Chapter 12: 12

Depths of the Otherworldly Labyrinth

Chapter 12: Slaves to Dreams, Dreaming Slaves

“—Say… Why did you choose to dive into the Labyrinth, Christ?”

“Why, you ask… It’s to live. Why else…?”

On our way back from our highly successful Labyrinth exploration, Dia and I were having a casual chat.

“…To live? You’re skilled, Christ. You didn’t necessarily need to go to the Labyrinth to earn money, right? You can work in the tavern, and your cooking is superb.”

“Well, that’s not wrong, but… Nevertheless, I have to dive into the Labyrinth, no matter what. How do I say it… It is so I can live as myself, I think?”

I must conquer the Labyrinth so I can live as Kanami Aikawa. I want to cast away this joke of a name, Christ, as soon as possible—that was my real answer, but… seeing as I couldn’t just say that so openly, my answer to Dia’s question became abstract.

“Live as yourself…?”

I couldn’t blame Dia for looking so puzzled. I hurriedly asked him my own question, shifting his attention.

“How about you, Dia? Why the Labyrinth?”

“…Mine’s simple. I want money.”

Come to think of it, he did say he needed money before. That seems like quite a solid guideline to his life, seeing that he could answer without hesitation.

However, our relationship was still too immature for me to ask for the details.

“That’s quite the common dream…”

“Maybe. But that’s what every man’s dreams amount to, right?

“No, I’m not sure about that….”

“Oh no, I know that you want that too, deep inside, Christ. Swimming in money, living in a huge house, marrying a good woman, eating good food, living big—humans all have those desires in them.”

“Hmm, that’s not wrong, but…”

Maybe because I had my morals brought over from my previous world, I didn’t entertain those desires that much. Over there, beautiful houses and tasty food were commonplace. Therefore, I valued spiritual fulfillment more than material fulfillment.

Was it because I was mired in such an indulgent world that I believed that there were things more important than money and worldly desires?

“In my hometown, the guy with the money and power could do whatever crap he pleased. He had his own private army, so nobody could stand up to him. He was the feudal lord, so he could always squeeze out more money from his people. He threw his weight around with that money, buying off beautiful slaves to surround himself with. He could live as he wished, looking like the happiest guy in the entire town… There’re a lot of people like him, even in this country: the nobles, the powerful, those who’ve won a fortune in the Labyrinth—the so-called wealthy folks.”

Dia continued to speak as though to urge something out.

“I’m going to join those folks. I will make it impossible for anyone to oppose me with that power. Then, everyone will have to recognize me. Only then can I finally recognize myself as myself…”

Dia ended his monologue with a strong will.

I might have misjudged Dia. I thought that he was some powerless kid who kept his ego afloat in vain. I thought wrong. Whatever his goal was, he looked straight at it and made moves towards it.

“You’re amazing, Dia… You’re not wavering at all, unlike me…”

“…N-no! I’m not amazing at all! I still have no strength or power! I know full well I only could do anything at all because of your help, Christ!”

Perhaps he thought he had gotten too passionate. He shook his head in embarrassment.

“——!”

When I felt just how sincere Dia’s heart was, I was hit by a dizzy spell.

His willful words eroded my unconscious mental precautions.

I fully understood what Dia was saying. What he just said was, indeed, another path to happiness. It would be easy for me to get money or power in this world. Such a future wasn’t so far off—my magic and ‘Display’ abilities were that much of a cheat, after all.

If, or when, that future came… When I had money and power, when nobody could oppose me, when I had position and honor, when I could pick any woman I wanted, when I had the life of luxury, when I could sate all of my desires… Would I still want to ‘go home’?

—While they had become a guideline for Dia, such human concerns were nothing but a shock for me. I was unaccountably greatly disturbed.

“Christ…? Are you okay? You look pale.”

“…No, I’m good.”

I shouldn’t have asked about people’s dreams so lightly. Reflecting on that, I mumbled the answer with great effort, as though squeezing the words out.

Being exposed to Dia’s humanity had caused a crack in my mental fortitude that had continued to analyze optimal behavior as though the world was a game. I almost misjudged my conditions of achievement in this other world. My most important condition of achievement right now is…

“I’m good, really…”

Even if I repeated those words, the dizziness only grew stronger, so I hastily parted ways with Dia, citing my MP and my poor health and whatnot.

“See ya later…” I said to him as a brief farewell, and he replied, “…All right, see you tomorrow! Rest well, Christ!” with a shout. He seemed to be pretty gung-ho to do it again the next day.

After seeing off that goody-two-shoes with a fake smile on my lips, I walked to the town all by myself.

I checked my ‘Status’ and found that I had accumulated enough EXP to level up. However, I had no intention of leveling up like I was in some sort of video game.

“…”

Up until then, all I had ever thought was about clearing this “game”. I had been looking at the town in order to clear the Labyrinth, I had gathered information in order to clear the Labyrinth, and I had worked at the inn to, again, clear the Labyrinth.

That day, I wanted to look at the town with no such thing in mind.

I knew it, myself. It was probably because I was exposed to Dia’s, a full human being’s, raw emotions.

For that reason… I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of place that young man I passed who carried a sword on his back was born in or what kind of dreams he had in his life. Or that beast woman who passed by… I wondered what kind of personality she had and what the purpose of her outing was that day.

“Aah…”

All the others whom I had always regarded as NPCs somewhere within my heart… I understood that they, too, were just other humans with blood flowing in them.

I felt sick. The sense of unreality was painted over by a sense of reality, and the sense of reality was painted over by a sense of unreality. And at the end of the clash of these feelings, I——

【The ‘???’ Skill Has Gone Berserk】

Your mind has been stabilized in exchange for some of your emotions

Confusion is adjusted by +1.00

* * *

* * *

—At the same time the ‘Display’ popped up, my mood reversed, and my nausea subsided.

I had no other choice. I knew that I had to stop looking at reality like it was a game one day. I just didn’t expect that day to come so fast.

I looked at the lively crowd of people in the town. I observed the people living as human beings, and not just through my game-tinted glasses that perceived them only from the numerical values the ‘Display’ showed me.

That’s right… Today, let’s have a change of pace and go to places I haven’t gone to yet…

In order to embrace this other world, I decided to jump into the crowd of people. That was my first step to living in the other world, so I resolved to take my steps little by little.

* * *

During my first walk in the other world, after having my mood turned upside down from the ‘???’ Skill, I stopped by the church and properly finished leveling up.

—Then, as I saw someone bound by chains, I stopped.

In Dia’s story, slaves were mentioned as a matter of course. Slaves existed in the history of my world as well. Likewise, slaves probably existed in this world too.

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I had dedicated the day’s stroll to taking in the scene so that I could feel closer to the people of this world, but the existence of slaves brought to my mind a major clue to the Labyrinth.

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I hated that I tried tying everything to the Labyrinth, but I immersed myself in how practical my mindset became.

I was able to think very clearly and rationally, perhaps due to the activation of the ‘???’ Skill from before. Even in this other world full of reality, I was able to come up with a rational assessment.

I should be able to find a slave with the right talents for the Labyrinth by viewing their ‘Status’ through the ‘Display’. In other words, it shouldn’t be a bad option to select slaves to help me achieve my goal of conquering the Labyrinth. It was a plan that really came out of the blue, but I believed it was worth considering.

Immediately, I headed towards the less secure side of Varte, looking for a place where I could get information on slaves.

I saw people who appeared to be slaves traveling in a wagon. I used «Dimension» to determine their destination; they were going through back alleys and underground tunnels—places one would normally have a hard time finding. I followed them carefully until I found a simple, old door in a stone wall. It was a building I wouldn’t have been able to find unless I had known about it beforehand.

I observed the interior with «Dimension» and learned that it was a slave auction house, but I couldn’t perceive too deep into the building as I didn’t have much MP left. I spotted the person who was supposed to be in charge of serving the customers at the entrance and decided that I should enter the building, disguising myself as a customer.

The inside of the building was as luxurious as the aristocratic mansions I’d often seen in movies. There were corridors so long that I didn’t know how far they stretched on both sides of the entrance.

“—Oh dear, Sir customer. How can I help you at this early hour?”

A neat and trim man greeted me with a bow as I entered.

“…A friend of mine recommended this store to me. I’m here just to see how it is.”

For the time being, I decided to gather information by engaging in small talk. I had gained some confidence since I had explored the Labyrinth a few times already, so I was confident that even if things went south, I wouldn’t have a problem with fleeing.

Also, I had confidence in my acting skill to some extent. I would fabricate the aura of someone who had the financial resources to be qualified to go there despite my young age. My height was close to that of an adult’s, so as long as I had the right attitude, I figured that I should be able to pull through.

“I understand. However, I am afraid we are only open late at night, so there isn’t much we can show you while the sun is still high in the sky.”

“…I see. So, just to prepare for the night, can I have you explain to me a few things?”

“Ask away, sir.”

I thought I would be treated badly since I was just window shopping, but I was allowed to ask questions more easily than I had expected—maybe it was because even a single customer would spend quite a lot on a single purchase. I chose my questions so as not to look suspicious.

“Right. There’s this one thing I’m curious about—”

“Ah, about that—”

—As I carried on with the conversation to gather information, I observed the surroundings.

I was able to grasp the location of the slaves who were carried by the wagon within the range of «Dimension»; it seemed that they were in the process of dressing themselves. They were being bathed, decorated with make-up, and given ornaments to enhance their appearance for the sale.

The number of chained slaves exceeded several dozen. I continued to observe how the slaves were treated as I acquired information from the man serving me.

Then, after a while, a slave appeared in the lobby where we were talking. I knew that the slave was lost in her way because I had been keeping track of her through the use of «Dimension»—she had been walking about in the huge mansion all by herself for quite some time.

She was a young, black-haired girl. Her dark eyes were vacant, and her body was too skinny. She was dressed in a shabby garment, basically a single sheet of cloth—as if she had not finished her dress-up.

“ …Is that girl a slave?” I asked, fully knowing the answer. 

I then focused on her and peeked into her general ‘Status’.

【Status】

Name: Maria Disutrus

HP: 39/41, MP: 35/35

Class: Slave

Level:3

STR: 0.89, VIT: 2.01, DEX: 1.23, AGI: 0.73, WIS: 1.07, MAG: 1.91, APT: 1.52

Constitution:

Confusion: 0.56

Lethargy: 1.02

Innate Skills:

Insight: 1.43

Acquired Skills:

Hunting: 0.67

Cooking: 1.07

Rarely enough, she had three skills and possessed magic power. She was average in terms of talents. However, when compared to myself or Dia, the difference between us was like heaven and earth. She was far below our standard.

“Ah, I… I am…”

It was Maria, the slave, who reacted to my question first. Color returned to her empty eyes as she stared at me. It was as if she had found something shining—that was the face she made.

“…Do forgive our sloppiness. Oi, anyone! Take that slave to the deeper rooms!”

The customer service man also noticed her, and he then clapped his hand to call someone from the back.

Nevertheless, the slave girl continued to stare at me. Then, falteringly, she muttered her words.

“…I am… Maria. My name is… Maria.”

The slave girl and I were quite far apart, but I could still see her clearly. In her faint voice, she uttered a name that was common in this other world.

I was puzzled by her sudden self-introduction, and—perhaps out of habit I carried from my former world—I answered her with a name of my own.

“I am Christ…”

The moment I blurted my name, I realized how big of a blunder I had just made. There was nothing good about giving out my name in a place like that. I was bewildered by her sudden, brazen action, sure, but I shouldn’t have been so careless.

As I was regretting that fact, I saw the slave girl being carried to the backroom by someone else. Even as she was dragged away, the slave girl continued to stare at me.

And for whatever reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I didn’t want to guess what her eyes wanted from me.

The serving-man wiped his forehead and apologized.

“Our deepest apologies, Sir. You’ve seen something so unseemly…”

“No, it’s fine…”

I found myself to be more shaken than I had thought. Was it because of the vacant eyes of that Maria girl? Maybe I was too nervous about being in such a place? Or maybe I was still tired from the exploration in the Labyrinth?

Either way, I had just confirmed that I could see the ‘Status’ of the slaves with ‘Display’. The next time I went there, there shouldn’t be a problem finding a talented slave… Which meant I shouldn’t stay any longer.

“Then, for the next explanation—”

“No, don’t bother. I’ll take my leave for today. I’ve learned all that I need to know.”

“…Very well, sir. We look forward to seeing you again.”

I walked out of the store as the man was curtly bowing behind me.

I had successfully learned about slaves, and everything had gone well from start to finish. However, I was not in a good mood.

Seeing that the sun was setting, I headed back to the tavern where I worked.

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My feet felt strangely heavy.

『Fifth Day, Finished』

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