"Mary is looking for employment, but it's proving hard to find an occupation for her."
Judging by the graceful way she handled herself, I was willing to bet Mary was nobility. It must've been difficult for a woman like her to take up such a strenuous physical profession. She must've had big career ambitions. I knew how that was. I'd been in the same boat, not so long ago.
"Mary has little more than the clothes on her back. She doesn't think she'll be able to afford housing much longer."
Man, does that ever hit close to home.
"We helped her look for ways to earn a living in the village, but sadly no one is in a position to hire her."
The pioneer village wasn't exactly swimming in money, so that made sense. I was a little worried about the villagers, since the attack hadn't been so long ago, but they must have been getting by as much as ever. There were no casualties on their side, and fortunately for Mary, they weren't the type to hold a grudge as far as I'd seen. Mary looked at me, eyes shining with hope. Well, I could see what he was driving at. The only people around here capable of paying an employee would be a manager of one of the Dark Lord's labyrinths or a peddler like Fez. Sure, some of the farmers around here might have needed a helping hand or two if you asked around, but the kind of pay they could afford to give her would have meant a long, long time working in the fields.
"Aoi, would you consider employing me to work in the labyrinth? I may be a woman, but I'm also a knight. I'm both strong and diligent. The only skills I know are armor piloting and swordsmanship, but I'll do anything if I can get work. I'll do chores. I'll serve you any way you ask."
Mary snapped to attention, placed her right hand to her heart, and bowed her head. Was this some sort of salute? I didn't know exactly what she was trying to say with the gesture, but I could at least tell that she was utterly sincere. Damn it! I was jobless a year ago. Talk about hitting me right in the feels.
"Sorry, don't mind me. Just need to check something. Execute Appraisal."
I used the voice command for the skill I'd gained when I became a labyrinth manager, and I checked out Mary's abilities.
Mariet Di Savillant
Vitality: 180/180 Stamina: 123/143 Willpower: 35/35
Skills:
The results displayed on a UI window hovering in the air, but unfortunately they were vague as always. Didn't really give me much information. Her stats were pretty high, though. Most of the villagers had stats in the double digits because of all the hard work they put in, but she even had two stats in the triple digits. It seemed she had two separate skill trees. I wondered what the distinction was. Maybe one for melee skills, and one for piloting skills? She was gifted, no doubt about that. Honestly, the biggest problem would've been if I hired her and then the only thing to do around Labyrinth #228 was menial chores.
"Are you sure you want to work for me? It wasn't personal, but I'm still the one who took you prisoner."
Sure, the humans had been the ones who'd invaded, but she wasn't some bandit, terrorizing the countryside for her own self-interest. She was a soldier under orders, and I'd been the one who not only prevented her from completing her mission, but also ended up getting her held for ransom. She had plenty of reasons to resent me.
"I can answer that easily enough."
Mary didn't so much as bat an eyelid at my pointed question, which was a relief.
"I did indeed lose to you, but defeat is a possibility I accept every time I go into battle. One must be ready both to win and to lose, and in the event that one loses, one must be prepared to follow the winner's commands. We humans were invading Daemon territory in the first place. Why would I resent you for protecting your countrymen and their homes?"
She spoke without hesitation, her eyes clear and confident. My assessment of Mary rose a notch. She'd delivered that statement as though it was simple common sense, but I would have been hard-pressed to find people who could view their situation so objectively if the same thing happened to them. It's all too natural to blame others for one's hardships. She could've easily pointed at me and demanded that I make amends as the source of her suffering.
What a pleasant surprise. People like Mary were precious and rare in games with PvP elements. I couldn't even count how many times I'd kicked some dumb player's ass in a duel he demanded, only for him to say, "You got me good, but I'll have my revenge," and then start harassing me constantly. They were practically a staple in MMORPGs. And if people were that inclined towards holding dumb grudges in games, how much worse must they be in real life, when they were facing real consequences?
"I'm sad we had to meet on a battlefield, but more than that, I'm glad we met at all."
A smile spread across my face. Now this was the kind of person I'd like to have as a rival.
"Frankly, it's a relief to finally meet you. The mayor told me about you, but I could only picture the crazed warrior who bested our Extended Knight Armor in combat. I was worried you'd be aggressive, but it seems I was mistaken. I'm overjoyed that the person I crossed swords with turned out to be worthy of respect."
I couldn't take my eyes off Mary's proud smile. She still held her hand over her heart as she spoke, as though swearing an oath.
"I'd just like to make one thing clear. Right now, I'm a prisoner, and I will work for my living. I accept that. But I am a knight, and when my debt is paid, I will return to protecting my people. When I do, I may again face you on the battlefield."
Her earnest gaze was too bright, too pure. In a corner of my mind, I wondered if this was some elaborate ploy to win me over, but I knew from the sincerity in her voice that she wasn't that kind of woman.
"So, yeah. Can you take care of her until she goes home?"
"Is this still acceptable for you, Aoi?"
"Yes. I understand how important one's home and people can be."
So, we would meet again as enemies one day. Well, not like there was much I could do about that. And of course, it was a situation I'd been in countless times before. Whether in fighting games, or strategy games, or anything with a competitive element, it was all too common for today's enemies to become tomorrow's friends, and vice versa.
I once played an aviation-themed MOBA called League of Aces, where each player took control of a fighter jet. Each team had four players, and four teams were randomly matched for each game. It got pretty hectic with 16 people out there. The random matchmaking meant that you could easily run into your guildmates---the same folks who taught you everything you knew about strategy and micro---on the opposing team, and your only option was to think of how best to beat each person's style. Though admittedly, most of the time when that happened to me, I'd just get my butt kicked.
It wasn't personal or anything. It was just that when you saw a team and you knew one of the players wasn't quite as strong, you had to stomp on that weak link in the chain for all you were worth. ...Come to think of it, I used to wonder why I'd always get focus fired whenever I ended up across from my buddies. At any rate, I was getting my hopes up that, if Mary had a change of heart during our time together, I could get my hands on a loyal, high-spec unit.
"You're an odd one, that's for sure. You brushed off my threat like it was nothing."
"Maybe this is weird, but to be honest, I'm not all that bothered by it because of, well, you. I'm a little self-conscious about admitting that, though, hahah."
"Oh, are you? Well, we can't have that, now can we, Boss? Hahahah!"
She gave me a grin and threw her arms up in the air. Apparently she liked to joke around, too.
"Would you all mind giving me a bit of time before making a final decision? If I do hire Mary to work in the labyrinth, she'd have to move on-site, so I need to consult with my family first."
"Sure thing."
This was a good opportunity for me, and I wanted to take it, but it would mean one more person around the house. I didn't think Ann would be against it even if I dec
ided without her, but I still wanted to consult her first. It was also true that there wasn't that much work to do. She'd probably end up doing odd jobs.
"Oh yes, we have to consider Ann's feelings as well."
The mayor nodded understandingly.
"I see, you need some time. Still, I would appreciate an answer as soon as possible, Aoi."
Mary looked uneasy. Her wallet must've been screaming.
"Regrettably, I must admit that I'm currently only eating by the good grace of Mister Hopper and the credit he extends me, and you see, the cold glare his wife gives me whenever she serves dinner is not exactly easy to bear."
Wow. A deadbeat knight. That was kind of sad.
"Her judgmental stare hurts the most whenever I request seconds. Her smile is always so gentle and kind, but those eyes as cold as ice, those eyes that look at me like I'm human garbage... They're simply too much!"
She shivered and shook her head.
"I'll try to give you an answer as soon as I can."
I had to look away, seeing this wonderful newfound rival reduced to such a sorry state. Particularly painful was the fact that, not so long ago, I'd been in a very similar situation. When I saw her, I could only see how narrowly I'd dodged that particular bullet myself. I bowed to both of them and left the mayor's house in a hurry.
◇
Ann was visiting a friend in town, so I met up with her and we headed back to the labyrinth together. That meant I got the opportunity to talk with her about Mary right away.
"There's someone I'd like to hire to work in the labyrinth. How would you feel about that?"
"Umm. Is it a man or a woman?"
"A woman. She looks a bit younger than Deneb."
Deneb also looked pretty young, but it was hard to tell with elves.
"Well, I'd like to meet her and talk with her first."
That made sense. Who would immediately agree to live with a stranger?
"You're too naïve and too kind for your own good! I have to make sure you're not being hoodwinked."
Ann squeezed my hand and nodded to herself. So she was worried about me? I had to admit, I was pretty ignorant about the world outside of the labyrinth, so I couldn't really argue.
"I see. Thanks for always taking such good care of me, Ann."
"Haha, leave it to me!"
Since we were outside the labyrinth, she was in her fluffy, cuddly kobold form. I stroked her hair, and she wagged her tail. I'd have to introduce them. Mary was such a sincere person, I was sure they'd hit it off great.
Chapter One
Just after breakfast the next day, a visitor came to call at the labyrinth. The sound of a wooden door creaking open---even though we didn't actually have a creaky wooden door---preceded Karumi's appearance. I sure hadn't been expecting my supervisor to drop in.
"Pardon me for bothering you so early in the morning, Kousaka-san, but this is urgent."
She was wearing a modern women's suit that looked completely out of place in Labyrinth #228, and her smile looked rather strained. I couldn't really judge her for wearing out-of-place clothing, though---I was wearing a suit myself.
That smile was making me nervous. The last time she'd given me a smile like that, she'd just realized that she'd forgotten to have me fill out some document before joining the company, and I almost didn't get paid my initial salary. Karumi was an incredibly capable woman most of the time, but even she had her airheaded moments. It was Karumi's carelessness that had gotten me thrown into a rough cabin in a forgotten patch of land called Labyrinth #228 with just the clothes on my back, leaving me in a three-month survival game.
"Is something the matter? Again?"
"Erm, yes. Again."
"Not again."
I hoped it wasn't as bad as the previous time, at least. She looked so clever and responsible, which made this dorky side of her rather cute. I would've been grinning if I wasn't the one who always ended up suffering because of it.
"Wait a minute. I'll get you some tea."
It probably looked like I was being hospitable, but the truth was I just wanted to calm my nerves with a nice cup of tea.
"Okay, sorry for the delay. Now, what happened?" Karumi and I sat down, each of us with a cup of herbal tea that Ann had prepared earlier, and she cut straight to the chase.
"In six months, Labyrinth #228 will be evaluated on its achievements for the past two decades."
Evaluation? What, like a company performance review? It wasn't like they were going around badgering labyrinths for results, right? If their goal was to make money, they'd have been better off just selling the land. Also, if this was going to be a twenty-year evaluation, would they really be looking at my labyrinth? It was still unfinished, and I hadn't even been there for half a year yet!
"Why is there an evaluation on the labyrinth in six months if it's not even completed?"
"The official records state that it is fully operational, with all facilities up and running."
Oh right, it was all coming back. That was the real reason I'd gotten thrown into such a tight spot in the first place. My labyrinth had been a victim of embezzlement. The previous manager had absconded with the budget, leaving behind nothing but a lousy cabin and a slip of paper claiming all the work was done. This wasn't good.
"But remember? The last guy did nothing but run off with all the funding that was supposed to get the labyrinth running."
"..."
The way she didn't respond to that was pretty ominous. Throw me a bone here, Karumi!
"I did think the budget was strangely flexible for this project."
"Is that so."
No point in pressing the issue, I decided.
"So, what are they going to expect from the labyrinth at this evaluation?"
"It differs from labyrinth to labyrinth. The main purpose of Labyrinth #228 is to attract people, so the key metrics are number of intruders, number of repelled intruders, and number of deaths inside the labyrinth. Those will be added up and weighted to give you a score."
So, I needed intruders. Hold up, but nobody could even get into or out of this place until I dug that staircase in the cliff, right?
"I don't know if I want to hear the answer, but how many of each of those do I have currently?"
"Zero, across the board."
Figured. For someone to stumble across this place, they'd probably have to be trying to get lost.
"How do the other labyrinths pass their performance evaluations?"
"Almost none of the labyrinths under my supervision ever have intruders."
Well, yes, full-fledged labyrinths weren't exactly popular hangout spots.
"So they don't get a lot of points that way. Instead, most of them try to earn points off of deaths inside the labyrinth."
"How do they get so many deaths, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Usually by breeding livestock and then slaughtering them for meat. Similarly, you can raise fish in ponds or lakes."
So ranching and farming fish counted towards labyrinth deaths? It kinda felt like they were gaming the system.
"A handful of managers have turned their labyrinths into hospitals and provide cheap medical care to nearby residents. Even a death of old age is still a death, and the lives of humans and Daemons are worth more points than livestock or fish, so they go more for quality over quantity."
Most people would go to the hospital if it was cheap, and certainly a lot of people did pass on from old age, as well as from illnesses and whatnot. But I wasn't sure I wanted to go to a hospital where they got points if I died.
"If we tried one of those methods for Labyrinth #228, would we get enough points in time?"
"No. Those are slow-and-steady methods, sufficient to pass the evaluation if you do them constantly for twenty years, but not enough to put up the numbers you need in half a year."
Yep, thought as much.
"And what will happen if I don't pass the evaluation?"
I was probably looking at a h
efty pay cut.
"Your labyrinth will be subjected to a detailed inspection. If one's facilities and personnel are up to snuff, they can certainly pass the inspection, but in your case..."
Facilities? I glanced over at the only building gracing the undeveloped natural landscape of Labyrinth #228, my lousy cabin. And personnel? There was just me and Ann. Hell, the shabby houses in Milt were more developed than this place.
Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 2 Page 3