Published: February 1, 2026
That day, the harbor was wrapped in a buzz of noise.
Excited cheers, cries of shock, and even people so moved they stood there in a daze were all gathered around a single monster. Even lying on its side its massive bulk still towered above them; its thick scales had transformed into armor that encased its body, and its fangs, which exuded a ferocity that inspired fear even in death, proclaimed it as the “orichalcum shark (orichalcum shark).” No one could take their eyes off it.
That an adventurer capable of bringing down a being spoken of as a legend among fishermen existed in their own generation… The veteran fishermen, their bodies still powerfully built even in old age, clasped both hands together in thanks to the monster before them and to the adventurer who had killed it, grateful that the processing techniques handed down “for when the day someday came” could finally be used. And what they raised was a huge butchering cleaver with a special shape.
“Watch close, you brats! Great men always show up someday, and when they do, we can’t have it said that the men of Astarnia can’t even clean a single fish!”
The cleaver, slammed like a stake into the gaps between the scales, tore off a thick plate of scale with a spirited shout from the fishermen, their muscles bulging so much their veins looked ready to pop.
“If you’re willing to process it, we’d like to ask you,” Lizel had said with an easy smile as he left the orichalcum shark to them wholesale, then walked away as if it were nothing special, under gazes filled with shock and envy. And so Lizel and the others were already on their way back, without seeing the sight of the fishermen burning their souls at the harbor.
Normally, Lizel would have been very interested in the rare processing techniques that could hardly ever be seen, but right now he could think of nothing but returning to the inn. The labyrinth had been filled with things that caught his interest, but he hadn’t been able to read a single book; he had drifted off into sleep somehow, but it wasn’t like a proper rest in a bed.
“I don’t know… I feel incredibly sluggish.”
“Yeah. Sluggish.”
“Super sluggishss.”
More than anything, their whole bodies felt heavy.
The languor that wrapped around them wasn’t just simple fatigue from moving their bodies; Lizel and the others almost didn’t even want to take a single step. On top of a sleepiness that made their heads feel hazy, their bodies, after spending three days and nights underwater, felt so heavy that walking properly was difficult.
Showing it outwardly would only make the sluggishness worse, so Lizel and the others were diligently heading back to the inn as quickly as they could, but it couldn’t be helped that their walking pace was just a bit slower than usual. The only one walking at that slow, unhurried pace with a gentle, somewhat vacant expression was Lizel; Gill and Eleven didn’t say anything, merely matching his speed.
“We walked better than I expected, but it really was underwater, wasn’t it? My legs feel like they’re going to tangle.”
“Want me to carry you?”
“Tempting offer.”
Gill narrowed his eyes teasingly, and Lizel answered with an amused laugh.
That Gill and the others could walk almost normally was simply because they were swordsmen of the level called first‑rate. They specialized in moving their bodies exactly as they wished without being carried away by habit or environmental changes, so even when the environment suddenly shifted from underwater to land, they weren’t dragged down by it.
That said, both of them still looked sluggish, so even though it wasn’t yet evening, they probably wouldn’t be leaving the inn again today. Lizel pushed back his still‑slightly‑damp hair behind his ear; it had mostly dried on the way back in the small boat, but there was still a faint hint of moisture.
“I want a hot shower.”
“Ugh, I just wanna crash already.”
The moment they left the labyrinth, Lizel had blown off all the water from their top‑tier gear with a gust of wind summoned by magic. Even so, the sensation of damp skin lingered, and in Astarnia’s warm climate it felt like the humidity under his clothes was getting pretty awful.