Depths of the Otherworldly Labyrinth (WN)

As soon as Hein-san went away, Lastiara, who had regained consciousness, called out to me.

“Damn it… —Christ! Christ, you okay?!”

Lastiara staggered towards me, holding her arm.

“I’m okay. Calm down.”

Seeing her arm bent in a way it shouldn’t be was painful. I assisted her with my hand while she forced herself to walk.

“Ouch…! It’s really broken, damn…! Where’s Hein, anyway?”

“I managed to drive him away.”

When she learned I had fought off Hein-san, Lastiara expressed her relief. She then casted a recovery spell and began to repair the fracture in her arm.

“I see, that’s good… What was his deal…?”

She seemed relieved to know that the crisis was over for the time being. But soon, she started to complain.

“I have no idea… Hein-san said some weird things and then just left…”

“Weird things? What kind of weird things?”

I was at a bit of a loss.

However, based on how we had interacted in the past, I decided that it wouldn’t be a problem to answer, so I told her what I had been told.

“First of all, Hein-san wanted us to leave the Allied Nations if he won.”

“He wanted us to leave the country for his duel’s reward…?”

Lastiara raised her eyebrows.

“Then, he said that you were just made-up…”

“…I’m just made-up? That’s a given. It’s too late for any of that!!”

After healing her arm with recovery magic, Lastiara scratched her head with her healed arm. She was, uncharacteristically, irritated.

“So do you admit that you’re just something made up?”

She didn’t seem to be offended by being described as made-up. It piqued my curiosity, so I asked her.

“I already told you before. This body was created in the image of Saintess Tiara herself. It’s only obvious that it’s a made-up body. I won’t deny it.”

Lastiara said it herself that she was made-up. However, it had a different nuance to what Hein-san meant by ‘made-up’.

“No, I don’t think Hein-san meant your physical body. He hinted more in the spiritual sense. He said that your thoughts and feelings are made-up.”

“Spiritual—? My thoughts and feelings are made-up? I mean, of course I am being influenced by my surroundings to a certain degree, but who isn’t? I am who I am.”

“Well, it’s true, but…”

Witnessing Lastiara expressing herself so firmly, I found it hard to believe that her spirit was made-up.

However, after Hein-san had appealed so desperately to me, I couldn’t just ignore his words. There was an inexpressible uneasiness building up at the bottom of my mind.

And so I chose to utter the sentence that stirred my anxiety the most.

“Also, he said that you are going to die at this rate, Lastiara…”

“I’m going to die…?”

When presented with the word ‘die,’ Lastiara looked as if she couldn’t comprehend what the word meant.

“I heard him clearly.”

“Die…?”

She repeated the word again before she casted her eyes down. She mumbled as if yearning for confirmation.

“I see… Hein said that…?”

Slowly, she turned her head to me. I could only give her a short nod of the head. 

Seeing that nod, a dark depth deepened in Lastiara’s eyes. The madness that had quietened down as of late leaked out.

Lastiara mumbled.

“Why now, of all times… why now, when I’m this close to… though I must admit, that’s very typical of him…”

She mumbled away, putting her hand to her forehead in thought.

She was acting strange. It was strange she could stay calm after being told she was going to die, she was still acting strange nonetheless. To be told that she was going to die without any evidence and then fall into such a deep thought—it was as if she had an idea of what the warning of her impending death was about.

I approached Lastiara to ask her what all of it meant. However, before I could get close enough, Lastiara began talking in a hurry.

“R-right. Sorry, Christ… I was just a little startled. It’s nothing. Hein likes to say weird things out of the blue, you see.”

The more she spoke, the more Lastiara’s face returned to its usual color. The unrest disappeared, and she was pretending that the long thought she just had never happened.

I didn’t know what to do. Should I pry into Hein-san and Lastiara’s situation? Or should I follow Lastiara’s wishes and pretend I didn’t see her just losing herself?

—I knew it was an important decision to make, and I wasn’t sure which one I should choose. 

As I was struggling to choose an answer, Lastiara kept on speaking cheerfully.

“At any rate, the problem is that fool Hein chose to use an underhanded means. I need to go back to Whoseyards for a quick while and talk about his stupid silly outburst…”

Saying that, Lastiara approached the magical door «Connection». By the looks of it, it seemed that she had given up on the day’s exploration.

“Should I go with you to Whoseyards?”

“No, no no. It’s my family’s problem. Actually, I’m sorry. The duel was supposed to be nothing more than a… sideshow…”

Lastiara stopped me from accompanying her because it was a family matter.

Even so, I was still uneasy about going separate ways there.

If I were to be attacked by Hein-san again while she was away, I had no idea how to tackle it. It was also questionable if Lastiara alone could handle Hein-san.

Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem, as it would be difficult for me to be hit by a surprise attack due to the nature of my magic. I would also have been able to escape with my own life. I didn’t before because I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the unconscious Lastiara behind.

Hein-san had even threatened to cut my leg off. His impassioned words wouldn’t escape my mind. I couldn’t help but worry about her if she was all by herself.

“Lastiara. It will be dangerous if Hein-san comes attacking again, so it’s better to stick together—”

“No, I was only taken off guard because he was a relative. I can overwhelm him any other time. Take a glance at our ‘Statuses’ and you’ll know right away.”

Lastiara claimed that Hein-san was not a threat and even beckoned me to check her ‘Status’.

* * *

* * *

Indeed, ‘Status’-wise, she was overwhelming. Most of her parameters were much higher than his, and there was a huge difference in ‘Skills’. The only thing she lagged behind him in was technique finesse. In any normal fight, Lastiara would have won.

However, Lastiara lost, and it wasn’t a normal fight. The fact stood that, as long as he had the means to catch Lastiara off guard, Hein-san had the power to defeat Lastiara.

Seeing that I couldn’t shake off my uneasiness, Lastiara spoke with a serious look on her face.

“Worry not. I won’t let my guard down. So just wait for me.”

Saying so, Lastiara passed through the magic door. I followed her, and we returned to my house.

Maria was surprised at our sudden return. I couldn’t blame her. It had been less than an hour since we departed.

“Wh-what’s wrong? Isn’t this too fast?”

Maria stopped washing laundry in the kitchen and walked up to us. Lastiara answered as if nothing serious just happened.

“I just remembered something I needed to do at my parents’ house. I’m going back to Whoseyards for today. You two can play together, hunt monsters, or go shopping if you want.”

As she answered, Lastiara approached the window of the house. Then she raised her hand to wave once.

“Bye.”

With that, Lastiara slunk away from the window. She left no time for me to speak to her.

Maria, obviously suspicious of Lastiara’s odd behavior, asked me if something was wrong. I lied and told her that it was nothing serious. 

I didn’t want to worry Maria. I really wanted to keep her out of trouble if possible.

After Lastiara went away, Maria listed her plan for the day.

“I’ve been summoned by Alty-san. What about you, Master?”

“Summoned? Alty came here?”

“She spoke to me over the fire I used to cook this morning… It’s almost time for my appointment.”

“She’s everywhere… Don’t mind me, you should go see her by yourself.”

Apparently Alty had made contact with Maria via the kitchen fire at my own home. Reminded of her cheat of an ability, I declined Maria’s invitation.

It was possibly about teaching Maria magic. There’s was nothing for me, even if I went with.

“Understood. I’ll head out then.”

“Yeah. Have a good day.”

Maria left the house, and the house became quiet. 

I sat alone at the living room table, sorting out my mind. I was whacked out of my element by Hein-san’s unexpected attack. I had to get my nerves under control first and foremost.

Slowly, I took a deep breath. 

It had been a long time since I was all by myself. There had always been someone next to me.

I was tormented by an endless sense of loneliness when I first arrived in the other world, but I felt that loneliness had become a source of comfort. Finding that self-indulgent side of myself dismayed me, but I also thought that it was what it meant to be human.

Always asking for what we don’t have and finding what we do have to be cumbersome.

I was acutely aware of my immaturity. After all was said and done, I was but a child. A child who was too occupied with himself.

If I were more of an adult, with a lot more composure, I wouldn’t have let Maria keep her love for me a secret forever. I wouldn’t have let Lastiara go to Whoseyards all by herself. There wouldn’t have been such a rift between Alty and me. I would have understood Hein-san’s desperate plea. And most of all, Dia wouldn’t have lost his right arm.

But all that had passed.

I could hardly believe I made the best choices. Even now, I regret the fact I didn’t tail Lastiara, even if she didn’t want me to. At the same time, I was questioning whether it was right for a stranger like me to intrude so deeply into the affairs of Lastiara’s relatives.

It was all simple. I simply lacked the composure and strength to make my choices.

—I have to get much stronger.

Once I realized it, rather than regretting the past, I pushed myself to grow, even if only a little. 

I passed through the «Connection» and entered the 20th floor alone. Obviously, I wouldn’t pioneer the deep floors all by myself. Not that I saw myself as lacking the strength to do so, but it was definitely more dangerous alone. Above all, I knew that Lastiara would complain about it later if I proceeded with the exploration without her.

I decided to hunt monsters. Mental immaturity couldn’t be solved overnight. Physical strength, however, was something that could be gained overnight in this world. If so, it was only a natural thought to try to cover my lack of resolve with physical growth.

It was all so that I could make the best choices—to avoid regrets. There was nothing wrong with getting stronger. 

Next, I had to select my hunting ground. The strongest monster that I could solo without any problem at my level was the furies on the 21st floor. However, the furies weren’t the most efficient enemy. Indeed, they had a lot of EXP, but they were also durable. If I calculated the amount of EXP I could get compared to the time it would take to defeat them, they weren’t the most efficient.

With the gaming experience I had cultivated in my original world, I looked for the best solution. 

The ideal monster would be one that would die exactly with a single swing of my sword. Also, the short time it took to find them and their number in a single place was also important. The less chance of irregularities, the better.

Thinking back to all the monsters I had fought, I tried to find the floor that fit those criteria. 

However, I couldn’t be sure of the actual efficiency until I tried it. For the moment, I headed for the 15th floor, where many of the monsters fit the bill.

I would hunt various monsters on the 15th floor and continue to accumulate EXP and magic stones.

There was no time limit. My enemies could be defeated with a single swing, so MP consumption was low. Above all else, the natural recovery of MP would also increase as the maximum value of MP increased as I leveled up. I would search for monsters and slay them one after another on a semi-permanent basis.

Without uttering a single word, I continued grinding my level. I kept on until the sun went down, and it felt like I was playing a video game for the first time in a long time. As if to escape from the problems that had piled up, I grinded my level by myself.