Chapter 22
“Guhk… W-Why…?”
The raider leader, a hole punched clean through his heart, stared at me in disbelief.
If not for my Unique Trait, the situation would have ended the other way around.
I only won because I used Critical Strike to knock his sword aside.
I twisted my wrist, burst his heart apart, and pulled my blade free.
The raider leader coughed up blood and collapsed in a heap.
The sword spirits applauded and showered me with praise.
Critical Strike was an ability that made the next attack deal twice the damage.
Normally, you’d use it when aiming for a finishing blow, but I’d used it to knock an enemy’s sword away instead.
The sword spirits said it had been an excellent choice.
They said it was a sense you couldn’t expect from a tenth-rank Climber.
I just did what seemed right… and you were the ones telling me what to do the whole time.
Every time the sword spirits started making a fuss like this, I couldn’t help wondering if they were overreacting.
They were always noisy in battle.
They gave me all kinds of instructions on how to move.
Of course, I couldn’t follow every single one in a life-or-death situation.
But when seven people were talking at once, even obeying a few of them helped.
The sword spirits kept making a commotion.
I turned my eyes away, feeling oddly embarrassed.
“Ivan! We won! And I shot the enemy priest who was holding Hena, too!”
At that moment, Nierel came trotting over with a bright smile.
The last one had been a combatless healer, so it seemed Nierel had shot him down with ease.
“Well done, Nierel. But what happened?”
What I really wanted to ask first was about Nierel’s accuracy.
The first shot had been a mistake, just as expected.
That mistake had let me catch the enemy archer.
But after that, it hadn’t been a mistake anymore.
From the second arrow onward, Nierel had stopped trembling entirely.
“Hehe… I’m not really sure, but I think it was all thanks to Ivan! O-Of course, I don’t know what’ll happen later, but still. Anyway, this time I was able to shoot without messing up. Ah, well, the first shot was a mistake…”
She kept alternating between looking proud and shrinking in on herself as she spoke.
For now, we had won, and that was enough.
More important than that was dealing with the aftermath of the fight.
“More importantly, the other three!”
Nierel flapped an arm and pointed at the three childhood friends sprawled on the ground.
All three had collapsed where they stood.
Hena had only been knocked unconscious from the back of the head, but Dogo and Kane were covered in blood.
Nierel and I checked on Dogo and Kane first.
“…They’re not breathing.”
Kane and Dogo were already dead.
It looked like the raider leader had hit vital points on them.
It was my first time losing a party member, and the shock left me at a loss.
The sword spirits spoke as though they had read my mind.
Of course, all of this had happened because of those childhood friends.
Still-warm corpses were horribly unfamiliar.
Lasu explained everything before I even had time to think.
It had been a situation beginners especially needed to be careful about.
This whole mess had happened because they’d wandered around the first floor for no reason.
“Let’s wake Hena up first.”
“R-Right.”
I was shaken, but after listening to the sword spirits, I quickly calmed down.
I had only been startled for a moment. We weren’t close enough to grieve deeply in the first place.
The real problem was Hena, who was passed out over there.
Nierel and I patted her cheeks until she woke up.
“Hena. Wake up.”
“Ugh, mm… Ivan?”
Fortunately, Hena came to at once.
The moment she saw Kane and Dogo lying in blood, she sprang up and rushed to them.
“Kane! Dogo! W-Wh…”
Hena confirmed that Kane and Dogo were dead.
Her mouth hung open as she swallowed stupid, empty breaths.
“N-No… there’s no way…”
Hena shook her head violently and started casting healing magic.
It had, of course, no effect at all.
Just as the sword spirits said, Hena soon swayed on her feet.
She was still a low-rank priestess, so the amount of healing she could do was limited.
“Ivan, Nierel. Could you take the potions out of their bags?”
“Hena. They’re dead.”
“Please get the potions! No, I’ll do it myself!”
Hena staggered to her feet and pulled potions out of Kane and Dogo’s bags, then poured them over the corpses.
No amount of low-grade potion was going to bring the dead back.
The sword spirits clicked their tongues, lamenting the waste.
Nierel and I watched silently.
It had all happened because of those three, but this wasn’t the time or place to be pointing fingers.
*
“Have you calmed down a little?”
“…Yes.”
Only after struggling for a long while did Hena finally accept reality.
Kane and Dogo were dead.
Because of their own foolish greed.
“Ivan. Nierel. I know this is shameless of me, but could you help me carry Kane and Dogo’s bodies together? I really can’t bring myself to leave them behind…”
There was no reason to agree to Hena’s request.
After all, Nierel and I had also been harmed by these three.
The sword spirits clicked their tongues as well.
“Ah, Ivan…”
Nierel glanced at me, reading my expression.
She seemed to want to help Hena.
Even as a ninth-rank Climber, Nierel was kinder than the sword spirits, who’d long since been ground down by the world.
“P-Please, I’m begging you! I’ll give you all the rewards we got this time too, so please!”
The sword spirits were already sounding almost lighthearted again.
People dying in the labyrinth was common, after all.
They’d probably seen far more party members die than I could imagine.
And besides, there was no reason to show mercy to party members who had tried to deceive us.
“Very well. We’ll split the magic stones we’ve collected so far exactly as we originally said.”
But this was my first time in the labyrinth.
It wasn’t that I felt especially sorry for Hena.
Nor had I forgiven them for trying to trick me.
I simply wanted to pay for this as tuition for my first trip into the labyrinth.
The sword spirits said that as if they had known it all along.
“T-Thank you! Thank you!”
Hena bowed deeply, overcome with emotion.
Still dizzy, she nearly toppled over several times.
“In exchange, we’ll split whatever we got from the raiders between Nierel and me.”
“O-Of course. I wasn’t hoping for anything more than that!”
While Hena was busy fussing over the bodies, Nierel and I searched the raiders.
Their bags and pockets were surprisingly full.
It looked like they had plundered several other parties before us.
There were a great many goblin magic stones, along with the raiders’ equipment.
If we sold it all, it would make quite a bit of money.
“All right, let’s go.”
We set off, each carrying our own burden and a corpse.
Hena carried Kane’s body, while I carried Dogo’s.
Nierel took the remaining bags.
“But what about the path?”
“We’ll use the map Dogo marked and find our way. At least it seems like we’re near the teleport stone, which is a relief.”
I took Dogo’s map.
The Invisible Sword checked it for me.
But if I found the way too easily without even being a guide, it would seem suspicious, so I took a slight detour and headed toward the teleport stone.
Fortunately, the distance wasn’t that great.
We ran into a goblin group once, but Nierel and I handled it easily enough.
After about three or four hours, a faint glow from the teleport stone finally began to appear beyond the darkness.
“There it is! Amazing, Ivan! You found the way even though you’re not a guide!”
“Dogo marked it well, so I was able to make it here.”
“Thank you so much… thank you…”
Hena and Nierel both brightened at the sight of the teleport stone.
Hena seemed relieved that she had managed to bring her friends’ bodies out, while Nierel simply looked relieved not to be carrying the bags anymore.
“I’m glad we got here safely. Still, why are there so many of these?”
I, on the other hand, was a little confused.
The exit chamber didn’t just contain the teleport stone.
A single blue stone that looked like the teleport stone stood in the center of the room, and it was surrounded by thirteen statues.
“Come to think of it, this is probably your first time, Ivan. Those are the Stone[s] of Blessing of the Thirteen Gods.”
“Stone of Blessing?”
The thirteen stone statues had all been carved in different shapes, each with its own distinct style.
Nierel introduced them as the Stones of Blessing.
“Hmm… well, we won’t use them right away, so should I explain once we’re outside?”
It seemed like they were stones with a purpose.
But we didn’t have the luxury of waiting around.
Hena, who was supporting Kane’s body, looked terrible.
“Ah, yes. Let’s go outside first.”
Getting out was the priority for now.
We headed toward the teleport stone.
The closer we got, the nearer the thirteen statues loomed as well.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt as though the thirteen statues were staring at us.
Nierel dashed ahead excitedly toward the teleport stone, while Hena and I followed more slowly.
What exactly are these Stones of Blessing?
I’d hear the explanation soon enough, but I couldn’t hold back my curiosity and asked the sword spirits anyway.
I had heard about the gods of the labyrinth before.
The labyrinth changed terrain every five floors.
Floors one through five were the cave layer, floors six through ten the forest layer, and so on.
Likewise, the god who governed each layer changed with the same cycle.
Each layer also had its own set of rules, depending on the god in charge.
For example, the cave layer from floors one through five was governed by the God of Darkness.
And so on, for a total of thirteen gods.
I looked back at the statues of the Stones of Blessing.
There were statues shaped like closed eyes, wind, fire, and many others.
Then why are they called Stones of Blessing?
Blessings?
The power gods granted to Climbers. Blessings.
They were similar to a mage’s buff spells.
But because they came from the gods, they were far more varied and far stronger.
There were blessings that simply increased attack power, and some that granted special abilities—similar to Unique Traits.
So you can’t use them outside, and they reactivate if you go back in?
Then can I get one right now?
It wasn’t something anyone could receive.
If the gods didn’t favor you, you had to climb without blessings.
On the other hand, it was possible for several gods to take an interest in you, and in that case several gods might offer blessings at the same time.
But you could only receive one blessing per floor.
Then the Climber had to choose which god to accept.
Interesting. You need the gods’ favor to receive a blessing. And if several gods choose you at once, the Climber gets to choose between them instead…
Apparently, the Stones of Blessing had existed ever since the labyrinth was first discovered.
That meant they hadn’t been made by humans.
They had been placed there by the gods.
“Ivan! Hurry up!”
At that moment, Nierel, who had already reached the teleport stone, called out to me.
I’d slowed down while focusing on my conversation with the sword spirits.
“Ah, yes! I’m coming!”
I answered Nierel and quickened my pace.
But my curiosity still wasn’t satisfied, so I kept asking the sword spirits in my head.
How do you know whether the gods have chosen you?
As I walked toward the teleport stone, I scanned the statues one by one.
There were thirteen statues carved into symbols of the gods: a wind shape, a wave shape, a closed-eye shape, and more.
The gods watched over the labyrinth and bestowed power on Climbers through those statues.
The Invisible Sword rambled on and on, sounding like he was reminiscing about his own first time.
It was actually kind of interesting, so I kept listening while heading toward the teleport stone.
As I approached the teleport stone, I drew closer to the Stones of Blessing as well.
And then—
Whoooosh—!
The moment I stepped nearer, the Stones of Blessing suddenly burst into light.
Two of them, in fact.
Two Stones of Blessing lit up without warning.
The sword spirits all stared in shock, as if asking what on earth was going on.
I was just as baffled.