Slaves.
Most of them were either prisoners of war or criminals.
Even among criminals, however, the severity of their offenses varied enormously.
A person driven by poverty to habitual theft was not the same as someone who lost their temper and murdered another person.
Where there were slaves, there were naturally slave traders.
Slave traders themselves could be divided into two categories.
First were the Imperial Slave Traders, who belonged to the state and took custody of prisoners of war and criminals.
In truth, they were little different from civil servants, and the purposes for which they handled slaves did not cross certain moral boundaries.
The slaves were generally put to work as serfs or used as soldiers.
The real problem was the Black-Market Slave Traders.
They might have called themselves merchants, but in reality, they were little more than criminals.
They used predatory loans, kidnapping, threats, and violence to turn ordinary people into slaves.
Then they branded their foreheads and sold them on the black market.
Those who purchased slaves through the black market had no moral standards to speak of.
Perhaps that was because no record of the purchase was ever left behind.
A noble like me normally had no reason to cross paths with such people.
Unless I was looking to buy from them, I would probably never even see their faces.
The same should have been true inside the labyrinth.
At least, it should have been....
An hour had passed since we crossed the plaza.
Nobles were generally arrogant by nature, but status and wealth meant nothing inside the labyrinth.
The moment one entered this place, only ‘strength’ mattered.
Because of that, while we had not exactly become close, we had at least started talking to one another comfortably enough.
“I never imagined you were from the North, Sir Allen! Is it truly as cold as the Empire, just as the rumors say?”
“We walk around without coats, so I suppose it’s all relative. You people from the central region would probably find it cold, while people from the South would feel like they were freezing to death.”
“True, I suppose that makes sense! For the record, I’m from the South!”
“Really? Somehow, I had a feeling.”
“What? How did you know I was from the South?”
The burly, shaved-headed man thrust his face toward mine to an uncomfortable degree.
As I subtly leaned my head back, the man with glasses began teasing him.
“Rivalt. The reason Sir Allen guessed correctly is obvious.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Are all Southerners not like you? I mean that they are loud.”
“W-What? Then where are you from?”
The shaved-headed man demanded indignantly.
The man with glasses pushed his glasses up with his index finger.
“I already told you, did I not? I am from the West.”
“Then are all Westerners that short?”
“…You are simply too tall. I am average.”
“You’re about the same height as Lady Claire. Are you truly average?”
The two started bickering.
This had already happened several times, so I ignored them.
Then the blond man behind me spoke.
“Commoner, is that true? You are from the North?”
“Call me Allen.”
“Very well, commoner.”
This bastard had been calling me ‘commoner’ nonstop.
Had the fact that I talked to Claire a little really bothered him that much?
He certainly lived up to the image of a noble.
Fine.
I was broad-minded enough to let it go.
So I kindly reminded him again.
“Didn’t you hear me earlier? There are no ranks inside the labyrinth.”
“You expect me to obey a rule invented by commoners? Be grateful that I have even permitted you to speak casually to me.”
“So what does it matter that I’m from the North?”
The blond man curled his lips into a smile and asked again.
“If you are from the North, then you must know about the eldest son of the Kalsburg family.”
“You mean Allen Kalsburg?”
“Yes. I heard rumors that he is a worthless weakling who cannot even use mana... Is that true?”
Oh, that rumor?
His information seemed rather outdated.
It had been quite some time since I became the heir.
“Curious? You want to know whether Allen Kalsburg really is some pathetic piece of trash who can’t even use mana?”
“…I did not go quite that far.”
“If you’re curious, I’ll tell you. Allen Kalsburg defeated Gilbert Kalsburg in the succession duel two months ago.”
“…Is that really true?!”
For some reason, Claire shouted the question.
What?
Was it really that shocking?
“Do you know him?”
“N-No. It isn’t that, but... Lord Gilbert Kalsburg is famous even among Knight Trainees. They say he is a prodigy who awakened a Skill before the age of twenty.”
Good grief.
That was enough to qualify as a prodigy?
People in this world were far too generous when it came to talent.
“That is incredible... To think he defeated Lord Gilbert. Does that mean Lord Allen awakened a Skill as well?”
“No, not that. There are rumors that he’s a Mage.”
“Ha! Now that is truly absurd. How could a mere Mage defeat a Swordsman in a duel? So it was nothing but a false rumor.”
“…It certainly is difficult to believe. Of course, I do not mean to disparage Mages, but if it was a duel, then it must have involved close combat... Do you happen to know how the duel unfolded?”
How was I supposed to explain that myself?
I could hardly tell them it had turned into a fistfight.
“No. I don’t know the details.”
When I brushed it aside, the blond man snorted.
“Ha. Ridiculous. You go around repeating rumors without even knowing whether they are true? You would do well to watch your mouth when speaking about nobles. Unless you want to lose an arm.”
“What? What the hell have you been running your mouth about this whole—”
WHOOSH!
I stopped speaking without realizing it.
Noble blood meant superior blood.
I was the first to notice the sound that none of the others had heard.
The game had been recreated so faithfully that even the sound of an arrow in flight was exactly the same.
The moment I recognized it, I drew mana from my heart.
『Duck!』
[1 Soul Power is consumed to record the Word.]
The human body moved through a combination of flesh and will.
Even if their bodies belonged only to trainees, their wills were not those of ordinary people.
Because of that, I could not force every one of them to move.
THUNK!
An arrow as thick as a man’s forearm pierced straight through the abdomen of the man with glasses.
The shaft bobbed up and down with his torso as its pivot.
“Urgh...!”
He groaned in unbearable pain.
Bright red blood seeped through the gaps in his rattling armor.
The others lay sprawled on the ground, staring blankly at him.
I immediately gave them a firm warning.
“Raise your heads. We’re running in the opposite direction from where the arrows came from. Right now.”
The arrows had been aimed at the three of them other than Claire and me.
Considering their power was enough to pierce metal, along with the lack of any follow-up attack, the attackers were probably all Crossbowmen.
“W-What is this…?!”
The shaved-headed man stumbled backward in confusion.
Ignoring him, I spoke again.
“If you don’t want to die, you’d better follow me immediately.”
“Hey, commoner. Are we not going to fight back?”
The blond man asked with a faint tremor in his eyes.
It was not that I had never considered fighting back.
But I knew nothing about the enemy’s numbers or abilities.
The torches in the maze were spaced far apart as well, so I could not even see them.
And judging by how they moved, this was clearly not their first time doing this.
‘I can’t hear their footsteps.’
They were not recklessly chasing after us.
They were hiding themselves in the darkness.
Even if we approached them, we would probably end up doing nothing but blocking arrows while they widened the distance again.
For now, we needed to hide ourselves in the darkness too.
“If we can avoid the fight, we avoid it.”
There was nothing to gain from fighting them.
Besides, they had apparently decided they were capable of hunting us.
There had to be a reason for that confidence.
“What about Sir Benedict?!”
Claire asked frantically beside the slumped man with glasses.
“We leave him here. With a wound like that, he has no chance.”
The arrow had narrowly missed his heart, but that was all.
At this rate, he would soon die from blood loss.
Treating a wound like that would require at least a Mid-Grade Potion.
There was no chance these people possessed such an expensive consumable when even I did not have one.
“Chase them... The woman and the Mage must be captured alive….”
A man’s quiet voice echoed from behind us.
It was an emotionless voice, like someone giving orders to hunting dogs.
Apparently, shaking them off would not be easy.
‘They know I’m a Mage?’
I wondered how they had figured that out.
But this was not the time to think about it.
I immediately began running.
The footsteps pursuing us approached at neither a faster nor slower pace.
They simply matched our speed.
‘Their targets are Claire and me….’
The three of them, including Claire, were running behind me.
Their physical abilities were probably a level above mine, but their heavy armor kept our speeds roughly equal.
Claire was even carrying Benedict on her back.
Her foolishness made me want to curse.
‘Damn it….’
Do whatever you want.
We were only a hastily assembled party anyway.
If things went wrong, everyone would have to fend for themselves.
“Claire. Do you have any enemies?”
I asked in an attempt to identify our attackers.
“No. None that come to mind.”
Damn it.
Then what was this?
They did not seem like Adventurers.
The man had given orders like a commander, and there was no way an ordinary party would consist of three Crossbowmen.
WHOOSH!
It seemed they had finished reloading their crossbows.
The others prepared to stop and draw their swords to cut down the incoming bolts.
Before they could halt, I spoke first.
『Wind Scythe』
[1 Soul Power is consumed to record the Word.]
The Windstorm School.
Scythes formed from sharpened wind appeared in the air.
I aimed all four floating blades.
They spun as they flew toward the incoming arrows.
SLICE!
Three of the scythes collided with the arrows and destroyed each other.
The remaining blade vanished into the darkness.
A moment later, I heard the sound of something being cut, followed by a strangled grunt.
Then something heavy hit the ground.
It seemed I had struck one of them.
“Careful! That’s wind magic!”
“What the hell are you talking about?! He didn’t have time to chant!”
Damn it.
I needed to conserve as much mana as possible.
With an unexpected situation like this, there was no telling what might happen next.
“Um... Sir Allen. Was that magic just now? I was taught that magic is powerful, but requires a long incantation….”
The shaved-headed man asked while running, yet his breathing had not even grown rough.
The blond man and Claire had also turned their heads toward me.
They were probably confused because what they had witnessed contradicted everything they had been taught.
Even so, this was ridiculous.
Was that really what mattered right now?
‘I’m going insane.’
And now things had gone from bad to worse.
The Brickman we had seen earlier was blocking the path ahead.
I was just about to shout to Claire when—
“Sir Rivalt. Please take Sir Benedict.”
She handed Benedict over to the shaved-headed man.
Then she swiftly drew her sword and struck the walls several times as she smashed through the Brickman.
BOOM!
Fragments of brick scattered in every direction.
As we passed through them, I quickly pulled the ‘Thief’s Compass’ from inside my clothes.
The hour hand was off by a slight margin, but it pointed almost directly east.
If we went only a little farther, we should be able to hide inside the refuge.
Until then, we needed to widen the distance as much as possible.
‘We’ll get inside first and think afterward.’
This was not simply about escaping.
There was something more urgent I needed to do.
Something I had to confirm.
Several details had been bothering me for a while.
‘Something feels wrong.’
Why were they chasing us?
Why had they targeted a four-person party with three Warriors instead of someone alone or in a pair?
Why had they appeared from a dead end with no path beyond it?
Why had they known in advance that I was a Mage?
“…….”
It was still too early to be certain.
Everything could simply be a coincidence.
But if the seed of suspicion in my mind turned out to be correct—
If this entire situation had been deliberately arranged—
“Phew.”
I would make damn sure they regretted it.