Maydare Volume 2 Chapter 7 - School Island Labyrinth II (Part 1)

 Because of Genshin brainrot I just imagined the automaton here to be a ruin hunter lol

Also this cuts off in a weird place again sorry

Also to Messenger: I'm so sorry I accidentally deleted all the repeated comments instead of just leaving one! Blogger was acting weird haha. And thank you for telling me about the missing line!

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Splash——!

My body slammed into the water, hard. Apparently, there was a pool of water right below me, and I fell into it.

It saved my life, but my whole body ached from the impact, and the water seized my body and dragged me down into the dark abyss…

This reminded me of something.

I think I was twelve at the time. I was invited to Duke Bigreitz’s residence, and I nearly drowned in the pond in their garden.

It was the birthday of my childhood friend, the duke’s daughter Sumilda. There were large rare water lilies in the garden pond of the duke’s mansion, and Sumilda said people could walk on the leaves of the water lilies…

“Try stepping on them, Makia~. Or are you afraid of water?”

I was stirred up by Sumilda in that way and put on a brave front, then stepped on the water lily leaves. I immediately flipped over and fell into the pond.

I was an idiot, if I do say so myself. Because I was blessed by【Fire】, the water was dragging me down...That was the first time I felt terrified of that feeling.

It was cold and painful. The light on the water surface was fading away, and my consciousness was becoming hazy…

I somehow knew that the water itself hated me.

“Milady!”

It was Thor, who had been following me as my valet, who jumped into the pond and pulled me out.

“Milady, are you a fool!? You’re weak against water! You idiot! You’re an idiot, milady!”

As soon as he pulled me up, he called his lady an idiot, but this time he was right and I couldn’t argue with him.

Besides, I was trembling so violently at that time that I was in no shape for that.

It wasn’t that I was wet and cold. My body could handle the cold with its own heat, My clothes and hair would dry in no time.

But, I was scared. I was afraid of the substance called water.

I could feel something like hostility from the water spirits through the water.

Thor put his own jacket around me as he spoke.

”Don’t worry. I will stay with you, milady. Just as you have melted my chains, if you ever drown, I will pull you out again and again.”

True to those words, Thor always followed me wherever I went, watching over me and removing anything that would be a danger to me. I also learned to take responsibility for my actions so that Thor would not have to worry or trouble himself over me. 

I must be strong on my own, even without Thor.

I was not going to die in a place like this.

〇 

“Cough cough. Cough cough…”

I was coughing out water against the ground.

The fact that I was coughing meant that I was alive. And in my hand, I was gripping the white eyeball tightly.

“Hey, Makia O’Drielle. You look like you’re alive and well.”

An unfamiliar male voice came from above my head.

The voice was low, as though it was holding back a laugh. My vague consciousness was brought back to reality, and I looked up.

“W-Who are you!?”

Short gray hair, mismatched blue and green eyes. The dark circles under his eyes were striking, as though to surpass his other features. At a glance, he was a man with a bad complexion and countenance.

Furthermore, he was naked from the waist up, his well-trained body covered with old scars, and he was looking down at me with a terrifying smile that could have been the devil’s, baring his jagged teeth.

This was the same man who stalked me in the capital.

“Y-You’re from back then…!?”

I backed away, dragging my body that was still soaking wet.

Whoosh——

A sharp knife passed right by me.

It seemed to have been thrown by the gray-haired man. I felt a graze, and when I touched my cheek, there was sticky blood on my hand.

I turned pale. I knew it. He was trying to kill me…!

“Y-You...came here to kill me?”

I held up my ring and braced myself in order to protect myself.

“Hah. You idiot. You had a leech from the spring stuck to your cheek, so I took it off for you.” 

“Eh…”

When I looked back fearfully, I saw a large old tree behind me with a large leech pierced into it with the knife.

So, the blood on my cheek wasn’t my own from getting cut by the knife, but the leech’s blood?

“Huh? What’s going on? I thought I was drowning!?”

“What, you escaped from the ‘Spring of Silence’ without even knowing how it works? “

“Spring of Silence?”

The man pointed up with an “Mmph.”

When I looked up, I saw water shimmering above me instead of the ceiling.

Could I have fallen through that thing and ended up here…

“I don’t know how you managed to stay still in that water. That is the ‘Spring of Silence,’ which separates the first labyrinth from the second labyrinth. If you struggle in that water, you’ll never get out, but if you stay calm and keep sinking, you can fall into the second labyrinth here. A long time ago, the White Sage ordered a water spirit in the form of a leech to perform this trick. Thanks to this, the spring is filled with huge leeches. There are only a few people who know about it, but...you knew, didn’t you?”

“N-No…”

I shook my head and looked up at the water ceiling one more time.

It was rare to look up at water from below. It was truly a work of magic.

Did that mean I was able to get through because I was blessed by【Fire】and thus couldn’t even struggle in the water? That was also a strange story.

“Did you also pass through this water to get here?”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks to that, I’m soaked, and I’m pissed off ‘cause I got my blood sucked. I hate getting wet. And I hate leeches too.”

The evil-looking gray-haired man said in a spiteful tone as he stepped on a leech that fell at his feet.

At any rate, I remembered hearing this man’s way of speaking somewhere before.

The gray-haired man gave me a probing look as he unfurled his jacket that he had been wringing tightly and put it on with a flourish. 

“...No way.”

I was completely taken aback by his jacket.

It was a long white bishop’s vestment.

The gray sash around his neck was the mark of a high ranking bishop of Vabelism.

When he put his fallen mitre on his head, it was now a perfect bishop’s attire. Although the mitre’s veil, which normally looked pure and upright, clung to his cheeks and seemed troublesome.

Despite his virtuous dress, he still had a villainous face, and his blue and green eyes were flashing sharply…

“So, did ya benefit from my good teachings?”

And then, it finally came to me.

“Aaaaaaaah! You’re that foul-mouthed and arrogant bishop from Diemo Cathedral!”

You’re talking like that to the great and virtuous me? And don’t point your finger at people. Minus five points!”

“Minus??”

I had no idea what he was deducting points for, but my mind was in a furious state of confusion.

I couldn’t believe it. This blatantly villainous-looking man was a bishop?

No, I’ve been told that I had a wicked woman’s face a lot, so people didn’t always match their appearance, but…

Huh? Wait, why was a bishop from Diemo Cathedral here?

Ignoring my confusion, the man picked up his crosier with a lantern hanging from it and then waved it wildly. Instantly, the lantern lit up with a pale blue flame, illuminating the surroundings.

I could finally check my surroundings, but to my surprise, it looked very different from the first labyrinth.

The surrounding area was a large, dimly lit wilderness. It resembled Deliafield.

There were tall sequoia trees growing here and there, and the light coming from the pool in the sky formed scattered bands that illuminated the land.

“What...is this place?”

“Idiot. Didn’t I tell you earlier? This is the second labyrinth. It’s one of the underground labyrinths of Lune Ruschia.”

“But all I can see is wilderness. It doesn’t feel like a fortress at all.”

“For a witch studying at a magic school, you’re not very adaptable. Minus seven points.”

The bishop was cleaning his ears as he offhandedly said that over his shoulder. 

“Lune Ruschia is an impregnable magical fortress built by great magicians. I’ve been told by that bastard that the fifth level of the labyrinth is the hardest to break through.”

...That bastard?

“The first labyrinth is the ‘Salt Maze.’ The second labyrinth is the ‘Wasteland of the Farthest Ends. Yeah, that’s this place. The third labyrinth is the ‘Solitary Sky Castle,’ and the fourth labyrinth is the ‘Chamber of Mirrors.’ The fifth labyrinth is—”

Either he couldn’t say any more than that, or he didn’t know. The bishop let out a strange “Ah” sound.

“Well, anyways, each level has its own unique underground labyrinth. I’ve heard that the only ones who can go to the fifth labyrinth, the lowest level, are the founders of this magic school.”

“...Is there something important hidden on the lowest level?”

“Ooh. You seem to have good intuition, at least. Plus two points.”

I was well aware now that I have fallen into the second layer of the School Island Labyrinth, which had five layers, but…

“You’ve been adding and deducting points for a while now, what’s that all about?”

“I’ve been watching you and keeping score ever since you were chosen as a Guardian. Seems like you didn’t notice. You’re terribly dull. Okay, minus ten points!”

“...”

Just when I thought I was being praised for having good instincts, I was mocked for being dull…

The bishop turned over his vestments that had dried before I knew it and pointed his thumb at himself, introducing himself with a bold and confident expression.

“It’s pretty late, but I’ll introduce myself. I am the great bishop Eska, dispatched from the Vabel State. I am also the examiner who is making sure you’re worthy of being a Guardian. In short, your fate is in my hands. Kuhahahahaha!”

“...Are you serious?”

The words spilled out of my mouth without me even swallowing them back. It made me widen my eyes.

Still with a wicked smile on his face, Bishop Eska said, “Of course I’m serious, stupid!”

Then he turned his back to me with his staff in hand and pushed on through the wilderness.

I hurriedly chased after while also drying my clothes and hair with my own power. I didn’t want to be left here.

“Mmm?”

I observed the pale flame that lit the lantern hanging from the tip of the bishop’s staff. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the pale flame had limbs, eyes, a mouth and teeth.

It was a flame, but it was rampaging around so violently that it seemed like it would break the lantern.

“This is...a ghost fire. A demon.”

“Ah, yes. This is a will-o’-the-wisp. Also known as the ‘fool’s ghost fire.’ It’s a kind of ‘demon’ that’s been in the Frezier Empire for ages and makes mischief in human habitations. It’s not a spirit.”

This was actually the first time I’ve seen a demon. That was because they were almost non-existent in the Kingdom of Ruschia.

When I brought my face closer and stared at it, the ghost fire bared its teeth at me and threateningly hissed. It was quite vigorous and high-spirited…

At any rate, he was a Guardian examiner? I didn’t know if Professor Ulysses said anything about having an emissary from the State judge me before or not…

It was then that I realized something.

“Was the reason that you approached me in the capital to judge me for something?”

“You finally realized that, you idiot. I tried to measure your ability directly, but you tucked your tail between your legs and retreated. I gave you minus fifty points on that one.”

“...”

In short, he didn’t rate me very highly.

It wasn’t that I wanted to get a high rating as a Guardian, but it was my tragic destiny from my past life to be strangely frightened of scores.

“So, Your Grace, are you here to monitor me again?”

I glanced up at the bishop and probed him a little.

You weren’t allowed to enter Lune Ruschia, and furthermore, the School Island Labyrinth, without permission.

The bishop didn’t answer my question. He had been looking up at the sky intently since earlier.

The sky, or rather, the pool of water. The water ceiling, which had been so calm until now, seemed to be wavering a little, and then it started to clearly ripple. The bishop clicked his tongue.

“Oi. A shitty piece of junk is coming down.”

A swirling hole appeared in the water ceiling. Light shone through it, and something came down.

It was a huge automaton that I had never seen before.

It had an aureola behind it, its mechanical wings were flapping, and there was a thin ring held up on top of its head.

It looked like an angel, but the sight of it, with its crossed mechanical fingers resembling human bones and a beaming smile on a face with gouged-out eyes, filled me with a tremendous sense of fear.

“W-What is that?”

It was somewhat different from the automatons that had been opposing the students in the first labyrinth.

Bishop Eska grinned and pushed his staff with the ghost fire lantern and his mitre on me.

“That saintly-looking【Light】piece of junk is probably an automaton for eliminating trespassers. It’s on advanced weapon mode.”

“But I just fell down here!?”

Just as I was saying this, the angelic automaton swung its long arms and grabbed at us with great force.

“Gyah!”

Bishop Eska pushed my head and I fell face-first onto the ground. Thanks to him, I survived, but my lady’s face was covered in mud.

“Peh, peh. There’s mud in my mouth.”

“You’re gonna grovel on your hands and knees there and watch how I judge. This piece of crap will be brilliantly scrapped.”

“Huh?”

When I looked up, Bishop Eska was smiling fearlessly as he pulled out a firearm, something not often seen in the Kingdom of Ruschia, out of his wide sleeve.

It was a rifle…! Where did he put that in those clothes!?

Bishop Eska readied his gun and fired his rifle again and again without a pause.

“Kuhahahahahahaha! Die die die die, you useless piece of crap! You fake saint! That archaic smile pisses me off!”

In the midst of the constant barrage of gunfire, I heard way too many of those words that were nowhere near the image of a bishop.

When the bullets ran out, he took out a new gun from his bishop’s vestments. And with the bearing of a veteran who experienced many battles, he easily sidestepped the【Light】automaton’s attacks, and the next thing I knew, he was standing on its head, his feet on the angel’s halo, and with a cold look on his face, he thrust his rifle at the top of its head.

An elaborate magic circle with many layers concentrated into that one single point.

It was evidence of using high-level summoning magic without incantations and borrowing the power of multiple spirits.

“Mea Dea. Salvation for this pitiable iron doll.”

The bullet hit the automaton from directly above, and then there was a huge explosion.

However, to prevent widespread damage from the explosion, magic walls of significant numbers and quality were activated at the same time.

This wasn’t a specification of the labyrinth, but something invoked by Bishop Eska. He also put up a magic wall above my head, just in case.

“T-That was amazing.”

His words were outrageous and his fighting style wasn’t something you’d expect of a bishop, but I could tell from this battle that he was a remarkably skilled magician.

“Tch. Didn’t think it would be such a small fry. Boring.”

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