Chapter 11

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on February 8, 2025

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Yujin passed by Eri, who was puking her guts out, and retrieved the daggers embedded in the neck and shoulder of a goblin.

Of course, both daggers belonged to Yujin. One was his regular-use dagger, and the other was a spare.

Holding these dagger-like military knives, Yujin carefully wiped them on his sleeve and slid them back into their sheath.

Psssshh…

In an instant, the goblin’s corpse turned to ashes and scattered, leaving behind something resembling a mana stone.

‘Hmm… come to think of it, this is pretty much the same, huh?’

That’s what Yujin thought as he looked at it. The monsters that appeared on Earth also dispersed like ash when they died, leaving behind only a mana stone.

Could there be some kind of connection between the gates appearing on Earth and the mazes here…?

Who knows.

Back when he was on Earth, if he had been a dragon, maybe he could’ve noticed some clear similarity between the gates and the mazes, but alas, that wasn’t the case.

For now, pushing those questions deep inside, he turned to look at Eri.

Her vomiting had stopped, but she still looked dazed, unable to hide her confusion. Seeing her like this, Sia, her academy classmate and junior priestess, approached to comfort her.

‘She might give up pretty soon, I guess.’

While he’d given her some experience, people are different.

Some may toughen up with experience, while others may end up running away because they can’t handle it.

But ultimately, it wasn’t his problem to worry about. After all, she was practically a stranger to him.

Yujin didn’t have a soft nature at all. In fact, beneath his seemingly gentle exterior lay someone with quite a strong streak of ruthlessness. Just considering how he endured two months of hardship in Tiamat’s Tomb proved that much.

Having lost his parents at a young age and lived a rough life as an Awakened One, he simply couldn’t empathize with someone crumbling so easily from the mere experience of killing.

Of course, taking a life is shocking.

The feeling of death clinging to your hands, the metallic tang of blood, the fear of extinguishing a life just like your own…

Only someone who has seen everything or someone inherently cruel would find enduring all that easy.

But for humans living on the brink of death, not being able to endure means certain death.

If someone with such a weak mindset insists on doing this kind of work, it’d be better for them to live peacefully doing something else.

In that sense, it might actually be fortunate that Yujin gave her this experience.

“Hmm… you’re harsher than I thought. Not overly kind either.”

Seeing this, Tiamat also commented. She was slightly surprised that Yujin, who seemed so gentle, could be so ruthless toward others. However, Yujin merely smiled faintly.

“Haha, naturally. There’s no need to be excessively kind to everyone. Social life is about pretending to be appropriately kind within limits that don’t harm yourself.”

“Hmm… a very human way of socializing.”

“Is it different for dragons?”

“Dragons are basically few in number and have a strong sense of kinship, so they rarely treat another dragon’s affairs as purely someone else’s business.”

“Ho, I see. Now that I’m a dragon too, I’ll keep that in mind.”

As Yujin and Tiamat were having this conversation, the cleanup around them was nearing its end.

“…for now, there doesn’t seem to be any remaining enemies nearby.”

“Good job, Mirien.”

With Mirien’s reconnaissance report, Hugo caught his breath, and Chrome approached them.

“Hoo, that was a close call. If the barrier hadn’t gone up just now, I might’ve gotten burned.”

“Was that barrier cast by Miss Sia?”

At Chrome’s question, Hugo turned to Sia, who was comforting Eri. She shook her head.

“N-no… I couldn’t have cast a barrier that fast.”

“In that case…”

Hugo’s gaze shifted to Yujin. Yujin nodded slightly and spoke.

“It was me. Sorry for acting without permission.”

“No, not at all. While the mission is important, helping to prevent a fellow member from getting injured is only right. On the contrary, I’m grateful.”

Hugo waved his hand and bowed his head to say so.

“Besides, since you didn’t directly participate in combat, it won’t significantly affect the leadership evaluation either. So, don’t worry about it.”

“Is that so? Then I’m relieved.”

“And… Miss Eri.”

Hugo turned to Eri with a somewhat complicated but stern expression. Eri, who had been sitting there blankly, flinched and looked up.

“Y-yes!”

“…Taking action without the leader’s order and misjudging the situation to use magic, which could have harmed a fellow member, is a clear point of deduction. I believe you are fully aware of that.”

“Y-yes…”

Eri bowed her head deeply as she said this. This incident was clearly going to be a major blow in the test.

However, she couldn’t say anything in response. Honestly, no matter who it was, even with ten mouths, there wouldn’t be much to say in this situation.

Watching this with a somewhat complex gaze, Hugo sighed deeply and continued.

“But this time, I also made a mistake. Allowing monsters to rush towards the rear was something I deeply regret.”

This showed how good-hearted Hugo really was. Even though scolding the mage harshly would’ve been justified, he willingly admitted his own mistakes and bowed his head.

“For that reason, I want to express my gratitude to Yujin. Thanks to covering for my mistake, we managed to avoid a crisis.”

“Haha, you’re making me blush. If anything, I should thank you for letting me join.”

“Not at all. Frankly, I was skeptical about endorsing your inclusion, but now I feel rather embarrassed.”

At that moment, Chrome approached Yujin and said this. Since dwarves are known for not forgetting favors, Chrome, despite being a proud dwarf, bowed his head to show gratitude to Yujin.

“Ah, and Miss Academy Girl.”

“Y-yes?!”

And then Chrome turned to Eri. Startled, Eri responded. It seemed she felt responsible since Chrome had almost been harmed by her magic.

However, Chrome didn’t get angry at the frozen stiff girl.

“What’s with that rigid stance? Mistakes happen when rookies try things—it’s normal! Hell, I get burns in the forge all the time. And this time, no one even got hurt!”

“A… uh… b-but… I’m sorry…”

“Well, yeah. I’ll accept your apology since it’ll probably make you feel better. But next time, if you’re gonna cast a spell, give us a heads-up so we can move out of the way quickly. Hahaha!”

Chrome chuckled heartily and patted Eri on the back. Though she winced slightly in pain, her expression visibly relaxed.

Thus, the mood of the party improved quickly. Hugo watched over them with a smile.

After a short while of encouraging each other, Hugo spoke.

“Then let’s get moving again. We’re approaching the entrance to the 4th level.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

***

Mazes have day and night.

Oddly enough, in maze layers composed of natural environments like grasslands, forests, or deserts, there’s a sun and moon, and time flows.

Exactly how this is possible is unknown, but the priests speculate that since the goddesses of the sun and moon were involved in creating the tower, this environment exists as well.

So, as the maze’s night fell…

The environment of the fourth layer transformed into a jungle-like forest.

Not long after entering, as twilight faded and night began, the group started preparing camp.

“The place where we set up camp shouldn’t be isolated, but neither should it be too open. Isolated areas carry the threat of ambush, and open spaces expose us to sniper attacks from all sides. Ideally, we should choose a location with a large structure behind us and areas where allies can easily take cover…”

Hugo taught the academy students the basics of camping while setting up tents, and Mirien prepared food. Hans, the baggage carrier, gathered firewood under Chrome’s protection, and Yujin…

『So you’re pretending to gather magical ingredients, huh?』

‘Well, since I said I’d do it, there’s nothing I can do about it.’

He claimed he was gathering magical ingredients up to the fifth floor, but usually, that meant checking along the way, not that all ingredients were on the fifth floor.

Rather, this part was considerate of others, so Yujin couldn’t complain.

‘And it’s not entirely pretend.’

The game “Maze Academy” combines elements of roguelike games with an open-world feel.

Especially true is the aspect of roaming vast mazes, collecting various goods, and progressing.

Inside the maze, there are many undiscovered goods, including the magical ingredients Yujin mentioned. Having once been a player of Maze Academy, Yujin was actually collecting them as he wandered around.

Secretly, it felt a bit fun to him, like he was back inside the game.

『Hmm… you’re gathering some pretty useful stuff. Did you already know about them?』

‘I knew some of them, but it’s also thanks to the heightened senses of a dragon.’

Indeed, Yujin was also collecting items he hadn’t seen in the original game.

Simply put, his dragon senses allowed him to spot things dense with mana and similar energies.

After gathering a little more magical material, he returned to the group’s campsite.

“Ah, Mr. Yujin. You’ve returned.”

Just as Hugo finished setting up the tent, he greeted Yujin. Yujin also smiled and replied.

“Haha, sorry about that. Everyone was busy preparing camp while I was off doing personal business.”

“Don’t worry about it. By the way, did you manage to gather materials?”

“Yes, surprisingly, there were quite a few growing around here.”

Saying that, Yujin lifted the bag containing what he had collected. Hugo looked at it and widened his eyes in surprise.

“Ho… seems like you’ve gathered quite a lot. Are all these magical ingredients?”

“Yes. Cure herbs used in healing potions, power herbs with minor magical amplification effects, and Kellow Seeds, one of the ingredients for Panacea… among other things, I’ve collected various items with different uses.”

“Panacea? Isn’t that the legendary elixir, just one rank below?”

Hugo sounded amazed upon hearing about the Kellow Seeds. Yujin laughed and replied.

“Kellow Seeds are a minor ingredient for Panacea. The more valuable ones are likely hidden deeper in the maze.”

“Ah… I see.”

“Besides, the ingredients for Panacea haven’t been fully discovered yet. However, Kellow Seeds have been identified as one because they’re present in every medicine related to diseases.”

“That reminds me; I heard something similar when accepting collection requests. That’s why I’ve always heard that Kellow Seeds are in high demand…”

“I didn’t gather much either. Compared to the size of the bag, it’s not that full.”

“I see.”

Saying that, Yujin showed the inside of the sack, and Hugo nodded. He spoke.

“In any case, thank you for your hard work, Mr. Yujin. The camp preparations are done, and dinner is almost ready, so please sit and wait.”

“Understood.”

***

Stew boiled atop the fire fueled by logs gathered by Chrome and Hans.

Soon, the group sat together to eat dinner and chat.

“So, you’re also from the East? Your hair color and appearance give off that vibe.”

“Yes, actually, my full name is Han Yujin.”

“Han Yujin… ‘Yujin’ is your name and ‘Han’ your surname? In the East, the surname comes first, and most are quite short, I hear.”

“That’s correct. Plus, most people have surnames even if they aren’t nobles.”

Yujin was now naturally chatting with the group. Of course, Eri was still a bit awkward due to earlier events, and Mirien, being taciturn, didn’t speak much beyond necessary words to the leader Hugo. Sia seemed shy by nature.

Naturally, Yujin ended up mainly conversing with Hugo and Chrome.

“Having a surname even if you’re not nobility… that matches what I heard from an Eastern swordsman I once traveled with. Always fascinating.”

“I was more surprised by how fluent your speech is. I doubted you were truly from the East because of it.”

“Haha, is that so?”

In reality, Yujin was speaking the common language of the Western Continent as set in the Labyrinth Academy world. And he was doing so fluently.

Actually, though unmentioned, Yujin himself had been quite surprised at first.

Even as a dragon, learning languages wouldn’t have been difficult, but more astonishingly, from the moment Hugo first spoke to him, he could hear and speak the Western Continent’s common tongue as if it were his native language.

“I must admit, I find it a bit surprising that you’re a mage from the East. Most there focus on martial arts, and I’ve heard those with roles similar to mages are called shamans.”

“I suppose magic suits me, so I chose this path.”

Yujin smiled and answered, prompting Hugo to ask.

“Which school of magic do you belong to, Mr. Yujin? Your emphasis on herbal materials suggests you might lean towards healing magic.”

“I don’t follow any particular school, nor do I belong to any specific group. As I mentioned, I’m from the East.”

“Hmm… indeed, mages tend to be rather exclusive.”

Apparently interpreting this as Yujin facing discrimination as an outsider from the East, Hugo nodded.

“By the way, you mentioned Kellow Seeds earlier as an ingredient for Panacea, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve heard they’re used for various ailments, but specifically mentioning Panacea… does that mean, Mr. Yujin, your goal is to create Panacea?”

Hugo seemed genuinely curious. However, upon hearing this, Eri and Sia, who had been eavesdropping nearby, glanced at Yujin with slight surprise.

“Panacea?”

“Hmm? Why the reaction, ladies?”