Chapter 26: To Go to the Labyrinth (1)
Chapter 26: To Go to the Labyrinth (1)
At its core, the main content of Prince Archive Order is labyrinth conquest.
As a gacha game with roguelike elements, the primary gameplay loop involves selecting and nurturing six characters to find the perfect synergy, eventually reaching and conquering the end of the Infinite Labyrinth.
What’s that? Pickup gachas are content?
No, that’s not content.
That’s just breathing.
Of course, there are various other elements like PVP, raids, boss subjugations, clan wars, and events, but labyrinth conquest is undeniably the heart of this world—or rather, the game titled Prince Archive Order, or P.A.O. for short.
But that’s from a player’s perspective.
That’s the kind of talk that comes from an adventurer’s point of view—someone who lives and breathes the labyrinth, sharing life and death with their comrades.
Ruji Fermaton was different.
If I had to put Ruji’s job into words... maybe "Member of Parliament" would be the closest fit?
"Those rotten bastards. Holding a protest to lower the labyrinth entry fees? It’s not like I can just round them up and lop off their heads."
I was sick to death of the reports piled up in front of me.
If I had to summarize 99% of the countless civil complaints and petitions sent to Ruji, the representative of the Fermaton district, into a single sentence, it would be: "I don't like this, so fix it for me."
"Nothing but complaints and grievances. If they’re so unhappy, they should just stop entering the Infinite Labyrinth. They’re nothing but parasites sucking the honey flowing from my family’s curse, yet they have the audacity to bitch and moan at me?"
"Please calm down, Young Lord."
Laura, standing beside me, began organizing the parchments.
Beneath her half-coat, she wore a bunny girl outfit. She was currently preoccupied with assisting me in administrative duties per my instructions.
"Uh, um... should I suck your cock?"
Laura whispered in a voice so small no one else could hear.
What did this mean?
It meant she was asking me to order her: 'Laura, come here and suck my dick.'
"Laura."
I grabbed Laura’s hair and pulled her so her ear was right in front of me.
"...I don't have time for that. It’s better to just get this over with quickly."
"......."
Laura looked visibly disappointed, but I wasn't in a position to enjoy a blowjob while working right now.
"Just bring me some tea."
"Yes..."
If nothing else, I had to handle the affairs of the Fermaton fief with absolute focus.
Otherwise, the jackals seeking every possible advantage would nibble away at my flesh from places I couldn't see.
As they say, a light drizzle will eventually soak your clothes.
It was fine for them to curse the name Fermaton, but I couldn't let them look down on us.
"Phew. This is annoying..."
I wasn't a politician.
However, Ruji was strictly a ruler, and both in the game's lore and in this reality, he was the central axis of the system that kept Fermaton running.
Politics and management.
Personally, I just wanted to have sex. My heart wanted to tell them to handle it themselves and just stamp the papers, but I couldn't do that.
"Listen well, Laura. Fermaton’s enemies aren't the Kingdom or the Empire."
Actually, they were.
Since both the Kingdom and the Empire had red in their national flags, they were basically commies, making them my primary enemies. This was just lip service for any maids or spies listening outside.
"The real enemies are the ones who say 'fix it for me' like this. Especially those selfish adventurers. Adventurers are parasites clinging to Fermaton."
I didn't realize it when I was an adventurer myself.
It was only after becoming a Fermaton that I saw the truth.
I realized just what kind of trash adventurers really were.
"Look. Look at what they’re petitioning for."
"...To lower the commission fees on Magic Stone trades coming out of the Infinite Labyrinth?"
"Exactly. It’s a blatant request to cut Fermaton’s income. It’s ridiculous. Do they even know how little we actually take?"
I understood their perspective.
—Hey, I’m the one who mined the Magic Stones, so why do I have to give you money?
—Fuck, I mined ten and you want three?! Are you insane?!
Fermaton simply provided the environment; the ones actually mining the stones were the adventurers and miners.
—I risked my life fighting beasts! I almost got cursed!
No matter how much Fermaton built the system and created the marketplace, those who sweated and risked their lives were bound to be disgruntled about paying fees upon their return.
However, there was one thing that needed to be pointed out clearly.
—Whose land is the Infinite Labyrinth on?
The entrance to the Infinite Labyrinth was located in the old Fermaton Count’s castle.
The place I was in now was the newly built castle—though "new" still meant hundreds of years old—while the castle from the time the curse was first laid had been used as the labyrinth entrance for centuries.
On the land deeds, it was naturally recorded as the property of the Fermaton family.
From Fermaton’s perspective, adventurers were nothing more than tenant farmers.
"I could understand if the commission... the tax was something like 45%. But it’s practically an 8:2 split. Shouldn't they be grateful to us?"
The more I looked at it, the angrier I got.
"Is there anything we don't do for them? We don't just lie around and collect fees. We act as agents for Magic Stone sales, help process beast carcasses, and provide manpower support. We do so much for the adventurers. Even the 'workshops and mines' up to the 15th floor were built by Fermaton over generations. It’s wrong of them to ask to reduce the profits we get from that. Tsk."
When an adventurer brought back a Magic Stone.
The adventurer primarily engaged in a roughly 7:3 trade with Fermaton.
If an adventurer earned 100 gold from a Magic Stone, Fermaton took 30 gold for disposal and other costs.
It could be considered a lot of money.
But based on those fees, we put in every effort to ensure the labyrinth remained a safe farming area for adventurers and miners.
'Even a landlord provides basic maintenance if they’re collecting monthly rent.'
At the very least, we weren't just sitting back and eating money for doing nothing.
And yet, they wanted to reduce the fees because they hated seeing that money go.
"If it weren't for the Infinite Labyrinth, they’d be scouring caves all over the world right now, picking up Magic Stones the size of goblin dicks... Tsk."
"It’s difficult..."
"It is."
It was a difficult problem.
The affairs of a place that supported one of the world's economic pillars couldn't possibly be easy.
However, the 'current me' could do it.
Ruji Fermaton’s political power.
And the experience I had accumulated as a human being.
How many times had I unified the world under one banner?
How many castles had I managed, and how many facility levels had I raised?
How many airship facilities had I remodeled and expanded?
How many times had I been a leader of civilization, launching rockets into space?
And.
How many times had I, as the leader of a deserted island, worked for the happy lives of my residents?
Ah!
The power of a human growing through diverse life experiences!
It was a good thing my life experience was added to Ruji’s talent; otherwise, I would have thrown away the fief’s affairs the very day I took them up.
"Ugh, annoying. I’ll deal with this tomorrow morning after I wake up. Laura. Bring me that white basket over there."
"The white one... the basket with the yellow horn on it?"
"Yeah."
It was originally a white basket.
But I had obtained a horn from a unicorn, a beast from the Infinite Labyrinth, and attached it to the basket.
"Bring it here."
"......."
Laura approached me with the basket, looking troubled.
It seemed quite heavy, and I pulled on the horn with anticipation.
"Let’s see...!"
Nothing.
There was nothing.
"...Did I misclassify the documents?"
"No. You processed the documents correctly, Young Lord. There really aren't any..."
"Ha."
Nothing.
There was absolutely nothing.
"I mean, how can this be? Not a single female adventurer wants to join our 'Yas Night'!!"
It was shocking.
'Even when a shitty company hires people, they get at least one application!'
How could such a terrible thing happen?
"Laura. How many days has it been since Astarotte became my teacher?"
"It’s been about two weeks."
"Then what about the applications for the knight order that came in through the Adventurer's Guild and promotions within the County during that time?"
"......One."
"One?"
"...Not even one."
"......Hahaha!!"
I felt hollow.
Laughter just bubbled out of me.
"How can there not be a single person!!"
"H-Hieek...!"
Laura screamed and fled into a corner.
"P-Please don't hit me...!"
She was talking about her ass.
Though how the maids outside would hear that was another matter.
"Ugh, damn it. This is going to interfere with my perfect plan..."
Two weeks.
In that time, I had only done three things.
Fief business.
Sex.
And magic lessons.
"Fuck this fief business. I want to throw it all away and just have sex. Should I just dump it all on Zenith?"
...I hadn't even entered the labyrinth yet.
Of course, I had decided to go to the Infinite Labyrinth only after securing certain conditions through magic lessons, but it was a problem that not even a minimum safety net was guaranteed.
"Ugh. If only fief business was as easy as sex."
"I-I’m sorry for being useless...!"
"Is that so? At least you know. You’re useless for anything other than your pussy."
I approached Laura and grabbed her cheek with one hand.
"I’m in a shitty mood, so suck my cock."
"Y-Yes...!"
Laura immediately knelt and pulled down my pants.
"...Hehe."
Perhaps because we were in a corner and hidden from the maids outside, she looked up at me with a smile in her eyes before taking my cock into her mouth.
"Excuse me, Young Lord."
"Ugh...?!"
"...My apologies."
"No. What is it?"
Because I had shoved my cock all the way down to her throat, Laura’s eyes widened in shock. I turned my head while still thrusting into Laura’s mouth pussy in the corner.
"Lady Astarotte has arrived. Shall I bring her in?"
"At this hour? There should still be time before our lesson."
It was morning.
There was plenty of time before Astarotte was scheduled to arrive.
"Did she say why she’s here?"
"I’m not sure of the details, but she said her research is finished and she’s here to report."
"......!"
I pulled my hips back.
Slurp.
Laura sucked the air out of her mouth, creating a vacuum.
As soon as I tried to pull my cock out, she tightened her mouth around it, refusing to let go.
"...Bring her in. I’ll meet her after I blow a load."
Finally.
A way to go to the Infinite Labyrinth had opened up.