Pain was the first thing I felt, even before I opened my eyes.
My muscles and nerves felt as though they were on fire.
Unable to suppress a groan, I opened my eyes.
Claire was looking down at me.
“Are you awake?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but no voice came out.
Only after clearing my throat for quite some time did I finally manage to speak.
“Haa… how long has it been?”
“You were unconscious for an entire day after I woke up.”
“…A day?”
I had assumed only a few hours had passed, but an entire day?
Damn it. No wonder my body felt completely stiff on top of all this pain.
Enduring the burning sensation throughout my body, I slowly tried to move.
Only with Claire’s support was I finally able to sit up.
GROWL.
Apparently, my body still needed fuel even when it felt like it was dying.
Or perhaps it needed food precisely because it was in such terrible condition.
A tremendous growl came from my stomach.
Driven by instinct, I began rummaging through my bag.
There should still be some jerky left somewhere in here….
“Young Master Allen. Please eat this, at least.”
Claire, who had been watching me, handed me something.
It was a palm-sized piece of bread shaped like an oversized piece of hardtack.
Rather than bread, it looked more like a brick.
Was this actually edible?
I had never seen it in the game.
“This… is food, right?”
“It is dried bread made by mixing almond flour with wheat flour. I brought it because it keeps for a long time.”
It did not look particularly appetizing, so I kept searching through my bag, but the jerky I wanted was nowhere to be found.
With no other choice, I accepted the brick-like bread.
I casually bit into it and nearly thought my teeth would break.
It tasted like chewing on a rag shaped like bread.
“…….”
When I stared silently at Claire, she seemed to misunderstand and hurriedly waved her hands.
“I am fine. I ate a filling meal earlier, so—”
At that moment, her stomach growled even louder than mine had.
The slight flush spreading across her face suggested she had not expected that.
I tore the bread roughly in half and offered her a piece.
“It’s fine. Why don’t we share it?”
“No. Knights also undergo training for food shortages in preparation for emergencies. I cannot take away from my master’s lifeline. I truly am fine.”
“Is that so?”
Well, if she insisted.
I did not offer again.
Besides, I had been feeling it for a while now.
My body was practically screaming at me to eat the bread in front of me.
I had gotten enough sleep, so now it demanded nutrients immediately.
CHEW. CHEW.
Neither the texture nor the flavor could be called pleasant, even as empty praise.
It could not compare to the jerky I had been eating throughout my time in the Labyrinth.
Even so, before I knew it, not a single crumb remained in my hand.
After I hurriedly finished eating, Claire asked,
“How is your condition?”
“Ah, I think it’s worse than I expected—”
I stopped mid-sentence.
Something….
Something was wrong.
“Young Master Allen? Is something the matter?”
“…Wait.”
An odd sensation made me examine every part of my body.
I tried to determine the source of the discomfort I was feeling.
But I found nothing unusual.
‘What is it?’
Then where was this unpleasant feeling and anxiety coming from?
Claire watched me with a puzzled expression.
If I could not tell by looking, I had no choice but to check something else.
I brought up the Word Magic ‘Ice Wall’ and attempted to draw up my mana.
“…….”
Nothing happened.
I tried to raise my mana again.
The result was the same.
I could not feel even the smallest trace of mana from my heart.
Only then was I certain.
This was a side effect of Blood Magic.
Being unconscious for an entire day and the excruciating pain throughout my body had only been the beginning.
Being unable to use mana was devastating for a Mage.
‘This… is practically unusable.’
The highest priority when fighting inside a Labyrinth was minimizing risk.
If I also considered the journey back, then the deeper I climbed, the more I needed to avoid using Blood Magic when it carried this kind of danger.
I would have to see how long it took for my mana to recover, but the side effects were far too severe.
In my current state, this mana-less body was weak enough that even a Slime posed a threat.
I had not had much choice, but I had still been too careless.
If Claire had not been here, would I have been able to leave the Labyrinth by myself?
After reflecting on that for a moment, I forced my stiff body upright.
Every joint creaked, but I could not afford to rest leisurely.
This safehouse could no longer be considered secure.
For all I knew, Marco might have passed information to someone else.
When I stood up, a body lying on the floor entered my sight.
‘Garbo.’
The cause of these damned aftereffects was right in front of me.
The Werewolf lay cold and dead with a fatal wound in his chest.
Even in death, his face still resembled that of a mindless beast.
‘First… I should at least take his body.’
He may have been a criminal, but he was still a member of the Werewolf clan.
If I explained the circumstances, they probably would not simply turn me away.
To transport the body, I immediately tried to channel mana into the Subspace Ring.
“Ah.”
Right.
I cannot use mana.
I did not particularly like the idea, but I had no choice.
I removed the ring from my finger and handed it to Claire.
“What is this?”
“A Subspace Ring. I want to put the spoils inside it, but my mana won’t respond at all right now. Can you channel some mana into it?”
“Mana…?”
Though puzzled, she immediately accepted the ring.
Following my instructions, Claire infused it with mana.
Soon, her gaze shifted toward empty space.
To me, there was nothing there at all.
Only the owner could perceive the actual interior of the Subspace.
“What… is this?”
“A storage space that can hold practically anything. Spatial Magic is enchanted into the ring.”
Claire stood there looking bewildered as I explained how to use it.
“As long as you keep supplying mana, you should be able to see another space inside the ring.”
“Yes. I can see it.”
“Slowly envelop Garbo’s body with that space. Once you do, his body should naturally be stored inside the Subspace.”
Claire manipulated the Subspace until it surrounded Garbo’s body.
Of course, from my perspective, it merely looked as though his corpse was disappearing.
Once it had completely vanished, Claire asked,
“This is remarkable. Can anything be placed inside?”
“Anything except something living.”
After securing Garbo’s body, we stored nearly everything else worth taking.
The dead nobles’ swords and armor, which looked unnecessarily expensive.
Items that fell somewhere between luxury goods and practical equipment usually fetched a decent price.
I had already spent all the money the Duchess had given me, so I needed to start saving again, one coin at a time.
“Put Marco’s body in there too. I have a use for it.”
“Yes.”
Claire glanced at the other three bodies.
“Are you not taking the others?”
“Of course not. What happened here stays here.”
Taking them would only mean returning their bodies to their families.
If Claire thought about it, she would understand.
There was no need to do that, and nothing about it would proceed smoothly.
“…Yes. Understood.”
Apparently, becoming a knight had not made her inflexible.
Now it was finally time to leave this miserable safehouse.
We passed through the corridor once again and headed toward the door.
RUMBLE.
Claire stepped forward and opened it.
At the same moment, two shadows appeared outside.
The silhouettes of Crossbows were visible in their hands.
Startled by the sound of the opening door, the Crossbowmen hesitantly revealed themselves.
“Uh… Lord Marco is….”
They seemed completely bewildered by the unexpected situation.
Such loyal servants.
They had waited an entire day for their master.
That passive obedience befitting slaves only hastened their end.
SWISH!
Claire’s sword moved swiftly.
The first Crossbowman fell before he could react.
The other Slave came to his senses and raised his Crossbow, but Claire’s sword was already moving into its second strike.
The fight ended almost immediately.
“Now then….”
I could no longer sense anyone else nearby.
Claire and I immediately began searching for the exit.
At last, it was time to leave this miserable Labyrinth.
***
The safehouse itself never moved from the outskirts.
That meant an exit should not be very far away.
As we walked, Marco’s final warning suddenly came to mind.
[You know…? They’ll come after you… A Mage who can use two schools of magic is rare….]
[They’re dangerous… Someone like you will be captured and killed before you know it… They’ll take what they want from your body… Ahaha….]
That damned bastard had caused trouble right up until the moment he died.
Still, his warning did not concern me as much as it might have.
They would almost certainly target me outside the Labyrinth rather than inside it.
Behertha might be dangerous, but they were not idiots.
If they learned who I really was, their investigation would eventually lead them to the Kalsburg Family.
As long as Theosis Kalsburg remained alive and well, they would not dare touch the family.
‘How ironic… the death flag itself is serving as my shield.’
My idle thoughts stopped as we continued along the path.
“Right here.”
“Yes.”
Even I would have struggled alone.
Without mana, I could not easily kill even a Slime, the weakest of Monsters.
SWISH!
Two Gnolls blocking the path fell before Claire.
Fortunately, having her take the lead put me at ease.
This was the first time her slender, unarmored back had ever looked so reassuring.
Claire had followed my directions without saying a word until now, but suddenly asked something completely unrelated.
“What kind of person is Allen Kalsburg, the eldest son of the Kalsburg Family?”
“Hm?”
Why was she asking that?
How was I supposed to explain myself?
From my current position, he was technically a noble lord, so I answered accordingly.
“Well… I suppose he’s someone worthy of respect as a noble.”
“Is that so? If you say so, Young Master Allen, then I am certain he must be an admirable person.”
“No, I wouldn’t go that far.”
After thinking for a moment, she spoke again.
“As you suggested earlier, once I leave the Labyrinth, I intend to take the Kalsburg Family’s Knight Examination.”
“Good choice. If you mention my name, you should at least pass the first stage.”
The problem was that the first stage itself was the troublesome part.
It was where they judged applicants purely from their personal information.
Calling it a document screening would not be inaccurate.
The difference here was that instead of university credentials, they cared about social status.
‘At least once word reaches me, she should be able to advance through the second stage on her own.’
It was simply a personal favor based on the ability I had witnessed.
But Claire shook her head.
“No. I appreciate the offer, but I must decline.”
“Why?”
“I will not use your name. It would only be fair if I passed through my own ability.”
“What if they reject you merely because you’re a commoner?”
“I will accept that as well. If I fail—”
Claire stopped speaking.
Then she looked directly at me.
“In that case, I would like to follow you and climb the Labyrinth.”
The Labyrinth?
Why all of a sudden?
“Didn’t you want to become a knight?”
She had graduated at the top of her class, so why would she willingly choose the harder path?
“A great deal has happened since I entered this place. My thoughts have changed somewhat. If the master to whom I devote my life and loyalty is someone I cannot respect, I would be ashamed of my own convictions. I would begin to doubt myself as a knight.”
“…….”
Apparently, what had happened here had affected her deeply.
She must have already known this from her time at the Knight Academy.
Most nobles were hardly admirable people.
“If Allen Kalsburg does not align with my convictions, would it be all right for me to seek you out instead, Young Master Allen?”
“…Do whatever you want.”
It was a simple question, but it made me think.
As a noble, was I someone Claire could truly swear loyalty to?
Perhaps the person being tested would not be her at all.
Perhaps it would be me.
‘If I fail….’
Well, that would not be so bad either.
I would get to climb the Labyrinth with her.
After another two hours of travel, we finally reached a staircase descending underground.
At the bottom of the dark stairs stood an exit shaped like a massive castle gate.
The principles of Spatial Magic were embedded in the exit as well.
Mysteriously, this single gate connected to dozens of entrances across the world.
The moment we opened it, each of us would return to the place where we had originally entered.
Claire would emerge near the Knight Academy in the capital.
I would return to the entrance near the Kalsburg territory in the North.
“Then I will see you in the North, Young Master Allen.”
“Yeah. See you soon.”
Our farewell was brief.
After all, we would meet again.
CREAK.
Then we opened the gate and stepped through.