Chapter 13
“We’ve confirmed 22 hobgoblins.”
The receptionist said, wiping the blood from their hands.
Jeong Yushin, Tarman, and the old man from the relief station stood in front of the reception desk.
Clink.
The receptionist set down a pouch filled with coins.
“The subjugation reward is fifteen silver coins.”
At first glance, it sounded like a lot.
But the fifteen coins had to be divided evenly among five people.
That meant three silver coins per person.
“Tarman.”
“Why?”
“How many days has it been since Kaal’s party left?”
“Today is the sixth day.”
They had fought tooth and nail to survive for six days, only to receive three silver coins.
It was a terrible bargain.
Jeong Yushin took only three silver coins from the reward pouch the receptionist handed him, kept them, and gave the rest to Tarman.
“Kaal said the reward should be divided fairly. So I’ll take three coins. You can distribute the rest however you see fit. You’re all companions from the same village, right? If you have any questions, ask Anne when she wakes up.”
“...”
Tarman stared blankly down at the pouch of silver coins Yushin had handed him.
What did it feel like?
Their party had been utterly destroyed just to obtain twelve silver coins. They couldn’t even complain to anyone else. It was the result of their own choices.
‘Poor bastards.’
Now that things had turned out this way, they could either return to their village or scrape by in Labyrinth City.
Yushin didn’t know how Kaal’s companions would live from now on, but it was hard to imagine a bright future for them.
‘Not my problem. I can barely feed myself.’
A shred of pity stirred in him, but that was all.
Jeong Yushin turned and walked away.
Tarman remained motionless, as if he had taken root in the guild hall floor.
“Are you leaving?”
The old man followed him outside and called out.
“Yes. See you later.”
It was evening by then, and the sun was setting.
“Wait.”
The old man stopped Yushin.
“What is it?”
I wanted to get back to the inn and rest. I wanted to see Darmong.
“Do me one favor.”
“A favor?”
Jeong Yushin frowned.
“You know that apprentice priestess? Take her to the Earth Mother’s temple.”
“Marie? Me?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
He asked out of genuine curiosity.
“While you’re at it. Her affiliation is clear, so there’s no reason for her to stay at the relief station. Besides...”
The old man pointed at Yushin’s chest.
“You received an ‘Engraving,’ didn’t you? Didn’t you feel it?”
“What?!”
Jeong Yushin’s eyes widened.
His fatigue vanished in an instant.
“When you came out of the labyrinth, didn’t you feel a strange sense of liberation?”
‘For real?’
“Is that true? But how do you know that, sir?”
Yushin’s tone became polite.
“I briefly examined your body while you were asleep.”
His fist clenched.
‘They say good deeds are rewarded!’
“If you do me this favor, the temple will check your Engraving for free.”
“Can’t we check it here right now?”
“Engravings can only be checked at a temple of the Spirit Church. Anywhere else would be illegal.”
“Is the temple serving the Earth Mother part of the Spirit Church?”
The old man stared blankly at Yushin, as though he had heard a strange question.
“Goodness! You’re a Barbaroi, aren’t you? I forgot. The Earth Mother is one of the spirit gods. There are other spirit gods as well. They’re all under the large umbrella of the Spirit Church. This city has many temples dedicated to different spirit gods, so look around them when you have time.”
Jeong Yushin scratched his head.
Honestly, he didn’t understand.
“So you’re saying I should take Marie to the Earth Mother’s temple and have my Engraving checked for free while I’m there?”
“I suppose I left out quite a bit, but yes, you understood correctly.”
The old man went into the relief station and brought Marie out.
“I’ll explain things to that young man named Tarman. Take her there without worry.”
“But will they accept her just because I bring her there?”
“Take this. It’s something symbolizing a spirit teacher, so it should be enough. Don’t lose it.”
What was a spirit teacher, anyway?
Judging by how casually the old man mentioned it, it probably wasn’t important.
The important thing was the ‘Engraving.’
He wanted to hurry and have it checked.
“All right, I understand. See you later.”
“Yes. Somehow, I feel we’ll be seeing each other again soon.”
The old man smiled as he saw Yushin off.
* * *
Since he couldn’t tie Marie to a rope and drag her along, he held her hand as they walked. Marie was still clutching Kaal’s head tightly in her other hand, like a child hugging a teddy bear.
As they walked through the streets, he felt the people around them watching.
After asking people for directions, he found the Earth Mother’s temple.
“We finally made it. Phew. You’ve had a rough time, Marie.”
“Euu.”
They didn’t reach the temple entrance until after the sun had completely set.
Fortunately, the temple doors were still open.
When they entered the temple, people wearing black priestly robes were walking around.
“Excuse me, I came to leave someone in your care and have an ‘Engraving’ checked.”
He grabbed a passing rabbit beastkin and spoke.
“Yes?”
The beastkin looked puzzled.
Since explaining everything seemed like a hassle, Yushin showed the token the old man had given him. The rabbit’s ears stood straight up.
“P-please wait a moment!”
The rabbit beastkin hurried off somewhere else.
After waiting a little while, a human woman covered in freckles approached them.
“This way, please.”
Following the woman, they arrived at a large hall.
There were more than ten reception desks, with explorers lined up in front of them.
The layout was similar to the Explorers’ Guild.
The difference was the small rooms behind the reception desks.
People were entering and exiting them one at a time.
“These are the rooms where Engravings are checked.”
The freckled priestess explained.
“Am I going in there too?”
“No. You’ll be meeting someone special. That person has agreed to check your Engraving personally. Please be sure to show proper respect.”
Following the priestess down a corridor, they arrived at a room at the dead end.
Judging by the size of the door, the room was much larger than any he had seen so far.
“Please enter here.”
Jeong Yushin took Marie’s hand and opened the door.
A woman was standing inside the room.
‘Wow.’
Warm-toned platinum-blond hair.
Narrow eyes that gave her a composed air.
A beauty mark beside her full lips.
Her appearance radiated noble divinity and motherly warmth.
Judging by her face alone, anyone would have thought she was a saintess.
But her figure was another matter.
A skin-tight nun’s habit.
The outline of her enormous H-cup breasts was fully visible.
Her clothing was so tight that it couldn’t conceal either the adorable outline of her navel or the beautiful, naturally wide curve of her hips.
The panty line clung plainly to her soft, plump buttocks. It was so tight that
even without knowing its color, it clearly revealed the exact shape of the panties she was wearing.
The firm, athletic thighs of a track runner.
Black stockings hugged her knees below them.
Her figure was the complete opposite of her appearance, which expressed divinity and motherhood.
In a word, it was a lewd body perfectly suited for intense, pregnancy-inducing breeding sex.
“Hello, Explorer. I’m Mion Landisier.”
“Food, please.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m Ska. I came at the request of the old man at the relief station. This girl is Marie. She was raped by goblins during an expedition and left mentally broken. I was told you would take Marie in if I showed you this token, so I brought her here.”
“Wait... just a moment.”
Flustered by Yushin’s rapid-fire explanation, Mion waved her hands at him.
Her large breasts bounced elastically from side to side.
“Please explain slowly, Mr. Ska.”
“Yes.”
Jeong Yushin began explaining everything that had happened.
Enough time passed to drink a cup of tea.
“So... that’s how I came here.”
He quickly summarized only the facts, leaving out his emotions.
“I see. Since you have the spirit teacher’s token, we’ll take Marie in. And would you like to have your Engraving checked right now?”
“Yes.”
“Please come closer, clasp both hands together, and kneel on one knee.”
“Yes.”
When he knelt, Mion’s crotch was blatantly visible through her tight clothing.
‘There’s a panty line in front too.’
He hurriedly lowered his head.
He got an erection. His penis hurt.
Mion muttered something in a solemn voice, but not a single word registered. He thought there might have been a flash of light, but he wasn’t sure.
“It’s finished.”
‘Is it over?’
But he couldn’t stand up right away.
Without raising his head, Jeong Yushin spoke.
“I’ll stay like this for a moment. The grace bestowed by the Earth Mother is so great that my heart is in turmoil, so I find it difficult to move rashly.”
“Y-yes...”
‘Please! Die, erection. Die, damn you!’
He sang the national anthem.
‘Until the East Sea and Baekdu Mountain dry up and wear away... Long live our nation.’
He couldn’t remember the words very well. It didn’t matter. His erection had died, after all.
Having personally confirmed that military service contributed to the low birth rate to some extent, he stood up.
“Then I’ll tell you the name of Mr. Ska’s Engraving.”
“Yes.”
“Ahem! The name of the Engraving is...”
Mion gave a cute little cough and announced the name of the Engraving.
* * *
He barely made it back to the inn, holding on to his reeling consciousness.
“I’m back, Darmong.”
Darmong was sitting at the counter of the quiet, empty inn, as always.
“You’re back? You look perfectly fine physically, so why are you so out of it?”
“Pour me a drink.”
He set down his luggage and sat across from Darmong.
“Wait a moment.”
Darmong went into the kitchen. After some clattering, he came out carrying a plate piled with snacks.
“Here. Tell me. What on earth happened during those six days?”
“Well, you see.”
He took even longer to tell the story than he had with Mion.
Darmong must have been curious, because he asked many questions along the way. Yushin, drunk for the first time in a while, answered readily.
Darmong listened attentively, nodding along.
“...So I took Marie to the temple and had my Engraving checked.”
“That must have been a harsh experience for a novice explorer.”
“It wasn’t easy.”
“Not for you—for Anne.”
“Pardon?”
“She was wounded in the abdomen and wandered through the labyrinth, wasn’t she? For three days, without proper rest, while bringing along a companion whose mind was broken.”
“Now that you mention it, I do feel sorry for her. But I won’t be entering the labyrinth with her again.”
“Why?”
“Because she acts too recklessly. The labyrinth already has enough variables, but she changes the plans however she pleases.”
“She was merely inexperienced. People learn through experience.”
“Those people entered the labyrinth without even taking the explorer course. What good is experience if you die? They all would have died without me.”
“Really? Did you escape the labyrinth entirely on your own, without any help?”
That wasn’t the case.
If Anne hadn’t struggled to bring her companions out, he would have died in the final ambush. Alternatively, their torches would have run out because of their lack of supplies, and he would have been consumed by the ‘darkness’ and gone mad like Din.
And...
Although he had gone to the second level after being swept along by the majority vote, he had also held the naïve belief that things would somehow work out.
“I admit it. Without Anne’s help, I couldn’t have escaped from the second level alone. But if we hadn’t gone down to the second level to begin with, we wouldn’t have suffered like this.”
“They must regret it even more.”
Fuck. That was true.
“They’ll feel the absence of their friend every morning, and regret, replay, and brood over their decision every night.”
Damn it.
With a bitter taste in his mouth, he took a drink.
“Then what are you telling me to do? Go in with them again?”
“I wasn’t saying that. You just seemed too focused on other people, that’s all. I was only making one point.”
“What do you mean?”
“I understand being angry at Kaal’s words and actions, and I understand being dissatisfied with the party’s unreasonable decisions. And it’s true that decision was the starting point of the tragedy.”
Darmong paused and took a drink.
“But if you fixate on that and don’t look back on yourself, then you learned nothing from this expedition.”
He was absolutely right.
Since leaving the labyrinth, Yushin had thought about nothing but avoiding any further entanglement with those tiresome bastards. He had merely resolved to stay away from any party resembling Kaal’s.
“Thank you, Darmong. I learned a great deal today.”
“Go to sleep. You must be tired. Good work.”
“Yes.”
He went upstairs, unpacked, wiped himself down with a wet towel, and lay down on the bed. Sleep swept over him in an instant.
‘Come to think of it, did I ever mention which Engraving I received?’
Jeong Yushin blinked his heavy eyelids, pondered the question briefly, and fell asleep.