Published: August 31, 2025
Satou here. Satou who no longer wants to do real dungeon attacks.
I'm still curious about the Arm Demon who vanished from the labyrinth...
But for now, I just want to enjoy some peace and quiet.
â—‡
Exiting the labyrinth, I found myself in a cleared area about the size of a schoolyard.
At the edge of this clearing stood a roughly built two-meter-high wall.
From the fact that the outer wall was visible nearby, this seemed to be the square where the commotion took place.
Looking back at the labyrinth's exit, it appeared to have been carved out of a fragment of a three-meter tall, sharp, jet-black rock. The material looked like obsidian.
About fifty meters from the exit, there were three gun emplacements arranged to surround the exit. In positions that didn’t block the guns’ lines of fire, there were rows of horse barriers made of logs with their ends cut off.
“Satou-san, this way,” called Zena, poking her head out from a tent set up beyond the horse barriers.
When we reunited, Zena clung to me and wouldn’t let go, but when her colleague Miss Lirio, who arrived late, teased her, she hurriedly pulled away. She must have been really worried about me. Did I give her that much affection…?
Pulling along Pochi and Tama who were hanging on each of my hands, I headed toward the tent. Liza followed three steps behind, like a disciple.
At the entrance, I handed my baggage to a civil official lady in exchange for a claim ticket before entering. Liza was reluctant to hand over her spear, but after I encouraged her, she reluctantly complied.
The inside of the tent was surprisingly spacious—about the size of a school classroom.
Inside, the handsome middle-aged priest and his group who had escaped earlier were receiving treatment while civil official-like people questioned them.
The viscount and his family were not there. Was there another tent?
Zena beckoned me over, so I headed that way.
There, I found Mr. Nebinen, the handsome middle-aged priest of Galleon, and Mr. Nidoren, the slave trader. Also present were a white-haired civil official and a knight clad in armor bulging with muscles. When the knight looked this way, he gave a mischievous grin despite his middle age.
“Oh? So you’re the mage Zena’s beloved?”
“N-no, I’m not!” Zena tried to deny the knight’s words, but he ignored her and continued.
“I was quite worried until your safety was confirmed. I feared you might leap into the labyrinth alone without supervision from your squadmates.”
“I apologize if we caused any trouble,” I said, though it felt odd for me to apologize. Still, better than awkward silence.
“Hahaha. No need for you to apologize. It’s nice to see the stoic mage, who seemed only interested in magical training, finally has someone she fancies.”
“I-I’m not in love or anything…” Zena started to speak again but trailed off bashfully, lowering her gaze. Romantic comedy moments are tough at this age… although her body was only fifteen.
After watching Zena amusedly, the knight stroked his chin and looked me over appraisingly.
“You do seem nimble, but you don’t look like the type of daring hero to break through the labyrinth with just a few people.”
“If it weren’t for them, I’d be inside a monster’s stomach instead of escaping,” I said, pointing to Liza and the others. Pochi and Tama, crouching quietly at my feet, looked up curiously, so I stroked their heads to distract them. Liza wisely just nodded silently.
“You seem quite capable. If you weren’t demi-humans, I’d want you as my subordinates,” the knight said.
This knight seems like a nice guy who doesn’t care about race, but deep-rooted discrimination against demi-humans still runs strong.
I smiled wryly and added, “They’re great companions when we’re together.”
“Hmm, without that, escaping the labyrinth would be impossible. Sorry, but the people of this territory have been clashing with demi-human tribes for generations, so it’s hard to accept them.”
So it wasn’t just prejudice but ethnic conflict… no wonder it’s so entrenched.