Published: August 10, 2026
About twenty minutes by carriage from Sars.
The labyrinth stood right in the middle of a plain, a little off the main road.
"Well then, shall we go?"
"Hard to move."
"Hot."
Lizel and the others standing in front of the door were bundled up like marshmallows.
As far as the eye could see, the snowy field was covered in fresh snow with not a single footprint.
The snow falling from the gray sky swallowed all sound and made the silence feel even deeper.
The crystals landing on their shoulders never melted, sliding off their clothes and occasionally being swept away by the evening breeze that passed by.
This was a quiet, somewhat lonely labyrinth like that.
"At least there's no wind."
"..."
"Walking's a pain."
"..."
"It's a beautiful white labyrinth, but the coachman said it's unpopular."
"..."
"I bet nobody wants to make winter gear just for this place."
"..."
Eleven wasn't saying anything.
"Eleven, should we call it off after all?"
"I'm fine..."
"You sure you can move in that?"
"I'm fine..."
Eleven was the most heavily bundled of them all, but even so, it seemed cold was cold.
The adventurer gear Lizel and the others normally wore had a certain degree of insulation.
Cool in summer, warm in winter. It was made from materials that could do that, so the performance was excellent.
But of course, it wasn't enough to cover everything from volcanoes to snow country. Even today, they had come prepared, wearing newly tailored adventurer gear and taking all precautions before visiting the labyrinth known as the Land Without Color.
"Something about the leader..."
"Eleven?"
"Do something... warm."
"So you're saying warm?"
Lizel and the others began walking across the pure white snowfield, with no plants or trees in sight.
Leaving the solitary door behind them, they advanced without knowing which way was right.
No matter where they looked, all they could see was the boundary between white and gray. It was almost enough to make them lose their sense of direction.
"Putting mana into a fire magic stone in my pocket until it's about to ignite is a no-go."
"You were making cold wind in the desert, though."
Gill, the lightest dressed of them, said this while exhaling a white breath.
He was weak against heat but strong against cold. He still frowned deeply because it was cold, but he wasn't irritated or uncomfortable the way he was when he felt hot. He remained perfectly calm. Maybe he'd been born somewhere up north.
Even so, it was easy for him to say that if he could make cold wind, then surely he could make warm wind too.
Lizel gave a wry smile and shook his head, not saying he couldn't.
"If I wrapped myself in warm air here, the melted snow would soak my clothes."
Gill seemed to accept that.
Then, as if giving up on the idea entirely, he looked at Eleven.
"Go home."
"Shut..."
Eleven huddled his shoulders and kept walking with big strides, stubborn as ever.
Maybe he wasn't used to walking on snow, because unlike usual, there was a squelching sound from under his feet as he stepped.
He kept saying how cold it was, but by the time they left the labyrinth, that sound would probably be gone too.
"Eleven is using the most fur, though."
"Not for insulation."
When they had this winter gear made, Eleven had chosen to pile on the fur because "it suits me."
It really did suit him, so there was nothing to be done. Lizel ended up looking pleasantly high-class, and Gill looked like someone from the underworld. Compared to those two, Eleven's fur was more restrained.
"How badly did you want to wear fur?"
"It's kind of refreshing, choosing a labyrinth based on the clothes you want to wear."
That's right, Eleven had been the one to choose this request regarding the labyrinth.
On a day when Sars was unusually cold in the morning, they had originally planned to get winter gear made for such occasions. At that timing, they heard rumors about the labyrinth "Land Without Color," and since they were at it, they brought Lizel and Gill along and had everything properly remade.
And then he immediately wanted to wear it, which was why they were visiting this labyrinth now.