Minoa's Bull (3)
After hearing all sorts of stories from the queen, I quietly descended alone into the labyrinth beneath the palace.
As for why there was such a labyrinth under the palace... even the queen didn't know the details, but I'd gotten the general picture from her. According to what she told me as best she could, it hadn't originally been a place worthy of being called a labyrinth. Apparently, as they kept expanding and adding to the palace this way and that, they reached a point where they couldn't expand any further on the surface, so they started digging downward to create underground rooms.
Minoa had more advanced construction techniques than other places, but they weren't at the level of building skyscrapers. Once they'd hit the limits of expansion, going underground must have seemed like the natural choice.
But that's where a problem arose. The underground rooms they'd dug out recklessly started expanding on their own for some reason, and after a certain amount of time, they became complex enough to be called a labyrinth. There wasn't a scrap of light, so it was pitch black; the paths twisted chaotically; and the walls seemed to move on their own, because even if you meticulously surveyed and mapped it out, the paths would change after just a few days...
Thanks to that, there were people who'd gone down into the labyrinth without proper preparation, gotten lost, starved for days, and barely been rescued.
Even worse, at some point, monsters started appearing in the ever-expanding labyrinth. They weren't overwhelmingly strong or the size of houses, but the emergence of such monsters in the palace basement was a huge burden, so the king at the time implemented a policy of gathering adventurers to deal with them.
And as a result of that policy being properly carried out... adventurers came and went, hunting the monsters popping up all over the labyrinth, and from the byproducts they obtained, Minoa's wealth grew even greater. Monster hides, claws, bones, and such could be used in all sorts of ways, apparently tougher and more durable than those from regular creatures.
The prince thrown into such a labyrinth... Wait, he wasn't officially a prince, was he? Anyway, somewhere in this labyrinth was a cow beastkin called a monster.
Once I set foot in the labyrinth, I spread out my mana to scour every inch of it. The space was distorted somehow, making the labyrinth far larger than the palace above. There were plenty of monsters wandering around inside, and plenty of people too.
And among them, one thing in particular caught my attention. A being that was too massive to be human, yet too docile to be a monster. Unlike the adventurers moving in groups, it was alone and still. It wasn't rampaging wildly or attacking people like a monster; it was just sitting there motionlessly.
That was probably the cow beastkin I was looking for.
I noted its position and advanced into the labyrinth without hesitation, taking the shortest path. Without a moment's pause, crushing any obstructing monsters, obstacles, or even dead-end walls in my way.
Pressing straight ahead until...
"Hoo..."
Illuminated by a flickering torch on the verge of dying out, I saw a massive man with cow horns. He wore a white cow skull like a mask over his face and sat motionless in place. Dressed in Minoan style with just shorts on, he had a huge double-headed bronze axe leaning against the wall, and he was gazing down at a small slime rolling around in front of him.
The slimes in this labyrinth just mindlessly rolled around, cleaning the filth from the floor, but the man stared at it as if there was something so fascinating about it. He never took his eyes off it for a second.
But... according to the queen, he was only about fourteen years old... yet his build was enormous. Bigger than most adults. Even for a cow beastkin known for their large stature, the boy before me was especially huge.
"What are you looking at so intently?"
I spoke to the man—to the boy who should have been Minoa's prince.
He lifted his head and looked at me. Through the gap in his cow-skull mask, I could see his eyes. Clear eyes. Incredibly clear. Eyes so pure it was hard to believe they belonged to a boy persecuted by his own father. As my shadowed figure reflected in those eyes, they began to waver.
And then.
"Who...?"
The boy quickly grabbed the axe leaning beside him and said in a low voice.
"There can't be a little girl in this labyrinth... Who are you? A monster?"
Hmm. Perhaps because of the mask covering his face, his breathing was labored, and he gripped the massive double-headed axe tightly, brimming with tension. Well, in a labyrinth where only monsters or adventurers roamed, a little girl wandering around would warrant that reaction.
"I'm not exactly a monster. But first, will you put down that axe?"
"I can't believe it. There can't be a girl in this labyrinth."
"Hmm... This is a problem if you won't believe me."
For now, instead of this dim torch that's too faint to make out my appearance properly, maybe I should create a brilliant light source so we can see each other clearly. If we can get a good look, he'll trust me more, right?
I lightly snapped my fingers, creating a light of mana. The brilliant glow illuminated the labyrinth, completely banishing the darkness that had shrouded the boy and me.
And then.
"Horns...?"
The boy's gaze was fixed on my horns.
"Those horns... like mine...? Kin...?"
Precisely speaking, they're a bit different. Dragon horns and cow horns can't be the same, after all.
"Ready to talk now?"
I said softly, and the boy nodded.
Alright, then.
"Let's have a calm chat."
I gave a small smile.
"What's your name?"
"My name...?"
The boy hesitated for a moment before saying,
"Minoa's Bull. Minotaur."
"Hmm? Minotaur?"
A name from Greek and Roman mythology, huh. The man-eating monster with a bull's head trapped in a labyrinth. Slain by Theseus. What a sinister name to bear—poor kid.
"Not a very good name."
"It's not my real name. The king said not to use my real name."
Hmm. Not his real name, then.
"What's your real name?"
At my question, the boy shook his head.
"If I say it, I'll be punished. Not me—you. So I can't tell you."
"Hmm... Punished, huh."
I doubt that drunken lout of a king has the presence of mind for such judgments. Not that it matters to me.
"The king of Minoa can't lay a finger on me, so don't worry. Tell me. Not this insulting 'Minoa's Bull,' but your true name."
"But..."
"If you don't tell me, I won't tell you mine either. So, your name. Not one changed by someone else, but your true name."
After pondering my words, the boy finally said as if he had no choice,
"Asterios. The queen secretly told me it was originally my grandfather's name... the king's father."
Asterios. Meaning something like "king of the stars." Indeed, a fine name.
But he calls his mother "the queen," huh? Hmm... Seems he can't call his parents by their proper titles. His body is larger than an adult's, but he's still just a child. Poor thing.
Anyway, since he told me his real name, I should give mine too. One of my many names, of course.
"I'm Tiamat. I have many names, but the one I'm using now is Tiamat. Call me Tia."
"Tia... Yeah. Tia."
Asterios nodded slightly. I couldn't see his face because of the cow skull mask, but he seemed subtly pleased.
With that, I plucked a single strand of hair from Asterios's head and examined the genes of the king, the queen, and Asterios. If Asterios was their biological child, there'd be many matching parts in their genes; if not, none matching the king's.
Using magic to investigate the genes confirmed it... Asterios was unequivocally their biological child. In fact, it was clear that the cow beastkin genes Asterios carried came from the king.
Anyway, shoving this investigation result in front of the king... it'd sober him up in an instant. Just as the queen wished, I could get Asterios out of the labyrinth.
"B-but... Is it really okay for me to leave the labyrinth?"
"Of course it is."
"H-however... The king said if I leave the labyrinth, he'll kill me..."
"Don't mind the king of Minoa. He's an idiot."
An idiot who mistreated his own child without even realizing it.
That aside, Asterios had been trapped in the labyrinth for years now—what had he been eating to survive? There was nothing resembling food down here, just monsters and adventurers roaming about.
Did he hunt and eat monsters? Or, fitting his "Minotaur" name, did he ambush adventurers...? Hmm... Surely no cannibalism. I hope not. Yeah.
