Confessions in the Labyrinth of No Light
Hwanin had already expected Baek Ryeogang to be of the tiger-kin, so he showed no surprise when she revealed her identity.
Both sides now understood that a series of misunderstandings and mistaken assumptions had arisen while her mind was still fragile. The moment to choose had arrived.
The fact that she volunteered her true identity herself…
It was not an attempt to seize the upper hand through rank or status. She had done it to lend weight and credibility to her words, so the misunderstanding could be cleared away.
That left Hwanin with two paths of his own.
He could continue as before—concealing his class and letting this remain a one-time encounter—or he could reveal what he truly was and forge a deeper connection.
Learning that Baek Ryeogang was the daughter of a sixth-class tiger-kin noble was significant, yet what Hwanin himself had been hiding was no less so.
The intense interest surrounding Soul Masters in Wayford had taught him something important. In this world, a Soul Master commanded the same reverence and admiration that a religious leader would on Earth.
They were seekers who sacrificed their own lives to guide wandering souls, wandering endlessly so that ordinary people would never suffer the torment of vengeful spirits.
A mere cemetery keeper who awakened as a Soul Master had been summoned straight to the castle of the city’s fourth-class tiger-kin lord.
A Soul Master was not merely the equal of a noble’s child; they could sit at the same table as the noble themselves.
Hwanin looked at the two people watching him—one faintly sorrowful, the other slightly tense.
=…….=
=…….=
By his own standards, both possessed the character, temperament, and background that would make them more than acceptable as friends.
Lesim, in particular, had an outstanding drive for self-improvement, while Baek Ryeogang carried a purity unsuited to her station and a judgment that was far from poor.
Even the brief flash of ugliness caused by her mild depression—when mental erosion had drained her will so quickly—barely registered as mild spice on Hwanin’s scale of severity.
He decided that continuing the connection would benefit him far more than ending it as a one-time encounter.
Keeping it temporary would only preserve the secrecy of his identity a little longer.
Revealing his class, however, would maintain that secrecy while also securing a useful network afterward. The title of “acquaintance of a Soul Master” was something even a noble family would value highly.
Of course there were drawbacks.
Lesim or Baek Ryeogang might, unintentionally or by accident, let his identity slip.
Yet even that disadvantage would lose all meaning once he had accumulated enough power, connections, and authority of his own.
Hwanin spoke quietly.
“Since the two of you have confessed your identities, it seems only fair that I reveal the one I have been concealing as well.”
=I knew it! So Hwanin-nim was originally a noble from wherever you came from?=
He gave a small laugh at Lesim’s completely off-target guess and shook his head.
“You both assumed I was classless, but the truth is that I am a class-holder myself.”
=Ah…….=
=What? Th-then Hwanin-nim must be one of those rare Unaspected ones?=
“Yes. And… roughly ten days ago the city was in an uproar. All because of the rumor that a Soul Master had visited.”
Baek Ryeogang and Lesim both drew sharp breaths.
Surely not…?
“The commotion died down once it was revealed that the keeper of the Second Public Cemetery was a Soul Master. But that is not the full truth. The person who performed the rites of salvation in the central and common districts was not her.”
=It was… Hwanin-nim.=
Hwanin gave a slight nod, then drew out one of the souls of the Skin-peeling Clan members he had just killed. He forced its mouth shut with compulsion, infused it with spirit energy, and made it materialize.
When the naked, translucent female soul appeared before them, Baek Ryeogang’s hand trembled faintly.
=Th-this person is…?=
“One of the Skin-peeling Clan thugs who attacked us a moment ago.”
A Soul Master who was originally a dimensional wanderer…
Even at the Royal Higher Academy in the capital she had never heard a rumor of an awakened dimensional wanderer.
While Baek Ryeogang reeled in shock and confusion, Lesim’s voice—thick with open admiration—reached her ears.
His eyes had nearly doubled in size.
=So that was why you said you were too busy back then! Then what about the new Soul Master who was said to have appeared in Wayford? Do you know her, Hwanin-nim?=
“Before I revealed my class to the two of you, only Miss Ielkata had realized I was a Soul Master.”
=Oh. Then…?=
“Perhaps watching my rites of salvation from nearby was the catalyst. I later heard the rumor that she had awakened as a Soul Master herself. I tried to meet her, but by the time the rumor reached me she had already been summoned to the castle.”
=N-no. Then I… aaah. To make such a foolish request of someone so busy…!=
Hwanin offered Lesim—who was frantically scratching his cheeks and chin in distress—a small smile, then inclined his head slightly toward Baek Ryeogang.
“Even if it was born of misunderstanding, I said things I should never have said to you, my lady. I apologize.”
=N-no…… That was entirely because I was lacking. If anything, I am the one who should apologize. I am truly sorry, Hwanin-nim.=
“In any case, continuing this conversation here seems unwise. There are still attackers after me, and my lady is in no condition for further exploration. Shall we end our progress here? Would that be acceptable?”
=Yes.=
Hwanin nodded to Baek Ryeogang’s ready acceptance, then turned his head—and narrowed his eyes.
Kueet, kuu!
Thud, thud.
=……! ……!!=
Emergency Food was kicking and stomping the half-naked woman, who could not even scream as she curled up under the blows. Beside them, Isilite watched with a piercing glare.
Hearing Baek Ryeogang and Lesim suck in startled breaths behind him, Hwanin quietly sighed and called to the bird.
“Emergency Food. Come here.”
Kueet.
When he beckoned, the bird trotted over and rubbed its head against him, every trace of its earlier combat ferocity gone as if it had never existed.
As if to say, I did good, right? Praise me! Hwanin stroked the coquettish bird’s head, then addressed the Inchu-tribe woman whose pride and spirit had been shredded to rags.
“There is only one path left for someone who came here intending to kill me. I trust you already know what it is.”
He rested a hand on the haft of the stone axe at his waist—an unspoken promise to split her skull if she failed to understand. The woman, still moaning in pain, hastily dropped to her knees and bobbed her head up and down in frantic agreement.
Somehow, even when he spoke in polite formal speech, the threat felt more terrifying than any crude, casual menace.
And was this man some kind of eunuch? She had always been confident in her figure, yet the way he looked at her in nothing but panties was exactly the way one might look at a pebble.
Realizing that seduction would get her nowhere, the woman swallowed hard and looked up at the black-haired man.
“Your name?”
=A-Aldtis.=
“Where did you come from?”
=The Skin-peeling Clan…….=
“Your objective?”
=T-to secure that green Kue… and eliminate its owner.=
“Who ordered it?”
=The boss… Asiah Rudan, leader of the Skin-peeling Clan. Ifrivel said we mustn’t touch you, but Asiah Rudan forced the operation through.=
=Trash.=
Lesim, listening to the interrogation from behind Hwanin, growled with open disgust, yet Aldtis kept her eyes fixed solely on the black-haired man in front of her.
“How many?”
=The strike team was the eight of us… and escape-blocking units are waiting all over the upper floors. I don’t know the exact number, but at least ten teams… Aaah! Probably two or three class-holders per party! And about five classless! The organization has around fifty class-holders total, so that should be right!!=
When Hwanin’s hand returned to the axe haft, Aldtis nearly screamed as she wrung every scrap of information from her mind.
Not a lie.
「Hic… huuuu…….」
Beside Aldtis, the rabbit-eared woman’s soul knelt in the exact same posture, weeping.
Gathering information by compelling a soul to answer was simple enough.
But since the party had also been targeted, they had a right to know.
Hearing it directly from the perpetrator would give them a far more visceral sense of reality than if Hwanin simply explained it himself.
So he had threatened Aldtis, and once the party grasped the situation, their anger flared at once.
Baek Ryeogang’s rage burned hottest of all.
=Hwanin-nim. Will you leave this matter to me?=
“To you, my lady?”
=Yes. As apology for the discourtesy I showed you, I will resolve the Skin-peeling Clan affair cleanly so that you need not trouble yourself over it at all.=
The look she fixed on the half-naked Aldtis was so murderous that Hwanin almost wondered whether the mental-protection spell had already worn off.
“Hmm…….”
Even if Baek Ryeogang was the daughter of a sixth-class tiger-kin noble, the port city of Praber and Wayford were separated by hundreds of kilometers.
Could she truly wield influence here? He worried that a noble daughter’s premature confidence might simply create new problems—until Lesim’s explanation, laced with cold fury, left him no choice but to nod.
=Hwanin-nim. Lord Aldjin Bere, master of Wayford, is my lady’s sixth cousin. Since she herself was included in this attack, she has more than enough justification to act. You may entrust the matter to her with peace of mind.=
“So choosing this labyrinth was no coincidence.”
=When one prepares for the worst, there is never such a thing as too many safety measures.=
“Very well. I leave it in your hands, my lady.”
=Yes. Leave it to me.=
Aldtis felt the world spin as she listened to the three of them speak.
What was this? She had thought it was just a simple job—snatch a rare Kue from some classless nobody. Yet that nobody’s party included… the daughter of a sixth-class tiger-kin noble? A young lady who was sixth cousin to the lord of Wayford?
And that classless man already had no small connection with her?
It’s over…… The organization, the trading company—everything’s finished.
The men would be dragged to the underground labyrinth labor camps and used up like drone ants impregnating a queen. The women would become bound slaves and be put to every filthy task imaginable.
But class-holders like her? No such mercy.
They would be shipped straight to Evil Faction conflict zones—used as both weapons of war and as living tools for the sexual relief of the soldiers on both sides.
It was both fortunate and unfortunate that Aldtis had been too busy being stomped by Emergency Food to overhear Hwanin and Baek Ryeogang’s conversation.
Had she learned that the man she tried to kill was a Soul Master, she would have thrown herself down to the thirteenth floor and forced her own death on the spot.
But she had not heard that part. Clinging to the desperate hope of survival, she crawled on all fours until she reached Hwanin’s feet. And then—
=My lord, I’ll do anything—slave or whatever you want! Please, just once, just once, forgive me!=
The sight of a grown woman, naked save for a scrap of panties, licking his boot and begging made Lesim’s face flush slightly.
She was an enemy before she was a woman, yet he was still unused to such shameless displays.
Hwanin, however, felt nothing. He simply extended the stone axe and forced Aldtis back.
“I will leave the disposition of this woman and that man to you, my lady. Both seem to hold some rank within the organization, so they should serve well enough as evidence.”
=No. What I saw is evidence, and what I heard is evidence. These two are unnecessary…… Lesim, if you would.=
=Yes, my lady.=
Lesim steadied his shaken composure, drew his sword, and drove it through the heart of the Indon-tribe man.
=Ghk. Damn… it…….=
=……!=
Watching the Indon-tribe man shudder and then go limp, Aldtis felt pure terror drop through her chest like a stone.
Before she could think, her arm was seized. As Lesim dragged her by the wrist toward a secluded corner, she wet herself and screamed with every ounce of strength she had left.
=Wait, no! Please! Please forgive me!! No! Nooo!!=
No no I don’t want to die I don’t want to die!! Not looking this hideous!! Somebody save me, please……
Having experienced more than enough of the labyrinth, the party immediately began retracing their steps.
Formation: Hwanin in the vanguard; Emergency Food, Baek Ryeogang, and Isilite in the middle; Lesim bringing up the rear—a clean cross.
Every path they had taken and the location of every stairwell on every floor was already mapped inside Hwanin’s mind, so climbing back to the sixth underground floor took only a few hours.
Along the way, Baek Ryeogang, Lesim, and Aldtis could not help but shudder at Hwanin’s martial skill.
=Those ones are also clan members!=
Whenever Aldtis pointed with murderous intent, it did not matter how many class-holders the party contained, how far away they stood, or what formation they used.
Within moments they were corpses.
The instant her finger marked them, several throwing knives streaked out and punched through the throats of any class-holders radiating the aura of hunters or mages. After that, warriors and brawlers never even managed to clash weapons with Hwanin before their heads left their shoulders and they became cold meat.
Most fights lasted between ten and twenty seconds.
Serves you right, you bastards! Asiah Rudan, you shoved me at this monster and told me to die! Even if I die, I’ll make sure your life ends too!
Having stared at the threshold of the underworld while still alive, Aldtis had fallen completely under the labyrinth’s mental erosion; half her reason was already gone.
She had been dragged to a secluded spot by Lesim on Baek Ryeogang’s order and was a heartbeat from losing her head when Isilite’s advice—to keep her alive as a rat trap—had barely saved her.
=My lady. They say a rat knows another rat, don’t they? Some of the clever little vermin might notice and dive into hiding, so why not keep this woman alive and use her as a cat to herd the rats into one place?=
=You mean use her as a rat trap.=
=Yes. The best way to catch a rat is with another rat.=
It was the sort of suggestion only a former bandit leader could make, and the sort of suggestion only someone who did not fully grasp the power of a sixth-class noble house would dare offer—yet Baek Ryeogang accepted it for the sake of Hwanin’s face.
=Lesim. Stop and bring her back.=
=Yes.=
The merciless light of death had already begun to nick her throat when the order came.
That her mental strength had been gouged so deeply that she fell completely under the labyrinth’s erosion was only natural.
Enthralled by the labyrinth, Aldtis could feel nothing but rage and fear. She even stripped off the urine-soaked panties and walked about completely naked, breasts swaying, without a shred of shame or embarrassment.
Yet she was not mad.
Because the cause of the erosion was terror, she can feel only the opposite emotions. It’s similar to how Baek Ryeogang, after feeling jealousy and loneliness, turned aggressive with irritation and displeasure.
Had the delusions and misconceptions that Ryuhi and her sisters experienced been born of hope and longing?
But that place had been outside the labyrinth. Even granting that some of the labyrinth’s influence had leaked out, how had they maintained their reason once the mental erosion began?
The ordinary people the laborers brought into the labyrinth seemed to keep their sanity with drugs or something similar, yet those girls had nothing of the sort.
There was one possible explanation. The place he and Ryuhi had fallen into was a sixth-class labyrinth, while this was only fourth-class. If the power of mental erosion scaled with the labyrinth’s rank, it would make sense.
I need to look deeper into mental erosion.
While organizing his thoughts, Hwanin glanced at the terrified rabbit-eared soul that was helping Aldtis distinguish friend from foe.
A few days earlier he had used five human scrap souls to gain a working grasp of red soul orbs and the handling of souls.
The salvation of souls was capricious.
The cowardly pig-headed soul had attained salvation after only sixteen hours of surveillance, leaving behind the words 「I can’t… anymore…….」 The remaining three human soul orbs had lasted the full thirty-six hours of their maintenance period before bursting into light and ascending while still in orb form.
The more he understood the mechanism of soul orbs, the more complicated his plan to use souls for scouting became.
In any case, that experience had increased his soul-orb capacity by one.
It was not from absorbing the light orbs left behind after salvation; the capacity had grown the moment a soul left its orb form and immediately attained salvation.
Realizing that every action related to souls could grow his abilities, Hwanin gazed at the terrified soul before him and murmured inwardly.
How best to make use of an enemy’s soul…
Watching Isilite strip the equipment and belongings from the Skin-peeling Clan members she had slain, Hwanin resumed walking.