NBAA Vol. 7 Chapter 6 Part 10
Early in the morning of the next day, Reito and his friends woke up before dawn, escaping from the city. They were allowed to ride in a merchant’s carriage headed for the Tower’s Great Labyrinth.
In the city of Gaila, some merchants regularly shuttled between the city and the Great Labyrinth, and they did business with adventurers who challenged the Great Labyrinth. They also offered rides to the Great Labyrinth in their horse-drawn carriages for a fee.
Along the way, the merchant also provided them with various information.
“So…are there that many people visiting the Great Labyrinth?”
“Yes, there are rare materials that can only be obtained in the Great Labyrinth, so there is no end to the number of adventurers. We are there to help them.”
Shizune snorted at the words of the old merchant who owned the carriage.
“You merchants say that so often, I heard that you sell your goods at a higher price than usual. I’ve heard that you guys sell products in the Great Labyrinth for nearly double the price they sell in town.”
“Hahaha!! This is harsh… but I also must earn money for my own living…”
“Well, business is good. I know that you guys get a decent price for the materials in the Great Labyrinth.”
The old man had been doing business with adventurers in the Great Labyrinth for more than forty years. He had received several invitations to join the business from large firms, but he had turned them down and continued to do business on his own.
Dain asked the old man with a look of disbelief.
“Hey, have you really been doing business in that town for a long time?”
“Yes, when I was young, I was offered a job at a famous firm several times, but I refused because I didn’t want to leave this town.”
“Why did you turn it down? Is it because you love your current job so much?”
“Fufufufu… Well, I guess that’s only half correct. Actually, even though I look like this, I used to be an adventurer. I had to retire because my leg was injured.”
The old man rolled up the right leg of his pants, revealing his wooden prosthetic leg. Apparently, when he was an adventurer, one of his legs was eaten by a monster in the Great Labyrinth, and he retired.
“When I was still in my thirties, I was quite famous as an A-rank adventurer, but I ended up retiring from my career as an adventurer due to this injury. However, I really want to see the legendary magic tool that is said to exist in the Great Labyrinth, and I have been waiting for an adventurer to discover it.”
“Legendary magic tool?”
“You mean the holy sword Excalibur? It is said to be the greatest holy sword in history, and it is said to exist in the deepest part of the Tower’s Great Labyrinth.… Do you really believe that it really exists?”
Shizune said with a surprised expression on his face. It was common knowledge among adventurers that Excalibur was the stuff of dreams.
She continued.
“Several hundred years after the adventurers who wanted to conquer the Tower’s Great Labyrinth first appeared, no one has yet confirmed the existence of the holy sword. In the first place, it is doubted whether the holy sword is really there. There are rumors that such a thing does not actually exist, or that even if it did, someone had already taken it away. Do you still believe that the holy sword is still in the Great Labyrinth?”
“Hohoho… half of me has given up on that. But it is also true that the other half of me is still hoping for it… Adventurers, I know this is a selfish request, but if you ever have the chance to challenge the Great Labyrinth and discover the holy sword, would you be so kind as to give me a glance before this old man dies? Unless I make that wish come true, I can’t die…”
“No, even if you say that…”
“I’ll pay you the reward. Even though I look like this, I’ve saved up a lot of money. Having continued to visit the Great Labyrinth for 40 years without missing a day, I have enough funds to purchase a small mansion. If you show me the holy sword, I will give you all my assets.”
While driving his horse, the old man turned around and looked at Reito and the others with calm but determined eyes, but after a moment, he smiled and spoke.
“…What? It’s just a joke, please don’t take it seriously.”
“W-What… were you kidding? I thought you were serious.”
“I am a little surprised, that I am.”
The friends started laughing as if the tension had been released.
Reito suddenly became curious about this old man and asked his name.
“…Grandpa, by the way, what’s your name?”
“Oh, I forgot to mention that. My name is Kai, just Kai.”
The old man, who said his name was Kai, smiled. For some reason, Reito thought he had seen this old man’s expression before, but he could not remember where.
“Oops, you can see it even as we speak. There it is, the Tower’s Great Labyrinth.”
“Oh…!”
“That’s the Tower’s Great Labyrinth… It’s amazing.”
“What is that… It’s bigger than the royal castle in the royal capital?”
“Is this the Great Labyrinth that we hear about!!”
“I can understand why you’re excited, but it’s a small space so please calm down.”
Reito and his team finally saw the building known as “Tower’s Great Labyrinth” in their field of vision.
As the name implies, the huge structure spread out in front of them was a tower, the size and height of which were beyond Reito and his team’s imagination. It was over 500 meters long, painted entirely in jet black, and adorned with a huge sword-shaped object at the top.
As the carriage approached the Tower’s Great Labyrinth, a crowd of people were gathered in front of the entrance door of the doorway that existed to the building. Most of them were adventurers, but many other merchants had come to do business with people visiting the Great Labyrinth, just like Kai, and there were also street vendors already in business.
After checking them out, Reito and the others got off the carriage and thanked Kai.
“Thank you very much for bringing us all the way here.”
“Take care of yourself, old man. Well, maybe I’ll have you carry me back home too.”
“That was helpful.”
“Say thanks.”
“Thank you, that I do.”
“No, no, I got paid for it, so don’t worry about it.”
After thanking Kai respectively, they tried to join the line that had formed in front of the huge entrance to the Grand Labyrinth.
At that moment, Kai seemed to remember something and called out to Reito, who was in the back.
“Oops, I forgot to mention one thing. Can I talk to you for a minute, brother?”
“Huh?”
“If you meet a skeleton in the Great Labyrinth, please don’t knock him down because he is surely not a bad boy. If you are kind to him, he will surely do you good. Please make sure you tell others about it.”
“…what?
“Then I’ll stay here… and take care.”
Reito was confused by Kai, who said something strange at the last minute, but he couldn’t ask for more details as the old merchant bowed his head and moved the carriage to prepare for business.
Reito, puzzled by the strange request, went to his friends…
◆◆◆
―This was the same time that Maria announced to the people in Adventure City that the Battle Festival would be postponed.
Her sister and Reito’s mother, “Aira,” was in great distress. Ever since she beat up the king a few years ago, she had been under the care of a certain kingdom aristocrat. She committed such a serious crime that she could not escape execution, even though she was the king’s ex-wife, but by the king’s arrangement, she was now under the care of “Baron Dandino,” who was highly trusted by the king.
“Phew…that child is safe.”
Aira was reading the letter in the room given to her. In the sender’s column was written: “From your beloved sister.”
Its content was detailed information about her own son. It described Reito’s activities during his visit to the Adventure City in as much detail as Maria could ascertain. It also stated that he had now grown up to be a fine adventurer of the Black Tiger, that he had worked with her to defeat the Rotten Dragon, and that he still adored his mother.
Aira could not help but shed tears at the fact that her beloved son wanted to see her.
“I never thought you would go out of your way to carry this letter here. Thank you, Bal-chan.”
“For goodness’ sake, don’t call me Bal-chan…Aira.”
Holding the letter in her arms, Aira thanked “Bal,” who was standing by the wall, her entire body covered by a black cloak, and Bal returned a wry smile in response.
She was here because she was the one who had given Maria’s letter to Aira. Bal took the risk of sneaking into the royal capital to deliver the letter to her.
“The security here is surprisingly lax. Even I, a retired adventurer, could easily sneak in here.”
“I didn’t expect Bal to come here… and I was surprised when I heard that Reito was also being taken care of by you.”
“Ahaha… I owe a lot to your son. No, really…”
Bal was able to reconcile with Maria largely because of Reito, and if she had not met him, she still would not have been able to bridge the gap between her and Maria. However, Aira, who was unaware of the circumstances of the temporary discord between Maria and Bal, tilted her head and looked puzzled.
“So, there’s something I’d like to ask you… are you sure you won’t go back with me, Aira? Reito wants to see you too.”
“I’d like to see him now too if I could…but I can’t leave here. No, it would be more accurate to say that I shouldn’t run away.”
“Why…?”
“I want to convince that person again. And I want him to accept Reito…although it may be a naive idea.”
Bal frowned at Aira’s statement.
Bal, like Maria, did not have a favorable impression of Reito’s father, King Baltros. Still, Aira was aware of the king’s affection toward her, and she intended to persuade him to accept Reito’s presence at least one more time.
“Aira… But, isn’t Reito free now? If Aira talks about Reito in a bad way, he might end up on the wanted list again.”
“That may be true, but… now that I think about it, I don’t think that person is the only one at fault.”
“Is it the queen?”
“Yeah…this country started going crazy after the current queen appeared.”
Aira, who was originally the king’s first queen, refers to the current queen as such. Bal has mixed feelings about this, but she didn’t say it out loud.
In any case, Bal thought that what Aira said was correct. True to her words, the kingdom began to change when the current queen was chosen as the king’s wife, and various incidents have occurred over the past few years.
At this point, only Reito and a few other people knew that the queen’s true identity was a top figure of the old empire. Both Bal and Aira also thought she was suspicious, but they never dreamed that the queen had anything to do with the old empire.
“Oops…it looks like the time has come for the soldiers to patrol. I’m going home now. I’ll be visiting again tomorrow, so I’ll tell you more about it then… Oh, if you want to write a letter to Reito, please prepare it by tomorrow.”
“Okay, I will. Thank you Bal-chan… take care of that boy for me.”
“What are you talking about now? …I’ll see you then.”
Bal smiled, opened the window of the room, and jumped outside. When Aira ran to the window, she was already out of sight.
After Bal was gone, Aira clutched the letter and decided.
“In order to see that person… I must regain my strength.”
To meet the king once more, Aira was currently in a difficult position. She would have to go to see the king “by force” if that were the case.
She decided to train for the first time in 15 years to regain the physical abilities she had when she was an adventurer—
~NBAA VOLUME 7 END~