Chapter 95: Return to the Labyrinth

I finished talking with Martha and headed towards Sara and the others.

“Everyone, I’m going to the Adventurer’s Guild and Silphy will come with me, so please stay here for a while. When I come back, we’ll probably head to the labyrinth, so make sure to prepare.”

“Can Bell go too?”

Bell floated over and tilted her head, looking puzzled. I had just told her to stay and take care of things. Was she asking if she could come with me to the labyrinth?

“You can come with me to the labyrinth. Right now, I’m going to the Adventurer’s Guild, so please stay here.”

“Bell can help too!”

…Hmm? Help?

“Hehe, Bell wants to help Yuta. She wants to be useful since she’s been staying home a lot lately,” Silphy explained, gently patting Bell’s head. Bell and the others have been incredibly helpful just by being here, but come to think of it, I haven’t asked them for help recently…

“Kyukyukyu,” “Turu wants to help too,” “Kukuku.”

“Oh my, Rain, Turu, and Tamamo want to help Yuta too. What will you do?”

Ah, this is really heartwarming. I feel like crying a bit. But I can’t take them to the Adventurer’s Guild, it wouldn’t be good for their education.

“Thank you, everyone. But this time, please stay and take care of things here. You can help me plenty in the labyrinth, so I’m counting on you.”

I stroked each of their heads with gratitude. I’m truly happy to have made a contract with these kids.

“Bell will do my best with magic,” “Kyuuuu,” “I’ll protect you,” “Kuuuu.”

Bell and the others raised their right hand, right fin, and right paw high in the air, promising to fulfill their duties. They seem so determined that I’m even worried about the monsters in the labyrinth.

“Yeah, I’m counting on you. Well then, I’m going to the Adventurer’s Guild, so please take care while I’m away.”

I left the inn and headed towards the Adventurer’s Guild. I had a good feeling about today, starting with a heartwarming moment in the morning. Well, my excitement might drop at the Adventurer’s Guild, so it’s probably just a normal day.

(Silphy, if there’s any information related to me at the Adventurer’s Guild, please let me know. Also, if there’s any discussion about the materials I supplied, please inform me.)

“I understand.”

As I entered the Adventurer’s Guild, at first, everything seemed normal, but gradually the attention shifted towards me, creating a stir. It seems I haven’t been forgotten.

“Everyone seems surprised that Yuta is still in the Labyrinth City. They probably thought he had long since escaped,” Silphy said.

…I see. I had returned to the Land of Death, so I hadn’t come to the Adventurer’s Guild at all. There’s no point in worrying about it, so let’s quickly choose a request.

I gazed at the board where requests were posted. There were hardly any adventurers checking the board. Perhaps it was a time when it wasn’t crowded?

There are many requests posted for the magical grass and versatile grass that I supplied to Marie. It seems that word has spread and adventurers have come to the guild with these requests. The Guild Master must be busy. My condolences…heh. My mood has improved even more, so let’s quickly choose a request.

Since Sara and the others are with me, I’ll choose a request that isn’t too difficult. As I checked the board, it seems that gathering medicinal herbs and securing Roughbird meat from the sixth floor, as well as obtaining Orc meat and gathering medicinal herbs in the sixteenth-floor forest, would be a safe bet. Gathering seems to be the basic task for adventurers, according to my knowledge from light novels.

There are also requests outside of the labyrinth, but I’m not very interested in escort requests since they would likely reject me. I’ll go for the steady approach rather than quickly completing the request by unloading the excessive Roughbird and Orc meat from my magic bag. Sara and the others need the experience and rank from completing requests, as they don’t have cheat-like abilities.

The requests I chose seem to be ongoing requests that the guild will buy when brought in. Hm? The necessary parts for Roughbirds and Orcs are listed.

Come to think of it, it seems that it’s essential to bring back the necessary parts and reduce the amount of baggage in order to make money. Do I have to dismantle them and bring them in? Let me ask.

“Elthina-san, hello. I have something I’d like to ask, is that alright?”

“…What is it?”

Yeah, she’s still as expressionless as ever. It’s a shame that the carnivorous vibe she had when we first met has completely disappeared.

“Is it not allowed to bring Roughbirds and Orcs as they are? The parts are specified, but are the other parts useless?”

“You can dismantle them at the Adventurer’s Guild for a fee. Parts that have a purpose can be bought, but considering the effort and labor, I don’t think it’s worth it. Also, let me tell you in advance, I don’t think you have a porter accompanying you.”

She does provide information when asked. It seems inefficient to bring Roughbirds and Orcs as they are without a magic bag. But since I have a magic bag, I can bring them as they are without needing a porter. Another thing I wanted to ask… I learned about medicinal herbs during the beginner’s training, but not about mushrooms.

“A porter isn’t necessary, so it’s fine. By the way, what kind of mushrooms are considered edible?”

“There’s a reference room over there, so please look it up yourself. And, are the children safe? Even if those kids wanted to be with you, it’s not acceptable to treat them as food, you know.”

There’s a reference room? I wish I had known about that convenient feature earlier. Come to think of it, she suddenly brought it up, and I was too preoccupied with being a Spirit Caster to think about it.

“I don’t intend to treat them as food, and the children are doing well. Well, I don’t plan on bringing them to the Adventurer’s Guild since I don’t know what might happen to them unless there’s something special.”

Doubtful emotions appeared in Elthina-san’s emotionless eyes. I knew it, she doesn’t trust me. Maybe she suspects that I’m treating the children poorly. It’s true that I had a dispute with the Guild Master, but other than that, I don’t think I caused any problems.

Leaving the counter behind, I headed towards the document room, focusing only on researching mushrooms. I wanted to investigate other things as well, but everyone was waiting for me. I’ll come back later, maybe at night.

“It seems like they’re desperately gathering information about someone who has surpassed the 50th floor, but they haven’t mentioned Yuta at all. And Carl is still spreading rumors about Yuta,” Silphy said.

They really don’t understand, do they? I wish they had at least some information. If things continue like this, I’ll have to resort to the somewhat embarrassing act of spreading information myself. It’s quite painful, you know.

And Carl is spreading rumors about me… Carl? Ah, the guy who caused trouble at the Adventurer’s Guild. I forgave him with all my money, but it’s cruel of him to spread rumors.

Well, even without rumors, my reputation was already terrible, so it doesn’t matter. If I get the chance, I’ll just give him a sarcastic comment and let it go. Thanks to Carl, I made a profit, after all.

(Oh, I see. Thanks. How is the Guild Master doing?)

“He seems to be out, as he wasn’t in the Adventurer’s Guild,” she replied.

(Well, there will be another opportunity then.)

She might find it right away if I ask her to search, but if I rely on her too much, I might become dependent on Silphy. It’s difficult to draw the line between when to ask for help and when not to.

“Well then, everyone, we’re going into the dungeon now, so stay on guard. Inside the cave, Sara and the others will defeat the enemies as we progress. Uri, Fuku-chan, and Mame-chan will help us find the staircase leading down. Bell and the others will be in charge of protecting Sara.”

As Bell and the others replied energetically, Sara asked a question anxiously.

“Master, there will be new monsters and a chance of getting lost… Are we going to be alright?”

“Ah, don’t worry. Even if we get lost, Silphy knows the dungeon layout, and Fuku-chan and the others can easily defeat the monsters. Don’t worry, communicate well with the spirits while progressing. Even if things get dangerous, Bell and the others will protect us, but we should still be careful ourselves.”

I confirmed that the three of them nodded in agreement and entered the dungeon. It was disheartening to be stopped again by the gatekeeper who had stopped me last time. Perhaps it was because I was accompanied by children, but they were even more persistent in their attempts to stop us compared to when I tried to enter solo.

I explained that we wouldn’t push ourselves too hard and that the children could handle the fights, and somehow managed to get permission to enter. Well, it’s only natural for them to try to stop beginners who are bringing children into the dungeon, so I guess it can’t be helped. But I hope they don’t tire me out before even entering the dungeon. I’ll have to endure it until we can enter without being stopped, which should happen after a few visits to the dungeon.

“Alright, do your best,” I said to Sara and the others.

After I encouraged them, the nodding children discussed amongst themselves and formed a formation. Marco took the lead, Kika in the middle, and Sara at the rear.

“Uri, I’ll rely on you to detect the presence of monsters. If we can defeat them, we will, but until we reach a fork in the path, continue moving forward as is. Sara and Kika, please create wind barriers for us and rely on us to deal with the surrounding monsters,” Marco instructed.

Following Marco’s instructions, the children cautiously moved forward, asking their respective spirits for assistance. After a short while, they reached a fork in the path.

I anxiously watched to see what they would do. It seemed like they left Uri behind to reinforce their defenses. Fukuchan and Mamechan were sent ahead for reconnaissance.

Stairs. Dead end. I had asked them to come back if they found a treasure chest. I doubted there would be any treasure chests on the first floor, but it was a good method, I thought.

Since the floating spirits couldn’t search the entire first floor at once, they took their time to thoroughly search and proceed with caution.

…After a while, Fukuchan returned.

“Fukuchan, if you found the stairs, go to the right. If it’s a dead end, go to the left. If it’s a treasure chest, don’t move,” I instructed.

Fukuchan moved over to Sara’s right hand.

“You found the stairs, huh? Kika, summon Mamechan and bring her back,” I said.

“Okay.”

Kika summoned Mamechan and brought her back. With Fukuchan guiding them, they proceeded cautiously together. It was well thought out, and I could watch them with peace of mind. If they keep it up, Sara and the others should be able to explore the dungeon safely.