Chapter 449 – Transformation of the Labyrinth

Pietro and Flamia’s summoning and contract were successfully completed, you could say.

Firetail—Flamia—possesses the Fire Element, but she’s suited for personal protection in a different way than Corulis and others. She should be well-qualified as Princess Adriana’s Familiar and Escort. As is typical of a fox spirit, she seems intelligent and likely to get along well with Corulis and Ramriya.

After seeing off Princess Stephania and the others as they returned to the Castle riding on Corulis’s back, we also began our journey home.

—The next day.

After finishing breakfast, while we were wondering what to do today, Claudia placed a finger near her temple, closed her eyes… and after showing a thoughtful expression for a moment, she said:

“…Hmm. This sensation—it’s unmistakable, after all. It seems a new section has been created in the Labyrinth.”

“A new section, you say? Related to the Fire Spirit Hot Spring, I presume?”

“Yes, probably. It seems the section was constructed during last night.”

In response to Grace’s question, Claudia opened her eyes and nodded.

We had discussed that the creation of Tephra’s outpost in Termwills might affect the Labyrinth side as well… but it appears the structural change occurred last night, during the full moon when we couldn’t enter the regular Labyrinth.

“Hmm. We need to go check it out once.”

As the Otherworld Ambassador, this is a high-priority matter. For now, we’ll need to confirm the location of the new section and disseminate that information, along with making a report.

Then we’ll also have to investigate the danger level of the new section. We’ll need to inform the Adventurer Guild about the new section and share information like countermeasures with the Royal Castle and the Guild, thereby alerting the adventurers.

“Well then, we can’t afford to take it too leisurely,” said Rosemary, setting down her teacup and standing up.

“I’ll go get my Equipment from my room.”

Ashley and Marlene nodded to each other and headed to the second floor.

Everyone else also quickly began preparing to descend into the Labyrinth. As for me, I had to make contact via the Communication Device while equipping my gear and gathering the necessary items for the Labyrinth Exploration.

I wonder if this is a good or bad opportunity to test the new Ouroboros. Well… let’s just say it’s fortunate that it happened after our combat strength was reinforced.

And so, right after eating, we headed to the Adventurer Guild. Forset and Sion were accompanying us as well, but although they’re sufficiently capable, they’re still new to delving into the Labyrinth… so it was arranged for them to wait at the Guild, considering it might be unwise to take them straight into an unknown new section.

“Good morning.”

When I greeted Heather, she also broke into a smile and returned the greeting.

“Good morning. Everyone is unusually early today.”

“No, it’s just that something concerning has come up on the Labyrinth side. Is the Guild Master or Vice-Commander here?”

At my words, Heather’s expression turned serious.

She probably realized my business was related to the Otherworld Ambassador. Though it’s not exactly an urgent crisis yet.

“Both of them are at the Guild. Since last night was a full moon, it was decided that the staff, including them, would stay at the Guild in case of emergencies. I’ll go call them right away.”

“Thank you.”

She seemed to understand that while it wasn’t an emergency, it was a pressing matter. She immediately stood up and quickly disappeared into the back of the Guild.

Guild Master Auria and Vice-Commander Oswald came right away. Though it was still early in the morning, Auria seemed in good spirits.

“Good morning.”

“Mm. Good morning. It seems to be some troublesome matter, though.”

“That’s right. It appears the influence of the Fire Spirit Hot Spring we discussed before has manifested on the Labyrinth side. It seems a new section has been created, so I came to report and investigate.”

When I said that, Auria, Oswald, and Heather all widened their eyes in unison.

We had already informed both the Royal Castle and the Guild about the potential effects of the outpost contract with Tephra. The three of them quickly returned to serious expressions.

“Then we must also notify the adventurers and head to the site for investigation.”

Well… I figured it would come to that. They couldn’t just leave it entirely to us. Intuitively speaking, Auria and the others would probably grasp the threat level to adventurers more accurately than we would, and for issuing notifications, having personnel who have actually seen the site is important.

“Heather. As we decided beforehand. Station people at the Labyrinth entrance in shifts and have them warn adventurers descending into the Labyrinth.”

“Understood.”

Their response was swift, precisely because this was a situation anticipated in advance. The Guild staff present also received instructions from Auria and Oswald and began moving about busily.

Auria would be the one heading to the investigation from the Guild. It seemed Oswald was about to take a nap in rotation with Auria, so he would remain at the Guild to handle responses and frontline command.

“Normally, we would gather skilled members to form an Investigation Team and join it… but would it be acceptable if we made it in the form of a Request from the Adventurer Guild?”

“It’s originally part of the Otherworld Ambassador’s duties as well. Coordinating with the Guild is also within my job scope.”

In that case, I couldn’t exactly double-dip on the Reward. If I were an adventurer, I might do that, I suppose.

Well, if we formed an Investigation Team first and then headed to the site, more time would pass, and if acquaintances were going into the Labyrinth, I’d feel more at ease accompanying them anyway.

Accompanied by Auria, who had promptly prepared the Red Transfer Stone and her Equipment, we headed to the Labyrinth entrance… and there were Princess Stephania and Princess Adriana, along with members of the Knight Order. Corulis and Flamia were there too.

Corulis raised one hand, and I also raised one hand in return greeting. As for Flamia, she was sitting quietly next to Corulis, wagging her tail. The way she wagged it just once, similarly to Corulis, made me feel like I could see Corulis’s influence.

“My, good morning. You’re early,” said the two Princesses, their faces breaking into smiles. They seemed as cheerful as usual, but… Hmm. It gives a slightly mismatched impression for the current situation.

In that case… did our messages cross? They probably made a plan to visit the old Mine first thing in the morning to try delving into the Labyrinth with Flamia now that they had contracted her. Well, assessing combat strength is important, after all.

When I checked my Communication Device after excusing myself… a reply from Alfred had just arrived, stating that the two had headed to the Labyrinth.

“Good morning. Actually, we’re about to head out to investigate a new section that just appeared in the Labyrinth.”

While having Caduceus send a reply to Alfred that we had met the two at the Labyrinth entrance, I briefly explained the situation to Princess Stephania and Princess Adriana.

“I see… Should we refrain from going to the old Mine as well?”

“It’s a bit ambiguous whether we should restrain ourselves from exploring even separate sections. I think the adventurers probably won’t care, though.”

Well, I do think it would be questionable to take the two into a completely unknown new section.

“Could you take Corulis and Flamia with you? Even if we retreat immediately in case of trouble, we could also report what we see through our Familiars,” said Princess Adriana.

At her words, I pondered a little.

Hmm… Taking just the Familiars might be acceptable.

For reporting and contacting the Royal Castle, having the input of both of them in addition to mine would be beneficial, and we could relay the situation to the Guild in real-time… It would also reduce the burden on me and Caduceus using the Communication Device. And I’d like to assess Flamia’s capabilities as well.

“Claudia, what do you think?”

“Probably—judging by this feeling, it’s not the Deep Floor, so in terms of danger level, we can probably consider it a few ranks lower. …Of course, we mustn’t let our guard down since we have no information.”

When I asked for Claudia’s opinion, she answered thoughtfully like that. Hmm.

“Understood. Then… could the two of you please stay at the Adventurer Guild and verbally relay the situation inside the Labyrinth to the Guild staff?”

“Understood.”

The two nodded. As for the rest… if our notifications crossed, a message from the Royal Castle would likely arrive soon.

We’ll have the Knight Order members who accompanied Princess Stephania and the others wait at both the Labyrinth entrance and the Guild, and have them convey the decided matters and the two Princesses’ whereabouts to the messenger who will doubtless come from the Royal Castle.

After arranging various preparations and releasing Grace from the Cursed Tool… the investigation preparations were complete.

“Well then, we’re off.”

Returning a smile to Princess Stephania and the others, who nodded with serious expressions, we transferred from the stone monument to the location that served as the entrance to the new section.

Thank you always for reading my work.

Thanks to you all, we have reached 450 chapters. It’s all thanks to everyone’s support.

As a milestone every 50 chapters, I have compiled the newly introduced characters from chapters 351 to 400 in the activity report section. I would be happy if you could make use of it.