Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 170 - E-Rank Labyrinth – Endless Wilderness?

Chapter 170 – E-Rank Labyrinth – Endless Wilderness?

 

A vast wilderness stretched as far as the eye could see. The only thing visible was crimson soil radiating heat. Occasionally, there were also large piles of boulders and tall hills.

“This is the Northern Continent.”

As I took out my flight gear from my subspace and put it on, I gave a brief explanation of the area’s background.

“Huh? Isn’t the Northern Continent generally a cold region?”

Sylphren tilted his head as he released Bingbing, the Sturdy Long-tailed Tit, from its birdcage artifact. This speed-loving Fire Elf had absolutely no interest in anything unrelated to flying, so he knew nothing about what kind of labyrinth Endless Wilderness was.

“Isn’t it a continent where cool winds blow year-round, and you have to travel all the way south before it finally becomes pleasantly cool?”

“Ordinarily, yes.”

But this wilderness wasn’t merely warm. It was slightly hot. Even without the sun beating down intensely, the air was humid enough to make one want to wear far less clothing.

“So why is the temperature here different from the rest of the Northern Continent?”

Even by the standards of this world, where Mysteries existed, bizarre phenomena and incidents occasionally occurred.

When that happened, blaming Lord Lriria, who had once been the worst Evil God, was usually a safe bet.

“This is the work of the cultists who worship the Solitary Silent Watcher, Lord Lriria.”

Wriggle.

The snake tattoo raised its head proudly. Lord Lriria seemed to be reminiscing fondly about His glorious past.

“During the height of its power, the Church of Solitary Silence devoted itself to a sacred mission on Lord Lriria’s behalf. They indiscriminately burned every living creature alive, turning the world into a silent land inhabited only by the dead.”

[The Wise One mocks Him, saying that’s exactly why He fell from being a Chief God to a mere has-been! I’m laughing too. :)]

Crackle!

Both Evil Gods launched simultaneous ridicule. Though it wasn’t baseless slander, I pretended not to notice and continued.

“Long ago, this place was a snow-covered plain. By the era recreated in this labyrinth, however, both the air and the soil had become tainted with Lord Lriria’s presence. A blasphemous land.”

“Aside from the fact that it’s an Evil God’s power, I rather like this labyrinth.”

Sylphren chuckled as he climbed onto Bingbing’s back. Being born from the essence of fire, Fire Elves generally preferred hot climates like this. They liked them so much that many even created such environments themselves, which earned them a reputation second only to demons for bad stereotypes.

“A rather unpleasant place.”

Conscious of Sylphren’s lingering suspicion, Reficul deliberately softened His tone.

“To think the aura of the world’s most negative concept, an Evil God, fills this place. Most disagreeable. I’d like to purify it with explosives. A sacred purification through a holy explosion… Ah…”

The fake Celestial’s cheeks flushed slightly. Seeing that, Sylphren narrowed his eyes even further.

I casually stepped between them to block his line of sight before speaking again.

“In any case, since an Evil God’s power permeates the area, please avoid taking deep breaths whenever possible. And don’t touch the soil with your bare hands.”

“What happens if we do…?”

Brightfeather, still hugging his brightly colored oversized bow tightly to his chest, met my gaze.

“If your skin stays in contact with the soil for over five minutes, the overflowing life force left behind by Lord Lriria in His prime will cause your hands to grow larger and larger… until eventually… Boom!”

“Eek!”

Not long after I’d restored his motivation, Brightfeather hid behind his wings again.

“Still, you don’t need to worry.”

“…?”

“As I mentioned earlier, Endless Wilderness is only an E-Rank labyrinth. Sir Brightfeather. What does that mean?”

“If you study the information beforehand… it can be cleared easily…?”

“Exactly. As your reward, I’ll grant you the privilege of enjoying Karr’s refreshing smile whenever you wish.”

I bent down and touched the soil with my right hand.

“And so long as you don’t exceed five minutes, this red earth is actually an extremely convenient way to restore your vitality indefinitely.”

The only downside was the faint sensation of a snake wrapping its long body around one’s mind and body. Honestly, that was hardly worth mentioning. If anything, being healed while simultaneously enjoying a sense of foreboding could even be considered a benefit.

“…”

Watching the parrot Birdfolk cautiously peeking out from between his wings, Sylphren frowned slightly.

“Brightfeather. You read exploration newsletters all the time. But you don’t seem to know anything about this labyrinth.”

“I don’t… Even the name Endless Wilderness doesn’t sound familiar.”

“Really?”

“That’s perfectly normal.”

Bartimir suddenly spoke up.

“Do you think Pletica only has one or two labyrinths? Who in the world could remember every little detail about thousands of labyrinths?”

As he said that, my demon daughter used [Friends Forever!] to send me a telepathic message.

—Wait…! That person is standing right in front of me! I don’t remember all of them either.

Information about unstimulating labyrinths like Sky Village had long since faded from my memory.

It wasn’t as though I possessed perfect recall. How could anyone memorize every single labyrinth?

That said… Information regarding every labyrinth ranked B or above remained perfectly memorized.

“Now that you mention it, that makes sense. Besides, Brightfeather mostly knows labyrinths through newsletters. He rarely explores them himself, so naturally he wouldn’t recall information as quickly as experienced explorers.”

Sylphren readily accepted the explanation without becoming more suspicious.

Having finished putting on my flight gear, I turned toward everyone.

“Let’s head into the sky first.”

Using wings that already felt like natural parts of my body, I flew upward. The others followed.

When everyone possessed a means of flight, exploration became wonderfully comfortable.

“It’s enormous!”

Once we’d climbed fairly high, Reficul slowly flapped His wings while surveying the land below.

“No matter which direction one looks… There is nothing but the horizon. How peculiar.”

“Now that you mention it…”

Sylphren tapped the side of his goggles while examining the horizon.

“Was there ever a place this vast on the Northern Continent?”

He frowned.

“Huh. No matter how much I zoom in, all I see is wilderness.”

“Hoho! It grows stranger and stranger!”

“…Though honestly, I find you stranger. Are you really a Celestial?”

“Anyone can see that I am. Put aside your doubt. It is a negative emotion.”

While the fake Celestial and the speed addict were distracted with each other, the demon who cared only about labyrinths quietly approached me.

“Shouldn’t we tell them soon?”

A question only someone who knew this labyrinth’s gimmick would understand. I immediately shook my head.

“Not yet. If we explain beforehand, they won’t experience the true enjoyment of exploration.”

“True.”

“Until things actually happen, simply enjoy the truth quietly.”

“…?”

Brightfeather, who had overheard us, blinked blankly. I gave him a bright wink as though we’d been discussing nothing suspicious whatsoever.

For some reason, he flinched and hurried behind Sylphren’s back.

Then Reficul placed a hand atop my head.

“Captain Karr. Begin the exploration properly. Before I become so intoxicated with anticipation that I can no longer stand.”

“Understood.”

The exploration of Endless Wilderness wasn’t particularly complicated.

The first thing I did was ask Sylphren a favor.

“Would you mind flying quickly in any direction?”

“Oh? Literally any direction?”

“That’s right.”

“Works for me! Fweee!”

“Don’t worry about what happens afterward–”

Whoosh!

He flew off before I’d even finished speaking.

He had proposed this expedition to determine whether Brightfeather would be safe with us, yet the moment I gave him an excuse to do what he loved, he forgot all about evaluating us.

“U-Um…”

Left behind with a group of unfamiliar people, Brightfeather looked at us anxiously.

“…”

Bartimir and I approached the trembling parrot Birdfolk.

“At last, we’ve gotten rid of the nuisance. Hehehe…”

My demon daughter let out the laugh of a stereotypical villain.

“Eek…!”

Brightfeather shrank his neck and slowly backed away.

“Reficul, please hold him.”

“Very well. Sir Bartimir. Take away his bow.”

“Hehehehe!”

Reficul gently grabbed the parrot Birdfolk’s shoulders from behind as he awkwardly hovered in midair.

Bartimir first pretended he was about to snatch it roughly, then quietly removed the bow with gentle hands.

“Uwa… Waaah…”

Brightfeather looked ready to cry before squeezing his eyes shut.

Unfortunately, covering his vision wouldn’t save him from what was about to happen.

“Sir Brightfeather. Please prepare yourself.”

“Waaah… P-Please… spare me…”

A cold-hearted cultist paid no attention to his victim’s pleas. Ignoring his trembling voice, I proceeded to do something that had to be kept secret from his guardian.

“Here.”

I took a large bow out of my subspace and placed it into Brightfeather’s arms.

 

[Masterpiece — Solid Echo]

[Increases the power of all ranged attacks. The farther away the target is, the greater the shooting accuracy becomes.]

 

A masterpiece-grade weapon once wielded by the outlaw Orc Ranger who had ambushed our expedition in Cherry Cherry Hill. Its increased power and accuracy made it an excellent weapon.

There was just one problem. It carried a bit of baleful energy, which was why I had to give it to him behind his guardian’s back.

“…Huh?”

Feeling the unexpected weight, Brightfeather slowly opened his eyes.

He stared blankly at the bow for a long while, then finally spoke.

“What is this…?”

“A present. The weapon Sir Sylphren bought for you is excellent. But I think you’ll like this one as well.”

“Ah…!”

Brightfeather examined the bow carefully before looking at me hesitantly.

“It looks really nice. But…”

“But?”

“The colors are kind of…”

“…”

Even Fear of the Unfamiliar couldn’t suppress his overwhelming personal taste and sense of style.

I nodded in satisfaction. Had he simply accepted the gift while pretending to like something that wasn’t to his taste, I would’ve never taken someone so lacking in conviction into dangerous explorations.

“But… I can always change the colors myself…!”

Brightfeather transferred the cloth, paper decorations, and various ornaments from his old bow onto Solid Echo. The previously rugged weapon transformed into something undeniably unique.

It might divide opinions, but it was unquestionably the work of a fashion leader.

“Thank you so, so much…!”

Hugging the bow tightly, Brightfeather bowed deeply.

“Though…”

“Though?”

“Why did you create such a scary atmosphere before giving it to me?”

“Because this bow performs best when it’s received amidst an atmosphere of fear.”

“There are bows like that?”

“Of course. The world is vast, and there are countless strange Mysteries and artifacts. For example, I even possess a Mystery that makes me happier the more enemy attacks strike me.”

“Wooow!”

[What an innocent Birdfolk. It seems he’ll become a new target for your silly pranks, rivaling Marlin.]

Lately, Marlin had been growing increasingly accustomed to my antics, making her reactions rather lukewarm.

Already, I found myself looking forward to the days we’d spend exploring together as members of the same expedition.

“Captain Karr is producing positive emotions again.”

“I can’t actually see positive concepts. But just looking at his expression, I can tell.”

The two demons murmured from a short distance apart.

Just then…

“Fweeeeeeeee!”

Bingbing, the Sturdy Long-tailed Tit that had flown north earlier, returned.

…From the south.

“Huh…?”

Stopping beside me, Sylphren scratched his head.

“What’s going on? I flew perfectly straight the entire time…”

“That is the true nature of this labyrinth.”

An endless wilderness made up of the same repeating space. An infinite plain from which escape was impossible, no matter which direction one traveled.

“The objective of Endless Wilderness is very simple. Escape from this place.”

An E-Rank-worthy objective.

Had additional complicated gimmicks been interfering with exploration, its rank would have been higher. There weren’t any.

“And I already know how to escape.”

Its category was Puzzle, meaning there were several troublesome intermediary steps. But puzzle-type explorations became dramatically easier once one already knew the answer.

The funny part was that, for exactly that reason, the Labyrinth Management Bureau had also classified Endless Wilderness as merely E-Rank.

Though rankings didn’t really matter all that much.

“From the sound of it…”

Reficul folded His arms and looked at me.

“…this doesn’t seem like the type of labyrinth you usually enjoy, Captain Karr. And yet… positive emotions are overflowing from you. In fact, they’re becoming stronger. It seems you’re still hiding something.”

“As expected, I can’t hide anything from you, Sir Reficul.”

I slowly turned in place, surveying the wilderness.

[!! ↖↖↖ !!]

After roughly five turns, Truthy displayed a peculiar message.

Its meaning was simple. A powerful enemy had appeared.

BOOOOOOM—!!

A deafening roar echoed from far away. It sounded like thunder shaking heaven and earth.

“WAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Before my ringing ears had even recovered, laughter followed.

Then the owners of an overwhelming presence appeared.

“…Good grief.”

“So this was it!”

Sylphren sighed upon recognizing the laughing figure, while the Demon King clenched His fist excitedly.

Beyond the wilderness, where clouds of dust billowed like fog, stood savage humans more than twice the size of Targon… already much larger than an average adult orc… loosening up where they stood.

They were giants.

“In truth… the labyrinth we entered isn’t called Endless Wilderness.”

It was a C-Rank Labyrinth. Giant Hunting Grounds.

“Endless Wilderness is merely a labyrinth within that labyrinth. The giants used it as a prison where they confined members of other races before hunting them for amusement.”