Ellie requested Lydia to teach me.
Lydia, known as a veteran adventurer to have a nickname attached. Naturally, she wouldn’t have accepted it for free.
While I don’t know the exact amount, it must have been significant.
In an era both barbaric in a good and bad sense, to receive a favor I’ve never experienced even in my previous life.
A tingling sensation in the depths of my heart, with a silly smile leaking from the corners of my mouth.
“Heh, heheheh…”
“Eugh.”
For some reason, Lydia frowned as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have, but that’s not what’s important right now.
I had to do something about this rising enthusiasm.
“Lydia-nim! Let’s go quickly! I feel like I could slaughter every monster on the 1st floor without leaving a single one behind!”
“Calm down. It’s impossible to do that without a weapon.”
“I can do it! If it’s me!”
“…Because it’s you, it’s not possible.”
Lydia sighed deeply and pressed down on my jumping shoulders.
Delicate fingers. But the strong grip that pinned my body to the ground brought me back to my senses.
“Yona is weak. Bold and quick, but desperate in every other aspect.”
“Kuh…”
To directly mention the problems I was already aware of. It hurts because it’s true.
The Pan continent allows anyone, men or women, to become strong thanks to the existence of the labyrinth.
However, children are exceptions. This fact is no different from Earth.
Their bodies are underdeveloped, and even if their magical or aura powers have blossomed, their quantity and quality are feeble.
The clergy is not much different. Unless they are special cases like saints or holy women, most followers’ long-devoted faith becomes their divine power.
This profession values experience over something like gender.
Therefore, children are weak. But… I have a 3-star skill I obtained through gacha.
Though pickpocketing skills don’t directly help in combat, it’s true that I’ve gained a level of flexibility and agility that cannot be ignored.
But it seems that wasn’t enough. Lydia, patting my shoulder, said.
“It’s okay. We can supplement lacking specs with something else.”
“Like an elixir?”
“…That’s expensive. While effective, it’s not cost-effective compared to the price. I’m talking about a weapon.”
Saying so, Lydia took a small dagger from her belt.
“I’ll lend it to you.”
“This is…?”
“My spare weapon.”
I examined the dagger given by Lydia. Heavier than I thought. The size was appropriate for my arm length.
Engraved in the center of the shiny silver blade were unknown characters, and the edge on either side was slightly creepy.
“It looks like it would be expensive if sold.”
“…I said I’m lending it to you, didn’t I?”
Dodging Lydia’s sharp gaze even sharper than the dagger, I asked.
“Is it okay to lend me something like this? It looks nice.”
“Yeah. It’s nothing special.”
“…This weapon is nothing special?”
Lydia, seeing my flustered reaction, wore a proud smile.
“I’m a successful adventurer.”
“Yes, well.”
“I have a lot of money.”
“……!”
Indeed. What’s expensive to me might just be a reasonably useful item to Lydia.
“Huh? But Lydia-nim’s wallet I saw last time didn’t seem that abundant?”
“I bought new equipment.”
Indeed. Do high-level adventurers earn a lot only to spend just as much?
If you’re content with where you are, that’s fine, but to reach higher realms, better equipment is necessary, of course, assuming you have the skills.
Nodding my head, Lydia took out a scabbard from her belt and fastened it around my waist.
Her movements were oddly careful, trying as much as possible to avoid touching me.
As if to signal, I have no ulterior motives. I’m not a dangerous woman.
“There’s no need to worry so much…”
“Yona. You and Ellie senior are in that kind of relationship.”
“Ha… How nice would that be.”
“?”
While tilting her head, Lydia properly attached the scabbard. Returning the dagger to its sheath, the weight at my waist became reassuring, transforming into a sense of security and confidence.
“Now that I have a weapon, let’s go!”
“Yeah.”
With a short nod, I hastened my steps alongside Lydia.
***
We soon arrived at the center of the labyrinth city, not at the guild-affiliated blacksmith I had visited but at the location of the main Adventurers’ Guild.
“This place is always noisy, Lydia-nim.”
“There are many people.”
Various races bustled about, flaunting their deadly arms, declaring themselves adventurers, while street vendors loudly solicited their wares.
Some, disliking the chaotic atmosphere, frowned…
But the oddly buoyant mood suggested they were from outside the labyrinth city. Perhaps they came to submit a request?
With that thought, I quietly grasped Lydia’s fingertip.
“…….”
Surprised, Lydia turned to look at me. Her reaction was more intense than expected, and without doing anything wrong, I began to fumble.
“I-it’s crowded! I didn’t want us to get separated… Should I hold somewhere else?”
“…Keep this a secret from Ellie senior too.”
Saying so, Lydia offered me her pinky. Holding it and trudging along, I felt the gazes of those around us.
Shock. Mockery. Envy. And eyes filled with lust.
Well, the last kind of gaze, I’ve often received since being reincarnated into this body in a gender-reversed world, so I let it slide… But what about the rest?
Puzzled, I glanced around and found a similar duo not far away.
A poorly dressed male archer, obviously a labyrinth first-timer, and a veteran female adventurer who was groping his buttocks as they walked.
The man had his head down, trembling as if deeply ashamed.
“Ah?”
I then noticed that, though not as blatantly as that, there were several parties where the balance seemed off.
Like the party before, where the female side sinisterly eyed a male newbie, or vice versa, where the male side clung to a decent-looking adventurer. Most of them were like that.
There were indeed veteran adventurers genuinely nurturing newbies… Shockingly, these were the least common cases. Even then, it was only seen when the entire party belonged to the same clan.
I did include a setting where “requests” are commonly exchanged among adventurers, but I hadn’t anticipated it would apply in this manner.
Now I began to understand the guy who was groping around earlier, thinking he was weird.
It wasn’t him; such transactions were openly happening from the start.
Understanding why I appeared to have done something moments ago, it must have seemed like a young brat was already trying to sweet-talk a woman for some benefit, especially since that woman was none other than Lydia.
Ignoring the glances glancing this way, I tightened my grip on Lydia’s pinky.
“Lydia-nim. Lydia-nim.”
“Why.”
“Are you planning to do something to me that can’t be told to Ellie?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then walk more confidently. Don’t make a face as if you’re hiding something.”
“Uh…”
After a moment of contemplation, Lydia nodded her head. Good. This should alleviate some discomfort.
Feeling like the situation was well resolved, I shrugged my shoulders slightly.
“Well! I’m not in any relationship with Ellie yet, so I wonder if there’s a need to be so cautious!”
“…….”
At that, Lydia looked at me as if she was seeing the villain of the century.
Why, though? Why look at me like that? We really aren’t in any sort of relationship yet! If Ellie wanted, she should have made a move!
Fuming with a sense of injustice, we turned a few more corners. Then, beyond the building of the Adventurers’ Guild, a large grey stone slab came into view.
At first glance, it resembled a gravestone, and it was densely engraved with indecipherable characters.
The language only those with divine power could read and use, the Divine Script.
Naturally, I can’t read the Divine Script… though I know what it says.
After all, I’m the one who set it up in the first place, memorizing it entirely.
“Here is…”
“Yes. The entrance to the labyrinth.”
It wasn’t my first time seeing it, but it always felt amazing. Like someone had reproduced the contents of my mind exactly.
For reference, this wide plaza where the entrance is located is called the Pangrave Square.
Originally, the labyrinth was pure chaos. However, entering through that door created by the goddess of love leads to a balanced labyrinth.
Unless one wants to be thrown into an unknown location to face monsters far beyond their level and die, entering through the main gate is a must. Hence, this place is always crowded.
Although the line of adventurers wanting to enter the labyrinth was long, it moved quickly, and soon it was our turn.
Standing in front of the stone slab, Lydia placed her hand on its rough surface and said,
“The usage is simple.”
“Place your hand on the slab and wish to enter, right? You can teleport directly to the deepest level you’ve been to before.”
“…You know well?”
“I aspired to be an adventurer, after all. I just looked up things in advance.”
While I laid out the basic setting, how it developed and was utilized was up to the people here.
So, I checked if there were any changes… Perhaps it was difficult to use this remarkable artifact in another way. There didn’t seem to be any particular points to note.
However, I heard rumors that they were trying to replicate a similar function with magic through a teleportation gate.
So far, all attempts have failed… Well, maybe someday they’ll succeed? It’d be fitting for a fantasy.
Smiling, I too placed a hand on the stone slab.
“Shall we go?”
“Let’s.”
The labyrinth setting I pondered over so earnestly in my past life.
Now, the opportunity to experience it firsthand had arrived.
