Chapter 4 Part 1
After that.
Just as I declared, I headed to the <<Treasure Labyrinth>> with Lara and Marise.
“A-A-A-A-Are you really sure it’s okay!?”
“There are monsters in the Labyrinth, you know!? Coming here all of a sudden…i-is an act of suicide!”
“Don’t worry”
It seems that if you meet certain conditions, you can challenge the <<Treasure Labyrinth>> right away.
When I asked Sensei, she replied, “If Kurt is there, I have no complaints”, and so I was able to get her permission.
When I stepped into the <<Treasure Labyrinth>>, I could smell the peculiar scent of magic elements.
Mmm, I miss this scent.
This burnt scent reminds me of the time when I explored more than 100 Labyrinths in my previous life.
“It’s gloomy…but there’s nothing I can’t see. Why is it like this even though it’s all pitch black in here?”
“And it looks spacious. It’s amazing that something like this span across the underground of the Royal Capital…”
“Ah. About the Labyrinth, it’s like an alternate dimension, so there’s nothing strange about it”
““?””
They both tilted their heads at the same time.
“Listen. The Labyrinth has magic elements that can distort dimensions”
“Dimensions…?”
“Yeah…well, you can think of it as another world that has been stretched outwards”
For example ── let’s say it looks like it’s only about the size of a house from the outside.
But once you get inside, the dimensions are distorted and you’re transported to a location where it looks like another world.
As such it’s more spacious than it looks…some of them have layers inside the Labyrinth that are bigger than the Royal Capital itself.
Furthermore, due to the different magic elements getting mixed, the treasures within the <<Treasure Labyrinth>> can be replenished after a certain period of time, even if they are taken away.
That’s one of the reasons why the Labyrinth is also called a ‘Resource’ and is useful in some cities.
“Thus, magic elements are essential to the Labyrinths and Dungeons. I don’t know all the details, but I do know more about the Labyrinth than the two of you”
“Kurt…who on earth are you?”
“How do you know so much about it even though we are the same age?”
“If you think about it, there’s also the crucial details that I do not know of”
“Yeah, that’s right”
They curiously asked me.
“…Would you two believe me if I told you that I’ve reincarnated from a thousand years ago?”
“What are you saying, Kurt?”
“That’s right. Isn’t something like that impossible?”
Both of them have a stupefied expression on their face.
As I thought, they wouldn’t believe me, huh?
Well, that’s fine. It’s not like it would be a problem even if they don’t believe me right away.
With that in mind, we proceeded towards the first layer of the Labyrinth.
And as soon as we step foot in the first layer.
“Wah! It’s a monster!”
A small Lizardman suddenly appeared from the front.
“It’s a monster that lives in the <<Treasure Labyrinth>>. That being said, if it’s just a mere Lizardman, I think both of you can handle it. Let this be the first test. I’ll show you a demonstration first, then you can try to defeat it in the same way”
I draw my sword.
Those who challenge the <<Treasure Labyrinth>> are provided with a weapon. And right now, I’m using that weapon.
Quick Move and Rise Power were activated simultaneously. I then launched an attack on the Lizardman.
The Lizardman’s head was severed in one fell swoop.
“What do you think? Easy, right?”
“It’s not easy!”
“It was too fast to see…”
Both of them retorted.
“Truth be told, Lizardman isn’t that big of a deal as a monster. Both of you need to be brave…. Look, the Lizardmen are here again”
“Now there’s even two of them!”
“You’re right. This is my first time fighting against monsters…but I’ll definitely defeat them!”
Marise was the first one to hold up her hand.
“Gather yourselves together in these hands, O flame. Be a spear, pierce the enemy and burn them!”
She unleashed an attack.
The Fire Spear that was released was a direct hit. It hits the Lizardman, toppling it.
“Let’s finish them in one go!”
“I-I can’t lose either. Gather yourselves together in these hands ──”
It was a pleasant sight to see them successfully defeat the two Lizardmen.
“I did it! Thank you, Marise-chan!”
“W-We did it! Likewise, thank you very much!”
Even though they had only defeated a Lizardman, they were holding hands and jumping with joy.
But as soon as Marise noticed that, she let go of her hands.
“O-Of course! I’m going to graduate from the Magic Academy as the top student after all! So I have to be able to do at least this much!”
She said that while trying to hide her embarrassment.
“Now…it seems that there’s no stronger monster than the Lizardman on the first layer ── hmm?”
“What’s the matter, Kurt?”
From the moment I entered the Labyrinth, the Detection Magic was kept activated.
And right now, a certain reaction is being caught.
“Oh? This is interesting”
“Kurt?”
“Could you two come over here for a moment?”
I lead them to a dead-end.
“It’s a dead-end, you know? What are you planning to do?”
“Has no one noticed it up until now?”
“Eh?”
“There’s a path ahead”
Instead of answering the dubious looks on their faces, I cast Fire Spear onto the wall of the dead-end.
*Ker-bonk*
The wall crumbled with a loud bang.
“The wall!”
“What is the meaning of this! A Labyrinth wall can never be destroyed. That’s why we have no choice but to conquer it slowly…at least that’s what I’ve read from some books”
“That common sense is wrong. As you can see”
It also depends on the strength of the wall, but there’s absolutely no such thing as a wall that can’t be destroyed.
“Does the path continue?”
With a common sense as wrong as that, we will not be able to discover the path beyond the wall.
“Whoa! There are so many Lizardmen!”
“They are coming at us!”
A horde of Lizardmen at the other side of the path can be seen coming right at us.
There are about 20 of them in total.
Because of the reaction coming from these Lizardmen, I knew that if I destroy the wall, there would be a path here.
This is a bit too much for the two of them, I guess.
“This is just the right time for a warm-up”
With my back facing the frightened Lara and Marise, I took a step towards the horde of Lizardmen.
And then sprinted.
I went into the middle of the horde and deployed lightning magic.
“Thunderstorm”
Lightning appeared from my hands and was promptly aimed towards the Lizardmen.
When the Lizardmen saw the danger and tried to escape, it was already too late for them as my lightning magic chased them down.
Eventually.
“All right. It’s over”
In the blink of an eye, the Lizardmen were all electrocuted to death.
I looked at the Lizardmen lying on the ground and patted some dust off my hands.
“Kurt, that was amazing!”
“As I thought, you really are a ridiculous person. To have defeated so many monsters in an instant…”
They seem to be in high spirits, but I wish they wouldn’t praise me for this level of magic.
We continued walking on the path for a while, but this time we were at a real dead-end.
“This is a…magic stone?”
A magic stone had fallen there, so I picked it up.
“It’s a small magic stone, but it could be used to process something. Let’s keep it”
I felt disappointed.
I thought there would be better treasures.
“I’ve heard that a magic stone is so expensive that even one of it is enough to build a house, you know?”
“It’s Kurt, after all. Somehow I can understand it even without changing the color of my eyes to look at the magic stone”
For some reason, they seemed to be dumbfounded seeing my slumped down shoulders.
