Week 1 (4)
Week 1 (4)
"Ah... you've arrived, have you? Hik!"
"Drinking from the morning again?"
"I've already told you about that... Ack. Stop, hee-hee!"
The butler passed out in the office, reeking of wine and totally wasted.
With guests here, she sure knows how to put on a show.
Pissed off, I kicked the couch she was sprawled on, and she half-tumbled off, letting out a hilarious hee-hee giggle like it was the funniest thing ever.
Ray, who'd witnessed the whole spectacle from start to finish, opened her mouth with an icy-cold expression.
"Is this the person who's supposed to explain the details?"
"Yeah, unfortunately."
She might look like this, but she's got plenty of experience rolling around in this world, so she probably knows a fair bit. Or so I hoped.
I casually plopped down in the office chair, and Valerie, who'd been quietly watching me, tilted her head and said,
"Huh, why are you sitting there...?"
Her eyes were full of questions as she stared at me.
What? What's wrong with that?
Caught off guard myself, I hemmed and hawed before adding,
"Well, it's my seat...?"
At that, Valerie's eyes went wide as saucers.
"Huh? The nameplate says Master..."
"Yeah, for now."
What's with this girl?
So, what the hell did she think I was up to now?
Maybe my bewilderment showed in my eyes, because even without me saying it out loud, she started making excuses.
"No, I mean, normally a Lord doesn't come out to greet people personally... Uh, what I mean is, should I start showing some respect from now on...?"
"Uh... no need for that."
I didn't ask for this position, and now wasn't the time I felt like playing Lord.
I shook my head, and Valerie visibly relaxed, her lips curling up... while wrapping her jacket tightly around herself.
Around then, Ray asked the drunken, swaying butler,
"You're the butler of this manor, right? I want to hear about the request."
At Ray's earnest question, the butler seemed to pull herself together a bit and propped up her upper body, staggering.
"Ahh, the expedition, you mean... Nothing special. In short, just explore the Labyrinth underground down to the bottom, and you're done."
"That doesn't sound so simple. I heard you have to take out specific entities—y'know, targets—on each layer to proceed to the lower ones."
"You knew that much, huh."
"The Master over there explained it first."
Ray jerked her chin toward me.
The butler's golden eyes flicked my way for a moment before indifferently turning away.
Then, she let out a breath.
Maybe because it was thick with alcohol, Ray's eyebrow twitched slightly.
With that breath, it was like the butler had exhaled all her drunkenness, muttering to herself in a dry voice.
"I recommend keeping the first expedition light. Even the first layer isn't a pushover for three people. I'll handle preparing the expedition supplies myself. As for anything else I can explain... well, not yet. Hear the rest of the plan from the Master."
I'd been questioning if she was even in her right mind just moments ago, drunk off her ass, but she'd spat out some surprisingly solid advice before promptly collapsing again like she'd used up all her strength.
I was startled for a sec, but it seemed she just couldn't control her body from the booze.
Replaying her words in my head, I let out a groan.
'Three people,' she said. But there's only two mercenaries here.
Was she planning to go herself? Nah, didn't seem like it no matter how I looked. Then, the only other person here is...
"Uh, hold on. Three people?"
"Yeah? Well... yeah. I can't go down there."
"Huh. Then that three includes..."
"Oh, aha. Obviously, the last spot is the Master. You weren't planning to just sit here sucking your thumb, were you? Though that'd be fine by me... better if you sucked something else while you're at it."
What.
I have to go too?
Flustered, rolling my eyes around, she smirked like she found it amusing.
"No choice, like it or not. Only the master of this manor is permitted to handle the 'Embers'..."
"You mean the Embers, right?"
Fuck. No escape now.
I barely held back from slapping my forehead.
Without Embers when entering the Labyrinth, you can't even secure visibility, but worse, you can't even maintain your sanity.
In the game, it showed up as stacking Stress penalties, but in reality, who knows how it'll manifest.
Hell, in this game, 'no-Embers play' is treated as one of the most masochistic constraint runs—the kind only ultra-hardcore old-timers would even attempt.
So, if I'm the only one who can handle the Embers, me going into the Labyrinth is already a done deal.
The butler gazed fondly at my worry-filled face and added,
"Still... hik, no need to worry too much. The evils of the Labyrinth won't attack the Ember Keeper behind the veil first. You'll be safe until all the mercenaries are dead."
Hey, hey. Don't say shit like that where I can hear it... No time to lament, though—Ray's emotionless gaze stabbed right at me.
"Hmm."
And then she lets out that weird hum.
What's that supposed to mean?
Valerie, who'd been listening quietly beside her, teased,
"Looks like you're coming with us, Master?"
"Yeah... guess so."
Something glinted in her grinning eyes, so I ignored Valerie's stare and asked Ray,
"Just to check again, how's your condition?"
"No issues. We can head out right now."
Something weird happened this morning, but Ray didn't seem to think it was a problem.
Whether it's this corrupted land's fault or that damn Sexton Mode I installed—who knows. That's the real horror.
If it really is because of that... No, don't think about it now.
"Then let's start tackling it today. No new hires till next week anyway, so waiting a day or two won't change shit."
Keeping calm as best I could, I wrapped up the situation.
Ray nodded slightly and lightly rubbed the scabbard at her waist.
"Got it. We'll head back to the Barracks and prep right away. Have your butler prep the supplies like she said."
"See ya later."
And with that, the two headed back to the Barracks for now.
Left alone in the office with just the butler, I finally couldn't hold back and spoke first.
"So, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Mean by what?"
Playing dumb and tilting her head, I chose my words more carefully.
"That they won't attack me first. No, hell, what's an Ember Keeper even?"
I'd never heard the term 'Ember Keeper' in the games I've played.
Embers are expedition gear you bring along, burn as needed to keep the light going, and they also block some of the Labyrinth's Madness... that's all I knew.
But what the butler just said felt different.
"That's exactly it. Light is essential when entering the Labyrinth... and only the Master, permitted to handle the Embers, can protect that light. Hik, so the Master has to come along, no question."
"That much... I get."
It's not in the original Tombstone, and no way Sexton Mode has some serious lore like that.
But anyway, rough idea: I have to go down.
Mystery solved on how to command the mercenaries.
Not the way I wanted, though.
I'd secretly hoped sitting in the manor office clicking away on some screen would be ideal.
"Yeah, and on that note... because of that light, the Labyrinth's evils won't easily notice the Master's presence. The Embers are the territory's last light, and those dark-adapted bastards can't even look straight at you."
"But if all the mercenaries die and I'm left alone down there, I'm fucked forever, right?"
"Hehe, hik. Spot on."
The butler laughed cheerfully, but for me, it was just sigh-worthy.
No, at least it's like having one layer of breakwater. Gotta count my blessings?
Worst case averted for sure, so that's good.
As I kept sighing heavily, the butler slyly rubbed against me like she was comforting me.
"It's fine. Past Lords lasted an average of ten weeks. Hik, no unfortunate accidents, and you'll be okay for now."
"Real comforting. And quit groping my chest on the sly."
Don't test my patience.
Keep this up and I won't hold back—Ack, that bumpy thing just went ehhh.
*
"...You sure it's okay to go like that?"
At the entrance to the dungeon, I couldn't hold back and stopped Ray.
"Yeah, I said it's fine."
She answered with a bored look, but no matter how I sliced it... this ain't right.
She had minimal shoulder armor and proper gauntlets on her arms, but the rest? Best case, everyday clothes—bluntly, closer to underwear.
In short, straight out of Sexton Mode.
Trying not to stare at her exposed skin, I pressed,
"No, I mean. Where's your helmet? Your armor? You came fully geared before."
"I told you, it feels like I shouldn't wear it for some reason. You said it's the Labyrinth's influence below too, right? Wearing it now would probably backfire."
It looked blatantly dangerous, but Ray was all whatever about it.
Blame it all on the mode's effect, and yeah, nothing left to say.
Still, it looked too risky visually, so I tried pushing for armor, but with her being so stubborn, no dice.
I gave up persuading and glanced away.
At least Valerie had her jacket on, so less exposure... at least on the surface.
First time we met, she ditched the jacket for a bra top, and she's still like that, so probably no undies underneath either.
"We got all the supplies, so looks like we're ready."
Like Valerie said, the butler had just handed over everything and left with a 'don't die, come back' non-encouragement.
Meaning, now it's really time to enter the Labyrinth.
I double-checked the oil and torch sack stuffed in my backpack one last time.
As Lord and funder, supplies are sorta my share too, but we split 'em fairly with the mercenaries for carrying.
Thus, my key role as Ember Keeper.
In other words, safeguard the light so the mercenaries don't get eaten by Madness.
Game-system wise, it's Stress management.
"Then, let's go."
Saying that, I took a deep breath and stepped onto the Magic Circle.
The Labyrinth entrance doesn't physically exist.
So how to enter? Surprisingly, 'teleport.'
Tombstone's fantasy setting, after all.
A teleport magic circle? Totally plausible.
So, fuel this Magic Circle to activate the transfer ritual—seems like.
Don't know the details, don't care.
What matters is where you spawn.
"One last reminder: stay max alert until we light the Embers right after entering."
"Got it, got it."
Valerie waved it off annoyed-like, but I still wasn't reassured.
Sounds cocky, but for rotten vets like me who've seen the endings multiple times, expedition fails aren't easy.
We know most variables inside out, prep countermeasures double- and triple-fold, or improvise if needed.
But that's exactly why Tombstone players peg expedition start as the riskiest moment.
Tombstone's a certified fuck-you game—the spawn point in the Labyrinth is random.
The one system where you control zero variables, total bullshit.
Bad luck? Spawn into combat, no formation, fight in dark without Embers.
The worst Tombstone combat: 'No-Embers (dark)/ambush/consecutive battles'—aka Doom-Gie-Yeon.
Most players modded to prevent spawn-kills, but modding locks achievements, so no clear.
And yeah, I was an achievement completionist, so I'd long accepted that bullshit system.
"...Alright, let's go."
Gripping the torch sack tight, one final deep breath, then as the butler instructed, I slowly poured the liquid from the bottle onto the Magic Circle.
Liquefied Energy—specifically, mana.
As described, it powers the ritual.
First time doing it for real, obviously.
The Magic Circle underfoot began to glow faintly, and super tense, I lightly tossed the bottle in my hand away.
Eyes sharp.
From here on, it's the real deal.