Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

Eira flapped her tiny wings vigorously.

With a satisfied smile, I followed her and managed to find a decent inn for the night.

‘The quality is no different, yet they charge more than twice the price.’

I realized anew how lucky I had been to stay at Roten’s inn for so long.

“Yawn.”

After spending the night at the inn near the Tower of Magic, I had a simple breakfast and headed to the platform.

After a few hours of boredom in the carriage, I finally returned to Roten’s inn in Sector 4.

‘It’s already noon, and all I’ve done today is eat and sit in a carriage.’

“Pik!”

“Yes, let’s go inside. I’ll introduce you to the others.”

I pushed open the inn door with a bang.

“Huh? Ahren!”

As I entered, Yeriel, who was having lunch at a table, greeted me.

“Yeriel, are you eating? Where’s Roten?”

“Yes! He’s in the kitchen, preparing some food, but he stepped out for a bit. By the way, did you take care of everything?”

As she asked the question, she tilted her head and looked at my shoulder.

“Hmm… Wow, so cute! What kind of bird is that? Can I pet it?”

Eira is quite cute.

“Pik! Pik-pik!”

‘Why is she acting like this? Oh, is she being influenced by Scarlet because she’s her familiar?’

Eira flew up to avoid Yeriel and landed on my head.

“Ugh. She’s avoiding me right away. I guess she doesn’t like me? What’s her name?”

“Eira. Her name is Eira. Haha. It seems like she’s a bit shy.”

I smiled on the outside but sent her a private message.

-‘Once you’re done eating, I need to talk to you about something important in your room. I’ll stop by after checking on Lumia’s room.’

-‘Hmm, okay. That sounds important, so I’ll be waiting in my room.’

Fortunately, Yeriel responded appropriately to my private message, not letting on that I had sent it in front of her.

“Oh, right!”

Yeriel clapped her hands and said with a worried expression,

“Lumia doesn’t look well. Even after using healing magic, there doesn’t seem to be any change, so it’s probably not a physical illness.”

“That’s strange. I’ll go check on her. Enjoy your meal.”

As I nodded and resumed eating, I headed upstairs to Lumia’s room and knocked on the door.

“Lumia, it’s me, Ahren. Can I come in?”

Thump.

Creak.

“Come in.”

‘Her appearance is really bad. I wonder why?’

“You don’t look well. Is something wrong? Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.”

“Pik! Pik. Pik-pik.”

As I said this, I observed her reaction, and Eira approached Lumia and started to show off her tricks and act cute.

“Hmm. Where did you come from all of a sudden…? You’re so cute, it’s almost painful.”

“Chirp!”

“I ended up taking care of a familiar while I was at the Tower of Magic. Isn’t she cute?”

Slick.

Lumia stretched out her finger and carefully stroked Eira with her index finger, then began to speak.

“Actually… I had a hard time in the dungeon and came back, but since both of you were staying out and I was left alone in the inn, I started to think about various things. I felt like I was back to the difficult times.”

The difficult times she was referring to were when her curse killed her party members several times, and she was being persecuted by everyone around her.

“A few months ago, I was literally holed up in my room like a corpse, barely alive.”

Lumia recalled the past and unconsciously lowered her head.

“I know that with you here, that won’t happen again, but sometimes memories from that time pop into my head and torment me. Sigh, I try to forget and think positively, but it’s not easy.”

[Chaos says that she feels a bit sorry for Lumia and needs some comfort.]

“This won’t do. Lumia, I told you a few days ago that we’d go out together soon. Do you remember where you wanted to go?”

“Yes. I remember what you said before.”

“It might be a bit sudden, but make a list of places you want to go and things you want to do by tonight, and let’s go out tomorrow.”

As soon as I finished speaking, her face lit up.

She tried to hide her emotions as usual, but the corners of her mouth, which had risen slightly, didn’t seem to want to go back down.

“Yes! …Is Yeriel coming with us?”

Although she couldn’t express it directly, her wavering eyes clearly showed that she wanted me to say no.

I answered as she wished.

“No, this time, let’s just go as a pair. It’s not just a one-day trip; we’ll be going back and forth for several days, and Yeriel will probably have her own schedule during that time.”

“Pik-.”

Eira, who had flown back to me and was now perched on my shoulder, chirped.

I patted her and said,

“Speaking of Yeriel, I need to have a conversation with her. Let’s have dinner later. Rest up.”

Click.

I was relieved to see that Lumia seemed to have recovered.

‘After telling Yeriel about Scarlet, let’s not go out today and just rest in our rooms. It should be fine if I leave Eira with Lumia for a while.’

With a sigh of relief, I headed to Yeriel’s room.

.

.

.

As expected, she was shocked when she heard the news.

“What?! Scarlet is alive?! Is that true?!”

“Shh! Everyone can hear you. It’s better to lower your voice.”

“Oh. Yes. I was just so surprised.”

Huff. Huff.

Yeriel took a deep breath to calm her racing heart and asked again,

“She was definitely killed by your hand in that battle, so how did she come back to life? Even if she’s a noble, resurrection…”

“I don’t know if this is a good thing, but she doesn’t seem to hold any ill will towards us. She’s just a little more obsessed with me than before.”

“Obsessed? Yes. I remember how crazy Scarlet was when she was about to die, and it was terrifying! Are you sure this is okay?”

Was she confused because she had received such unexpected news?

Yeriel seemed quite disturbed.

“At least the terrible things you’re imagining won’t happen, so don’t worry.”

I shook my head.

“You were also involved in what happened back then, so I thought I should tell you, but I don’t want you to worry or keep thinking about it. Let’s just forget about it.”

“Yes. I trust that you’ll handle any situation that comes up, so I’ll just believe and forget about it. Oh, by the way, what about that little bird?”

I confirmed that it was Scarlet’s familiar.

“We can’t let anyone know. Got it. By the way, do you have anything else to say?”

I asked about her schedule while mentioning my promise to Lumia.

“I was going to call you anyway, and I have some things to take care of at the church this week, so I’ll be busy too. But!”

Click!

“Promise me that you two won’t do anything weird without me… I mean, you know, romantic stuff!”

Yeriel pointed at me with her index finger and shouted, her face turning red with embarrassment.

I was caught off guard by her unexpected statement, but I managed to brush it off.

‘I didn’t expect Yeriel, a priestess, to be the first to bring up such a topic… She’s an adult, so it’s not surprising that she knows about these things, but I was still surprised.’

“Oh, and one last thing. I’m sorry I didn’t ask sooner, but did the issue with your trait at the cathedral get resolved?”

“Hehe. I was actually wondering why you didn’t ask, and I was considering telling you first. It’s gone, so don’t worry! It was my first time, so I wasn’t too worried.”

Phew, that’s a relief.

I finished the conversation without any issues and left the room.

‘I’m a little tired from staying awake in the carriage for half a day. It’s still daytime, but I guess it’s fine. I’ll just take a short nap.’

After taking a nap, I woke up and greeted Roten, and we spent a comfortable day chatting and having dinner together.

.

.

.

The first day of my outing with Lumia alone had arrived.

“I’ll be back. Don’t worry if I come back late or don’t come back at all.”

“Hmm. Okay, okay. Just go. Ahren, you take good care of Lumia. Always remember not to let her slip away.”

“Come on, Roten. Am I a child?”

From the morning, Roten and Lumia had a heartwarming conversation as they began their day.

“Okay, let’s get going. You can lead me to wherever you want to go.”

“Great. Follow me.”

Stomp, stomp.

Occasionally, someone would frown or make a fuss when they saw Lumia, but I either ignored them or glared at them fiercely, whether they were strong or weak.

“Which one do you like? This one? Or is this one better?”

“I, I like them all. I can’t choose.”

“Really? Excuse me, I’ll take this one, this one, and that one.”

“Thank you, sir! Please come again!”

At the clothing store, we tried on clothes that we liked and bought several pieces after complimenting each other.

As we walked down the street, we came across a street vendor selling unique-looking jewelry and charms from faraway lands. We bought a couple of items and shared them with each other.

Additionally,

“Tsk! These days, young people are too busy putting others down and don’t know their own worth.”

“That’s true.”

“Here, your ordered bread is ready! Enjoy it, and this one’s on the house!”

At a famous bakery, we were comforted by a generous lady and sat at a table, sipping tea and eating freshly baked bread.

Whoosh.

“I feel more at ease than ever.”

“Yes. Thanks to the high-level magic, it’s always clean, and just looking at it feels like my soul is being purified.”

We visited the magical fountain in the center of Sector 4, which was created at great expense to always remain clean, no matter the situation.

We sat on a bench near the fountain and spent some time chatting and relaxing.

Ding-ding-

“For the brilliant destiny of each star…”

Ding-ding-ding-

“The valiant lion knight, Decarson! With his mighty aura and a shining blue sword, he will tear through the storms of adversity and hardship!”

We took a carriage to Sector 5.

We visited a uniquely named inn, and although it was still early in the evening, we saw an enthusiastic bard singing and playing the lute.

We had an early dinner while watching the performance.

Clink.

As we slowly savored the expensive food, I spoke up when the meal was almost over.

“Lumia, do you still have many places you want to go to? Where should we go next?”

Lumia perked up her ears and furrowed her brow in thought.

“I’ve always wanted to go to many places, but now that I have the opportunity, it’s not easy to decide.”

Well… Lumia had spent most of her time locked up in her room or practicing magic in the backyard, so it was understandable that she was having a hard time deciding.

You know, when you ask someone what they want to eat or what they want to buy, those who have a clear idea in mind can answer right away.

But those who are greedy or have nothing, and only want everything, tend to take longer to decide when asked the same question.

‘What should I do… I don’t know what Lumia wants, and I don’t know much about this area, so it’s hard to suggest a specific place.’

As we both thought about it, the table fell silent, and we overheard a conversation between two bearded men at the next table.

“Haha! There’s nothing better than a beer after a day of manual labor! We finished our quest early, so how about we bet on the gladiators again like we did last week and make some money?”

“Forget it. I heard that a famous circus troupe has rented out the colosseum for a few days. They’re putting on some kind of performance, right?”

“Huh? A circus?”

A circus?

“Yes. You know, there are people who work as adventurers and have other professional jobs, right? They’re the ones who enter the dungeon as a side job.”

“Yes, there are. I wish I could do something else instead of sweating and doing these repetitive quests all the time. Damn, now I’ve lost my appetite.”

The man with the thick hair and beard took a swig of his drink, looking annoyed.

“Hey, don’t get angry. Just listen to what I have to say. Since we’re talking about it, how about we go watch the circus too?”

“Why would we want to watch a circus? It’s not free, and it’s a waste of money. Am I a kid?”

“Tsk, tsk.”

The adventurer across from him clicked his tongue in annoyance at the man’s outburst.

He waved his index finger and said,

“You’re a fool who only knows one thing and not the other. I overheard that the circus troupe members are all skilled performers, and some people even gain enlightenment from watching their acrobatics.”

“Enlightenment? That’s a word reserved for geniuses. What else?”

“You’re so impatient. The most famous member of the troupe is a dazzlingly beautiful woman. Let’s go watch her for a change of pace. What do you say?”

“Damn! Why didn’t you just say that in the first place? Let’s go. We need to get seats first!”

“Hey, hey! We should finish our food first! …Sigh. You’re like a kid who only cares about money and women. Fine, let’s go.”

The two men, who had been talking loudly enough for everyone to hear, hurried out, and I made eye contact with Lumia.

We had the same thought and the same feeling.

Looking into her gem-like eyes, I could instantly tell what she was hoping for.

“Ahren.”

“Yes, I know what you want. You want to watch the circus performance that those men were talking about, right?”

Nod.

“It’s perfect timing since I was thinking about it too! They said they rented out the colosseum, right?”

As I paid the bill at the counter, I casually asked the innkeeper, who nonchalantly replied,

“Well, if you’re looking for entertainment in Sector 5, you can’t miss the gladiator matches. They’re made up of applicants and adventurers who were once criminals, so there’s no guilt, but it’s still a thrilling sight.”

The innkeeper scratched his cheek and rubbed his belly.

“Now that I think about it, I heard that there will be a performance there for a few days. The famous Medea is said to be incredibly beautiful, and now that it’s been mentioned, I’ll have to close the inn for a day to go watch it myself.”

After thanking him for the information, we left the inn.

I wonder what it will be like to watch a circus performance of magic and acrobatics in this world… I’m excited.