2 days later.
In front of Kyle’s house.
“Well then, farewell Kyle-chan. Don’t only eat fish and meat, okay? Make sure to eat vegetables, too.”
“Yeah yeah, I got it.”
Kyle, who had just finished packing, now had to deal with a sobbing Seraiya.
“Don’t worry, I will be with him.”
Lize, who had also finished packing, comforted Seraiya.
“Yes yes. Lize-chan. Take care of Kyle-chan, please.”
Seraiya was wiping away her tears with a handkerchief.
Kyle was tired of her crying over and over, so he was getting ready to leave.
“I’m going.”
“Try to visit, okay? Good luck.”
Seraiya blew her nose while waving goodbye.
“Do your best Kyle. And take care of your friends.”
“Yeah, I know. Wait. Huh? You were here dad?”
Lowell, Kyle’s father, was standing next to Seraiya.
“I came back the day before yesterday. I was at home all day yesterday, too…”
“I…I didn’t notice…”
Kyle remembered that there was food prepared even when Lize wasn’t home the other day.
“Honey, don’t you think it’s too early for him to go out on a journey?”
“I know you’re worried. But he’s our kid.”
“Well…. I suppose… He is our child. What will we do if we don’t trust him, right? I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Seraiya.”
“I’m going. Rest well, you two.”
Kyle’s parents were slowly getting carried away into their own world. The last thing Kyle wanted to see was a love scene between his parents.
“We’re leaving~”
Lize stood beside Kyle. She waved to everybody.
“Did you tell your family?”
“Yeah, I told my aunt’s family and visited my parents’ graves.”
“Did you pack everything?”
“I’m all set. It’s much easier than when I stayed in the mountains for a month.”
“I remember… I still think you should stay home, you know…”
“Too late. You can’t stop me now.”
Lize had a huge smile on her face and Kyle knew that it was useless to try to make her stay, so he just let out a big sigh and gave up.
Seran and Ulza were already waiting at the meeting place.
“I can’t believe a beautiful lady like you is going to be joining our team!!”
“I’m just watching! I have no recollection of being in your team! I still don’t understand why I’m going with you guys….”
Ulza was clearly depressed about this, but Seran was extremely happy.
“Going on a trip with Kyle alone is depressing…and Lize doesn’t make me feel any better, either…”
“You don’t listen to people, do you…”
Ulza massaged her temples as if she was having a migraine.
“Ulza-san, it’s best if you just ignore him.”
“Yeah, it’s better if you just pretend he’s not there.”
Lize and Kyle were used to handling him.
“What did Master say?”
Kyle asked Seran.
“What? Oh. The usual. In fact, she was like, “What are you still doing here? Hurry up and go!””
Kyle let out a dry laugh. It’s what he expected Master to say.
“Let’s go.”
Kyle called out to everyone.
Seran and Lize looked eager to go, but Ulza seemed like she wanted to relax for a few more days here.
“Wait. The East Gate is this way.”
Lize called out to Kyle, who had started to walk.
They had originally planned to go to Mallad first, which was east of Rimaze, but Kyle was heading to the North Gate.
“No, we’re going this way. I’m changing the first destination. I had planned to go to the capital first to buy some things, but there’s no need for that anymore..”
“What were you going to buy?”
“A magic tool. Slightly expensive… that costs at least 30,000 Gadoru…”
Gadoru is the unit of currency here. 1 Gadoru can buy you a meal at a street shop. A regular person would be able to make a living with around 10,000 Gadoru per year.
The total amount that the four had right now didn’t even reach 10,000 Gadoru.
“30,000 you say? That’s quite a lot. How were you going to earn that much money?”
Seran had every right to be worried. There was no way to earn 30,000 through regular means.
“I wasn’t going to do anything dangerous. I was just going to be a swordsman and bet on myself to increase my earnings.”
“Wow…”
“Anyways…There’s no need for me to buy the magic item since the highly skilled spiritual magician Ulza has joined our team.”
As Kyle introduced Ulza, Lize and Seran started applauding.
They acted as if they were all childhood friends.
“Like I said…I don’t remember ever joining your team….”
Ulza seemed unimpressed, but that didn’t bother Kyle at all.
“The first goal is to reach the Sanguld Mountains.”
The Sanguld Mountains were on the northern side of the border. It was a dangerous mountain range and took around half a month to reach.
“That’s quite far isn’t it?”
“It’s okay. Ulza can use the spell ‘Wind Walker’.”
Wind Walker adds the power and blessing of the Wind Spirit Silfeed. It makes walking several times faster. In addition, it comes at little cost to the one casting the spell, so it’s very useful.
What would take half a month now only took 3 days.
This magic was very useful, but there was no method for humans to cast it. It was so useful that people would hire spiritual magicians at astronomical prices just for this particular spell.
“Wow~ Spiritual magicians have so many useful spells. It helps a lot.”
“Like I said…………..”
Kyle was talking as if he and Ulza were best friends. Ulza, on the other hand, seemed tired.
(I knew she’s weak to a change in atmosphere. Once things don’t go her way, it’s all downhill from there.)
It’s amazing how he managed to drag along a stubborn Ulza.
“What do you plan on doing once we get to the Sanguld Mountains?”
Lize asked Kyle.
Do you know the famous legends of that mountain?
“Umm….I do remember…that there’s a hidden labyrinth somewhere in there….”
Lize remembered someone telling her this legend.
“You’re right. The largest human labyrinth known as the Magic King.”
There were many other legends that dealt with the ancient magic kingdom of Zares.
The Heart of Shinryu that Kyle had was one of them, but the Magic King was another one. The greatest known magician in human history, Sildonia Zares, left a huge labyrinth. According to the legend, there were lots of treasures inside.
“That's a legend right? Does it really exist?”
“Are you serious? Do you know how many years that’ll take?”
“Relax. I have a map with the details of exactly where everything is.”
Kyle pulled out an old map and flashed it to everyone.
“Huh…is this real?”
“I found it in my mom’s old collection. The book itself is from the age of Zares so I’m sure it’s real.”
Kyle was also sure about this, because he had been there before. But he didn’t tell them about that part.
During the Great Invasion, the outlook for the humans was so bad that they began to depend on legends as well. Just then, it was said that the imperial family had a sealed map of the labyrinth.
Kyle vaguely remembered this story and went back to his ruined village and dug out the map from the book in his mother’s collection.
With this map, the humans were able to increase their forces and connect it to the final battle. He thought it was fate that his mother guided him to the map.
Kyle looked back to the direction of his home.
He knew that by now, his parents were in their own world, so he let out a dry laugh.
“It doesn’t seem fake. The paper the map is printed on is from a magic tree that’s been around for over a thousand years. Most of the trees were destroyed in a battle a long time ago, so this kind of paper isn’t made anymore.”
Ulza started to show some interest; she knew that they stopped making this paper after Zares was destroyed.
“However, even if we have a map, the insides are extremely spacious. It’s also dangerous. There are many traps and self-activating magic weapons….We’ll probably be killed ten times over.”
“Then there’s no use going.”
Seran felt it was suicidal.
“I know there’s no use. But, there’s supposed to be a ton of treasure and magic items there. Whatever we do, it’s easier if we have money.”
“Treasures…that is tempting…But I still value my life, you know.”
Seran was starting to think about it when Kyle reassured him: “There’s no need to go head first.”
“So….?”
“We’re going to dig ourselves in.”