Vol 3: Chapter 36

* Lev Magic Empire *

The time was late at night, but a period where people were still awake.

Fireworks-like light broke through from underground and rose to the sky above. The lights, mixtures of various colors such as blue, red, and yellow, soared high above the Labyrinth of Fear and burst into patterns of light. A chain of explosions followed. Large flowers of light bloomed in the canvas of the night sky.

The streets of the Lev Magic Empire were brightened by the colourful lights in the sky.

The Lev people rushed out of their houses and gazed at the cliff where the light danced.

「No way!」

The Emperor was alone in his room before bedtime.

When the light shined through the window, he hurriedly approached the window and opened the window to the left and right.

「Did they capture it!? That direction is.. The Labyrinth of Fear!」

Of the four labyrinth captures in progress, the Labyrinth of Fear was suspended early. But of course, the Emperor had the most expectations for Labyrinth Capture Divisions 1 to 3. And although he was disappointed with the failure of Division 4, it was within expectations.

And yetー

「Kuku, KukuKukuKuku..Wahahahahahahahaha! This is getting more interesting! Now, let’s worship the face of the person who captured it.」

Despite the late hours, the Empire was suddenly uproarious.

**

The fog had already disappeared when I returned to the large hall. Zerry-san was pulling out the jewel from the immobilized Juggernaut’s chest.

「Reiji-kun!」

Mimino-san, who was waiting right by the exit, grabbed both my arms.

「Are you okay!? Did you get hurt!?」

She touched here and there to confirm that I was unhurt. I am grateful that she’s worried, but on the other hand, I’m a little worried that she doesn’t have much faith in me..or maybe, she still thinks of me as a little kid. Is this what’s called a luxury problem?

「Reiji, was it you who stopped that automaton?」

「Yes. Actuallyー」

Dante-san and the others gathered around. I shared about what I saw over there.

The stone board seems to be in control of this labyrinth, and by using it, you can freely mess around with the labyrinth.

In other words, it is possible to create a shortcut exit to the outside.

There was an airship that bore resemblance to the “Queen of the Night”.

And another thing was that the fireworks-like light shot up to the skyーthis seems to be a proof of having captured the labyrinth, and it was slightly touched upon by the documents obtained from the Adventurer’s Guild.

「That’s why I think the people on the outside also know that we have captured the labyrinth. Well, the current time should be late at night, so we would only see some movements in the morning, I’m guessing.」

「All right.」

Then I guided everyone to the back room.

When I asked Dante-san about the battle with the Juggernaut, Dante-san said that he was unharmed. And although it took some time, he might have won if he crushed its arms one by one, though it did put a strain on his stamina.. Is this person a monster after all?

Something strange happened when I asked everyone to touch the stone slab.

「What’s this? Nothing is happening.」

「No reaction at all.」

Dante-san and Zerry-san had no reaction to the stone slab.

「Uh.. it feels like a lot of information is being crammed into my head..」

「It’s a little unpleasant.. but is this knowledge about sorcery? It all feels cryptic.」

Mimino-san and Non-san said that there was a reaction, but it was not something they could understand.

In the end, it was only I who could mess with the dungeon composition.

「Why is it only Reiji-kun?」Mimino-san asked.

「I wonder.. maybe because I touched it first?」

「Well, it doesn’t really matter. Let’s go home. I want to go back and have a drink.」Dante-san said.

Everyone agreed with Dante-san. Aside from alcohol, that is.

I decided to build a shortcut passage connecting the large hall to the entrance. When I touched the stone slab, something like a full map of the Labyrinth of Fear came to the forefront of my mind. I went ahead and modified it.

There was no consumption of mana. There was, however, somewhat like a savings pool of mana in the entire dungeon, and it felt like that pool diminished a little.

「What should I do about the wall of “faces”? It seems that I can erase it.」

The wall of death masks is of an extremely bad taste.

Everyone was silent. Mimino-san, howeverー

「I think we need to keep it. Because we’ll know who died when an investigation is conducted later..」

「I understand.」

And so, I didn’t mess with it.

We went out into the large hall and passed by the silent Juggernaut.

「Bocchan, bocchan. Why don’t we go home after collecting all the magic stones in here?」

「Zerry-san, I expected it was about time you brought up something like that.」

「You expected it!? B-But it’s fine, right? It’s the privilege of the person who captured the dungeon first.」Zerry-san replied.

Dante-san turned to me, as if asking “what should we do”.

I suppose that is an adventurer-like “common” notion.

「This dungeon is being preserved by a miraculous balance. So if we take out one too many magic stones and jewels, in the worst case scenario, the dungeon itself might collapse.」I said.

「You heard him. It’s unfortunate, Zerry.」Dante-san said.

「Nooo?!」Zerry-san cried.

「Didn’t you get that huge automaton’s jewel? Be happy with that.」Dante-san said.

「Uuuh....」

Zerry-san’s ears and tail drooped.

What I said wasn’t a lie. But at the same time, I also knew how much we can exploit to the very limit without disrupting the balance—but I judged it would be better not to do so. We should deliver it to the Lev Magic Empire in the same state as it was cleared.

If so, Her Highness Anastasia would have an easier time saving Lulusha-san from custody.

(A technology to manipulate the dungeon freely, huh.. If such knowledge is gained, it would certainly lead to technological innovation of magic tools. And that is how the Lev Magic Empire has progressed.)

I wonder if the technology of a magic airship was found in another dungeon and that was how the innovation came about..

Which suddenly reminded me of the “Queen of the Night” in the huge cavern. Should I report that too..? No, if I say it’s here, we would likely be suspected to be cohorts of the sky pirates.

They should easily discover the airship once they take control over the dungeon. Let’s leave the rest to the people of the Empire.

While I pondered about such things, our party proceeded along the newly created passage.

Although the journey to the center of the dungeon took days, going back only took 2 hours of walking. The way back was uneventful, and we exited to the side of the “face” at the entrance. ..This dungeon was all about “face”.

(Since then, there hasn’t been anything like La-Fisa’s audio message. But what is this dungeon after all? What was it intended for?)

I tried to think about it, but it didn’t work.

Somehow my head was all fuzzy. It may be that my mind’s processing is not catching up due to the torrent of information that flooded in from the stone slab. But even still, with the help of World Ruler-sama, my thought processing should be fine, though.. No, wait. Maybe the presence of【World Ruler】is the reason I could grasp the information to the point where I can control the dungeon in the first place?

「——What?」

I heard the stunned voice of Dante-san, who was at the forefront.

Already out of the dungeon, we were heading through the cave that was carved into the cliff. An elevator was ahead, which we can use to get down, butー

「——They came out!」

Although it was the dead of night, a huge flood light was placed. Many people were gathered at the entrance.

「——Are they the ones who captured it? They’re humans!」

「——What kind of technology is next?」

「——Give it to me! Sell me the magic tools you found! I will buy it at the asking price!」

As soon as we came into view, a crowd burst into cheers, angry scream-like bellows, and massive applause.