by Tôwa
“Ms. Misaki… She’s the one who selected the Gambler job, correct? Her caseworker was originally one of my junior colleagues. Apparently, she desperately tried to write badger gamer as her job in the beginning. Quite unheard of for one so young.”
It was the right decision to let Misaki join the party. If she hadn’t met us, she most likely would have used her womanly wiles to make her way in the world. Having actually taken the time to speak with her, I’d learned that she was surprisingly innocent. She may look like a bit of a wild child, but deep down, Misaki was really quite earnest.
“Um… Mr. Atobe, are you…? Does a woman’s age particularly bother you?”
“Age? No, I can’t say I really care about that.”
“…Oh, good.”
“Hmm? Louisa, what did you just…?”
“I think I’ve found some motivation to work even harder,” she chirped, ignoring my question… Her smile just then was perhaps the prettiest I’d seen on her since we met. But I couldn’t just keep getting pulled off track like this.
I wondered if I could talk to her about the Hidden God we had found in the labyrinth. My license display showed we’d awakened ???, so I would likely need to explain that to Louisa. Well, I’d just start from the top and work my way down. Louisa should understand if I could explain everything clearly.
“Louisa, about where it says not evaluated…”
“Yes, I was quite surprised myself… It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that. It means that no person who achieved that particular result has ever returned to the Guild.”
“Is that what it means? …Is it Guild policy for information regarding the discovery of uncharted territory to belong to the Guild as well as the Seeker?”
“No, anything discussed in this room will remain between you and me. Any report I make to the higher-ups in the Guild is only done with the Seeker’s approval. The last thing the Guild wants is to ruin its relationship with excellent Seekers, so there is no policy that requires us to force information from a Seeker.”
I guess, in other words, the Guild pretty much let Seekers do what they wanted, which I could sort of understand. The higher-ups couldn’t coerce the Seekers to do something if they were actually weaker than the high-ranking Seekers. Still, my party was just getting started, so it wouldn’t have been impossible for them to make us cough up the details to follow some regulation.
So the reason they don’t…must be, more than anything, that they want to encourage Seekers to gain experience and get stronger. But still…
“…I know what you’re thinking,” said Louisa. “The current policy means the Guild will be unable to restrain the higher-ranking Seekers should they go out of control. Everyone has considered that possibility, which would lead to the disruption of order in the Labyrinth Country.”
“But that hasn’t happened. Does that mean every single high-ranked Seeker is hard-working and honest?”
“I wouldn’t quite go that far. However, the more gifted Seekers who scale the ranks tend to prioritize exploring the labyrinths over influencing others. One reason for that is…the Secret Gods. I never would have thought you might come by one at such an early stage but find one you did—and even received their protection.”
So Louisa did know about the Hidden Gods, but she didn’t know that one had been sleeping on a concealed floor in the Field of Dawn. She likely didn’t know the finer details surrounding the Hidden Gods, either. Her shock would make sense, assuming the Guild informed its employees about the gods’ existence and nothing more.
“Mr. Atobe, I will tell you everything I know. The Founder of the Labyrinth Country created the teleportation gates to the various ‘forgotten labyrinths’ within the city’s walls for seeking purposes. In other words, the country itself was established after the labyrinth entrances were gathered inside the city walls.”
“…Why gather the labyrinths? Doesn’t the fact that they were forgotten imply that they aren’t of any value?”
“That’s not the case. There are many mysteries regarding the labyrinths. Monsters and obstacles were put in place to prevent people discovering the treasures hidden deep within. Only the wisest and most powerful Seekers can unlock the secrets… However, there are many labyrinths where all those who have entered have died, and therefore, they’ve been abandoned. Even now, entrances to forgotten labyrinths are added under everyone’s nose. And that can be attributed to people who still travel outside the city walls to continue to uphold the Founder’s wishes, even though the Founder is no longer with us.”
While they left exploring the labyrinth to the Seekers entirely, they continued to gather entrances…calling on the souls of the dead from other worlds, reincarnating them, and forcing them to become Seekers to seek in the labyrinths. If this “Founder” was capable of all that, then they likely had power rivaling the Hidden Gods, maybe even more. They might not be around anymore, but they definitely existed in the early days of the Labyrinth Country.
“I’m only relaying the message I got when I became an employee of the Guild, not from personal experience… This is more like an explanation you might find in a textbook,” said Louisa.
“No, that’s perfectly fine. These Secret Gods seem to have become an object of worship within the Labyrinth Country. Can you tell me why that is?”
“Because they are entities that provide protection to the Seekers. I have also heard that there is a certain amount of hostility between the gods themselves… But thankfully, there have been no fights between Seekers in District Eight because there are so few Seekers who have received that protection.”
“In District Eight… Meaning there are fights in the higher districts between parties who have received protection from the Hidden Gods?”
“Unfortunately, yes. The Hidden Gods are deserving of our worship, but they are also sacred beings whose wrath you should not incur. In the event that two gods must fight, the Guild sanctions a location and intervenes if necessary. This is all to preserve the Labyrinth Country as it is.”
I could just about imagine how fierce the battles between Hidden Gods could get based on Louisa’s explanation. The country seemed to view the events as threats to the nation in the same way as accidents that might occur from someone attempting to open a treasure chest. Hopefully, we could avoid running into a god hostile to Ariadne, although I’d have to think of a way to prevent any actual combat from occurring if we did happen to encounter one.
“Now I understand that seeking out the gods is the greatest goal of a Seeker. Obviously, my abilities are limited, but I’ll take extra caution in order to prevent anything terrible happening to the Labyrinth Country,” I said.
“I’m grateful to hear you say that. I will do everything I can to gather more information on the topic from the Guild, as you request. The Guild receives a report whenever anyone who has a contract with a god is causing a disturbance, so I will be able to provide you with advance notice.”
She always works so hard to help me, I thought. I imagined her opinions would hold more weight in the Guild as her reputation increased as well.
“Louisa, as our caseworker, does it also work in your favor if we continue to produce good results?”
“Y-yes… A caseworker receives a promotion if a party leader they are assigned to advances to a higher district.”
“In that case, I’ll have to make sure we keep working hard. I want to make sure you never regret being assigned to our party. I have to repay you for everything you’ve done for me.”
“That makes me very happy to hear.” Louisa smiled, her cheeks tinged pink. The lighting made her red lips look so supple and alluring…but I couldn’t keep staring or my karma would go up.
“…I don’t think your karma will go up now,” she told me.
“Uh…?”
“N-never mind… It’s nothing. I’m getting too ahead of myself… I’ll exercise restraint tonight and just cook for myself at home. I’ll never be able to face your party if I don’
t.”
“Oh… Okay, I’ll invite you some other time. Anyway, about this not evaluated part…”
“I will write a report about this section and investigate. I imagine your contribution points will be incredibly high after that, so it’s likely you’ll be able to move to District Seven without taking the test. How does that sound?”
No way I could turn down a free pass. Still, I was curious what the test entailed. I might be interested anyway, as long as it wasn’t dangerous.
“I’m a little curious about what’s on the test. Am I not allowed to know the contents unless I take it?” I asked.
“The test involves entering one of the labyrinths in District Eight and retrieving specific items or defeating monsters. The specified labyrinth changes each time the test is given, so unfortunately, I cannot tell you the specifics ahead of time…”
“No, that’s all right. I’ll have to discuss it with the party, but I think we might actually take it.”
“Understood. Should you choose to take the test, it will be administered in two days. Please give me your final request to participate by the end of the day tomorrow.”
I was curious how many contribution points I’d get for the four unevaluated items, but I was more focused on District Seven, since we’d be moving up there soon.
The next thing I needed to do was to go drop the things we collected off at the Dissection Center. I decided to ask the Carriers to take the things we sent to our storage unit to the Dissection Center for us, then meet everyone at our usual gathering point: the square in front of the Guild.
Part II: Guard Dog
Once I finished my report to Louisa, I did my best to hold back my urge to see what new skills I could learn, instead deciding to wait until I got back home to take a good look. I didn’t know how much information about my skills would spread if someone happened to sneak a peek while I was using my license and saw my skill list. Plus, I was starving; I wanted to meet back up with everyone and grab a bite to eat—but I saw some trouble going down as soon as I walked out of the Guild.
Aren’t those…Falma’s kids and their silver hound…? Did they get caught up in some sort of trouble?
“Your dumb mutt ran into me on purpose. How’re you gonna make up for that?”
The speaker was a guy with shaved lines in his hair. He looked like the kind of thug you’d see covered in tattoos. Seemed he was trying to start something with the silver hound.
The huge dog with silvery fur was standing in front of the children, Eyck and Plum, and glaring back. No bystanders were trying to intervene and break things up—probably because the guy looked likely to blow up on anyone who did.
“Hey, hold up. I know these kids,” I called out.
“Huh? Well, ain’t that perfect. This stupid mutt got its damn hair on my leather shoes. You can pay for the damage… Three gold, and I’ll forget the whole thing,” he replied.
Did he target the kids to try and shake them down for money? What a lowlife.
He most likely decided the amount to demand when he saw me. Three gold wasn’t an astronomical fee, and I guessed he could only be level 2 or maybe even 3. But I was just a rearguard; my role was to support allies. Personally, I didn’t have much strength to speak of. I probably wouldn’t come out unscathed from a one-on-one fight with someone near my level. There was also the problem of accruing karma; I couldn’t imagine getting out of this without a fight.
“…Could I speak with the children for a moment?” I asked.
“Heh, you plannin’ on squeezing some cash from these kids, too? Makes no difference to me how I get paid, but I’m a busy man. Make it quick,” he replied.
I got the impression that your karma would go up if you made threats, but the man had played things well so that the silver hound had hit him first.
“Oh…! You came to our house that one time,” said Eyck.
“Cion didn’t run into anybody! That man was about to bump into Eyck, and Cion just—,” started Plum.
“Shut up, you little snot! My license shows your mutt attacked me!” shouted the man.
“Eep…!”
My conscience wouldn’t let me just walk away from an adult trying to pull a fast one on some children.
But if we fight here in the middle of the street, my karma’ll go up, and the guards will come and arrest me… How should I handle this?
Cion, the silver hound, remained alert and was still staring at the man. I imagined she was probably stronger in a fight than a low-level Seeker, considering she was used to being the children’s guard dog—that, and the fact she stood an impressive six feet tall.
“…Eyck, Plum. Think I could borrow Cion for a little bit?” I asked.
“Uh… L-lend? How do I…?” stammered Eyck.
“Um, o-okay… Eyck, look! The thing you got from Mommy!” said Plum as she reached into the back pocket of Eyck’s shorts and pulled out a license. Cion and I hid the kids from view as Eyck pulled up the party list.
♦Current Status♦
> CION was transferred to ARIHITO’s party
All right, that worked. I think we’re ready.
“…Hmm? What’re you mumblin’ about? Trying to get the dog to cover you? How pathetic,” said the man. He also seemed to be a reincarnate like me, but he’d done nothing but make me dislike him, so I couldn’t say I felt any kinship with him.
I needed to get him to come at us first… I wasn’t very good at being openly mean, but I tried to choose my words to provoke him.
“Cion’s done nothing wrong. Apologize to the kids, and I’ll let it slide this time.”
“You’re actin’ real high-and-mighty… I gave you a chance. Even if I attack that dog once, I won’t get any karma for it. You know what that means?”
“So you’re gonna hurt a dog? Even if the karma on your license doesn’t go up, you think the people who see that are just going to let it go?” I said.
“Karma decides everything. You can’t do nothin’ to me just standin’ there like an idiot!” The man pulled out a knife and went after Cion. Would karma even out if he tried to kill Cion, despite only being run into by him? As hard as it was to understand, he must’ve been planning to use Cion as an example to threaten us, since Cion was bound by karma and couldn’t defend herself.
I put Eyck and Plum behind me, trying to reassure them, since they were both trembling.
“Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be all right. Cion isn’t going to get hurt.”
♦Current Status♦
> ARIHITO activated DEFENSE SUPPORT 1 Target: CION
> JACK’s attack hit CION
No damage
“Huh?!”
I could hear a cry of surprise as the man’s knife bounced back before it touched Cion, who had stepped in front of me.
“I—I must be seeing things… It’s just a dog; it doesn’t have anyone in its party who can use support magic…,” said an onlooker.
“Maybe it’s not what it looks like?”
“Is that dog super strong?”
“Urgh… S-say whatever you want; this is all your fault!” shouted the man before shifting his attention to me.
But as soon as he tried to go around Cion and attack me, Cion reacted quickly and put herself between me and the man to cover me.
♦Current Status♦
> ARIHITO activated DEFENSE SUPPORT 1 Target: CION
> CION activated COVERING Target: ARIHITO
> JACK’s attack hit CION
No damage
> JACK’s karma increased
> CION’s karma decreased
“Agh… I didn’t do nothin’! He just jumped in front of me all of a sudden!” cried the man in a panic. Cion wasn’t hurt, but since she jumped in front of me, she ended up taking the man’s attack. Even with no damage, the man’s karma went up when he tried to attack…which meant that we could return a single attack. Cion slowly turned to stare at the man, who seemed to misinterpret the gaze as a threat and gripped his kn
ife tighter.
“—Get him, Cion!” I shouted.
♦Current Status♦
> CION activated TAIL COUNTER Hit JACK
Knockback
11 support damage
> JACK was knocked unconscious
“Gah?!”
It happened in the blink of an eye. Cion swung her large, fluffy tail at the speed of lightning, smacking the man right in the side of the head, the impact enough to send the man flying. The man landed headfirst with a crash in a garbage can on the side of the street and lay there immobile. That was finally enough to draw over some armored guards. The karma should’ve been evened out with that, but the guards mercilessly picked up the garbage can the man was in and carried it away.
“…Waaaahhh…!!” Plum came rushing toward me, wailing.
“I’m s-so glad…you guys are okay…” Eyck himself was doing everything he could to hold back his tears, delighted to see us unharmed.
“You were brave, Eyck,” I told him. “You’re a good big brother… You did great.”
“Gh…gah…waaaaaaahh!”
He must have been on the edge of breakdown, because the moment I patted his head, he burst into tears and wrapped his arms around my legs. No surprise, considering they were so young and had just been through something scary.
“…Geez, Atobe. You’re lucky that dog is strong. You shouldn’t be so reckless,” chided Igarashi. We usually met up nearby, so she must have heard the ruckus and come over. Sounded like she saw Cion and I fight together, too.
“She’s such a brave, strong dog. She helped me pluck up a bit of courage, too,” I replied. Cion was still monitoring the area as she tried to continue to protect us. I thought about all the people who’d just watched the situation unfold and hadn’t tried to step in and help, but in the end, them not getting involved meant that fewer people were hurt. The man named Jack just panicked, not knowing what to do—I guess scammers weren’t the most levelheaded bunch.
“Hic… You were so cool, big bro…”