Published: February 1, 2026
When venturing into a new labyrinth, adventurers usually just dive in on their own.
Sometimes guild staff stand by the labyrinth’s entrance, selecting who can enter and organizing the line, but adventurers typically don’t report anything to the guild. Of course, there are no quests issued for the new labyrinth either, so they head straight there without stopping by the guild.
However, by tacit understanding, most adventurers stop by the guild on their way back to pay an information fee on a first-come, first-served basis. Since it's a new labyrinth, even the routes taken can be valuable information; if no one has cleared it first, they can earn a handsome reward. The guild also benefits by keeping track of adventurers' progress.
But everyone—both adventurers and the guild staff—knew there was an exception this time.
“Wow, it’s sparse this early in the morning.”
“Most are probably already in the new labyrinth. This is about normal.”
“Looks like it’ll be crowded today too.”
When that exception showed up at the guild, the usually quiet guild was abuzz, even though there should have been fewer people at this hour.
It was already known that Rizel and the others had visited the new labyrinth yesterday. And that they hadn’t stopped by the guild at all on their way back, just saying they were hungry and heading straight to their inn.
This was because their party was considered the closest to fully clearing it, and it wasn’t unusual to think they might have cleared it in a single day. If they were going to enter the labyrinth again today, they would have no reason to visit the guild early in the morning.
“What? What? Cleared? Already cleared?”
“No way... no way... yeah, no way.”
Amid all eyes gathering even more than usual, Rizel and the others calmly walked over to the warning board. They weren’t bothered by the whispers they’d heard repeatedly on their way back and in the carriage yesterday about the same topic.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, Rizel peered at the warning board. While there was a warning of a large monster outbreak in the east of the country, the new labyrinth seemed safe for now.
They then moved to the quest board and began scanning through the low-ranked quests as usual.
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
“Behind you.”
Jill called out, and following his prompt, Rizel turned around.
There stood a guild staff member, looking at them with an intense gaze that seemed to demand something. His usual shaved head and crossed arms only made him look more imposing.
Their eyes met, and the staff unclasped his arms, beckoning them over. Rizel smiled gently, wondering if he needed something, and moved from the quest board to the guild quest reception desk.
“What’s the matter?”
“No, it’s not a matter of what’s going on…”
The staff had a serious, rather resigned look, crossing his arms again. It wasn’t to assert authority so much as to brace himself for an impending shock. He swallowed hard and, as other adventurers watched on, opened his mouth with resolve.
“Hey, you’ve got something to say to the guild, right?”
“Ah, sorry about breaking the desk the other day.”
“Yeah, they ended up paying for it, but that’s not it. Come on, you’ve got something about the new labyrinth, don’t you?”
“The new labyrinth? Well… when a new labyrinth opens, I think the exclusive carriage service should be increased, at least during the morning and evening exceptions.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. But if we try to add more carriages, the budget… wait, that’s not what I meant!”
The guild staff, while returning the repair fee for the desk they didn’t end up using, fidgeted nervously, his gaze darting about with both cautious anticipation and apprehension.
Watching this, Rizel nodded thoughtfully. She recalled that when Ain had come to negotiate about the new labyrinth earlier, she wondered how adventurers knew each other’s progress.
Later, she asked Jill and learned that the guild accurately tracked progress through information sharing, self-reporting, and Guild Cards. Since their party included Ittou, rumored to have an abnormal clearing speed, it was natural they’d be subject to curiosity.