Chapter 217
He could confidently say that he had been through a great deal until now.
He experienced meeting a god in person he thought only existed as an illusion, fighting and defeating a Demon God, and seeing holograms that no one else could see.
However, the event unfolding before his eyes was entirely unprecedented, even among all those things.
'What in the world is…'
Black hair coming down to the waist, pale and smooth skin.
In her wide, flustered eyes were vertically slit pupils, long and snakelike.
Was that all? The black scales covering various parts of her body were proof that she was not human.
“H-how did this body end up in such a state…?”
Looking down at her own body, Leviathan muttered quietly.
Suddenly becoming a human, and a little kid at that, the experience was well worth being surprised by.
“M-Master. How do I look…?”
“…You look like a human kid.”
“Why on earth did this happen…?”
In truth, the cause was clear. Leviathan changed right after touching that bizarre orb.
When she said the orb was calling her, he thought it was a lie, but it was real.
“Is there a way to return to your original body?”
“I do not know for now, but…”
“Then let’s think about it later.”
Nearly 30 minutes had passed since they started investigating the cavern. If his expectations were correct, the Labyrinth would close before long.
Franz reached out a hand to Leviathan.
“Can you stand up?”
“What do you take this body for, that you say such a thing?”
Leviathan spoke triumphantly and stood up.
He thought she wouldn’t be able to adapt since it was a new body, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Rumble.
As the power maintaining the Labyrinth vanished, the ground began to shake, and dirt and dust fell from the ceiling and walls.
'What would happen if we stayed here like this?'
Curiosity suddenly arose, but he had no desire to experiment.
If they ended up trapped just like that, they would undoubtedly die a dog’s death.
Snap-.
Franz immediately snapped his fingers and used spatial movement magic. At the same time, a light briefly flashed, the two figures disappeared from the cavern.
The place Franz arrived at was in front of the Gate right before it disappeared.
The circumstances of how the Gate occurred were still unknown.
It didn’t seem like investigating it would particularly reveal anything either.
Perhaps the Goddess Luan knew something.
Thinking that, Franz took a step forward with Leviathan.
From his toes to his knees, the entire body soon crossed over to another dimension.
At the end of that bizarre sensation, he was met with a familiar sight.
“Lord Esteban, I am glad you are safe.”
Had he been waiting in front of the Gate? Baha Salman hurried his pace and approached, expressing his relief.
He was pretty sure he had told him there was no need to worry.
Well, he was probably concerned about diplomatic issues arising. He could fully understand that.
“How long has it been since I went inside?”
“A little over 2 hours have passed.”
“I see.”
The time Franz spent inside the Labyrinth was a little over 4 hours.
Compared to that, 2 hours had passed outside, so it could be said that time inside the Labyrinth flowed about twice as fast.
It was then.
“Lord Esteban…! The passage is disappearing…!”
Baha Salman said, his eyes widening.
Just as he said, the Gate gradually reduced in size until it completely vanished without a trace.
Franz, who had expected this to happen from the start, wasn’t particularly surprised, though.
'For now, the summary is roughly complete.'
The fact that the flow of time inside the Labyrinth and in reality was different, and that the Labyrinth closed about 30 minutes after killing the boss.
With those two things as the final points, Franz organized the information in his head.
“I have so many things I want to ask, but who on earth is that little kid beside you…?”
“Little kid…?! Does a mere human dare call this body a little kid?! I’ll swallow you whole in one bite…!”
Leviathan growled openly.
It seemed the word 'little kid' had put her in quite a bad mood.
However, it was true that there was no more fitting word to call her than 'little kid'.
Baha Salman didn’t know the name Leviathan, after all.
“Well, I will explain that slowly. More importantly, do you have a strong stomach?”
“My stomach, you say?”
“Yes, because the things I am about to take out are a bit gruesome.”
“I may look like this, but I am someone who clearly distinguishes between public and private matters. No matter how disgusting it may be, if it is necessary…”
Before his words could even finish, Franz pulled out the corpses of the monsters from his bag.
There were four types, numbering in the dozens.
Their appearances varied greatly, from those missing their heads, to those split into upper and lower halves, and even those with only an arm left dangling.
“I didn’t know it would be to this extent, but…”
Baha Salman smiled awkwardly and averted his gaze.
How many times would he, a prince of Nostra, have seen such a sight? It was a natural reaction, all things considered.
In fact, not just him, but most of the world would have no immunity to such things.
It was just Franz, who had been through all sorts of hardships, who was unusual.
“I brought them all because I thought they would be helpful for the investigation.”
“Wouldn’t one corpse be enough for the investigation…? Please do as you wish with the rest, Lord Esteban.”
It was an unexpected windfall. Since the Gate was in their territory, he had been prepared to hand over about half.
Franz left one of the most intact corpses for each type and put the rest back into his bag.
In the meantime, Baha Salman had his people move the monster corpses somewhere else.
They were probably heading to a place for investigation. It was their share anyway, so there was no need to pay it any mind.
It was after the situation had been roughly sorted out like that.
“Then I would like to hear about the other things as well.”
“Yes, I will tell you as much as I have found out.”
“Would it be alright if other investigators joined us? It would be a bit much for me to listen and think about it all on my own…”
“I don’t particularly mind.”
Franz readily accepted his request.
The place he arrived at with Baha Salman afterwards was inside the giant tent where they had heard the briefing in the morning.
Investigators in luxurious attire came in one by one and filled the empty seats.
During that time, Leviathan was snooping around here and there, as if fascinated by her own body.
“Leviathan, I’m going to start soon, so behave yourself.”
“Acting so triumphant just because I called you Master once.”
Leviathan grumbled but stopped what she was doing.
Seria was like this, and Zenia was like this as well. Was this just how little kids were?
Somehow, they never just let things pass quietly.
Shaking his head to clear the thought, Franz stood up from his seat.
“I assume you all know who I am, so I will begin the explanation right away.”
Snap-.
As he snapped his fingers, the surrounding magic particles gathered and drew a map of the inside of the Labyrinth.
“What in the world is this…”
“To think it’s possible to draw something this detailed with magic…”
Seeing the giant hologram map floating in the air, the investigators let out exclamations of awe.
It was nothing special to Franz, but to them, it was like witnessing a miracle.
However, it was too early to be surprised.
“There were a total of 5 caverns inside the Labyrinth in question. Each…”
As Franz snapped his fingers again, the magic particles formed the shapes of monsters.
From his days as a scholar to his time serving a merchant guild, he had prepared and delivered countless presentations until he grew weary of it.
Unlike back then, he had to do it using only his memory and magic, but it wasn’t a very difficult task for the current Franz.
“I have provided specimens of the monsters that were in each cavern, so you can investigate them. Then, next…”
Following Franz’s hand gesture, the map of the Labyrinth magnified. It was the cavern where he fought the final battle, where the boss was.
“A boss-level monster existed here. The monster in question fought primarily using its powerful physical abilities, and it also used magic proficiently.”
“By your judgment, Lord Esteban, how strong was it…”
“It seemed to be around the level of the Demon Lord’s Army’s Four Demon Generals.”
“T-that can’t be…”
Baha Salman opened his mouth, his eyes widening as if in shock.
Not just him, but most of the investigators present showed similar expressions.
Since a member of the Four Demon Generals of the Demon Lord’s Army could take on an entire nation alone if he set his mind to it, the shock must have been great for the people of Nostra, who had the Gate in their territory.
Bluntly speaking, if that guy had crawled outside, Nostra might have disappeared from the map.
Franz’s explanation continued for quite a while after that.
The scope ranges from the characteristics and weaknesses of each monster to the characteristics of the Labyrinth itself.
Only after explaining everything he knew was he able to wrap up the situation.
“Then, does anyone have any questions? You may speak comfortably.”
Were they too busy processing the information that had entered their heads? Everyone merely maintained their silence.
Soon, the situation was completely sorted out, and the investigators hurriedly left their seats, as if they had pressing matters to attend to.
Even in the midst of that, the only person remaining was Baha Salman.
“I never imagined you would go this far for us. Thank you for resolving the Labyrinth and for cooperating with the investigation.”
He bowed his head politely and expressed his gratitude.
It was behavior one wouldn’t expect from the prince of a nation.
Usually, the higher one’s position, the stiffer one’s neck tends to be.
“Isn’t this a formally commissioned job? I naturally just did my best.”
“You are a kind person, Lord Esteban.”
Was that so? He considered himself to be just average.
Keeping those thoughts to himself, Franz lightly bowed his head.
“Then I will be heading back now. If you happen to have any questions, please send a letter to the Roman Empire’s Magic Tower.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a meal together before you go…?”
A meal…
He understood the desire to treat him, but he simply couldn’t do that.
“It’s because I have people waiting for me. Thank you for the offer, but I will postpone it until the next opportunity.”
With those final words, Franz wrapped up his schedule in Nostra.
There were still many things he didn’t know about the Gate and the Labyrinth, but…
He figured he would gradually come to know.
If that was the flow of this world, that is.
Snap-.
Franz snapped his fingers with a light heart, but…
The moment he faced the Magic Tower Lord’s office, that feeling completely vanished.
“It seems they made quite a spectacular mess of this…”
Leviathan slowly shook her head.