Chapter 182

“We’ve reached the ending, huh.”

That was a strangely ominous phrase to use in this situation.

Dorothea asked,

“Are you, like, cursed or something?”

“Hmm, I wouldn’t exactly call it a curse. More like, let’s say, a rule. I feel like I’ve been pulled into a story from the Game Book. Normally, encountering any ending would just be part of the plot, but now, this game is becoming reality. Once I’ve reached the ending of ‘becoming the guardian of the labyrinth,’ it’s actually going to happen.”

“So, does that mean I’ll be stuck here forever?”

Dorothea’s voice carried a hint of pity, just a smidge.

Living on as part of this unidentified space and this bizarre game was a bleak fate in her mind.

Sensitive Adel looked pale, covering her mouth with her hands.

“Eh? No, it’s not like that at all. I can probably leave if I want to.”

Just like that, the emotional atmosphere shattered.

Ignoring the incredulous expressions of those around her, Gale tossed an empty teacup high into the air, catching it repeatedly as she explained.

It was a scene that would make anyone who was strict about etiquette gasp.

“It’s true that I’m currently trapped by this game’s ‘rules’ and can’t leave. But isn’t that just magic? It’s all tangled like spaghetti, so it’s hard to interpret, but instead of carefully unraveling it, if I just cut the rope, I can probably exit.”

Dorothea’s forehead twitched with a vein popping out.

“Then what was all that talk before? Why did you even bother creating a mood?!”

“Well, if I were to cut my way out, this library would definitely get wrecked. I was granted permission to access this library as a guest, and if I just collapse it out of the blue, Uncle Medir would get super mad, right? If it really comes down to it, I can do it, but for now, things are looking all right.”

It was a strangely down-to-earth reason.

To the dumbfounded Dorothea, Gale added,

“To get out of here without destroying the library, there are two ways. First, other players. I can swap roles with you all and sit in the guardian position while sneaking out. But I don’t want to do that. To duel with you for the sake of Sig would be cool, and on top of that, it would leave a clean aftertaste.”

Then she pointed dramatically, shouting “Number Two!” at Dorothea.

Dorothea felt an impulse to break her finger.

“If you all reach a good ending, meaning if you lift the curse of the labyrinth, I can slip out too. So can you hurry through, please?”

“Why should I?”

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I don’t mind chatting around here either. If it gets boring, we can just join forces and smash the library to get out. If we share the responsibility, won’t the punishment be a bit lighter?”

“What are you talking about? You might not know, but we just have to turn around and leave. You must’ve prepared some way to escape before coming into this place, right?”

Dorothea lifted a golden rope in her hand.

Gale exclaimed, “Oh my!” for a moment, looking surprised, then replied,

“That’s great! It’ll help later. But honestly, right now, it might be useless.”

“What?”

“You’ll find out when you try it.”

Dorothea felt her temper rising at Gale’s inexplicable confidence as she held onto the rope and walked backward.

She wasn’t particularly planning to go back, but there was a distinct difference between ‘not being able to return’ and ‘choosing not to return.’

One step back.

The rabbit mask said,

《Welcome to the legendary labyrinth, everyone! Now, it’s time to set off!》

Dorothea ignored it and moved back again.

The rabbit mask said,

《Welcome to the legendary labyrinth, everyone! Now, it’s time to set off!》

Dorothea ignored it and moved back again.

The rabbit mask said,

《Welcome to the legendary labyrinth, everyone! Now, it’s time to set off!》

“…What the heck is this!?”

Dorothea shrieked and swung her staff at the rabbit mask.

But her attack simply went right through the mask, as if it was empty.

Watching this, their colleagues each grabbed their ropes and tried to move toward the entrance, but no matter how much they walked, their position didn’t change.

The same went for the Tin Knight and Adelheid, who ran for real.

Gale shook her head.

“No matter how fast you move, it won’t work. If you could escape like that, you would have done it a long time ago with ‘this.’”

With that, Gale tapped her shoe heel against the ground.

Dorothea’s silver horse, summoned by her, flinched at Gale’s movement.

With a sigh, Dorothea narrowed her eyes and glared at Gale.

“Hey.”

“Calling someone ‘hey’ is rather uncouth, Dorothea. I’d recommend calling me Gale.”

“Whatever. That thing you’re wearing right now, it’s the ‘Boralis’s Shoes,’ isn’t it?”

“Yes. They were hidden in the labyrinth. I’m not sure if they were originally in the library or if they flowed in from somewhere in resonance with this peculiar space.”

“From what I heard, those have space moving abilities, right? So you can’t escape with them?”

“That’s a conceptual issue, you see.”

Sophia watched the Tin Knight, who was sprinting in place, and the conversation of the two witches with interest, then asked Gale,

“Gale, does the Game Book’s effect encompass the whole library? Or is it just starting from here?”

“As ‘magic,’ it’s the former. But as a ‘story,’ it’s the latter.”

“I see. This place is indeed the first page of the book.”

“Correct! That’s right!”

[‘Tin Knight’ requests for a proper explanation instead of just understanding among themselves!]

Sophia replied,

“Earlier, Gale said that the game created by the North Witch changes depending on the readers’ ‘choices.’ Conversely, this means the content on the very first page doesn’t change. To return to the place we originally were, that is, moving beyond the first page, there’s no choice but to find a way to transcend the world of the book itself.”

[‘Tin Knight’ asks for a simpler explanation!]

“It’s like hitting the rewind button on a video at point 0.00.”

[‘Tin Knight’ says he understands!]

It was an explanation only the Tin Knight and Sophia, who was learning various things from Tin Knight, could grasp. In fact, even Adelheid still had a bunch of question marks floating over her head.

“Okay, I’ve explained enough, right? Now, let’s get started with the game! Be sure to reach the good ending! Let’s go!”

“Hey, you, don’t just decide—”

Ignoring Dorothea’s protests, Gale stomped her shoe heel on the ground.

Right after, the figures of Gale and the White Knight vanished into thin air.

Thud thud thud thud!

Not only that, but the scenery around them also began to change chaotically.

The ground that had looked like white paper and the starry sky made of runes disappeared, replaced by a labyrinth that was both closed-off and vintage.

As the party looked ahead, they spotted the rabbit mask appearing earlier, sliding to the left at a fork in the road.

And from somewhere in the labyrinth, a voice called out to them.

《Having arrived at the labyrinth, you notice a oddly-shaped rabbit moving somewhere.》

《If you want to follow the rabbit, head left; if you wish to ignore it, go right.》

Staring at the fork ahead, Dorothea scratched her head in annoyance.

Adelheid asked,

“What should we do?”

“…As much as I dislike it, looks like we have to play along. We just need to reach whatever ‘good ending’ it was.”

[‘Tin Knight’ says the right move is to go left in these situations!]

Not knowing what the ‘right move’ even meant, the party had no reason to disagree, so they walked down the left path.

《You followed the shadow of the rabbit and went down the left path.》

After walking a while along the long corridor, a pit appeared that was just big enough for a person to squeeze into.

《You discovered a hole that seems to have been passed by the rabbit.》

《From inside the hole, strange noises could be heard.》

《If you want to investigate the sound, lean in close to the hole; if not, head back the way you came.》

Dorothea frowned.

“Do we really have to choose from the options presented?”

[‘Tin Knight’ says normally, that would be the case!]

At the Tin Knight’s words, Adelheid added,

“The sound isn’t quite right. To be exact, it’s the same whether I enhance it with magical power or not. It feels similar to when I tried to go back by running earlier.”

“So annoying.”

Not accustomed to this kind of game, Dorothea remained visibly uncomfortable.

“Usually, there could be traps, so I’ll give it a try.”

Just as Sophia leaned in to listen to the hole,

the hole suddenly expanded, jiggling like jelly, and grew to swallow all of them.

“Wha—”

As Dorothea awkwardly tried to scream, the Tin Knight burst forth with his magical power.

Gaining propulsion, he grabbed Sophia with one remaining arm and glanced sideways.

The eyes of the Tin Knight and Adelheid met.

[‘Tin Knight’ says the garden is full now!]

[‘Tin Knight’ says let’s fight on!]

“…Well, I suppose considering the situation, there’s no other choice.”

With a slightly sulky expression, Adelheid prepared for landing on her own.

Thud!

With a resounding noise, the Tin Knight’s feet dug into the ground, but those pulled with him felt not even a small jolt.

Adelheid, not having the skill to disperse her power as perfectly as the Tin Knight, was still light enough to land safely without injury.

《As you leaned in to the hole, it suddenly enlarged and engulfed you.》

《You suffered some serious damage, but fairies appearing from somewhere healed your wounds.》

“Fairies?”

As the group looked around, they saw little human-shaped beings fluttering nearby.

With butterfly-like wings, trails of light sprinkling around them, and innocent expressions on their faces,

they looked just like fairies described in fairy tales, causing Adelheid to let out a squeal of delight.

Although they had encountered fairies before in ruins, those looked like a creepy hybrid of humans and insects, while these fairies had nothing but adorable features.

The fairies seemed a bit flustered, examining the crew with curious glances.

“Why do they look like that?”