Volume 7, Chapter 29 – Pepe, Refina, Yisi?

“There are even people selling things inside. This place is way too lively.”

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness within the labyrinth entrance, Camilla marveled at the scene before her.

Just like the plaza, the labyrinth entrance was also packed with stalls. However, unlike the plaza, these stalls were orderly and didn’t take up too much of the passageway. The goods they sold were also more specialized, mostly consisting of items that would be used in the labyrinth, such as trauma medicine, exorcism powder, and dry rations.

“It’s so vibrant. It feels like everyone is working hard.”

“You feel it too, Mary?”

“Of course!” Mary replied to Refina’s question with a vibrant smile, then turned to Yisi, a hint of worry in her purple eyes. “Master, what should we do with these children…”

“Are you going to take them into the labyrinth, Onee-sama? If so, just protecting them will waste a lot of time.”

Hearing Camilla’s comment, the child guides being led by Tiffany at the front of the group turned around, their dirty faces filled with nervousness.

For these children, becoming a guide was a necessity for survival; they themselves surely didn’t want to enter the labyrinth. Yisi smiled to allay their fears.

“I plan to leave them at the labyrinth entrance. When we come out, I’ll buy them, free them from their slave status, and have that fa—that head priest with the very long name adopt them. With the wealth of the Gota church, raising a few more children won’t be a burden. Besides, these children can become members of the church in the future and help with its upkeep.”

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She had almost let slip her nickname for the fat head priest in public and quickly corrected herself.

“W-we can go to the church!?”

A girl cried out at Yisi’s words. An older girl next to her tapped her on the head.

“Stupid. He must mean we’ll live in some drafty, abandoned house near the church. How could they let us live in the church? Only noble masters can go to a clean place like that. Even the adult adventurers can’t get in.”

“That’s so nice. I heard from Kita and the others that the church often gives porridge to the nearby slaves. If we live next to the church, we could even sneak out to the plaza fountain at night to drink water when the guards aren’t looking. The water there isn’t like the black, muddy water the monkey gives us; it’s so clean.”

“You guys are asking for too much. For me, as long as I have a place to sleep where I won’t get stepped on by horses, that’s enough.”

Their lives sound even worse than Mary’s.

At least Mary, thanks to her Fallen ability, had food to eat every day.

As the children’s chattering drew the gazes of many adventurers, Yisi had to explain to them that they would indeed be living in the church and becoming church assistants. However, this statement elicited an even stronger reaction from the children. The younger ones cheered, while the slightly older ones burst into tears, thanking her profusely as they walked towards the end of the labyrinth entrance.

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Hearing that they would be sent to the church, the other children who were suspected to be guides cast envious glances. Many even ran up to Yisi, begging her to send them as well. But in Yisi’s eyes, these children were not young enough; they were either already adults or close to it, and they were much healthier than the ones she had hired. Therefore, Yisi refused them all. Except for the short, thin merchant who had almost been burned by Laxy, the vast majority of merchants here provided their slaves with adequate food and clothing and did not treat them as consumables.

“Alright, you can stop here.”

The crying child guides gradually quieted down as they reached two massive bronze doors. Beyond these doors lay the first floor of the labyrinth.

Perhaps to prevent the monsters within from charging out, this area had been built into a wide, curved space. Troops were stationed on both sides of the arc, and there were even towers built for easy shooting.

Since Yisi had declared on the way that she didn’t need a guide, the oldest child stepped forward.

“Big Sister, are you sure you don’t need a guide? Although I can’t help you fight off monsters, I’m the one among us who has entered the labyrinth the most times. It would be safer to take me with you.”

She had the [Omniscient Map] and had no need for a guide. Yisi put it another way to reassure him.

“We have the blessing of the angel lady; we won’t get lost. You all just wait here safely. If anyone gives you trouble, just run to the soldiers over there and give them my name. I’m Yisi Enya, a cardinal of the Ymir Church.”

“O-okay…”

Seemingly dejected for not being useful, the boy lowered his head and led the other child guides to a corner of the hall.

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After the children had left, a very displeased Edith walked up to Yisi’s side.

“What should I say to you? Busybody? Or should I call you Mother Yisi?”

“I’ll admit to being a busybody, but what’s with ‘Mother Yisi’?”

“You looked just like a mother taking care of her children just now. Well, as a fiancée, you’re qualified, I suppose. I was worried that if you didn’t know how to take care of children, I’d have to leave it to Refina.”

Why are you thinking so far ahead? And wouldn’t that be too pitiful for Refina?

“It would surely be a joyous thing to be able to take care of Master’s and Miss Yisi’s children.”

As if greatly looking forward to it, Refina clasped her hands together and said with delight.

Hey, hey, leaving aside how Pepe and I would produce offspring, shouldn’t Refina be thinking about how to be with Pepe first?!

As far as Yisi was concerned, she wouldn’t be jealous if Pepe and Refina were together. Their relationship was already very strong; if anything, she was the one who had wedged herself in midway. Besides, Pepe, like her, wouldn’t abandon one for the other—in other words, she loved them all—so Yisi couldn’t say she felt uncomfortable. Moreover, to put it another way, if she were to forcefully separate Pepe and Refina and not allow them to continue their ambiguous relationship, never mind Pepe’s side, she herself would feel that she owed Refina. Although they had never mentioned it to her, the reason they still only addressed each other as master and servant was likely out of consideration for her feelings.

Honestly, it would be fine if they just said it directly.

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Of course, besides the reasons above, the most important reason she didn’t mind was that she also looked forward to the story between Pepe and Refina. That feeling of a forbidden love between two girls was something she could never get tired of imagining.

No… am I not a girl too? I don’t dislike Refina, and Refina doesn’t dislike me. In that case… could it be a threesome…?

Refina perfectly fit my definition of an older sister: gentle, beautiful, and with a heart that could embrace everything.

If it weren’t for her promise to Andrea, I might have thought of stealing Refina from Pepe.

“What are you thinking about? You have a disgusting expression on your face.”

Raising an eyebrow, Edith pinched Yisi’s cheek. Yisi quickly snapped back to her senses.

Yisi, Yisi, what on earth are you thinking? Don’t you still have Camilla and Andrea?

Banishing the pink-tinted thoughts from her mind, Yisi coughed twice.

“Ahem, I was thinking about what kind of quest we should take next. I remember there was a notice board here when I came out with Dominic and the others yesterday. Although we’re not short on gold coins, our team can’t level up if we don’t complete quests. You want to become Crimson Gold-rank, right, Pepe?”