Chapter 162: Exploration (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 162: Exploration (1)
The day after my negotiations with the district chief, the whole team gathered for our second meeting. After getting through the thirty-one points of discussion that we couldn't last time, we came up with a plan for our quest together.
"Hmm, if we want to go to the fifth floor, there will be a lot of preparations to make."
"Can I leave that part to you? If you bring back the receipts, I'll take it out of the shared funds."
"All right. I have business at Kommelby, anyway."
The name of the team was decided at this meeting. I thought "Team Bjorn" was good enough, but Ainar wasn't the only one with fantasies about our team name.
Raven suggested one first. "Um... I thought about it, but how about the name 'Narak?'"
"Narak?"
"It means 'those who walk in the darkness' in an ancient language. It's nice, isn't it?"
I didn't know about that, to be honest, but I did get the sense that a black flame dragon used to live inside the right hand of this edgy twenty-four-year-old wizard. Those who walk in the darkness... "You... have a unique taste."
"...Are you making fun of me?"
Anyway, I was just about to choose the team's name based on Raven's claim that her suggestion was a hundred times better than something as half-assed as Team Bjorn when Ainar, who was dozing off, rushed to join the conversation. "N-No! I came up with a team name!"
"Pardon? Oh, do you have another idea?"
"Our team name is Apple Pie!"
"Apple pie...? Like the dessert?" Raven asked, half-dazed. Without hesitation, Ainar replied in the affirmative. Apparently, it was her favorite thing. "What nonsense..."
"How come!?"
Raven sighed at Ainar's stubbornness before suggesting a vote. Apparently, she was convinced that we would never give credence to a name like that.
Mr. Bear abstained. "I don't care what our team name is, so you guys figure it out."
Unexpectedly, Missha voted for Ainar's suggestion. "Mm, I think Apple Pie is fine too... It's sweet and delicious."
"That's—! W-What about you, Mr. Yandel? You're not going to use such a ridiculous name, are you?"
To be honest, this was a dilemma. If I took Raven's side, it would be a draw. Deep down, I wanted to take Ainar's side and wrap this up as soon as possible, but showing favoritism as the team's leader would hurt the wizard's feelings. I suggested a compromise out of necessity. "Let's just combine them and name it Apple Narak."
Raven was speechless.
"Oh, is Narak Pie better?"
"...I'll take the first one."
"Ainar, you?"
"I think that's better too! I like how it sounds!"
Just like that, Apple Narak was chosen as our official team name and the second meeting was over.
After that, peaceful days followed. My daily routine consisted of reading books at the library and meeting with the entire team every morning to practice working together before our expedition.
On our third day of practice, Hikurod dropped by for a visit out of the blue. "Hahaha! Long time no see, Ainar! Miss Raven!" The dwarf seemed to be visiting after hearing the news from Missha. We exchanged some conversation about current events. The construction to convert his home into a forge was already underway, and apparently he was busy recruiting a blacksmith these days.
"Oh, your wife runs a tavern? I'll have to check it out later."
"Yes, come and try the honey wine. My wife makes it herself, and it's our shop's unique delicacy."
Since they both liked to drink, it seemed he and Mr. Bear would make surprisingly good friends. They weren't going to become best friends later, were they?
Anyway, time marched on like that, and the day arrived before I knew it.
"I should get ready."
The labyrinth would open today.
***
"Bjorn, arrre you ready?"
"Oh, just a moment." I put on my full armor for the first time in a while and lifted the backpack I had packed yesterday onto my shoulder.
Creak.
When I walked out the door, Missha and Ainar were waiting for me. "Have you forgotten anything?"
"No!" Ainar answered loudly.
Missha sighed beside her. "She couldn't be, anyway. Everrrything important is in my backpack."
"I see." This thought had been growing more and more pronounced recently, but I was glad I at least had Missha. This would have been more tiring if I were alone.
"Oh, Bjorn. Therrre's something in your mailbox."
"Huh?" Right when I was about to step away from the door, Missha pointed at the mailbox next to it. When I opened the box, there was a letter inside.
The sender is... Niall Urbans?
It was a letter from the district chief. Since when was this in my mailbox?
Rip.
I tore it open and read through the contents. Well, "through" may not have been the right word.
I will not ask you to pay the bill.
The letter was just one line. I could practically sense the district chief's arrogance in it, but it was still a gesture of reconciliation. If he wanted to continue his war with me, he would've sent a fine or a bill with it.
It was a good idea to break the door.
Truthfully, when he had asked me what I wanted, I also had the option of asking for money. But I didn't breathe a word of that and just busted the door down like a thug. That was because I wanted to get it through his head that if he did me wrong, he'd pay the price, and that price could not be paid with money.
Then it looks like I won't have to worry about that now.
I had revealed that I had neither joined hands with his daughter nor had any intentions of doing so in the future. I also implied that if he were hostile toward me, there would be very annoying consequences. Getting back at me in a blind rage? It was safe to say that nothing like that would happen at least until the end of the election season next year.
"What's the letter about?" asked Missha.
"Oh, nothing to worry about." I tore up the letter and threw it in the trash can on the first floor on my way out.
We headed to the meeting place, the central plaza of District Seven. As it was a location often used as a meeting place, it was crowded with adventurers waiting for their teammates.
"You're one minute late." As soon as we arrived at the alleyway on the right, Raven grinned at us. However, she didn't seem bothered by our lateness. No, she looked to be enjoying it. "Come on, pay the fine. You promised, right?"
"Oh, your wife runs a tavern? I'll have to check it out later."
"Yes, come and try the honey wine. My wife makes it herself, and it's our shop's unique delicacy."
Since they both liked to drink, it seemed he and Mr. Bear would make surprisingly good friends. They weren't going to become best friends later, were they?
Anyway, time marched on like that, and the day arrived before I knew it.
"I should get ready."
The labyrinth would open today.
***
"Bjorn, arrre you ready?"
"Oh, just a moment." I put on my full armor for the first time in a while and lifted the backpack I had packed yesterday onto my shoulder.
Creak.
When I walked out the door, Missha and Ainar were waiting for me. "Have you forgotten anything?"
"No!" Ainar answered loudly.
Missha sighed beside her. "She couldn't be, anyway. Everrrything important is in my backpack."
"I see." This thought had been growing more and more pronounced recently, but I was glad I at least had Missha. This would have been more tiring if I were alone.
"Oh, Bjorn. Therrre's something in your mailbox."
"Huh?" Right when I was about to step away from the door, Missha pointed at the mailbox next to it. When I opened the box, there was a letter inside.
The sender is... Niall Urbans?
It was a letter from the district chief. Since when was this in my mailbox?
Rip.
I tore it open and read through the contents. Well, "through" may not have been the right word.
I will not ask you to pay the bill.
The letter was just one line. I could practically sense the district chief's arrogance in it, but it was still a gesture of reconciliation. If he wanted to continue his war with me, he would've sent a fine or a bill with it.
It was a good idea to break the door.
Truthfully, when he had asked me what I wanted, I also had the option of asking for money. But I didn't breathe a word of that and just busted the door down like a thug. That was because I wanted to get it through his head that if he did me wrong, he'd pay the price, and that price could not be paid with money.
Then it looks like I won't have to worry about that now.
I had revealed that I had neither joined hands with his daughter nor had any intentions of doing so in the future. I also implied that if he were hostile toward me, there would be very annoying consequences. Getting back at me in a blind rage? It was safe to say that nothing like that would happen at least until the end of the election season next year.
"What's the letter about?" asked Missha.
"Oh, nothing to worry about." I tore up the letter and threw it in the trash can on the first floor on my way out.
We headed to the meeting place, the central plaza of District Seven. As it was a location often used as a meeting place, it was crowded with adventurers waiting for their teammates.
"You're one minute late." As soon as we arrived at the alleyway on the right, Raven grinned at us. However, she didn't seem bothered by our lateness. No, she looked to be enjoying it. "Come on, pay the fine. You promised, right?"
"Oh, yeah. The fine..." For reference, the fine was one of the thirty-one discussion topics she had raised at the second meeting. "How much was it, again?"
"One thousand stones per minute. Since there are three of you, that'll be three thousand stones."
I obediently opened my wallet and paid the fine for three people. If I hadn't wasted time reading the letter, we wouldn't have been late. "But Raven, where's your bag?" I noticed while paying the fine that Raven wasn't carrying anything on her back. When I asked about it, I got a strange response in return.
"Oh, that?" The corners of Raven's mouth lifted, and she tapped the ring on her index finger twice. It began to glow, and a small portal opened in the air.
"A subspace...?"
"Yes. I thought it might be necessary for the labyrinth. I sold all my unnecessary possessions and treated myself with that money."
Right. Someone like you can treat yourself to things like this. A subspace, just for you.
Jingle.
Raven stored my payment in her subspace as if to flaunt it and then closed the portal. That made my heart burn a bit for some reason. Was this what some might call 'feeling deprived'? And she was always whining about having no money... I thought she really didn't have any.
"Anyway, Abman is rrrunning late." While I was trying to shake off my envy, the topic of conversation changed.
"You're right. He's not going to ditch us, right?"
"I am not worried! He must have lost his way!"
Raven laughed like that was ridiculous. "How can a scout get lost?"
"Mmm, isn't it possible? I hearrrd it's a useless ability in the city."
"But he lives near here."
"That's... definitely true. Then why is he late?"
"M-Maybe he has a stomachache?!"
The three women started chattering about Mr. Bear's tardiness. I just stayed silent. The plan was to reveal Mr. Bear's poor sense of direction inside the labyrinth. Anyway, after a long while, the crowded plaza quieted down.
Right when we started to sincerely worry, Mr. Bear showed up. "Sorry I'm late. Did you wait long?"
"Pay the fine first. You are exactly forty-five minutes late."
"Oh, I forgot about that..." Thanks to the fine, Mr. Bear was robbed of forty-five thousand stones before even entering the labyrinth.
"But why are you late?"
"It's the first time I've come here at night. My surroundings looked somewhat unfamiliar."
"Pardon? What do you mean—"
"Okay, let's go. We'll be late." I quickly interrupted and stopped the conversation there.
After Raven cast the binding spell, I led the group to Dimension Square. When we arrived, it was way past midnight, and the portal was slowly decreasing in size. In just a little while, the timing would be right to use my experience points cheat, but...
I'll decide whether or not to let them know about that after this expedition.
We pushed onward into the portal.
***
[You have entered the Crystal Cave on the first floor.]
The Crystal Cave was a much too familiar sight now. As soon as I opened my eyes, a shout from Ainar echoed and pounded against my eardrums. "Behelaaah!"
"Oh, yeah. The fine..." For reference, the fine was one of the thirty-one discussion topics she had raised at the second meeting. "How much was it, again?"
"One thousand stones per minute. Since there are three of you, that'll be three thousand stones."
I obediently opened my wallet and paid the fine for three people. If I hadn't wasted time reading the letter, we wouldn't have been late. "But Raven, where's your bag?" I noticed while paying the fine that Raven wasn't carrying anything on her back. When I asked about it, I got a strange response in return.
"Oh, that?" The corners of Raven's mouth lifted, and she tapped the ring on her index finger twice. It began to glow, and a small portal opened in the air.
"A subspace...?"
"Yes. I thought it might be necessary for the labyrinth. I sold all my unnecessary possessions and treated myself with that money."
Right. Someone like you can treat yourself to things like this. A subspace, just for you.
Jingle.
Raven stored my payment in her subspace as if to flaunt it and then closed the portal. That made my heart burn a bit for some reason. Was this what some might call 'feeling deprived'? And she was always whining about having no money... I thought she really didn't have any.
"Anyway, Abman is rrrunning late." While I was trying to shake off my envy, the topic of conversation changed.
"You're right. He's not going to ditch us, right?"
"I am not worried! He must have lost his way!"
Raven laughed like that was ridiculous. "How can a scout get lost?"
"Mmm, isn't it possible? I hearrrd it's a useless ability in the city."
"But he lives near here."
"That's... definitely true. Then why is he late?"
"M-Maybe he has a stomachache?!"
The three women started chattering about Mr. Bear's tardiness. I just stayed silent. The plan was to reveal Mr. Bear's poor sense of direction inside the labyrinth. Anyway, after a long while, the crowded plaza quieted down.
Right when we started to sincerely worry, Mr. Bear showed up. "Sorry I'm late. Did you wait long?"
"Pay the fine first. You are exactly forty-five minutes late."
"Oh, I forgot about that..." Thanks to the fine, Mr. Bear was robbed of forty-five thousand stones before even entering the labyrinth.
"But why are you late?"
"It's the first time I've come here at night. My surroundings looked somewhat unfamiliar."
"Pardon? What do you mean—"
"Okay, let's go. We'll be late." I quickly interrupted and stopped the conversation there.
After Raven cast the binding spell, I led the group to Dimension Square. When we arrived, it was way past midnight, and the portal was slowly decreasing in size. In just a little while, the timing would be right to use my experience points cheat, but...
I'll decide whether or not to let them know about that after this expedition.
We pushed onward into the portal.
***
[You have entered the Crystal Cave on the first floor.]
The Crystal Cave was a much too familiar sight now. As soon as I opened my eyes, a shout from Ainar echoed and pounded against my eardrums. "Behelaaah!"
"Kyaaa! Y-You scared me! Why are you screaming all of a sudden?" Raven asked.
"I just felt like doing it!" Ainar answered.
Yes, I knew that feeling. I nodded in understanding. This was her first time back here after an entire six months. For Ainar, who was a born barbarian, that must have a special significance.
"Yeah, there really is another barrrbarian on the team..." While Missha glanced between me and Ainar and sighed, Mr. Bear was surprisingly nonchalant.
"It's better than being quiet." Since he'd been working alone for a long time, it seemed he didn't hate our noisiness.
Anyway, enough chit-chat. "Abman, what's closest?"
Mr. Bear pointed off into the distance at my question. When I checked it against my compass, it was south. In other words, our starting point this time was the ghoul zone.
Caught on the opposite side again.
"Since we're going to the Goblin Forest, we can head this way instead. I'll lead." Mr. Bear put away his compass and led the way. I wondered if it would be better for me to just use his initial instructions and guide the team myself, but...
Well, I need to know how good he is.
Knowing how severe Mr. Bear's poor sense of direction was would let me decide whether it could be corrected through effort or not. If there really was no other option, I was planning to just use Mr. Bear as a compass to find the way myself. I'd learned a few things from watching Rotmiller.
Anyway, heading north, we inevitably passed through the center of the first floor, a dark zone where four different types of monsters appeared together. Without needing to take out a torch, Raven lit up our surroundings with solar magic. "Leait."
Whoom!
Unlike a torch's gloomy red light, this spell lit up the area in pure white. I could comfortably see, like back in the city, but there was one concern.
"This is only the first floorrr—don't you think it's better to save your mana?"
"This much is fine. It charges pretty fast."
"O-Oh... I-I see?"
"Yes. And don't worry. Maintaining this won't interfere with my ability to cast other spells."
Soon, Missha clamped her mouth shut. She was clearly seeing the majesty of a real wizard, which Dwalkie had dejectedly described for us countless times in the past.
"It's fascinating that your mana recharges so fast. The wizard I was with in the past wasn't that skilled," Mr. Bear said, stroking Raven's ego.
"Ahem, I'm confident when it comes to mana, if I must say so myself. You'd be hard-pressed to find another wizard like me in the same class."
"Oh, really? Well, now that I've seen this, I can tell you are a superb wizard."
"I'm flattered. You're also a rank-five adventurer and a scout, Mr. Urikfried."
While the two of them were buttering each other up, a cavity with a radius of about thirty yards appeared in the cave.
"Ah, this is that rift!"
"Ainar."
When I tersely said her name, Ainar clasped her mouth shut with her hand. That made her look even more suspicious, but luckily everyone's attention was focused on the monument in the center of the cavity.
"I've only heard about this before." Like a typical wizard, Raven approached the monument with academic curiosity.
As a fifth-year adventurer, Missha also had some insight. "Is this it? The monument rrraised by the Immortal King, in honor of the arrrchmage who first discovered the labyrinth?"
"Yes. It is commonly known as such."
"Commonly?"
"The theory going around in the academic world is that the archmage didn't discover the labyrinth but created it. Oh, to put it simply... The theory is that the great sage did not create the portal by discovering coordinates to another dimension, but that they created the labyrinth dimension itself."
Like the know-it-all she was, Raven's explanation got longer. Ainar was not even listening and Missha just seemed to be going along with it, but I was curious. "Why do the wizards think that?"
"Because of this monument."
"The monument?"
When I gave her a reaction, Raven immediately followed up with an explanation. "The labyrinth remains constant. Even if the terrain is destroyed, it will return to its original form the next time the portal opens. That is why there are theories out there that travel between the dimensions includes not only space but also time in its coordinates..."
"Ugh... my head..." Ainar moaned in pain after hearing so many complicated words in quick succession.
Raven pouted and gave a short summary. "This monument is proof that space-time magic was at least several times more developed back in the era when the labyrinth was first discovered than it is in the modern day. Space creation that is impossible now may have been possible then."
Even the summary was long, but I got the gist of it. "I see." To sum it up, wizards thousands of years ago were capable of casting dimensional magic.
I should look into the great sage.
Perhaps there was another way to return to Earth besides the Gate of the Abyss.
"Are you finished talking?" Mr. Bear had been standing off to the side until now like he was uninterested in this topic.
"Oh, yeah. Let's go."
At his urging, we resumed our expedition. Then—
"Oh, the monument!"
We ended up in the same location about fifteen minutes later. Despite the fact that I was watching him at work, I still couldn't understand the method he was using to find the way. "How did this happen, Mr. Urikfried?"
"Oh, that was my mistake. I thought it would be faster to go that way..."
I immediately threw away my plans to develop Mr. Bear as a scout. This was not something that could be fixed.
"Kyaaa! Y-You scared me! Why are you screaming all of a sudden?" Raven asked.
"I just felt like doing it!" Ainar answered.
Yes, I knew that feeling. I nodded in understanding. This was her first time back here after an entire six months. For Ainar, who was a born barbarian, that must have a special significance.
"Yeah, there really is another barrrbarian on the team..." While Missha glanced between me and Ainar and sighed, Mr. Bear was surprisingly nonchalant.
"It's better than being quiet." Since he'd been working alone for a long time, it seemed he didn't hate our noisiness.
Anyway, enough chit-chat. "Abman, what's closest?"
Mr. Bear pointed off into the distance at my question. When I checked it against my compass, it was south. In other words, our starting point this time was the ghoul zone.
Caught on the opposite side again.
"Since we're going to the Goblin Forest, we can head this way instead. I'll lead." Mr. Bear put away his compass and led the way. I wondered if it would be better for me to just use his initial instructions and guide the team myself, but...
Well, I need to know how good he is.
Knowing how severe Mr. Bear's poor sense of direction was would let me decide whether it could be corrected through effort or not. If there really was no other option, I was planning to just use Mr. Bear as a compass to find the way myself. I'd learned a few things from watching Rotmiller.
Anyway, heading north, we inevitably passed through the center of the first floor, a dark zone where four different types of monsters appeared together. Without needing to take out a torch, Raven lit up our surroundings with solar magic. "Leait."
Whoom!
Unlike a torch's gloomy red light, this spell lit up the area in pure white. I could comfortably see, like back in the city, but there was one concern.
"This is only the first floorrr—don't you think it's better to save your mana?"
"This much is fine. It charges pretty fast."
"O-Oh... I-I see?"
"Yes. And don't worry. Maintaining this won't interfere with my ability to cast other spells."
Soon, Missha clamped her mouth shut. She was clearly seeing the majesty of a real wizard, which Dwalkie had dejectedly described for us countless times in the past.
"It's fascinating that your mana recharges so fast. The wizard I was with in the past wasn't that skilled," Mr. Bear said, stroking Raven's ego.
"Ahem, I'm confident when it comes to mana, if I must say so myself. You'd be hard-pressed to find another wizard like me in the same class."
"Oh, really? Well, now that I've seen this, I can tell you are a superb wizard."
"I'm flattered. You're also a rank-five adventurer and a scout, Mr. Urikfried."
While the two of them were buttering each other up, a cavity with a radius of about thirty yards appeared in the cave.
"Ah, this is that rift!"
"Ainar."
When I tersely said her name, Ainar clasped her mouth shut with her hand. That made her look even more suspicious, but luckily everyone's attention was focused on the monument in the center of the cavity.
"I've only heard about this before." Like a typical wizard, Raven approached the monument with academic curiosity.
As a fifth-year adventurer, Missha also had some insight. "Is this it? The monument rrraised by the Immortal King, in honor of the arrrchmage who first discovered the labyrinth?"
"Yes. It is commonly known as such."
"Commonly?"
"The theory going around in the academic world is that the archmage didn't discover the labyrinth but created it. Oh, to put it simply... The theory is that the great sage did not create the portal by discovering coordinates to another dimension, but that they created the labyrinth dimension itself."
Like the know-it-all she was, Raven's explanation got longer. Ainar was not even listening and Missha just seemed to be going along with it, but I was curious. "Why do the wizards think that?"
"Because of this monument."
"The monument?"
When I gave her a reaction, Raven immediately followed up with an explanation. "The labyrinth remains constant. Even if the terrain is destroyed, it will return to its original form the next time the portal opens. That is why there are theories out there that travel between the dimensions includes not only space but also time in its coordinates..."
"Ugh... my head..." Ainar moaned in pain after hearing so many complicated words in quick succession.
Raven pouted and gave a short summary. "This monument is proof that space-time magic was at least several times more developed back in the era when the labyrinth was first discovered than it is in the modern day. Space creation that is impossible now may have been possible then."
Even the summary was long, but I got the gist of it. "I see." To sum it up, wizards thousands of years ago were capable of casting dimensional magic.
I should look into the great sage.
Perhaps there was another way to return to Earth besides the Gate of the Abyss.
"Are you finished talking?" Mr. Bear had been standing off to the side until now like he was uninterested in this topic.
"Oh, yeah. Let's go."
At his urging, we resumed our expedition. Then—
"Oh, the monument!"
We ended up in the same location about fifteen minutes later. Despite the fact that I was watching him at work, I still couldn't understand the method he was using to find the way. "How did this happen, Mr. Urikfried?"
"Oh, that was my mistake. I thought it would be faster to go that way..."
I immediately threw away my plans to develop Mr. Bear as a scout. This was not something that could be fixed.