could have taken out the basin from my inventory to bathe, but this wasn’t the Underground City; it felt a bit much to bathe on the 1st floor of the upper levels.
“Now then... Huh?”
Just as I was about to reach for the Transfer Stone to head up, I sensed a presence.
Something was approaching us.
“Prepare for battle!”
Rika immediately drew her sword toward the entrance of the room.
“W-wait...! Wait a minute...!!! I’m a person, a person!”
The owner of the presence was a fellow adventurer.
“Please help...! I have an injured comrade. I felt your presence and ran here to ask for help! I’ll reward you handsomely, so please save my comrades. I beg of you.”
A female adventurer pleaded for help.
A rookie party must have collapsed.
Even for me, an experienced explorer of the upper levels, there were several moments I considered dangerous.
If it was a party made up entirely of beginners, it was highly likely they’d get wiped out.
It happens often—people asking for help desperately like this.
“What should we do?”
“I wonder.”
Morally, it was right to help her.
Helping them and, if there were corpses, recovering them to bring outside would be the right thing to do.
But a few things were bothering me.
‘It’s suspicious.’
What if that woman wasn’t an adventurer?
Let’s assume the worst-case scenarios.
First, the possibility that she’s a murderer looking to rob adventurers.
Second, the possibility that she’s a heretic trying to capture and kill adventurers.
Third, the possibility that she isn’t human to begin with.
If we followed her and fell into a trap...
We probably wouldn’t die in a normal way.
This wasn’t groundless suspicion.
I was a victim who had recently been attacked by heretics.
It was only natural to be suspicious.
I almost died, and I’m supposed to help without even questioning it?
That’s insane.
Adventurers are, by nature, people who must look out for themselves.
There was no obligation to help someone who wasn’t a party member.
I was far from being a righteous person.
I strictly prioritized the safety of myself and my party.
Only by sticking to this principle could one live a long life.
That’s why I asked.
Whether she was truly an adventurer like me.
Or.
Whether she was something else wearing the mask of an adventurer.
I had to interrogate her thoroughly.
“Before we help you, I’m going to ask a few questions.”
“Sob... Yes...”
“How many were in your party?”
“There were... four of us, including me.”
Four people.
A standard party size.
“And your classes?”
“I’m the guide... one warrior, one swordsman... and one priest...”
A warrior, a swordsman, a guide, and a priest.
A decent composition. You could call it normal.
Now then, shall we press her on the priest?
“Is the god that priest serves the ‘Goddess’?”
“Oh, no. They said it was an Ancestral God.”
“An Ancestral God. So not the Goddess.”
“Yes.”
Gods other than the Goddess certainly existed.
Hachi, the monk, wasn’t a follower of the Goddess Church either.
Yata, the healer, also had a specific main god she believed in.
However, since the Goddess Church had the most influence in the Labyrinth City, followers of other gods simply received help from the Goddess Church temples.
If it wasn’t the Goddess Church, what kind of god was it?
“That... I don’t really know...”
“You don’t know? You don’t even know your comrade’s religion? What if the god your comrade believes in is an evil god? What if your comrade is a heretic?”
“T-that’s... it was a makeshift team... so isn’t it possible not to know...? Why are you interrogating me like this...? Are you going to help or not...? If you don’t intend to help, please move so I can go outside.”
“Then let me change the question. Do you believe in the Goddess?”
“What...? All of a sudden...?”
“Yes. What do you think of the Goddess? I like the Goddess. How about you?”
“W-what does that have to do with the current situation...? You’re a bit strange. If you don’t want to help, just go. I’ll find someone else to help after I escape the Labyrinth.”
“You don’t believe in the Goddess. Fine. Then what do you think of the Goddess?”
“No, I don’t understand why you’re obsessing over the Goddess when I’m asking for help. So, just move. I’ll go out and ask someone else for help.”
“I don’t care about your situation. I asked what you think of the Goddess. Just answer the question.”
The party stared at the woman in silence.
None of them looked like they were going to move.
If anything, they tightened their grips on their weapons.
Why?
Because she couldn’t answer what she thought of the Goddess.
All she had to do was say, “I like the Goddess,” and it would be over, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it and kept trying to escape the situation.
Why couldn’t she say she liked the Goddess?
As I mentioned before, the Goddess Church is the most powerful force in the Labyrinth City.
Because they can use Resurrection spells, most people in the Labyrinth City are either believers or at least friendly toward the Goddess.
And yet, she couldn’t answer?
“I love the Goddess. The Goddess is good. The Goddess is the best. Repeat after me.”
“....”
The woman could not repeat my words.
Of course she couldn’t.
“You can’t bring yourself to say it, can you? You heretic bitch.”
The entity that heretics loathe and hate the most is the Goddess.
There was no way she could say, “I love the Goddess.”
Idiots.
You bastards can be exposed with just this one question.
“Hahaha! Everyone else tried to help until now. You guys are bad adventurers, aren’t you? See you next time!”
The woman fled.
A bizarre, distorted smile was plastered on her face.
She was incredibly fast.
“Should we catch her?”
“No. Let’s just get out. It’s our loss if we chase her.”
A heretic had appeared on the 1st floor of the Labyrinth. It even seemed like several teams had already been hunted.
To think that heretics were wandering around the Labyrinth City and even infesting the upper levels of the Labyrinth.
The fact that the cockroaches had left their nest and were starting to be seen meant they had already laid countless eggs beneath the Underground City.
Their sphere of influence was gradually expanding.
I felt that the Subjugation Campaign might need to be moved up.
Furthermore, it seemed it was time for the Inquisitors of the Goddess Church to enter the Labyrinth.