Chapter of Arkdragon, Episode 1: Conquering the Ancient Labyrinth

A bird cried out with a high-pitched chirp. It flew up into the sunny skies, to an altitude a normal bird couldn’t possibly reach. There were forests and rivers in the view below, and more farmlands appeared as it came closer to the center of the nation.

Fertile lands had been protected since ancient times, and even now, there were farmers working hard at planting seeds. Little did they know, right beneath their feet was an underground city where the magi drake rested.

Beyond them and past the smooth hills, the main road could be seen. The bird continued straight ahead, descending toward its destination with an accuracy much unlike an ordinary bird. Even the soaring castle walls were no use in barring the bird from entry. It easily flew over the wall and approached a large black building—the pride of the Alexei region, the Sorcerer’s Guild.

Waiting on the roof of the building was a middle-aged man. The bird flapped and folded its wings as it landed upon his outstretched arm. The man, who quickly fed the bird a piece of raw meat, had been a servant of the guild for many years.

“You came all the way from Arilai? That’s pretty impressive, considering you had to fly over two countries!”

He beamed, then removed the letter attached to the bird’s leg. It was a piece of paper made from grass, with small letters written all over its surface.

“Ah, it’s from Mariabelle. Elven magic’s precise and powerful as usual. Haven’t really seen her in a good minute... Ah!”

As he walked through a doorway, a hand reached out from the shadows and snagged the letter out of his grasp like a hawk. The middle-aged man was just about to yell angrily, but he fell silent when he caught sight of the tall, muscular man with silvery-white swords at his waist, wearing sunglasses with a sword crest on it.

“L-Lord Sven, the Anti-Mage... I have a duty to deliver that to the leader first. I’m sure you know this, but even you must follow procedures.”

“Hmm... I see. Good work. I’ll be handing this to him personally, then.”

The servant’s eyes widened as Sven began unraveling the letter. This was information from a faraway land that had been sent with powerful magic; it was highly likely to contain important information.

The middle-aged man reached out in an attempt to retrieve the letter, but a silvery-white sword floated in the air as if to get in the way. The sword was without a handle, and Sven himself hadn’t uttered a single incantation to activate it.

Before he knew it, the servant had another sharp blade pointed directly at his back, as well. He swallowed nervously, but refused to back down.

“W-Wait. Please, wait! This is the Sorcerer’s Guild! Do you realize that?!”

“Yup, I do. If it wasn’t, I’d have already... Oh? You don’t look so good. Did you eat something bad or something?”

The man named Sven was smiling, but the predator-like eyes behind his sunglasses made the servant feel incredibly uneasy.

Unlike most Sorcerers, Sven was a combat specialist who excelled at conquering labyrinths. A mere servant hardly stood a chance against his gaze that could pierce through even monsters.

As the servant sank to the ground, his colleagues noticed what was happening and rushed over. Sven continued reading the writing on the letter, unconcerned.

“So the sender is that elf girl. I had a feeling it was her. She hasn’t returned for a few days now... What? An ancient labyrinth was discovered?!”

A vein bulged in his head, and in that moment, a large hole formed in the wall. It took the servant a full three seconds before he realized Sven had punched through it.

“I was wondering what the geezers had been clamoring about for the past few days. Hah, did they think they could hide this from me? Those morons!” He spit on the floor, then walked away, looking ready to kill whoever dared stand in his path.

The two floating swords rotated in the air and followed after him into the darkness. The metallic sound of swords being sheathed could be heard from the distance, and the servant let out a sigh of relief. He realized he was trembling in fear while embracing a colleague, and they quickly separated.

“H-How?! How did he know it was Mariabelle’s familiar? I only received it a minute ago!” he shouted and also spit on the floor, to which his colleague responded while wiping the copious sweat from his forehead.

“That must be his rumored Oracle. I’d never want to mess with him. He has the power to read the future, you know. Especially if that future is related to labyrinths.”

Sven, the Twin Blade Magic Swordsman. There wasn’t a Sorcerer in Alexei who hadn’t heard the name. He was a master of conquering labyrinths, capable of slaying monsters with ease even when working solo.

However, due to his problematic personality, careful consideration was needed when sending him to foreign countries. He couldn’t be exiled due to his exceptional talent, and his tendency to take and retain treasures for himself had been a source of many headaches for the Sorcerer’s Guild.

Perhaps the biggest headache of all would come from the fact that he’d found out about Mariabelle’s message...

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Suddenly, my eyes opened. I was wrapped in soft, warm blankets, and the light of the spring morning was shining through the curtains and illuminating my room.

There I was, in the familiar sight of my condo. The air in my room was still chilly, and I blankly stared at the window while missing the world in my dreams.

“Oh... It’s morning already. I wish I could keep playing around instead of going to work.”

Oops, that probably wasn’t something a grown man should be saying out loud...

Winter had already passed, but the blankets were still dangerously cozy. I thought it was even warmer than usual, when I noticed the girl clinging to my chest.

“Oof, I need to hurry up and get used to this already. If I crush her by accident, I won’t get away with just a scolding...”

I was just your average employee at a company, but apparently, I was also a bit peculiar. I realized this when a girl and I were defeated by a magi drake’s breath attack.

My story began as I awakened with her in my condo in the Koto Ward. Now that I knew my dreams weren’t just dreams, we’d been living together as we traveled between Japan and the fantasy world. We weren’t really doing any grandiose activities, though. We spent our time studying Japanese, making friends with monsters, and celebrating our discovery of an ancient labyrinth, so we’d been taking it relatively easy.

As for me, I felt pretty lucky to be able to gaze at her fantastical white hair and long eyelashes every morning. I never thought I’d be able to spend time with a half-fairy elf, and I often questioned if I wasn’t still in a dream.

I’d been staring at her with those thoughts when Marie stirred in her sleep. She breathed in, and then she quietly opened her eyes. The sight of her waking from her sleep always reminded me of a blooming flower. The amethyst of her eyes was so beautiful, they took my breath away.

Some said that if you were to ever see a half-fairy elf, you would never forget it, and I had to agree. Actually, I thought there was something about her that even surpassed the rest of the elven race...

She yawned as if to shake off her drowsiness before she spoke.

“Good morning, Kazuhiho.”

“Good morning, Marie. It’s a nice morning, isn’t it?”

Marie’s leg, which had been resting on my own under the blankets, moved away. I was slightly disappointed, because I was enjoying the warm, soft sensation.

However, I looked up at the clock to find it was already past seven in the morning. Missing the warmth of her body already, we both slowly began waking up.

I blew at the steamy cup of tea before me. Right next to it was toast with a sunny-side up egg and bacon on it, but I wanted to save it for a little bit later. Because of this, I first brought the teacup up to my mouth.

“Hm?” I furrowed my brow.

I’d used the same amount of sugar and milk as usual, but it tasted duller this time. The teabag I used was pretty cheap, but I didn’t expect the flavor to be so thin.

I looked across the table and found Marie was making a similar face. Then, her eyes widened as if realization had struck her.

“Oh! Maybe it’s because we just enjoyed the tea from Arilai. We must have gotten used to their fragrant tea leaves.”

“That must be it. I’m surprised our palates have changed so quickly. Maybe we can think about the tea leaves in this world together sometime soon.”

She nodded happily.

Marie was wearing cute sky blue pajamas, her skin and hair seemingly glowing in the morning light. Her colorful eyes seemed to naturally draw in my gaze. She took another sip of her tea before directing those eyes toward me.

“What sort of stores can you get tea leaves at in Japan? Only the upper class has access to them in the other world.”

“You can find them in specialty stores and department stores. They’re much easier to obtain over here. But if you’re looking for quality, they do tend to get pretty pricey.”

I didn’t mind splurging on major events like New Year’s or vacations, but I wanted to try and be frugal for daily expenses.

“I see.” Marie nodded, agreeing with this sentiment. “Well, I’m not looking for anything expensive, either. I actually think being able to eat bread and meat in the morning is luxurious in itself, but I should keep that to myself.” She smiled as she reached for a piece of toast.

Thinking about it, breakfast wasn’t a common thing in the other world. The bacon was covered in oil, and it looked and smelled delicious. The elf girl sniffed the aroma coming from the lightly burned fat.

We put our hands together and said, “Itadakimasu!” which was one of the few words she could say with perfect pronunciation. It hadn’t been long since she started learning Japanese, but she was quick to pick up anything related to eating.

It looked like the square toast may have been a bit difficult to eat for her tiny mouth. She moved her hair aside and took a bite. The bacon hung from her mouth because she hadn’t bit through it fully, and the yolk oozed out of the egg. She let out a silent scream as the yolk dripped down to her plate. I’d seen her eyes widen like that many times, but it never failed in making me feel happy.

“It’s just the two of us eating here, so it’s not a big deal if your table manners aren’t completely perfect. Why don’t you dip your bread in the yolk that dripped onto your plate?”

The girl nodded as she chewed, savoring the piece of bread soaked in yolk. There was some yellow stuck to the side of her mouth, which she licked up with her pink tongue.

“Mmm, the bread is fragrant and crispy, and it goes so well with these runny eggs.”

“People don’t really eat eggs in the other world, huh? I guess it’s because they spoil easily, especially in the desert region where we last left off.”

That was right, we had to consider such topics rather than just tea leaves and food. I thought about the sun-baked land of Arilai and spoke to Marie, who was taking another sip of her tea.

“About what we were discussing earlier... I’m sure you’ll be able to participate in the labyrinth exploration. I’ll be with you, too. Besides, we have a big advantage.”

“Advantage? You mean because we’ll be okay if we die?”

“Hmm, I don’t think we should rely on that, so not quite. Just think about it: Everyone else has to worry about things like keeping watch while sleeping and food preparation while exploring labyrinths. As for us...”

Seeing what I was getting at, she let out a loud, “Ah!”

That was it. Normally, we’d need about a week’s worth of food, but we could go in there empty-handed. There was no need to keep watch, so we could participate with a much smaller party. And just as Marie had mentioned, we’d simply wake up here if we did happen to be defeated, then restart again from the same spot.

“That’s incredible! You’ve had an unfair advantage, playing by those rules all this time. It’s no wonder your level is so high.”

“Maybe so. I’ve been heading straight into dangerous situations without ever worrying for my life. But it’s easy to get separated in a labyrinth, so we’ll have to form a party. I don’t think we could cheat like before.”

By “cheat,” I was talking about the time I helped her level. That time, we’d gone out without forming a party and I weakened enemies to the brink of death, then removed myself from combat right before Marie dealt the killing blow. That allowed her to obtain all the experience from the battle for herself, raising her level by 5 in a short amount of time. It was a highly effective method, but she waved her hand at me dismissively.

“Not only was that mind-numbingly boring, it actually hurt my conscience. I’m sure it will be much more fun to communicate with you via the Mind Link Chat. I’m starting to look forward to it, hehe.”

“Let’s do that, then. You have an ability that increases your experience gain now, so it should be much easier to level up.”

She threw the last piece of toast into her mouth, wiped her fingers with a tissue, then spoke. “Now that I know we have an advantage, I need to work hard so they don’t appoint someone to explore the labyrinths in my stead.”

That was the biggest issue for us right now. According to her, you usually needed to be at the “High Sorcerer” rank to explore high-level labyrinths. It seemed the guild was concerned for the safety of their members. I didn’t have to worry about that since I didn’t belong to any such association, but they couldn’t afford to put their rare and valuable Spirit Sorceress in danger.

“You said ‘usually,’ so does that mean there some exceptions?”

“Of course. Exploring ruins in another nation is an incredibly rare opportunity. As I said before, the higher-ups want to obtain ancient knowledge above all else, but the authority to decide as much lies with whoever discovered it. There’s been one special case where the person who discovered the ruins was given the right to investigate.”

One of the criteria for such an exception depended on whether or not that person in question was reliable. Otherwise, there were cases where a substitute was selected in their stead, as Marie had mentioned in the dream world.

“There’s only one way for us to prevent that. We need to make them realize how capable we are,” she said as she raised her pointer finger.

It wouldn’t be long until the conquest team departed. They’d set forth for the labyrinth as soon as the scouting team discovered the Magic Stone. Marie didn’t have the time or level necessary to qualify as an High Sorcerer, so she was right that we had to find some other way to gain approval.

“All right. I’m going to leave for work soon, but let’s figure it out together later.”

“Okay. I wouldn’t be much of a Sorceress if I just gave up now. Let’s find a way so they won’t take us lightly.”

She motioned her small fist toward me, and I bumped it with my own. It was exciting that I could continue thinking about our adventure, despite being back in Japan and no longer dreaming. Marie seemed to feel the same way as she smiled warmly at me.

“There’s just one more important thing to take care of before I go. I’m going to teach you how to make lunch, so follow me.”

She blinked. It may have been a bit sudden, but I couldn’t just leave a young girl in my home without anything to eat. Though, she was actually an elf who was over a hundred years old, I did still worry about her.

“I-I don’t mind, but I haven’t learned how to use this kitchen yet. I would prefer something that doesn’t require the use of fire.”

She hopped off her seat and followed me. I lived in a 1DK condo, meaning I could walk from my bedroom to the dining room, then to the kitchen in only a few steps.

I pulled the refrigerator door open. I felt her sticking to my back as she peered in with me, which made me feel a bit happy.

“Is that... chicken? It’s covered in white stuff.”

“That’s yogurt. I let it sit overnight so all the flavor is soaked in by lunchtime.”

Most guys who lived by themselves didn’t really cook... Well, I’d actually heard that that had been changing as of late.

It was more economical for me to cook, and I had to think about her nutrition as well. I could just buy side dishes and bento, but I preferred to make our meals for the most part. I also had to think about saving time since I worked full-time, but I had resealable plastic bags to help in that regard.

Inside one such bag were some grated onions, basil, garam masala, and some other stuff I had on hand. The oven would be used later, so most fragrant vegetables would have gone well with it.

“I want you to use the oven to cook this around noon.”

“I’ve never used an ‘oven’ before. Are you sure it’ll be all right?”

“Should be, yeah. All you need to do is press this button and set the timer.”

I pressed the button to demonstrate, and her purple eyes went round.

“Wait, you’re saying it’s that simple?”

Of course it was. If everyone in a condo used ovens from the olden days, then everyone would be constantly starting fires.

“I thought I would have to start a fire for sure. It seems many things can be resolved with a press of a button in your world,” Marie said, looking at me with wonder.

She did have a point, considering I pressed a bunch of buttons on my keyboard all day for a living...

She was still in her pajamas as she peered into the oven. She learned the controls in no time. Being the reliable elf and Spirit Sorceress she was, it seemed learning to operate a microwave oven was no challenge at all.

“After you put it all on a plate, you need to cook it for twenty minutes. You should eat it with some of that bread, too. Be sure to use these mittens when you take it out, since it’ll be very hot.”

“Okay, that shouldn’t be too hard. The food probably won’t taste very good with such a simple process, though.”

Oh, I don’t know about that...

I figured it’d be better for her to taste it for herself rather than answer her right away. I was already looking forward to getting off work so I could hear what she thought about it.

I looked up at the clock to find I had to start getting ready for work immediately. I quickly told her how to arrange the dish, then rushed to get ready. As I was changing from my pajamas into my suit, I heard Marie’s voice from behind me.

“While I start working on that plan we talked about earlier, I’m going to study some more Japanese and see if I can communicate with spirits in this world, too. I’ll take care of the dishes and laundry, so have a good day at work, okay?”

It made me feel like I was married to a beautiful housewife... but we seemed like an older male and a young girl from an outsider’s perspective, so she may have been more like a sister than a wife.

Once I got ready, I handed my house key to her and stood at the entrance. “I’ll be going now. I’ll arrange a way for you to contact me soon in case of an emergency.”

As I said so... perhaps it was because she’d gotten used to us being together all the time, but she seemed a little sad. And maybe I was, too. I distinctly felt the pang of missing her already. She’d always been somewhere within my sight for the past few days, the two of us enjoying conversations with each other.

“See you later. Work hard, okay?”

A guy couldn’t ask for better words of encouragement. If all I had to do to come home and talk to her again was get some work done, then you could bet I’d work my butt off.

Marie waved her hand, smiling in the rays of the morning sun peering through the curtains.

And so, Kazuhiro reluctantly went to work...

Mariabelle had been slowly acclimating to life in Japan: she cleaned the dishes, wiped them with a dish cloth, then placed them in the dish tray; she dusted the floor with a broom and hung the blankets up on the balcony. Despite her small stature, this was effortless work for someone who’d grown up in the forest.

Compared to how she had to fill the bath with water before, this was almost too easy. While there were some tasks in the human world that could be easily completed with the use of Spirit Magic, it was forbidden to use unless necessary. The issue with human society was that even if something was inefficient, one couldn’t oppose customs that had already been set in place.

But her daily life had now become quite enjoyable. Kazuhiro sought efficiency like her, and he’d carefully consider whatever spur-of-the-moment idea she’d come up with.

Speaking of which, the efficiency of some gadgets such as the refrigerator and microwave oven were astounding...

Mariabelle wholly used her free time to study Japanese, so she happily sat down in a chair. She swung her feet back and forth as she produced a notebook and some stationery. The pen case and pens featuring different characters were so cute, just looking at them put her in a good mood.

She smiled, then raised her fist triumphantly and proclaimed, “I will learn enough so I can watch and understand anime!”

It sounded like something a foreigner obsessed with otaku culture would say, but it was the best source of motivation one could ask for. As she learned more of the language, she could understand the messages behind the works and what made them enjoyable.

Her studies started with basic phrases used in daily conversation, and then she branched out to more advanced topics. There were no shortcuts to learning a language, and it all came down to becoming as familiar with it as possible. And so, step by step, she kept at it... until she realized it was about lunchtime.

“That’s right, Kazuhiho taught me how to cook with the oven. It might take a while, so I should get that started now.”

She hopped up from her chair and walked toward the refrigerator. After setting the oven to preheat, she took the yogurt-covered chicken out of the fridge. She cut some unpeeled potatoes and lined the bottom of a heat-resistant tray, placed the chicken on top, then sprinkled on some herbs as she’d been taught. With the press of a few buttons, the cooking had begun.

One thing she hadn’t accounted for was the way the chicken’s delicious smell would permeate the room as it cooked. It distracted her from her studies, and she had to stop several times to peek into the oven and check how it was cooking.

“What’s going on here? I thought this was just a simple dish... The fragrance of the oils cooking in the oven... and he even added garam masala in the mix. How could he? He knows that’s my favorite...”

The chicken cooked and steamed before her eyes, dripping tasty oils onto the vegetables below. The seasoning herbs had served to make the ingredients smell incredible, and the scent made the elf’s stomach growl with anticipation.

“Oh! Only three minutes left. I need to get ready.”

The girl quickly prepared plates, some bread, and a knife and fork.

“I know...”

She then remembered the anime DVD she’d left on the table and came up with a delightful way to spend her lunchtime.

A smile widened on her face, and an electric beep alerted her of the food being done. It seemed the elf still had some preparations to do in a hurry.

The chicken had been soaking in yogurt to remove any unwanted odors, and now it instead smelled of aromatic herbs. As soon as the food touched her tongue, her purple eyes widened in surprise. If he’d been here, Kazuhiro would have surely been asking, “How does it taste?”

“I’d hate to admit it, but in regards to your question, I have no choice but to say it tastes so good I can’t control myself.” She complimented the food in a roundabout way for some reason as she pictured his sleepy-looking face.

Her frustrated look naturally loosened into a smile as soon as she took another bite. And before her, a colorfully depicted anime was playing. Her mood visibly improved by the minute, and she let out a happy “Mmmf!” after taking another bite of food.

The blankets being aired out in the sun on the veranda felt somewhat peaceful and seemed to invite her to sleep, perhaps because of the laundry blowing gently in the springtime wind.

Despite being alone, Mariabelle had enjoyed her time at home. It went without saying, of course, that she’d completely forgotten about the other assignment she was supposed to work on...

Kazuhiro, on the other hand, hadn’t forgotten about the assignment.

A full train on the Sobu Line was right at the top of the “trains people didn’t want to ride” list. The train being packed to the brim was the familiar sight of the communal rush hour, and I found myself being pressed up against the door.

“Man... It feels like it gets more and more crowded every year...”

As I muttered to myself, I wanted to at least be free in my own head, so I started thinking about the other world despite getting flattened by the people pushing on my back.

...To go into an ancient labyrinth, we needed the Sorcerer’s Guild to recognize our skills. My “assignment” was to figure out how to accomplish this. Incidentally, my partner was too preoccupied with Japanese food and anime to think about this, but I didn’t know that at the time. Thinking about her safety was a topic even more important than my assignment that I had to consider.

I didn’t know why, but I always woke up in the dream world whenever I fell asleep. Inversely, I could go to sleep again or die in that world to come back here. But since this only applied to me, or anyone who happened to be embracing me when it triggered, her safety wasn’t guaranteed. I only realized this recently when we were engaged in battle with some bandits.

The bandits had plotted to take Marie as a hostage, and I fell straight into their trap. It seemed I had the mentality that it was just a dream, so I’d wake up if I died and everything would be okay. But from here on, I’d have to reconsider that line of thinking. I’d put her in danger again otherwise, and it could lead to an irreversible mistake someday. It was important for us to be recognized by the guild, but I needed to find some way to keep her safe before thinking about conquering the labyrinth.

Now that I knew the world I thought to exist only in my dreams was real, I wanted to avoid putting her in any unnecessary danger. In fact, I didn’t mind giving up on the labyrinth to do just that.

This just went to show that there was a glaring flaw between us.

We both specialized in offense, and we had no tank or healer to protect us. If we had a front line in our battle with the bandits, we could’ve approached the battle with a completely different strategy. But I was a bit too lightweight to be a tank, and even if I wanted to teleport with Marie, my Over the Road skill’s weight restriction was far too strict. So much so that I couldn’t even carry a shield without going over the limit.

Besides, when it came to combat, I was more suited to fighting solo. I could choose to attack or retreat on the fly by utilizing my short-ranged teleport ability, but this only worked well because I didn’t have anyone else to consider. I’d have to reconsider my thinking and strategy from here on.

But I’d been fighting alone all this time, so it was only natural for me to gravitate toward this fighting style. Maybe it’d be easier to just hire someone who could act as a tank for us...

But there was one problem with that: I didn’t have very much money in the other world. I mean, I didn’t really want to work for money even in my dream world...

Since I liked to travel, I spent most of my time enjoying the view in various locations, so I didn’t gain much fame as a swordsman, either. This meant it was hard for me to prove myself as a capable party member.

Our assignment was to prove our abilities, but the more I thought about it, I only came up with reasons why it wouldn’t work. Despite what I’d said in the morning, I decided we should probably give up on the labyrinth.

As the thought crossed my mind, my phone starting vibrating. I managed to wriggle enough to get a peek at the screen in the packed train, and an unfamiliar notification was on my screen.

Oh, a text.

I’d barely ever used that feature before, so it was a bit surprising. The word “Kaoruko” was displayed, along with a simple greeting and message.

“Good morning, Kitase-san. Did you read that book with Mariabelle-chan the other day? I also enjoyed that one, so I hope to hear what she thought about it.”

“Hm,” I said to myself, then awkwardly began typing out a response.

“Marie did say she liked it. She wanted to know what would happen next, but she was too tired and fell asleep. She seemed a little frustrated about that when she woke up.”

I texted her back, then got a reply indicating she got a laugh out of my message. Soon after, I got a message that seemed to be the main reason she decided to reach out to me.

“If you wouldn’t mind, how would you feel about having a little get together? My husband could join us depending on the date, so please invite Mariabelle-chan, as well.”

Oh, now that was quite a proactive invitation. Though it seemed she was mainly hoping to see Marie rather than me.

Kaoruko was a woman who lived in the same condo as me and worked at the local library. I remembered we’d recently exchanged our contact info so we could get to know each other better. What troubled me was the amount of work we had to do, and whether or not Marie would be on board. Though, we did live in the same building, so it’d be easy to coordinate a meeting.

Personally, being sociable wasn’t my strong suit, but with Marie being an elf girl, it may have been good for her to make friends in Japan. Kaoruko had a friendly disposition, and Marie seemed to somewhat favor Kaoruko in return, considering how she went in for a handshake last time.

Yeah, maybe I should learn from Marie and take a step forward...

Making up my mind, I texted back that I’d be happy to arrange a meeting.