Chapter 59
"Going down right away?" Philon asked, seemingly reluctant to part ways.
Nothing stopped us from going down, but no need to rush either.
"Well, we’re thinking we might take a day to prepare."
"Really?"
I felt Rei tugging at my clothes from behind.
"What?"
"You never mentioned this."
"We'll stay a day to resupply."
Though still looking unsatisfied, Rei let go of my clothes with apparent understanding.
"Then let's get lodging together. We just came up from the Third Floor, so it's time for us to rest too."
Though Nathaniel offered to cover the lodging costs, I declined.
Nice as it would be to accept, I didn't want to borrow from others when I could manage myself.
These things become debts later.
Even without an actual obligation to repay such kindness, it remained as a debt written in the heart rather than on paper.
Troublesome.
Financial relationships were best kept clean.
"At First Post, you only need to know three places. The blacksmith, lodging, and general store. There are school branches for magic, but people usually stick to their own. Ah, have you joined a school?"
"Just me."
"What school, If I may ask."
Nathaniel was as polite as his gentle appearance suggested.
The unkempt beard must be from being in the Abyss.
"It's quite small so you might not know it, but it's the Telema School."
"Telema School? Hecate's?"
"You know her?"
"I went on an expedition with her once."
So Hecate did Explorer activities too.
I thought she was just a shut-in school head who stayed in the school building and left all outside work to Mea.
I wonder why she changed.
"She was quite a fierce Devil Sorcerer. Quite memorable too. With you there, her name will soon be heard easily."
Fierce? Devil Sorcerer?
Who? Hecate?
I couldn't imagine it at all.
Though I roughly sensed her skills as a Devil Sorcerer, it clashed with how she usually acted.
"We're here. It's expensive but has the best facilities."
Nathaniel tried to get us different rooms to separate us by gender, but we declined.
After what happened before, it felt a bit...
Rei and Leaf also preferred rooms by teams.
Mixed lodging wasn't an issue anymore after all our camping.
After securing rooms.
We finished resupplying with Nathaniel's help.
Then four of us, including Philon, gathered in our room.
We barely stopped them from getting alcohol to celebrate reaching the end of the First Floor and as a ceremony before entering the Second Floor.
What kids drink alcohol?
Rei's a 16-year-old kid, and Leaf's the very definition of lightweight.
What are they even thinking when it comes to drinking?
But maybe there was some truth to the saying, “Getting drunk off the atmosphere.”
Even without alcohol, conversation flowed naturally.
"Do you keep in touch with the others?"
"No? You're the first I've seen since getting my license."
Though we share a sense of community beyond just being classmates, built on a common goal with me as a focal point, everyone ultimately had their own affiliations.
Arthur with Frontier Guild, Fiona with the Grand Duchy, Alexandra with Alexandria School...
Each must be doing their best in their own place.
Rather, Rei and Leaf traveling with me without any affiliation were the unusual ones.
"Makes sense. I've been in the school since then too."
Everyone must have felt their limits.
How inadequate their power was against strong enemies like the Abyss Worshipers.
Would even the top three manage a proper fight?
Adding a few more, Rei and Teresia might be the Maginot Line.
By current standards, should Leaf be included too?
I was an irregular existence anyway.
Using spatial magic put me outside normal bounds.
"Didn't know you joined a school at all. Telema School, that's the school you mentioned earlier, right?
"Right. Naturally, you wouldn't know. Not like we have real-time communication."
Rei's voice overlapped with my words.
"Though the last one probably knows?"
"Last one? The Grand Duchess?"
"Yeah."
Rei identified people by numbers and Philon understood immediately.
How long will that continue?
Was it hopeless from the moment we named our classmate group “Numbers”?
"Then, Miss Nachtblumer probably knows too? Since they're close."
"True. By the way, hasn't she sent that yet?"
"What?"
"The Chroma-something? That lizard thing."
Ah, the Chromatic Fiend hide and magic core sales money.
I haven't received it yet.
"It should have been delivered to Telema School by now."
While conversation topics flowed freely like a word association game, Philon seemed lost in deep thought, staying quiet.
"Philon?"
"Huh? Yeah?"
"What are you thinking about so quietly?"
"No, um... what Roman said."
"What I said?"
I've said many things, so I was unsure of what he was referring to.
Noticing my confusion, Philon elaborated.
"About not having real-time communication."
"Ah, that."
"I wonder if we could do something about it."
Real-time communication?
"Is that possible?"
That was Rei for you.
She spoke my thoughts for me.
"It's difficult. Flame signals, communication magic, all become useless once Abyss floors change."
If it were possible, someone would have done it already.
Communication across Abyss floors was impossible.
That was the currently accepted theory.
"Still seems worth thinking about though."
"True."
The difference between having proper communication and not was huge.
Rather strange that nobody pointed out this issue before.
Maybe because everyone's an Explorer, they took being in the Abyss as default and missed this blind spot.
Leaving communication as a topic for consideration, that day's conversation ended.
§
Returning to his room, Philon faced his master's question.
"Philon."
"...Yes, Master."
"What kind of person is that man, Roman, to you?"
What kind of person is Roman?
The impression from when Philon first truly recognized Roman flashed back in his mind.
Other trainees had already died.
Enemies they couldn't defeat despite fighting emerged.
Teresia appeared at the cusp of their defeat.
Though they managed to win thanks to her, everyone was already fatally wounded.
Philon had to make a choice.
Who should I use healing magic on?
And Philon chose himself.
It couldn't be helped.
As the only one capable of healing magic, Philon needed to be well for what came next.
But ultimately, Philon couldn't save his teammates.
By the time he'd given himself emergency treatment and checked his teammates, their conditions were already beyond recovery.
So Philon witnessed his teammates meeting their demise.
He vividly felt the light leaving their eyes, warmth fading from clasped hands, and faint breathing coming to a halt.
However, Roman was different from him.
Unlike Philon who couldn't save anyone, he saved everyone.
Disregarding himself.
Burning himself as fuel.
That scene was branded into Philon like an unforgettable seal.
It was a moment of understanding and clarity akin to a believer witnessing their savior.
But Philon's spoken answer was quite different from his feelings.
"Just a classmate."
§
The next day.
We exchanged farewell words at the gate leading to the Second Floor.
"Well, we're off."
"Yeah. Be careful."
Instead of lengthy concerns, Philon sent us off with a clean farewell.
Rei seemed to like that, grinning and giving a thumbs up.
Leaf, who spoke freely when it was just us, only nodded, seemingly conscious of the Serapaion School people watching from behind.
Nathaniel's gaze was particularly intense today.
Enough to make me think it might be burdensome for Leaf.
Anyway, after exchanging greetings, we turned and stepped into the gate.
We were finally descending to the Second Floor.
§
THUD!
BUMP!
TONG—!
"Ugh!"
"Eek!"
"...What are you doing?"
Three collision sounds and three voices.
Except for Rei with her exceptional physical abilities, Leaf and I landed right on our backsides.
"Oww... that hurts..."
Leaf's tearful voice speaks for my feelings too.
I got up while rubbing my backside which hit the floor.
"What kind of entrance is this..."
Rei said while landing after bouncing in the air.
"Mana seems unstable. And, it's thicker than the First Floor."
The Second Floor's mana was noticeably thicker than the First Floor's.
If the First Floor was like water, the Second Floor felt sticky like sugar had been added.
"And it's really dark."
Unlike the First Floor which was bright as if light reached it from outside the Abyss, befitting its surface layer designation, the Second Floor had almost no light.
It was practically identical to being in darkness.
Even as our eyes adjusted to the darkness we could barely make out silhouettes.
"Light."
When I cast the light emission to summon a light orb, the Second Floor’s nature finally became visible.
A closed space with no vast horizon or sky in sight.
Instead of distant hazy mountains, walls were close enough to distinguish texture.
An environment completely different from the First Floor.
This was the Abyss' Second Floor, Labyrinth.