◆ Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki

We were in a labyrinth located in the middle of the Minon Plain.

I didn\'t know how long it would take until we conquered the labyrinth. At least it was located right in front of a human settlement.

There was a theory that the labyrinth was created by a dwarf. It seemed to be just another story from one of those Freedom Fighters since there was no dwarf inside the labyrinth.

There was also no indication from the dwarves that they were the ones to create the labyrinth.

Although I did not know who created it, I knew the labyrinth had a master. It was called Minotaur, a demon with a human body and a bull’s head.

The labyrinth had once been the capital of the Kingdom of Minotaurs. They didn\'t allow any other demons inside their walls.

One day, for some reason, all Minotaurs entered the labyrinth. The Minon Plain lost its owners and was eventually populated by humans.

The humans who took ownership of the Plain prospered with the fertile lands and abundant natural resources.

However, from time to time one or two Minotaurs crawled out of the labyrinth, sometimes with other demons. They attacked the cities closest to the labyrinth and kidnapped the citizens.

The Freedom Fighters of Teseshia entered the labyrinth to save the citizens, but they couldn\'t save all of them.

But they discovered traces that many people had entered the labyrinth.

Originally, the Minon Plain was a wealthy land. Especially in the middle, where the labyrinth was located.

The abundance of mana in that location formed crystals, making it possible for the extraction of many rare minerals. Thus, many people who aimed to hit the jackpot entered the labyrinth.

The reason the labyrinth was labeled as dangerous was because of the great number of demons residing inside.

But the humans entered the labyrinth regardless of the danger.

That was the place we were heading to.

It seemed to spread underground and we had no idea how deep it went, but the size of the floor was impressive.

The ground level alone was larger than Teseshia.

「Do you feel something, Nao-san? 」

I asked Nao, who stared at the labyrinth while hugging her pet rat to her chest. She brought the rat along since she couldn\'t find a place to leave it.

I had thought she\'d grow bored with it quickly but she seemed quite fond of it. Well, she\'d grow tired of it someday.

「No… It\'s impossible. There\'s a barrier all over the place, and it blocks me. I can\'t feel a thing.」

「I see… My magic isn\'t working either, huh.」

Without Nao\'s sensing ability and my clairvoyance magic, our vision inside the labyrinth was limited due to the mist around us.

We had no other choice but to rely on someone to guide us.

I looked at Shizufae and her comrades.

Her party was made of five people, all women. Female Freedom Fighters were quite rare since they tended to be mostly men.

One of the women had brown skin, black hair, and she carried a polearm on her back. Her name was Kenya.

Like Shizufae, she wore light armor. Her bare limbs looked very healthy. Her long and slender legs were mesmerizing, and they seemed very agile.

Perhaps she wasn\'t the brute force type, but rather the hit and run type of fighter whose primary attribute was speed.

The shortest one had a childlike face, and she wore a magician\'s apparel. Her name was Madia.

Her appearance suggested she was a magician, but I believed she wasn\'t very powerful. I could barely feel her mana. But magic users were rare, so even with her weak mana, she\'d be a welcome addition to any party. Having a magician as a comrade was quite reassuring.

Not to mention, Madia\'s appearance was so adorable, anyone would want to travel with her.

There was also a priestess of the Rena Temple called Leylia, who seemed to be an apostle. Since she said she heard the voice of an angel, perhaps she wasn\'t an apostle of Rena but an apostle of an angel who worked for Rena.

After becoming an angel\'s apostle, she seemed to be able to use healing magic. Also, since her main weapon was a mace, I wondered if she was a master of close combat.

She gave off the feeling of being more like a familiar than an apostle, so her master might be aware of anything she did.

Our every action might be reported to Rena.

The woman with tattoos all over her body was an Elf called Nora.

I heard of a case about an Elf who left the forest and became familiar with humans.

Elves were especially obsessed with handsome men, to the point some Elven women would kidnap men while they slept and bring them to their forests. But an Elf who became friends with a human wouldn\'t do such a thing.

I heard they ended up returning to their forest when they became pregnant.

Seeing the Elf named Nora mingling among girls made me think she wasn\'t targeting some human male. But if that was the case, I had no idea why she left the forest. The tattoo on her face seemed like some sort of seal, probably preventing her from communicating with spirits. Another mystery was why the Elves from her village sealed her magic.

I didn\'t know what happened, so I could only wonder if she was being punished for some sort of crime. But worrying about it wouldn\'t change anything, so I let it go.

In the end, those women were Shizufae\'s comrades and our guides in the labyrinth.

Then we found another traveler.

There were almost a hundred Freedom Fighters following us into the labyrinth. The one leading them was the Hero of Earth, Godan. They were the elite fighters we requested from Snefowl to assist us until the end of our quest.

Shizufae\'s presence was unnecessary, but Reiji insisted she should be the one to lead the way.

There was also the Hero of Fire Novis, who was Shizufae\'s acquaintance, tagging along.

A young man with flaming red hair whose height made him seem older than he actually was. Despite his young age, he was hailed as a Hero, so he must be talented.

From what I could tell, he had feelings for Shizufae.

Good luck, young man.

After analyzing every member of the labyrinth search party, I turned to Shizufae.

「Shall we enter now? 」

The ground floor had been entirely explored. There was a huge stairway in the center of the floor leading underground.

It almost felt like we were inside a maze, with how we couldn\'t move in a straight line to the center. Many ruined buildings blocked our path. Flying might be faster, but we couldn\'t take many people with us if we did so.

We hadn\'t located any signs of the kidnapped citizens of the Pashipea Kingdom since we entered, which suggested they might be on the floor below.

I was told there would be no danger if we completed the search.

「Sage-sama, the ground floor of this labyrinth is a den of Cockatrice. We must avoid this demon.」

Shizufae\'s words shocked me.

Cockatrice were demons with the body of a chicken and a snake tail. It spat a venom that petrified whoever touched it. It also had a sharp, tough beak.

For a normal human, a Cockatrice was a formidable opponent. But they shouldn\'t be that much of a threat to Shizufae and the others.

If they had a hard time against a Cockatrice, how did they enter the labyrinth?

「Den of Cockatrice? Then how did you enter the labyrinth until now? 」

「Cockatrice don\'t live in large numbers. Also, we can just turn around and take another route if we get spotted. They don\'t give chase.」

「Nothing else aside from them? 」

「It\'s just Cockatrice on the ground floor. But I\'m afraid so many people entering the labyrinth at once might attract them.」

Even if the Cockatrice were the only demons on that floor, it didn\'t mean we didn\'t need to think of a plan to deal with them.

Thus, I turned to Reiji.

「What do you think, Reiji-kun? In my opinion, I think we should search around this floor, too.」

「You\'re right. We should enter in turns, dividing our people into several groups, then we search the ground floor. That way we can do our job without inciting those Cockatrice. Once each group is done, gather at the central building. Godan, my party can act as the vanguard but this is your turf. Will you go? 」

「Yes, please leave the vanguard position to us! Everyone, advance!! 」

Following Godan\'s order, the Freedom Fighters separated into several groups and headed into the labyrinth.

Behind them was Shizufae\'s group, plus Novis.

I squinted at Reiji, wondering about his decision.

「You could exterminate the Cockatrices by yourself, so why didn\'t you enter first? 」

「It\'s troublesome and I don\'t think the Cockatrice are all we have to worry about, so I let them go first.」

Reiji let out his usual carefree laugh.

「Geez… So Godan and the others are just baiting for that ‘something\' you\'re worried about? Still…」

Still, it would be better than us meeting such danger, since I could also feel that something was lurking inside.

Thus, we entered the labyrinth.

As soon as we stepped inside, I could hear the Freedom Fighters screaming.

「UWAAA――!! 」

I knew it.

◆ Freedom Fighter Girl, Shizufae

「Are you okay, Shizufae?! 」

「I\'m okay, Big Sis Keyna!! WHERE THE HELL DID ALL THESE GOBLINS COME FROM??!!」

I was screaming.

The ground floor should only have Cockatrice, but Goblins attacked us as soon as we entered the labyrinth. They took us by surprise because the entire ground floor was covered with mist magic.

The Goblins reminded me of the reason Reiji-sama entered the labyrinth: to save the Pashipea Kingdom citizens that were kidnapped by Goblins.

These might be the same Goblins who ran away from the farms.

I killed one of the Goblins attacking me.

「MADI !! Are you all right?!」

「Yeah! I\'m somehow managing it, Shizu-chan.」

I had to fight and protect Madi at the same time.

Because she was a magician, close combat was her weak point.

Big Sis Kenya took care of the rearguard as we advanced, making sure no one attacked us from behind.

She was the fastest person in Teseshia. As long as she fought in an open space, no one would be able to match her in speed.

Big Sis Kenya swung her spear, throwing the Goblins around her in all directions.

There was also Madia, who used flash magic to temporarily blind the Goblins. That move helped us a lot.

Leylia-san was ahead of us, smashing Goblin heads with her mace.

「GOBLIN BEGONE!!! 」

「As usual you\'re the first to charge towards the demons, Leylia-san.」

With her being a priestess of Rena, it was only natural for Leylia to feel intense hatred towards demons.

Her feelings were born of a demon attack she suffered a long time ago. She felt that Angel-sama had answered her prayers by giving her the power to exterminate demons.

As a healer, she should have been a rearguard.

But off she went, charging ahead of the vanguard. Thankfully, Nora-san was there to cover her back. She skillfully used her bow and daggers to dispatch of any Goblins that came too close.

As far as I knew, those two had been comrades even before meeting us. They had such good coordination that even their breaths were synchronized.

It was mostly thanks to them that we were able to advance, but some others also did their best. Namely, Novis.

He defeated one Goblin after another with his swordplay and fire magic. As expected of the one hailed as the Hero of Fire.

「That\'s amazing, Novi-kun! You seem even stronger than before.」

Madi cheered Novis and gave him an appreciative look.

Yeah, he was strong. As I watched Novis\'s movements, I wondered if he could be that much stronger than before.

Novis had been a gifted child. On top of his talent with magic, he had a keen instinct for swordplay. He learned magic with Madi\'s mother and swordplay alongside me with my father.

I wasn\'t cut out for swordplay. I lacked the most basic quality for swinging a sword: pure strength. No matter how much I trained, I couldn\'t gain any muscle. As a result, I couldn\'t swing my sword properly.

My father died in a fight against a demon. If he hadn\'t left me his magic sword, I would have never considered becoming a Freedom Fighter.

After my father\'s death, my mother remarried and I left the house. I didn\'t want to live with her anymore. My foster father seemed like a decent man, but I only had one father and that was enough for me.

I became a Freedom Fighter, just like my father, and worked with Big Sis Kenya. During that time she was working with Novis, who was already a Freedom Fighter.

Novis was famous for being a magus warrior.

Not long after that, Madi joined us. Then, by the time Leylia-san and Nora-san joined our group, Novis had already been named Hero of Fire.

Our paths slowly separated. He\'d receive named requests and gradually gravitated away from us. Meeting him again after a long time made me realize the difference between us. He had become so much stronger.

His talent made me jealous.

「What\'s the matter, Shizufae? Did you fall in love with me again? 」

He probably noticed that I was looking at him because he was grinning.

「Haaa?! What the hell are you talking about, you fool? 」

How could he think I was in love with him?

Others may praise him and call him Hero but, to me, he was just a brat.

He was just a brat who constantly teased me when I was younger. Even after I grew up, he still teased me. No matter how much time passed, Novis would still be a brat.

I wanted him to be a gentleman… Like Reiji-sama.

[TL: Oh god, not another Shirone…]

I remembered what happened last night.

Truthfully, I wanted to speak to Reiji-sama, but I didn\'t dare approach him. Sage-sama\'s glare was too vicious. My time with him was cut even shorter because of the arrival of the Pashipea Princess.

Such a loveable man… Of course, he wouldn\'t get close to a girl like me. I wouldn\'t even look good if I stood too close to him while he was surrounded by those incredibly beautiful ladies.

Anyway, we managed to push through the Goblins.

Even I could easily deal with those Goblins, and I wasn\'t even strong.

The problem was the sheer number of them. As we moved deeper into the labyrinth, we found many crumbled Goblin statues.

It was definitely the work of those foul Cockatrice.

If we fought with the Cockatrice, we\'d have only a slim chance of winning. It would be better if we could avoid them completely.

The number of broken statues was staggering. The Cockatrice must be hiding nearby.

Suddenly, a loud cry rang out.

「KOKE――――――――!! 」

The noise was followed by many Freedom Fighters calling out in alarm.

Big Sis Kenya was the first to identify the source. It seemed like she could already see the enemy because of her height, which helped her see farther than most people.

「Crap!! Run, it\'s the Cockatrice!! 」

I had seen a Cockatrice before, from far away.

I had never seen one so agitated.

They rolled around, enraged while spewing a grey mist. That mist was the Cockatrice\'s poison, capable of petrifying a person on contact.

Maybe the sudden Goblin invasion enraged them.

The Cockatrice noticed us and they made a beeline in our direction.

We ran, of course, but Madi tripped and fell on her face.

「KYAAA!! 」

「MADI !! 」

Novis immediately turned around and took a stance between Madi and the crazed Cockatrice. I took the opportunity to help her up.

「GODDAMMIT!! 」

Just us two against all those Cockatrice…

Novis swung his sword, ready to protect Madi and me. At the same time, Big Sis Kenya used her spear to push away the Cockatrice, while Nora-san aimed her arrows at their heads.

「HHAAA!!!」

Then I noticed the Cockatrice\'s beak opening wide.

I shouted as loud as I could.

「EVERYONE GET DOWN!!! 」

The Cockatrice let out the gray mist poison.

Thankfully, we had Novis wit us. He erected a wall of fire, which kept us safe.

「FIREWALL!!」

Novis, seeing how the poison couldn\'t make it over the wall of fire, laughed.

「Hehe, how\'s that?! 」

However, he didn\'t notice the danger right behind him.

「OH NO!! NOVIS, RUN!! 」

I screamed, but my warning didn\'t reach him in time.

The Cockatrice charged through the wall of fire. Their resistance to heat made them a poorly matched opponent for Novis, a user of fire magic. Their tough feathers made physical attacks almost useless, and that included sword strikes.

A Cockatrice\'s weakness was water. They really hated water, so rainy days were the safest days to explore the labyrinth.

Just then, Novis was sent flying by a Cockatrice\'s ramming attack.

「KUH!!!」

「Are you okay, Novis? 」

I rushed toward Novis, and the Cockatrice immediately followed me.

「HOW DARE YOU TO DO THAT TO NOVIS!! 」

Big Sis Keyna readied her spear and Madia used her magic to block the demons\' eyes.

「Darkness!! 」

We were safe for a while.

It would take the Cockatrice some time to build up enough venom to petrify someone else. Thus, we ran away at the first opportunity.

We had Nora-san covering our backs as I headed toward Novis with Leylia-san beside me.

「Sorry, that was my fault.」

Novis\'s voice trembled.

When I looked at his right leg… It was pale white. He got hit with petrification venom when the Cockatrice rammed him.

「Leylia-san, anti-venom!! 」

To my surprise, Leylia shook her head.

「I can\'t cure this with my healing magic… We\'ll have to drag him along as we retreat.」

「Understood!! 」

I immediately pulled Novis up, ready to bring him out with Leylia-san, but he disagreed.

「What are you doing?! You two leave me in this place and save yourselves! 」

「THIS FOOL!! AS IF I\'M GOING TO LEAVE YOU ALONE IN THIS PLACE TO DIE!! 」

Madia\'s magic over the Cockatrice wouldn\'t last for much longer. We had to leave immediately. And just as I thought about it, the magic lost its effect and the Cockatrice that had been blinded became enraged.

The moment it was us, I knew we were done for. I lamented that we couldn\'t get out in time.

「KUE―――――EEEE!! 」

I thought that was the end.

Suddenly, someone leaped over us and swung their sword at the Cockatrice, relieving it of its head.

「HA!! 」

… It was Reiji-sama.

Reiji-sama came to save us!

When he saw me, he let out a refreshing smile.

「Are you alright, Shizufae? 」

「Reiji-sama!! 」

「Wow, that cockatrice was killed in one hit… This person is truly the Hero of Light-sama.」

Madia muttered under her breath.

As I looked at the headless demon corpse, I had to agree with her.

Then Sage-sama arrived.

「Are you okay? You look like you\'re hurt.」

Saint-sama approached Novis, who laid on his side. She touched his petrified foot, and it shone with a faint light for a moment.

The light faded out and Novis\'s leg returned to normal.

「Eh? It\'s healed.」

「I didn\'t think the situation would be this severe… Looks like we\'ll have a hard time advancing.」

Sage-sama analyzed the situation in a low voice.

I turned to Reiji-sama and his team and bowed my head.

「My apologies!!」

「Eh, what\'s with the apology? 」

Rino stared at me with a curious expression.

「I was the one who told you there were only Cockatrice on the ground floor, so… Uh… 」

「Aah, that… That wasn\'t your fault. This situation was beyond anyone\'s prediction. Not to mention, with the recent events, we should\'ve expected that a large number of Goblins would take refuge in this place.」

It seemed like Sage-sama forgave us.

「That\'s right. You shouldn\'t worry about this matter, Shizufae-chan. Since there\'s no trap here either, leave the rest to us.」

Reiji-sama comforted me as he and the others went past us.

My comrades and I couldn\'t do anything but watch their backs.

「What was that… It was so cool…」

Novis muttered, sounding amazed.

Reiji-sama\'s move was indeed amazing. It wasn\'t something I could do even with a magic weapon. The Cockatrice was a fairly powerful demon and it was defeated in one blow.

It made me realize the vastness of the world.

「He\'s so strong… And the women following him were extremely beautiful…」

I was so immersed in admiring Reiji-sama\'s looks that I didn\'t notice that fact until Nora-san pointed it out.

Novis seemed to be charmed by Saint-sama, the one who had just healed his foot.

「Yeah… They were beautiful indeed.」

I said in a whisper.

I felt like I couldn\'t disrupt the moment.

「They are amazingly… Beautiful.」

Novis commented while standing beside me. I sure hope he didn\'t mean to say that out loud.

Then I noticed that he was staring at my chest.

「WAIT A MINUTE, WHOSE SIZE ARE YOU COMPARING ME WITH?!」

Good grief. Who was he comparing me to?

It wasn\'t like I could compete against Saint-sama or anything. In fact, I doubt there was a woman anywhere in the world with a breast size that could rival Saint-sama\'s.

「Eh? No, I… Just suddenly remembered something.」

Novis smiled at me as he spewed out an excuse made on the spot. It seemed like he needed a beating.

Suddenly, Big Sis Kenya embraced him from behind.

「Oioi, Novis. Don\'t you just need to make them bigger in this case? 」

「Wha-! Big Sis Keyna!! 」

I objected to Big Sis Kenya\'s suggestion. Reiji-sama aside, I didn\'t want Novis to make my breasts bigger!

But it was as if I hadn\'t said anything. Novis rubbed his hands together obscenely.

「Nice, I like it. Leave this job to me, then.」

「What are you thinking about?! You――!!」

I shouted at Novis. My comrades watched our banter with a warm smile on their faces.

After we started following behind Reiji-sama\'s party, we didn\'t encounter any more demons.

◆ Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki

「How is the situation, Nao-san? 」

I asked Nao, who had just returned from scouting the first floor of the labyrinth. But she just shook her head.

「No signs of people on the surface flo~or.」

The ground floor had a lot of buildings. It might have been the capital of the Minotaur Kingdom that ruled here a long time ago. But all that remained of that country were ruins. Numerous ruined buildings that held no trace of any living creatures aside from the Goblins.

As we expected, the kidnapped citizens must have been taken underground.

But what should we do now? Half of the Freedom Fighters had dropped out of the search.

If our opponents had been just the Goblins, we wouldn\'t have taken so much damage. But the surge of Goblins had enraged the Cockatrice so much, they tried to drive the Goblins away from their homes.

We had invaded the labyrinth at the exact moment the Cockatrice were fighting off the Goblins, hence why so many Freedom Fighters got injured.

Since Nao alone was enough as a scout, those guys were just baggage. I wanted them to be useful in the basement.

After the petrified Fighters were healed by Sahoko\'s magic, we headed to a certain building in the middle of the ground floor.

The stairs to the underground floor were inside that building.

I turned to Nao, our best scout.

「Sorry, Nao-san. Even though you just came back, can you check whether there\'s any signs of people passing by this place? 」

「Leave it to me. Hmm… It seems many people passed through here a little while ago. It\'s definitely the kidnapped citizens of the Pashipea Kingdom.」

「I see… We\'re going in, then. Shizufae-san are the demons in the underground floor as dangerous as the Cockatrice? 」

I asked Shizufae.

「No, Sage-sama… They\'re only Giant Bats, Giant Rats, and weak Undead.」

Shizufae replied in a small voice, a little timid.

「Right. Come to think of it… Starting from the first underground floor, the path diverges into a maze. Do you have a map?」

「Yes.」

Shizufae then handed me a map she had prepared.

In total, there were four maps, one for each underground floor until the 4th. There were no maps for the 5th underground floor and beyond.

The maps seemed to be issued by the Freedom Fighters Association. I had heard they rewarded anyone who reported an unexplored area.

It was how they updated the maps.

「It seems there\'s still a blank space here and there, but… What is this? 」

「That\'s the location of a dangerous trap. The inside is a total mystery.」

「I see…」

I wondered if we could just break through the trap. It could be hiding a shortcut to the lower floor.

「By the way, do you know what kind of trap is in there? 」

「Yes. The first is a giant bug in a giant blank space.」

「Bug? 」

「Yes. The ones who entered came out half-eaten. They barely had time to explain to the others what was inside before they died.」

So that was how they knew what was inside the blank area.

It seemed like any information made public by the Freedom Fighter Association was committed to memory by every Freedom Fighter in Teseshia.

According to Shizufae, the bug had quite the grotesque form.

I looked at Nao, Sahoko, and Rino. They all had their arms crossed and seemed to have the same opinion I did. Thus, I looked at Reiji.

「Let\'s take a detour, Reiji-kun.」

◆ Death God, Zarxis

「We lured them in, Labrys.」

「I know, Zarxis.」

Labrys had a huge smile on his face.

「Now we just need to lure them to the 5th floor. Once we lock them inside that cage, they won\'t be able to escape.」

We were the only ones inside the throne room located in the 18th-floor if the labyrinth.

A normal human wouldn\'t be able to advance beyond the 4th-floor. The 5th-floor was a jail, a structure created solely for detaining intruders.

To reach the 6th floor, one needed to use special means. If they didn\'t notice that fact for the 1st floor, they would never be able to reach the 13th-floor.

Labrys laughed with an excited face.

「Kukuku. Wait for me, Rena. You\'ll be mine soon enough.」