Chapter 35 - Labyrinth (4)

Chapter 35 - Labyrinth (4)

Inside a small room located in the deepest part of the labyrinth.

A man was sitting at a large desk littered with miscellaneous scrolls and magical tools of unknown use.

Once a wizard of the warrior party who defeated the demon king, he was also called a wise man as the years went by.

The golem he made approaches the wise man who is lying on his desk.

Although he was a golem, he appeared to be a normal person.

The golem, wearing a maid outfit full of the sage's tastes, opens his mouth.

"Master, someone took the 'necklace'."

"...What? A necklace?"

The sage asked as he glared at the golem he had created, 'Itea'.

"Yes, a first year cadet obtained a necklace containing the warrior's protection."

As the wise man listens to Ithea's explanation, he remembers how he came to make the necklace.

It was hundreds of years ago, but it was still a vivid memory to him.

The warrior party was on their way to the demon castle to defeat the demon king.

'Hero, can you put some of your blessings on this necklace?"

'Gaho?'

The sage was interested in making magic items.

The warrior grinned at him as usual and told him to leave it to him, then immediately blew his protection into the necklace.

Like the other members of the party, they had made items that received their own protection or blessings.

It started with the meaning of celebrating the warrior party.

After that, in the battle with the demon king, the hero killed the demon king and died heroically.

Except for the hero, the other members of the party were able to save their lives thanks to the hero.

So was the sage.

Party members honored him in their own way.

The saintess in particular cried a lot.

The 'Innocence Academy' was adopted by the sage as a way to honor the hero.

It was something that he was able to do because he had always been prepared for other strategies or the future even when planning strategies at a party.

The wise man prepared for the time when the hero did not appear, and prepared for the future when the demon king reappeared.

Other members of the party either died in battle with the demons or died of old age in comfort.

However, only the wise man has maintained the academy against aging by using the ancient magic he finally found.

The labyrinth he lives in was also his work.

He hid the items he had found or made throughout his life in this labyrinth.

It was a gift for the cadets.

The better the item, the harder it was to find.

Hiding items has been a sage's pastime for hundreds of years.

The warrior's necklace was like a gift for a warrior who would appear one day.

It was with the hero's 'reincarnation' in mind.

It was a device prepared in the hope that the hero the wise man knew would laugh out loud while posing in the same way when he saw his statue.

"Bring the transmitter on the second floor."

The transmitter was an object that could reconfirm what happened in the labyrinth through the screen. This, too, was made by the wise.

"Here it is, master."

Itea held out the transmitter she had prepared in advance as if she knew the wise man would say that.

Itea knew the sage very well. Considering the years he had lived with him, he deserved it.

The wise man sat still and looked at the screen of the transmitter.

I wondered if the cadet who obtained the necklace was a reincarnated warrior.

"Blind...?"

The cadet who came out of the transmitter had white bandages around his eyes.

The wise man, who had been looking into the transmitter for a while, covered the transmitter.

"I'm not a warrior."

"Why?"

"The guy I know isn't this meticulous."

The sage shook his head from side to side and said.

"And why does he talk to himself so much? Is he sick? If not... I'm assuming he's talking to something invisible on the screen."

Itea nodded in affirmation to the sage's words.

"I'm nervous, but... Can you bring me some information about this cadet?"

Talking to myself, since there are spirits or whatever, it could be, but it was too detailed.

'Even though he has excellent senses enough to find a gap in front of a stone statue... To think of inserting a sword right there... Is an unusual guy.'

"I will prepare."

This Thea bows her head to the sage and she heads off somewhere.

Since it was the academy he created, at least in the academy, there was no information he couldn't reach.

The wise man picked up the 5th floor transmitter that he had thrown in the corner next to the desk.

When this year's Labyrinth was regenerated, 'impurities' that were accidentally mixed in were on the 5th floor.

Looking at the screen, I saw that the cadets were being attacked by 'impurities'.

Fortunately, according to the sage's calculations, the protection magic applied to the students seemed to be working without change.

There will be no casualties.

The academy he organized wasn't that weak.

"This too is fate. It must be an adversity to overcome."

The sage muttered in a corner of the messy room.

It wasn't to the extent that if the cadets were united or if they had excellent skills, they couldn't defeat it.

As much as his race was a race, he was quickly recovering from shallow wounds.

Who will be able to defeat him?

Which hero will appear.

The sage decided to watch it.

'You did well to give the instructors a vacation as usual. If I do well, I'll be able to see the cadets' performance.'

Thinking so, the sage rested his chin on his desk and waited in silence for Thea to come.

'What's taking so long...?'

However, Itea is later than expected.

***

Standing guard, I dealt with the goblins approaching the tent a few more times.

Time passed quickly as I listened to Sierra's stories beside her.

While the pouch that stored the magic stones was gradually filling up, a rustling sound came from the tent.

Soon after, Yuri stuck his head out of the tent.

"Ahaha, did I sleep too much...?"

Yuri laughs shyly.

Judging from the way her eyes were wide open, it seemed that she hadn't been able to rest at all.

The first time she entered the tent, she heard a startling sound shortly after, but she was quiet after that, so I thought she was asleep.

Was the bed uncomfortable?

There were those who could not fall asleep except in her own bed. Besides, since Yuri was a young lady from a prestigious family, she could be even more sensitive.

"Have you had a good rest?"

I asked Yuri who was tired of her fatigue.

"Yes! Thanks to you, I had a good rest. Thank you, Jetto."

Yuri spits out her lies with a bright smile.

[ ...It looks like a face that hasn't been able to sleep, let alone rest. ]

Sierra next to her glares at her glass.

Soon Yuri is completely out of the tent and she approaches where I was sitting and opens her mouth.

"How are you going to shift now?"

"I still have a lot of stamina. I'm thinking of going down to the third floor now..."

Yuri's eyes widen at my answer.

Yuri's finely braided hair was slightly tousled. She sleeps without loosening her hair when sleeping.

"Can I really not rest?"

"Yes. I'm really fine."

"Hmm... OK, we're running out of time now, so we'd better move quickly."

Yuri leaves those words and goes to her tent and she comes out with my backpack and her own backpack.

She then, as she had learned in Edward's class, took the floor of the enchanted tent and lifted it up, making the tent smaller.

"All sorted out, let's go!"

Yuri catches up next to me and shouts.

"The stairs are where I passed."

Although Yuri is embarrassed by asking if she passed the real stairs, she tells him that thanks to her, she found the treasure, so she thinks so and goes on.

So she and Yuri went down the stairs having memorized her location.

"So that goblin..."

"Oh, it's boring. I don't know how many times I've heard that."

"Anything else? Hidden treasure or something..."

Upon reaching the third floor, we see several enchanted tents and the guards of each tent guarding them chatting.

"Everybody's already having a party."

Yuri, who was watching them, told me.

"I'm used to going alone, so I didn't even think about the party."

First of all, it seemed that there was no Lycan slope on the third floor, considering that the magic tents were safely set up around it.

'Since there's not much time left, it seems impossible to go straight to the fourth floor.'

Yuri and I walked around the third floor slowly.

Yuri looked tired, so she didn't overdo it.

The monsters from the third floor were always goblins and kobolds.

The only thing that has changed is that the number has increased a bit.

Well, anyway, it was a goblin, a kobold, but...

ã…¡Suddenly!

She blew off the last remaining goblin's head and wiped the blood from her sword.

It seems that the level has risen, that the body is gradually filled with strength.

'As expected, the level rises well after entering the labyrinth.'

Considering the effect of the eyepatch, it was the leveling that finally got it right.

Checking the status window for a while, I reached level 20, and there were 4 skill points left.

If you invest this in demon swordsmanship, you can raise the level of Reverse Heaven once.

However, I have no intention of investing right now. The one with extra skill points can deal with a lot of cases.

"Come to think of it, Zeto, are you using the sword in reverse now?"

Yuri, who was picking up magic stones, spoke to me.

"Yes, I had to use this sword like that."

"Didn't I say it's Master's sword? It looks like it's of good quality, but I can't imagine that even though there are swords like that, they're not using them..."

"Haha, there's something that Master left behind when he left the sword."

I continued small talk with Yuri and helped pick up the magic stone.

When I picked up all the magic stones and got up, just in time, a part of my finger disappeared as if it were scattered.

"Jetto... Your finger... Uh, me too?"

"It seems that time is running out."

The transfer of the cadets who remained in the labyrinth was beginning. Thirty hours in the labyrinth were over.

Of course, he could have escaped using the pass whenever he wanted.

If the cadet was not ejected from the labyrinth due to fatal damage, the last position the cadet was in was saved, so even if he returned, he could start from that position.

I had to see it as a concept like a 'save point' in the labyrinth.

Other than that, there was a real 'save point' that starts there even if you die every 10th floor, such as the 1st, 10th, and 20th floors.

It was for the convenience of the player.

Even while their bodies are disappearing, they open their mouths and chat.

"It's not a good location. It's where the goblins used to appear, so there's a high chance you'll meet them from the start."

"So, this is what Instructor Edward meant when he said to choose his position well when he left."

Yuri nods his head as he mentions Edward.

Edward tended not to give the right answer. Each of the cadets wanted to find their own correct answer.

Thanks to his educational philosophy, class A cadets will have a hard time.

Yuri's and I's bodies gradually disappear.

Eventually, the sight darkens.

***

When I came to my senses, it was the entrance to the labyrinth.

Both the labyrinth and the sage have thoughts.

Just because the remaining cadets were sent out, they didn't send them out all at once.

Looking around, I can't see the glass.

Considering that I got out of the labyrinth before Yuri, it could be that they were sent out in the order they entered the labyrinth.

However, the front door was a mess.

"Aaaaah...!"

"Move to the infirmary quickly!"

"What did you do to him?"

You can see wounded and bleeding cadets and instructors or staff carrying them.

It was a precursor to the lycanthrope episode.

'Looking at this uproar from the first day... Is it the 4th floor or the 5th floor...'

As I walk toward them, one of the large tortoises who has been helping the wounded approaches me.

"Hey! Are you a Jeto cadet?"

"Yes, I am Jetto. What's going on?"

At a glance, he was a senior cadet.

A call from an unknown senior cadet.

It was the same scenario as the beginning of the medical technology exchange meeting quest.

"Medical officer Priscilla was looking for you. He told me to come to the medical room as soon as it was part of the exchange meeting because there was a shortage of workers."

"It's one-handed... I understand. The situation looks urgent, so I'll go first."

"That... Can you go on your own?"

The senior cadet looked at my eyes and scratched his eyebrows.

"Yes, you don't have to worry about that."

"Yeah, looking at what came out of the labyrinth... First of all, I'm also a member of the Medical Technology Exchange Association, but I thought the first greeting would be like this. Anyway, see you later!"

The senior cadet gave me a serious look and went back to helping the wounded.

How did this quest come about?

First of all, there are not many people with divine power in the academy.

Even if there is, it will be closer to the paladin side than the cleric.

Above all, divine power is not a power that can be encountered very often.

Finally, Priscilla possessed much more divine power than others thought.

It was also the reason she was single-handedly in charge of her academy's infirmary.

It's just that I need my help to make things easier.

Because there weren't that many people at the medical technology exchange meeting.

I can see people moving in unison.

'Yuri... Will go back on her own...?'

Somehow, it seems that the situation where he leaves Yuri alone and goes away keeps coming up.

Still, it was an urgent situation.

I couldn't stand still.

A decision was made in my head, and I quickly ran to the infirmary.

'I didn't expect it to be the first day. If I hadn't met Yuri, I would have encountered the Lycanthrope slope.'

Even if it was, it was still as planned.

As she runs with her mana pumped into her legs, Sierra speaks to her.

[ Medical technology exchange meeting? Did you know how to handle medicine? ]

She didn't have time to answer Sierra as she ran, but she'd rather see her than explain.

I glance at Sierra, who pursues me with her laid-back posture.

'Come to think of it, this is the first time I've met Priscilla after making a yodo...'

As Priscilla possesses her enormous divine power, she might be able to recognize the yodo.

If she notices this, she should try to get over it somehow.

You can't hide her urethra every time you run into her inside her academy, she says.

In order to do that, it is necessary to play an active role through this incident to be seen as a more competent talent.

She entered the academy's main building and immediately went to the infirmary.

The door to the infirmary was already wide open.

"Hmm... Just looking at the cancer, it looks like claw marks..."

Priscilla was continuing to heal her students with divine magic.

Hearing her footsteps, she turns her head towards me.

"Oh, you're here. I'm busy, but it's good."

I approached Priscilla.

Entering the infirmary, you can hear the songs of the wounded.

It was because of the lycanthrope's attack and the condition called 'confusion'.

"I heard you called."

"I said she had a bandage on her eye, but Butler found it right away."

The name of the senior cadet who informed me of the quest must have been 'Butler'.

Priscilla turned her head back to focus on her treatment and continued her talk to me.

"I don't know what happened. I got hit by a monster, but I don't know what kind of monster it was. Anyway, a lot of people died because of it. Injuries are a bonus."

Priscilla clicks her tongue in annoyance at the increased number of her injuries.

Death in the labyrinth meant being thrown out of the labyrinth.

There would have been no injuries if he had been hit by a single blow, but Lycan Slope was characterized by a quick series of attacks, so there were a lot of injuries.

"...What can I do?"

Priscilla finishes treating one of her cadets, then stands up and approaches me.

Even in this frantic situation, her pupils remained calm and radiated a calm light.

Then her lips, which she had been holding tight, open.

"Acupuncture... You must have practiced a lot, right?"