Chapter 40 – The Reason for Being Born, The Reason for Living

“…Good morning, Grace.”

“Yes. Good morning.”

“…G-good morning.”

“Yeah, good morning to you too, Ashley.”

When I woke up, Grace was peering into my face with a smile.

She must have woken up from our voices. Ashley seemed to have realized what position she was sleeping in, her eyes widening as she sat up.

“I’m sorry…”

I gave a wry smile to Ashley, who was shrinking her shoulders.

“It’s fine. Did you sleep well?”

“…Yes.”

Caduceus, who had been on watch outside, returned.

Although the matter with Count Cardiff’s family had been resolved, there was no guarantee that remnants didn’t remain. For a while, we planned to continue having Caduceus keep watch at night.

“I’ll leave Caduceus to you, Theo. I’m going to make breakfast.”

“Grace-sama, I’ll help too.”

Following after Grace, Ashley ran toward the kitchen.

I could hear their voices sounding rather cheerful as they discussed what to make for today’s breakfast.

Grace too… it feels like she’s been making softer expressions more often compared to when we were at Gartner’s mansion.

“Good morning, Theodore.”

“Yeah. Good morning.”

We took a carriage to the square near the Adventurer Guild, where we met up with Sheila.

After brief morning greetings, the four of us headed to the Guild together. If Irmhild’s condition had improved, we should be able to talk with her.

After stabling the carriage and entering the Guild, we found Heather as usual at the Counter, organizing documents and such.

After exchanging morning greetings with Heather, who had noticed us, I asked about the monsters, and she nodded slightly.

“Understood. This way, please. By the way, who is that with you?”

“Ah, well. How should I put it? She’s someone we’re considering possibly adding to our Party Member.”

Well, I haven’t actually discussed with Sheila at all about whether she would join as a Party Member.

I decided to give an ambiguous response that wouldn’t cause problems whether she accompanied us just this once or appeared with us in the future.

“I’m Sheila. In that case, I’ll register as an adventurer, so please take care of it.”

“Is that so? I’m Heather. Nice to meet you, Sheila-san.”

Heather nodded without seeming particularly concerned and guided us to a room in the back of the Guild. According to her, it’s a facility for accommodating injured people.

It’s definitely a room I’d prefer not to have to use if possible. As we approached the room, I could hear singing coming from inside.

…The song carries magical power. Depending on the lyrics and melody, it could easily become a Cursed Song… but for some reason, it’s a children’s folk song widely sung by ordinary children. A mixed chorus of Harpy and Siren or something… that’s just impossible in various ways.

When I knocked, the singing stopped.

When we entered the room, their gazes gathered on us. There were three of them—or should I say, three female-form Monsters lying quietly on beds. They were the ones I’d seen in Caduceus’s previous information.

All three of them seemed to be using transformation Techniques, taking forms very close to human appearance, but the Harpy had feathers peeking out from her sleeves, and the Siren had ears shaped like fish fins.

That meant the one who looked completely human at first glance would be the Lamia, Irmhild.

“Um. I guess it’s nice to meet you? I’m Theodore Gartner.”

The reason we came here was supposedly because they wanted to thank us.

“Wow. A child. A human child.”

“Is this the human who saved us?”

“My, my, how polite of you. I’m Irmhild.”

The Harpy and Siren exchanged looks before staring intently at us, while Irmhild, for her part, smiled and tilted her head. Well… just from their reactions, it’s immediately obvious who’s accustomed to human society.

Irmhild was smiling cheerfully with narrowed eyes the entire time, giving off a very gentle atmosphere. To be frank, she doesn’t seem like a Lamia—or rather, she doesn’t seem like a Monster at all. It was probably Irmhild who taught that folk song to the other two.

“Hehe. I’ll represent us in thanking you, Theodore-kun.”

“No need. It was for my own benefit as well. Um, this is Grace and Ashley.”

We introduced ourselves to each other. The Harpy is Dominique, and the Siren is Justia, apparently. The one with freckles and a childish appearance is the Harpy, while the beautiful woman with almond-shaped eyes and a beauty mark is the Siren.

…Sheila seems somewhat unsettled. She’s wandering around restlessly, looking somewhat out of place.

“Heather-san, weren’t you still in the middle of work? We’ll be fine here.”

“Is that so? Well, Theodore-san probably won’t do anything reckless, so I’ll leave this to you.”

When I told Heather, she tilted her head slightly but left the room.

There are surprisingly many people who learn skills at the Thieves Guild and make their living as adventurers, so I don’t have anything particularly shady about this situation, but Sheila seemed concerned about being seen.

Vice-Commander Oswald knows that someone close to me was the informant for the kidnapping incident. He seemed to have some inkling that the person belonged to the Thieves Guild.

So it’s probably better not to show Sheila being in a close position to those involved in the kidnapping incident in front of Guild staff. Even if the Adventurer Guild is considerate, the Thieves Guild side might be stricter about such matters, so maintaining appearances is necessary.

“Irmhild, are you alright?”

“Yes. The Guild people brought us some rabbits as a gift. Sheila-chan, you came in through the front properly today.”

“Theodore helped me.”

Since Sheila and Irmhild seemed to be happily confirming each other’s safety, I decided to postpone questioning Irmhild for now and instead try talking with Dominique and Justia.

“Where were you two before coming here?”

“Even if you ask where… I don’t know what humans call my birthplace, and I was dragged here by magic without understanding what was happening, then put in a cell.”

“Me too. I was suddenly captured by a Demon.”

“So you were brought directly from your birthplace to inside the Boundary City?”

“That would be correct.”

…The research results of the Demon Linette, I see. It must be forced summoning from outside the city, but there should be various restrictions on summoning magic within the city due to the Barrier.

While summoning contracted Monsters is one thing, wild Monsters shouldn’t be able to enter the city interior, and to begin with, the very fact that a Demon is inside the city is strange. Such Barriers are primarily established with the exclusion of Demons in mind.

In other words, Linette somehow managed to slip through the Barrier to get inside. The important people at both the Temple and Royal Castle must be tearing their hair out about now.

That means their position might be relatively secure. That should be good news for Sheila.

While they are valuable witnesses with some connection to the Demon, as long as they’re fairly friendly and cooperative Monsters, there’s no reason to treat them harshly to the point of damaging the trust of the Adventurer Guild and its members.

I thought they might have distrust since they were captured by humans, but apparently their perception is that they were captured by a Demon.

“What about Irmhild-san?”

“I’m a Monster born in the Labyrinth. I originally lived in the Boundary City.”

Well… that matches what I heard from Sheila.

“Could I hear about your time living in the Labyrinth?”

“Hmm. I don’t mind talking about it, but are you interested in such stories?”

Irmhild put her finger to her lips and tilted her head.

“Yes. The Monsters in the Labyrinth are different from ordinary ones, so I’m curious.”

For example, the reason I’m here might be connected to the Boundary Labyrinth.

The Labyrinth said to connect to the Otherworld. Then—it wouldn’t be strange for there to be a boundary between Earth and this different world.

But well, even if I never learn the secrets of my birth or origins, that’s fine too.

As long as I’m living like this, no matter what I do, I have to keep living until I die. How many people actually understand the reason for their own origins, not just someone like me?

In BFO, Kagehisa set up various things about Theodore’s origins… but he didn’t set up information like my mother fighting Demons or anything. My life is my own. My mother’s life is her own.

“…I want to know that too.”

Irmhild maintained her smile, but there was a somewhat troubled color mixed in there. Something about not being able to return to the depths of the Labyrinth, or meeting Snake Bite for a map-making Request, wasn’t it?

Is that reason—to return to her birthplace, or to learn the reason she was born?

“Being in the Labyrinth with everyone… I vaguely remember it. We made something like a settlement in the Labyrinth and lived there.”

“A settlement—is it?”

No matter how I think about it… it’s an unknown section. Something like a gathering place for friendly Monsters?

“But how should I put it… those times feel like I was dreaming. Both me and everyone else lived lives where we did predetermined things in predetermined ways.”

Predetermined things in predetermined ways, huh.

Other hostile Monsters give the impression of serving roles like antibodies eliminating foreign substances that invade the Labyrinth, so I can’t help but imagine their settlement as something like an NPC village.

“When I was in the Labyrinth, I was always comfortable and never hungry. I didn’t have any anxieties at all.”

“Then, why did you come outside?”

“The process… I don’t remember well. But when I noticed, I was outside. In that moment, I felt like the world gained color for the first time. In exchange, I was rejected by the Labyrinth.”

…I should probably view it as the Labyrinth side having used and controlled them.

Because Irmhild, soliloquizing like that, doesn’t look artificial at all.