19. Special Entrance Exam
19. Special Entrance Exam
The poor girl came running up to me, pale as a sheet, and without any preamble said:
"This place... it's a real Labyrinth. Those weren't fabricated Monsters. They were real Monsters, saturated with Demonic Energy."
That was the word of a Wizard who'd hurled fire magic without a second thought in a place with limited oxygen.
Naturally, I didn't believe her.
Why would I?
Even if my comrades from my Past Life had told me, I wouldn't have believed it. No, those bastards wouldn't have even considered this shabby little Labyrinth real in the first place.
Like me, they'd all be sightseeing and marveling at it.
If, by some chance, this really were one of Labyrinth's actual Labyrinths.
Then that bitch has gone senile.
Which would mean she'd gotten weak enough for even the current me to beat her to death on the spot.
Anyway.
This Labyrinth isn't real.
"If you think it's real, just press the bracelet and forfeit."
"Are you stupid? This isn't a fabricated Labyrinth, it's a real one. There's no way this bracelet would work properly."
"Then press it. You'll find out if you press it."
"...Hngh."
When I pointed at the bracelet and spoke, the poor girl flinched.
I giggled at her and said:
"If you're that sure, press it. If it doesn't work, then like you said, this place is a real Labyrinth. If it does work, then you're just a pathetic weakling."
At that, a sharp glare stabbed into me.
"You, your words..."
"Am I wrong?"
"A pathetic weakling... I'm not. But what you said is right."
Still, she didn't seem to be the type to appeal to emotion.
"Then press it. If you're too scared to press it, want me to press it for you? Give it here."
I stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.
"Eeek...!"
"Hey, hold still. You'll break your wrist."
A slender forearm that even my small hand could wrap around. The frail body of a magic-caster couldn't resist my strength, and I caught her by the wrist.
"Hik...! Wh-what are you doing!"
"I'll press it for you. Give it here."
"W-wait... don't...!"
I smirked as I watched the poor girl whimper, her face even paler than before.
"Scaredy-cat."
Then I let go of her wrist and placed a macaron on her trembling hand.
"Eat that and think it over. If you're still scared after that, press it. If you press it and can't escape, then tell me."
"And what could you do if I told you?"
"At least a lot more than you."
I turned my back and started walking.
"Anyway, I'm going. Follow me if you're going to follow. Stay there if you're going to stay. I've got one more macaron, so if you want it, say so."
Behind me, I heard a rustle-rustle.
Seems she didn't eat it and put it in her pocket instead.
Step-step-
Click-clack-
Anyway.
Seeing her follow right after me despite being scared out of her wits, a brat is a brat.
She still had that youthful innocence to her.
"You... are you really going to hunt the Basilisk?"
"Yeah."
"How are you going to catch it?"
"I'll just fight hard."
"If this is a real Labyrinth, if that Basilisk is a real Basilisk, what are you going to do?"
"Then I'll just fight really hard."
"You're insane..."
I heard her click her tongue.
And then click-clack-click-clack-click-clack—I heard her approaching faster than before.
"I don't know how strong you are. But I do know how horrifying a real Labyrinth is."
"Is that so."
"I... I've been trapped in a Labyrinth before."
I stopped walking and turned to look at the poor girl.
At that, flinch—the poor girl's body trembled.
"Alone?"
"...Yeah."
"And you survived?"
"...I almost died."
"How long were you trapped?"
"Five days."
As if recalling the memory, the poor girl shuddered.
"Five days, so you must've drunk your own piss too, huh?"
"P-piss...? Ugh... why would I drink something like piss?!"
"Because from day three on, you have to if you want to live."
"Wh-what...? I didn't drink anything like that. I... I brought a lot of water with me..."
Finding the right path through the Labyrinth, that confidence—she'd been to Ge Vihenum before.
Why would a little kid like this go all the way to the Demon World?
In this damn era of peace, with the Demon King sealed and the Legion Commanders gone quiet.
I quietly stared at the violet eyes hidden behind her robe. Even trembling in fear, she was glaring at me with a fierce look.
Even if I asked why she went, she probably wouldn't answer.
And I didn't want to ask, 'So how's the Demon World these days?'
She's too frail to have gone to kill the Demon King.
This one won't live long either.
So I just.
"Anyway, you've been through a lot."
I said it half-heartedly and turned away.
"If you want to live, you have to drink piss... no, urine? How do you know that? Don't tell me you've been trapped in a Labyrinth too?"
Then click-clack—the poor girl, who had been diligently following me, latched onto my words.
Trapped in a Labyrinth.
Many times.
So many times that I'd had to tear into raw Monster meat.
So long that I'd learned how the taste of urine changes as dehydration sets in.
Of course, I couldn't answer like that.
"No, I read it in a book."
"A book...? Ha! Reality is different from that kind of writing."
"Probably. But it's true that you'd lack water, isn't it?"
"That's... true. But if you can use water-attribute magic, then even here—"
"Do you know what happens if you draw moisture in a completely sealed place, and you still use it?"
"Still, you can secure enough drinking water to not die immediately."
"Drinking water? Can you call water thick with Demonic Energy drinking water? If you can drink that, you're not human anymore, you're a Demon. Are you a Demon?"
"Hngh..."
The poor girl couldn't answer me anymore.
Instead, she chattered on about something else.
"I'm telling you it's dangerous."
"I'm not in danger."
"You're a Martial Artist without a single weapon—no, wait—where the hell does your confidence come from?"
"I hit women too. Especially bitches who talk like shit."
"...How do you even say such vulgar things?"
"Learned it from a book."
"You're really annoying..."
Even so, the poor girl trotted along behind me.
Kinda cute.
*****
And so time passed.
By the time the poor girl had taken the macaron out of her pocket and eaten it, and I'd popped a new peppermint candy into my mouth.
[Grrrrr...]
We finally encountered a Monster.
One that suited the Basilisk said to be at the end of the Labyrinth.
A Lizardman.
A Monster with an ambiguous head somewhere between a lizard and a snake, walking on two legs like a person.
It naturally had the sharp claws and teeth all Monsters have, and it spat poison from its maw.
And it used weapons too.
Usually a spear, but they also use swords and bows—all sorts of things suited to their role.
We were watching that Lizardman from behind a small dais.
With my arm held tight by the poor girl.
"You see that and still call it a fabricated Monster?"
I let out a dumbfounded laugh.
You see that and can call it a real Monster?
Of course, I can understand the misunderstanding.
The fishy smell unique to Lizardmen, the oil on that spear, the stench steeped in blood.
Even the sticky, clinging quality of its cry.
It's all similar to the Lizardmen I know.
Right. Similar. Not the same.
In the end, it's different.
The Demonic Energy too faint for a Monster, the build too small for a Lizardman, and even the dull sense of smell.
If this were a real Labyrinth and that were a real Lizardman, we'd have been in combat long ago.
But what about now?
We're hiding behind a dais that can barely conceal the bodies of two girls, watching it.
It hasn't noticed us.
Having thought all that through, I was certain once again.
That this place is not a real Labyrinth.
"See? I told you. This is a real Labyrinth!"
But the poor girl seemed to take my laugh as a sign of agreement, and she started tugging at my shoulder.
"This is why Martial Arti—... no, never mind. You, run away first."
"What about you?"
"It'll catch our scent soon. Then it'll chase us somehow."
"So, you're going to catch that thing?"
"Isn't that obvious? It's alone now, but when they're searching for us, they move in groups. Then I'll have no choice but to use fire-attribute magic."
She was trembling with fear, but her eyes looked like she was confident she could kill the Lizardman.
From what she said, it sounded like there had been a group of them earlier, so she'd blasted them with fire.
Being trapped in a Labyrinth before.
Understanding the traits of Monsters.
Knowing that you shouldn't fire off fire magic in a Labyrinth with a covered ceiling.
She seemed to have quite a bit of experience.
But.
"Weren't you supposed to hate me?"
"...What?"
"No, you've been all prickly and rude to me since the written exam, so I figured you hated me."
"Prickly and... r-rude? Even the way you talk is always..."
"Am I wrong?"
"N-no, I'm not? Why would I hate you? We've never even met before."
Her violet eyes shook visibly.
She really can't lie.
"How would I know that?"
"Whatever, there's no time to chatter, so run. I'll deal with it as quietly as possible and catch up."
"Just kill it and we can go together."
"Because if something goes wrong, another group might join in...! Are you really stupid?"
As if asking why I didn't understand, she thumped her chest and glared at me.
Huh. So what this sharp-tongued brat is saying is.
"You're telling me to back off because I might get hurt?"
"Huh. H-huh, ha! No? I'm not? Why would I care if you get hurt or not? I'm just saying it because you'll get in the way?"
"Then I won't get in the way, so go catch it."
"Why should I listen to you?"
"So you're not going to catch it?"
"...I am going to catch it. But I'm not catching it because you told me to. I'm doing it on my own. Got it?"
"Yeah, right. You thought and acted on your own. You're a very proactive little brat. Want a macaron as a reward? It's milk-flavored this time."
"I really hate you."
I giggled as I watched the poor girl's face flush red and pale at every word I said.
"But you said you didn't hate me?"
"...Shut up. Shut up! Just shut up and watch."
Grinding her teeth, the poor girl, who had been blushing and fuming, turned to look at the Lizardman.
"Haa..."
The girl closed her eyes.
She steadied her emotions. She extended her staff. She drew up her Mana. Violet Mana, hanging like a curtain, rippled through the air and took shape at the tip of the poor girl's staff.
What formed was a stone. A spike with its tip sharpened to a keen point. That spike, almost like a lion's tooth, began to spin fiercely and greedily suck in the surrounding Mana.
There was no sound in the process.
The flow of Mana was calm as well.
At last, when the girl opened her eyes.
FWIP—!
The spike shot out.
Thunk. The Lizardman's head burst apart anticlimactically.
And then the wind blew in late.
That wind flipped up the girl's hood.
"...What the hell."
Seeing those clothes, I muttered in shock.
"Heh-heh. You saw it, right?"
On the other hand, the poor girl smiled triumphantly at my expression.
She must have thought I was surprised by her magic.
That's not what surprised me.
"Why are you wearing half-finished clothes?"
I was surprised because the poor girl's clothes were so indecent.
"...What? Clothes?"
"I mean, no... are they torn?"
Were they torn, and she couldn't repair them because she had no money and didn't know how?
Or maybe.
Did she not have enough money, so she left off however much she couldn't afford?
Is the world really that harsh these days?
"What in the world are you talking about?"
"Clothes. Your clothes. I'm saying your clothes look all torn up. Why are you wearing clothes like that?"
So that's why she covered up with a hood?
No, I expected she'd be poor, but.
This is just too pitiful.
Meanwhile, the poor girl lifted her hood and examined her clothes, as if she didn't understand what was wrong with them.
"What's wrong with my clothes? They're perfectly fine?"
"Pe-erfectly fi-ine? Those? They just look like rags."
"R-rags... rags?! Hey! Do you even know how expensive this is?!"
"That's expensive? Anyone who sells that for a high price should have every finger ripped out, shouldn't they?"
The poor girl's face twisted up.
My face seemed to have twisted up too.
"This is the most expensive brand among adventurers' clothes these days?"
"Huh? Kids these days all walk around dressed like that? What's the world coming to, wearing clothes like that, tsk... If you go around dressed like that, don't your parents say anything? If it were me, I'd just rip it all to shreds."
The moment the word "parents" left my mouth, the poor girl's face went pale.
"...Shut up."
"Well, well."
So something did happen with her parents.
"They say a woman's belly should stay warm. You should wrap up properly, like this. And here. This is your reward. Your voluntary and proactive attitude was truly excellent."
I pulled her hood over the indecent outfit, then pressed the milk-flavored macaron into the trembling hand of the girl whose face had gone pale.
The poor girl, looking at me doing that.
"Aaaagh! You're so annoying!! I fucking hate you!!!"
She shrieked at the top of her lungs.
And yet, she carefully tucked the macaron in her hand into her pocket so it wouldn't break.