65 - Sixty-three Tales of the Maze

After being harassed in a rather insidious manner at the beginner's class, and having built up a solid sense of resentment toward the Adventurers' Guild, I have decided to take retaliation in earnest. My first goal is to get across the labyrinth city, where the adventurers are stuck.

We arrive at the entrance to the labyrinth. The entrance is located in a small plaza with food stalls selling useful items for exploration.

It is surprisingly crowded, perhaps due to the heavy traffic in and out of the labyrinth. Some people are selling maps, but Sylphy tells me that they don't need them since they can almost find their way by the wind if they have air. Hooray for cheats. We don't find anything we need, so we head straight for the entrance.

Guild card, please.

Give the card to the soldier guarding the entrance. It looks like the state controls the labyrinth. If the Adventurers' Guild is in charge of the labyrinth, we are saved from a possible denial of entry into the labyrinth.

"Hey, hey, an F-rank adventurer wants to enter the labyrinth all by himself?　No offense, but turn around and go find your friends."

You have given us a very honest opinion. But I can't seem to find them.

I have combat experience, so I'll be fine.

"But ...... well, if you have a guild card, we can't deny you entry, but don't push it."

They allowed us to enter, albeit reluctantly. I thanked him and went down the stairs.

"Oh. This is what a labyrinth looks like. The passageways are well-lit, and the labyrinth is designed in a friendly way.

The cave looks like it was carved out of stone, but it is very bright with luminescence everywhere.

"There are dimly lit places and pitch-dark places. It's the first one, so I guess they're trying to make it easy for people to get in."

You know, you said that the labyrinth lures people in and eats their lives. You have to make it easy to make some money or people won't come. It's like a business. No, it's a gamble. If you follow your desires to the back, there's a lot of money or death waiting for you. That's a terrible thing to do.

"What they said in the beginner's class is that there are only slimes and goblins from the first to the fifth level... Sylphy, it's enough if we can fight a few times. Can you show us the shortest way?"

"Okay."

They can even beat the lich. They shouldn't have any trouble with goblins now. Let's just move on.

Belle and the others won't have much to do, but follow me so we don't stray.

Yes... cue... okay... coo...

You look a little disappointed, but there's not much to do at first. I'm going to carry the hammer on my back.

Yuta. That's the goblin.

"Oh, that's it."

A goblin comes running toward us, yelling at the top of his lungs. He has a club in his hand, green skin, and a piece of cloth around his waist. It's a game world.

"Yuta's going to beat him?"

"Yeah. I'll fight you just in case."

The goblin was reduced to a mangled mess with a single swing of the hammer. No different than a zombie or a skeleton.

"This is a waste of time if I fight him, so let's just move on. If the goblins attack, let Belle and the others take them out.

I've been fighting by myself, but I've decided to abandon my preoccupation with speed first.　

"Beltasush!" Cue cue, I'll do my best.

Bell and his friends are happy to see him, as if it were better than boredom. What's that?　Tamamo is sinking.

"Tamamo, what's wrong?"

"Coo."

Tamamo looks at me sadly.　What's wrong?

"Uh, Tamamo can't fight in the cave because she can't make plants with her magic yet."

Sylphy told me. I remember you saying that. Her ears and tail are hanging down so cute, but I guess she needs to be comforted.

"Tamamo. There will always be a place where you can fight, so just be patient. I'm looking forward to your magic.

When I patted her head and told her that there was a place for her to play, she came to me, full of energy. So cute. Belle and the others joined us, and we had a short chat in the cave.

"Okay, let's move on, shall we? Oh, I want to fight slimes, so you'll have to teach me first.

Satisfied that we have had a good romp, we continue on with Sylphy guiding the way.

****

"From here on, there will be more than one enemy, right?"

"Yes, that's right. But it won't make much difference. Goblins."

The labyrinth is made up of five layers, like a set. The first two layers are low difficulty, the next two layers are high difficulty. The next two layers are more difficult. The last layer is the boss.

The caves and natural fields are alternated. After the fifth level of the first cave, the next level is a grassland. There is a rough bird here, so we have to hunt it.

Incidentally, there is no convenient system to transfer to the next level once you have been there. The deeper you go, the harder it is to get back, and it takes time to even go back to where you were before you went back to continue the search. The further you go, the more difficult it becomes to get through the game.

"Well, let's continue as we have been doing, and let's get to the boss at once. Everyone, please!"

Motivated belles cheerfully reply. The goblins and slimes are sadly and easily killed by everyone's motivation.

The belles are flying ahead and killing the goblins and slimes, and as we advance, we find the carcasses of the goblins and slimes lying around. They are stored in the house, but dismantling them is a pain in the ass. A few times Bell and the others get too far away from me and I have to summon them, but I generally make my way through the cave smoothly.

I've told the other adventurers not to kill the demons when they see us, but I hope they haven't seen us.　With almost no spiritists around, it would create an urban legend if something unseen were killing demons at will.

By the way, I fought a slime once, but it was just crushed by a hammer, so I decided to leave it to Bell and his friends.

****

So this is the boss's room. A magnificent door stands guard. When we open the door, we see five well-equipped goblins. Frankly speaking, I think it's a waste of a door to have goblins come out when you open this magnificent door. It would be a pity for the fine door if they are not at least a little more formidable.

Sylphie! Who's that goblin?"

Soldier, Mage, Priest, Archer, Thief. Yuta should be fine.

"Just in case, I'm the boss, I'll fight for you."

Goblins attacked us as we entered the room. I smash them with a hammer and finish them off without incident. If it's a weak level, there's probably no point in fighting. We should ask Bell and the others to help us except for the first time, until we meet an enemy with whom we can gain experience.

After defeating the boss, the door at the back of the room opens with a bang to reveal a staircase leading to the bottom. I guess it's a bit futile to have a goblin boss with so many rooms and tricks.

"Huh."

"What's wrong with a sigh all of a sudden?"

"No, I just felt the order was wrong. If it's true, the best part of the labyrinth is to get excited after defeating the boss, even though you're nervous or worried about whether you can win. I thought that just swinging hammers around would be uninspiring."

"What are you talking about? Not everyone who dives into the maze is a beginner. There are many people who come to the labyrinth city with their skills up, and most of them easily beat the first boss and move on.

"I see. I see what you mean.

I wonder if the sense of accomplishment I mentioned is only experienced by true newcomers to this labyrinthine city. I've become an adventurer in the labyrinth city too, but I worked hard in the land of the dead, so I deserved to get through the first part lightly. I've got to get myself together and resume my search.

Down the stairs is ...... an awesome other world. I've heard about it, but it's just an ordinary grassland. There is no sun, but the sky is high and there is a cool breeze. It is hard to believe that we are in a labyrinth.

"Hey, Sylphy. I think this place is better than outside.

A cool environment in the meadows. There is no lake, but I think it would be a great summer resort.

"Well?　I've heard of people making a base in the labyrinth, but I doubt they'd bother to live there. It seems like a lot of trouble to live in a place where demons suddenly spring up.

I don't know how demons spring up, but it would be a hassle if demons suddenly spring up in the garden even after building a house. Let's move on.

But why is it bright when there's no sun?　How far up can we fly in the first place?　The labyrinth is full of wonders.

"Hey, Sylphy. There are no spirits in the labyrinth?

"Yes. The labyrinth is a kind of another world. Spirits don't come near it. If we didn't have a contract with Yuta, we wouldn't go in there either.

"I see. Are you going to be sick?"

"I'll be fine. Spirits just don't like places where they don't have a strong connection to the world."

I see. I understand that spirits have their own preoccupations.　

"I kind of get it. So, Sylphie. Do you know where the stairs are?

"As long as the stairs are not hidden, I can find them. But not where the air can't get through."

I feel like I'm on a tour of the labyrinth. Our tour guide, Sylphy, is too good.

"Well then, please show us around. I'd like to get some of the roughbirds, so let me know when you're close by.

"Yes. Let's go, this way."

Sylphy leads us to the stairs. There are goblins, kobolds, and ruffbirds on this level. I decide to take out the Kobolds and Roughbirds the first time.

Roughbirds...... are big chickens. They are about the same size as me and come running up to me at a high speed, pecking me with their big beaks. They are usually scary, but they are so weak that you have to saw their heads off to avoid damaging their meat.

Kobolds...... are not much different from goblins, just faster. I don't like the part where they come at you with their dog faces and bare gums.

It's a pain in the ass, so we ask Bell and the others to help us here too and move on. Tamamo is going all out here. She can send plants flying from below and stab them, or she can use plants to entangle demons, and she shows us various ways to defeat them.

He seems to be very happy to be able to play an active role in the game, and every time he defeats an enemy, he flies to me with a happy look and praises me. He is so cute. I'll move on a little more, and when I find a good place, I'll set up a mobile base and take a rest. Maybe I should have gotten a bed and entered the labyrinth. I regret it a little.

****

Three days in the labyrinth. A cave. Meadow. Cave. Forest. Cave. Wetlands. Caves. Ruins. Through the caves, we arrived at the volcanic area where we were stuck.

I fought the new demons by myself, but the change of terrain was more troublesome for me since I had no problem with physical warriors. I thought of flying, but it was not romantic to take a shortcut by flying in the first labyrinth, so I tried my best in the first part. But only the first part. Thanks to that, my magic bag is full of demons.

There were many traps in the cave, but Sylphy and Tulu were able to see through them all. Tulu covers the traps with stones around them, so we can go on.

We thought that since we could interfere with the rocks in the labyrinth, we could just dig a hole down there, but we were told that this would be dangerous. They say that you will be thrown out into the distorted space, and you will never go down. Also, I heard that the labyrinth gets angry if you destroy the labyrinth too much.

Orcs and trolls appeared in the forest. I was a little depressed at the thought of eating orcs......, but I know they are tasty, so I drop their heads and stow them away. As I thought, if I had not eaten the orc meat first, I would have refused to eat it for a long time. Good job old me!

In the marshy area, the footholds were not so good, but we came across Poison Toad, Giant Toad, and other demons that took courage to fight against. The Giant Toad was a frog the size of a two-story house with very creepy eyes. They were so creepy that I wanted to go back to the earth if they saw me.

The Marshland Lizard, which is used for my equipment, also came out. The Marshland Lizard was so easy to decapitate that I felt a little worried about my equipment. There were many unpleasant enemies, but in the marshland I searched around for rice, believing in its existence. Unfortunately, I could not find any, and I took it out on Giant Toad.

The caves and ruins from the 30th level were a nest of undead, and to tell the truth, I was fed up with them and lost heart here. I was so disgusted with the smell of the undead in the labyrinth that I took a shortcut by flying at high speed for the entire route except for the boss. The undead are not popular in this labyrinth, and I was lucky that I could fly through the labyrinth without being spotted.

Leaving most of the fighting to Bell and the others, we pushed forward the shortest distance and shortcut the undead caves and ruins by flying. Since it took three days even for this, I wonder how long it would take a normal party to conquer the place.

By the way, we flew through the cave with Sylphy's cocoon of wind, bouncing off the undead. It was like a roller coaster. Flying through narrow passages is quite scary. If I had moved the cocoon by myself, it would have been a big accident. Thank the spirits.

"But it's pretty hot. It's hard in here."

I thought I got used to the heat in the land of the dead, but here it's even worse. Sweat is pouring out of me. Is this a sauna?

"Yeah?　Then I'll give you a breeze."

When Sylphy says this, a cold wind blows gently around my body. It's pretty cool.

"Sylphy. Why is the wind so cold?　If you let the wind blow in the heat, you'll just get a hot wind, right?"

"That's because it's magic."

It was a very simple and convincing reason. It's magic, so it's only natural that the wind blows cold.

"Anyway, Yuta. What are you going to do about some people on this floor?"

"What?　Are there people here?　Oh, by the way, this is the front line of attack. No wonder there are so many people here."

It was nearly deserted when the undead started showing up. I didn't think there were people there at all. But if they're here, they're most likely adventurers. I don't know.