Chapter 6 - Promise

Rovan rose from his seat. “Renji, you’re exhausted. There’s a room upstairs for you to rest in. Come with me. We can talk more tomorrow if you feel up to it.”

Renji wore a distant expression, eyes unfocused. He followed Rovan upstairs while Alina stayed seated at the dining table.

He must be really angry… confused… lost… If only I had found a way for the summoning to fail.

Rovan came back down after a couple of minutes.

“Well, that could’ve been worse, all things considered.” He sat back down at the table.

“It still doesn’t feel good, Master,” Alina said in a low voice. “Should I have tried to cause the summoning to fail?”

“The Duke would probably execute you for that if you got caught. You know how that bastard is.”

Alina let out a sigh. “That doesn’t make it any better, though. He still tried to have me executed anyway. Renji’s right—we probably ruined his life, or worse, the lives of his family. He probably has a wife or children.”

It was Alina’s turn to bury her face in her hands.

“What makes it worse is that he probably saved mine. I wouldn’t have been able to escape if he hadn’t helped.”

“You’re exhausted too. Why don’t you get some rest? We’ll continue tomorrow.”

Alina nodded. “Alright. Good night, Master.”

“Good night.”

Alina made her way upstairs, covering a yawn with her hand. She walked past the room Renji was in and saw that the door was open. She entered and knelt beside the bed. Renji was sound asleep.

“I don’t know if there is a way home for you. But I will help you search… whatever it takes,” she whispered. “I’m really sorry, Renji.”

***

Renji woke to a thud as Alina placed a basin of water on a table. He sat up and rubbed his face.

“Good morning, Renji. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Alina said in a soft voice. “You can use the water here to wash up.”

Yes, I am still in Rovan’s home. So, yesterday wasn’t a bad dream.

“Good morning, and thank you, Alina.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’m still waiting to wake up from this nightmare,” Renji said flatly.

She had no words. Her guilt tightened in her chest at Renji’s comment.

“Um… there is food downstairs. Come downstairs whenever you’re ready.”

Alina left the room.

I suppose he’s still angry. Why wouldn’t he be?

Renji got out of bed and saw that his combat fatigues were cleaned and folded on a chair, with his tactical gear on the ground beside it.

Cleaned and dry already? They must’ve used magic.

He washed up and changed into his fatigues. Strapping on only his sidearm, he left the rest of his gear in the room and headed downstairs.

Alina and Rovan sat at the dining table, eating breakfast.

“Ah, good morning, Renji,” Rovan said, his tone somewhat upbeat. “Please, help yourself.” He gestured to an empty seat.

“Good morning,” Renji replied, taking the seat beside Alina. “Apologies about how I acted last night. It was uncalled for.” He bowed his head slightly.

“Don’t worry about it. Calling this a difficult situation for you would be an understatement,” Alina said, waving her hands in front of her.

“She’s right,” Rovan added, agreeing with Alina. “Also, I’ve been thinking: I’ll pay Sage Elith a visit. She might have some information that can help you find a way back to your world.”

Renji’s eyes widened as he choked on a mouthful of food. Alina quickly handed him a cup of tea, which he used to wash it down. He accepted the cup and took a gulp.

“There’s a way back?”

“Don’t get your hopes up. The possibility is very low. There was a hero summoned around the time people moved into the Labyrinth from the surface. But there are no stories about the hero going back.”

“Elith is a two-hundred-year-old elf,” Alina added. “She might know something.”

How much more cliché can this get? Renji shook his head.

“Something wrong?” Alina asked.

“No. Don’t mind me. Sorry, please continue,” Renji said.

“As I was saying, I’ll visit Elith and should be gone for about a week or so. She lives on level forty. Getting to forty from here is a combination of walking and teleportation.”

“Level forty?” Renji asked.

“Yes. There are settlements every five floors, starting from level five down to level sixty. If you’re thinking about going up, forget it—there’s no access to level four and above.”

“So, what do I do in the meantime?”

“Alina will show you around the city. Wear the cloak—your clothes attract too much attention. Leave the weapons from your world here, for the same reason. Keep the sword with you. You might want to start thinking about getting the four crystals.”

“What four crystals?”

“Alina can explain. I need to leave now,” Rovan said as he stood and picked up his pack. “See you both in a week, if you’re still alive,” he added with a cheeky smile.

***

Wearing hooded cloaks that covered their clothes and hid their faces, Alina and Renji made their way to the City of Rondal, the main city on Floor Twenty.

“How does daylight work in this labyrinth?” Renji asked.

“Magic crystals in the ceiling.” Alina pointed upwards. “You can see some of them if you look hard enough.”

Renji looked up as they walked, peering at the ceiling that was at least twenty stories high, if not higher.

Is that the ceiling? Looks like there are crystals embedded in it.

“They gradually stop glowing when it’s supposed to be night,” Alina added.

This is insane…

“How far away is the city?” Renji asked, deciding he’d heard enough about magic crystals that simulate the sun.

“About two hours on foot.”

“I see. What are we going to do there?”

“First, we need you to get registered with the guild. That will give you an identity plate, which allows you to use the teleportation gates. They’re guarded and require identification before you can access them. It allows travel between safe floors. We can’t stay on Floor Twenty after what happened with the Duke.”

“Safe floors?”

“Every five floors, where the towns and cities are.”

“So, what counts as an unsafe floor then?”

“Floors in between. That’s where the monsters are. We call them dungeon floors.”

“That’s convenient.”

It’s too structured. Like there’s some kind of intelligence governing the whole place. What kind of world did I end up in?

“Yeah, it’s like the labyrinth is alive and protecting us, isn’t it? There’s actually a cult that worships the labyrinth as a god, calling it Mother Labyrinth.”

“Is it alive, really?”

“I think so. Hard to believe otherwise, with what we’ve seen. But a god? I don’t believe that.” Alina shook her head.

His mood seems slightly improved now. Maybe he’s the type that needs to be always doing something.

“Also, what did Rovan mean about the four crystals?”

“Oh, that.” Alina reached into a small bag at her waist.

“See these?” She held out her hand, showing Renji several blue crystals, each about an inch across.

“Crystals?” Renji asked.

“Elemental crystals. They come in four colours—red for fire, green for wind, yellow for earth, and blue for water. We get them by killing monsters. They allow mages to use more powerful spells. I can only use water spells, so I keep only the blue ones and sell the rest to the guild.”

“So, the magic you used the other day to destroy the gate…”

“Yup. That spell consumed one crystal.”

“You had one with you?”

“It was on my necklace.” She nodded.

“Smart. So, when Rovan said ‘four crystals,’ I’m assuming one of each element?”

“Yes!” Alina nodded as she pocketed the crystals. “Floor-Lord-sized, though. About the size of your fist.”

“Floor Lord?”

“Yeah. A powerful monster. There’s one on levels nine, nineteen, twenty-nine, and so on. The teleportation gates are used to avoid fighting these Floor Lords.”

Of course. Why wouldn’t there be floor bosses? Just great. Freaking Isekai...

“This is a lot of information for me to wrap my head around.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be here to help in any way I can,” Alina assured Renji with a smile as they passed through Rondal’s gates. “I’ll explain a little at a time as we go.”

***

Meanwhile, at the Duke’s mansion in the audience chamber, Duke Thorval sat on an elaborately adorned armchair, his grey hair tied loosely at the nape.

His gaze shifted to the dark-elf woman across the room—the same one from the summoning chamber who had struck Alina.

Vaerina approached his chair with deliberate steps. “Have you found them?” she asked, trailing a finger along his arm as she passed.

“Not yet.” He exhaled heavily. “The floor is too expansive for my personal guard. Perhaps I should involve the City Guard…”

She bent low, her voice a whisper. “That would be folly, my dearest Duke. Do you want the entire labyrinth to know you attempted a summoning? The other floor leaders would turn against you.” She brushed a finger along his chin and stepped away with unhurried grace.

“I believe it’s time we got him directly involved,” she murmured.