Yuri Empire

When the previous messenger returned home, Yuri had sent her messenger beast to the Republic of Aneka by having a group of knights follow a single sylph that had disappeared.

Since she had registered【 Transfer Point 】with the beast, Yuri was now able to transfer to the Republic of Aneka at any time.

That's why when Ilorina returned, I was planning to send her and her group of escort knights back to the country, but―――Contrary to Yuri's expectations, Ilorina did not return home even after receiving the letter of intent to Governor Fleur that Yuri had approved.

It seems that Ilorina is planning to stay in the Yuri Empire for about 10 days to broaden her knowledge after fulfilling her role as a messenger.

Before I knew it, the number of knights escorting me had been halved from 20 to 10, and it seems that the letter of intent Yuri prepared was brought back by half of the knights.

If she was going to stay, Yuri wanted her to at least stay in the palace as a state guest. But Ilorina firmly refused the offer, saying that she wanted to take a closer look at the city of this country.

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I had no choice but to issue her a pass that would allow her to travel freely with her guards, at least to the cities of Yuritania, Ulysses, Eureka, and Hourai using the【 Transfer Gate 】.

With this pass, it won't take much time to move around, so it will be possible to visit each city smoothly.

Giving her a pass that would allow her to travel to only four cities meant that she would not be allowed to go to any other cities.

In other words, they don't want Ilorina to go to any other cities because the security situation in the other cities is not “perfect”.

Of course, I'm confident that the level of security is far better than that of most cities. But still, it is not enough to say with pride that it is safe.

Of course, I've secretly sent six Greater Wraiths to accompany Ilorina as guards. That being said, I really didn't want them to go to a place where they couldn't guarantee their safety in the first place.

―――If Yuri was thinking about it.

On the first day of her stay in the Yuri Empire, Ilorina seemed to have used the【 Transfer Gate 】to visit all four cities. The next day, as if she had lost all interest in the other cities, she stopped moving at all from the city of Ulysses where she had secured accommodation.

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When I called back one of the Greater Wraiths that I had entrusted to guard her, I immediately found out the cause.

Apparently, she had watched a broadcast of the explorers challenging the labyrinth and had been captivated at first sight.

This is why she stays in her room at the inn and doesn't step out, just watching and cheering on the various searchers as they explore the labyrinth with his knights.

(…Well, if you stay in a safe place, that's great.)

The city of Ulysses is protected by a【 Life-Saving Ward 】, so as long as she stays there, there is no danger to Ilorina.

I'm not sure where the words “I want to take a closer look around the city” came from. In any case, if she liked this part of the culture of the Yuri Empire, that was a good thing.

The next day, there was a visitor at the royal palace in Yuritania.

It was a knight named Gothos. Fortunately, she still remembered the name, so Yuri knew who it was right away.

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He wondered if he should meet Yuri in the audience hall, but since she wasn't accompanied by Ilorina, there was no need to be so formal.

Thinking so, Yuri took Gothos into the reception room to meet her.

“You are the knight who delivered the first letter of intent from the Republic of Aneka to me.”

“Thank you very much for your help on that occasion. We are also currently staying in the Yuri Empire with Ilorina-sama.”

“Is there anything wrong with your life here?”

“There is no problem at all. On the contrary―――the facilities of the lodgings, the structure of the cities, the culture and social environment of the city, and many other things that you can learn in this country are beyond our reach. It is as if we are being shown the future that we should aim for one day, and we spend our days in admiration.”

“I'm flattered by your praise, but I wouldn't be too humble about my country.

So―――what's going on that the knight came to see me alone, without Ilorina, the main messenger?”

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I had a pretty good idea why Gothos had come to see me. Yuri asked him, pretending to be clueless.

With a slightly troubled expression on his face, Gothos spat out his words.

“Actually, that… Ilorina-sama is interested in your country's “Labyrinth”.”

“The Labyrinth? Ah―――perhaps you've seen the broadcast?”

“Yes. When she first saw the broadcast of the explorer boldly challenging the labyrinth, she was captivated by it. This morning, she wished to challenge the labyrinth herself.”

“Oh, it's very brave of her not to be afraid of fighting demons. I wonder if Ilorina is trained in martial arts or something?”

“She is trained in spear and bow. In particular, your skill with the bow has improved greatly since she received her vocation as an〔 Archer 〕, and now have already reached a level of skill comparable to that of an archer soldier.”

“At such a young age? That's amazing.”

The bow is a somewhat difficult weapon to handle for a person of your age with a small build.

If the knight's evaluation is that you're as good as the archers, then you've got a lot of talent.

“If Ilorina wants to challenge the labyrinth, why not let her? To enter the labyrinth, you need to register with the explorer's guild, but this can be done by passengers from other countries.”

“Yes, I have confirmed that in the explorers guild, and I have completed the registration process with all the knights as explorers. 

In the labyrinth―――Is it true that even if you are killed by a demon, you will never die? I heard about it from the staff of the explorer's guild, but I find it hard to believe…”

“Oh, I'm sure that's true…”

It's a place where you can be killed but not die. It would be rare for anyone to simply believe such a verbal explanation.

You can understand why Gothos doubts the words of the guild staff.

“Well, first of all, there seems to be a slight misunderstanding, so I'll explain it to you. It’s not just in the labyrinth, but all over the city of Ulysses, where people can't die. The entire city is wrapped in a ward called the【 Life-Saving Ward 】to make this happen.

It's hard to believe, isn't it?”

“Mu… Yes… with no disrespect to Her Majesty Yuri, it is still difficult to believe even if it is explained in words.”

It is natural that if you are killed, you will die, so if you are told that you will not die even if you are killed, that is absolutely outside the bounds of common sense.

People find it difficult to understand things that are beyond their common sense, no matter how much they are explained in words.

―――If that is the case, there is no other way but to have people experience it.

“By the way, would Gothos would risk his life for Ilorina?”

“Of course. As a knight, I am prepared to risk my life for my country at any time.”

“Yes. Then you will challenge the Labyrinth on your own and die well.”

“………………what?”

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Gothos's eyes widened in surprise as he heard Yuri's words.

Well, I guess that's a natural reaction.

“Wait a moment, please.”

Yuri took out a writing utensil and a magic tool paper with【 Translation 】magic in it from her <Inventory>. Yuri wrote down the text quickly.

She’s been doing writing since she lived in Japan, so I'm used to it.

I still don't know the common language of this world, and I can only write in Japanese. There is no problem if you use a form that has been pre-translated.

Yuri handed the finished document to Gothos.

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“'ll give it to you. It's worth no less than the life of a knight, don't you think?”

“This is…”

Gothos read the contents of the letter and was suddenly blindsided.

The letter states that if Gothos loses his life today, on the 18th day of the spring month, the Yuri Empire will provide the cities of Harakio and Scion with enough fresh food to fill their bellies for the next year as an apology.

“You can leave the document with Ilorina or a fellow knight, and then go to the Labyrinth to be killed by a demon and die.

If you don't lose your life even after being killed, that will be enough material for judging the effect of the【 Life-Saving Ward 】to be credible, right? Alternatively, if I am lying to Gothos and your life is lost in the Labyrinth, the document will obligate the Yuri Empire to provide food aid to the Republic of Aneka for the next year. It would be a sufficient benefit to the country, so don't you think it's worth risking your life as a knight?”

“Oh my god… I never imagined that you would go this far.”

“I will do everything I can as a lord who wants to co-exist and prosper with the Republic of Aneka. Next, it's Gothos' turn to show that he's ready to sacrifice his life for his country as a knight.

Oh… and of course you can quit if you feel like a coward, right?”

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When Yuri smiled provocatively, Gothos also smiled slightly.

“The loyalty of the knights of the Republic of Aneka is something I would like the Empress of the Yuri Empire to see.”

“Very well. I'll make sure to see it.”

“Now, if you'll excuse me, I can't be certain of anything based on a single-life or death, so I must repeat my attempts as many times as this document allows today.”

With that, Gothos left the Yuritania Palace.

On her back, Yuri doesn't forget to secretly bring a sylph to accompany him.

―――To sum up, on that day, Gothos challenged the Labyrinth alone twelve times, and twelve times he was killed by demons. It seems that he repeatedly experienced being ‘killed’ by demons.

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Of course, his life was protected by the【 Life-Saving Wards 】. But even so, the life-saving warding will not take away the pain and fear you experience at the moment of death.

“…Brilliant.”

The next day, Yuri received a report from Sylph, who had returned, and she’s quietly amazed.

She hadn't expected him to be prepared to die so many times in double digits.

It seems that Ilorina is blessed with a good knight.

By the way, according to Sylph's report, the document that Yuri gave him was incinerated this morning by Gothos himself.

He seems to be a well-built man, personality-wise.