The Labyrinth (4)
Inside a small room located at the deepest part of the Labyrinth.
A man sat at a wide desk cluttered with miscellaneous scrolls and magical tools of unknown purpose.
Having once been the mage of the Hero's party that defeated the Demon King, he had come to be known as the Sage as the years passed.
A golem he had created approached the Sage, who was slumped over his desk.
Though it was a golem, at a glance, it looked like an ordinary human.
Wearing a maid outfit that perfectly reflected the Sage's personal tastes, the golem spoke.
"Master, someone has taken the 'necklace'."
"...What? The necklace?"
The Sage glared at the golem he had created, Itea, and asked.
"Yes. A first-year cadet has obtained the necklace containing the Hero's protection."
Listening to Itea's explanation, the Sage recalled the process of creating the necklace.
Though it had happened hundreds of years ago, the memory remained vivid to him.
It was when the Hero's party was on their way to the Demon King's castle to defeat him.
'Hero, could you imbue this necklace with your protection?'
'Protection?'
The Sage had a keen interest in crafting magical items.
Grinning broadly enough to show his teeth as usual, the Hero told him to leave it to him and immediately infused his protection into the necklace.
He had similarly crafted items that received the respective protections or blessings of the other party members.
It was something he had started to commemorate the Hero's party.
Afterward, the Hero slew the Demon King in battle and died a heroic death.
Thanks to the Hero, the other members of the party were able to survive.
The Sage was no exception.
The party members commemorated him in their own ways.
The Saintess, in particular, had wept immensely.
The method the Sage chose to commemorate the Hero was the establishment of 'Innocence Academy'.
It was a feat only he could achieve, as he had always been the one to formulate backup plans during their strategy meetings, preparing for the future.
The Sage prepared for a future where the Demon King would rise again, and for a time when a Hero might not appear.
The other members of the party either died in battle against the demons or passed away peacefully of old age.
But the Sage alone had maintained the academy, defying aging through ancient magic he had finally unearthed.
The Labyrinth he resided in was also his creation.
He had hidden the items he had discovered or crafted throughout his life within this Labyrinth.
They were gifts for the cadets.
The better the item, the harder he made it to find.
Hiding items had been the Sage's favorite pastime for hundreds of years.
The Hero's necklace was like a gift for the Hero who would one day return.
It was prepared with the Hero's 'reincarnation' in mind.
If it were the Hero he knew, he had set up the mechanism thinking the boy would look at his own statue, strike the exact same pose, and laugh heartily.
"Bring the second-floor transmitter."
The transmitter was a device that allowed one to review events that occurred in the Labyrinth on a screen. This, too, was the Sage's creation.
"Here it is, Master."
As if she had anticipated his request, Itea handed him the pre-prepared transmitter.
Itea knew the Sage exceptionally well. It was only natural, considering the centuries they had spent together.
The Sage sat quietly and examined the transmitter's screen.
He was curious to see if the cadet who had obtained the necklace was the reincarnated Hero.
"A blind man...?"
The cadet shown on the transmitter wore a white bandage over his eyes.
After staring at the transmitter for a long while, the Sage closed it.
"He is not the Hero."
"Why is that?"
"The fellow I knew wasn't this meticulous," the Sage said, shaking his head.
"And why does he talk to himself so much? Does he have some sort of illness? If not... we must assume he is conversing with something invisible to the screen."
Itea nodded in agreement.
"It is intriguing... Could you bring me information on this cadet?"
Talking to himself could be explained by a spirit or something similar, but he was far too precise.
Setting aside his extraordinary senses to even notice the gap in front of the statue... to think he would immediately thrust his sword in there... He is no ordinary fellow.
"I will prepare it."
Itea bowed deeply to the Sage and departed.
Since this was an academy he had built, there was no information within its walls that was beyond his reach.
The Sage picked up the fifth-floor transmitter, which he had tossed into a corner of his desk.
An 'impurity' that had accidentally slipped in during this year's Labyrinth regeneration was currently on the fifth floor.
Looking at the screen, the cadets were being attacked by the 'impurity'.
Fortunately, just as the Sage had calculated, the protective magic cast on the cadets seemed to be functioning without issue.
There would be no casualties.
The academy he had established was not so fragile.
"This, too, is fate. An adversity they must overcome," the Sage muttered in a corner of his cluttered room.
If the cadets cooperated or if there was a cadet of exceptional caliber, it was not an opponent they couldn't defeat.
However, given the creature's race, its minor wounds were healing rapidly.
He wondered who would be the one to defeat it.
What kind of hero would emerge?
The Sage decided to watch.
It was a good thing I gave the instructors a vacation as usual. If all goes well, I might get to see the cadets' prowess.
With that thought, the Sage rested his chin on his hand and quietly waited for Itea to return.
What is taking her so long...?
However, Itea was taking longer than expected.
While standing guard, I dealt with a few more goblins that approached the tent.
Listening to the stories Sierra shared beside me made the time pass quickly.
Just as the pouch holding the mana stones was growing plump, a rustling sound came from the tent.
Soon after, Yuri peeked her head out of the tent.
"Ahaha, did I sleep too much...?" Yuri laughed sheepishly.
Judging by her hollow eyes, it looked as though she hadn't rested at all.
Not long after she first entered the tent, I had heard a startled gasp, but since it had been quiet after that, I assumed she had fallen asleep.
Was the bed uncomfortable?
Some people couldn't sleep unless they were in their own beds. Moreover, since Yuri was a gently raised lady of a prestigious family, she might be particularly sensitive.
"Did you rest well?" I asked Yuri, who looked thoroughly exhausted.
"Yes! Thanks to you, I rested well. Thank you, Zeto." Yuri lied with a bright smile.
[ ...Rather than resting, she looks as though she has not slept a wink. ]
Sierra, standing beside me, glared slightly at Yuri.
Soon, Yuri stepped completely out of the tent, approached where I was sitting, and spoke.
"How about it, shall we take turns now?"
"I still have plenty of stamina left. I was thinking of heading down to the third floor now..."
At my reply, Yuri's eyes widened.
Her neatly braided hair was slightly disheveled. It seemed she hadn't even let her hair down when she slept.
"Are you sure you don't need to rest?"
"Yes. I'm really fine."
"Hmm... Alright, there probably isn't much time left anyway, so it's better to move quickly."
Leaving it at that, Yuri went back to the tent and brought out my backpack along with her own.
Then, just as we had learned in Instructor Edward's class, she touched the floor of the magic tent and lifted it, shrinking it back down.
"Everything's packed, let's go!" Yuri called out, falling into step beside me.
"The stairs are where I passed by earlier."
Yuri was dumbfounded that I had passed the real stairs, but when I told her we found treasure because of it, she let it go.
And so, together with Yuri, I headed down the stairs whose location I had memorized.
"So, about that goblin..."
"Ugh, I'm sick of it. I don't know how many times I've heard that story."
"Is there any other news? Like hidden treasure..."
Upon arriving on the third floor, we saw several magic tents and the guards of each tent chatting nearby.
"Everyone has already formed parties," Yuri said to me as she watched them.
"I'm used to traveling alone, so I didn't really think about forming a party."
For now, seeing that the magic tents were safely set up, it seemed there were no Lycanthropes on the third floor either.
Since there isn't much time left, going all the way to the fourth floor might be too much.
Yuri and I slowly wandered around the third floor.
Since Yuri showed signs of fatigue, we didn't push ourselves.
The monsters appearing on the third floor were still Goblins and Kobolds.
The only difference was that their numbers had increased slightly.
Well, even so, they were still just Goblins and Kobolds...
—Slash!
Slicing off the head of the last remaining goblin, I flicked the blood off my blade.
Feeling strength gradually welling up inside my body, it seemed my level had risen.
As expected, leveling up is fast inside the Labyrinth.
Considering the effects of the blindfold, this was finally the proper pace of leveling.
Checking my status window, I had reached Level 20, and I had 4 skill points remaining.
If I invested these into Ghost Swordsmanship, I could raise the level of Reverse Heaven once.
However, I had no intention of investing them right away. Having spare skill points allowed me to adapt to a wider variety of situations.
"Come to think of it, Zeto, you're holding your sword in a reverse grip now?" Yuri, who was picking up mana stones, struck up a conversation.
"Yes, this sword must be used that way."
"You said it was your master's sword, right? It looks high-quality at a glance. To think you had such a sword and weren't using it until now..."
"Haha, my master left some words when she left the sword behind."
I continued chatting with Yuri while helping her gather the mana stones.
Just as we finished gathering the stones and stood up, parts of my fingers began to dissolve and fade away.
"Zeto... your fingers... Oh, mine too?"
"Aha, it seems our time is up."
The teleportation of the remaining cadets in the Labyrinth had begun. The 30 hours in the Labyrinth had come to an end.
Of course, if one wished, they could escape at any time using their pass.
As long as a cadet wasn't ejected due to taking fatal damage, their last location would be saved, allowing them to resume from that exact spot upon returning.
It was essentially a 'save point' concept within the Labyrinth.
Aside from that, there were true 'save points' every ten floors—such as the 1st, 10th, and 20th floors—where one would restart even if they died.
It was designed for the player's convenience.
Even as our bodies faded, we continued our conversation.
"Our position isn't great. Since this was where the goblins spawned, we'll likely encounter them immediately upon re-entry."
"Indeed. So that's what Instructor Edward meant when he told us to choose our spots wisely before leaving."
Yuri nodded, mentioning Edward.
Edward was the type who didn't give out the answers. He wanted the cadets to find their own answers.
Thanks to his educational philosophy, the Class A cadets would likely suffer quite a bit.
Yuri's body and mine gradually vanished.
Soon, my vision went dark.
When I opened my eyes, I was at the entrance of the Labyrinth.
The Labyrinth—or rather, the Sage—had some sense.
Just because he was sending the remaining cadets out didn't mean he ejected them all at once.
Looking around, I couldn't see Yuri.
Considering I had exited before her, it seemed we were being sent out in the order we had entered.
However, the area in front of the entrance was a complete mess.
"Argh...!"
"Get them to the infirmary, quickly!"
"What kind of bastard did this?"
I could see injured cadets bleeding, and instructors and staff moving them.
It was the prelude to the Lycanthrope episode.
Seeing this chaos on the very first day... is it the fourth or fifth floor...?
As I walked toward them, a large male cadet who was helping the injured approached me.
"You there! Are you Cadet Zeto?"
"Yes, I am Zeto. What is the matter?"
At a glance, he was a senior cadet.
Being called by an unnamed senior.
It was the exact same scenario as the start of the Medical Exchange Program quest.
"Infirmary Officer Priscilla is looking for you. She said she's short-handed and told you to come to the infirmary immediately as part of the exchange program."
"Short-handed... Understood. The situation seems urgent, so I will head there first."
"Uh... can you find your way on your own?"
The senior cadet scratched his eyebrow as he looked at my eyes.
"Yes, you do not need to worry about that."
"Right, seeing you come out of the Labyrinth... Well, I'm also part of the medical exchange program, but I didn't expect our first meeting to be like this. Anyway, see you later!"
The senior cadet gave me a serious look and went back to helping support the injured.
How did a quest like this come to be?
First of all, there weren't many people with holy power within the academy.
Even if there were, they would likely be closer to paladins than priests.
Above all, holy power was not a force one could easily come across.
Lastly, Priscilla possessed an immense amount of holy power, far more than others realized.
That was also the reason she managed the academy's infirmary all by herself.
However, she simply needed my help to make things easier.
There weren't many people in the medical exchange program to begin with.
I watched the people moving in an orderly yet frantic fashion.
Yuri... will make her own way back, right...?
Somehow, it felt like I kept leaving Yuri behind.
Still, the situation was quite urgent.
I couldn't afford to stand around leisurely.
Making my decision, I immediately dashed toward the infirmary.
I didn't expect it to be on the very first day. If I hadn't met Yuri, would I have run into the Lycanthrope?
Though it was early, everything was still going according to plan.
As I ran, channeling mana into my legs, Sierra spoke to me.
[ The medical exchange program? To think you knew the healing arts as well. ]
I didn't have the luxury to answer Sierra while running, but it would be better for her to see it for herself rather than hear an explanation.
I glanced at Sierra, who was following me with an effortless posture.
Come to think of it, is this the first time I'm meeting Priscilla since obtaining the Demon Blade...?
Since Priscilla possessed vast holy power, she might recognize the Demon Blade.
If she did notice, I would have to find a way to smooth things over.
After all, I couldn't hide the Demon Blade every time I ran into her in the academy.
To do that, I needed to perform well during this incident to appear as a highly competent asset.
Entering the main academy building, I headed straight for the infirmary.
The door to the infirmary was already wide open.
"Hmm... no matter how I look at it, these look like claw marks..."
Priscilla was in the middle of treating the cadets with holy magic.
Hearing my footsteps, she turned her head toward me.
"Ah, you're here. Good, we're incredibly busy."
I approached Priscilla.
Upon entering the infirmary, the groans of the injured filled the air.
It was due to the 'Confusion' status effect inflicted by the Lycanthrope's attacks.
"I heard you called for me."
"I told Butler to look for someone with a bandage over their eyes, and he found you quickly."
It seemed the senior cadet who had delivered the quest to me was named 'Butler'.
Priscilla turned her head back to focus on the treatment as she continued speaking.
"I don't know what happened either. They were attacked by a monster, but I don't know what kind. Anyway, a lot of them got wiped out because of it. Injuries are just a bonus."
Priscilla clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed by the sudden surge of patients.
Death in the Labyrinth meant being ejected.
If they had been defeated in a single blow, they wouldn't have suffered any injuries, but because the Lycanthrope's specialty was rapid consecutive attacks, there were many wounded.
"...What would you like me to do?"
Finishing her treatment on one cadet, Priscilla stood up and approached me.
Even in this chaotic situation, her eyes remained calm, shining with a quiet light.
Then, her firmly closed lips parted.
"Acupuncture... I trust you've practiced it a lot?"
