Chapter One

Chapter One

Just after breakfast the next day, a visitor came to call at the labyrinth. The sound of a wooden door creaking open—even though we didn’t actually have a creaky wooden door—preceded Karumi’s appearance. I sure hadn’t been expecting my supervisor to drop in.

“Pardon me for bothering you so early in the morning, Kousaka-san, but this is urgent.”

She was wearing a modern women’s suit that looked completely out of place in Labyrinth #228, and her smile looked rather strained. I couldn’t really judge her for wearing out-of-place clothing, though—I was wearing a suit myself.

That smile was making me nervous. The last time she’d given me a smile like that, she’d just realized that she’d forgotten to have me fill out some document before joining the company, and I almost didn’t get paid my initial salary. Karumi was an incredibly capable woman most of the time, but even she had her airheaded moments. It was Karumi’s carelessness that had gotten me thrown into a rough cabin in a forgotten patch of land called Labyrinth #228 with just the clothes on my back, leaving me in a three-month survival game.

“Is something the matter? Again?”

“Erm, yes. Again.”

“Not again.”

I hoped it wasn’t as bad as the previous time, at least. She looked so clever and responsible, which made this dorky side of her rather cute. I would’ve been grinning if I wasn’t the one who always ended up suffering because of it.

“Wait a minute. I’ll get you some tea.”

It probably looked like I was being hospitable, but the truth was I just wanted to calm my nerves with a nice cup of tea.

“Okay, sorry for the delay. Now, what happened?” Karumi and I sat down, each of us with a cup of herbal tea that Ann had prepared earlier, and she cut straight to the chase.

“In six months, Labyrinth #228 will be evaluated on its achievements for the past two decades.”

Evaluation? What, like a company performance review? It wasn’t like they were going around badgering labyrinths for results, right? If their goal was to make money, they’d have been better off just selling the land. Also, if this was going to be a twenty-year evaluation, would they really be looking at my labyrinth? It was still unfinished, and I hadn’t even been there for half a year yet!

“Why is there an evaluation on the labyrinth in six months if it’s not even completed?”

“The official records state that it is fully operational, with all facilities up and running.”

Oh right, it was all coming back. That was the real reason I’d gotten thrown into such a tight spot in the first place. My labyrinth had been a victim of embezzlement. The previous manager had absconded with the budget, leaving behind nothing but a lousy cabin and a slip of paper claiming all the work was done. This wasn’t good.

“But remember? The last guy did nothing but run off with all the funding that was supposed to get the labyrinth running.”

“...”

The way she didn’t respond to that was pretty ominous. Throw me a bone here, Karumi!

“I did think the budget was strangely flexible for this project.”

“Is that so.”

No point in pressing the issue, I decided.

“So, what are they going to expect from the labyrinth at this evaluation?”

“It differs from labyrinth to labyrinth. The main purpose of Labyrinth #228 is to attract people, so the key metrics are number of intruders, number of repelled intruders, and number of deaths inside the labyrinth. Those will be added up and weighted to give you a score.”

So, I needed intruders. Hold up, but nobody could even get into or out of this place until I dug that staircase in the cliff, right?

“I don’t know if I want to hear the answer, but how many of each of those do I have currently?”

“Zero, across the board.”

Figured. For someone to stumble across this place, they’d probably have to be trying to get lost.

“How do the other labyrinths pass their performance evaluations?”

“Almost none of the labyrinths under my supervision ever have intruders.”

Well, yes, full-fledged labyrinths weren’t exactly popular hangout spots.

“So they don’t get a lot of points that way. Instead, most of them try to earn points off of deaths inside the labyrinth.”

“How do they get so many deaths, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Usually by breeding livestock and then slaughtering them for meat. Similarly, you can raise fish in ponds or lakes.”

So ranching and farming fish counted towards labyrinth deaths? It kinda felt like they were gaming the system.

“A handful of managers have turned their labyrinths into hospitals and provide cheap medical care to nearby residents. Even a death of old age is still a death, and the lives of humans and Daemons are worth more points than livestock or fish, so they go more for quality over quantity.”

Most people would go to the hospital if it was cheap, and certainly a lot of people did pass on from old age, as well as from illnesses and whatnot. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to a hospital where they got points if I died.

“If we tried one of those methods for Labyrinth #228, would we get enough points in time?”

“No. Those are slow-and-steady methods, sufficient to pass the evaluation if you do them constantly for twenty years, but not enough to put up the numbers you need in half a year.”

Yep, thought as much.

“And what will happen if I don’t pass the evaluation?”

I was probably looking at a hefty pay cut.

“Your labyrinth will be subjected to a detailed inspection. If one’s facilities and personnel are up to snuff, they can certainly pass the inspection, but in your case...”

Facilities? I glanced over at the only building gracing the undeveloped natural landscape of Labyrinth #228, my lousy cabin. And personnel? There was just me and Ann. Hell, the shabby houses in Milt were more developed than this place.

“Can we pass?”

Karumi’s smile was more of a grimace. She slowly shook her head. Was she laughing? And also crying? That bad, huh? Hahahah... I kinda felt like crying, too

“What happens if I fail?”

“The usual procedure is just to fix up the labyrinth and get it operational again, but in extreme cases, they might opt to shut down the labyrinth. They typically only do that when the loss of the labyrinth won’t mean any real loss of assets... which is certainly the situation here.”

Karumi gazed out at the nearly empty Labyrinth #228, her eyes distant.

“What’ll happen to me and Ann?”

“You’re an official employee, so you’d be relocated to a semi-operational labyrinth. One that’s in progress but not occupied yet. Think of it as getting transferred.”

So I’d be transferred before I’d even been at my post for a year? I’d gotten kinda attached to Labyrinth #228. I’d regret leaving it all behind so soon.

“Aoi...”

Ann, who had been eating some candy Karumi had brought, reached out and took hold of my sleeve.

“Since you have hired Ann, she’ll be treated as the manager’s family, and it’ll be up to her whether to transfer along with you or to resign and return to the village.”

If Ann came with me, she’d be separated from her friends and family in the village for the rest of her life. But if she resigned, then the two of us would have to part. It would have been hard enough to say goodbye to the villagers after all we’d shared, but leaving Ann was simply out of the question.

“I don’t want to leave you, Aoi.”

Ann looked up at me, her eyes filled with worry, so I put my arms around her and stroked her hair.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. And you’ll help me, right?”

“Yeah! I’m always here for you!”

Ann gave me a winsome smile. Ahh, I could feel my heart warming. Just knowing I wouldn’t be alone was encouraging. In a part of my mind, I’d been worrying that Ann wouldn’t want to stay with me.

“I would like to find a way to pass the inspection.”

I gave my answer as Ann snuggled into my chest.

“That would be ideal. If one of the facilities under my supervision fails its evaluation, the Great Dark Lord will most likely call me in for punishment.”

Karumi went pale as she spoke. It seemed failure was not an option for subordinates of the Great Dark Lord.

“Is it really that bad?”

“Father practically idoli—pardon, that is to say, he cares for me deeply, so I’m in no real danger.”

Oh yeah, I’d forgotten she was the Great Dark Lord’s daughter. Had she been about to say he idolized her?

“If I were taken in for punishment, well... First, Father would have me outfitted in a gown suitable for a princess. Then he would hold a ball in my honor and demand to pamper me, just like he did when I was a child.”

Karumi laid it all out in such great detail that it was apparent she’d been through it before. Come to think of it, given her occasional bouts of airheadedness, she’d probably been through that more than a few times. My terrifying image of the Great Dark Lord was crumbling fast. But still, Karumi was worried about it, so I wanted to help her out. She’s got a great figure, though. Bet she’d look fantastic in a gown, whatever the style.

“I’m a grown woman. I don’t deserve to be subjected to the princess treatment anymore. It isn’t right!”

She must’ve had some bad memories about it. She was tearing up a bit, her shoulders quivering. Karumi was always so cool and collected, but my heart skipped a beat when I saw her looking so distraught. Had she always been this cute? Man, I could kind of understand how the Great Dark Lord felt about her. Though, yeah, she was a bit too mature for the whole princess look. Man, was it weird that I kinda wanted to get away from this train of thought and go back to the gloomy conversation from before?

◇

I got us another round of tea and returned to the table in front of the cabin. We needed to get back to looking for a solution to our performance evaluation problem.

“I’m so sorry about all of this. I’ll do everything I can to get the inspection canceled.”

Karumi took a sip of the tea, which seemed to soothe her nerves. Well, by now I was certain I’d been on the right track when I first noticed she was a bit of a dork.

“I’m going to find a senior instructor to support you. Truth be told, I was hoping to let things settle down around here before doing that, but it doesn’t seem we can afford to wait.”

“Sorry, a what now?”

“We have a mentorship system in place where labyrinth managers with at least two years of experience help guide new managers. Technically, you should have gotten one as soon as you finished the training period, but Labyrinth #228 has some special circumstances.”

“I’ll take all the help I can get.”

Given the utter lack of progress on Labyrinth #228, it wasn’t like I was going to learn much about how to deal with employees or how to do anything of value, except maybe cook. Maybe if the mentor was a gardener, or a bonsai enthusiast or something, they could give me some advice on how to tend the vegetation. But honestly, there was nothing remotely labyrinthine about this place.

“Sound advice will improve your odds of success dramatically.”

Karumi gestured with her hand, and a window appeared. She pressed a few buttons with her long, slender fingers.

Communication restrictions have been lifted. You may now contact a senior instructor.

Lines of text scrolled by as Karumi flicked through the UI window.

“The instructor hasn’t been on the job long, but she’s been producing great results over in Labyrinth #370.”

I felt like I remembered that labyrinth. Had I bought something from there on Tundra? Oh, right, that was the place that sold the salt and fish paste. Man, they were a lifesaver! Karumi pressed a button on the UI, and a large window opened up in the air, with just the word “Calling”. I bet it made a sound like a phone ringing on the other end. I mean, I hoped it did, at least. I kinda liked the sound of digital ringtones.

“Hello, Labyrinth #370 here. Katou speaking.”

A girl dressed in a skirt suit just like Karumi’s appeared on the screen. Her suit looked a little cheaper than Karumi’s, but then again, Karumi’s looked like it had cost a fortune. Her eyes and hair were a very Japanese shade of black, and her long hair was held in place with a hairpin. My first impression was that she was a fashionable, peppy girl.

She was obviously shorter than both Karumi and I, and I suspected she was even shorter than Ann. Honestly, she looked very young, but she sounded composed enough. She had to be, what, a middle schooler? I wouldn’t have believed her if she said she was in high school. I just managed to stop myself from muttering, “A little kid?”

“Hello, it’s me, Karumi. Do you remember the senior instructor arrangement we discussed a few days ago?”

“Oh, yep, sure do.”

She glanced my way.

“I’m Aoi Kousaka, manager of Labyrinth #228.”

I kinda wished I was in the sort of game where I could throw out a snappy military salute. Reality is so boring—just normal greetings and bowing all the time.

“I’m Suzu Katou. Since I’ll be mentoring you, we’re gonna be talking a lot, so let’s keep it casual, okay? You can call me Suzu, and I’ll just go with Aoi for you.”

Dropping the formalities right off the bat, eh? Worked for me.

“Sounds good. Nice to meet you, Suzu.”

“Heh, how about that. I’d have thought a cutie like you would be a little more uptight.”

Suzu grinned at me.

“Well, I guess I’ve been through a lot.”

I figured the reason I wasn’t as ‘uptight’ as she was expecting was the fact that I’d spent most of my life screaming into a headset.

A lot of multiplayer games had voice chat, after all. Whenever I landed in a game with foreigners, it’d be “fuck this,” “that’s bullshit,” and so on, non-stop. If I wasn’t careful with my language, I slipped into that kind of thing pretty easily. I owed a lot to a guild leader from an FPS game I’d played back in the day. When you were talking to him outside the game, he’d be totally calm and courteous, but once the game started, he’d be cursing like you wouldn’t believe, laughing like a madman the whole time. And it wasn’t like I was practicing being super polite while playing single-player RPG games or management sims or whatever to make up for the foul-mouthed multiplayer time, so I kind of got out of the habit.

All that aside, I had mixed feelings about this middle schooler calling me cute. And what was with that smug look? She had her chin tilted up and was looking down her nose at me with this absolutely unbearable grin on her face. Was it intentional? To be honest, I knew a few guys with certain questionable proclivities who would’ve been turned on by it.

“A DL for your thoughts.”

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing.”

Oh shit, she was definitely onto me.

“Kousaka.”

Karumi pressed another button and gestured for me to look at the display.

“Suzu Katou, Female, 22. Graduated from a private college. Joined the company immediately after graduation. Three years of service.”

22? No way, she didn’t look a day over ten. And I didn’t mean that as a compliment. So she’d been working there for three years, huh? I was always seeing products from Labyrinth #370 pop up in the Tundra catalog, so it seemed like she was making the most of her time. I could see why Karumi had chosen her to help me out. There was no questioning her competency.

“Karumi told me you were in a bit a of a pickle, but she didn’t mention you were hanging out in dullsville. Where even are you?”

“This is my workplace. Labyrinth #228.”

“So it’s a foresty one, eh? Kinda nice, actually. Karumi said you were the cream of the crop this year, but have you even finished the tutorial?”

“Uh, no. I actually didn’t even know there was a tutorial.”

“What the heck? You should’ve gotten a user’s manual and a new manager tutorial! Even if there wasn’t, you could’ve asked your hecking supervisor!”

Well, yes, normally there would’ve been documentation to consult, or a coworker or manager to ask for help. But I hadn’t had that luxury.

“I didn’t have a manual, or a tutorial, or a supervisor to ask for advice.”

“What, for real? Explain.”

“Yeah, I’ve actually been wanting to vent about this.”

I explained my situation to Suzu, being careful not to sound too mad given Karumi was around and all. Her jaw practically hit the floor when I told her how the place had been when I first got there, and she looked pretty indignant on my behalf for a while, but she calmed down as I kept explaining. By the end, she was looking at me with this pitying look, like I was a little lost puppy she’d found on the way home. Man, it sure felt good to get all that off my chest.

“Jeez, dude, you’re lucky to be alive.”

She seemed pretty impressed by how I’d started fending for myself without so much as a guide.

“Well, I did work my ass off. And I have played a lot of survival games and whatnot, you know? Hahaha.”

“Oh come on, you seriously think there’s anyone else out there who would actually last through a situation like that just based on what they learned playing video games? I play a lot of hecking games myself. Mostly management and strategy games, though, not so much the survival thing.”

I was surprised to hear that Suzu was a gamer, too.

“I’ll play pretty much anything as long as it looks like fun, but I’m mostly into competitive games. You said you’re into strategy games, Suzu?”

But, in retrospect, I should’ve seen it coming. Familiarity with games had been right there in the help wanted ad.

“I bet those games set you on the path to success as a labyrinth manager. Maybe I should call you the labyrinth tsarina.”

She’d worked her way up from a nobody to a top-tier labyrinth manager in only three years. I had to give her props for that.

“That’s a rather specific choice of words. Hey, Aoi, you ever play a game called Flaming Crest?”

Now that was a blast from the past. Flaming Crest was a series of historical strategy games focusing on post-World War II power struggles. I wondered if people were still playing it.

“Yeah, for sure.”

If Suzu associated the word “tsarina” with that game, maybe we’d even played on the same server?

“I don’t remember hearing about anybody named Aoi playing it. If you’re such a hardcore gamer that your survival game knowledge pulled you through getting dropped into an unbuilt labyrinth, I’m sure I would’ve heard of you.”

Suzu put her hand to her chin and thought. Sure your handle would only be notorious within the game where you used it, but truly great players were as well known to the gamers as any pop star to a normal person.

“Aoi... Wait, so like, Blue? Were you the guy called ‘Blue’ in US-West 3?”

She got it in one. I’d even gone out of my way to use a nondescript name back then.

“Yeah, that was me. Did you play on that server too?”

“I did! That Blue guy ran the northern alliance that beat us over and over again. You remember right after the unification war, when infantry rifle armies became the norm? I was in charge of the southern tsarship back then.”

Huh, so she was on the other side? Man, I remembered how insane the southern tsarship’s resource productivity was. That’d been a close match.

“That was a great match. It’s one of my fondest memories from back then. Suzu, were you Tsarina Belka?”

“You bet your ass I was. Man, you wiped the floor with us each time, no matter how much prep work we did. By the end of it everybody was calling me the Loserina!”

She may have looked back on it as a failure, but the way she’d always been able to go back and amass another huge force, despite getting completely wiped out each time, was proof of her ludicrous management abilities.

“I can’t believe this shit! I worked so hard at management games and still couldn’t reach the top, so I became a labyrinth manager and worked my way up, and now you’re here too?!”

Suzu flailed her arms around a bit, pouting.

“Pardon me for interrupting your friendly chat, but could we focus on the matter at hand?”

Oops. We’d gotten a bit carried away reminiscing. Karumi dragged us back onto topic, explaining to Suzu how we needed to get Labyrinth #228 into a shape where it could pass the performance evaluation.

“...I see. But really, there’s no way you’re going to make up for twenty years’ worth of work in six months. Maybe if you at least had a functional labyrinth, but all you’ve got is a hut.”

“I see your point, but we have to do it anyway. How do you rake in all your achievements, Suzu?”

“Me? I’m located near a sea, and my labyrinth’s purpose is to gather resources, so I made a salt pan and gather salt and fish. I dry the fish and stockpile it all in a warehouse, selling it off for a steady income stream. It doesn’t even matter how much I sell as long as the warehouse is always stuffed, so passing the evaluation is easy.”

Man, that sounded nice. Sure, she needed high productivity and a sound business strategy, but all she had to do was gather stuff. But it made sense that someone had to do it; if all the labyrinths lost money, things probably wouldn’t work out. Someone had to balance the budget.

“Your labyrinth is the typical kind where you’ve got to lure in intruders, right? It’s totally impossible to do twenty years’ worth in six months there, at least with the usual steady approach.”

“I agree. So we won’t do the usual steady approach.”

I wasn’t going to find some cheat code that would turn my labyrinth into a hangout spot, obviously. But if we used the normal approach, we were bound to fail. We had to do something drastic.

“So, the thing my labyrinth gets evaluated on specifically is luring invaders and repelling them...”

I tried to think back to some fantasy games I’d played and how people thought about labyrinths there.

“Karumi, do you get the most points off of attracting intruders and repelling them?”

“Definitely, but it’s not all about the score. As long as the labyrinth is in excellent shape, you can pass with only minimal results.”

Karumi navigated a few more menus, eventually landing at a page filled with numbers.

“Let’s see. You could pass the evaluation if you got at least one hundred and eighty intruders, and if your traps repelled about thirty percent of those.”

I was horrified at those numbers, but they really wouldn’t be that bad spread over twenty years. Less than ten intruders a year, right? I could have managed that. This all meant I would be turning this idyllic ravine into a death trap, but unfortunately—or fortunately, I suppose, given the circumstances—that actually sounded entertaining to me.

So we were changing genre. I would be going from a survival game to a PvP labyrinth management sim. Nice.

“All right then, it seems like we have our work cut out for us. We need to lure in some intruders, and then we need to kick ‘em right back out.”

There was one final option, of course. Bribery. But that one could fail pretty spectacularly, so I didn’t want to rely on it except as a last resort.

“Mhm. And how do you think you’re gonna get that many humans out here? Heck, how are you gonna get anybody to come to a labyrinth in the middle of nowhere like this? People only care about the ones at locations of conflict between humans and Daemons.”

Well, that hit a sore spot. The last time humans had invaded this area, they ignored the labyrinth completely and went straight for Milt. Maybe the answer really was to start aggressively raising livestock and farming fish.

“Here’s the thing. The labyrinth’s purpose is to attract people, but nobody says it has to be humans. It counts if Daemons try to break in as well. And though repelling intruders is required, and killing intruders gets us points, nobody says we have to kill people to pass the evaluation, right? You with me so far?”

“Sure, but you can’t seriously be thinking what I think you’re thinking.”

“I think I am. I’ll lure in Daemons instead. We’ve only got six months, so let’s split it down the middle. I’ll spend three months building the labyrinth up as much as I can. Then, for the remaining three months, I’ll lure in every hunter in Daemon territory with the promise of prizes, if they can make it through the whole dungeon. I’ll rack up the points by repelling my makeshift intruders.”

In human territory, that sort of people called themselves “adventurers”, but in Daemon territory they preferred the term “hunter”. Anything like a labyrinth was typically under the Great Dark Lord’s jurisdiction. Sometimes dungeons formed naturally, but those were few and far between. Adventurers didn’t get a lot of opportunities to hone their skills. They were a sort of jack of all trades. They’d travel to distant lands and return with valuables and animals, or do detective work like investigating and settling disputes in cities. However, their main goal was to exterminate monsters. Monsters were common everywhere, and some of them were quite dangerous. Since hunting down monsters was their main purpose, the adventurers in Daemon territory came to be known as hunters.

“That might actually work. You’re right about the intruders clause not restricting you to humans, too. Whaddaya say, Karumi?”

“If you can pull it off, it will satisfy the evaluation criteria. As long as you satisfy the conditions, it’s completely up to you, as the labyrinth manager, how you do it. If all your intruders happen to be Daemons, then that’s fine too.”

Karumi double-checked the conditions on her window and gave us the green light.

“You’re gonna need a prize, though, and a good one. The hunters are busy professionals. You’re not gonna get them traveling all the way out here for a trinket, and you’re not gonna pull a fast one on them; those guys are sharp. Maybe because they’re so poor.”

I wondered idly if Suzu had been through a bad experience with hunters.

“I’ll use this.”

I opened up the lizard leather belt one of the villagers had made for me, took out a potion, and showed it to Suzu.

“A diamond flask? So what? Sure hope the juice you’ve got in there tastes real good, or you’re shit outta luck.”

“This is a Grade 6 vitality potion. Hunters are constantly putting themselves in harm’s way, so I imagine a lot of them would love to have something like this handy, just in case the worst happens.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold the phone. Grade 6?! No freaking way! I mean, I don’t want one or anything, but you could make a killing selling that thing!”

Wow, that got a bigger rise out of her than I thought it would. That was almost as dramatic as Fez’s reaction. I knew it sold for a high price on Tundra, but the herb I used for it grew like weeds all over Labyrinth #228, so I had trouble internalizing how special they really were. Maybe this was how farmers who grew high-quality crops and fruit felt.

“Is it that valuable?”

“Don’t ask me. I live and work on this side, so I wouldn’t know.”

Karumi wasn’t going to be any help with this one, it seemed.

“You bet your butt it’s valuable! Even Grade 8 potions are valuable, and the market is flooded with them. If it’s higher than Grade 8, it’s both powerful and scarce. That’s a premium product you’ve got right there!”

She was practically bouncing on her toes.

“Now wait just a darn minute. I heard there was a new labyrinth manager putting out the occasional high-level magic potion on Tundra a while back. That was you?”

“Yeah, must have been. I cashed out a few on Tundra a couple months ago.”

“What the heck were they thinking, making that place a battle-type labyrinth when they had such amazing materials available?! If you had a production and storage labyrinth, you could meet your quota in a few days with top-notch potions like that! Seriously, give me a break here. Bleh, whatever. Anyway, that’ll be more than enough to lure in your hunters.”

“Well, if you say so. Then I guess we’ll run with the plan.”

Seriously, they were that valuable?

“Now, what about a labyrinth guardian? You don’t have any personnel, do you?”

“What’s a guardian?”

“Uh, hello, you’re obviously gonna need a big scary boss at the end. Like, what if they made it through the labyrinth and found you? They’d kick your tail! That’s why you need a boss for them to fight at the end.”

“Is that how it works?”

I looked over at Karumi.

“...This should all have been written in the documentation you were supposed to receive.”

Karumi hunched her shoulders defensively.

“And unfortunately, there’s just the two of you here.”

Karumi seemed a little down about the sorry state of my labyrinth. After all, it wasn’t as though she’d helped me find Ann. I’d had to build my own family.

“So, sure, I need a guardian. But aside from me, the only person in the labyrinth is...”

I looked down to Ann, who had been quietly listening to the conversation while clutching my sleeve.

“What’s wrong, Aoi? Oh, um, I should say hi, shouldn’t I? Nice to meet you, Miss Suzu. I’m the manager’s... family? My name is Ann. I’m very happy to be with Aoi!”

Ann gave a little bow.

“Oh, hello there. Nice to meetcha. Just call me Suzu.”

“Okie dokie!”

“Aww, aren’t you just the cutest little thing?”

It seemed Ann’s natural charm had already won over Suzu. I could relate to that. So you could see why I objected so strongly to making Ann fight while I watched from the sidelines.

“We absolutely can’t make Ann the guardian.”

“I wholeheartedly agree.”

“Heck yeah. I’d be judging you so hard if you’d suggested it.”

I was glad Karumi, Suzu, and I were all on the same page.

“Okay, so tell me more about the expectations of a labyrinth guardian. What kind of training would they need?”

“The main thing is that they need to be capable of putting up a powerful defense. Physical strength is the most important qualification.”

Some of the villagers were crazy strong, but none of them were familiar with fighting, so they were all out of the question.

“They’ll need to be sturdy, too. If a hunter puts your guardian completely out of commission, the labyrinth is done for. You really need someone with good defense and a high vitality stat.”

So an offensive unit wouldn’t work. Made sense. If you thought about it like an RPG, when you were clearing out some dungeon, the boss would almost always be something tanky with a ton of HP.

“And most importantly, they need courage. Guardians usually fight at a disadvantage: one against a party. This isn’t a job for a coward. Even seasoned warriors can find it a bit much when the numbers are turned against them.”

Man, did I know anybody who could do this? The only one who came to mind was Fez, the ex-mercenary wolfman peddler, but he’d said he couldn’t take up the sword again.

“All right, guess I’ll add looking for a guardian to my to-do list, along with building up the labyrinth.”

“I can introduce you to some of the Daemon mercenaries I have connections with. They’re a bunch of pansies when you get right down to it, though, so I can’t exactly recommend them.”

“Thanks, Suzu. You’ve done a lot for me already. With your help, I know I’ll pull through this.”

I offered her a humble thanks, bowing my head. I was sure I wouldn’t have come up with this solution on my own, and I attached a lot of importance to thanking people who had helped me.

“Aw, shucks, it’s no big deal. I’m your mentor, right? Kind of what I’m here for, dude! And we’ve got a long road ahead of us, don’t forget.”

Suzu blushed and smiled, trying to play it off. Her reaction was different from Ann’s would have been, with her simple innocence, but it was sweet all the same.

“Just call me if you need anything. I’m here to look out for you, and don’t you forget it!”

And with that parting shot, she hung up.

“All right then. I’ve got to find an overseer for the construction, and that’s not going to be easy. Karumi, can I count on you to scout out the capable hunters and figure out some way to entice them here to challenge the labyrinth?”

“Yes, let me handle that. I know we’re asking a lot here, but I believe in you.”

Karumi offered me a little bow and summoned a door, then opened it and returned to her office.

◇

“Whew.”

I collapsed into a chair and took a sip of my now-lukewarm tea.

“Karumi just turned my world upside down, and I’m still processing it. Ann, did you listen to all of that just now?”

“Yeah. There’s a lot of it I don’t really get, though.”

“Well, that’s fine. Good job sticking with us.”

“Mmm...”

I put an arm around Ann, who was practically glued to my side like she was trying to protect me, and patted her head.

Whether she was in kobold form or human form, she always had this soothing scent of fresh-cut hay about her.

“Complicated concepts get easier to understand if you start thinking about them in gaming terms.”

Most people would look at something new in a game and make an analogy to something in the real world to understand it better, but truly hardcore gamers did the opposite, using their superior gaming knowledge to get better at real life.

“Our victory conditions are clear: we have half a year to achieve a certain score and a certain level of dungeon. So, yeah, we just need to think of it as a management simulation game rather than as a survival game.”

It was in fact my job to manage this labyrinth, so it wasn’t so much a simulation as, well, work. But the difference between the game of life and the kind of games I spent my life on was ultimately the tiniest of margins.

“We have two things to keep in mind. First, it doesn’t matter who we bring in. Second, we either need a lot of deaths or a lot of invaders to repel. Racking up deaths seems too difficult. Lots of work, time, and funds. The other path to victory looks tougher, but given the time constraints it’s our only option. So, we’ll be luring in and repelling invaders.”

If I bought obscene amounts of livestock and slaughtered them for meat, maybe I’d be able to pull it off, but it would definitely take too much time and effort. Even setting aside how expensive livestock had to be in this world, the logistics of getting so many of them to the labyrinth would have been a nightmare.

“So, we’ll run a plain old labyrinth where we lure intruders and throw them back out. Ann, you remember that game I had you play, Soul Collector 4?”

“Yep. That was the one about turning a lousy magician into a powerful wizard who trapped people in his magic labyrinth, right? You told me it’d be good reference material, so I tried it out.”

“The Soul Collector series is a staple of the labyrinth simulator genre.”

You’d trap humans in your labyrinth and harvest their souls to grow stronger. Then you rinse and repeat with more powerful traps. Sometimes you even got a chance to sacrifice humans to summon a demon to help you out. One interesting angle was that you had to capture your prey alive. The soul left the body when it died, so you didn’t get to snack on souls if your traps killed the humans.

You got the most points by capturing humans without putting a scratch on them, but you could make the traps as fake-scary as you wanted. Planting the occasional sprung grizzly bear trap with a mangled corpse in it was a great way to send the humans screaming and running away through your labyrinth, directly into another trap. One crowd favorite was the honey trap, where a succubus mimicking a captured village girl would beg for help, enticing the intruders to go help her and be ensnared. Man, what a great game. If you really wanted, you could always soften up the intruders with some fire or electric traps, leaving them easy meat for a pitfall, but that wasn’t very efficient, both because it was expensive to set up and because it gave you fewer points.

I hadn’t really explained any of this when I set Ann up with the game. I mean, I knew about stuff like that because the honey trap combo was a staple of the series, but she didn’t have that background. I did kind of regret not playing it together and overseeing her after teaching her the basics, though. Ann was playing the PC remaster, Soul Collector 4 HD, so it would’ve been a new experience for me, too.

I decided to check her save file. In only three days, she’d shown phenomenal progress. All the physical traps had been replaced with a variety of demon traps, particularly the succubi. Her labyrinth was a veritable crucible of lust. I felt a brief pang of regret for the loss of Ann’s innocence. Gun Gust may have been violent, but it was pretty tame otherwise. The overall survival rate in her labyrinth was 10%, but for male adventurers it plummeted to only 2%. I resisted the urge to check the world leaderboards, but I had a feeling Ann would have been up there.

It seemed she was a natural labyrinth manager. Still, I had my reservations about putting that to use. I didn’t want her name going down in history as a villain. Raising Ann to be a respectable lady was going to be a rocky road.

“I don’t think those exact mechanics are quite what we’re looking for, but at least the big picture is the same; we’ll be building up a labyrinth, attracting and kicking out intruders, and fulfilling certain conditions within set time limits.”

“Aww, we can’t do it like this? But the succubus ladies would practically do our job for us!”

There was that pang of conscience again. I’d chosen poorly. I should never have shown her that filthy game.

“Suzu will come in handy, that’s for sure. There’s no bigger advantage than an experienced ally.”

Even just having her there as an advisor made our chances of success much higher.

“I never thought the tsarina would come to our aid.”

“Suzu’s really that amazing?”

“Yeah. She’s so good at production and management, she’s almost a living legend. She’s had me on the ropes a few times.”

Actually, it was more than a few times. I’d struggled to stay ahead of the tsarina more times than I cared to admit.

“A long while back, the tsarina attacked a city of mine with five times the troops I had. We somehow held off the overwhelming numbers through sheer guts, but the next day, she came back with ten times the troops I had! It was a nightmare.”

And that’d kept going, too. No matter how many times we beat them, they just kept multiplying. The thought still gave me the shivers.

“It was like she’d built a summoning circle to the foot soldier realm. The tsarina was so famous, you’d have to look hard to find someone who hadn’t heard of her, no matter what game you played.”

She drove off invaders with sheer numbers and overwhelming industrial might, rising through the ranks and establishing her tsardom of ice and steel. In every corner of the internet, people knew the name Belka. I’d devoted my life to games, but there was no question who was more well-known. I’d had a lot of rivals, but none who induced nearly the amount of trauma that Suzu did.

“Huh. So no matter how many you beat, she’d bring more the next day? That sounds tough.”

“Yeah, she’s horrible to run into on the other side of the battlefield, but by the same token, she’s a dependable ally.”

Unfortunately, our position didn’t really play into the tsarina’s strengths. Labyrinth #228 needed a lightning onslaught, with minimal time to build up our productivity. We couldn’t afford attrition tactics or overwhelming our enemies. We had to do more with less.

“I’m glad we’ve got Karumi on our side as well. She’s always been more of a neutral bystander before. She’s earnest and understanding, and I think she’ll work hard since she’s got something on the line as well.”

“Yeah, Karumi’s the best. She always brings me candy!”

Karumi and I got along well, and I trusted her to do right by me even if she wasn’t in harm’s way, but I thought she’d be less likely to screw up when her own neck was on the executioner’s block.

“I can’t believe I thought she was the perfect coworker for a full week after I was hired.”

She’d managed to hide her true nature for a week or so, but like a mostly-white cat covered in baby powder, her dark side became visible before too long. She was a klutz.

“Really? I think she’s cool. I wanna be like her when I grow up.”

“You should tell her that next time she visits. I’m sure it’d make her happy.”

And now I was just praying that Ann didn’t learn to be a klutz from Karumi.

“Oh. But I would like to have bigger breasts than her.”

“Whatever you do, don’t let her hear you say that. We’ll all regret it.”

I explained that Ann was permitted to compliment Karumi on her slender figure, but that any other related commentary was strictly forbidden.

“O-Okay.”

“The next thing we’re going to need is workers. If we weren’t in such a rush, I wouldn’t mind just the two of us building the whole thing, but we’ve only got three months to get this done.”

I brought up the labyrinth manager UI and checked my status.

Aoi Kousaka

<Manager of Labyrinth #228>

Vitality: 208/208   Stamina: 952/952   Willpower:205/205

Skill(s): <Dungeon Management Tool> <Appraisal>

There were my same three stats again, and precious little detail about what they meant. Still, they had risen sharply ever since I’d gotten here, what with all that work digging out my own set of stairs—thanks for nothing, Karumi—and saving Milt in their moment of need. Looking back at it, I really had been through a lot. I couldn’t detect any physical changes—no bulging biceps or six-pack abs—but I had switched from swinging the pickaxe with two hands to swinging it with one. My stamina had improved so much that I could run all the way from the labyrinth to Milt without getting winded. Ann’s stats had risen just as much as mine. But our stats would only take us so far. No matter how far we pushed ourselves, we still had limits.

“We need as much help as we can get. I’ll explain everything to Mayor Hopper, but I’m sure this isn’t going to be cheap.”

“It’s autumn, too. Even I’m helping every day in the village.”

Autumn was harvest season, the busiest time of the year for farmers. The farmers in Milt generally raised crops that grew year-round and in a relatively short time, so they were a little less focused on this time than traditional farming villages, but fall was still a hectic season for them.

“You’ll have to feed them if they’re here helping, you know.”

“Oh, you’re right. Even if we persuade them to work, we’ll still have to arrange meals and drinks for all of them. Man, I feel a headache coming on.”

In the modern world, you could just pay your workers and expect them to take care of food for themselves, but things didn’t work that way here. They’d be doing hard physical labor here. Asking them to commute all the way back and forth for each meal, not to mention prepare three meals a day for themselves, was out of the question.

“If you make delicious food for everyone, I bet people will work harder.”

Milt had no inns or restaurants to speak of.

“I’ll need to purchase food, transport it, and hire people to cook and serve it. And worse, I’ll need to feed all of those people as well. The more people there are, the more expensive this gets.”

Thankfully, the prices were cheap out here in the sticks, and I could sell my potions on Tundra for a tidy profit. Still, I felt like this was not exactly going to be a cheap project.

“We’ll need someone experienced with working with the land if we’re gonna dig underground. They’ll need to be comfortable giving out orders, too.”

The labyrinth would be largely underground. We’d need a lot of stone for the part of the building above ground, as well, and preparing all of that would require a lot of time and technique. Thankfully, I had the <Dungeon Management Tool> skill, so procuring pickaxes and shovels would be easy.

“Like a foreman?”

“Yeah, right. I’ll ask the mayor to recommend someone, but I’m worried. It’d be easy to find the kind of person we need in a mining town, but I’m not so sure about Milt.”

“Hmm. Well, Mister Barry told me he dug an underground tunnel once.”

“Barry? Is he a kobold?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh. Guess that’s why I don’t remember him well.”

I still couldn’t tell most kobolds apart from each other in Milt. You could kinda tell who was who by the patterns on their fur, but face recognition was hard; they all kinda looked like dogs. The only kobolds I could recognize at a distance were Ann and her aunt Jenny.

“Okay, good suggestion, Ann. We’ll ask him later.”

“Mmm!”

I stroked Ann’s hair, and she murmured ticklishly. From the way she reacted, it must’ve felt rather different from when she was in her kobold form.

“And the last thing on the list is a labyrinth guardian. Someone strong.”

I still needed to build up a labyrinth, of course. A big empty space with a boss in the middle of it wouldn’t really be a proper labyrinth. If push came to shove, I could fight. I’d grown a lot stronger during my time here, and though I was completely untrained, I could always grab the cursed sword from my warehouse and let it take care of the hard work at the expense of my health. It had certainly come in handy when crisis came to Milt. Since the cursed sword literally moved me on its own, it felt more like controlling a game avatar than actually doing things. All these dumb imaginary “skills” rolling around in my brain were finally coming in handy. Besides, it was important to have a backup. Even though I’d be paying my guardian for full-time work, the labyrinth didn’t take days off, and they’d need to rest. If I could take up the sword and tag in for them every now and then, the burden wouldn’t be so extreme. I’d always noticed that labyrinths in games were populated with undead and golems, and my new perspective gave me a lot of insight into why they were so useful. Golems and the undead didn’t need food or rest.

“Oh, wait a minute. There actually is a combat veteran in the village.”

Wouldn’t that prideful, clumsy knight be perfect labyrinth guardian material? I’d been planning to hire her to do odd jobs anyway, pending Ann’s permission. I decided to ask.

“In most games, I’d have the luxury of trial and error. Even if I messed up, I could reload, and once I got it right, I could save and move on. This really is hard mode.”

But the harder it was, the more fun it was!

“Yeah, I’m only happy when the difficulty’s as high as it gets. This is perfect.”

I realized that I was actually getting pumped up about my labyrinth-building time trial. And why wouldn’t I? Build a labyrinth, rack up points, and do it on a tight deadline. It was classic game material! I’d spent countless hours playing games back when I was a student, but ever since I’d found a job, I’d switched to playing the game of life, and it was a whole lot more serious.

“All right, I think we know what we need to do. Wanna come to the village with me, Ann? We need to lock down our guardian.”

“Okay!”

I was really hoping Mary would accept the job of protecting the labyrinth. It wouldn’t be easy work, but I could certainly make it worth her while. Besides, one of my favorite game mechanics had always been making enemy units into allies.

◇

“Heya! My name’s Ann!”

“I’m Mary. Um, Ann, do you mind if I pet you?”

“Oh, um, go ahead.”

“So fluffy...”

Ann and I paid a visit to Mary at the mayor’s house. A wave of bliss crossed Mary’s face as she stroked Ann’s soft fur. It would seem she had a soft spot for fluffy things. At least the two of them were off to a good start.

“Mary, this is the girl I told you about. Ann is part of my family. You two would be seeing each other every day if you came to work at the labyrinth, so, do you think the two of you can get along?”

“D-Do you mean to say I could pet her like this every day?”

I was worried that, being a human, she would have some aversion to Daemons, but given she’d been content to stay at the mayor’s this whole time, maybe I was overthinking the problem. Still, I decided to ask.

“You won’t mind living with a Daemon?”

“Oh, so that’s what you’re concerned about. My house was close to the border. Moreover, we had Daemon servants since I was a young girl, so I hardly think of them as anything out of the ordinary. Though I admit, most humans do not share my views.”

Servants? I’d heard the humans turned captured Daemons into slaves, but to think Mary’s family had done that... It was small consolation that they were putting them through forced labor, rather than trying to drive them to extinction.

“At any rate, the other day we talked about you coming to work for me. I’d like to hire you for half a year. Would you be willing to do chores and to serve as my labyrinth guardian for that time?”

“What tasks does a guardian perform? Stand guard over the treasure at the heart of the labyrinth?”

She didn’t know about the goal to attract people to the labyrinth, of course, but she did at least have a good handle on what a guardian’s job was.

“Yeah, that’s more or less the idea.”

“Chores aside, are you sure you want to entrust the labyrinth to me? Perhaps I shouldn’t be the one to point this out, but it wasn’t long ago that I was attacking this village.”

“Well, first of all, you seem like the kind of person who keeps her word. And second, it turns out I really need your help.”

“I’m pleased you think so highly of me, but I would like to understand why you require my aid specifically.”

Mary tilted her head and listened as I explained about the labyrinth’s upcoming performance evaluation and the expectations placed upon it. How we owed twenty years’ worth of intruders and only had six months to get them all. I even told her about the plan to attract hunters to try to rack up enough points in six months to meet our quota.

“A dire situation indeed.”

Mary stroked Ann’s fur through the whole story. She was like one of those kids who wouldn’t stop pestering the poor, tired worker stuffed inside an amusement park mascot costume. I had complicated feelings about it. I could understand why she wasn’t in any hurry to agree to the proposal. If I’d been one of this world’s humans, I’d have been pretty alarmed to hear that those horrible Daemons were building labyrinths teeming with traps, and were counting up the number of deaths they inflicted.

“If my role shall be to fight, rather than merely to do chores, then I would ask a favor.”

Mary raised her head and met my eyes.

“Let’s hear it first.”

“I don’t mind if you wish to train beforehand, but I would like to challenge you to a duel of swords. Or of any weapon, I suppose, as long as it’s a duel. I’m aware you’re a civilian, not a soldier, and I’ll admit I find you an agreeable enough man, but I must test your mettle to determine if I can respect you as my superior. You can learn more about a man by spending a minute crossing blades with him than you can by speaking with him for an hour.”

I hadn’t seen that coming. In a game, this would be a branching point, and the story would change depending on whether I won or lost. But it was clear that if I wanted to win Mary’s approval, I’d have to at least take her on.

“Very well, I accept your challenge. I would like to use sheathed swords, rather than wooden swords.”

You really ought to use wooden swords for this kind of thing, but I had no sword training at all, so I couldn’t even fight unless I depended on the cursed sword. That was why it had to be real swords. It sure would’ve been nice if I had a game I could practice with. Maybe some up-and-coming VR game developer would make a game where a cursed sword took over your body. I sure wished they would hurry up and get on that.

◇

I’d gone back to the labyrinth to fetch the cursed sword, and now I was facing off against Mary in the backyard of the mayor’s house, sword in hand. I actually felt like I’d grown somewhat accustomed to the single-edged blade, but I was still a bit nervous whenever I remembered that its only mode was “all-out attack”. I left the sword mostly in control of me, basically just willing it to prepare to engage with Mary. This must have been what it felt like to be moved around with a controller or keyboard. Mary held her double-edged sword, what I assumed to be standard issue for a knight, with the tip pointed straight at me.

“I’m ready whenever you are.”

You know, life in this place was hard, but it sure was fun. I’d gone up against people of all ages and nationalities while playing games, but I’d never had a chance to cross swords with a knight before. Mary’s concentration and experience were evident in her stance. Her sheer presence was overwhelming, rivaling that of any top-ranked pro I’d seen. No, she surpassed them all. In a situation like this, the information floodgates opened up, and your brain picked up on every little twitch of muscle, every flicker of the eyes. The eyes were the key; the windows to the soul. It looked like Mary intended to let me take the initiative. I mentally thanked her as I briefly reviewed the one-handed and two-handed sword combos in Gun Gust before selecting one. As I pictured the preparation stance from the attack where you launched from the back row around the enemy’s flank to cut at them from the side, the cursed sword interpreted my thoughts and made my body enact them.

“Here I come!”

I imagined myself pressing my Shift+W hotkey to quickly close the gap between us, and then Ctrl+1 to use the skill, and a smile spread across my face. But I wasn’t using a keyboard or mouse, and this wasn’t a game. I had to be conscious of that and provide input to the cursed sword the way it expected. Close the distance. Slash. Regain my balance when she evades. Quick, intercept Mary’s slash from the right! Now, dodge the follow-up and get some range. There weren’t any fancy visual effects, but the clash of our sheathed swords striking was far more impressive.

“You can do it, Aoi!”

Ann gave me a cheery yell. Seriously, shouldn’t she have been scared or something? Clearly I’d let her play too much Gun Gust.

I had to parry another cut from the right, and then again move to parry her follow-up thrusts low to my center. Mary was ruthless. If this were a game, she’d have gone pro for sure. No, her skills here were beyond any gamer I’d ever seen.

“Good luck to you too, Mary!”

She had me cornered. If she’d been one of the many rivals I’d found over my years of gaming, I’d have put my trust in being able to avoid every attack and gone for a high-risk technique to break the stalemate. I pictured the go-to combo move I’d invented in Gun Gust, Flash Blade, which mixed a movement skill and an attack skill. It was kind of plain, but it always got the job done. The cursed sword accepted my input and closed in on Mary with blinding speed before throwing out a fast feint. Mary didn’t bother with parrying, and instead tried to avoid the feint altogether, just like I’d hoped. I stepped in and rearranged for the real attack, slashing hard with my sheathed sword, and... miraculously, Mary’s sword made it there just in time to parry, now clutched in both her hands. I kept linking together combos from the game, and every time, Mary would parry, evade, or deflect them, sometimes even throwing in a counterattack. We were risking our safety out there, but our swords flashed as we twisted and turned as though we were locked in a dance together. Man, jumping around and getting actual exercise like this was crazy fun. I wondered if VR games felt this good. Even though I was pushing myself hard, I wasn’t breathing particularly hard. Maybe leveling up my stamina so much was coming in handy?

“Hah!”

Mary parried another attack and pushed me back, creating some distance. My heart was crying out, telling me it wanted to keep fighting, it wasn’t done playing. It was a damn shame, really. If this had been a game, we could’ve played until our lives were spent.

“Mary, shouldn’t you have a shield?”

It was a good fight, even if I didn’t think I’d win, but the whole time I could tell something was off about Mary’s technique. She was almost exclusively using her sword one-handed, only grabbing on with the other hand when she was forced to parry. The way she fought made me certain she was used to carrying something in her free hand.

“I left my shield with the soldiers whenever I rode the armor.”

She was looking at me in surprise, her eyes wide. Probably wondering how I’d noticed. But come on, I’d seen countless enemies wielding a sword and shield, and some games even had different animations for characters when their equipment set was incomplete. Mary’s style was just like a sword-and-board knight whose shield had lost all its durability.

“I should admit defeat. Even with you handicapped by the lack of a shield, I’m not quite on your level. If you were fully armed, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Even with my cursed sword channeling all my game experience, I was at a clear disadvantage. If I wanted to seriously fight with Mary, we’d have to both be prepared for it to be a battle to the death. I’d only seen Mary piloting her armor before, but I’d never dreamed she’d be this strong. Now I really wanted her for Labyrinth #228!

“Are you satisfied?”

Man, what a powerful unit! But as much as I wanted to recruit her, I tried to keep the enthusiasm from showing on my face. Play it cool, Aoi.

“Yes, I’ve seen enough.”

Mary’s smile told me all I needed to know. It seemed I’d gotten full marks on this event.

“Well then, let me ask you one more time. Mary, will you come work with us?”

“It would be my honor.”

Our combat trial concluded, Mary’s face was aglow. Someday, I’d have to ask her what she thought about our fight.

“Here is my offer. In addition to your duties as labyrinth guardian, I’ll also be asking you to do chores periodically. In exchange, you’ll be provided with lodging and meals, and you’ll be paid 150,000 DL per month. How does that sound?”

“I’ll do it! Maybe it’s just a temporary thing, but mind if I call you Boss?”

She grabbed me by both hands and looked up at me, her eyes sparkling. It was harder to gauge her mood since she was human, but I was willing to bet that if she were a kobold, her tail would be wagging furiously. She was so excited she even stopped with the flowery knight talk. Huh. Would I have been able to skip the fight if I’d just told her how much I’d be paying her?

“Just keep calling me Aoi, like you have been. Mind if I stay casual with you as well?”

“Of course, Aoi. No need to worry about that. Even if I’m just a hired hand, it’d be strange for us to be overly polite.”

Helping around the house or working in the fields would probably have gotten her no more than her daily meals. She’d have been working herself to the bone to earn any money, if it weren’t for my offer, so I supposed it was natural for her to be so excited? Any prisoner needed ransom money, but as a knight and a noble, she’d need to pay a lot. It made sense that she wouldn’t be able to say no to a high-paying offer like mine. July was standing just behind Mary, holding a tray with cups of tea. When I mentioned money, her eyes turned predatory.

“Oh, that’s wonderful. I’m so glad you found a job.”

“Yes. I’m so glad to have finished searching, so I won’t be idle anymore.”

Mayor Hopper looked sincerely happy, and Mary simply looked relieved.

“Here, consider this your relocation fee. You’ll be working on-site from now on, so you can use this to prepare whatever you need before moving in.”

I handed her a leather bag with about 200,000 DL inside. I expected it would cover the money she owed the mayor, at least, and have some leftover for whatever necessities she’d have to buy. I could get what she needed on Tundra, and the quality might be higher, but I was certain it would be far more expensive as well.

“I’m grateful, Aoi, for everything, but there is one problem. Being the labyrinth guardian means I’ll have to fight, correct?”

“Well, yeah. That’s what guardians are for.”

“The issue is, I had to sell my armor to a wolfman peddler to be able to afford staying here. Is there anything that can be done about that? I don’t need the full Extended Knight Armor, but it would give me an edge against challengers to at least have my normal armor.”

“Ah, that must have been Fez. Gotcha. That said, was it okay for you to sell your armor? You’re a knight, after all.”

“No, it was absolutely not okay, but my options were limited, and it was better to sell my armor than to sell my sword.”

Wow, talk about a choice of evils. Imagine being a knight and being forced to pawn either your armor or your sword just for living expenses. Talking with Mary never failed to make me pity her.

“I’ll have a chat with the peddler and see if I can buy it back somehow.”

“I’d be very thankful. Whatever the cost, it doesn’t matter. You can take it out of my earnings. Though saying so makes me realize that all I’ve really done so far today is to increase my debt.”

Mary’s shoulders drooped. True enough, buying back something you pawned tended to be pretty expensive.

“We’ll be waiting for you at the west entrance to the village, Mary. Come meet us whenever you’re ready.”

“Absolutely. I’ll try to settle everything quickly.”

Ann and I exited the house just as July laid her hands on Mary’s shoulders, a malicious smile on her face. I heard a little shriek and looked back to see July dragging Mary into the back of the house. It looked like she was going to be squaring up with one of her debtors today.

◇

“I suppose everywhere around the village is like this, but truly, this is a rather dreary place, is it not? There is hardly any greenery.”

Ann and I were headed back to Labyrinth #228 once more, this time with Mary in tow. Her purse was light once again after paying off her debts and buying necessities. This whole region was nothing but dry wilderness as far as the eye could see, so I had to nod in agreement. The tilled fields surrounding the village weren’t an awe-inspiring sight by any means, but at least they were cheerier than the occasional dead tree or boulder you could look forward to seeing out here.

“Daemon villages are usually in places like that. There’s monsters all over most of the nice spots.”

“That’s why they live in such arid terrain? I’d always heard that Daemons simply disliked greenery, and that they preferred to live in a less tame area. I never suspected they were forced into it.”

Mary looked somewhat distressed on hearing Ann’s explanation. In a fantasy game, you’d kind of expect the Daemons to like rough places; it just came with being a Daemon, you know? But if there hadn’t been supernatural monsters around, of course they would’ve preferred to live somewhere with more fertile land, where it was easier to get by.

“Yep, that’s what Auntie told me. She said the better the land is, the bigger and meaner the monsters there are. She also said that monsters will come make nests in the fields, if they get too nice, which is hard to plan for.”

Well, that explained why the hunters never ran out of work, if the monsters were attracted to developed areas. I’d seen my share of monsters and people like the Daemons in RPGs I’d played, but this struggle for survival between the two of them here seemed more painful than usual. Actually, I still had never seen one of these monsters, so I didn’t quite know what was the difference between them and any old beast. I figured maybe they were just particularly fierce, like, more so than a wild boar or something.

“Hmm. You say they tend to congregate where the land is particularly bountiful. Does that mean monsters are largely herbivores?”

“Yeah. They like going into the fields and eating the vegetables, as well as weeds and stuff. But they have really big fangs and claws, and they’ll hurt you real bad if you come too close.”

“I see. So when a monster settles in your field, the only solution is to exterminate it. That’s when you would send for a knight like me, or maybe a soldier or an adventurer in human territory.”

“If you let too many of those vegetable-eating monsters gather, even bigger monsters will come out from deep in the forest to eat the littler ones. When that happens, you just have to give up and run away. The big monsters are super strong, and they hunt people too.”

This was a harsh world, even for those who only wanted to farm the land in peace.

“This is a pretty scary place, seems like. Hey, Mary, how do you deal with monsters over in human territory?”

Since these monsters were such a threat to Daemons, and Daemons were generally built sturdier than humans, I was curious.

“Um, well, as far as I’m aware, though there are some pests which make the lives of the farmers more difficult, there are no threats great enough that they can’t be defeated by a few men with basic training. There simply aren’t that many monsters to begin with.”

Mary’s answer was somewhat troubled. It seemed like the peasants had an easier time over in the human lands.

“You can certainly find large monsters if you venture deep into the forests. Their meat, bones, and hides are all useful and valuable. We have many adventurers, which seems to be a similar profession to your hunters, who take on requests to hunt monsters simply to collect those materials.”

Interesting. So they were valuable for crafting. The meat was probably nutrient-rich, and perhaps the organs and bones could be processed to make medicine. The durable hides were no doubt useful for making fine armor or clothing. If the bones were sturdy enough, you could even make weapons or tools out of them. They would be like whales or tuna back in my own world, where no part went to waste. Rich people must have been tripping over themselves to acquire monster materials.

“However, in most forests, the monsters have been hunted to the brink of extinction. The feudal lords have already learned of this risk and have banned hunting, but poaching continues, driving the monsters further and further towards the inevitable.”

“...”

Mary’s last remark left both of us speechless. Jeez, humans were a scary bunch. I mean, sure, monsters seemed to be weaker over there, but even so, they’d nearly hunted them to extinction?

“Ahem. On another topic, I couldn’t help but notice how unusual your attire is, Aoi. What do you call those clothes? They look rather well tailored. Are you perhaps a noble?”

Noticing our shock, Mary cleared her throat and attempted to change the topic. Well, yes, my business suit certainly did look out of place in this world. But what other option did I have? You couldn’t be a Japanese businessman and not wear a suit to work. Maybe they weren’t ideal fighting clothes, but that was beside the point. Mary had her sword strapped tight around her waist and a tattered cloth bag slung over her shoulder, which she must have bought in the village. Without any armor, she looked more like a regular village girl than a knight.

“Ah, well, this is the standard-issue labyrinth manager uniform. And we aren’t really part of the class hierarchy, so I’m not a noble.”

Admittedly, Karumi’s office didn’t actually have a dress code, so I wasn’t required to wear a suit. And I could have just brought in casual clothes to wear around the labyrinth, if I’d wanted to. But this was my job, and I didn’t feel right about it. Without my suit on, I wouldn’t have felt like I was really working. Even when I slept, I still wore the slacks and the button-down shirt. That may have sounded a little odd, but I had my reasons. See, as long as I was in this world, I was still on the clock, awake or asleep. If something unexpected happened in the middle of the night, it was my job to get up and deal with it. Most managers apparently commuted to and from home each day, so they usually had their Daemon subcontractors deal with issues that arose during the night, but I didn’t have anyone I could leave in charge like that. Not that there was much that could really happen to Labyrinth #228 in its current state. Maybe once we’d built up a proper labyrinth, then there’d be things to deal with. To be honest, the way I was racking up all this overtime by working all day every day, even though there wasn’t anything to do over the night shift, made me feel a bit guilty about how much pay I was taking home. Come to think of it, the only other manager I’d met so far was Suzu, and she’d also been wearing a suit. I wondered if her reasons were the same as mine. I’d have to ask her.

“Labyrinth managers aren’t part of the class system? You handled yourself with such poise that I felt certain you were nobility.”

“I’m happy you think so highly of me, but honestly, these are just work clothes.”

I didn’t really know much about the nobility, but I did know that Daemon nobles were appointed based on merit, not just bloodline, so it seemed education was a big differentiator for them. Perhaps, as a Japanese guy with a higher education, I could be considered nobility.

“The stitching and the design are both rather good. I know I’m imposing, but would you happen to have a spare set of those clothes, Aoi? I would be more than happy to buy it off you.”

Oh man, Mary wanted a suit? A female knight in a business suit, what a combo!

“I don’t mind, but it’s pretty expensive.”

Mary would be working as the labyrinth guardian, so a few items from my world here or there wouldn’t be a big deal.

“Oh. May I ask how much?”

“The jacket and pants together would be about forty thousand DL, and the shirt another eight thousand.”

The exchange rate for labyrinth managers was roughly one DL per yen, so that was about what they’d cost me.

“Unbelievable! I shall pass. I cannot afford to spend so lavishly on clothing.”

Mary looked crestfallen. Perhaps she was still scarred from her recent poverty, having such a hard time affording living expenses even at Milt’s cheap prices.

“Aoi, if you aren’t nobility, why would you wear such expensive clothes?”

“The place I lived before I came here was simply more expensive. If you were looking for a job there, it was common practice to wear clothes like this.”

The price of a business suit in Japan, on sale, hovered around 40,000 yen. There were no dry cleaners in this world, so you had to buy one that wouldn’t get too wrinkled when you hand-washed it. And the price only went up from there if you wanted something decent.

“Labyrinth managers are well compensated, it seems.”

She was right about that, at least. In part that was because my pay was calculated based on the cost of living in central Tokyo, but even for the location, it was high. Compared to the amount people were paid in a village like Milt, I was quite the high roller. Though they always direct deposited my salary, so it wasn’t like I could use it in here anyway.

“Labyrinth managers are thrown into difficult situations and expected to make tough decisions. Besides, it’s a dangerous job. So I guess the salary reflects that.”

Yeah, right. Sure the job paid well, but they dumped me alone in the wilderness for six months, and then I had to go to battle against an invading force. And that was just the trial period! Suddenly I wasn’t so smug about my pay anymore. Plus, if they’d at least put me in charge of a functioning labyrinth, I’d have been able to sleep through the night, rather than constantly waking up in a panic about my massive achievement deficit.

◇

“Oh, those are the stairs. We’re almost there.”

Labyrinth #228 rested at the bottom of the Great Saredo Rift. The only indication of the entrance was a signpost I’d made out of branches from a waterdry tree. We walked towards it until you could just see the dim glow of the bluelight moss lamps I’d hung around the entrance. The big staircase was easy to miss, since I hadn’t put up a rail or a fence or anything. One time, I’d gotten lost trying to find it, and after that I’d slapped together those landmarks and put them up. Simpler times. As we descended the cut stone steps, the gentle reflection of the sun on the smooth rock walls wrapped us in its warm embrace. It may have only been the sun’s reflection on stone, but the light glinting off motes dancing in the breeze made for a magical sight.

“This view is breathtaking.”

The staircase was barely two meters wide and had no railing at all, so the view was the same as if you were walking down the cliff face. The sting of the wind that went whistling through the valley sent a thrill up my spine. Mary was hugging the wall as she walked down, and probably wasn’t paying as much attention to the view as she claimed. Well, I could empathize. It’d taken me a while to get used to walking next to that sheer drop, too.

“This is truly a hidden gem. I never thought there would be such a vibrant cradle of life at the bottom of a ravine.”

Mary stopped for a moment to appreciate the basin of the Great Saredo Rift. We heard the trickle of tiny waterfalls dripping down to form rivulets through the many varieties of moss that covered the ravine in a tapestry of green and blue.

“Pretty amazing, huh? The air isn’t so dry here, and the plants smell great!”

Hearing Ann boast about our home brought a smile to my face.

“How is this possible? Surely a land this verdant should draw powerful monsters! And yet, there are none that I can see. Is this some kind of illusion?”

“They probably just haven’t realized yet, since you couldn’t really get down here until we dug out this staircase recently. Also, it seems most of the vegetation growing in here is poisonous. It’s all safe to touch, but many of the plants are dangerous if you eat them. So maybe that’s also part of the reason monsters avoid it.”

Most of the vegetation growing in the ravine basin could be used as alchemy ingredients to make both magic potions and regular medicine. About half of them were considered legendary materials. And in retrospect, those two things were probably related. Plants that were raw materials for potent medicines or magic potions obviously wouldn’t be fit for everyday consumption, whether for a human, an animal, or a monster. That kind of dosage would usually be toxic.

“So this is all poison as far as the eye can see?”

“The plants and moss are toxic, but if you treat them with care, they’re valuable medicinal materials. While you could wipe out a city or two with all the poison in them, you could also save ten times that many lives if you used them to treat illness.”

Medicinal herbs here weren’t so different from those in my own world in that regard.

“Ultimately, whether they’re poison or medicine is up to you, when you decide how to use them. Incidentally, the water here is incredibly high quality, in spite of the plants being what they are.”

“I see. Life and death are both ready-at-hand, and you have only to choose. What a remarkable place. Truly, this is fit to house a labyrinth of the Great Dark Lord.”

I worried a bit about how much Mary was getting her expectations up. She was in for a rude awakening when she saw our shabby cabin, that was for sure.

◇

“Okay now. Hey, Aoi, would you look the other way for a sec?”

When we finally reached the bottom of the steps, Ann set down her bags and put her hands together as if praying. Though she kept up her kobold form when we were outside the labyrinth, she always changed back into her human form when we returned. I dutifully turned away from her. Apparently being seen while transforming was a lot like having someone watch you change clothes.

“...”

Mary’s jaw dropped in surprise when she saw Ann turn into a pretty girl.

“You can look now! Oh, what’s wrong, Mary?”

“She seems surprised. Wonder why.”

Ann had been all skin and bones when we first met, but now she was the very picture of health. In her kobold form especially, she was wonderfully soft and fluffy. What was there to be surprised by, I wondered.

“How shocking. And even more shocking is seeing how commonplace you two treated it. This really is the other side of the world. Are you in fact a human, Ann?”

Ohhh, right, the transformation itself had caught her unawares. Yeah, that’d confused me too, the first time. She and I had slept together at first as if she was the family pet, but then she’d suddenly shapeshifted into a beautiful human girl. It was such a strong temptation, and it’d come on so suddenly, that I’d almost done something terrible to her back then.

“Ann is a half kobold. These are both her real form, and she has the strengths of both a human and a kobold.”

“Since she’s such a pretty girl, I asked her to change into kobold form outside of the labyrinth to help keep her safe. You’d have to be another kobold or close family to tell if a kobold was normal or pretty, right?”

“Um, I see. Well, I may have lived a sheltered life, but far be it from me to be frightened off by something like this.”

Mary couldn’t hide her surprise, but at least she was understanding.

“Am I a strange-looking human?”

Ann looked down at the ground and rubbed her hands together nervously. It seemed she’d spent most of her life in kobold form, so she wasn’t too comfortable with her appearance as a human. I thought she was absolutely beautiful, but you try convincing a girl of that.

“No, perish the thought! You’re simply adorable!”

Mary rushed over to stroke Ann’s head. Oh, good call, she liked that.

“Naturally, I understand why you would find it safer to appear to be a kobold in this part of the world. What surprises me is that a child can be born from a union between a human and a kobold in the first place.”

Fair enough. I’d played my share of games, but half kobolds were a new one to me.

“Are mixed races common in the Great Dark Lord’s territories?”

She looked to me for an answer, but I was the wrong guy to ask.

“Where I’m from, we only have humans.”

Despite being one of the Great Dark Lord’s labyrinth managers, I was just a human from another world. I wasn’t an expert on local anthropology.

“There’s lots in the cities especially, but most of them prefer one form over the other and just live that way, so people don’t really realize.”

Ah, that made sense. You’d never really know a half kobold from a kobold if they never transformed.

“Is there a reason why you use your human form in the labyrinth?”

“Yeah, because Aoi’s here! I’m safe as long as he’s around.”

Her radiant smile warmed my heart. We’d been through a lot of happy times, and also a lot of worrisome times, since Ann had started using her human form with me. Like when she would have trouble sleeping and undo most of the buttons on my button-down shirt that she used instead of pajamas, leaving her practically naked on top of me. Or when, half-asleep, she would hug me tight and nuzzle my chest. Both of those were a daily occurrence. Honestly, you probably got less fanservice from a typical visual novel than I got in my regular life with Ann. But I had to hang on to the tattered shreds of my self-control and act like this was all no big deal, just one of those things that happens when you lay down for a nice, relaxing rest. I just wished she’d make it a little easier on me!

Now, look, I’d obviously feel lonely if she stopped acting so intimate, but she was taking it a bit far! Still, I wasn’t in Japan anymore, and she certainly wasn’t Toto. I was in another world, and one where she was considered mature and self-sufficient. Rationally, I knew that the proper thing to do would be to introduce her to the adult world as soon as possible, but when I thought about Ann losing her purity, my hand wavered. Ann herself wasn’t aware of the temptation she represented for me, and I could see that the fondness she felt for me was more that of a doting younger sister idolizing her big brother. But regardless of how we ended up, I was prepared to do right by her. I wanted to watch her back, and to be there by her side as she matured into an adult, however long that took her.

Don’t misunderstand me, though. I wasn’t being wishy-washy, asking myself if Ann was really the girl for me, or anything like that. I’d made my decision on that front long time ago.

You see, one thing I’d learned was that, corresponding to the wild variation in races inhabiting Daemon territory, there was also a wild variation in reproductive customs. The laws took this into account, only stipulating two requirements for marriage: that the two parties must consent, and that when two people wanted to be married, they should notify the village mayor or city warden. The people also seemed completely accepting of interracial marriage.

In other words, I had options.

Now, just ask any gamer: What’s the best possible romantic outcome? The harem ending, of course! Ann was the only girl I had my sights on at the moment, but it was important to dream big.

“So, a half kobold and a human. You must have interesting family reunions. I must admit, I’m envious of the trust you have for each other, as I never had a brother myself.”

I got the feeling Mary had misunderstood our relationship, but I didn’t feel comfortable correcting her. Well, whatever the official records said, Ann and I considered each other family, and that was what mattered.

◇

“Welcome back. It seems your recruiting trip was successful.”

“Oh, Aoi’s back? Sweet, now we can get to work.”

We returned to find Karumi and Suzu, visible again through a floating UI window, both drinking tea. I didn’t mind Suzu relaxing, but I got a little miffed seeing Karumi there, just calmly sipping tea. The world was unfair if the source of my suffering got to sit around while I had to go out and cover for her mistakes.

“Karumi, Suzu, I’d like you to meet Mary, a knight of the human kingdom and my new labyrinth guardian. Mary, this is Karumi and Suzu.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Ooh, a human knight, and so polite. Nice find, Aoi! Whaddaya think, Karumi?”

“I’m surprised, to say the least. She’s certainly strong enough to serve as the labyrinth’s guardian.”

Karumi looked Mary over carefully. Wait, that was all she had to do to measure her ability?

“Suzu, does Karumi have some ability beyond our <Appraisal>?”

All labyrinth managers learned the <Appraisal> ability immediately, which showed basic stats like vitality, stamina, and willpower when used on a person. But it didn’t show much beyond that and wasn’t as useful as it sounded.

“Yeah, Karumi’s skill is different from ours. I’ve heard she can see more detailed info, like numerical values attached to skills and abilities.”

Sounded pretty handy. How come we didn’t get that?

“Aoi, are these two women attached to the labyrinth in some way?”

“Ah, right, I should tell you more about them. The one at the table there is Karumi, my superior. And the one talking through the window is Suzu, a colleague of mine and a fellow labyrinth manager... Hmm? What seems to be the trouble?”

“Well, there was a labyrinth near my old home, but it was a dreadful place where miasma would gather. If anybody was brave enough to dare challenging it, they were beset by vile creatures. I must admit that I’m shocked to find they were staffed by humans.”

Miasma? Crazy.

“I guess Suzu and I don’t really look like labyrinth overlords, do we? Maybe a minotaur like Mayor Hopper would be a better fit for your image of a labyrinth manager?”

“The appearance isn’t the issue. Even knowing a Daemon was in charge of one would be upsetting. To think that a person was in charge of all these... But do not worry about it. I’m fine now.”

I figured things were pretty different over in the human kingdom, and Mary was still coming to grips with the differences. It must have been hard on her.

“Kousaka, have you and Mary signed a contract?”

“No, but we have a verbal agreement. Do we need something written?”

In a world like this, I figured giving your word should be enough.

“Yes, you do. Ms. Mary, could you come take a look at this? I have your contract here, and... Oh, Kousaka, just to confirm, you’re hiring her as your labyrinth guardian right?”

“That’s the plan.”

If she was strong enough to pass Karumi’s inspection, I certainly wasn’t going to change my mind now.

“Then we’ll need to file her labyrinth guardian registration as well.”

Karumi rummaged around in her briefcase and pulled out a few manila folders and documents. She laid them before Mary to sign, explaining the details of each one.

“Excellent, that’s all we need for registration. Kousaka, can you fill out this paper detailing her signing bonus?”

“Of course. This one here, right? Let’s see, the amount was... this.”

I went on to fill out her salary as well, but something about this wasn’t sitting right with me. When you hired a wandering swordsman or whatever, wasn’t this supposed to be the big scene? Like, shouldn’t there be some sweet line about guarding you with their life, and maybe some over-the-top ritual involving blood or whatever? It seemed almost criminal that all we were doing was signing a pile of documents. This was even worse than buying groceries and paying with your phone.

“All right, now that that’s all signed, we just need it properly notarized. That means it’s my turn.”

Karumi took a resin case from her bag, removed a stamp from it, and pressed the stamp firmly to the document, leaving an intricate black seal on the page.

“And now it’s official. Welcome to Labyrinth #228, guardian. We’re expecting a lot from you.”

Karumi made some closing remarks as she stashed the documents in her briefcase.

“Aoi, is that really all there is to it? This is worlds apart from the rituals I went through when I was made a knight.”

Seriously. This was a little too modern an approach for hiring a knight.

“Well, you’re better off not thinking too hard about how things normally work when you’re in the labyrinth. Trust me, I know how you feel.”

I put a comforting hand on Mary’s shoulder. She was finally a member of Labyrinth #228. We had a guardian, and gofer in chief.

“Did I really become your labyrinth guardian? I thought there’d be some change, but I don’t feel any different.”

Mary pats herself down. She had a point. If this were a game, a class change like going from knight to labyrinth guardian would come with a strength boost and a palette swap, at the very least.

“Labyrinth manager is just a title. It doesn’t change anything in particular.”

Admittedly, it would’ve been kind of extreme if she’d turned into some beefy boss monster immediately after signing a few papers.

“Actually, I’ll have you scrubs know, labyrinth guardians do get a few perks.”

“Oh, really?”

Mary and I asked in unison, and Suzu went on to explain.

“Becoming a labyrinth guardian makes you officially a subject of the Great Dark Lord, and a high-ranking one at that. That means you get a bunch of tax breaks! Plus, now you can use Tundra, as long as your labyrinth manager gives you permission. Oh, um, Tundra is this special shop that only labyrinth managers and their authorized employees can use to buy and sell goods.”

Wait, that was it? I was imagining some crazy new ability or something. Lame.

“Here, Ms. Mary, this is for you.”

Karumi presented a black plastic card to Mary.

“What is this?”

“This is your labyrinth guardian ID card. Please be sure to always keep it with you. Not only is it an ID, it also gets you discounts at state-operated institutions!”

“I-I see. I’ll be careful not to misplace it. This does all sound beneficial, but certainly not in the sense I had imagined it would.”

She accepted the black card in its plastic slip case and stared at it, bemused.

“Look, I totally get where you’re coming from, but try to roll with it, okay? You’ll get used to this eventually.”

The perks were nice, but they just weren’t quite what you were hoping for. Like, shouldn’t she get some labyrinth-exclusive skill or something? But that particular disappointment was one I knew all too well, and Mary was going to have to learn it too.

“So, can you show me what I’m going to be protecting?”

Oh. She wasn’t going to like this.

“See that cabin right there?”

“Indeed. It looks a little worse for wear.”

“That’s the full extent of Labyrinth #228 as it currently stands.”

We stored all our vegetables and grains there, but there wasn’t really anything that needed to be fiercely guarded. On reflection, the only intruders we were likely to get were like, mice? We probably should’ve hired a cat to protect our food stash, not a knight.

“Surely you jest, Aoi.”

“Now that we have you, we’re going to start building the actual labyrinth. In the meantime, you’re on standby. I’m going to build the whole thing in three months. Somehow.”

If I couldn’t manage that, Mary’s job security was in question.

“Very well. You can count on me. In the meantime, I shall protect this cabin.”

Oh gosh, she looks like a little lost puppy. I’m sorry, but I can’t show you a labyrinth that doesn’t exist! You’re still getting paid the same, so why do you care so much?!

“So she’ll be protecting your house. This is less like being a labyrinth guardian and more like being in the home security business.”

Look, that thought crossed my mind too, Suzu, but I wasn’t actually gonna say it out loud!

◇

“Hey, Aoi? Mary’s a fine choice for a guardian, but what’re you doing for monsters? You’re gonna need trash mobs as well as a boss.”

“Could you tell me how you have your labyrinth set up, Suzu?”

“Yeah, sure. #370 is a production and storage labyrinth, right? So I just hire mercs. They kinda patrol, chase out any monsters, that sorta thing. Maintain order, you know? Just in case, I’ve got this contraption that produces skeleton-type golems when you feed it raw resources, but it’s a pain in the neck to use, so now it’s basically a hat rack.”

Huh. Pretty weak security. Though, if she had mercenaries strong enough to drive away monsters, she was way better off than me.

“That doesn’t really give me any ideas. Your objective is to produce a lot of stuff and make money, right? And all you need to protect your warehouse is some mercenaries?”

“If things get serious, I just go around and hire every single Daemon mercenary in the nearby villages and towns. When push comes to shove, I can scrounge up enough numbers to be the envy of a decent-sized fortress.”

So she would grow her military on demand in emergencies. That gave me some nasty flashbacks.

“I remember one time I was pitted against you. I’d taken over this defenseless town with a skeleton force, and you showed up out of nowhere to lay siege to it with a full battalion not even half a day later. That was pretty intense.”

“And I’ll give a taste of that to anyone who wants to pick a fight with me. You may have slipped away back then, but most people aren’t so lucky.”

Suzu grinned. No matter how many times you beat her down, she’d always come back tenfold like some damn zombie. The ordeals she put me through had left me scarred for life.

“Say, why’d you go and run away that time? I worked real hard to put together that siege force. I was gonna decorate my office with a Blue animal.”

Scary. I’d only gotten away that time thanks to the elite soldiers I’d brought with me, and even with them at my side, we’d sustained heavy losses.

“Anyway, I suggest you use Daemon mercenaries. You can get as many as you want, if you’ve got the scratch, and they’re sharp cookies, so they’re easy to handle.”

“You said you were going to talk to some of them for me, earlier. How’d that go?”

“Oh, sorry about that. I tried asking the guys on my payroll, but they’re all contracted by the local villages, not to mention me, so they’re not really available for a long-distance gig.”

So her mercenaries and hunters had put down roots in the area. Well, you’d have to be a fool to walk away from a steady source of income like that. Suzu’s approach did lend a lot of stability to the region she operated in.

“Karumi, is Suzu’s labyrinth far from here?”

“From Labyrinth #228, it’s about sixty kilometers southeast as the crow flies. In the grand scheme of things, it’s fairly close. But you have to bear in mind that everybody gets around here by walking, or at best riding a carriage.”

“If it’s sixty kilometers as the crow flies, then it’s going to be even longer on the roads. Not an impossible distance to travel, but not something you could do casually.”

The roads were almost certainly not flat, either. You were probably looking at a week of walking. If there were a well-maintained road it would be one thing, but when you considered the dangers of building and maintaining a road that passed through forests where monsters lurked, things got a bit more interesting.

“Suzu, what’s the difference between a mercenary and a hunter, among Daemons?”

“Mercenaries fight people for pay. Daemons, humans, whatever. Hunters mostly fight monsters. That said, the boundaries are kinda blurry. Like, the mercenaries I hire also double as hunters, a lot of the time.”

More or less what I expected. If you were a sword for hire, you probably weren’t too picky about what you were sticking your sword in.

“Then it’s probably not a good idea for me to hire too many Daemon mercenaries, right?”

“Huh? Why’s that? Oh, wait, I get it. Your plan is to get hunters to challenge the labyrinth in the first place.”

“Right. If I hired all the mercenaries, there wouldn’t be enough people to challenge the labyrinth.”

I didn’t know how many people were actually going to show up, and I wanted to maximize my chances of success. Admittedly, I didn’t want there to be too many intruders either, but too few would be the worst possible problem.

“Also, I bet they’d be annoyed to find one of their fellow hunters waiting to ambush them in the labyrinth.”

“Yeah, I expect you’re right about that. If something went wrong in your labyrinth, it would damage the reputation of the owner of the labyrinth. In other words, the Great Dark Lord.”

That sounded like a career-limiting move. Lord knows Labyrinth #228 didn’t need another scandal to add to the pile.

“Okay. So I have to watch out for both the number of visitors and the labyrinth’s reputation. If we’re targeting Daemons in this labyrinth, we have to handle it with tact.”

Suzu pursed her lips.

“It’s certainly easier to manage with the way you’re luring intruders, but it does seem to complicate the situation somewhat.”

“Okay, let’s assume we’re not using any Daemon mercenaries at all, for a minute, and see where that gets us.”

If there were too many intruders to handle, or if some emergency arose, I could always reconsider.

“Then your next option is monsters. That said, you can’t breed them without permission, and they’re not exactly docile. Merchants stay well clear of labyrinths with monsters, and you wouldn’t want one of the villagers to get injured.”

Yeah. That all rang true. As the labyrinth manager, I’d feel absolutely awful if one of the monsters I brought in harmed one of the merchants or villagers.

“Just making the labyrinth good at luring and repelling intruders is hard enough, but when you consider it’s supposed to have a positive effect on the surrounding community as well, things get so complicated. How am I going to set up trash mobs for this place?”

Suzu and I were both stumped.

“Kousaka, since it was my error which caused all this hassle, could I ask you to let me handle providing the beasts for your labyrinth?”

Karumi interrupted our reverie with a surprising offer. Incidentally, Karumi, this isn’t a one-time thing, the way you’re making it sound. Your screwups are pretty much the source of all my misfortune. But I couldn’t very well say that to my superior, so I put on a fake smile and seethed inside like a good adult.

“Any help you can offer would be great, of course, but how exactly are you going to do that?”

“I know of one excellent option which is commonly used in fully functional labyrinths. Let’s see... a dozen of these two-meter-tall humanoid battle golems should do. They follow orders meticulously, incur no maintenance at all, and are incredibly easy to use. I’ll pay for them myself, of course, so you can rest easy on that front.”

Honestly, golems would be perfect. I’d seen them for sale on Tundra, and I knew they would provide what I needed, but the price was so high that I had dismissed them out of hand.

“I’d be grateful, but are you sure?”

“Yes. Let me do my part to make this right.”

The price of golems varied depending on quality, but even the cheapest one cost about as much as a used car.

“Could you show me what type of golem you’d like?”

I opened the labyrinth manager window and navigated to the Tundra catalog, where I pulled up the battle golem page and sorted by price.

Autonomous Patrol and Battle Humanoid Golem (Garta) == 600,000 DL

Seller: Manager, Labyrinth #89

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Reviewer: Manager, Labyri nth #32

- Works even in harsh desert terrain, and its durability is amazing!

Even though there’s sandstorms all the time, these babies never fail me. Like the name says, they’re good at patrolling, but they’re not that strong, so I’d recommend against using them for anything heavy-duty. The quality is about what you’d expect from the price. Don’t expect them to do much aside from keeping watch.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #201

- These are heavy golems, so don’t try to use them in marshland.

When I took them out on patrol, they sank into the swamp, and it took me forever to get them out. Seems like I can’t use them around most of my place. I’ve got them standing guard in front of my treasure warehouse, but I kinda doubt they’d even deter an intruder.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #13

- Pretty well made and reliable, but there’s no heart in them!

The price is reasonable, and they perform okay, but that’s it. If they were gonna make humanoid golems, you’d think they’d have gone to the trouble to make it so the golems could walk properly, instead of only in a perfectly straight line! Plus, those hideous rods they call arms and legs are just unsightly. This thing sucks!

“That won’t do at all.”

Karumi slid her finger across the screen, flipping pages in the catalog.

“Ah, here we are. This is what I had in mind.”

She stopped many pages after the one I’d shown her.

Autonomous Armor-Type Golem Soldier (Big D, Mark II) == 4,800,000 DL

Seller: Manager, Labyrinth #477

Rating: ★★★★☆

Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #552

- Just like the price, you have to see them to believe them.

They can fight barehanded, but they’re pre-programmed to be able to handle any weapon you give them as well. They’re poetry in motion. Those smooth moves are out of this world. The only problem is that high price tag. With humanoid golems like these, you’ll just keep wanting more of them, but they’ll put a huge strain on your finances.

Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #16

- Very efficient.

They obey orders perfectly, especially combat orders, and the way they carry them out is a sight to behold. Their maintenance needs are minimal, and they’ll likely keep doing exactly what you tell them to until they stop working. Everyday use? Look, don’t buy a high-end battle golem if you want a robo-maid.

“Shall I buy a dozen?”

Forget a used car, each of these was like buying a brand new luxury sports car. I knew Karumi was the Great Dark Lord’s daughter, but she had to be filthy rich.

“Well, aren’t you Mr. Lucky! Battle golems are sturdy, and they don’t get tired or need refueling. What’s more, if you give them a directive not to kill, they can reliably take down human invaders without killing them in the process, even if they have to rough ‘em up a bit. Hey, come on, let me have just one of ‘em!”

“Not a chance. Karumi, you’re really going to buy these for me?”

“Of course. Leave everything to me.”

Karumi gave me a dazzling smile. Hmm. Perhaps Karumi was the type of woman who liked it when people relied on her? Nah, I was probably overthinking it.

◇

Okay, so we had a boss and we had trash mobs. Now all that was left was the easy part: building an entire labyrinth.

“Something on your mind? You won’t get anywhere puzzling it over alone.”

I was glad I had Suzu looking out for me. She may have looked like a little girl, but she was a real adult on the inside where it counted.

“Hold it. Were you just thinking something dirty?”

“Please, let’s keep this serious. I’m just considering how one builds a labyrinth.”

Actually, that was kind of a dirty thought, but she wouldn’t realize it if I played it cool. I wasn’t at my best when it came to dealing with women, but there were more girls playing online games these days than there used to be, so it wasn’t like you didn’t interact with them. If you were part of an active guild or clan and didn’t how to at least talk to women, you were in for a rough time.

“I mean, you just kinda do it.”

“They aren’t exactly selling handy dandy instant labyrinth kits on Tundra.”

“So, you probably don’t have anybody with construction experience on your team, but like, that just means you need to hire some contractors, y’know?”

Outside help? But the only other person who came here was Deneb, and all she did was bring food from the village every once in a while.

“...”

I glanced over at Karumi, who was looking the other way with her hands over her ears, blushing. That was cute and all, but I was still annoyed.

“So far, I’ve built everything here myself. Are you saying it’d be okay for me to hire someone else to work on it, like the people in the village?”

“I don’t know what to say. This is so pathetic it’s depressing to even watch.”

Suzu looked pretty upset about my situation, but it was just another day in the life, as far as I was concerned. I didn’t know what kind of privileged environment the other labyrinths had, because I’d never even had a labyrinth at all.

“Look, just hire people, okay? We’ve got a deadline, and we’re not going to make it if you’re the only one building.”

“True. I’ll hire as many villagers as I can.”

In retrospect, it had taken Ann and I two months of backbreaking labor just to make those stairs.

“Hey Suzu, so I was thinking we should do something relatively simple. Do you know of any way to build an underground structure without breaking the bank?”

“So that’s how you wanna do it. One thing to keep in mind is, the deeper you build it, the more it’s gonna cost, and it’ll take longer to boot. For starters, maybe only aim for a single-story labyrinth.”

“Got it, stick close to the surface. Oh, actually, wait a minute.”

I raised my hand and summoned the labyrinth manager UI window, opening the <Dungeon Management Tool> skill and selecting <Terrain Improvement Tool: Soil>. I felt a slight sense of fatigue as an iron shovel emanating particles of light appeared in front of me.

“That shovel just appeared out of thin air!”

“Yeah, he can make tools like that. I don’t really know much about it, but apparently it’s some magic he got from the Great Dark Lord.”

“Ohhh, I see. Magic. That makes sense.”

...People around here were way too accepting of that explanation.

I stuck my shovel into the ground, and a cross-shaped rift opened up around the spot where it sunk in. I applied a little force, pushing the shovel deeper into the ground.

“And... there we go.”

A cubical chunk of ground, maybe ten centimeters in all dimensions, popped out of the ground with a satisfying plop. Seeing my tools producing perfectly-shaped materials never got old. I brushed aside the moss and grass that had tumbled into the hole and watched it carefully.

“Figured as much. There’s water seeping in already.”

Muddy water gradually filled the now-empty cube of land. There was water everywhere in this ravine, so I’d kind of expected this.

“Whatcha doin’ over there, Aoi?”

“Confirming the terrain. At least in this area, if we try to build underground, the construction is either going to give out because of the soft soil or flood with water.”

“Lousy starting conditions, eh? Looks about the same everywhere that I can see. You think your whole ravine is gonna be like that?”

“Yeah. If we need to build an underground labyrinth, we’re going to have to do something about the land first.”

It’d have to be drastic, too, like building a dam to hold back the flow of water, or even reversing the flow. Doing that in a world without heavy construction machinery would be a nightmarishly complex project that could easily take decades.

“You can see the water seeping out of the sides of the ravine easily enough, but there’s groundwater too. Digging isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

“Looks like you’re caught between a rock and a wet place.”

“What’s more, we can’t just go destroying the ecosystem here. This ravine is a treasure trove of medicinal herbs.”

The vegetation here was too valuable. In game terms, the mosses and herbs were SR-class materials. More importantly, the magic potions I concocted with them were my main source of income. If we wiped that out, I’d have to find a new way to make money, or I’d end up broke, fast. Maybe I could start cultivating them, but I was certain that damaging the environment here would be tying the rope around my neck.

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting how you’re the one making those top-class potions that pop up on Tundra.”

“Yep, and I need all these herbs to make them. If we build the labyrinth here, I bet we’ll disrupt the ecosystem. Talk about a kick in the teeth.”

“This isn’t something to joke about!”

So the bottom of the ravine was out, and obviously we weren’t going to carve into the stone sides. Maybe we could use the area up above?

“Karumi, would the labyrinth still be officially recognized if we built it up there?”

I was worried about going outside the ravine, even if it was just on the edge of the cliff. If we did all that work up on the surface and then didn’t get any credit for it, that’d be the worst.

“Just a moment, let me double-check the terms. Let’s see, Labyrinth #228...”

She navigated the UI thoughtfully. I was frankly terrified of trusting Karumi with anything at this point, so I was glad to see she was being careful.

“Ahh, here we go. These are the formal requirements regarding location. As long as the structure is within half a kilometer of the Great Saredo Rift, it will be recognized as Labyrinth #228.

Pretty sloppy specifications, but at least that gave us liberty to build where we wanted to.

“Then that settles it. We will build the labyrinth up there, outside the ravine, on good solid ground.”

But starting would have to wait until tomorrow.

◇

Dusk settled in as we began our dinner preparations.

“Okay, Mary, I need you to be honest with me. Do you remember when I said being the guardian wasn’t your only role and that we’d also need you to do odd jobs?”

“Of course. A knight holds her promises very dear.”

“Good. So, Mary, can you prepare meals?”

“I’m good at slicing things up.”

Well, that both was and was not an answer to the question.

“Let me rephrase the question. Can you cook?”

“I can’t vouch for your safety if you eat anything I cook, let alone your enjoyment of it, but I welcome the challenge.”

That go-getter attitude was great and all, but it didn’t change the fact that she couldn’t cook.

“Can you make a fire?”

“It may take me some time, but with the necessary tools and my firm dedication, I can accomplish anything.”

“Then, can you light a fire for the furnace? Ask Ann to show you where we keep the firewood.”

“Leave it to me.”

Mary walked over with determination and began working on starting the fire. Human knights seemed to be from the noble class, so it was no surprise that she didn’t know how to cook, but I was starting to worry that perhaps I’d misjudged her and she wouldn’t be good for anything but fighting.

“I was hoping bringing in a new chef would mean some diversity in our menu, but no such luck.”

I was getting damn near sick of steamed pumpkin. Ann and Deneb must have felt the same, but Milt was a modest village and it reflected in their eating habits. The locals ate anything that was cheap and filling, without much regard for flavor. I’d been expecting Mary to teach us human recipes, but since she couldn’t cook, that would probably be asking a lot.

I went through our storage and set out some of our seemingly endless stock of demi corn and pumpkin, and then began steaming and mashing them. I dished up the makeshift corn and pumpkin mash along with some jerky, as well as some fresh bread I’d found on Tundra. It was simple fare compared to modern Japanese cooking. The mashed pumpkin was pretty stringy, and despite everything I tried, the corn always tasted dry. But a place like Milt simply couldn’t afford to prepare food with a lot of flavorful seasonings. In fact, every time Deneb came to visit, she’d smile and tell me how delicious my food was, so we were eating pretty well, comparatively. And as far as Ann was concerned, anything I made was delicious, so she wasn’t the most helpful person to have around if I wanted to improve. I appreciated that she was such a sweet girl, not to mention that she wasn’t a picky eater, but still.

“Aoi, shouldn’t we get one of these for Mary?”

Ann showed me the Tundra page she had open in the labyrinth manager window. Ever since Karumi had approved my application for Ann to join my family, she’d had access to her own UI. It was somewhat limited compared to the full labyrinth manager interface, but at least she could open Tundra. She also could see the status of both the labyrinth manager and any other family members, so it wasn’t all that bad. Ann currently had a window open displaying a modest set of dishware.

“Oh, that’s the same one we always buy porcelain from, right? Labyrinth #112. Their goods are a little pricey, but they’re high quality and sturdy. Good choice.”

Labyrinth #112 stocked a lot of porcelain items, ranging from daily necessities to works of art. I wondered if the manager there was simply a pottery enthusiast. Their prices were kind of high, but the design and quality never disappointed.

“Mary, over here!”

Ann grabbed Mary and showed her to the delivery box alongside the cabin, then showed her how to fill the piggy bank above it to pay for goods.

“See, just put the money in here.”

Ann inserted the DL coin through the slot on top of the piggy, and her UI window popped up a message indicating successful payment. Another window opened up in the air, and a cardboard box with a sticker on it saying “Handle with care” slid out and gently fell to the ground. The dispenser tended to be absolutely silent when it was a fragile item.

“Thanks for your purchase. Have a loooovely day!”

A cheery voice offered us a greeting—Ann and I just called the owner of that voice “the Tundra guy”—and the window closed as fast as it had opened.

“...Ann, what the blazes just happened?”

Mary rubbed her eyes as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just seen. Her expression was half surprised and half exasperated. No, maybe 80% exasperated? It was quite a look, at any rate.

“What, just now? That was the Tundra guy. He delivers things.”

Ann retrieved the paper cutter and opened up the cardboard box with ease, then removed the tableware from its cardboard cushioning.

“Here, these dishes are yours. Make sure to wash them before you use them for the first time.”

Ann handed Mary her plates and then showed her to the spring we used for washing dishes. I felt like this was going to work out okay. Even if Mary was useless at housework now, she had Ann there to teach her, so I was sure it would be fine.

“Aoi, I expect a proper explanation upon my return.”

I nodded at her and watched as Ann dragged her off.

When Mary returned, I explained to her that Tundra was a marketplace and distributor for labyrinth managers and their families and subordinates, permitting them to trade their local goods with each other. I could almost hear the sound of her preconceptions shattering like glass. The Great Dark Lord implementing such a system in this primitive world was bound to raise a few eyebrows, so Mary’s shock wasn’t completely inappropriate. But like I kept telling her, you just had to accept things as they were and roll with the punches.

I plated our dinner for three. When it came to having company at meals, my philosophy was, the more the merrier, and I was used to cooking an extra portion for when Deneb came around. Mary struck me as the type who could really pack it away, so I made double the usual, just in case she wanted seconds.

“Well, let’s get to it before it gets cold.”

“Yeah!”

Ann dug in straightaway with a cheerful shout. Man, the way she looked so excited about dinner always made the effort I spent on cooking feel worth it.

“Thanks for the meal.”

Mary, on the other hand, sounded a bit more hesitant. Maybe eating at July’s table had left her with some trauma.

“This is delicious!”

“What a pleasant surprise. The seasoning provides a lovely balance between sweet and salty. I had heard the food in your labyrinth was good, but to think it was of this quality.”

Ann was kind as always, but Mary’s delighted surprise was something new. Though I wasn’t actually much pleased by her flattery. I’d kinda just thrown in all the seasoning I had. It seemed the humans in this world didn’t have particularly refined tastes, any more than the Daemons I’d met.

“I’m glad you like it, Mary.”

The surface of the mashed corn and pumpkin ball I’d cooked had grown somewhat cold, but a pleasant smell wafted from it when I cut it in half with my chopsticks. I popped a piece in my mouth, but the corn was as dry as ever, and the pumpkin was still stringy. The jerky was kinda rubbery and hard to chew, too. We were better off than before we’d finished the grand staircase, which had given us access to food from the village, but I still wasn’t content with the situation. Still, in spite of my misgivings, the girls were enjoying it, so I smiled awkwardly and bit my tongue.

The highlight of the meal was the bread, for sure. We didn’t have any butter, so the only taste you got was the bread itself, and boy was it good. It didn’t have the hard, crunchy mouthfeel or the heavy salt content of bread made to last longer; this was bread that you had to eat the day it was made. Man, I really had to pat myself on the back for making a point of monitoring Tundra to learn the exact moment this bread was listed. There was no substitute for bread fresh out of the oven, still piping hot. It was so popular that it usually disappeared within thirty minutes.

“Aoi, um, this is all so excellent. I don’t suppose I could trouble you for more?”

“You want seconds? Sure, I made a lot tonight, so eat as much as you want. Oh, I don’t have much of that fresh bread, though. You mind the regular kind? I have to warn you, it’s not as soft.”

“That’s more than good enough for me. I’m grateful simply to be able to eat.”

She ate that hardtack like it was nothing. Maybe she was used to it? I couldn’t believe how contentedly she was munching on that stuff; if you asked me, it was about the same as eating a rock.

“And it’s okay to have more of the rest of this, too?”

“It’s fine. I made extra tonight.”

I’d been thinking maybe there would be leftovers that we could have for breakfast tomorrow, but it looked like she was gonna scrape the pot clean. She enjoyed the food so much, it was hard to complain. I was pretty impressed that she could maintain such a killer figure with an appetite like that. It wasn’t like I had X-ray specs and could take her measurements through her clothing, but she didn’t look like she had an ounce of extra fat on her.

◇

“Kousaka, may I have a minute?”

I was at the spring washing dishes when a window popped up, accompanied by Karumi’s voice.

“Yes, of course.”

Actually, two windows popped up. One displayed “Connecting: Sound Only”, while the other one showed Karumi sitting at the office table, upon which was set a steaming water heater and an extra-large cup of noodles proudly proclaiming Tom Ramen.

...She didn’t want me to see this.

I set the clean dishes atop a nearby rock and took a seat. The bottom of the ravine was covered in luminescent moss, which provided a bit of light, but not much in comparison to the fluorescent lights of the office on the other side of the window. I could see the train station through the window in the office. They had a lot of lights on there as well.

“I wanted to ask you about Mary, actually.”

Karumi pressed the button on the water heater, dispensing it into the cup of noodles. Three minutes until dinner time.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Knights are a bit different there than they are here, and they really come in two classes. First, those who pilot the Extended Knight Armor, the mechanical devices which you dealt with in Milt. Those are fairly common in scuffles between humans and Daemons.”

Right, Mary had said the same thing: people who could pilot the armor were called knights.

“The other group is less familiar to me. It’s possible Mary herself isn’t terribly familiar with them. They’re a clan of powerful members of the human colony, tasked with protecting their race. It’s rare for one of them to be born with less than exceptional strength.”

“Hmm, so that’s the other kind of knight, huh?”

Maybe that was why I’d seen two different skill sets when I had used <Appraisal> on Mary?

“Yes. It seems Mary has training as both kinds of knight. The second variety may have faded into obscurity after the Extended Knight Armor grew in popularity, but Daemons are still wary of them. As a member of that clan, someone born into the guardianship of the human race, she has outstanding physical prowess.”

So she’d be like, a champion NPC or something if this was a game. No surprises there. Her stats were too high to be a simple soldier, however well-trained. The others who had been with her during the raid had been normal.

“So you see, as a sworn protector of humanity, she would find it difficult to betray her people. If she tried, her knightly instincts would make her feel revulsion at her actions, leading her to avoid it by any means possible.”

At least it didn’t sound like any kind of terribly painful experience, or like a physically binding restriction, but she did have some kinda fuzzy shackles. That whole thing about being the chosen guardians of her people was pretty amazing. Karumi seemed to be implying there were a bunch of other people like her. If they were all that amazing, they’d probably go down as a family of heroes on Earth, or maybe like a line of top military commanders or something? I wondered exactly how one became a knight here. It sounded like you had to be born into the clan, but Mary had said something about her initiation being difficult, so I wasn’t so sure. Anyway, that question could wait. I had something more important to ask first.

“Can she still be a labyrinth guardian?”

I didn’t think Karumi would’ve let her sign a contract if she couldn’t actually do the job, but I still wanted to make sure.

“Things should be fine as long as she’s working towards returning to her kind. Even if she is temporarily allied with the Daemons, it will all be to benefit the humans in the end.”

“I see. As long as this isn’t going to restrict her too much, we’ll be okay.”

So Karumi had called to warn me, although there was nothing to worry about immediately. The sight of Karumi lovingly tilting her cup of noodles to drain the water from them cut the tension of the moment magnificently.

“Can I ask you one more question? What would happen to a knight who betrayed her people?”

Karumi had said that a knight would find it difficult, not that she would find it impossible. A subtle but important distinction.

“I’m very sorry, but I can’t answer that question. There are restrictions on what I’m allowed to tell labyrinth managers, and frankly, everything I’ve told you so far is already forbidden.”

So Karumi wasn’t allowed to tell me much. Though they must’ve been pretty lenient about it, if she could just call me up and tell me about it quietly. Sounded more like an “only on a need-to-know basis” kind of thing, rather than a “strictly confidential” thing. At any rate, I was just relieved that Mary would get to stay on as our labyrinth guardian.

“Thank you for contacting me. Enjoy your dinner.”

“Oh, thank y— Wait, Kousaka, how do you know that I’m about to have dinner?”

Karumi looked sorrowfully at the little timer on the table, which probably indicated that her noodles had been ready for a long time now, so I cut off the call. I sure hoped her noodles hadn’t gotten too soggy.

◇

“Aoi, where should I sleep?”

After putting out the fire and returning to the cabin, Mary called out to me, a single blanket clutched in her hands. It was worn and discolored, but it looked like it had originally been of quite high quality. Was this one of Mary’s few remaining personal belongings?

“I’m accustomed to roughing it, so I could sleep on the floor if need be, but if you do have a mattress to spare, I would be greatly in your debt.”

“Oh, yeah, you’ll need a bed.”

Damn, I’d forgotten to prepare a place for Mary to sleep. The only bed in the cabin was the one Ann and I used. I’d bought a bed for Ann, but she’d insisted we just push the two of them together to make one big bed. There was room for another bed in the cabin, but it would leave things a little cramped. Hmm. I could buy her a mattress stuffed with hay. Those were nice, since you could remove the stuffing and fold them up pretty small when you weren’t using them.

“You should sleep with us, Mary!”

Ann, having just changed into one of my button-down shirts, interrupted my train of thought.

“I-I wouldn’t want to disturb the two of you at your rest, Ann.”

“Nah, the bed’s plenty big. We can all fit in easy.”

Well, she had a point. We’d pushed two beds together, and Ann was pretty tiny, so we probably could fit three people in it.

“...”

While Ann and Mary talked, I reached into my pouch and took out a few dried leaves, which I popped into my mouth. Ah, that familiar, minty taste.

“I want us to sleep together. We can all snuggle up!”

The way she talked about it, it was like a precious experience she’d missed out on. Crowding everyone into one big bed together was a normal enough experience for a young kid in a family. I realized once again that I still didn’t know much about Ann’s past.

“Um. I see. I’m, uh, not so sure.”

Mary gave me a fleeting glance, which told me she was thinking the same thing I was. Her sharing a bed with Ann was one thing, but it would be a bit different for her and me. I was reluctant about the plan as well, but I was staying calm. The way Ann clung tight to me every night was already hard on me, and I figured Mary being around wouldn’t make much of a difference. Most importantly, I had an ally in my nightly struggle: my minty friend.

I checked the stash in my pouch. Hmm, looked like I was running low on herbs. I slid my index finger to the right, and the labyrinth manager menu opened up. I selected the Tundra catalog.

Samathi Herb (Dry; 8 pc. set, 15g) == 1,800 DL

Seller: Manager, Labyrinth #201

Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #16

- A handy herb for when you need to pull all-nighters. Boil the leaves with hot water and you’ll get a relaxing, bittersweet tea. Great for calming your nerves when you’re staying up all night. I ran a few tests to analyze the components, but I didn’t find any addictive agents or anything with harmful side effects. Unfortunately, if you try to extract the active compounds, the nature of the effect changes, so you can’t mass-produce medicine from it.

Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #228

- A good friend for those sleepless nights. Pour a little water on it, pop it in your mouth, give it a chew, and it’ll calm you right down. Talk about convenient! I just need to take a bit of it when I’m having trouble sleeping, and boom! I’m out like a light. The taste is all right, and it doesn’t seem to have any side effects. It’s my favorite.

“There’s plenty still in stock, so I should be fine waiting until tomorrow to place another order.”

“It’d really bother you that much to sleep with me, Mary?”

When Ann turned on the puppy dog eyes, I knew the game was up. What was most impressive was that she did that naturally; she wasn’t even trying to be manipulative.

“Of course not! In the military, we used to sleep huddled together from time to time. I don’t mind at all.”

And Mary was down for the count. She didn’t even last through round one.

“All right then, I’m gonna go to bed first!”

Ann skipped over to the bed and plopped down right in the middle.

“I suppose this ship has already sailed, but, Aoi, do you mind me sleeping in the same bed as you?”

“I’m a little worried about it, but it’s fine. If I said I wanted to sleep somewhere else, Ann would throw a fit.”

“Would she now. I see.”

Mary and I shared a whispered conversation. It seemed my answer convinced her.

And so all three of us lay down in bed, with Ann between me and Mary. I’d played 3P scenes like this in visual novels and whatnot, but I sure never expected to get the experience in real life. Ann fell asleep quickly. Long nights playing online games had caught up with her. On the other side of her, Mary was wearing form-fitting pajamas and had her arms wrapped tight around Ann, her face completely red. She’d boldly claimed she would be fine, but sleeping huddled together in the military was a far cry from sharing a bed with someone.

In the end, Ann had successfully convinced the both of us, even though we were embarrassed about it. I couldn’t imagine telling her I didn’t want to sleep beside her, and Mary’s clumsy kindness did her in as well. My ears pricked every time Mary took another deep breath. She was clearly still wide awake, and restless. Me, I was already going under. I could feel myself slowly slipping away into the land of dreams, a slight smile on my face. Heh. Just like Ann, I’d also been up late gaming recently. Lack of sleep really came in handy sometimes.

◇

I woke up to warm sunlight filtering in through the window. Once upon a time, when I’d still been a dedicated gamer, I couldn’t wake up on time without an alarm clock. Man, those memories from a year ago seemed so far away now. Still, today’s wakeup was unusual for several uncomfortable reasons. It was indeed light outside, but it was still earlier than my usual wake-up time. And while I was used to feeling the warmth of Ann glued to me when I woke up, I was not used to being sandwiched in like that. It was uncomfortably hot.

Something momentous had happened. I was sure of it.

I steeled myself and opened my eyes. Mary was lying beside me, still sound asleep, our noses nearly touching. Ah, then the warmth behind me must have been Ann. This was a bit troubling. Mary had her arms wrapped around me, pulling herself tight up against me. Meanwhile, she had both her legs wrapped around me from the other side, clamping her to my back.

What was I, her favorite plushie?

Okay, so what to do about this. There was no way I was escaping without them noticing. In game terms, we’d gone way past hard difficulty and right on to chaos mode. It was morning already, so if I moved even a little, they were sure to wake up. How had we ended up like this? Well, Ann was prone to tossing and turning in her sleep and had probably ended up behind me. Then Mary hugged me, thinking I was Ann. Incidentally, the only reason I was still hanging onto my sanity was the lingering effect of the samathi herb I’d popped into my mouth last night. I had to think of something, before it was too late. I had to get out of this alive! THINK! You must have learned something from all those games, right?! I had two beauties pinning me to the bed, one on either side of me, and... Yes! That’s it! The answer came to me the moment I turned the question upside down.

Why not just stay like this?

This was paradise. You couldn’t get something like this in my world unless you were ready to shell out some serious cash. This softness, this warmth, this sweet scent... These could only be my reward for a life well-lived! As a gamer, I could hear the truth in my heart: this was the greatest event of my life thus far.

When I realized all this, the perfect solution came to me. If Mary woke up while I was awake, disaster would strike this cabin. But if the opposite happened, everything would be fine. The visual novel cliché was that the girl woke up right after you, and then she slapped you silly. Given Mary’s nature, she’d be horribly surprised and panic, whether I was awake or not, but if I was asleep, there was a chance she’d just gently let go of me and pretend it never happened. Granted, there was also a chance she’d just up and slap me anyway, but still, I liked my odds better like this. I was always sleeping together with Ann, so no need to worry about that side.

Now, the other concern was my sanity. However, my self-control had been tempered in the mighty crucible of Ann’s nightly attentions, and with the further aid of my trusty herbs, I could lie back and enjoy this ride for as long as it lasted!

So there you had it. I closed my eyes and tried to burn the sensation into my brain. It was totally cool if I hugged her a little tighter, right? Yeah. Mmm. Man, this softness was the best. I could feel Mary’s heartbeat gently thumping against my chest. Enveloped in happiness, I decided to fall asleep a second time. Good night, world.

I dozed off blissfully, and in my slumber, I thought I heard a cutesy shriek.

“Yo yo, good mornin’ to ya. I’ve gotta plan out my schedule today, so I was hoping you could tell me what you’re... Hey, Aoi, did you do something to Mary last night?”

A transmission opened up as we were all eating breakfast, and Suzu quickly became suspicious of me, for some reason. Mary looked composed, but she was acting rather distant now, and she was being careful to always position herself so that Ann was between the two of us. I didn’t know whether the memories from this morning were still fresh in her mind or if she was just shy, but her face was still a little flushed. Not that you’d catch me pointing that out; only an idiot would step on a mine like that.

“Of course not. Hell, Ann was there the whole time.”

And that was a hundred percent true. I hadn’t done anything, even if a happy accident did occur. Plus, I was pretending not to know anything about my good fortune overnight. You know, I could really tell my fortitude had grown. It hadn’t been all that long since I was freaking out over sleeping with Ann in her human form, and now, in spite of a moment of panicked hesitation, I was able to live in the moment and really enjoy it. No doubt I had Ann to thank for my newfound tolerance, with the way she pushed the boundaries of my self-control night after night.

◇

“Good morning! Is Mister Barry home?”

Ann had guided us to the home of a certain fellow who she thought could handle being the foreman for our labyrinth construction project. The house was a red brick bungalow located a little ways from the center of the village. Between all the kobold children playing in the garden and the house’s weathered condition, the impressive structure looked less like an exercise in ostentation and more like a result of necessity. Big families needed big houses.

“Aye, is that you, Ann? My, how time passes.”

A well-muscled male kobold walked out of the house. Though his physique was impressive, his most striking feature was his missing arm. His body was covered with scars, and he sported a big, furry beard. Though not exactly frightening, he did look a little rough around the edges.

“You look well! Haven’t seen you around in a while, so I was getting worried.”

The old man smiled broadly and produced a sweetened rice cracker from his pocket, handing it to Ann. He looked like a doting grandfather sneaking some candy to his favorite granddaughter. Ann had described him as a kindly old fellow. Spot on, if you asked me.

“Oh, this looks grea—wait, hold on, me, don’t get distracted! Mister Barry, I’m here on business today!”

“Oh, are you now? What business do you have for me, Ann?”

“Ummm... You tell him, Aoi!”

Wow, way to set me up for success, Ann.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Aoi, one of the Great Dark Lord’s labyrinth managers.”

“Oho, Ann, this must be the fellow. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you got married!”

Uh. Hmm. I had picked up a few title changes in my past two months here in Milt. I’d started as “The Guy Who Hired Ann”. Then, after about a month, I’d leveled up to “Ann’s Sugar Daddy”. Now, apparently I’d been promoted all the way to “Ann’s Husband”. Rumors always grew out of control in tiny communities, but this one was turning into a real wildfire. I couldn’t believe how much it had grown in just a month.

Incidentally, every time the rumor got crazier, Ann’s best friend Sara would storm into our hut and start grilling me, asking me if the stories were true and just what did I think I was doing to her Ann. I shuddered to think what the stories were saying about us now. I had my suspicions about just who was sowing all these irresponsible rumors about us: the village’s fiercest matchmaker and Ann’s staunch advocate, her aunt Jenny. I’d already accepted my fate with Ann, but Jenny didn’t seem satisfied with that and wouldn’t accept anything less than the removal of all possible obstacles between us. I hadn’t proposed to Ann, or even initiated a romantic relationship, but I had said a few words to her at one point, and denying those now would be in poor form. I couldn’t bear the thought of breaking her heart.

Ugh. This marriage thing was clearly Jenny’s work in action, but even if I could see it coming, I couldn’t dodge this bullet. I mean, I couldn’t just go and deny this kind of thing outright, you know?

“Married, eheheh...”

Ann ran up to my side and glomped me, her eyes shining and her cheeks flushed. Yeah... Denying that was clearly not an option. Throwing a bucket of cold water on Ann when she’s this happy would be worse than sadism. It would be inhumane, I’m telling you! Absolutely inhumane!

“So, uh, at any rate, I came here to offer you a big job, Mister Barry.”

I stifled my urge to object and tried to continue the conversation. Barry looked at me approvingly, so at least it looked like I’d made the right call there.

“I’m trying to build a new underground extension for the labyrinth I manage, under the orders of the Great Dark Lord. I’d like you to be the foreman for the construction project.”

“Oh really. Now that’s a grand enterprise if I’ve ever heard one.”

His voice was soft, his mood sober. He’d gone from an affable old man to a canny expert in a heartbeat.

“Would you really want to hire a retired old hound like me for such a big job? I reckon there are plenty of young, active workers if you go to the nearest town.”

“That’s true enough.”

I nodded. I would certainly have been able to find a more active construction foreman if I’d made the longer trip to an actual town. But there was a reason I was looking for a foreman from the village itself.

“But I want you, and I also want every worker on the project to be from Milt. You know the villagers better than any city foreman would, and you know what jobs they’d be best at. You would be the perfect manager for them.”

If I were hiring professional builders, familiarity would be less important, but the villagers here were farmers, not construction experts. Having a foreman they knew and trusted would make all the difference in the quality of their work.

“Hmm, I see. A good reason, that. Plenty of folks think there’s nothing more to a construction project than throwing money at it until it’s done.”

I’d been doing some amount of management lately in my job, but I felt I knew the field intimately from my gaming experience. I remembered one administrative sim in particular, the sixth in a long-running series of city-building games called Some City, which I’d poured a ton of time into. As the foreman, you were supposed to oversee large construction endeavors, and the game emphasized the importance of good relations among your workers. Knowing their individual strengths was important, as was managing their fatigue. If you made the most out of their skills and status points, you could dramatically improve both the quality of construction and the time to complete a job. The series had been orchestrated by an actual civil engineer, so the game was as close to reality as possible, from the construction methodology to the logistical planning. Recently, I’d been desperately studying it in hopes of building up at least some familiarity with the basics of architectural planning and execution.

“I’m well aware that, while you do need funds to undertake any construction project, that isn’t all you need. Barry, I think you’re just the man I’ve been looking for.”

“Well now, I just don’t know. I’m delighted you’d turn to this old man for help, but I’m not as spry as I used to be.”

Barry stroked his beard and murmured. I may have landed Mary by offering her a fat paycheck, but I had a feeling that wasn’t going to work with this retired artisan. Fortunately, I had a secret weapon.

“Ann, you’re up.”

“Roger! Leave it to me!”

I whispered Ann her cue, and she leaped into action.

“Oh please, won’t you help us, Mister Barry? Pretty please? You’re the only one we can count on!”

“R-Really? All right, all right. May lightning strike me down before I deny my precious Ann anything. I suppose these old bones have one more job in them.”

All it took was Ann asking, and every ounce of reservation he had melted away like snow under the sun. Ann’s cuteness was a force to be reckoned with. I couldn’t tell if Barry was just weak to children, being a grandfather, or if Ann’s persuasion skills were just brokenly OP.

“All right then. I’m Barry. Half kobold, half dwarf. I may be a bumbling old fool, but I deliver when it counts. Here’s to a good partnership.”

Barry turned and gave me a courteous nod. You know, I did think he was a little beefy for a kobold. Half dwarf, huh? Did Barry have a dwarf form, the same way Ann had a human one?

“The pleasure is all mine. I look forward to working with you.”

His handshake was so firm you would never have thought he was an old man. So, we had our foreman. One more item to mark off the to-do list.

“I’m going to the mayor’s house to ask him about hiring some of the villagers. Would you be willing to come along? I’d like to get your opinion.”

“Aye aye, boss. No need to be so stiff with me. You’re in charge now.”

Listening to Barry gently ribbing me, I grew certain that I’d made the right choice. This old man was more than he seemed.

◇

Barry and I had gone to see the mayor, and after we met up with him, we all took a break in a nice clearing near his fields. The minotaur towered over the rest of us. I got the feeling he could pick us all up in one hand, wooden bench and all. It was always strangely charming, seeing him sipping tea from his giant wooden cup.

“My, my, Aoi and Mary, and Barry too? What an unusual combination! Ohoho.”

“Good day, Mayor Hopper. There’s something we wanted to consult with you about, if you have a moment.”

“I was just taking a breather myself. Your timing couldn’t be better. If you’re here with Barry, maybe you’re planning to dig a well?”

Surprisingly not far off. We would certainly be doing a lot of digging, at least.

“I’m looking to expand the labyrinth, and I’d like to hire some of the villagers. I realize it’s the middle of harvest season and people are busy, but I’m willing to pay accordingly. Do you think the villagers would be able to help?”

“Hmm. So you need some extra pairs of hands.”

The mayor folded his arms and looked thoughtful. Would they be too busy?

“We’re all greatly in your debt, so I’d like to help you out. You’re right that we have our hands full with harvest season, but I think the chance at earning a little money on the side would be a boon to many, out in this distant country village.”

It was a difficult trade-off for the mayor. He couldn’t diminish the labor force too much during harvest season, but he also didn’t want to give up the rare chance to earn money.

“I do have one concern. Aoi, are you planning to feed the workers you hire? And if so, how?”

I sure was glad Ann had brought that up earlier. In my own world, the expectation was that employees brought their own food, and I was sure if I’d been put on the spot without preparation I would’ve just said that.

“We don’t have enough food stockpiled in the labyrinth to feed more than the three of us, so I was hoping to buy additional food from the village. I was also hoping that I could hire some of the housewives in the village, both to transport and to prepare food for all the workers.”

Suzu’s symbiotic relationship with her surrounding community had led me to that conclusion. If my labyrinth could benefit everyone in the village, and they could all help me, that would be the best outcome. And I realized I’d already begun to make some progress in that area myself, with the way I provided health potions to the village and Deneb provided me with food. Though it wasn’t like I was running some kind of charity. I got no donations, and no support or financing from the top. Hell, I was paying money out of my own pocket just to save my boss’s skin!

“Ah, that’s great! If you would do all that for us, then the village would be happy to support you. You’ve been such a boon to us, helping with your construction project is the least we can do.”

And that was the moment the locals and the labyrinth manager joined forces. Though arguably it was more of a business deal than an alliance.

“Thank you very much. How many people can you spare?”

“Let me see. I think the most we could manage would be about thirty men and fifteen women. Any more than that and I fear we wouldn’t be able to do everything necessary for the harvest.”

So, 45 people, all told. He sure did come up with that number quickly. I was curious exactly who he had in mind, specifically what races they were and what they were good at. But 45 adults was nothing to scoff at regardless, especially for a tiny village like Milt. I certainly couldn’t complain.

“Barry, do you think that will be enough?”

“That’d really depend on how big a project you have in mind, but with that many, I reckon we can do decent work. To be frank, any more than that and I don’t think my old eyes could look after everyone properly.”

Huh, so he had a cap on the number of people he could manage. I hadn’t thought about it, but in retrospect it was obvious. It’d be one thing if all he’d had to do was bark instructions, but these were mostly inexperienced workers, so he’d have to show them the ropes and keep an eye out for accidents. If I wanted to do construction on any larger scale, I’d have to do like Suzu said and hire specialists.

“Negotiations sure are fun! Sharing what you have and making everyone’s lives better is important, don’t you think?”

While Mayor Hopper and Barry discussed who exactly we would be hiring for the construction work, Ann and I were having a chat. Ann had apparently gotten pretty excited watching me negotiating with each of them. Her enthusiasm was both reassuring and a little alarming.

Ever since I’d let her play that company management game, she’d been thinking about these things in game terms. Enterprise management games were a classic genre. The one I’d shown her had you giving detailed instructions to little franchise shops of your company to help them grow. But the bigger your conglomeration grew, the busier you got, leaving you unable to deal with the minutiae of every shop. At that point, you had to start working with middle managers, negotiating deals with them so you could solve higher-level problems. It was the perfect game for leveling up Ann’s view of the world.

“When did you become such a smooth talker?!”

“Hey, Ann, that’s unfair. It’s not like I’m bad at negotiating or anything. I just wasn’t familiar with how things worked around here.”

“Is she wrong? To tell the truth, I share her doubts.”

Even Mary expected me to be a bad negotiator?!

“Okay, seriously, both of you are being too hard on me. I just don’t understand how things work around here, and I have no head for money, that’s all. I happen to think I make an excellent labyrinth manager, thank you very much.”

“Those both seem like excellent reasons to worry about you.”

“...Actually, I can’t argue with that.”

“Now I feel kinda bad.”

Then maybe you should’ve kept that thought to yourself!

“Um, I don’t think you’re dumb, Aoi! I rely on you!”

Aw, that gave me a little jab to the heart. Like, the painful kind, not the good kind. Just how much of a hopeless failure did Ann think I was?! No, wait, better not ask that. If she thought I was a lost cause, should I be happy that at least she still wanted to look out for a failure like me?

“Aoi, how much were you planning to pay the villagers?”

“Oh, hmm.”

Tough question, especially given that, like I’d just mentioned, I was pretty bad with money. I’d kind of gotten a rough idea for a ballpark figure, but now she was asking for hard numbers.

“They’ll be commuting from their village and doing physical labor all day. How much is that worth to them, and to you?”

“I was thinking four thousand DL for one day’s work.

That would be a lot for a rural area like this. Right...?

“But Aoi, what about people who aren’t super strong like the mayor? Will they still get paid the same?”

Ann yanked on my sleeve and suggested a concern I hadn’t thought about before.

“Not everyone can be good at everything. For instance, it’s not Aoi’s fault he’s a weakling.”

Ugh. That smug grin on Mary’s face was getting on my nerves.

“Will they get any days off?”

“Let’s see. It’d be bad if they don’t get enough rest, and just as bad if they get too much. I would like them to have the market day free, at least. It won’t be much of a break, but it’d disrupt their normal lives too much to miss out on participating.”

So, one day off per week? They had to get at least that much, since we couldn’t very well take market day away from them. Milt didn’t have a general store, so that was the only day the villagers had to barter for and purchase food. I was a bit concerned about the pay. 45 people at 4,000 DL per person came out to 180,000 DL per day. Tally up that much per day, six days a week, for three months, and it came out to a whopping 14 million DL. It was really hitting me that my daily expenses to support myself and Ann were a world apart from what it was going to cost me to build this labyrinth. I would’ve liked to economize, but if I didn’t pay a fair wage, their motivation would drop and the quality of their work along with it. Not to mention, it would be bad for the villagers themselves. I really didn’t have any good choices here.

There was this one MMORPG I played where I was the mayor’s advisor in a vast, unexplored world. The game was called Harvest Rune, and the game’s main hook was that you didn’t just go out slaying dragons or whatever, you actually cleared out a spot in the wilderness and set up your house there, wherever you liked. Now sure, there were plenty of games where you could build a house, but in this one, natural events like snowstorms, floods, and monster attacks wore down whatever you built. Maintaining your house and your fence and whatnot was hard work! If you upgraded to a mayor’s house and got approval from a majority of the players with houses in the area, you could become the mayor, incorporating all the surrounding structures into your jurisdiction. At that point, you’d set up tax rates and collect them, and then use the money to fend off threats, maintain roads, improve infrastructure, and so on. It certainly was a unique game.

So, anyway, I was the advisor to one of these players who’d made themselves a mayor. Doing the accounting, like figuring out what taxes were coming in and how much was being spent on various maintenance projects, turned out to be a nightmare. Add that to the monster invasions, not to mention actual combat and stuff, and it left both of us with our fair share of sleepless nights. I had one fond memory of both of us, bags under our eyes, asking ourselves if we were sure this was really a game, rather than our job, and then laughing our asses off. The village we operated grew to be a little over the middle of the pack in overall ranking and was considered a medium-sized rural town in terms of development, and that was good enough for us. But I remember hearing a rumor about the highest-ranking players, who apparently took a different approach. Rather than raising taxes, they’d actually hire the town’s residents themselves, paying them high wages to develop the area, maintain the town, and boost the economy.

If I was going to be paying for the labor on this project out of my own pocket, I wanted to hire the people of Milt so that I could improve their quality of life. Hiring a bunch of unknown workers from across the country just didn’t sit right with me. That said, it wasn’t like I could just give out money willy-nilly. I wouldn’t have minded paying outrageously, if the only consequence were that I personally went bankrupt, but I had to plan for the future. I had to establish a reasonable rate now, in case I needed to hire them again sometime down the line. Figuring out what qualified as reasonable was easier said than done, though.

Well, if I was still agonizing over this, it was probably time to turn to my last resort.

“Ann, I want to pay the villagers an amount that they’ll be content with. How much do you think I should pay them per day?”

I whispered my question to her. This was my secret weapon, which I’d dubbed “Teach me, Master Ann!” It was incredibly convenient and highly reliable, but if I resorted to this option too frequently, I felt like I was leaning on her too much, so I usually avoided it.

“Uh, hmm. Lessee. You said four thousand DL a day before, right? I think that’s fine. You could go a little lower for the people making the food, but I think they’ll be happy to all be paid the same.”

Hmm. Well, it was true that slaving away on the construction all day was going to be a harder job than hauling, preparing, and serving food. That said, I wasn’t offering a big pay raise for the construction workers, compared to what they would make working in the fields. Overpaying a little for the food prep would be my way of boosting the total amount that went to the village.

“Four thousand DL per person per day, whether doing construction or preparing food. What do you think?”

“I’m certain they’ll be happy to hear that.”

Mayor Hopper nodded with a gentle smile on his face. It seemed my offer was good enough. Ann watched with a proud grin as the mayor and I shook hands. Hmm. It seemed that when we were outside the labyrinth, our positions reversed.

◇

“I’ll let Barry handle assigning tasks to the villagers.”

I didn’t feel I had a firm enough grasp on all the villagers’ strengths and weaknesses yet—I didn’t even know them all by name—so delegating that to Barry was the best course of action.

“Let’s see now, let’s see. The kobolds and dwarves should handle excavation, for starters. The ogres and giants are the strongest, so we’ll ask them to do all the hauling. Lots of soil and wood to haul in construction. Say, you think you could hire a guard to escort the villagers what need to forage and lumber in the forest? I reckon the sound of chopping trees’ll attract no end of monsters.”

We’d need wood? Oh, to reinforce the passageways and rooms, I supposed. I was probably going to need proper tools for lumbering as well. And I’d have to take measures to protect the villagers from monsters while they were doing it. Good attention to detail there, Barry. He really knew his stuff.

“How many guards would you say we need?”

“We’re talking about monsters here, so a few mercenaries with some experience hunting would do. If you can find three or four folks who can hold their ground rather than run away with their tail between their legs when they come face-to-face with a monster, that’ll be that. You’ll need double that if you’ve got nothing but beginners, though.”

“If I can find skilled people, why do we still need so many of them? Four seems like a lot.”

“Strong monsters don’t show their ugly mugs too often, but you’ll want to be prepared just in case one comes knocking on your door. It wouldn’t be a pretty sight if one of the hired swords didn’t make it back to their family. Getting everyone home alive is what matters most here.”

Wow, wasn’t expecting such a cautious answer. I guess people living out in the backwoods learned to be cautious.

“At any rate, it sounds like I can’t use the folks Suzu was trying to recommend me, if we need reliable guards. Maybe I’ll see if Fez can lend me a hand.”

The truth was, I didn’t have a whole lot of connections to leverage. Even setting aside the fact that I rarely ventured outside the labyrinth, there just weren’t a lot of travelers who came to this remote region in the first place.

“Mayor, do you know when Fez is planning to be here next? Market day isn’t too far off now, but that doesn’t mean he’ll show up.”

Fez set up his wagon on the same day of the week, more often than not, but if it was raining or if he just couldn’t put together enough of the right sort of stock, he wouldn’t make the trip out and would show up the next day instead. The villagers were used to it, and would even defer holding the market day so he could appear. Compared to Japan, where everything and everyone ran on a tight schedule, it seemed like a rather loose way to run things, but I supposed it was a reasonable arrangement, for a fantasy world with limited transportation and distribution options.

“Ah, Fez? He stopped by not too long ago. He should be at his usual spot tomorrow.”

Oh, he’d showed up early? Perfect timing.

◇

Fez’s wagon was resting where it always did, near the village’s north gate. The gray wolfman himself was there, loading and unloading goods.

“Long time no see, Fez.”

“Aoi, my man. Been a while.”

I put my hand up by way of greeting, and he put up his and gave me a high five. The two of us were about the same age, and we’d had something of a bonding experience on a battlefield not too long ago, after which we’d ended up on very good terms. I guess you’d say we were brothers in arms.

“Now, isn’t this a colorful bunch. I had a hunch my lady knight here would end up with you.”

Fez gave Mary a nod of greeting.

“I see you’ve met Mary already.”

“Mister Fez helped me search for a job. I’m in his debt.”

“Mm, yeah, I poked around a bit back in town, looking for a job for my lady knight, but I didn’t have any luck.”

Ah, so he’d been trying to help her out as well. I was curious to find out how that had happened, but I decided to leave it be. I didn’t want Mary to dwell on her struggle to find a job.

“Yer a whole day early, if yer here for business. Can’t imagine yer making social calls now.”

“You guessed it. The thing is, I’m planning to extend the labyrinth, and we’re going to need to do some work in the forest as part of that. I wanted to hire hunters to protect my workers, but I don’t know any. I’m looking for professionals, the kind you can rely on even when the going gets tough. You know anybody who’d fit the bill?”

“My merchant senses are tingling, talking about that labyrinth expansion, but it’s hunters ya need, eh? And reliable ones, too. Yer settin’ the bar pretty high.”

“I’ll be asking them to escort the villagers, so I need people who can be trusted to treat them with respect, as well as to protect them.”

Maybe it was an unusual request, but it didn’t make sense to me to hire bodyguards who weren’t going to be concerned for their charges.

“Do you know anyone?”

“Maaaan, part of me wants to tell ya that yer askin’ too much here, but the truth is, I know just the folks. They’re a skilled bunch, and they just wrapped up a contract. Now they’re just sittin’ around on their tails, bored to tears and wonderin’ where their next paycheck is gonna come from.”

“Huh. Is that a common problem for hunters?”

“Sorta, yeah. These folks, well, they used to roll with a seven-man crew, but first one of ‘em retired to get married, and then a couple of ‘em had kids and had to retire as well. Now there’s only four of ‘em left, so they can’t take on the real dangerous jobs. Tough trade, huntin’.”

“You sure do know a lot about this crew.”

“’Course I do. I’m the one what got married!”

The hell, he’s just trying to get me to hire his friends?! Well, actually, it was probably a good suggestion. Fez and I had been through a lot together, so I was inclined to trust him. He wouldn’t try to dupe me into hiring a bunch of slackers. He was a bit sloppy in his new trade as a merchant, but having once been a skilled mercenary, he surely had a good eye for talent.

“How long you gonna hire ‘em for?”

“The initial contract will be for three months. Depending on how things go, maybe three more.”

I planned to finish the construction in three months, but as soon as it was fully operational, I’d be gathering hunters to challenge it. Once things were in full swing, I’d probably need a few additional guards, and if Fez’s people proved trustworthy, it’d make sense to use them.

“Phew, got a nice long contract there, eh? Pretty sure they’ll jump at the chance. Fall’s just rolled around, so most hunters have their next gig lined up already, otherwise they can end up with nothin’ to do through the whole winter. Most hunters would sell their soul to get a contract that’d carry ’em through to spring.”

In fantasy games, the characters just went from adventure to adventure as the whim took them, but real life wasn’t so cushy. From what Fez had said about winter contracts being hard to find, I had a suspicion that monsters hibernated in the winter, on account of the decreased food supply.

“That so. About how much would I need to pay a mercenary, for this contract?”

“Well, lessee. These folks are as good as they come, so yer payin’ for quality, but on the other hand, the work ain’t so hard.”

Fez folded his arms and nodded to himself as he ran the numbers.

“You could hire the four of ‘em for ten thousand DL per day. That’d run you about nine hundred thousand for three months.”

Far cheaper than I’d expected. Cheaper even than employing the villagers. I glanced at Ann for confirmation, and she gave me a furry thumbs-up and a nod.

“Please do ask them. I’d like to start the work as soon as possible. How long do you think it would take for them to get here?”

“No time at all.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Surely he’d have to go find them, talk them into it, and then come back. I wasn’t aware of any long-distance communication in this world, let alone teleportation. If people could teleport around, peddlers like Fez would be out of business. Obviously there was the Tundra system, and the communication system the labyrinth managers used, but that was exclusive to the labyrinths. More an exception than the norm.

“Remember what I said about work being hard to come by? They had less than nothing to do around the city, so the sad sacks followed me out here to try their luck in Milt.”

Wow, reduced to looking for a job out in the sticks. Life wasn’t easy for hunters.

“There ain’t much work in remote villages, but I’d guess they’re at the mayor’s place right about now, tryin’ to scare up any job they can.”

We must have just missed each other.

“I bet he won’t have anything for ‘em, and they’ll come around here before long with their ears droopin’. While we’re waitin’ for ‘em, what say you and me discuss the steep discount on the magic potions you’ll be sellin’ me tomorrow...”

Fez produced a piece of vellum, and the two of us set to making a deal.

“Say, Ann, perhaps I’m mistaken, but it seems to me that Aoi and Fez are rather friendly. Do you know how they became so close?”

While Fez and I negotiated prices and quantities, Mary and Ann gossiped about us.

“I dunno! I guess they’re just like, best friends.”

“Hmm, I see. What a strange sight. I never thought to behold a human labyrinth manager and a Daemon peddler who’d built such a rapport. It’s somehow soothing.”

◇

“Oh, so you’re Aoi! Fez just won’t shut up about you. My name’s Carla. Nice to meetcha!”

The leader of the hunters Fez introduced me to was a cheerful girl with short silver hair and foxlike ears on top of her head. She seemed about the same age as Mary, maybe? Older than Sara, at least. Asking a lady’s age was rude no matter what world you were in, and between the variety of Daemon races and the different ways they changed as they grew older, it got hard to guess how old they were just by looking. I decided to stop fretting and just think of her as being the age she looked. You could tell at a glance that she was a hunter. She wore form-fitting leather armor, reinforced here and there with bits of metal, and had a wicked lance strapped to her back. If this were a game, maybe she’d have been a lancer class? That leather armor looked like it’d be good for mobility. They were probably better suited for hunting monsters than plate or chain mail. I mean, it was basically a staple in games. Wearing heavy equipment bogged you down, lowering your agility in exchange for defense.

“Get yer shit together, girl!”

Carla gave me a two-handed wave by way of greeting, a big, goofy grin on her face, but Fez was having none of it. He rapped her on the head with his paw.

“Ouch!”

“How many times have I got to tell ya, first impressions matter! Act ladylike! Be polite!”

“Aww, gimme a break. It’s just us cute girls in the group now, so we might as well work with what we got!”

“Now see here, little missy. You can make bank with that airhead act in damn near any other line o’ work, but consider what yer doin’ here! Ya think this guy’s gonna want to hire a buncha scatterbrains to protect his people from monsters?”

For all the world, he looked like a caring older brother scolding his little sister. What a touching sight.

“...”

“...”

I shared a knowing grin with three more girls, all of whom were wearing armor similar to Carla’s and standing off to the side, watching from a safe distance. The rest of her party. You could tell from the way they nodded at each other and rolled their eyes that scuffles like this between Fez and Carla were common.

Two of the girls had dark eyes, cat ears, and lustrous hair, both exactly the same shade of black. Probably sisters? The last looked more doglike, perhaps. She was more human than the cat sisters or Carla—kind of a middle ground between normal humans and beastmen like Fez. Her short, tawny hair and her physique were more human, but she had a few distinctly animal features as well, particularly the gray fur covering her skin. I marveled once again at the variety of Daemons around. Even within a single race like the beastmen, there was so much variety. None of them, not even Carla, really had the muscles you’d expect from someone who fought monsters for a living. If anything, they looked rather frail. But perhaps the kind of lithe strength you saw in a cat or a wolf was simply a trait of their race.

“I’m Carla’s partner, Ruth. Don’t be fooled by the way we look. We’re all Rank 7 hunters; you can count on us.”

The puppy girl walked up to us with a wry smile on her face, the two cat girls trailing behind. Hunters have ranks?

“This is the first time I’ve heard of hunter ranks. Mind filling me in on the details?”

“Oh, of course not.”

She explained to me that a hunter’s rank determined the kind of work she could accept. Hunters improved their rank through a combination of completing jobs and passing examinations. Apprentices were Rank 10, novices were Rank 9, and newly recognized fledgling hunters were Rank 8. Carla’s group being entirely Rank 7 meant they were all veterans. You could find hunters from Rank 10 to Rank 8 wandering all over the place looking for work, but from Rank 7 up they were almost exclusively attached to a specific town. The world was a hard place, so they were quick to jump at the promise of stability, once they found a steady job and a long-term residence.

“Gosh, Fez, is that how a gentleman talks to his sister-in-law? Show me a little respect here!”

“Don’t you dare bring that up. Acceptin’ a brat like you as family was the absolute worst part about gettin’ married, I swear.”

Well, that certainly clarified their relationship. I did remember hearing how he’d had to retire and get married when he got a girl pregnant. So apparently that was when he’d married Carla’s sister.

“Anyway, Aoi, it’s awfully nice to meetcha.”

As she shook my hand, she turned and stuck out her tongue at Fez.

“Uh, right.”

Hmm. Being polite was just good manners at a first meeting, but these were Fez’s friends. Maybe I should make an exception.

“Nice to meet you too, Carla. I’m Aoi.”

In the end, I decided to be casual.

“That’s the spirit! Now, Fez here was tellin’ me you wanted to hire us. That true?”

“Yeah. It’s a little complicated, though.”

So I told them about the labyrinth, the construction, the monsters. Basically the same spiel I’d just given Fez. And when I finished...

“Oh man, you’re a lifesaver! We’ll be set for winter! I was gonna have to crash at my parents’ place if I didn’t find a job soon, and man was that gonna be embarrassing.”

“Huh. So, you don’t have to answer if this is a touchy subject, but what’s so bad about staying with your parents?”

Carla turned to the side, then looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

“Well, it’s just a little awkward ever since my sister had her baby. They’re not pushing me to get married or anything, but, you know...”

They sounded like nice parents.

“It’s just like, the way they look at me, like half worried and half resigned. It bugs me, you know?”

“Oh, I see. Yeah, I know how that feels.”

I was familiar with that look. Like, when they were wondering if you were really okay. I remembered it well, from when I’d been hunting for a job.

“All right, then how about we talk details?”

While Fez returned to his cart, looking worn out from his discussion with Carla, the rest of us sat down and discussed the job. In the end, we agreed I would pay the first month’s rate in advance, and Carla’s group would live in an unoccupied house in Milt and commute with the villagers.

◇

The next day, I went to the market, along with Jenny and the housewives. Barry had suggested I ask a woman from my household to act as mediator and manager for the women who would be preparing and distributing food, but I wasn’t exactly from the area, so I didn’t have any relatives I could ask to fill that role. Ann was all the family I had, and she simply wasn’t qualified. So I’d decided to ask Ann’s aunt, Jenny, to take on the management role.

“Aoi, we’ll want five sacks of dirt onions. Can’t make a good hot soup without onions!”

Jenny enthusiastically ordered me around. Ever since I’d told her she was the only family I could ask, she’d been in a very good mood. I paid the farmer for the sacks of dirt onions, and the housewives started loading them up on the simple wooden carts they were dragging along. Only a few months ago, bartering had been the only system in Milt, but these days most items had price tags on them, which made it much easier to shop. The way seasonings like salt and fish paste had become an indispensable part of their diet ever since I’d started selling them never failed to bring a tear to my eye. I wondered, was this really a positive change for the village? They hadn’t seemed particularly inconvenienced by bartering with goods and livestock. The only business that had used currency in those days was Fez’s stall.

“Next, we’ll need eight sacks of demi corn flour. C’mon now, hop to it.”

The housewives loaded up the goods Jenny ordered, one by one. I couldn’t believe the first time I saw one of those housewives hauling around a forty-pound sack of produce like it was nothing. They filled up three whole carts with grains and vegetables, and we continued our circuit of the market, eventually reaching the village’s communal warehouse.

“Oh, hi, Aoi! I’m almost all sold out here!”

Ann waved a paw at me as I reached our stall. I’d begun selling seasonings to the village on a lark, but they’d quickly turned into an absolute must-have for the villagers. I never brought all that much, but my stock always sold steadily, week after week. I made a pittance off it, but the villagers would always tell me they’d be back the next week for more, so I couldn’t let them down now. The villagers had been content to eat simple food for their whole lives, but going back to that insipid diet was unthinkable once they’d gotten a taste for food with more flavor. I hadn’t yet shown it off outside the labyrinth, but I was considering introducing them to sugar. For the time being, I was holding back because I doubted their wallets could afford the temptation it would offer. It was much more expensive than salt.

“You okay, Mary?”

Mary, who I had entrusted with looking after Ann while she manned the stall, was sitting in a corner, her legs tucked up and her arms wrapped around herself in the fetal position.

“Aoi, is that you? I have learned that commerce is a foe utterly beyond me. Resilient though I may be, strong though my sword arm may be, I think that I shall never make a customer smile.”

Yeah, in retrospect, I couldn’t exactly see Mary as a waitress, delivering an order with a smile on her face.

“Nah, don’t sweat it. To be honest, when Ann’s here, all I do is sit and watch. She’s a natural saleswoman.”

Ann’s ability to handle the villagers far surpassed what could be expected from an outsider like me or Mary. I’d gotten better with them over time, but it wasn’t uncommon for someone to bargain for a little extra when they were trading for fresh vegetables from their own fields, or to try to lowball us on something. When they did, I really couldn’t deal with it, so leaving everything to Ann was the best option. The problem was, I just didn’t know enough. I was studying every aspect of Milt’s economy as hard as I could, but I still wasn’t up on all the details of the principal crops, especially analyzing their quality and recalling their value in each season. All told, it was probably more complicated than understanding the entire Japanese financial system.

“Even you find this difficult? Thank goodness. I’m not the only one.”

Mary gave me a look of relief like I’d handed her a full canteen of water in the middle of the desert. I reached out my hand to her, and she took it firmly and let me pull her to her feet. I felt like we’d finally found some common ground.

“Jeez, you two would be lost without me, wouldn’t you?”

Ann gently needled us, a smile on her face. We were quite a pair: a helpless labyrinth manager and his helpless guardian. As Ann looked at us fondly, I reflected on how far I had to go—no, how far we both had to go. Maybe it was just our human nature.