Chapter 280

So, Manager and Matsumoto, the people who came here from another world, decided to live here. Obviously, they didn’t have any choice, but that didn’t make it any easier. As for me, there was still something comforting about there being others from home that were here as well.

Daniela and I hunted down monsters in the dungeon before the labyrinth closed off. I had wanted Rachel to help us, but she apparently had important matters to attend to. It would have been an opportunity to see how strong she was, so it was unfortunate.

Karma said that she didn’t mind if we slept in the center room, and so we did.

‘Just call me if you need anything.’

She said before the hologram vanished into the monument-like console. It was a magic device that the ancient elves had invented. It was like a computer, I suppose. Well, I decided to see it that way, at least.

And then several days went by. Minotaurs, Arachnes, lamias. And golems, goblins, kobolds, imps, and werewolves…a parade of monsters from my childhood. I got so excited hunting them down, but the experiment lab where the gene-splicing was taking place was eventually restored, and the monsters stopped coming out. And so we went around and killed the remaining monsters in each room and tunnel. We were able to gather a lot of materials from unknown creatures.

There were a few merchants and Adventurers we were able to save as well. But not many. There were definitely more. We heard about it on the second day.

The military arrived after that. And as planned, they used human wave tactics to rescue the others. Manager’s friend turned out to be pretty high in rank, and my letter had also been useful. Or so Mister Tames later told me. While people were responsible for their own safety, I had urged them to at least try and help those that they could. I wasn’t sure if the Emperor himself was notified…but the thought of being called out before him again made my stomach turn.

In any case, we were eventually able to rescue everyone that had been involved in the labyrinth disaster…that is, everyone that was still alive. Many were less lucky and died during their encounters with the monsters.

It was yesterday that Daniela, I and several other military personnel confirmed it by using Presence Detection. As this was the last day, I decided to use it to ask Karma some final questions.

“…I see. So, this facility turned into a labyrinth in order to fight back against the intruders…”

‘Positive. Humans invaded this facility five hundred and eighty-nine years ago. Weather and a shift in the terrain created a fissure that allowed them to enter. And so the facility entered defense mode. And then it happened again recently. The facility switched to intercept mode and changed to its current state.’

In other words, the Reserentrible labyrinth had already been fighting invaders while in defense mode. And then more people had entered, so it was no wonder they were attacked. But how was anyone supposed to know?

It started to get dark outside as we talked. We would have to be leaving soon. Tomorrow, right when the day ended, this place would become flat ground once again.

“Well, we best be leaving now. I’m glad I was able to talk to you.”

“As an elf, it has been a pleasure to meet you. Thank you.”

‘I have done nothing to earn your gratitude. While I may have the personality of an elf, I am still a tool. This is how I was made.’

She returned bluntly. I suppose AI were just like that.

‘However…if I was allowed to have my own thoughts, I would say that I find it regrettable that you were all summoned, yet are unable to return.’

Shocking. She was a device, but was capable of emotion… But maybe it wasn’t that surprising. I mean, it was actually kind of cliche?

“Thank you, Karma. It might have been unfortunate at first, but my life is great right now.”

“It is thanks to the Nova that I met Asagi.”

I would have died if I didn’t come to this world. So in a way, I was saved. It was sad that I couldn’t meet my family again, but our hearts were still connected.

‘I am happy to hear that. Now, go. Farewell, my descendant, and kind human from another world.’

Karma smiled gently and waved before disappearing. Daniela and I bowed and then left the room.

As we had Lemon’s map, and also walked through the dungeon for nearly a week, we had the layout mostly memorized, and we were able to get out in less than an hour. The military had set up camp in a field just a short distance away from the town. Manager would be there too.

“Let’s go then.”

“Aye.”

We were the last ones to leave. I could see them waving to us from afar. They were probably the people who used Presence Detection with us. It had been very high-level Presence Detection, so they would have known when we came out. We turned around and took one last look at Reserentrible as the shadows of the night fell over it.

“…Do you think the experiments will continue?”

“They likely will. Karma only manages one of the facilities. They gather mana from the dragon vein and send it to the main base… Unless all of them shut down, the Nova will continue to experiment.”

So we’d have to visit all of them in order to end the ancient elven experiments. Maybe it would be faster to destroy the main Nova, but I didn’t know where it was. It was a secret.

“…I’d rather…there not be more people like us.”

“I feel the same. The Nova brought us together, but aside from that, they should be destroyed.”

In the near future… We would have to journey to do just that. But we had too little information right now.

“Oh?”

“Huh.”

As we walked towards the group of tents, the ground started to shake. It started off small but grew larger.

“I think it’s magnitude three…”

“Ah! Ah-ah-ah…!”

It wasn’t bad at all, but Daniela had frantically dropped to the ground. I remember seeing people do this in Japan, when they had just come to the country and weren’t used to earthquakes. It was pretty cute. However, she was clearly scared.

“A-Asagi! Be careful!”

“It’s fine. We’re not even inside of a building…”

There was nothing to crumbled on top of us. Well, maybe the ground could split… No, I had Legs of the God Wolf, so that wouldn’t be a problem.

Still, I felt bad for her. And so I sat on the ground and held her. As for the shaking, it was likely because of the town.

“Calm down, Daniela. Look over there.”

“Huh?”

Daniela continued to clutch at me as she sat up. I chuckled and pointed towards Reserentrible. Just as she turned her head towards it, the tallest part of the tower began to collapse. The roof, then the walls. The windows and doors and verandas that stuck out at odd places. Even the walls that surrounded the town. All of it turned into dust. Then the wind blew it all away until there was nothing left. All that remained was a wasteland where even grass did not grow. Of course, that was just for now. It would turn into a prairie again one day. Then no one would ever know that it had once been an ancient elven ruin.

“That was incredible…”

“Yeah. A rare sight.”

The shaking ended when the destruction subsided. Nothing was left. When I turned around, I saw the military personnel were also watching in stunned silence.

I had told them that this would happen, but it didn’t make it any less shocking.

And so the matter of the labyrinth disaster of Reserentrible was resolved. We had learned something that involved our future. I would live here with Daniela. Who knew what Matsumoto and Manager would do…

But I didn’t think any of them would go down a self-destructive path. After all, we still had each other. If one of us started to go down the wrong path, the others could stop it. We could help each other. At least, I hoped we would. Besides, Rachel’s room would make it easier to keep tabs on each other. It would be a waste not to use it.

Though, she’d probably get very annoyed if I went in too often.