Continuing from the old man's perspective.
It had been eight days since we entered the Great Labyrinth.
We were getting close to the area where the anomalies were occurring.
I hadn't expected much from the knights, but it turned out only their heads were soft — when it came to combat, they were more than serviceable.
At first, I thought they might be some kind of noble's pampered little squad pushed onto us. And sure enough, the unit was apparently made up of second and third sons of nobility.
But as expected of the powerful Rengzant Empire — they weren't just a decorative unit.
"Indeed, we are a ragtag group of nobles, but our training and combat experience are on par with any other unit. After all, we're the ones who couldn't inherit our titles. Everyone is desperate to distinguish themselves and reclaim a noble rank."
That's what they told me.
The arrogance of former nobles hadn't entirely worn off, but they'd clearly seen their share of hellish battlefields. They could adapt with surprising flexibility, too.
The proof was that before entering the labyrinth, they barely listened to my instructions. But once they experienced how brutal it actually was in there, they apologized for their previous attitude and followed orders without complaint.
"I'll be honest — I underestimated the Great Labyrinth. The lack of general knowledge is a weakness unique to a unit of former nobles. Perhaps we should dedicate a portion of training time to general education from now on."
The knight captain seemed like a reasonably capable man.
Still, while I was pleasantly surprised the knights turned out more useful than expected, I couldn't shake the ominous feeling that gnawed at me.
We hadn't even reached the area that had been reported yet, but there were already more Monsters than usual.
So far, no one had died, though a few had sustained injuries.
Having a healer meant it wasn't a major problem, but the terrifying thing about the Great Labyrinth was that you never knew what might happen next.
We'd brought a massive supply of antidotes, and some of the knights had already acquired Poison Resistance through the relentless fighting.
I didn't think we'd run into anything too dire — and yet the bad feeling wouldn't go away.
Could the Queen have extended her range nearby?
It wasn't impossible.
The fact that there was a hunting boom on the opposite side for Taranects meant the Queen had laid eggs.
In other words, she had come up to the Upper Layer.
A Queen Taranect was an over-S-rank walking catastrophe.
There was only one recorded kill in history — an ancient Hero who had taken her down at the cost of a massive army and his own life.
Even excluding that one, five still existed in the world.
And one of them was said to dwell in this very Great Labyrinth.
She usually stayed on floors below the Upper Layer, but whenever she laid eggs, she rose all the way up here.
It would be nice if she went back down quickly, but she sometimes lingered in the Upper Layer, so you couldn't let your guard down.
I didn't think it would happen, but if we ran into something like that, no amount of lives would be enough.
Should we avoid the larger passages where the Queen might fit through?
Another point of concern was that the entrance to the Middle Layer was located in the area where the anomalies were occurring.
Logically, could something powerful have emerged from the Middle Layer and driven out the creatures that already lived here?
But was there really something that powerful in the Middle Layer?
The Middle Layer was a hellscape of magma stretching in every direction — an infernal fire zone that the Human race could never hope to conquer.
However, the strength of the Monsters there supposedly wasn't that different from the Upper Layer.
That was the testimony of adventurers who had once ventured into the Middle Layer.
Those adventurers had spent years building up fire resistance and equipping themselves with fireproof gear before attempting the Middle Layer.
In the end, their food ran low because the layer was so vast, and they were forced to abandon further exploration.
Still, they became the first adventurers to explore the Middle Layer of the Great Labyrinth and return alive.
The Great Labyrinth was said to consist of three layers: the Upper, the Middle, and the Lower.
There were several massive holes in the Upper Layer that led down to the Lower.
The few who did reported that the Lower Layer overflowed with a terrifying number of C-rank and higher Monsters.
The Queen was said to make her lair in this Lower Layer, but it was also whispered — in the realm of urban legends, at least — that there existed an even deeper layer beneath that.
I had no way to verify the truth, but as long as you didn't go looking for trouble, the Lower Layer and whatever lay below it had nothing to do with you.
Or maybe this time's anomaly was caused by something that had clawed its way up from the depths, through the Middle Layer, to the surface.
What a ridiculous thing to fantasize about.
"I'm thinking we should take a rest here for a bit. What do you all think?"
"Yeah, sounds good. Outside, the sun's probably about to set by now."
"The time flow inside a labyrinth is warped. It's impressive that you can tell the time so accurately."
"Well, yeah. When you've been going in and out of labyrinths since you were a kid, you get used to it eventually. Any decent guide learns to do the same."
"Hmm. Guides are even more remarkable people than I had imagined."
"Not really. In a straight fight, any of you knights would be way better than me. It's just about putting the right people in the right jobs. We're specialized in navigating through the labyrinth. You knights are specialized in fighting. That's all there is to it."
"I see. By the way — forgive the rudeness, but what Skills do you possess?"
"Huh? Skills, huh..."
"Forgive me. It was a passing curiosity. If you'd rather not share, there's no need. If I've caused offense, I apologize."
"No, no — it's not like that. Guys like us rarely check our Skills with an Appraisal Stone. It's been so long since I last looked that I've honestly forgotten what most of mine are."
"Is that so? Skills are one's lifeline. Shouldn't one at least be aware of their own?"
"Fair enough. I remember Dark Vision and Danger Sense both hit Level 10, but the rest — escaped my memory."
The captain stared at me with a look of exasperation as I laughed heartily.
Well, about half of that was a lie.
It was true that I didn't have a complete grasp of every Skill I possessed, but I had a rough idea of most of them.
There was just no reason to volunteer that information to strangers.
They were my lifeline, after all — that much should go without saying.