Chapter 56.2: Render cont.

Prytaneum

Render​

"Oi, boy!" Wayland cut in, breaking off his tirade at Welf. "What did you just say?"

I stopped in the midst of picking up the shield I'd leaned against my chair, frowning at the odd tone in Wayland's voice.

"Daedalus?" I asked carefully, feeling something tense between my shoulder blades—but it wasn't fear. I wasn't even nervous, honestly, though maybe I should have been. If anything, I felt anticipation. "Have you heard of him?"

Wayland pursed his lips, but didn't seem to know how to answer as his brows drew together and his jaw twitched. Even after several seconds, he didn't seem sure what to say.

"—I have," Ryuu replied instead. "Though only vaguely. He was the one who designed Daedalus Street, was he not?"

"Daedalus Street?" I asked, stiffening at once and growing excited. I could feel my heart start to pound against my chest at her words. "What's that?"

"A district for the poor, between East and South-East Main Street," Ryuu replied, answering the questions easily. "It's a complex street, apparently owing to changes being made repeatedly mid-design. It was said that Daedalus, its maker, had been inspired by the Dungeon itself and the street itself is often called the second Dungeon."

"That's that place with all those rumors about it, right?" Welf asked after a moment, looking up from his work and meeting my eyes. He might have been trying to tell me something, but if so, he failed. "About how anybody who wandered in would never find their way out again?"

"Simple rumors," Ryuu answered dismissively. "Countless people live in that district, after all, and I've been there myself a fair number of times. While the streets are somewhat labyrinthine, they're simple to navigate once one grows used to them, or learns to read the signs drawn on the walls. Its reputation simply comes from the fact that murders often took their victims within before killing them."

"…Yeah, that's really not better," Welf replied, still seemingly off put by Ryuu. I wasn't sure how much was her personality and how much was the fact that he wasn't good at dealing with elves, though.

Either way, I didn't really care about stuff like that right now. I'd looked around Orario a fair bit in my semi-frequent wanderings, half-hoping to stumble across something important, but so far I'd had no luck. Admittedly, we'd never really had a 'in case of sprouting from a Dungeon in the far future' plan at Camp, but there hadn't been any signs in any of the places I'd looked. I hadn't found anything in the city's biggest landmark, Babel, or in the headquarters of the Guild, the Pantheon. If anyone else had managed to escape the Dungeon alive, I'd have figured they'd have tried to draw attention to themselves somehow, or else leave something in the most visible parts of the city. I'd even considered that some might try and join the Guild, which would have ready access to a lot of secret information and help keep track of adventurers. Failing that, I'd have thought they'd have at least tried to find their mothers or fathers, whatever their new form, which was another part of why I wanted to go to the party.

But so far, I'd had no luck. I didn't see any familiar symbols etched anywhere or any of the ways we'd agreed to use to contact one another. I hadn't heard any of my friend's names mentioned in conversation and hadn't found them when I'd looked over a list of the registered Adventurers with Eina. I held out hope that that was on me and my perpetual inability to read, made worse by Orario's still unfamiliar alphabet. Even so, I'd have been a damn liar if I said it wasn't a bit discouraging.

I wasn't stupid; I knew how long the odds were for anyone who woke up in the Dungeon like I had. Having fought them so often, I knew how strong the monster in the Dungeon could be, especially when they swarmed in large groups. If it had been just me, if Mrs. O'Leary hadn't answered my call, I probably would have just died before getting anywhere. Given that, I'd have had to be an idiot for not even considering who else might have survived—or, perhaps more importantly, made it safely to the surface.

It was a frighteningly short list. Nico might have been able to do it, if he was well enough to shadow travel to safety. Annabeth…might have been able to do it, if she was reborn with her cap and managed to avoid running into anyone or anything that could sense her through other means—basically, if she won the lottery, because that's what it'd take to keep from running into anything like that until she escaped. It was possible that there were a few others that manage it, too, because of stuff I didn't know about. But otherwise? They'd have died, unless they just so happened to run into some powerful adventurers on their way back up. That's why I had to keep exploring the Dungeon, after all, and as soon as I possibly could. Even if the odds of running into anyone I knew that way were tiny, they were enormous compared to the alternative.

But I hadn't even considered Daedalus. Sure, I'd thought that I might be able to find Tyson, if he counted as a monster, and maybe even Chiron or a few others, though Mrs. O'Leary's initial reaction upon our reunion made me wonder how they'd react if we met again, but not really about the people who died long before the battle. But as long as we were talking about the dead coming back to life, Daedalus was just about the best equipped to survive a place like the Dungeon, in part because he could just call for Mrs. O'Leary like I had. Even if that didn't work, however, I gave the maker of the Labyrinth a better chance at finding a way out than pretty much anyone else I knew, all else being equal.

"When?" I asked quickly, hardly able to contain my excitement. "This Daedalus Street place—when did it get built? Wayland, do you know Daedalus?"

"Saying I know him is going too far," Wayland rumbled, still eying me oddly. "But I know a great deal of him, from stories I've heard. As for when he did it, though…it must have been about a thousand years now."

If it had been anyone but Daedalus, that probably would have killed my enthusiasm; instead, it barely curbed it. By the time I first met him, Daedalus had lived several thousand years, his life tied to the Labyrinth's, and if he so chose, I didn't doubt his ability to do so again. And how many guys labyrinth-builders named Daedalus could there be?

"Between East and South-East Main Street?" I asked, just to make sure. "That's south of your workshop, right Welf?"

Welf sighed but nodded.

"Yeah," He said with a grimace. "Be careful, Percy."

I nodded back, setting down the shield again and standing up.

"I will," I said. "Sorry, Ryuu, but can you wait a bit longer? I'll make something special to make up for the delay."

Ryuu was watching me silently, but after a moment she nodded without asking anything. I guess Ryuu probably knew the value of secrets and privacy.

"Oi, boy," Wayland grunted, frowning. "I'm not sure I even want to know, but…what do you think you're doing? I brought it up, but it's probably just a coincidence, kid. Or are you actually try to say…you said you were a part of the Poseidon Familia. Do you—"

"Hey old man," Welf cut him off, raising his voice. "Since when was it okay for us smiths to stick our noses in another Familia's business?"

Wayland stopped before closing his mouth with a click, expression twisting. He glanced at Ryuu by my side and then down at his gloved hands.

"Aye, my apologies," He said after a moment. "The kid's dumb as a bag of hammers, but he's right. We get all kinds in Orario—it ain't any of my business where any particular person comes from, long as they don't cause me trouble. Just pretend I didn't say anything."

"…Thanks, Wayland," I said, smiling at him. "I'd tell you what was going on, but to be honest, I have no idea what's going on. By the way, do you mind if I let Ryuu hold on to one of the swords, Welf? I figured that since we had three, it makes sense not to keep them all in one place anyway—and I'd like to protect the Hostess of Fertility, as well. I know it's a lot to ask, but if you could make one for Wayland and Lili as well…"

Welf made a pained face, like I'd asked him to let me punch him repeatedly—but after a moment, he sighed.

"I…sort of intended to do something like that anyway. If it's something like Evilus, I guess I can't hold back because of my pride," He murmured under his breath, sounding disgusted with himself. As he did, he lifted a dark brown sword—no, a dark brown magic sword. "Here, old man—maybe don't get kidnapped again. If I have to rescue you, do you think you could live with the shame?"

"No," Wayland admitted, slowly accepting the sword despite the severe frown on his face. "But I couldn't live if the gods came down and turned me into a glass of lemonade, either. Let's keep our hypotheticals realistic here. It's not a bad magic sword, I'll give you that much—but as a sword itself, what is with this craftsmanship?"

I chuckled as they continued to argue, thinking bizarrely that the two actually did almost seem like family. Without another word, however, I turned to leave—and after a moment, I saw Ryuu follow me.