Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: The Shape of the Unknown
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Looking for me now?
"Must be because of the time I taught her a lesson."
Ssa tilted his head at Hwan-in's calm reply.
=I've heard about that from Brillit too, but from what I saw when they came to the mansion the day before yesterday, it didn't seem like they were looking for you out of grudge. They had bandages wrapped around their arms and legs, but I didn't sense any real anger.=
"They came here?"
=Yes. Brillit's features are pretty distinctive, so they must have figured out right away that she was my girlfriend. That's why the instructor who showed up that day asked if Brillit knew anything about you. I refused to answer, saying I couldn't disclose guest information. Instructor Haien nodded understandingly and left.=
"That's strange. Someone of advanced dojo instructor rank could easily have people track me down."
=Exactly. That's why I figured it wasn't about a grudge.=
Hwan-in had been wearing the same hooded cloak ever since that day.
He hadn't left the central district either, and he wandered around every day, so if they'd sent people to gather intel, they could've easily found out he was staying at Olts Hotel. So why go after Brillit instead of her directly?
Either way, it was a fact that he'd beaten the crap out of the dojo master's daughter.
In this world, martial artists—people who trained in the martial ways—had strong pride. And it wasn't just this world; even back on Earth, martial artists tended to have higher pride than average folks.
Afterward, he'd kept an eye out for attacks from instructors or assistants under that advanced dojo, but over a week had passed quietly, so he'd put it out of his mind.
It wouldn't be odd if they'd stewed in their defeat and were finally making a move, but he hadn't sensed any anger or hatred from Haien Jod at the time.
On top of that, it was bothering him that it wasn't dojo affiliates coming after him, but the person herself.
Hwan-in began piecing together the puzzle in his head, assuming the worst-case scenario.
'An advanced dojo would have connections in Wayford's upper society.'
The instructors and staff there didn't scare him, but getting tangled up with the Ho tribe would be a hassle.
He mulled over various countermeasures before giving up on it.
Either way, it didn't seem like they were hunting him for revenge.
But if they were looking for him now, the reason had to be...
'A rematch for honor.'
The most likely hypothesis was a revenge match.
Anyway, it didn't seem worth worrying about, so he stood up and asked Ssa for a favor.
"I'm planning to wander around more starting today. But I heard someone might be after my emergency rations, so I don't like leaving it alone at the hotel. Could you watch it somewhere until Isilite comes out? Got a good spot?"
=Leave it with us. We've got Brillit here, and guards on duty, so I'm confident we won't let it get snatched easily.=
"Word is the Bloodhide Clan is the ones eyeing it. You sure that's okay?"
=The Bloodhide Clan...? That's odd. I thought they'd stepped away from illegal stuff after moving into the central district.=
"You know about them, then."
=Haha. As merchants, we have to keep tabs on the underworld groups to make a living. But that's just the central district ones—I'm hands-off with the outer areas.=
But that was plenty.
The central district organizations were the upgraded versions of those operating in the outer districts. If you were on good terms with the five big central groups, you didn't need to worry about the lower ones.
Moreover, the central groups supposedly didn't touch straight-up crimes like robbery or theft; they stuck to nominally legal businesses.
Like trading rare goods for arbitrage profits, or usury, or dealing in psychoactive potions and powders.
Hwan-in nodded, having seen one of those usurers himself, and Ssa offered cautious advice.
=Ashia Ludan of the Bloodhide Clan isn't our city lord, but she's a low-rank noble granted a noble title by another Ho tribe member. She's the type who hates losing face, so I think the clan got wind of the green Kue and is verifying the info and investigating the owner. The intel you got was probably from witnessing that process.=
"So they'll probably try to contact me directly soon."
=Yes. Whoever they send to meet you will likely be one of the top five in the organization. You've been staying at Olts Hotel for over 20 days, hitting the high-end brothels for fun. Considering your spending power and demeanor, a high-ranking member will step up for sure.=
He continued with a serious expression.
=When that happens, I recommend not hiding your profession—be upfront about it. The news of a Soul Shaman's visit has spread big in the city, so they won't dare ignore your refusal.=
"Got it. I'll think it over."
The emergency rations were playing around in the first-floor hall with Ssa's kids.
Flapping its wings, it dashed around with un-birdlike speed, the children giggling as they chased after it.
=Kyahaha! Gotcha~!=
Kue? Ku-uu!
Flutter-flutter-flap!
=Kyak?!=
=Whoa?! It flew!=
=Over there~! Ahahaha!=
The emergency rations lumbered into the air like a chicken, slowly flapping, and landed right in Hwan-in's arms as he came down the stairs from the second floor.
The kids chasing it spotted Hwan-in and Ssa late, their eyes going wide before they scampered down the stairs.
"I'll leave it with you during the day for a while."
=Of course. Keep it here as long as you need—no worries.=
Hwan-in set the emergency rations down in front of the kids, patting its head and back as he spoke.
"I'll pick you up tonight. Be good and no trouble till then."
Ku-ut! Ku-uu-et!
It thrashed around like it wanted to come along, but Hwan-in refused.
"It might be dangerous, and you can't even fly properly yet, so no."
Kuuu...
The sulky emergency rations followed him all the way to the front gate. Hwan-in gave it a small smile and wave before leaving the mansion.
Villages had self-defense militias, akin to tribal police.
Their duties were simple: mediating occasional disputes among residents, inspecting entrants and exits, and occasionally driving off beasts or monsters that appeared.
Towns had more anonymity, so the militias evolved into patrols.
Their jobs were more varied: inspections and searches of entrants, crime monitoring and crackdowns, fire patrols, and clearing threats around the town.
Cities took it further: patrols advanced into garrisons on the outskirts with stationed troops.
Troops, but closer to private forces of the ruling Ho tribe nobles who owned the city.
In addition to patrol duties, they stabilized nearby labyrinths, exterminated bandits, brigands, beasts, and occasional monsters nesting around the city, and patrolled affiliated villages and hamlets.
Wayford, a small city, had about 7,000 garrisoned troops.
For a population of 300,000, 7,000 seemed a bit low, but factoring in 500 professionals, it equated to legion-level combat power.
And that wasn't all. With annual muster training, they could mobilize over 150,000 in emergencies.
Men and women alike.
When Hwan-in first learned this, he'd wondered if wars would bring the classic mixed-unit issues, but reality differed from his expectations.
In this world, men saw women not as things to protect, but as equal beings. So when an allied woman died in war, men didn't fly into unique male rage and charge blindly.
If anything, women went berserk with "How dare you kill our man!!" and needed mental training for it.
Anyway, Wayford's labyrinth garrison was built 2 km from the city's west gate.
Due to the adjacent Rank 4 labyrinth, Lightless Labyrinth.
=Here's your entry permit for the Lightless Labyrinth.=
"Thanks."
Hwan-in took the rectangular metal tag from the labyrinth entry administrator and thought the city made a killing on money.
Toll for passing the outer city wall: 2 coppers. Second outer wall for the central district required ID—5 silvers to issue.
Labyrinth entry permit: 1 gold, renewed yearly. Plus 1 silver per entry per person.
If you sold byproducts inside for over 10 gold profit, they took 10% fee. 30% over 1 platinum. Up to 60% for high-value material labyrinths.
Like Lord Barad Miroden's Rank 7 Golden Labyrinth, where gold and gems periodically emerged.
Buying entry for a dungeon you rarely visited was wasteful, but think of it as paying for experience. No way he'd enter unmanaged high-rank labyrinths far off just to save coin.
Lightly armed, Hwan-in exited Wayford's west gate to open plains stretching to the horizon.
A straight paved road, ten lanes wide, flanked by yellow wheat swaying in the breeze.
At the end of the several-km road through the fields, a modest but sturdy fortress rose on the horizon.
'That's the labyrinth garrison... Lots of traffic.'
The 37m-wide road felt narrow with constant people flowing.
Carts loaded with goods, people coming from the garrison, empty wagons—daily traffic in the thousands, sheer chaos.
Hwan-in blended into the crowd heading to the garrison and followed the paved path.
=... city's been buzzing about it.=
=Hope that Soul Shaman comes to the labyrinth first~.=
'...?'
A trio ahead scratched his ear with their talk.
=Seriously. Lately, even near the labyrinth, it feels suffocating. Like too many souls piled up or something.=
=Pfft. Isn't it 'cause your mental resistance is crap?=
=Ugh, shut up. Gonna tease me forever over puking once on the way out?=
=Duh, what else? Pathetic loser. Why even have balls? Cut 'em off. Heh heh heh.=
=Argh, seriously. If you weren't a girl...!=
=Or what? Gonna hit me? Try it?=
=Hey! Don't shove your head in my face!=
=Both of you, knock it off. More importantly, Lirina—no word yet on where the Soul Shaman is?=
=Nope. From what folks say, this Soul Shaman's the quiet, undercover type.=
=I'd hide too. Show your face, and those high-and-mighties swarm you annoyingly. Commoners are too scared to even talk, but nobles treat Soul Masters like divine garden ticket booths. Ugh.=
=Anyway, no clue where our tax money goes. Could hire a Soul Shaman cheap with that.=
=Agreed. Wonder what they blow our cash on.=
Hwan-in hid his gaze under his hood, eyeing the three.
One: man with catfish head, one-hand sword and shield, worn plate armor. Aura plain like Isilite or Brillit's—unremarkable.
Another: woman with dog ears and yellow hair, mace and shield, chain hauberk called hauberk. Aura wavy like Haien Jod's, undulating.
Last: woman in leather armor, staff, shortsword on hip, horned. Aura booming sonic-like, spreading.
'Warrior, fighter, spellcaster.'
Recalling aura distinctions by job type, he scanned around—noticing their trio was small.
Other parties on the road: min 5, max 10.
But only 2-3 with auras. Non-auras carried oversized loads relative to build.
Most common pros: warriors/fighters, then hunters or shamans.
Hwan-in observed more travelers.
'Got it. Normals are porters. All-pro parties aim for exploration; porter-heavy ones are laborers.'
Labyrinth visitors fell into four main types.
Adventurers targeting the bottom layer.
Explorers studying ecology.
Martial artists honing skills.
And laborers—mocked for dungeon-diving just to eat.
Lightless Labyrinth was well-mapped, optimized, low-rank—so laborers vastly outnumbered adventurers/explorers.
'No saintesses 'cause of that.'
Hwan-in had picked up info on Wayford-managed labyrinths during his 3-week study binge.
Monsters/beasts up to Rank 3 max, but forest from basement 16 bumped it to Rank 4.
Labyrinth ranks based on top heteromorph grade, but forests only in Rank 4+, so cautious bump.
'Rank 5 needs saintesses mandatory— this is newbie-to-vet transition difficulty.'
Wayford was a small city, not mid-tier. Lightless fit.
The road split: incoming left, outgoing right.
Hwan-in edged right, glancing at sweating wheat harvesters.
Ragged clothes, but bright faces all.
'Farmers' happy expressions mean good living...'
'Seeing Wayford's highs and lows soured my view.'
Plus, wheat grains 1.5x Earth's, denser. Much healthier growth than post-harvest Earth fields.
'Labyrinth proximity soil boost effect.'
Gawking at fields and travelers, Hwan-in soon reached the garrison entry.
Waited his turn, showed permit to chain-armored guard—got suspicious stare from giraffe-eared woman soldier.
=Labyrinth regs ban suicidal entries.=
"No plans to fertilize the labyrinth. Just preemptive recon ahead of my party."
=...Noble?=
No armor, just stone axe and dagger belt—suicide or cocky fool, she'd thought. But refined mid-low voice switched her to polite.
"Outlander unrelated to Wayford—no need to fret."
=Hm. Aura-less folk get gate-blocked anyway. Don't wanna see you mangled, stay clear of the entrance.=
"Will do."
=Cleared! Next!=
Entering the fortress after the warning, Hwan-in was mildly surprised at the size.
Labyrinth entrance: tumulus-style. Front: vast clearing like a big stadium.
Flanks: festival stalls—dozens managing dozens of carts, buying byproducts from exits.
Signs listing buy interests, dealing with entrants.
Quirk: soldier per buyer.
'Manual profit audits.'
Clearing ringed by two 5-story building blocks.
Clean facades: inns, taverns, eateries, weapon/armor shops, sundries, smithy. Adventurers/explorers in/out.
'Nicer than expected. Those shops... all Ho tribe owned.'
Soldiers on the road between meant garrison behind.
Hwan-in quietly checked byproducts amid crowds, but lacking heteromorph/monster knowledge, hard to guess locals.
Saw bat-winged human-headed monster filling a cart—muttered inwardly.
'Humanoid. Labyrinths spawn any race, no surprise.'
Labyrinth spawns: monsters, beasts, bugs—all heteromorphs.
Monsters mimicking 4 major races, 7 subraces, Evil Faction forms: reverse entities.
Urger faced leaving Etbrook: labyrinth reverse.
'Wood, stone, plants, monster limbs/bones/teeth... ore too. That text... phase stone?'
Hwan-in eyed pig-headed man with "phase stone" sign, backed by 1 pro + 4 guards.
Guards shot glares and curses instantly.
=What're you staring at? Scram!=
=Don't be annoying—beat it while nice. Yeah?=
'No aura means underestimated everywhere.'
Snickering inwardly at no-customer treatment sans aura, he passed.
'Phase stone—shamans' battery for energy, right.'
Small blue gems from monster/heteromorph bodies, gold-equivalent per weight.
'Labyrinths: infinite money pits.'
Hwan-in felt puzzled.
Even with pro filter, infinite valuables would eventually hyperinflate. How'd they counter?
Golden Labyrinth spewed gold periodically—balancing inflation/deflation?
'Gold/silver coins have phase crystals, minted by Currency Bureau. Proof elites watch economy.'
Not an econ major, and with his skills, upper crust entry easy—Hwan-in figured no issues till death.
Thus, he toured the garrison.