10 — Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

10 — Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

Festivities had continued into the night, and now the adventurers were preparing to leave for Merratoni with almost militaristic discipline. They offered me kind words as I wavered between gratitude and guilt.

“Anything happens and we’ll come runnin’ again!”

“We’re glad you’re still kicking.”

“We masochists are having a get-together sometime. You should join.”

“You’re the only way Brod can work out all that stress, y’know.”

“You’ve inspired me to never give up. I’m gonna keep apologizing to my wife for cheating on her till she takes me back!”

“Real adventurers repay their debts.”

“See ya next time I need healin’!”

“You’re not the only one who’s gonna be gettin’ stronger. Next time you’re in Merratoni, we gotta have a match!”

Whoa, back up, a couple of those were... Never mind.

I wanted to talk with everyone, but there were just too many people there, and they’d told me not to sweat about chatting with each of them. Soon, they had all left for Merratoni, leaving me, Brod, Gulgar, and Galba to say our more private goodbyes.

“You see all those people you worried, you moron? You’re weak, and you’d better not forget that again after I put you through the wringer yesterday. And no slacking off, got that?”

“Message received.”

“Aw, give it a rest, Brod,” Gulgar said. “We still want ’im to come back, don’t we?”

Brod grunted and glared at me.

“I’m coming back, okay? I promise. Now stop looking at me like that.”

“How would you like to train with me next time you visit? I think you’ll find my style of fighting more suited to ‘modest’ people like you.”

“Hands off my apprentice, Galba.”

“Why don’t we let Luciel decide?” he chuckled. I felt so blessed to know all these kind people.

“Anyway, make sure you bring a girl with you when you come back,” said Brod.

“A girl? Oh, that reminds me, could you pass these letters along to Nanaella and Monica?”

“What am I, a delivery boy? Hm, figures it’s those two. They were about ready to drop everything and haul ass to get here until we convinced ’em they’d be no help in a fight.” The guildmaster wore a highly suggestive smirk. It reminded me that I must have scared them, though. Next time I had a break, I needed to go and apologize in person.

“I think you mean until I convinced them,” Galba pointed out. “And tell me, who was it who ditched their guildmaster duties to ‘haul ass’ again?”

“Gimme a break; I’ll work when we get back. But forget all that... Who are you sweet on, Luciel? Doesn’t make any difference to me. I’m gonna train your kids right, just you wait.”

Never mind how busy I was, the effects of Substance X didn’t leave me much room for considering a family. Was a peaceful life too much to ask for?

“You’re getting way ahead of yourself,” I said. “Sure, I owe a lot of where I’m at now to their letters, but I’ve still got plenty of work to do.”

“I swear, you have no tact. Luciel and those girls are in a very delicate balance, and you can’t go prodding their feelings or you might spoil things. Honestly, they’re just kids. Be more careful,” Galba berated the guildmaster.

“Oh, uh... Sorry.”

The atmosphere quickly grew awkward. “No, it’s okay.”

“Maybe if you pop out a daughter I’ll teach ’er how to cook!” Gulgar cut in, lightening the mood again.

“Don’t encourage him. Anyway, come back to Merratoni if the Church is too much for you. You’ll always have a safe place to stay there.”

“Thank you. As soon as I’m allowed to travel more, I promise I’ll stop by. And there’s something else...” It was probably safe to tell them.

“Whatcha beatin’ around the bush for?” Gulgar asked. “Since when does a guy like you clam up?”

He had a point. A “guy like me” didn’t have many moving parts to him. I’d studied a little, but my experiences in this world consisted of little more than magic and combat training.

“What’s the matter, Luciel?”

“Something on your mind?”

I could trust them, and they trusted me. They deserved to hear the warning that the Holy Dragon had delivered.

“The demons are on the move. Their god is going to make them stronger, and a hero won’t be born for several more decades. I just want you all to be careful.”

“Oh, yeah? The Church is quick on the uptake,” Brod remarked.

“Leave it to them to match my sleuthing,” Galba added.

“You don’t have time to be worrying about us. You watch yourself and let us know if anything happens from now on. Don’t make us cross the country to find out.”

“Right, thanks.”

I knew these three weren’t ordinary, but they exceeded virtually all physical limitations. My path to one day rivaling them was a long one.

“You got nothin’ to worry about. We’ll make the Church hand you over if we need the help.”

“That sounds like something I should worry about.”

They believed me without question, and still my well-being was more concerning to them than anything else. I was outclassed, and no amount of training was going to change that.

After we said goodbye, I returned to Headquarters.

I was heading for the elevator when a receptionist stopped me.

“Mister Luciel, a moment, please.”

“What is it?” It wasn’t common for the receptionists to actively call out to someone.

“Miss Cattleya asked us to inform you that she would like to see you when you returned.”

And how was I supposed to know where she was at that very moment?

“Where does she want me to meet her? Was that all she said?”

“Oh, one moment and I’ll contact her.” The receptionist pulled out the crystal ball I had seen the day I’d arrived and closed her eyes.

I was practically dead on my feet. An all-nighter after a mentally exhausting encounter with a dragon and a match with Brod was awfully close to the limit of the beatings a single person could take. I was more than a decade younger than when I’d died, but even youngsters had to sleep at some point.

A certain dashing countenance caught my eye as a yawn escaped me.

“Luciel! You’re alive.”

Lumina’s sudden appearance instantly eliminated my drowsiness. Why did she always catch me in the middle of doing something stupid?

“I wish there was time to talk,” she continued, “but Her Holiness is waiting.”

“Right.”

We stepped into the elevator together and went straight up to the pope’s chambers.

“Thank you for your letter,” I offered as the elevator climbed. “I couldn’t have made it out alive without that holding me together. Really. Thank you.”

“I am grateful to see you unharmed, Luciel.”

It felt like it had been ages since we’d last met. Months ago, before the labyrinth had trapped me, Lumina had sent me a letter. At first, my gut had told me that it was a love letter, but my baseless expectations were quickly doused. All it had been was a list of points of improvement for my combat techniques, along with miscellaneous common-sense recommendations to help with my chronic “ignorance.”

Nanaella and Monica’s letters were wholesome in comparison, filled with words of encouragement and brimming with declarations of their new goals. It was thanks to all three of those letters that I had pulled myself back from the brink of death so many times while facing the lich knight.

Lumina and I traded meaningless banter until we finally reached our destination. She knocked on the door.

“Lumina, captain of the Valkyries, has brought with her Luciel, the exorcist, Your Holiness.”

“You may enter,” a voice replied. It belonged to Cattleya.

The door opened, and we proceeded to the center of the room where we knelt (a routine I was well-accustomed to at this point).

“Exorcist Luciel. I see that you have returned to us alive and well,” the pope remarked.

“I apologize for worrying everyone.”

“I do not fault you. We would have mounted a large-scale rescue if not for the dissenters who outnumbered us. The Valkyries’ attempts, you see, were cut short at the thirty-first floor, at the hands of the wraiths.”

Not even the Valkyries stood a chance down there?

I noticed there were more people than usual in the room; faces I didn’t recognize. Was this about the adventurers who had nearly stormed the castle?

“I know you did what you could.”

“Your kindness brings me peace. But I must ask, what was it that kept you from returning these many months?”

“There was a monster in the main chamber of the fortieth floor. It was massive, far larger than the average death knight, and neither cleansing nor healing magic would affect it. I didn’t know what to do.”

I went on to recount my arduous battle with the lich knight. When I’d finished, I cringed internally a bit for going rather overboard with my retelling of it. I’d forgotten that all these people were here to listen.

“How harrowing a plight it must have been. And this is what held you in the labyrinth for so long?”

“Yes. After I defeated the lich knight, I tried to leave, but the door wouldn’t budge. All I could do was press forward.”

“It did ultimately reopen, I take it, as you now stand here before us?”

“No, it didn’t. I continued straight down to the fiftieth floor and conquered that final chamber. Only then was I finally offered a way back. I would feel comfortable relaying further details only to Lady Cattleya, Lady Lumina, and you, Your Holiness.”

“I am astonished by your progress, Luciel. And so I feel I must honor your wishes. All but those the boy mentioned, leave at once.”

I hadn’t expected her to give in so easily. Her maidens quietly left the room along with the archbishops. Or maybe they were regular bishops? Whoever they were, soon only the four of us remained.

“There is a reason you had me send them away, I assume?” The pope was hidden as always, but the wariness in her tone was not similarly veiled.

“Let me start with what was in the fiftieth floor’s main chamber. First of all, it was a wight, and a huge one at that. It was almost like an orc. And it seemed to spawn monsters from its body.”

“Surely it did not spawn liches and the like.”

“No, only death knights and wraiths. Once I defeated it with the Sanctuary Circle spell, I saw it turn into an old man, a priest of some sort, before he vanished.”

“An elderly man? Do you have his belongings?”

“Right here. A staff and a grimoire.” I called the items from my bag, and the moment Cattleya and Lumina saw them, their eyes widened in shock.

“Cattleya.”

“At once.”

I handed her the items, and she took them to Her Holiness.

“I...” Her voice was distant, sad. “I am without words. Here you are, the lord of a labyrinth.”

They had known each other. She had known all of them. I heaved.

“Luciel, are you all right?” Lumina placed a hand on my back.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, it’s just that I’d thought the labyrinth was only an illusion for the longest time.”

“The undead you fought weren’t real people, Luciel. They were memories from the labyrinth itself,” Cattleya explained. She was probably right, but the question of who this man had once been still remained.

“I’d heard that only healers were sent there, and the zombies all moved so slowly. I thought it was to help newcomers get used to fighting monsters.”

“Why in the name of all that is holy did you lend credence to such an idea?” the pope asked.

“Because I never leveled up.”

“You never... That may be so, but I assure you the labyrinth was all too real.”

“I only figured that out during my fight with the lich knight.”

“Then that is a feat. Never in all my years have I seen such incredible thickheadedness.” The pope didn’t sound amused, but at least I was done with that vile place now.

“Anyway, this is the crux of what I wanted to speak with you about, Your Holiness. After I conquered the fiftieth floor, a door appeared. It siphoned my magic away, and when it opened, I found the Holy Dragon inside, corrupted and undead.”

“A dragon? Did I hear you correctly?”

“It told me that its brethren were cursed by the Wicked One and sealed away in labyrinths. And that a new hero will only be born again in forty years or so.”

“Cattleya, Lumina, this knowledge is not to leave the chamber.”

They both voiced their understanding. This information about the hero was clearly more crucial than I’d thought.

“Now, elaborate on what this dragon conveyed to you.”

“Unless the imprisoned Eternal Dragons are freed, the essence of the world will fall to darkness and monsters will grow stronger. It said that if that happens, the hero may lose to the Demon Lord.”

“By the heavens, this is dire news indeed. Is that all it spoke of? Surely there is more.”

“It asked me to help in any way I could. But I’m certainly not strong enough to go labyrinth-hunting, so I intend to focus on protecting what I can.”

“With your increasing strength, I believe that to be a humble goal.”

“Not at all. I’m always lucking out and barely making it by the skin of my teeth. If I hadn’t found a grimoire for Extra Heal on the thirty-ninth floor, I would have been torn to shreds long before I finished.”

I didn’t like placing a number on the times I’d been gored by a blade, but if I had to, it would probably have been in the triple digits.

“Your limbs are still intact,” Lumina observed.

“Exactly. Extra Heal can regenerate them.”

Lumina had once told me that there were those who called paladins “monsters,” but this new spell made me equally inhuman, in a way.

“Indeed it can,” the pope agreed. “However, I never believed such a grimoire still existed. Fortune favors you, Luciel.” I sensed a smile from her tone.

“And it was thanks to the spellbook that the lord of the fortieth floor dropped that I was able to use the Sanctuary Circle Spell to make it through the final chamber and free the dragon.”

“These accomplishments warrant a reward, yet I know not what gifts would be befitting of such a victory.”

Well, that came out of nowhere. There really wasn’t anything I wanted aside from the freedom to leave Headquarters.

“About that forbidden grimoire, I intend to keep it safe inside my magic bag, where it will never reach anyone else’s hands. The risks of using a spell like Revive are too great to offer freely.”

“I must reiterate that no one is to repeat this information to anyone beyond these walls.”

“Yes, Your Holiness,” Lumina and Cattleya replied.

“Luciel, present to me all that you obtained from the fortieth and fiftieth floors, including the dragon’s lair. Your spoils are yours, but we must inspect them for any significance that may be pertinent to our interests.”

“Understood.”

I took out everything I had picked up during my extended stay. The pope asked to keep the giant greatsword and spear that the lich knight had left behind, as well as the final wight’s staff. All of my grimoires aside from Revive were to be left with her for copying and reproduction. Additional equipment and items dropped by the dragon could only be used by me. Lastly, I didn’t have much use for spare magic bags, but the ones found in labyrinths apparently went for about a platinum each. What I wouldn’t have given for an appraisal skill...

There was one last thing still nagging at me.

“Your Holiness, why have I not leveled up yet?”

“It may benefit you to view your skills and attributes once more.”

“Okay, let’s see. Status open.”

A hologram opened before me.

Name: Luciel

Job: Healer VIII — Holy Dragoon I

Age: 19

Level: 1

HP: 840 — MP: 580

STR: 152 — VIT: 163

DEX: 137 — AGI: 139

INT: 168 — MGI: 182

RMG: 174 — SP: 0

Magic Affinity: Holy

SKILLS

Assess Mastery I — Monster Luck I — Martial Arts VI

Magic Handling IX — Magic Control IX — Holy Magic IX

Meditation VII — Focus VIII — Life Recovery VII

Magic Recovery VIII — Strength Recovery VII — Throwing V

Butchery II — Detect Danger VI — Ambulation VI

Physical Enhancement IV — Parallel Thinking IV — Short Cast V

Null Cast III — Free Casting I — Magic Circle Casting III

Swordsmanship IV — Shields III — Spears IV

Archery I — Perception V — Sword-and-Spear III

Trap Sensing II — Trap Detection I — Cartography III

Magic Amplification III — Accelerated Thought II

HP Growth Rate Up VIII — MP Growth Rate Up VIII

STR Growth Rate Up VIII — VIT Growth Rate Up VIII

DEX Growth Rate Up VIII — AGI Growth Rate Up VIII

INT Growth Rate Up VIII — MGI Growth Rate Up VIII

RMG Growth Rate Up VIII — Physical Attribute Growth Rate Up I

Poison Resist VIII — Paralysis Resist VIII — Petrify Resist VIII

Sleep Resist VIII — Charm Resist V — Curse Resist VIII

Enfeeble Resist VIII — Silence Resist VIII — Disease Resist VIII

Shock Resist VI — Bewitchment Resist VI — Spiritual Resist IX

Slash Resist VI — Stab Resist VI

TITLES

Shaper of Destiny (all stats +10)

Protection of the God of Fate (increased SP)

Blessing of the Divine Healer (holy healing magic efficacy +50%)

Protection of the Holy Dragon (confers the holy dragoon class, increased combat abilities and attributes, and the ability to speak with dragons)

Dragonslayer (increased strength and defensive abilities versus dragons)

He Who Released the Seal (impervious to the Wicked One’s curse and chosen one of the sealed dragons’ powers)

Adventurer’s Guild — Rank E | Healer’s Guild — Rank A

“See? I’m still at level one.” Putting aside how far my Spiritual Resist skill had grown above the others...

“Do you not see additions to your jobs? Your attributes? These are not the abilities of someone who is level one.”

“True, my growth has been a little crazy, but then that’s even more confusing. Why haven’t I leveled up?”

My stats were high, but Brod could still swat me like a fly, so there was no way I was all that strong. And now, with this second job, I was suddenly multi-classing, meaning that increasing my job level was going to be a problem. What did all this mean for me?

“Cattleya, show him.”

Cattleya took an aged book from Her Holiness and brought it over to me.

“What is it?”

“It is the original manuscript for God’s Lament, or rather what you know as ‘Substance X.’ Read it.”

There was even more about that stuff? I scanned through notes and theories pursuing various posited effects and potentialities until my eyes stopped on the most shocking discovery. According to one study, raising one’s level was tremendously difficult while the substance was being consumed. The author ended the document with the wish that willing participants might one day allow them to research the long-term effects that were as of yet a mystery.

“Um, wow,” I said hesitantly. “I’m kind of at a loss for words.”

The truth behind my stagnant level disturbed me far more than when I’d realized the labyrinth was real. It shook me, but I knew that Brod and the others couldn’t have been aware of any of this when they had given me that first mug. I couldn’t blame them. More importantly, there was a new question.

Do I keep drinking it? Do I give up something so OP for the sake of traditional leveling?

“Luciel, get a hold of yourself.”

“You are alive, Luciel. You’re still with us.”

Cattleya and Lumina’s concern brought me back.

“Sorry, I was just feeling conflicted about whether I should focus on leveling up or not.”

“I think that would be wise. It will make you far stronger far more quickly,” Lumina said.

I understood her point, but I needed to ask my master his thoughts as well.

The pope turned her attention to the dragon’s corrupted bones. “Returning to the items you’ve brought back, might I request these once-undead bones?”

“I think I’m the only one who can use the pure, holy ones, but the others are yours. Please keep it between the Valkyries and yourself, though, Your Holiness.”

“I shall. In one week’s time, we will celebrate the labyrinth’s vanquishment in your honor. I do hope you will attend.”

“I’d love to.”

“Cattleya, Lumina, remain here. There is much to discuss.”

“Yes, Your Holiness,” they replied.

“Luciel, you may rest. It gladdens me to see you among us once more.”

“Thank you.”

I trudged on weary, sleep-deprived legs back to my room, my thoughts in chaos. Normally, I’d be too pumped full of adrenaline to sleep despite my exhaustion, but my savior, the Angel’s Pillow, carried me off into long-awaited slumber.