Watashi Ga Betsu No Sekai De Umarekawatta
9-3: Pasaage of Death
"Ooh…!"
"It really feels like the original entrance to the labyrinth, doesn't it…"
"Mrs…"
There was a staircase down outside the open gate and after descending five meters down, we arrived at the underground semi passageway that was five meters high and ten meters wide…
Since the hallway had a skylight window on the ceiling, it was quite bright…
It's not bright enough to read a book, but it's also not so dark that you can't walk without a torch…
The other side of the skylight window was probably above the ground, I could sometimes see soldiers who seemed to be patrolling there…
I don't know if the passageway is winding or how long it will take to reach the labyrinth entrance in front…
It seems to be called the [Passage of Death] here and the labyrinth is still a little further away…
Since I am free, I check things out…
The labyrinth city of Selbira has a total of 110,000 people…
Among them, the Shiga Kingdom army called the [Labyrinth Area Army] was 10,000 people…
The army is in a giant fortress in the southwest. His average army level was 8, higher than the soldiers of other regions…
It's a little higher than the retainers of knights, so they might be elites…
Since I have a letter from Nina san to the general of this army, I have to deliver it after we are done with exploring the labyrinth…
The army in charge of the defense of the labyrinth city was not this royal army, but the army of Viceroy Selbira, Marquis Ashinen…
I have a little problem with this guy in the trading city, so I don't really want to get involved with him…
It should be a while before he returns here from the trading city, so my duty should be fulfilled if I give him the greetings in some houses and gifts that can be given before he returns…
I will forgive myself of troublesome things…
Now, the search continues…
There were unexpectedly several explorers, not more than 5,000 people…
According to the traveller journal, there are 1000 young people who come here to be explorers every year, so I think this number is too little considering that…
Basically, they live in the west…
There were about 1000 people working as [Baggage Carriers] just like the little girls before…
Most of them worked outside of the labyrinth city…
Do they work in some kind of public construction because they fail to get a job in the maze…?
There are 50 people at the entrance of the labyrinth in front, I wonder what they are doing…?
Four explorers came from the front.Their levels were low at 7-9…
No, considering a knight level of around 10, they might be intermediate level explorers or would-be beginners…
Looks like one of them was heavily injured…
"Blood smell…"
"Someone is coming…?"
Ciel and Totona quickly noticed the appearance of the explorers from the winding road ahead…
"Cronoa, protect Ciel and Totona…"
"Understand…"
Is Mia okay…
I thought so, but Lina has moved in front of Mi…
"I'm Jeje from『 Red Ice 』…"
"We have a wounded man…!"
"Please leave the dispute for later…"
A young man who seemed to be the leader shouted so while waving his hand…
I thought it was nick name chuuni, but it seemed to be their party name…
I couldn't see the injured man's face, but someone's armour was split open and blood was seeping out of the clothes that had been used to wrap his wounds…
"Uuh.it's a very beautiful wound..."
"Masters…"
"Nn, Secilia…?"
Totona became extremely pale when she saw the injured person…
Mia asked with her eyes if it was okay for her to use magic, but I did not sign with my hand…
And the reaction of Lina and Tiane as usual they were ordinary and said "Ahh, you will start again", "please pay attention to the atmosphere a little" after I said "beautiful wounds" …
"I'm Secilia, a rookie explorer…"
"Please use this medicine if it's okay with you…"
So I said and held the two magic potions dissolved from the shoulder bag…
It should be enough to judge on recovery from their level…
"I'm sorry, but we have nothing…"
"I'll pay you back when the leader who sells magic cores catches up…"
"It's shameless to me, but can I take that medicine before…?"
"Yes, please…"
"And also, why did you say that" The beautiful wound "news…"
"Or maybe you're a psychopath…"
"Hey. Jeje, it is not impolite to accuse someone who has helped us without proof…"
"All right.I'm sorry for what I said just now…"
"Not to think about it…"
It seemed like only he was aware of my words just now…
Since I originally intended to give it away for free, I quickly replied and presented the magic potion to Jeje…
"Huh…?"
"Don't tell me it's magic potion…?"
"Yes, that's right…"
"Rather than that, drink it to that person quickly…"
"Yes, I am indebted…"
One bottle recovers almost 60% of health…
I couldn't see the wound as it was wrapped in cloth, but it must have been covered by now…
"In that case, we'll go…"
"T, please wait…"
"We haven't paid the cost yet…"
"I got it from someone, so please don't worry about it…"
"We will meet again if fate permits…"
We couldn't keep hanging around here all day, so we parted ways with them…
I heard a warning from behind, “There is an abnormal ant outbreak in the 1-4 labyrinth area, do not approach it.” so I waved my hand to say thank you…
That's right, let's go there today…
"You two, should we stop today…?"
"I, I'm fine…"
"I'm fine…"
Both forced themselves to stand firm and walk forward with fists…
If their condition does not recover when we get to the entrance of the labyrinth, let's go back…
There was a door about five meters high at the end of the hall…
It's probably the labyrinth gate…
A deep red devil face was engraved on the pitch-black door…
There was a 10 meter wide counter, 5 meters long beside the gate…
There were a few people who seemed to be guild staff behind the counter as well as four high-level mages who seemed to be his bodyguards…
In one of the counter parts, the leader of 『Red Ice』 and a middle-aged man who seemed to be the guild staff were arguing about the price of magic cores…
On the opposite side of that counter, the children sat, occupying a space of 30 meters…
They are human children of about 10-14 years, the ratio of men and women is more or less the same…
There are no slaves…
Everyone's level is 1-3. They wear short clothes and sandals knitted from weeds…
There are also children who only wear trousers and no sandals…
They were not all explorers, but [Baggage Carriers]…
No one had any weapons or armor…
"Kids…?"
"There are a lot of kids…"
"Mwu…?"
Ciel and Mia tilted their heads while looking confused…
I don't think they've arranged it before, but they did it very compactly, inviting a smile from me…
Totona said, “forgive me late.” while looking annoyed, but let's pretend that I didn't see him here…
Now, those kids are after me with their eyes without a sound or a mark…
Little, scary…
"I wonder what they're doing…?"
"They're scary eyes…"
I wonder too…
Totona found it scary, I totally agree…
I'm afraid Cronoa will kidnap them because they're all kids, but…
"Disclaim that I was okay as long as it was kids…"
That's what he said…
He may have his own criteria as well…
"Master, the staff called…"
I didn't notice that the staff called me until Cronoa caught my attention…
"What's up…?"
"I'm sorry, but are you a rookie explorer…?"
"Yes, please take care of us from now on…"
"I'm Secilia..."
"Ara, how wise are you…"
"I think you've heard of it when you sign up, but we'll buy the magic cores you get from the labyrinth here…"
"And also, we'll buy the monster part of the notification hung on the wall there, but because some of those app posters aren't always there, either, there is no guarantee that they will remain when you exit the labyrinth so please be careful… "
I only realized it after the staff explained it smoothly to me, but of course there was a large board that looked like a bulletin board standing up and it was plastered with many posters…
Most of the clients seem to be craftmen or stall merchants…
There was no request from the guild…
There was a blank space at the bottom of the poster, it was written with a symbol that seemed to be the date and name…
Anyone aiming for that request might fill the space…
In addition to the posters, there were children in slightly nicer clothes…
According to the staff, there were a small number of explorers who could not read, so the children of traders who can read and write stay here to read aloud or write for them and earn a small income…
"I recommend the application for labyrinth frog meat and shells of insect monsters because they are always there…"
"There are some people who mistake the labyrinth frog with poison frog wart and bring the meat back with them, so please be careful…"
The staff told me some suggested requests…
Because behind me, Lina and Tiane nodded while muttering, “Enak once.” she probably knows the difference…
He probably remembers about the barbecue party…
Right, maybe also ask about it…
"By the way, what's up with those kids…?"
"Ahh.. they're children who work as [Baggage Carriers]…"
"They waited to be employed by the explorers from there…"
"Children wait outside alternating with them every two hours and they are forbidden to promote themselves…"
He added that it was because of the echoes on the noisy walls…
However, to carry luggage, isn't it better to hire an adult or beastkin than those children…?
When I was about to ask about it, the labyrinth gate opened and a 10-man explorer party came out…
This was a party with most average soldiers at level 20…
The three beastkins among them seemed to be [Baggage Carriers]…
"Yo, Vena... Sorry to bother you, is the request for Gray Spider still there…?"
"I'm really sorry..『 Owl's Beard 』has brought him this morning, so I think there will be no request for this time…"
"Chey, those guys again, yeah…"
"There's no choice, Vena, I'll bake this meat…"
"Oyy. You boys, I'll give you some…"
"You can say,” Dozon is just as cool “ or “Thank you Dozon sama” everything you want when you eat it…"
After a bearded explorer like a bear declared so to the children, the cry of joy that gripped my ears lifted…
Ciel was also queuing up because he seemed to want to eat it, but they immediately came back when I called out to him…
I feel sorry for grabbing the party of malnourished children…
We showed our wood plate gate staff one by one and stepped on the labyrinth…
The guild staff looked surprised towards Ciel who opened the dense labyrinth door…
Alright now…?
Is that I was wondering…?
