“It feels like forever since I’ve had a vacation~ Finally, I’ve found freedom~”
Mariel’s expression as she lay on the bed, kicking her legs, was pure happiness.
Even though she was soon to enter the Great Labyrinth along with the Glesia School, she couldn’t find a single nerve-racking corner.
It was better to roll to death in a maze without even a bathroom or a restaurant than to stay 24 hours a day in the gallery with a snap.
That’s why my mood, which was busy packing her luggage, couldn’t have been worse.
Even the unpaid servant I had painstakingly picked out was trying to break free from the chains and run away, but I had to personally hand her the ticket to board the train.
I packed her clothes and underwear meticulously, reminding her several times.
“You must come out within three days.”
“Hmm~ Are you worried about me, Supervisor? But it’s unnecessary. I am, after all! I’ve been requested by the Glesia School to cooperate in exploring the labyrinth!”
Seeing her showing off the first-class ticket I secretly put in her pocket through Sera, my patience was wearing thin.
It was impossible to handle the duties of the forum since you couldn’t access it inside.
However, as long as I quickly landed on the 11th floor as part of the vanguard, I would soon enter, and the blank space without moderation could be filled.
She seemed to want to explore the labyrinth as leisurely as possible.
“Supervisor, Supervisor.”
“Yes, yes.”
“If by any chance I can’t come out of the labyrinth… will you cry?”
It was a subtle tone as if testing for a reaction.
When I turned my head, Mariel was lying on the bed, looking at me, wiggling her white toes.
Surely, she doesn’t know that I’m the Administrator of the forum?
Since I didn’t even bother to hide that I threw the spear in the Dark Forest.
Even though I spent all my time at the Magic Tower, I thoroughly concealed my identity as the Administrator.
There was only one way for her to find out that I’m the Administrator at this moment.
It’s to hear the truth directly from me through the fragment of Mystery, the ‘Clocktower of Principle’, and then regress.
“Could it be… you would not be bothered at all?”
Thinking for a moment about the possibility, I shook my head soon after.
It was beyond the level of low probability, almost impossible.
Mariel’s Principles that I currently know is ‘not to run away’.
The reward for that is ‘returning to before a surprise attack’.
I didn’t designate time-related magic as alchemy for no reason at the Magic Tower.
Even a very short regression is burdened with a severe price and has a lot of mysteries and strict conditions and constraints attached to it.
She hasn’t even stepped into the training level yet to establish a new principle.
So this must be purely out of curiosity, or perhaps another emotion.
“I’ll go to catch you.”
If she doesn’t come out within three days, I’ll go find her myself.
My sincere words made her eyelids, fluttering like butterflies, draw a graceful curve.
“Hmm, is that so? Am I that precious to you?”
I don’t know how many points out of 100 the answer was, but it seemed like the score was enough to keep Mariel from having to make a new home in the labyrinth.
“I have to come back safely~”. With a smile full of vitality, she grabbed her bag and headed to the labyrinth following the Glesia School.
And then, three days passed.
*
====
[Is the Sub-Manager dead?]
I haven’t seen her on the forum these days…
Should we start worrying?
— Did she already leave?
— Why did she break down so quickly!!
— Administrator was too harsh on her
— Really? She hasn’t logged in for three days already?
====
====
[Finally found freedom and left]
I believed you could do it!
— I believed too. It felt rewarding helping every dawn?
ㄴ Did you send her? lol
— Before you go, expose the Administrator’s identity
ㄴ Do you still believe they met?
====
====
[Isn’t the Sub-Manager trapped in the labyrinth right now?]
They said nobody who entered the Great Labyrinth on the first day has come out yet.
Maybe she might be one of them?
— Hm, it’s been three days already, and not a single one?
— Are the rookies this bad this year?
— It’s just the first trial if it’s the Great Labyrinth
ㄴ It’s tough if you get caught in the fog
ㄴ Even though, there should be some who passed. Many major schools went in.
— If it’s true, Administrator will probably go to rescue her
ㄴ Seriously, we might lose a sl*ve, but this needs to be rescued.
====
“We still haven’t received any information about the exit or the fog. If it gets any later, we might be the only ones who get tied up.”
“Could it be that they’re planning to monopolize the loot among themselves?”
“Darn it, those Glesia guys betrayed us! I never trusted those cold-blooded people.”
“Should we enter now, Arthur?”
In the meeting room where the mages of the Mittier School gathered, there was an intense current of emotions.
Even though some time had passed since the vanguard entered the labyrinth, there was still no contact from the 11th Floor.
It might really be a delay in the strategy, but if Glesia deliberately set traps, it would be a painful loss for Mittier.
Not only would the climbing speed of the entire school slow down, but entering the labyrinth without any information would also result in accumulating losses.
“It’s not certain yet. We should wait until we hear that other schools have passed.”
“They might have blocked communication.”
“They might be planning to delay as much time as possible before coming out…”
“Even if they didn’t pass, if there’s a real problem in the labyrinth, that would be even worse.”
“Then what should we do?”
The situation inside the labyrinth was unknown even to the administration of the Magic Tower.
Once you passed the 10th floor, unless high-ranking mages residing on the upper floors or the pure-blooded families that were pillars of the Magic Tower took action, entering was impossible.
Should they trust Glesia and wait, or should they enter?
Or should they give up climbing and wait for the next time the Great Labyrinth opened?
Arthur, faced with an unexpected variable, felt his head pounding involuntarily.
“If a week passes like this, what will happen to those inside?”
Standing in the assembly hall, deep in thought, he raised his head upon hearing a question.
It was Clark, who had been sitting at the back, continuously looking at his location notes.
“If you’re still within the labyrinth when it closes, you’ll be sent to the 9th floor.”
“And if you’re dead?”
“Then that’s the end of it.”
“…”
After hearing the response, instead of returning to his seat, Clark left the room.
Seeing his departure, Arthur paused the meeting for a moment.
Rushing out into the corridor, he caught sight of Clark, wearing a long cloak over his shoulders, leaving the Mittier Hall.
Although he seemed to be walking leisurely, even when Arthur increased his pace to catch up, the distance didn’t seem to shorten.
“Hey, Clark! Where are you going like that?”
“I don’t think we’ll reach a conclusion like this. I’m not just bound to the Mittier School, so I’m going to check it out.”
Even though he said he would enter the labyrinth alone, he had a resolute attitude.
It was not unreasonable for him to be confident, as he was capable of winning third place in the Magic Festival with Haeju magic.
But Arthur thought it was dangerous.
Not only did the enchantments not affect the monsters, but the labyrinth was also designed to overload the minds of the mages.
Above all, if even Clark went in, Mittier would practically be unable to pass the 10th floor.
Convincing him was the top priority here.
“If the spear becomes a problem, I’ll leave it behind.”
“Don’t do that, just wait a bit. I have a plan in mind.”
“What plan?”
“We’ll leverage the power of adventurers.”
Adventurers, ranked about silver, had better tracking abilities than mages and were equipped with contingency plans for variables.
Of course, they would have to climb the tower as well, but with Mittier’s full support, they could easily overcome any obstacles.
If they could break through the quests from the 3rd to the 9th floors as quickly as possible, they could reach the 10th floor before the labyrinth closed.
“Two days should be enough. It’s the same method we used when there were many missing persons in the labyrinth in the past.”
“…”
“Why?”
“Sorry, I’ll just go in.”
However, after hearing Arthur’s explanation, Clark hesitated for a moment, then took out what he had hanging around his neck and showed it.
Checking the color one of the five dangling plates, he immediately rushed back to the meeting room.
*
If the hierarchy of mages is divided into a total of ten ranks, the adventurer’s ranking consists of a total of five.
Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum. The remaining one was made only made three times, to be shared among colleagues.
Arthur, confirming that I possess the emblem of a Gold-ranked adventurer among them, decided without hesitation to enter the labyrinth.
As I was the only mage with adventurer experience, excluding those with lower ranks was the right choice.
“We’ve entered.”
“I don’t see traces of battle?”
“We’re still at the entrance. Let’s move forward first.”
“Ugh, the fog…!”
At the entrance of the labyrinth, where the air felt eerie.
As the mist spread, the appearances of those present began to resemble beasts.
The first curse that made it difficult to distinguish between friend and foe, human and beast.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a type that posed direct hindrance to combat.
“Arthur, are you alright?”
“Why are you taking pictures with a Witch Note all of a sudden…?”
“Huh? N-nothing’s wrong! Don’t worry about it!”
It might seem suspicious to someone. Anyway.
As we walked, illuminating the path with magic flames, we soon spotted something coming towards us from this direction. At first glance, it was hard to tell if it was a human or a demonic beast, but as it approached, it spoke.
“H-Help me!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Come this way!”
When the mages of Mittier noticed him and were on guard if there were other enemies around.
I quietly raised my spear from behind.
“Cough, g-graaah…!”
“Clark?”
“What on earth are you doing!?”
An unidentified enemy hit by the spear, barely ten steps away.
As everyone turned in surprise, I touched the scattered blood and entrails on the ground with my hand.
The black ash and liquid imbued with magic started evaporating as soon as it touched my fingertips.
“What… what is this?”
“What on earth…?”
“Don’t be surprised, listen.”
The morale and venom that only those filled with hostility towards humanity could emit, down to the tiniest speck of existence.
“It seems that the Gate of the Underworld has opened here.”
The reason for the attack was because he did not possess a Witch Note, but even without that, it was not something that would come out to the demonic beasts in the labyrinth.
