Hawawawa Rainbow (1)
I sprinted forward and spotted a crimson flame flickering on the far side of the passage.
Rounding the corner, I found a soft pink-haired girl hemmed in by a swarm of little green brats.
She floated a flame shaped like some animal spirit and brandished a tiny wand, threatening the green monsters with it.
Heh. It had been a while since I'd seen a spirit.
Goblins are wicked creatures that threaten a maiden's chastity. Be careful, my daughter.
What? Those are goblins?
Uh… what?
Those little green kids?
It clashed a bit with my common sense, but this was another world, so I decided to roll with it.
Back in the world I'd lived in, goblins had been purple things like wild dogs with scythe-like bones growing from both hands.
I lightly tapped my foot and drew the sword at my hip.
It had been a while since I'd swung a blade.
"H-hiiik? A-a person? Ah! You've come to s-save me! I-I shall offer my thanks!"
The girl startled for a moment when she saw me, then dropped her guard and lit up her blank face with a bright smile.
What a hopelessly naive young lady.
If I'd been a thief, I might have killed her first.
She was pretty, though, so I had no such intention.
If you love women so much, why will you not tell this mother of yours that you love her?
Uh, I just mean she looks nice. Why are you on about this again?
I gave a light nod to the trembling girl and flicked my sword in a casual arc.
Oh? Not bad with a blade, am I?
The short sword slid smoothly through the green brats.
Only the sensation of flesh parting and bones rattling remained, crisp and clean in my hand.
It couldn't have taken more than a few seconds.
Two or three at a stride, the green brats were reduced to chunks of meat scattered across the floor in the blink of an eye.
The pink-haired girl stood frozen, staring blankly at the remains.
"Oh my? Are you all right?"
I flicked the blood from my blade onto the ground and tilted my head at her.
She trembled violently, then crumpled to the floor with a soft thump.
Her spirit was shaking just as hard as its master.
Spirits were afraid of Black, after all.
When I gave the cute little spirit a sidelong glance, it shot behind its mistress in an instant and hid.
"I-I'm fine! I-it was only that they were s-so filthy and smelly, that was all. Uu. Even someone like me is bound to be st-startled when disgusting things like that suddenly swarm in. O-of course I am m-most grateful for y-your a-aid."
The girl flushed scarlet, stammering as she averted her eyes.
Then she jumped with a start and hurriedly brushed off the hem of her robe before scrambling to her feet.
"Ahem! Ahem! My name is Beatrice Areli Ignisia. You surely know of the Flame of Ignisia, of course? …O-of course just n-now was a mistake! A complete mistake!"
"How very courteous of you. I am Lua, a guide."
The girl offered a polite bow, eyes narrowing just a fraction.
Then, in a voice so small it was almost inaudible, she added,
"Please… d-don't… leave me behind."
But I heard her clearly.
Smiling, I returned the greeting with equal formality.
Etiquette worked a little differently in situations like this, as it turned out.
"Hawawa? Are you a southern noble, by chance?"
"Oh my, not at all. Heehee."
The girl made a strange little sound, as if mildly startled.
Young Miss Beatrice kept stealing cautious glances at me and fidgeting, so I struck up conversation.
"By the way, did you come alone? You don't seem to be a guide… Where are your party members?"
"Th-that is…! I, B-Be-Beatrice Areli Ignisia! The proud top student of the Magic Department at the Imperial Quilsena Academy! I can explore the first floor of the labyrinth on my own just fine! F-for some reason the surroundings are j-just a bit too dark, though…"
"How very brave of you."
…Kyaak!
The moment the words left my mouth, a sharp screech from one of the green brats echoed from somewhere far down the passage.
Startled, Young Miss Be-Be-Beatrice seized the hem of my cloak.
"Lu… Lua-nim. I-isn't it l-lonely wandering around a-all by yourself?"
C-cute.
Daughter?
I wore a soft, amused smile and firmly took Young Miss Be-Be-Beatrice's hand.
Ahh. So soft. So squishy.
Her hand felt as gentle as the color of her hair.
I kneaded it mercilessly, savoring the texture.
"Ha! Hawawa! Lu-Lua-nim? Wh-what are you doing!"
"Hmm? Is something the matter?"
"Th-that is. That is."
With her face flaming red and the faintest sheen of tears in her eyes, Young Miss Be-Be-Beatrice was adorable beyond measure.
The spirit behind her fidgeted anxiously, but didn't dare attack me; it simply stayed put.
"Hawa. Hawa. Hawawa."
Her eyes seemed to be spinning, and her sweaty hand was so damp I finally stopped kneading it. I gave her shoulder a light pat and stepped forward.
"Shall we be off, then? Beatrice-nim."
"Uuu? Hawa?"
Having apparently lost the power of speech, Young Miss Beatrice swayed her head from side to side yet followed along quite well.
Meanwhile Black, which had slipped into the shadows and casually swallowed a green brat without a sound, seemed rather satisfied.
A soft crimson glow spilled from the fire spirit clinging to Young Miss Beatrice's shoulder and trembling.
The earthen stone passage was gently bathed in the light, creating quite the atmosphere.
I strolled along, casually slicing the jellies and brats that ambled out, tidying up my map from time to time as we advanced.
"Ha… hawa. Huh? Lu-Lua-nim. Wh-where are we?"
Only after quite some time did Young Miss Beatrice seem to recover her wits enough to speak.
"Well now. I'm not entirely certain of our exact location either. Today is my first time entering the labyrinth."
"Hawaaat! R-really?"
"Yes, that is so. Beatrice-nim."
Young Miss Beatrice's eyes welled with tears. She pushed her lips out in a pout and fidgeted her index fingers together while peering up at my face cutely.
I tilted my head at that expression of hers.
Was something wrong?
In my previous life, walking into a gate for the first time had been everyday routine, so not knowing the way never bothered me in the slightest.
Seeing me like that, she suddenly seemed to remember something and cried out.
"Ahh! That's right! I have a map of the first floor!"
Young Miss Beatrice pulled a tightly rolled map from the small bag at her waist.
Some kind of magic bag, perhaps?
Something that size shouldn't have fit a rolled object like that.
"Look! With this map we should be able to get out, right?"
Young Miss Beatrice suddenly wore a triumphant expression and held the map out to me.
Whoa. The first floor was enormous.
I quickly assembled the map in my head and told her the truth.
"Ah, none of the zones match the area we're in right now."
"Th-that can't be…"
Young Miss Beatrice shrank back again.
"Heehee, it's fine. Let's just keep going for now."
"Hawawa. Lu-Lua-nim? Do you have some kind of magic tool? You're striding along so boldly."
Uh, "striding boldly"? I wasn't making any sound at all.
Auntie Quilsena, this is the first floor, right?
Yes, it is. It is most certainly the first floor. If you follow the holy power, you should be able to reach a portal.
No, what is this sudden talk of chasing clouds?
Every portal installed within the labyrinth is a construct formed of holy power. So feel the holiness flowing through your body. The golden light will become your daughter's guide.
Uh, never mind the incomprehensible stuff. I'll just go with what I'm used to.
I roughly matched the terrain I'd already passed against Beatrice's first-floor map, filled in the blank shapes by inference, and sketched several possible routes in my head.
Hmm. Heading this way should do it.
Just as Young Miss Beatrice had said, I walked on with bold, silent strides.
If she hadn't been here I would have run faster, but for a top student she was rather short on stamina.
A flower from the greenhouse after all, I suppose.
"Haa. Hawa. Haa. Hawa."
Well, the sounds she made were cute. Hehe.
I paused for a moment to let Young Miss Beatrice catch her breath and spoke up.
"It seems the area we're in right now isn't on this map. If you look here—this part."
I pointed to a recessed section of the map.
"Or possibly this part."
Beneath the quietly wavering light of the spirit I explained it to her.
"Once we round that next corner we'll know for certain which of the two it is."
"Hawa, hawa?"
Uh, doesn't the Academy teach map reading?
While I was talking, I had Black secretly devour the green brat waiting around the corner.
Watching Black slowly grow larger filled me with a warm sense of satisfaction.
This was the right way.
The map and the section I had drawn myself looked like they could connect.
"Oh my, this is the correct path."
I was just passing down the long corridor with light steps.
Between the musty stone and the peculiar earthy scent, a rather familiar smell brushed my nose.
The smell of rust.
No—old blood.
That thick, cloying fragrance that clung and stuck.
"Hawa? Lua-nim?"
I signaled for her to stop, but Young Miss Beatrice only hawawa-ed and trotted right up beside me.
Then she poked her head out over my shoulder.
The spirit's crimson light illuminated a heap piled in the wide chamber around the far corner of the corridor.
I had already checked it earlier, but it wasn't a particularly pretty sight.
"Hawa? That doesn't look like a goblin, but the smell is somehow…"
A sidelong glance showed Beatrice pinching her nose and wrinkling her face.
Her eyes shone brightly for a moment—then she must have realized what was strewn about.
Rotten leather armor long past its prime, robes soaked and torn with blood, and human limbs turned a sickly yellow.
And finally, a head rolling free.
At a rough count, roughly thirty corpses lay scattered in a messy pile.
The thrifty thoroughness with which every scrap of metal had been scraped clean made my tongue click in reluctant admiration.
"Hiiik!"
Young Miss Beatrice's face went deathly pale; she toppled backward and landed hard on her rear.
"Urgh—ueeeek."
Then she twisted around and painted a rainbow onto the floor.
I felt too sorry for the pretty young lady to put into words what had just come out of her mouth.
I stepped a little away from Young Miss Beatrice, treading the sticky, dark-red mud as I approached the pile of corpses.
The cause of death was the same for all of them.
A few of the bodies showed signs of having been toyed with by the brats earlier, but the decisive wounds were deep sword cuts.
Was there some low-quality beginner hunter around? Hehe.
Hey, Leon! You said the labyrinth city was a place with a proper system in place!
I quietly covered the corners of my mouth—which were lifting with far too much enjoyment—with my hand so Young Miss Beatrice wouldn't see.