Volume 7, Ending

Volume 7, Ending

Two silhouettes flew around the blue sky with their courses seeming to intertwine.

The fluttering distressed silver hair and the firing boosters belonged to Abyss and Sky who had abandoned their warning colors.

Times had changed.

And that was no metaphor. Alchemist Cheerleader Huldra spoke while looking up from the inn town.

“I never thought we’d see a time when Pieces are going away for good.”

Humans had originally shown an interest in Ground’s Nir because they could learn Magic and cause phenomena not possible on Earth. Whether it was semiconductors, new drugs, or fuel batteries, simply being able to produce fire from your hand could lead to very different discoveries when viewed on a microscopic scale. Taking macro-level objects back to Earth was difficult, but data could be stored in the Shining Weapon and brought back. Those were known as Pieces. They carried the possibility of breaking open stalled fields of research, but that meant they brought the tremendous power to both develop and eradicate human civilization.

However…

“Well, the entire Labyrinth is a giant armory. It’s private property, so if they insist we stay out, we kind of have to, don’t we?”

Wildefrau, the pervert wearing only a cross sword and belts, gave an offhand response.

Until now, the Labyrinth had not belonged to anyone, so even though the humans from earth were separated by country, corporation, language, religion, and more, they had all competed in the exploration of that underground space. But that was off limits now that an owner had appeared.

Had Abyss and Sky’s appearance brought humanity to a standstill? When the inn town humans had accepted them, had they foolishly crushed their own possibilities?

If so, blonde braid loop Gruagach and blonde curled ponytail Rusalka would not have looked so carefree.

“I bet everyone really wanted an excuse to set down their Shining Weapons and come to a stop.”

“But we can’t stop visiting this world either. Right, Onee-sama!? The draw of Ground’s Nir wasn’t the thrilling battles.”

So.

Why were those peaceful four gathered around a table on a main street?

The answer could be found in the food-oriented social gathering spot hastily created from the first floor of the inn/pub here.

“I think we should work with the Thousand Dragon for this! I mean, her ability to instantly travel between this island and that continent is unbeatable!!”

“No, winning over Ileana and hogging all the herbs comes first! Controlling the top is meaningless if your foundation is shaky!”

“I don’t care if it’s life insurance of real estate; is there any way to make some money!? I’m desperate over here!”

Beatrice, Philinnion, and Hermelina.

No, it was not just them. All those veteran warriors were focused elsewhere now. The Labyrinth was no longer an option, but so what? The current trend was to work with the Nonhumans living in Ground’s Nir, make business contracts with them, learn from their knowledge and skills, take that back to Earth, and trade using the island’s natural resources.

“What about the Womb Pot!? The Thousand Dragon’s Mother is sleeping at the bottom of that lake, right? If we had two colossal dragons to ourselves, we could revolutionize transportation in this world!!”

“The surface is covered with Strigona’s toxin, remember? How do we remove that hellish film, you idiot!?”

“If that’s truly impossible, then wouldn’t that be a business opportunity of its own? If we get a rival Guild all worked up so they start some expensive but impossible project, they’d end up really badly burned.”

Huldra and the others stared up into the sky with a distant look in their eyes, but this did not end with ugly greed.

Blue ringlet curl Wildefrau (who could probably remove the toxin by freezing the surface of the lake) placed a hand on the cheek of her truly exasperated face.

“Honestly, and I thought I was seeing the good will of humanity when we all abandoned the Labyrinth at once like that.”

“You were definitely imagining things. The currency here is still the gears from the Gimmicks made in the Labyrinth. Basically, everyone thought they could focus more on making money if they let those mechanical girls handle the mint and banking system.”

Skintight leotard, armor, and boots Rusalka explained that while poking at a stone gear sitting on the table.

“There you go.”

“Oh, it’s Meridiana.”

The palm-sized Fairy had refilled the aroma oil in the center of the table. Appearing before people had been rare of that timid species…but not anymore.

Looking up a bit showed a Royal Elf walking along with a paper bag of ingredients for the Girl’s Grill she had resumed running and both Archangel Marinkas were reading the inn town newspaper together on top of a pointed roof. If you visited the church, you would see a lovely Nun bossing around a skeleton who was extremely philanthropic (to women only).

They were all important business and trade partners, so the humans could not kick out the many different forms of Nonhuman even if they wanted to. If they did not build a favorable relationship with them, they could not get favorable deals.

It was not all bad.

For example…

“So in the end, we failed,” said Misoka, second of the three maid sisters, in the Detached Magic Palace of Roppongi, Tokyo.

Their plan to turn the Detached Magic Palace into the world’s smallest independent country had continued right up to the end, but it had bene overturned at the very, very end. They would not have needed to calm their anger if it had been obstruction from the profit-focused influencers or by Over the Wall or the simulator lurking beyond that, but they could hardly complain when their beloved master had been the one to unwittingly do it.

Iroka, the oldest sister, pouted her lips like a small child for once.

“I never thought she would seal up the Labyrinth and change this Piece-driven world.”

The red dress girl was responsible for 15% of the people’s total tax money. That income would have been enough to support a small country, but now they were back to square one.

“What do we do now?” asked Haruka, the small animal of a third sister.

With the Labyrinth exploration and Piece profits gone, Nagatacho and Kasumigaseki had no reason to keep the red dress girl locked up. But at the same time, that meant they did not need to keep supporting the Detached Magic Palace in the most expensive area of Roppongi.

…Iroka had started to think this may have been the real right answer. If they declared their independence and freedom, the new nation’s income would be entirely reliant on the dress girl. If she was forced to continue exploring the dangerous Labyrinth to support the Detached Magic Palace, would she really have been free? Sometimes you could only see something clearly after it had been lost.

They had been trying to protect that girl, but she had ended up protecting them.

There master may have been looking further ahead than them.

“I don’t get it,” whispered Iroka who wore glasses and had a mole below her eye. “But whatever form it takes, we and the miss are no longer bound here. Once she finds a new Gate and reregisters, she can live in a small apartment for all it matters. As long as we can happily support her.”

There was a definite change, slow as it might be.

There was a lot of noise at Boo Boo’s brick house on the mountain slope.

But instead of the house’s owner, it was the Break News around it causing the ruckus.

“Taking root in that glass continent would indeed be difficult. But not impossible. The land might be a dead end, but the ocean is a treasure trove of resources. If we lay nutrient-rich dirt atop the glass continent and create soil by either burning seaweed or letting it rot, we might just be able to take root there!”

“Ho ho? So are you planning to go there?”

“There is more than one of me. Do not forget that all plants on this island come from the All-Purpose Seed and are thus a part of me, pest. And the times are constantly changing. The time has come for an upset within the Break News. Will we cling to the island, or will we expand our influence to the new continent? That will be the key to the coming century.”

From the ghost ship and from the sky, Kallikantzaros and the Thousand Dragon were apparently keeping an eye on the people traveling between the island and the new continent. Was that meant as a warning so they would behave?

But separate from that, Strigona breathed an annoyed sigh.

“I am the Fairy Queen, so I cannot travel to a new land and abandon the village.”

“Hwa ha ha. You old hag, stubborn people like you are known as obsolete fossils!”

“The humans apparently say it’s easy to overlook what’s right under your nose. So while everyone is focused on the new continent, I think I’ll work in secret to take over this island with Boo Boo’s second house at the center of my territory.”

“What?”

“You got a problem with that, perverted carrot?”

It was unclear how serious they were, but ominous sparks flew between those two.

The Sage was in the Iberian Orc village.

There were fewer Iberian Orcs than usual, perhaps because they were out helping with construction work. They no longer had to live in secret. The pig-faced giants rushing back and forth blew away the still atmosphere that usually hung over the place like a deep fog.

“It won’t be that easy.”

The Sage spoke so only the elder could hear while holding a parchment memo pad in hand.

The little ones squeaked while drawing out a large ladder-like frame on a patch of black soil cleared of underbrush. Drawing pictures in those frames was apparently the in thing at the moment. They had probably been influenced by the four-panel comic featuring a pig protagonist and human girl heroine that ran in a corner of the Sage’s inn town newspaper.

She kindly narrowed her eyes as she viewed those innocent little ones, but her whispered voice was as harsh as ever.

“Human nature is not changed so easily. Long before we ever encountered this world or the Labyrinth, we were getting into ugly fights over the money we had developed. Things might look good now, but once someone somewhere finds a loophole, all that malice and greed will rear its ugly head once more. It will happen sooner or later.”

“Squeal.”

Whether he understood or not, the elder tilted his head a little.

“But I feel like that is what it means to be alive. I can’t imagine a living creature with no desires or wishes. Even Lady Abyss and Lady Sky took flight after finding something they wanted to do.”

“…Perhaps.”

Things were fine while the world was happy.

As long as everyone flung the doors open wide and innocently ran toward a world of new possibility.

But what harm would that cause?

What disasters would it bring about?

There needed to be at least one person who gave this peaceful new era that kind of serious thought. And if a threat was about to take form, she only had to warn everyone so it could be nipped in the bud. She had decided to start a newspaper in this world because she wanted the information infrastructure to get the word out.

She had given up on making all the decisions on her own without relying on anyone.

The Sage smiled a little.

“But.”

“?”

“At the very least, we might have steered away from the disastrous future I knew.”

Time had passed and evening had arrived.

Boo Boo and Beatrice stood on the hill overlooking the inn town.

The humans had abandoned the Labyrinth.

But at the same time, they had incorporated the island’s Nonhumans into their routines and that was gradually changing the people of this world who had always lived peacefully in the forests and fields.

The value of rest was changing.

The busy time spent in the inn town was a refreshing new experience. But it was important to still find and keep a spot where they could return to those more carefree times. The concept of time-off and vacations might begin to spread through the Nonhumans before long.

“Boo Boo.”

“?”

Beatrice gently spoke to Boo Boo who was resting on the hill after the fast pace of the inn town had overwhelmed him.

It felt like everyone had already accepted it as fact.

Some might ask why it was worth bringing up now.

But when she thought back, it had all just kind of happened while they were so busy dealing with the Sage and the Hero. It would be awkward to back out of it now, but the more girly part of Beatrice asked her if it was really okay to let these things go unsaid.

“Let’s say the important things out loud.”

“Squeal. What do you mean?”

Boo Boo must not have understood. She thought for a bit, tried to find a good answer, and gave up. Dragging the words she wanted out of Boo Boo in a natural way would be difficult.

“You see, Boo Boo…”

So.

She stretched up toward seated Boo Boo’s ear and whispered to him.

“I…”

Two shorts words followed.

But this was a definite confession that plainly defined their relationship.

That was an island small enough to walk the perimeter in three days.

It was an island were everyone was free to have an adventure.