Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 196

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 196. F.O.E Stands for Fxxking Overpowered Enemy (4)
I heard there were nieces and nephews, but only Ariadne came to greet us? Is the other one perhaps too shy to show themselves?
“Kirke mentioned there was another niece or nephew here.”
“Oh, Asterios? He doesn’t come around this area. Says he’s got some trauma from it or something.”
Seems like they don’t get along. It’s common enough between older and younger siblings—since ancient times, older sisters have been the ones who beat up their younger brothers.
“I mean, given the circumstances back then, I could’ve actually killed my brother. And he’s still sulking about that one thing?”
Killing your brother is a pretty big deal, isn’t it? Why do all the deities living in the Heavenly Realm seem to have either turbulent divine histories or completely ruined divinity? I was muttering about it with Nanakda and Croa, agreeing that the older sister seemed to be in the wrong, when a resonant male voice echoed from inside the Labyrinth’s entrance.
“Hey, you still haven’t seen Phaedra either, sis!”
“Hey! Is losing a man the same as losing your life?!”
By Ariadne’s standards, losing a man must be the greater tragedy. Hmm… but when you think about it, Kirke, Media, and Ariadne are all relatives, aren’t they? Why do all the women in this household have such terrible luck with men?
“Croa, you’re lucky you’re a man.”
Descendants usually follow their ancestor deity’s fortune, after all. If he’d been a woman, his luck with men would’ve been absolutely disastrous. That’s what I meant, but Croa, who’s oddly positive about strange things, countered.
“No? Even if I were a woman, I would’ve married Pisha anyway.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Well, if that were the case, I would’ve had to fight Achilles Young Lady, so it would’ve been quite difficult for me.”
He’s off in his own world of imagination. Let him be.
“Ariadne, you’re the administrator of the Labyrinth, aren’t you? We need to find Kisomalos’s lost memories, and I was wondering if you could guide us through it.”
I asked Ariadne as respectfully as I could. But she gave me an apologetic look and glanced toward the Labyrinth.
“No, Asterios and I just live here—we’re not quite administrators. Besides, the Labyrinth’s been acting strange for the past eleven years, so we can’t venture into the deeper sections either.”
“Huh?”
Eleven years ago was exactly when I regressed. Could this be another incident connected to me?
“Acting strange, you say?”
“The outer areas are as we remember them, but the inner sections… they keep changing shape.”
Monsters slightly stronger than us are popping out, and the Maze keeps shifting its form? If we go in once, we really won’t be able to get out, will we? Can’t we just fire a missile and bring the whole thing down?
I was even considering such extreme measures when Ariadne put the brakes on my thinking.
“So we called the one who created the Labyrinth to investigate, but even after a year, they haven’t come out.”
“Hoo, hooooo…”
“Why don’t we just forget about going in and fire a missile instead?”
“There’s someone inside.”
Nanakda’s already thinking about firing missiles—his way of thinking really is similar to mine. But Croa’s right this time. We can’t fire a missile when there’s someone inside.
“I gave them a way to escape, so they’re probably staying in there of their own volition for the past year…”
Ah, so there was an emergency exit method from the Labyrinth? I felt a small relief at this silver lining and had Ariadne explain the escape method to me.
“Here. It’s a Bluetooth thread ball—if you pull the invisible thread three times, you’ll return to the entrance.”
“Wow, thank you so much!”
What’s Bluetooth? It sounds like it means the connection is invisible but actually exists—is it similar to the Wi-Fi that Kisomalos has been developing lately? I grabbed the edge of the thread ball skeptically. I really did grasp an invisible thread. So I just need to pull this in an emergency to escape.
“Then should we have one last meal before we go?”
“Don’t say ‘last,’ Pisha. That’s bad luck.”
We spread out a mat on the Grassland and opened the picnic basket that Nanak’s Subordinates had prepared. It was filled with sandwiches, fruit, and all sorts of things, so we divided them among ourselves and even set aside a portion for Asterios inside the Maze.
After eating our fill and lying down to watch the sky, peace descended upon us along with the gently drifting clouds.
“I wish we could just treat this as a picnic outing and go home like this.”
“Still, we have to enter the Labyrinth. We came here to find Kisomalos’s memories, after all.”
“Right. And isn’t that also why you haven’t ascended to godhood yet?”
Just how much does that bastard Nanakda know? If I end up in a political marriage with him, I’ll have zero privacy. Well, not that I’m interested in any indecent hobbies anyway. Affairs are something only vigorous men pursue.
“Ugh, troublesome as it is, we have to go.”
“Successor! This is your own matter! What will you do if you keep complaining!”
But what can I do about it being troublesome? I mean, why would I leave my memories in the Labyrinth of all places instead of somewhere more convenient to retrieve them?
I grumbled as I stood up, checked my weapons, and headed toward the Labyrinth’s entrance. Ariadne saw us off and shared some helpful information.
“The Labyrinth may be called that, but the interior is similar to a regular house, so whenever you want to rest, you can enter any room and use it! If you lock the door, monsters can’t get in!”
“Oh, yes! Thank you so much!”
At least I didn’t have to worry about sleep. So all that was left was concern about food and water? We opened the front door side by side and entered, and just as Asterios greeted us near the entrance, something appeared on the ceiling screen with a ding.
[Difficulty: μ]
What does that mean? The difficulty level probably refers to the difficulty of our Labyrinth exploration, but I couldn’t understand the meaning of the character next to it. How hard could it be? Couldn’t they show it with numbers or stars?
“The difficulty itself seems low. Even if we encounter monsters, it shouldn’t threaten our lives.”
Asterios, with his bull’s head, blinked at us. Despite having a cow’s head, he was strikingly handsome. Is this what they call a “beautiful bull”? He was completely different from our Kisomalos, who looked roughly like a sheep.
“So we can explore safely then? I’m glad we brought Croa and Nanakda!”
“Well, I can’t guarantee that either…”
What is it—is it dangerous or not? The handsome bull-headed man tilted his head at my demand for a clear answer.
“Since it’s an abbreviation for Mysterious, you might have some strange experiences…”
“Ah, strange things happen to me every day anyway!”
Every single day had been eventful since meeting Father. As I said this, Croa nodded in agreement, while Nanakda affirmed it in his own way.
“I get caught up in weird stuff whenever I’m involved with you too. I’ve gotten used to it by now.”
“No, you’ve got it backwards—I got dragged into your affairs.”
“No, you’ve got it backwards?”
“Would you two please stop pretending to get along in front of me?”
No, how is that supposed to look like we get along? I tried to soothe Croa, who wore a perpetually troubled expression, and earnestly insisted we weren’t on good terms, while Asterios went up and down the stairs guiding us, then said he couldn’t accompany us any further.
“From here on, the Labyrinth continues to transform. Once you pass through that door, it will probably disappear soon after.”
“I see.”
“It’s already quite mysterious.”
But we had no choice but to cross the boundary. We said goodbye to Asterios and all jumped through the door together. It felt like we were moving through space like a warp, and we found ourselves in some bedroom.
“I’d rather have a cave or forest path. Continuing through house interiors like this is unsettling.”
“Yeah. The garden visible through the windows or the sunlight coming in feels really out of place too.”
An artificial maze is far more frightening than natural terrain. We proceeded forward with some unease, using Kisomalos as our guide. Since we were searching for Kisomalos’s memories, there had to be a direction his divine power was pulling him toward. Getting close was already half the battle. Once we were near, we could just destroy everything around us.
“Kisomalos, we’re going the right way, aren’t we?”
“Um… it seems roughly like this direction, I think.”
“But aren’t we just going in circles?”
Croa, don’t scare me! Don’t say things like that! I shuddered and scolded Croa. Now I was paying attention to it, and didn’t that door look similar to the one we saw earlier? Though the stained part on the floor was a bit different.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
We followed Kisomalos for quite some time, rounded a familiar corner, and came to an abrupt halt. The blood-red stain we’d glimpsed earlier had spread into a far more ominous smear.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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