Conquering the Labyrinth with a Trash-Tier Trait - Chapter 13

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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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Episode 13
“Is that so? Two werewolves—well, at least those monsters are dealt with. A shame about Jason, though….”
The merchant master’s rigid expression softened the moment he caught sight of the Unique Stone and Magic Stone I handed over.
Of course, he composed himself immediately afterward, but that brief crack was enough to tell me something about his nature.
“…Mercenary—your name is Char, if I recall? You’ve been invaluable. Haven’t you, Captain Cain?”
Cain, who arrived at the Campsite only after the disaster had unfolded, looked thoroughly grim—whether from wounds that hadn’t yet healed or from the loss of his men, I couldn’t say.
“Yes, sir. That’s correct.”
Yet when he turned to look at me, trust radiated from his expression.
It was only natural—we’d fought side by side with our lives on the line.
Even knowing I wouldn’t see him again after this was over, I felt a bond forming with him.
This must be what comradeship felt like.
“And what sort of compensation should I offer to such a Char?”
“If you intend to collect the werewolves’ corpses tomorrow as well, I’d suggest one of the Magic Stones wouldn’t be unwarranted given the service rendered.”
“Is that so? Then I should give you two.”
The merchant master let out a short laugh, then pressed both Magic Stones back into my hands.
I glanced at Cain, and he smiled from his pale face, gesturing in assent.
‘Is he giving them only to me?’
Captain Cain belonged to the Guild originally—was the reward meant for me alone?
Perhaps he noticed my hesitation.
“I’ll see to Captain Cain’s compensation separately, so don’t concern yourself with that.”
“Ah….”
“Besides, there’s something else I’d ask of you. Consider this both reward and payment for that favor.”
“…I’m sorry?”
“It seems unlikely that mere stray wolves and giant boars would move on their own—not at that scale. While we pass through the Beast Forest, I’d appreciate your diligent efforts.”
It was a direct request, and it was work I’d have to do anyway.
“…Of course, gladly.”
I accepted the Magic Stones and made my way out of the carriage.
‘A Unique Stone would’ve been nicer, but I’m being greedy, aren’t I?’
I ran my tongue over my teeth looking at the Magic Stones before me, then tucked them away in my pocket.
Monster-dropped Magic Stones were already high-grade without any need for synthesis.
Since synthesizing up a grade typically tripled the price, I’d never bothered to experiment with how many Magic Stones it would take to reach the next tier.
‘Come to think of it, giving up on that scheme with low-grade Magic Stones might’ve been the more efficient path anyway.’
There’d be more things worth synthesizing and selling among the loot I’d gathered from hunting in the Labyrinth.
Which meant—
‘I really need to keep the Goblin Basket on me.’
Since I’d left it at home, I couldn’t synthesize anything now—only store materials.
I couldn’t exactly haul a basket the size of a watermelon into the Labyrinth, not when it might shatter.
‘I need to get a Space Bag as soon as I can.’
The problem was that even the smallest capacity cost a hundred gold—an obscenely expensive item.
For an adventurer, equipment that protects life comes first, but a bag capable of carrying the Labyrinth’s treasures out—a Space Bag—was arguably just as critical.
‘It’s better to buy one as large as possible. Even if it means saving up more.’
More importantly, even if a Space Bag itself sustains damage, the contents simply spill out—nothing more.
Which meant it also served as primary protection for whatever you stored inside.
Of course, expensive Space Bags were hard to damage in the first place.
In that sense—
‘Cha Hye-ryeon. Damn her. Lucky bastard.’
That wallet-sized pouch she’d emptied in front of me, overflowing enough to fill a large backpack with miscellaneous items.
That was almost certainly a gift from the Royal Palace.
‘Tch.’
Just as I was once again feeling the sting of having started from a different baseline entirely, I noticed the Guild members and guards busily cleaning up the aftermath.
Apart from the supply wagon the werewolves had destroyed at first, the cargo seemed undamaged, but the atmosphere remained bleak with so many dead.
“The weird thing is, those creatures only attacked people.”
“They hunted down even those in hiding so relentlessly. Hans was trying to save me when….”
“Normally beasts would target food first, but this was definitely strange.”
Every Guild member remarked on how abnormal the predators’ behavior had been.
‘Well. That’s not bad.’
It meant everyone was already in agreement about the unnatural nature of the attack without me having to raise the subject of Possessed Beings.
But there was one unusual detail.
“Those creatures seemed to focus especially on the merchant master’s carriage. That’s where the boar charged first too.”
“Yes, that’s right. About a third of their attacks seemed aimed exclusively at the merchant master.”
The merchant guild master.
‘……Surely he wasn’t targeting him just for being well-fed.’
In a case like this, wasn’t it more reasonable to assume the Possessed Being had a particular target in mind?
For instance.
‘That the Possessed Being held a grudge against the merchant guild master.’
Once you know there’s someone pulling strings behind the scenes, such reasoning follows naturally.
‘……Though he didn’t seem like the type to make enemies.’
But then again, no one truly knows what lies in another’s heart.
The thought to keep a closer eye on the merchant guild master settled over me, though I’ll admit my nerves tightened somewhat.
The time allotted to me suddenly felt terribly short.
‘Two days to cross the Beast Forest. Another day to reach Edelin, or whatever that city is called…… four days at most. Realistically, two.’
Could I really find and kill a Possessed Being hidden somewhere in this vast forest within that window?
‘There’ll be another attack. When it comes, I have to find some trace—any trace.’
But what troubled me most was that Cain, the captain on whom our main strength rested, was essentially out of commission.
-At least two days before he can swing a blade properly again.
Without him—someone capable of fighting a werewolf or better—if anything stronger came at us.
‘No. That won’t happen. This is an ordinary merchant escort quest. Anything beyond that would’ve been impossible to stop from the start.’
All I could do was believe it wouldn’t.
Because anything beyond that would exceed the difficulty of Labyrinth’s second floor, which fell within Novice Grade.
“Come on, everyone! Let’s butcher that wild boar and have ourselves a proper feast for once! Shake off the gloom and get moving!”
“Yes! Meat!”
“We’ve got meat!”
The moment Cain’s cry rang out, the mood shifted entirely.
‘Seriously……’
Like Bartus, these people seemed equally accustomed to death.
“Come on, newcomer! Let’s eat!”
Though the sudden shift in atmosphere felt strange, I smiled and followed along.
No further attacks came through the night.
The group found satisfaction in the wild boar barbecue, and the memory of the fallen guards began to fade.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to call it a boisterous memorial service.
Throughout the meal, we spoke of the dead guards’ stories from life.
And so the loud, aching night passed.
The next morning, as the merchant guild mustered their people and cargo to resume their journey.
About an hour after they’d departed, something strange occurred.
Plop.
It began with a small pebble falling on someone’s head.
“Huh?”
The moment the wagon driver glanced up at the trees.
A fist-sized stone came flying at his skull.
Crack!
I was the one who knocked it aside.
I’d been watching the merchant guild master’s carriage closely all along.
“Gasp!?”
“Halt the convoy! We’re under attack!”
The moment I shouted and pointed to the trees on both sides of the road, the merchant guild members and guards moved swiftly.
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
It took less than five minutes for the lead cargo wagon to stop and shift sideways to form a barrier, with the other wagons and passenger carriages lining up to create a defensive wall.
But throughout, no enemy appeared—only strange cries from the treetops and a barrage of rocks.
Shriek! Screech!
Rat-a-tat-tat.
Bang!
Most were pebbles, but among them came substantial stones capable of cracking a human skull with ease.
“Monkeys in the trees!”
“Watch out! There’s a monster ape mixed in with them!”
Rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat.
Whack!
We were being pelted with rocks, completely helpless.
And then.
Whoosh.
Shriek!
Thwack.
A handful of guards carrying crossbows fired, and monkeys tumbled one by one from the branches—but they were far too few.
“Protect the archers! And you, newcomer! Intercept!”
“Yes!”
I had no objection to Cain’s command.
Besides him, no one in the escort had superior combat ability to mine.
There was one I’d already been eyeing.
‘That one!’
A creature twice the size of the other monkeys.
The one the merchants called a monster monkey was impossible to miss, even hidden among the thick branches.
‘Ignore the smaller ones.’
Decision made.
I planted my foot on the carriage roof and launched myself into the forest.
At level nine, the Bolante Bobeop I’d mastered fighting the werewolf made clearing four to five meters of distance and height effortless.
In one breath, I was in the thick of the monkey-filled branches.
And immediately, I was pelted with stones.
Screech!
Shriek!
Shriek!
Patter-patter-patter-patter-patter-patter-thud.
Small stones lashing at me from all sides.
But it was manageable.
Only one stone among them posed real danger—the fist-sized rock that the monster monkey hurled at me.
Clang.
I batted the stone away, then planted myself on a thick branch and thrust my spear forward.
The blade vibrated as it extended, a bluish shimmer of mana flashing at its tip.
Whoosh.
It pierced the monster monkey’s skull with ease.
Screech!?
Shriek!?
Every monkey in the vicinity froze.
“Get out of here!”
I swept my spear in a wide arc.
Snapping and slashing through the smaller branches, they scattered in panic.
“Newcomer—one to the north!”
Following Cain’s shout, I dashed toward the opposite side of the forest.
Dealing with the second monster monkey was all it took to end the sudden assault.
[Combat Ended]
[2 Monster Monkeys Defeated.]
[Enemy Level Too Low. No Experience Points Gained.]
The system classified the monster monkeys as common mobs, worth no experience.
‘Damn.’
Without Bolante Bobeop, I’d have struggled against enemies in the trees.
‘Well, that’s just proof I’m overleveled for the Labyrinth’s second floor.’
I consoled myself with that thought, but the guild had grown restless.
“Why were those monkeys attacking?”
“Have they gone mad?”
“We’ve never heard of such a thing, even in the Beast Forest.”
The monkeys throwing stones was certainly strange—this didn’t seem like normal behavior here.
But.
“We’ve eliminated them. Let’s move out again!”
The guild master ordered our departure with a grim, unwavering expression.
Something unusual had happened.
Yet he showed no curiosity about why.
‘Does he have some idea?’
It wouldn’t be strange if he did.
Not long after that thought crossed my mind,
a swarm of insects descended on us from all sides.
“Wasps!”
“Damn!”
“Fire! Fire!”
A swarm of bees, black as pitch, that looked far too much for a spear to handle alone.
Damn it all!
‘Fire!’
A crackling bloom of flame.
‘Push through.’
I poured my mana into the Elemental Spirit of Fire, condensing it into a fireball that erupted outward, scattering the approaching swarm around me and my surroundings.
But the flames weren’t large enough.
‘Curse it!’
Merely protecting my own body was already stretching me to my limits, and yet I couldn’t stop thinking about the Quest.
‘The guild members absolutely cannot die.’
Perhaps it was that desperate resolve that suddenly sparked an idea in my mind.
“All right—Flame Spear!”
Crackling flames danced along the shaft.
A thunderous burst of fire erupted outward.
I wrapped the Elemental Spirit of Fire around the spear, twirled it in all directions, and drove toward where the guild members stood—the effect was immediate and devastating.
To keep the shaft from burning my hands, I seized the Elemental Spirits of Water and Earth to neutralize the heat, while guiding the flames themselves with Wind.
Fire rippled along the blade.
“Come on now—over here with me!”
“Aaaah!”
While I continued shielding myself and the guild members, the guards’ situation grew steadily worse.
“Help!”
“Bees! Bees!”
“My eyes!”
Just as it seemed the guards would be overwhelmed and rendered helpless—
A brilliant flash erupted.
Flames billowed forth.
A massive burst of fire exploded from the carriage of the guild master.
Boom—boom—boom—boom—boom.
A wave of flame that swept across all the swarming bees at once.
‘Surely not—magic?’
Even from a distance, the heat was scorching enough to feel; the swarm that had been closing in was cleanly obliterated.
“Master?”
“Ah. You’ve worked hard, Captain Cain.”
The guild master stepped out from the carriage, and his complexion was noticeably ashen.
Was that magic truly his?
“Master, I must say—this situation is wrong. If it continues like this…….”
“I know, Cain. And you there, newcomer. Step inside the carriage for a moment.”
The guild master, his face grim, called both Captain Cain and me into the carriage.
And then—
“Ungh.”
“Master!”
“Are you all right?”
I caught the swaying guild master before he could fall.
‘Did he really cast that spell? What kind of person is he?’
The moment doubt about the guild master bloomed in my mind—
A low hum resonated through the air.
My Special Ability activated.
‘What?’
Could this power apply to people as well?
I’d never once tried using it on a living person.
‘Or is it because he’s a Labyrinth dweller?’
Even as I marveled at my own ability once more—
The guild master’s status window appeared before me.
[Name: Yamel]
[Mage (First Circle) Lv.11]
[Unique Traits 2/2]
—Raging Flames. Mana.
[Guild Master of the Yamel Merchant Guild]
[Must ensure the “treasure” is transported without fail.]

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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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