To the Dead Labyrinth

We loaded the cargo onto the wagon.

Pelts apparently had no value in this town, so no one would bother stealing them.

I drew the curtain to hide the wagon's interior, just in case.

There was nothing valuable inside, and the wagon was hitched in a spot with clear sightlines. This would be fine.

According to Yohane-sama, anyone could be tempted to do wrong, so you should never create a situation where theft was even possible.

I understood what he meant.

When you're in a tough spot, your mind stops working and you find yourself on the verge of doing things you'd never normally do.

"Azu-sama, is this all right?"

"Yep. Let's head out."

I answered Orleans-chan and announced our departure to everyone.

Being addressed with -sama made me uneasy, but no matter how many times I told Orleans to stop, she wouldn't.

If it made her more comfortable, I'd given up on it.

Which ranked higher, slave or serf? I'd like to ask sometime.

Everyone nodded at my call.

A slave giving orders to her master felt strange, but this was a job entrusted to me out of trust.

I'd see it through. It was fine. I was needed.

The task was to cull the monsters around the town.

This quest didn't specify which types of monsters to target.

Apparently, reducing any monster population would cause other species to decline as well due to the ecosystem's balance.

When I'd exterminated Black Snakes by myself long ago, they'd overpopulated because another monster species had been reduced. It was a strange thing.

Back then, I'd ended up drenched in blood, crying, and making Yohane-sama come out to get me.

Thinking about it now, it was embarrassing. I definitely wouldn't cry anymore.

Monsters would come to attack people eventually regardless, but I wanted to finish this as quickly as possible.

I won't pretend I didn't also want to look cool doing it.

First, we walked the perimeter of the town and hunted any monsters we spotted.

When we found a pack of Wolf Monsters, I had Alexia-san handle them with magic.

Killing them with fire singed the carcasses a bit, but the materials wouldn't be ours anyway, so it didn't matter.

After taking down a fair number of monsters, we brought them to the town's storehouse.

The monster count was being tracked by both us and the townspeople.

When Horned Rabbits came at us from behind, Elza-san or I dealt with them.

When two lunged at us simultaneously, Orleans-chan nearly got hurt, but she nimbly dodged their horns.

Since protecting Yohane-sama was the top priority, our coverage of Orleans-chan ended up a little thin.

Given that they'd posted the quest, there were indeed a lot of monsters near the town.

We'd already hunted around twenty before even encountering a Bull Monster.

With nothing but a fence between them and monster-infested land, I could imagine how nerve-wracking it must be to work the fields out here.

About ten more and the quest would be technically complete.

The minimum was thirty, so we could always hunt more.

"Come to think of it…"

I stopped at the sound of Elza-san's voice.

It was a touch lower than usual.

She sometimes acted like an entirely different person…

"The hunter Edgar-san mentioned a dead labyrinth, didn't he? Why don't we check it out?"

"He said monsters were nesting in it. If we went there, that would probably finish the quest, but…"

Yohane-sama said this and looked up at the sky.

It was nearly midday.

We were progressing much faster than planned.

If going to the labyrinth would wrap things up, the timing might be perfect.

"What do you think, Azu?"

"Let's at least go take a look."

I answered immediately.

The Wolf Monsters had stopped showing up partway through, probably scared of us, and we could always retreat if it looked too dangerous.

Edgar-san had told us where the dead labyrinth was.

Northwest of town.

Right near where we were now.

Still, monsters living in a dead labyrinth that had stopped spawning them…

Did any place without human presence just end up being overrun by monsters?

The run-down village I'd lived in before being sold as a slave had always been gripped by fear of monsters, now that I thought about it.

I wondered if the money from selling me had been used for something like this, hiring monster exterminators.

"Something wrong, Azu-chan?"

"No. It's nothing."

I pushed the unpleasant thoughts out of my head.

The me of now wasn't the me from back then.

On the way, we finally encountered a Bull Monster.

It charged straight at Yohane-sama, but between Alexia-san's magic and my sword, we brought it down before it could reach him.

It seemed very weak to fire magic.

The power of her spells also seemed stronger than usual.

According to Alexia-san, she was doing nothing different from normal.

We left the carcass behind. We could collect it later.

We arrived at the labyrinth entrance, a small mound of earth overgrown with brush.

Compared to other labyrinths I'd experienced, something was definitely different about this one.

"Alexia-san, how does it look inside?"

"One moment, if you please."

Alexia-san pointed her battle-axe toward the entrance.

She was likely probing the interior with detection magic.

"There aren't that many monsters, actually. It shouldn't be very dangerous."

"All right. Let's go in. Oh, that's right."

I handed Orleans the mapping supplies.

"What's this?"

"You draw as we go so we don't get lost inside. Try giving it a shot."

"Understood."

Orleans nodded obediently and took the parchment and lead pencil.

She'd have a hard time with nothing to do, so this would be a good fit.

With Alexia-san's detection magic, we could find our way even if we got lost.

It was fine if she made mistakes.

The passage inside was surprisingly wide.

When Alexia-san lit it up with illumination magic, we could see moss and weeds growing throughout.

Not something you'd ever see in an active labyrinth. It really had gone dead.

We dispatched monsters we encountered along the way and pushed them aside.

Monster carcasses were left where they fell.

Occasionally there were side passages, but each one dead-ended after a short distance, opening into small chambers.

The rooms were empty.

At the back, in a large open hall, two Bull Monsters were grinding their overgrown tusks against each other.

The moment they noticed us, both charged in unison.

I stepped forward to fulfill my role as the vanguard.