Contradiction

We moved further into the labyrinth. Each step we took was a step towards a place completely unknown to me. I moved closer to her. Just as I was about to tap her shoulder, the mage turned around.

"Were almost there."

Almost where?

I almost blurted out. Though it had been brief, she did say I couldn't talk to her. This part was still mystifying to me.

If she could speak(?) a language I can understand, what's stopping her from understanding me…?

While she had explained the details of her spell to me more than once on our way here, it was still a concept I had great difficulty wrapping my head around. In the first place, I don't even know if what she did was magic.

Though I had thought and operated under the assumption that magic was an all-powerful force that could produce what people of my world would call 'miracles'. It would seem that my knowledge of magic is still shallow. My own inexperience was still hindering me from looking beyond the small pond and into the bigger picture. The mage spoke with a little impatience.

"Ahhh! This is taking too long. Ya' mind if I just speed things up?"

With a snap of her fingers, wind coalesced around us. The wind moved through the atmosphere with grace and beauty as it encased us in a sphere of 「Conjuration」. I immediately covered myself in mana.

She didn't even wait for my reply

Not like she'll listen anyways. With that thought at the back of my mind, the world shifted. Suddenly, we were spinning. Or more like, I was.

Despite the furious rotation of the wind around us, my carefree companion was standing–floating, without a care in the world. She was clearly experienced in zero gravity.

Meanwhile, I was barely keeping my dignity intact. It took me my all just to keep myself from wrenching my last meal.

Come to think of it, when did I last eat…?

Other than the Night Beast I had encountered here, I don't remember eating much else. A sharp turn made me spin. Because of some sort of spell that kept me in place, I just spun in place without any way to fix myself upright.

Come to think of it, I never was that good when it came to overcoming my motion-sickness… Well, more like I just never got over it

With a flick of her hand, the spherical formation of wind turned sharply. It knocked down multiple beasts as it continued to defy physics. Multiple potential enemies were defeated in an instant.

Eventually, even I succumbed to the mage's power.

 ◇◆◇◆◇

The splash of water from close by woke me up from my slumber.

As soon as I open my eyes, a vile smell whiffed my nose. It had the odor of things both from outside and inside decomposing. It was extremely disgusting.

Another splash echoed by my side.

"Oh! You're awake."

Without shame…

Without the slightest hints of embarrassment…

A naked woman stood before me.

Yes, a woman. I completely retract my previous statement about calling her a lady

What was in front of me was a matured, full-grown, adult woman. She had an excellent hourglass figure. Her body curved in and out at just the right places. Complimented with her divine visage, it was like she was a doll made to be the perfect model.

…Well, more like a broken doll

Like her eyes, her body contradicted her beautiful appearance. Her arms and legs had scarred cuts. Her torso was filled with the stitches of her numerous past injuries.

She's gone through a lot

What was most noticeable, though, was her wrists and neck. They had markings. Like something that used to be there for a long time had just been recently removed. These markings were present and visible even now, and I don't think they're going away anytime soon.

Despite her appearance, though, she just stood there, waiting for my reaction. She didn't make any of her usual quips and just watched my every move carefully.

From the rising of my eyebrow, to the slight twitch of my lips, even to the way I moved my eyes. She observed them all. It really made me wonder who was being inspected here.

I look away. Despite my rude impression, I at least valued decency. Though it wasn't one of my highest priorities. She was still stark-naked.

"Are you done looking?"

She talked in a cold and serious tone. Her usual bright and chipper tone completely gone. It caught me by surprise. This wasn't like her. I nodded.

"I see."

Another splash came from my side. I didn't look back.

For the first time since waking up, I survey my surroundings.

We were currently in a small cavern. The ceilings were comparatively lower than the other caverns I had been to in this labyrinth.

Roots of some kind of plant grew from above and below, covering the dome shaped cave. Another splash of water came from my side.

"If you're wondering why this place is small, it's because of me. I built this place with my magic from scratch. It was really hard, you know? I had never done any construction or excavation work before so it was a real challenge."

She explained to me. It would seem that this entire place is man-made. It was an outstanding feat to be sure, but not completely implausible. Though, that begged the question…

"'Why didn't you just ask other people to do it for you?', is probably what you're thinking, right? I get it. Though your logic is a little flawed, I could understand how you came to that conclusion."

She spoke in the tone of a teacher correcting a smug student just because he happened to know the answer beforehand.

"…You see, I'm a bit of a recluse. With a place that worked as it's own people-repellent, I just had to move in. Besides, it's not like anybody outside would accept me anyways. I'm just an annoyance to them. So left that place in a heartbeat and settled in here…"

She continued some more. Her voice contained a mixture of feelings. Each one containing a part of her soul.

I felt like I understood her more.

A wet hand came to my face, turning my head to her direction. Our eyes met.

I couldn't see my reflection in her blank eyes, but I could tell that what she was looking at was beyond just me. She spoke once more.

"Will you be my knight?"