Ellie requested Lydia to teach me.
Lydia, a veteran adventurer with a reputation, surely wouldn’t have done it for free.
I didn’t know the exact amount, but it must have been quite significant.
To receive such a favor, one I’ve never experienced even in my past life, was both good and bad in this barbaric age.
My heart fluttered, and an absurd smile crept onto my face.
“Haah, hehehe…”
“Eww.”
For some reason, Lydia frowned as if she had seen something she shouldn’t, but that wasn’t important right now.
I had to do something about this overflowing motivation.
“Lydia! Let’s go quickly! I feel like I could slaughter all the monsters on the first floor right now!”
“Calm down. There’s no way you could do that without a weapon.”
“I can do it! I can!”
“…It’s because you’re Jonah that it’s not possible.”
With a long sigh, Lydia pressed down on my bouncing shoulder.
Her slender fingers—but the intense muscle strength that held my body to the ground brought me back to my senses.
“You’re weak, Jonah. Bold and quick, but other than that, it’s hopeless.”
“Ugh…”
To directly mention a problem I was already aware of was painful, but it was true.
The Pan Continent is a world where anyone, man or woman, can grow strong thanks to the existence of labyrinths.
But children are the exception. This is the same as on Earth.
Their bodies haven’t fully developed, and their mana or aura hasn’t awakened yet, or even if it has, it’s weak in both quantity and quality.
The clergy aren’t much different. Unless they’re special cases like saints, most believers turn their long years of faith into divine power.
In this realm, experience is far more crucial than gender in professions.
That’s why children are weak. Weak, but… I possess a 3-star skill pulled from the gacha.
It’s a pickpocketing skill, so it won’t directly help in combat, but it’s true that I gained a level of agility and flexibility that can’t be ignored.
However, that alone felt insufficient. Lydia patted my shoulder and spoke.
“It’s okay. We can make up for your lacking specs with something else.”
“With elixirs or something?”
“…That’s expensive. The effect is sure, but it’s inefficient for the price. What I meant was weapons.”
Saying that, Lydia took out a small dagger from her belt.
“I’ll lend it to you.”
“What’s this…?”
“My spare weapon.”
I examined the dagger handed to me by Lydia. It had a heavier weight than I expected. A size suitable for my arm length.
An unknown script was engraved in the center of the silver blade, and the edges looked sharp enough to send a slight chill down my spine.
“It seems like it would be expensive if you sold it.”
“…I said I’m lending it to you, didn’t I?”
I shifted my gaze slightly away from Lydia, whose intimidating expression was more frightening than the dagger.
“By the way, is it really okay for you to lend something like this? It looks valuable.”
“Yeah. It’s nothing.”
“…You call this kind of weapon nothing?”
Lydia beamed at my stuttering.
“I’m a successful adventurer.”
“Uh, sure.”
“I have a lot of money.”
“……!”
Indeed. For me, it was an expensive item, but for Lydia, it was just an average usable item.
“Oh? The last time I saw Lydia’s wallet, it didn’t look that abundant.”
“I bought new equipment.”
Of course. High-ranking adventurers earn lots of money but also spend a lot.
If one intends to stay at that level, that’s fine, but to rise to higher heights, one needs better equipment, not to mention skill.
As I nodded in agreement, Lydia took out a scabbard from her belt and attached it to my waist.
Her movements were strangely cautious—almost as if she was trying to avoid touching me.
As if attempting to communicate, “I’m not dangerous; I’m a harmless woman.”
“You don’t have to worry that much…”
“Jonah. You’re in that kind of relationship with Ellie-senpai, right?”
“Haah… I wish that were the case.”
“?”
With a puzzled tilt of her head, Lydia secured the scabbard for me. When she returned the dagger to its sheath, my waist felt considerably heavier.
That weight transformed into reassurance and confidence.
“Now that I have a weapon, let’s hurry up and go!”
“Yeah.”
Nodding briefly, Lydia and I hurried our steps.
*
Before long, we arrived at the center of Labyrinth City. It was the adventurer guild headquarters, unlike the blacksmith I had visited earlier.
“It’s always noisy here, isn’t it, Lydia?”
“Because there are so many people.”
Various races walked around, armed and proudly displaying their adventurer status, while stall vendors shouted to attract customers.
Some scowled at the chaotic atmosphere, but there were also those who seemed strangely out of place.
Probably outsiders who came to take on requests, I thought to myself as I discreetly grabbed Lydia’s fingertips.
“……”
Lydia flinched, surprised by my actions. Although I hadn’t done anything wrong, she began to fumble.
“I just wanted to keep you from getting lost in the crowd! Should I hold on to something else?”
“…This is a secret from Ellie-senpai.”
Saying this, Lydia offered me her pinky finger. Holding onto it, I followed her, feeling the gazes of those around us.
Shock. Derision. Envy. And gazes laced with lust.
Well, the last kind of lascivious looks were something I had grown accustomed to since being reincarnated into this body, so I could overlook those… but what about the others?
Looking around in confusion, I spotted a similar combination a short distance away.
A male archer, dressed poorly and clearly a newbie to the labyrinth, was being fondled by a seasoned female adventurer.
The man kept his head down, trembling slightly, seemingly quite embarrassed.
“Aha?”
I observed that while not everyone was so blatant, there were certainly mismatched parties.
Most of them featured women looking lewdly at the hapless male newbie, or vice versa, with men clinging to seemingly attractive adventurers.
There are some parties that train newbies in a healthy manner, but surprisingly, these were the least common case. Even then, they could only be seen if all members belonged to the same clan.
Clearly, it’s established that “bribes” exchange among adventurers, but I hadn’t anticipated that such kinds of transactions were openly taking place.
Now, I could understand why that guy wanted to use me as a porter.
It wasn’t that she was strange; it was just that this kind of deal had always been happening in the open.
Thanks to this, I could finally understand how my earlier actions must have looked.
It probably seemed like a brash kid trying to butter up a woman to get something. The shock must have been greater since the target was none other than Lydia.
Ignoring the staring eyes glancing our way, I tightened my grip on Lydia’s pinky.
“Lydia. Lydia.”
“What?”
“Are you planning to do something I can’t tell Ellie about?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then walk a little more confidently. Don’t make a face that looks like you have something to hide.”
“Ugh…”
Lydia pondered for a moment before nodding her head. Good. This would ease my discomfort.
Feeling pleased that everything was handled well, I shrugged.
“Well! I still think I’m not in a relationship with Ellie, so I don’t see the point in worrying so much!”
“……”
At my words, Lydia frowned as if she were dealing with a heinous villain.
Why? Why was she looking at me like that? Nothing has happened yet, so we aren’t in a relationship! If she wanted, Ellie should have pounced on me!
With indignation, I snorted as we turned a few more corners. Just then, a large gray slab revealed itself beyond the adventurer guild’s building.
At a glance, it resembled a tombstone, and it was covered in an unknown script.
A language that could only be read by those who had become divine. The Divine Script.
Of course, I couldn’t read Divine Script either… I knew what it contained, though.
That’s something I created, so I’ve memorized it word for word.
“This is…”
“Yes. The entrance to the labyrinth.”
It wasn’t the first time I saw it, but each time I did, it felt magical. It was as if someone had perfectly replicated what was in my head.
By the way, this wide square where the entrance is located is called Pangrave Square.
Originally, the labyrinth was pure chaos. However, if you pass through the door said to be created by the Goddess of Love, you can enter a labyrinth where the balance patch is already complete.
Unless you want to be thrown into an unknown place and face monsters far beyond your capability, you must enter through the main gate. That’s why it’s always crowded.
Although there were so many adventurers waiting to enter, our turn quickly approached because the lines moved swiftly.
In front of the slab, Lydia placed her hand on the rough surface and said,
“The method of use is simple.”
“Place your hand on the slab and think about wanting to go inside, right? You can also teleport to the maximum depth you’ve reached in one go.”
“…You know a lot.”
“I’m originally an aspiring adventurer. I just looked it up in advance.”
The basic setup was something I created, but how it’s utilized is determined by the people here.
So I was checking if anything had changed… but it seemed it would be difficult to use this kind of object in another way. There were no special precautions.
Instead, I had heard rumors about someone researching something called a teleport gate that would replicate similar processes with magic.
So far, it had all failed, but… well, someday they might succeed. It’s very fantasy-like.
I chuckled as I placed one hand on the slab myself.
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah.”
The chance to directly experience the labyrinth setting I had thought so hard about in my past life was finally here.
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