Barga (1)
A moon so pale it bordered on pure white, and a smaller golden moon that glowed with a soft, gentle light, both peeked through the wide-open window of the inn.
Beneath the moonlight pouring through the glass, Ria lay asleep with her head pillowed on Mina's lap.
"Human… no. Taeyoung."
"Yeah?"
Mina leaned quietly against my shoulder as she spoke.
"Did you know our names come from those moons?"
As she said it, she carefully stroked Ria's long silver hair.
"I had no idea at all."
I'd roughly guessed, of course, but pretending not to know was the polite thing to do in moments like this.
"That little golden moon is called Lumina. The big white one is Riamoon."
When she brushed the back of her hand against Ria's sleeping cheek, Ria smiled faintly even in her dreams, as if the touch pleased her.
"We were born on the same day and grew up together, but she's never been one to show what she's really thinking. Lately I can't tell at all what's going through her head…"
"Ria probably feels the same way."
"You think so?"
"It's often harder to be honest with the people closest to you."
"Heh. Is that how it is for you too?"
"Everyone's the same."
Ria shivered lightly, curling in on herself as if she felt the cold.
"Uu… cold…. Mina…."
Mina looked down at the thoroughly soaked bed and laughed with a helpless little snicker.
"We can't sleep here tonight. Heh heh. Let's go sleep in our room."
I carefully lifted Ria into my arms and followed Mina into their guest room.
After a little over a week of staying there, the room already carried their scent—old pine, earth damp from rain, and the fragrance of some wildflower whose name I didn't know but had smelled once before.
"Sleep on that bed over there. I'm sleeping with Ria tonight."
"Yaaawn…. Night…."
Mina must have been pretty tired too. The moment she lay down with a yawn, nothing but soft, shallow breathing reached my ears.
"Yeah. Sleep well."
I answered in a voice too quiet for anyone to hear, not wanting to wake them.
I should get some sleep myself.
When I opened my eyes in the morning, both of them were already gone.
All that remained by my pillow was a short letter and a pouch holding ten gold coins.
Taeyoung.
Sorry for leaving without even saying goodbye.
If we went around saying farewell to everyone, we'd be late, so we slipped out quietly.
We'll come back here at least before winter arrives.
Stay healthy until then.
The letter paper carried that same wildflower scent.
What kind of flower was it, anyway?
I gathered my clothes, stuffed the gold into my pockets, and felt my shoulders lift on their own once the pouch sat nice and heavy.
When I went downstairs, everyone was clutching their heads and battling hangovers.
"Uuugh…. Ugh… water…."
The tavern owner was crawling across the floor in search of a drink.
I handed her one of the wooden cups sitting on a table.
—Gulp gulp!
"Blech! This is booze!"
"Hahaha. Just think of it as a hair of the dog."
Right after that I pulled a gold coin from the pouch and pressed it into her hand.
"And this is a month's worth of meals and lodging."
The half-dead tavern owner's eyes lit up the instant the gold touched her palm, as if her hangover had never existed.
"Wh…what? Thank…!"
"I'll be heading out for a bit, then."
I snatched a leftover scrap of meat someone had abandoned on a table the night before, stuck it between my teeth, and left the inn.
Something Ria had said yesterday had sparked an idea.
Thanks to the effect of Magic Resonance, any magic that hit me was immediately inscribed into my magic circuits.
So then…?
There was only one place I needed to go—the entrance to the Great Labyrinth.
Offensive magic was still out of the question. I had no desire to get my skull or gut punched clean through by something like Firebolt or Magic Missile.
Besides, would I even have much use for those spells?
At the labyrinth entrance, mages with signs propped up in front of folding chairs were doing business.
Wealth and glory.
And the dark desires no one liked to admit out loud.
Those were the things that dragged so many people into this labyrinth city of Labyrinsia.
Enhancement Magic 3-Piece Set — 1 Silver per day. 5 Silver per week.
I looked around, but the prices were all more or less the same.
Most retired mages ended up in this buff trade.
People missing a leg. People missing an arm.
People missing both.
People whose minds had cracked so badly they couldn't live without booze and drugs.
People too old to ever set foot in the labyrinth again.
Everyone had their own reasons.
"I'll take the one-day package."
I walked up to the grandmother in the cleanest-looking robe and held out a silver coin.
"Heh heh… been a long time since I held a man's hand."
Magic Resonance triggered. Inscribing into magic circuits. Spell acquired: Protection F
Magic Resonance triggered. Inscribing into magic circuits. Spell acquired: Haste F
Magic Resonance triggered. Inscribing into magic circuits. Spell acquired: Strength F
Blue light flooded over me in an instant, and welcome white letters flickered before my eyes.
"Thank you."
"Heh heh… a man heading into the labyrinth? What a waste…."
Just like the grandmother said, men were rare in this world.
Dying in the labyrinth was common enough.
But exploring the labyrinth wasn't the goal today.
Learning buff skills.
And getting properly equipped.
One alley around the labyrinth entrance was lined end to end with blacksmith shops, while the alley with my inn was mostly lodging houses, restaurants, and food stores.
The opposite alley was packed with magic tool and potion shops.
An entire city's economy built on a single Great Labyrinth.
"Grandma, any weapon shops you'd recommend?"
"Heh heh… head all the way to the end of that street and go to Iron Lady."
A bony finger pointed toward the far tip of the blacksmith alley.
Even while walking toward Iron Lady, the stares remained pretty sharp.
It wasn't as if male adventurers didn't exist at all, but guys wandering around alone like me still weren't common.
Everyone on the street kept glancing at me…
I always felt it, but it wasn't exactly a bad feeling!
Like I'd become a celebrity or something.
Honestly, I liked it!
They seemed more interested in the simple fact that I was a man than in my looks themselves.
After walking quite a while longer, I finally found Iron Lady at the very end of the alley.
A shabby sign… and an unusually massive steel door that immediately caught the eye.
Was this place actually any good?
Would I even have been able to open the door without the Strength buff?
"Nnngh…!"
I threw every ounce of strength in my body into it and the door slowly began to give.
—CLANG!
The heavy door swung open with a deep boom, and the distinctive searing heat of a forge washed over my face.
"Hm?"
Inside the shop, a muscular one-horned ogre with a long pipe clamped in her teeth was looking straight at me.
"What do you want?"
"I came to look at some weapons."
She looked me up and down, then turned her head away as if already bored.
"There's nothing here a human can use. Shut the door properly on your way out."
She had to be well over two meters tall.
A heavily muscled frame and thick, solid-looking arms…
I'd seen ogres stay at the inn from time to time, but never one this big.
"Come on, at least let me browse. I went through a lot of trouble finding this place."
I didn't know much, but even to my eyes the quality of the weapons looked top-tier.
And I already had something in mind.
"Hmph. Do whatever you want."
She was right, though.
The blades of the greatswords hanging on the walls were as long as I was tall, the spears were solid steel from tip to butt, and just looking at the thickness made it clear no human could swing them.
Just as she'd said, nothing here was made for me.
Even so, even to an amateur like me, the craftsmanship was meticulous and free of pointless decoration.
These were weapons built purely for real combat.
"Whoa… did you make all of these yourself?"
"I did."
"Incredible. No wonder the grandmother at the labyrinth entrance recommended you."
Ogres were weak to praise.
"Hmph. None of your business."
"Still, anyone can tell at a glance how amazing they are."
"What would a nobody like you even know from looking?"
People always claimed ogres were stupid.
They absolutely weren't.
They were just unusually susceptible to compliments.
Didn't they say praise could make even an ogre dance?
They got fleeced at the market because they were soft for flattery.
They threw their lives on the line for their party even while dying.
They simply had big hearts.
I rested my hand on the flat of a greatsword sitting on a rack and kept talking.
"I can tell just by looking. The finishing is careful, there's no useless ornamentation… you can see how much care the maker put into the tempering. Designs like this only come out when you actually think about the person who has to use them, right? No fluff, great practicality—too many fancy decorations just make daily maintenance a nightmare. And you keep taking care of them regularly, don't you? The oil doesn't even come off on my hand…"
"Enough!"
"Huh?"
She whipped her head away and shouted.
From her neck all the way to her ears, she had gone bright red…
Was she embarrassed?
"Barga."
"Ah… so this sword is named Barga."
"N-no! My name!"
Her face was already flushed crimson as she looked at me.
"Ah… right."
What was I supposed to do with that?
Suddenly throwing out her name like that.
I remembered some old novel where ninjas announced their names before a fight.
Don't tell me… I have to fight this ogre?
"Uh… well… I'm Kim Taeyoung."
"S-sorry about earlier! I thought you were another idiot human who'd come to make fun of me!"
She jerked her chin toward a shelf on one side.
"If it's one of the short blades the kids use over there, even you should be able to handle it."
Fortunately the thing I'd been worrying about never happened.
When I looked at the shelf she indicated, I saw a row of well-maintained short swords.
Well, from an ogre's perspective these probably counted as daggers.
I was deep in "dagger" browsing when I felt a wave of hot body heat right behind me.
"W-want me to help you pick!?"
Barga shouted into empty air with her eyes squeezed shut, not even looking my way.
Somehow the sight of her reminded me of a giant golden retriever, and it was kind of cute.
"I'd appreciate the help."
"F-first just hold this!"
The short blade Barga handed me had an unusually thick blade.
Near-perfect balance.
A grip that settled into the hand like it belonged there.
Even someone with zero experience in swordsmanship or martial arts could tell it was an excellent weapon.
"Wow… it fits my hand perfectly. This is really good."
"Right!? I knew it!"
Barga beamed, looking delighted.
If she'd had a tail it would have been wagging like crazy.
"I'll take this one. How much is it?"
"Hmph! Forget it. Just take it!"
She huffed out a hot breath through her nose as she spoke.
"Aww, come on, I can't just do that…."
"No! If it breaks, you pay for repairs! No one but Barga can fix that short blade!"
"Are you sure that's okay?"
"I-if you really insist on paying… well… I guess I wouldn't refuse…."
Barga stole little glances at me, clearly thinking something else.
"Yeah, that way I'll feel better too. How much?"
She hung her head and muttered.
"Instead of money… h-here! A k-k-k-kiss…! A kiss…!"
She was so tense she couldn't even lift her head, only pointing at her own cheek with a finger.
Sweat poured down in front of her bowed face like rain.