It seemed the fastener had exceeded its limit. The thought of entering a labyrinth with something like this and realizing it at the last moment was terrifying. Ur had seriously felt like he had just escaped death. While he was left speechless, the girl who had saved his life continued to inspect the warehouse with sharp eyes.
“The maintenance here is worse than I imagined…… Now then.”
After finishing her inspection, she smiled at Ur again. He understood that she wasn’t just a delicate-looking girl out of place here.
“You’re looking for armor because you’re mining magic stones, right?”
“No, I’m going to conquer a small labyrinth. I’m going to defeat the master.”
Ur didn’t see any reason to hide his intentions from someone who had just saved him. So, he answered honestly. She raised her eyebrows slightly and tilted her head.
///
///
“……Huh? You? What about your party?”
“I’m alone.”
Her eyebrows furrowed further.
“……You’re going to die, you know?”
“I don’t want to die.”
Ur really didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to die, but he had no other choice. His head hurt.
“For what reason?”
She seemed to understand he was serious and lost her smile, looking at him intently with a serious expression.
“I need money due to various circumstances.”
“There are safer ways to earn money, you know?”
“You’re right, but I don’t have time. I need to take a gamble.”
If possible, Ur wanted to prioritize safety. He wasn’t joking about risking his life on an adventure. Especially since he had seen his father go bankrupt and cause trouble for his siblings.
But now, he had no choice but to do it.
“Hmm……”
She fell silent for a while, seemingly contemplating his answer. Ur wanted to ask if he could resume his search for armor since she seemed to lose interest. If he dawdled too long, the supervisor might get impatient and break their agreement.
“Take off your clothes.”
“Huh?”
Ur couldn’t respond to her next words. She was dead serious.
“Hurry.”
It was a sharp command, one that left no room for argument. He hesitated for a moment but then complied, taking off his ragged coat and exposing his bare skin.
“Your pants too.”
“Ugh……”
She was relentless. Ur ended up standing in his underwear in front of her.
The golden-haired girl stared at his body. Her gaze was sharper and a bit scarier than when she was looking at the warehouse earlier.
“You’re slim, but your build isn’t bad. Any experience in labyrinth exploration?”
“I did a bit for small earnings, but not much.”
“And no enhancement from absorbing magic power. Any experience in fights?”
“I’ve been dragged into some and had my share of brawls. Being nameless and all.”
“I see. At least you’re used to violence.”
After a few more questions, she rummaged through the warehouse’s armor and placed some pieces in front of Ur. They were all dusty but in relatively good condition. Once he put them on, he looked somewhat presentable.
“Now, about weapons. Is this yours?”
She nodded in slight satisfaction at his appearance and then looked at Ur’s personal weapon leaning against the wall.
“Yes, it’s mine. Sort of.”
Nameless people like Ur, who didn’t have residency in the city, spent more time wandering outside the city. Thus, he didn’t own much property that would be a burden during travel. After his father died and his sister was taken away, this weapon was all he had left.
“A dragon fang spear, huh?”
Since the labyrinth proliferation six hundred years ago, various weapons and devices were developed to counter the monsters threatening humanity. Some were bizarrely unique.
The dragon fang spear was one such unique creation.
The design philosophy was simple: combine a spear with a cannon to kill monsters. Though it was a ridiculous idea, it had a formidable destructive power when dealing with unconventional monsters.
It wasn’t a bad weapon. Originally.
“It’s just for show, though.”
“Hmm?”
Sensing something off in Ur’s words, she picked up the spear and frowned.
“I see. This is terrible──really terrible! Where did you get this!?”
The dragon fang spear’s cannon was nonfunctional due to a defective magic core, and its transformation mechanism was broken, making it useless as a spear too. The girl was shocked at the worthless piece of junk before her.
“My father bought it as a bargain from the early days of dragon fang spear development.”
“Bought it……for how much?”
“……Three.”
“……Silver?”
“………………Gold.”
“Wow.”
Her gasp said it all.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
What was worse was that to gather the purchase money, Ur’s father had sold his mother’s keepsake ring, which she had saved for emergencies.
“How much do you think it’s worth in your eyes?”
“It’s been stripped of all valuable parts and replaced with junk……”
After pondering for a moment, the girl nodded with a bright smile.
“……Some things are priceless, huh?”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
They were truly merciful words. If she had been more direct, Ur might have died from shock.
“It looked intimidating, so I used it to scare people……”
“Well, considering it as a long club, it’s not bad, I guess?”
If Ur forgot about the tragic acquisition and accepted it as a long, sturdy blunt weapon, it wasn’t so bad. He had actually used it to smash goblin heads.
“The weapons here are all similar. So, you might be better off with what you’re used to.”
She handed Ur the spear, completing his equipment. Though it smelled musty and looked dirty, it seemed somewhat better than when he had chosen the gear by himself.
“───Miss.”
“Whoa!?”
A sudden voice from someone else made Ur jump and turn around. A woman dressed as a servant had appeared behind the girl without him noticing. She whispered something to the golden-haired girl, who nodded.
“Okay, I have to go now.”
She waved lightly and turned her back on Ur as if nothing had happened. Judging by her hurried demeanor, she had really taken time out of her busy schedule to help him choose armor.
“Thank you, you saved me. What’s your name?”
Ur quickly thanked her and asked for her name as she walked away. He felt it would be impolite not to know the name of his benefactor. She turned and shrugged with a smile.
“No need for thanks. I might have caused you trouble too.”
“……? What do you mean by that────”
“My name, if you make it back alive.”
So do your best, okay?
She gave a mischievous smile and left.
The labyrinth mine Keika is a composite labyrinth made up of countless smaller ones. The once lush trees are now withered, and numerous labyrinths dot the barren mountainside. Adventurers enter these holes to kill monsters and gather magic stones.
The labyrinth Ur about to enter is a small hole slightly off from the ones used by other adventurers. Ur stood at the entrance with the supervising man.
“It’s a three-level underground constructed labyrinth. It doesn’t change. The monsters are goblins and shadow hounds.”
“What about the master?”
“The scouts ran away before they could confirm it!”
The scout had suffered a serious injury and died on the spot, causing everyone to hesitate. “No one wanted to go on,” explained the foreman with a bitter expression.
From what he heard, it seemed like a typical labyrinth (although Ur wasn’t an expert on labyrinth). he should manage to handle the monsters along the way—imps and shadow hounds were foes Ur had defeated before.
The real issue would be the “boss.” Ur could only hope to avoid encountering it before finding the hidden storeroom.
“Come on, hurry up!”
urged the foreman impatiently. It was clear Ur’s dawdling irritated him. If Ur didn’t move faster, Ur’d be pushed into the labyrinth with a kick to the back. But Ur had to hold out a bit longer.
“No parting gift?”
“You…”
“You’ll regret it.”
Reluctantly, the foreman glared at Ur and tossed a “health potion” to him.
“It’s a healing potion. Don’t waste it, or I’ll kill you,”
“I’ll do my best. Please pray for my success,”
Ur wisely refrained from commenting on receiving only one potion. Any more hesitation might have earned him a punch. Getting injured before tackling monsters was foolish. Ur turned towards the entrance of the labyrinth.
Despite it being daytime, bathed in sunlight from the sun god overseeing the Isralia continent, the cave was incredibly dim. Only a faint magical glow from within illuminated the path ahead.
Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Ur took a step forward.
“…Let’s go.”
Ur had ventured into labyrinth before. He’d reluctantly entered them in the past to earn some gold, to get through the day.
But today, for the first time, he stepped into the “labyrinth conquest” of his own volition, marking a true start as an “adventurer.”
And now, currently, in the Small labyrinth, Underground Second Floor…
“Phew… I blacked out.”
In the dim darkness, Ur woke up.
He had slipped into a small lateral cave on the second underground floor. It seemed to be a naturally formed safe area, left behind amidst the labyrinth’s changes. There were no signs of monsters or their birth around.
Already exhausted, Ur had fallen asleep almost as soon as he entered here.
Several hours had passed since he began delving into the labyrinth. Unaccustomed to solo exploration and continuous battles, Ur’s stamina was nearing its limit.
“No major injuries. I recovered while sleeping. Wasn’t attacked during that time. Luck is on my side.”
Gathering every positive thought he could muster, Ur used his spear as a cane and stood up. He took out the recovery potion he had begged from the damn foreman, drank it, and felt the pain in his body ease. Crawling out of the lateral cave, he resumed his journey through the labyrinth.
His stomach growled with hunger, but he hadn’t prepared any food. His usual meals were hard bread and vegetable soup scraps, far from satisfying. Hunger further drained his strength.
“Nothing is going smoothly.”
Could that golden-haired girl be his only hope?
“Damn it… I must be lucky…”
Forcing a smile to mask his despair, Ur continued to walk determinedly. And as he did, a staircase leading further down appeared before him.
Descending the stairs, the darkness and damp stench intensified. It wasn’t just descending underground; Ur shuddered at the fact he was advancing into a den of monsters beyond the reach of the sun god’s gaze.
At the foot of the stairs, the path straightened into a single corridor. Ur advanced cautiously. Ahead of him—
“This is…”
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
