I made steady progress through the Labyrinth, descending a gentle, spiraling slope until I reached the 7th Floor.
At the entrance to the floor, I held my Guild Card up to a massive crystal.
As is common in every Labyrinth, a large crystal is always situated at the entrance of each floor. These crystals function as Teleportation Devices, allowing an Explorer to travel instantly from their current location back to the crystal at the Labyrinth’s entrance.
In the old days, these were one-way trips; once you returned to the surface, you had to start all over again from the first floor if you wanted to go back in. However, the situation changed completely decades ago when the Guild developed the Guild Card. As long as your card has recorded a specific crystal, you can now teleport directly to that floor from the Labyrinth’s entrance.
Thanks to that innovation, the speed at which we can clear Labyrinths has increased exponentially. Apparently, Explorers used to spend nights on end camping inside during their expeditions, but nowadays, day trips are the standard.
Furthermore, the crystals possess a warding effect. Magic Beasts won’t venture within a twenty-meter radius of one, making the area a Safe Zone that serves as a resting spot or a temporary emergency shelter. They really are indispensable tools for any Explorer.
Since the sun was likely setting soon, I decided to call it a day.
I was just about to use my Guild Card to teleport out when a group of Explorers—a party, by the looks of it—came sprinting into the Safe Zone from deeper within the floor. They looked like they were fleeing for their lives, their faces uniformly pale. Judging by their equipment, they didn't strike me as a particularly high-level group.
"Damn it! Why did this have to happen?!" one of them barked, his voice thick with frustration and helplessness.
It seemed they had botched something, but as long as they were alive, they could try again. This failure would surely become a lesson for their future growth. ...Wait, who do I think I am, acting all high and mighty?
As I was mentally chiding myself, I overheard a conversation between the man who had shouted and the one with the best gear—likely the party leader.
"You can hate me all you want," the leader said. "But I can say with my head held high that my judgment wasn't wrong."
"Even so, how could you just abandon a girl who isn't even an adult yet?!"
"Look, just deal with it! No one expected that many Magic Beasts to show up! To me, you guys—the ones I’ve fought beside for years—are far more important than some girl I met for the first time today!"
From the sound of it, they had encountered an unexpected swarm of Magic Beasts and fled, leaving one of their members behind as a decoy.
Listening to his reasoning, I could actually understand the leader’s point of view. It wasn't exactly irrational to prioritize the lives of long-time companions over a total stranger. However, from a third-party perspective, what they had done was nothing short of despicable.
...Still, I shouldn't meddle in the affairs of another party.
Normally, I would have walked away, chalking it up to the girl's bad luck. But having just been discarded by my own party yesterday, I found myself unable to simply brush this off as someone else's problem.
Being thrown away by your comrades is a bitter pill to swallow. Even when I try to move on, the faces of my old Hero Party members occasionally flicker across my mind. Every time it happens, I’m forced to remember that I was deemed disposable.
In the girl's case, she was abandoned in a place teeming with Magic Beasts. If the entire party couldn't break through, then the girl left behind was almost certainly going to die.
I’m sure she understood the risks when she became an Explorer. She must have been prepared for the possibility of death. But I doubt she ever imagined she would die because her own allies left her to rot.
If it’s just the Magic Beasts on this floor, I can handle dozens of them without breaking a sweat. If I can still make it in time... I want to help.
"But still, I just can't—"
"I’ve heard enough of this garbage."
Watching the distraught Explorer about to snap at his leader again, I couldn't hold back any longer and interjected.
"...Who the hell are you?" the man asked. He looked stunned for a second, but his expression quickly twisted into one of pure irritation.
"I’ve been listening to your little drama. Are you some kind of toddler throwing a tantrum? You clearly don't agree with your leader's orders, so why are you standing here? You didn't stay to help the girl, yet you’re happy to run to safety and whine about it. People like you are the most pathetic of all."
"You... you talk a lot of crap for a stranger! There’s no way I could have saved her if I’d stayed behind alone!"
The man lunged at me, trying to grab my collar.
Before his hands could reach me, I seized his wrist. I placed my other hand against his neck, thumb pointing down, and pivoted to his side. Kicking his heel out from behind while sweeping my hand against his neck, I sent him flopping onto his back. It was a clean takedown.
I looked down at the Explorer sprawled on the ground and spoke coldly.
"If that’s the case, then shut up and stay there."
The air in the Safe Zone froze. Ignoring the tension, I turned to the leader.
"Where did you leave her?"
"...What?"
"Tell me where you abandoned her. Now."
"I-it’s straight down this path. Go to the end, turn right, then take the second alleyway on the left."
The moment I had the directions, I cast [Agility Up] on myself and bolted toward the location.
"H-Hey! Are you actually going to try and save her?!"
"I wouldn't have asked for directions otherwise," I called back over my shoulder as I vanished into the Labyrinth.
On my way to the coordinates, I ran into an Orc—likely one of the ones that had been chasing the party—but I didn't have time to waste. I cast the Intermediate Magic [Rock Bind], instantly encasing the Orc in stone and leaving it paralyzed. Without even slowing down, I brushed past the statue-like beast.
Following the leader's directions, I eventually spotted a group of Orcs up ahead.
There were thirteen of them. It was certainly a force that would give a low-ranked party trouble, but for me, they were nothing.
"No... stay back... Stay away! I don't want to die... Big sister..."
The Orcs were all facing a wall at the end of the corridor. Trapped there was a girl with long, scarlet hair tied in twin tails. Tears pooled in her peach-colored eyes, but she was still fighting back desperately, protecting herself with a Magic Barrier while firing off spells to keep them at bay.
She was crying out in terror, but the light in her eyes hadn't gone out yet.
She hasn't given up, even in this mess. That's impressive, I thought, genuinely moved by her mental fortitude.
"...[Aero Shock]."
I timed the girl's magic intervals carefully. During the brief gap between her spells, I unleashed the Beginner Magic [Aero Shock].
The air between the girl and the Orcs erupted, sending a concentrated shockwave through the corridor. The girl was protected by her own Magic Barrier, but the Orcs weren't so lucky. While the spell didn't deal lethal damage, the sheer force of the impact knocked the entire group back about three steps, creating the opening I needed.
"...Huh?" The girl looked up, stunned by the sudden shift.
I kicked off the ground, vaulting over the cluster of Orcs to land directly in front of her. At the same moment, I cast [Flash] to blind the beasts and rob them of their vision.
"Focus on your Magic Barrier. I'll handle the Orcs."
"Y-Yes...!"
Giving her a quick command, I immediately cast [Strength Up] and [Technical Up] on myself, followed by [Sharpness Up] on my blade. Then, I began the slaughter.
Orcs aren't the brightest Magic Beasts to begin with. Deprived of their sight, they were nothing more than stationary targets.
I moved with precision, slicing through their vitals one by one. Thanks to the Support Magic reinforcing my sword, the blade felt so weightless as it sliced through them that I almost thought I’d missed—until the blood started spraying.
I danced through the spray, swinging my sword a dozen or so times. Within moments, the Orcs were gone, leaving nothing behind but their Magic Stones.
I turned back to check on the girl. She seemed completely bewildered by my sudden appearance; her Magic Barrier had long since vanished, and she was staring at me with a blank expression.
She didn't appear to have any physical injuries, but I cast the Recovery Magic [Heal] on her just in case. I tried to give her a reassuring smile. I hoped it didn't look too awkward.
"I'm... I'm alive? I was so... so scared..."
As the adrenaline faded and the reality of her survival set in, her legs gave out. She slumped to the floor, hot tears streaming down her face.
She looked to be about fourteen. I felt a pang of panic—I had absolutely no idea how to handle a crying girl, especially one younger than me.
She tried to stifle her sobs, but it didn't look like she’d be stopping anytime soon. She had been staring death in the face, after all. It was only natural for her to break down now that she was safe.
Yeah, you must have been terrified.
Being betrayed and left for dead like that... Putting myself in her shoes made my chest ache. Before I realized what I was doing, I reached out and gently stroked her head.
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