Chapter 20: Back To The Labyrinth

Sweet honey flowed between the petals.

Maybe because they were so used to it, they could now freely control the flow.

“Bugs, gather!”

The bugs didn’t seem to smell the honey because they were so far away.

How far had they gone…?

At that moment, an Isis fly approached with its wings flashing.

The red-faced guy who was watching me!

Hoohoo, you have some particularly big news to tell.

I’m now the manager of the labyrinth!

And that’s how we are with the ruler, the master!

You could say that!’

The butterfly’s eyes grew wide.

Oh, they’re originally round.

The pupils dilated a lot.

He glanced at the master.

He seemed to be concentrating with his eyes closed, as if he was thinking deeply about something.

Hehe! I can continue bragging to the butterfly!

“How about it? Tell me some dating secrets?”

Nodding, nodding!

The butterfly’s cheeks turned bright red and his whole body trembled as he nodded vigorously.

Hoot, that cute guy.

‘First…… While I was teaching the secret to the butterfly, the bugs gathered one by one.

That’s it for now… Is this a secret that only you know?”

Nod!

Good. You seem satisfied.

This red-blooded butterfly that dreams of love…

From now on, I’ll call you Girl Butterfly.

Then, the original story.

Tell the bugs that I am now the manager of the labyrinth, and you are the legion under the manager.

My will spread to hundreds of bugs.

The bugs nodded as if they had been waiting.

It seemed as if they could not refuse after having tasted my honey, or rather, as if they had no intention of rejecting it at all.

Before I knew it, the master was also looking at me and the bugs with a happy look.

But…

“Master, is it okay for the manager to be outside like this?”

“Huh? You have to photosynthesize, right?”

“I lived fine without that?”

“But you became so vivid because I planted you here.”

“Huh?”

I was curious at the master’s expression as if it was a given.

“Shall we go again?”

The master carefully wrapped his silver fingertips around my stem.

The moment I was about to pull it out—

‘Ah! No!

My roots moved on their own as if they were living creatures, and grabbed the ground.

Just like a child who was throwing a tantrum, saying “No! I don’t want to go!”

“Hehe… It’s still like this.”

Blue flashes of light flashed along with the master’s soft laughter.

As expected, I couldn’t even struggle against the master’s strength.

Thanks to my strength, it didn’t hurt much this time.

However…

“Eeeee… It’s strange…! This feeling of floating in the air!

Especially the roots!

I felt embarrassed as if I was walking around naked after always being buried in the ground and riding the air like this.

It wasn’t like this when only the tips of my roots were sprouting up!

The cold wind of the snowy mountains tickled between my roots.

‘Eeeee…. This is such a shameful play…

I felt the bugs’ bright eyes.

Eww! Don’t look at my roots!

The master walked towards the entrance of the labyrinth with an elegant gait, unaware of my appearance.

As we neared the labyrinth after enduring the extreme humiliation, the entrance to the gigantic labyrinth greeted us.

The ceiling was much higher than I had thought, and numerous ice crystals were hanging sharply.

The width of the hallway seemed several times wider than I had imagined.

This… was a real labyrinth.

The upper floor was brighter and more comfortable than I thought.

Soft light streamed in through the gaps in the ice structures on the ceiling, and patterns like frost flowers were blooming on the walls.

The monsters that could be seen occasionally were only weak ones around level 20.

‘Hmm….so this is what the upper floor is like.’

The atmosphere changed as we went down to the middle floor.

The narrow, poorly lit passages continued like a maze, with sharp icicles embedded here and there.

It was a place where monsters of levels 30 to 40 lived, but to me, it was just a familiar sight.

The lower levels became deeper.

The passages became wider and the ceilings became higher, so that the end was not visible.

The ice walls were engraved with patterns that looked like they had been sculpted by an artist, but if you looked closely, you could see faces of pain hidden inside.

Monsters well over level 80 dominated this place.

‘Arthur’s party would be fine, but if Brian’s party came here, they wouldn’t be able to last more than a few minutes.

The depths were a completely different world.

The dark blue ice became as deep as the deep sea, and only a faint blue light barely pushed away the darkness.

I had the illusion that something was rippling in the darkness, and monsters over level 130 swam between them.

When they sensed the presence of their master, they disappeared without a trace.

“I came here after two weeks, and there have been a lot of monsters.”

“Huh? This is a lot…?”

I didn’t even see 10 on each floor?

How many were there originally?

Oh, did you catch them all just to feed them to me…?

The boss’s love for his secretary!”

The spark in my heart burned fiercely!

And finally, the deepest floor, the master’s lair, appeared.

“Wow… It was an overwhelming sight that made me forget the cold for a moment.

The entire labyrinth was made of ice, but this place was different.

Pillars that seemed to be made of transparent crystals supported the sky, and ice crystals shining like aurora emitted a soft light from the ceiling.

The floor was smooth like a mirror, and the walls were engraved with delicate ice patterns.

And in the corners, there were endless piles of shining gold and weapons that looked like they would boast enormous value.

This was not just a cave, but the palace of the Ice Dragon.

This is… the master’s house…!

I exclaimed for a moment, but the extreme cold engulfed me.

The master’s lair was beautiful, but it was also cold.

“Uuuuu… It’s cold… It’s so cold…”

A chill that felt like it was freezing my whole body swept over me.

I hugged Cecilia tightly with flower petals, but it was no use.

Instead, Cecilia, who was still a pupa, was shivering.

The extreme cold that even a hot pack would freeze!

The master had planted me in a corner of the deepest layer, in a place full of pretty ice decorations.

“This is where you’ve been for three years.”

“Uuuuu… It’s so cold!”

I struggled to carve the letters with my trembling roots.

Wait. Three years?”

Suddenly, everything began to make sense.

As if puzzle pieces were fitting together.

This extreme cold.

The three years I couldn’t wake up.

And the monster blood that the master had kept bringing me.

‘Ah… This is it…”

I was frozen like a frozen human, or rather, like a frozen plant.

Just like a plant that was put in a freezer would freeze.

No matter how strong the monster blood was, I couldn’t properly live because of this extreme cold.

That’s why the master moved me to a place with sunlight, and that’s why I suddenly came back to life…

‘Umm…I’m sorry, Blueberry from my previous life…”

“I can’t stay… It’s really too cold…”

“Really…?”

The master nodded and moved to the front of the passage leading to the end of the depths, the innermost layer.

“How is it here?”

“Oh… It’s fine here!”

It felt cold, but it was bearable.

It was like a light breeze from an air conditioner.

There was no problem at all with the bio-hot pack.

Soon, the bugs followed one by one and took their places.

“Now, as the manager…”

“Yes! I will work hard on the manager’s duties!”

I stood up straight and cheered.

However, when I actually asked, there was nothing I had to do.

I was told that I just had to guard this place and serve the master.

This is such a great job!

Is there only a sweet romance waiting for me!

Three weeks passed like that.

Every day, the master visited me, fluttering the hem of her silver dress.

Every day, she stroked my flower petals and rubbed them under the pretense of eating nectar.

Every time, the bugs would leave on their own.

In particular, the girl butterfly seemed to wink as if to say, “Have a good time!”

Another day, she brought me some monsters that were on the verge of death.

The bugs leveled up with the final blow, and I gained experience by drinking their blood.

The blood of the high-level monsters that seemed to have been caught from the depths was definitely delicious, perhaps due to the synergy with Hyeolcheonrak.

We are her subordinates, but she keeps taking!

Is this okay? A boss who suffers with evil employees…!

“Master…! It seems like you are the only one who suffers!”

“This is for our Rico. Is there anything I can’t do?”

The master said with a faint smile.

Sob sob! I really am the luckiest person.

(Still, I want to help!)

“Hehe… Don’t you keep giving me such delicious honey?”

Rubbing and good.

It was the rubbing and rubbing that had become so familiar.

“Right.”

The master suddenly spoke as if a memory had occurred to him.

“We should catch a monster that knows how to polymorph.”

“I might be able to learn the secrets of polymorphing from them.”

Rubbing…

“Huh… It feels so…”

But then one day.

“Oh, that’s… (Yes!!!) Polymorph! Human transformation!

Do I not have to wait a thousand years!?

If days like these continue on, I feel like I could get along just fine for a thousand or ten thousand years, but I still want to do it quickly! Hehe!”

“You’ll be fine, right? Even if the deep-level monsters swarm you, they won’t be a threat to you.”

(Don’t worry!)

I saw the master off with a fluttering heart.

Now, this is my territory.

I will do my best as the manager until the master returns!

Even though there’s nothing I can do!

As the month-long journey over the hellish Seolhanryeong came to an end, a small village at the foot of the Sia Kalt Mountains came into view.

“Over there…”

Chloe’s white ears twitched slightly.

“There’s something strange about the atmosphere.”

“Can you feel it?”

Ronflow said in an unusually serious voice.

“In my 200 years of living, this is the first time I’ve felt this kind of atmosphere.

It’s like a huge shadow of fear…”

A strange tension hung over the peaceful-looking village.

The sound of a hammer could be heard from the blacksmith’s shop, but the blacksmith’s movements were somewhat cautious, and the merchants in the market pricked up their ears and looked around.

“The residents’ eyes are filled with fear,” Gain said.

“But they can’t escape.”

Beatrice nodded.

“They’re blocked by Seolhanryeong.”

At that moment, a C-class adventurer party patrolling encountered them.

Marianne was walking in front, and when she spotted the saint, she hurriedly grabbed the holy symbol.

“Who is this… the saint!?”

Brian and Kevin also bowed their heads deeply in surprise.

The residents passing by also stopped one by one and began to look at them.

“And… the silver warrior…”

Marianne’s voice trembled.

In an instant, the street began to stir.

“It’s the saint!”

“The silver warrior has come too!”

“Now we too are saved!”

“It is the grace of Michel…”

Hope bloomed on the faces of the residents.

A young mother holding a child shed tears and clasped her hands together toward the saint, and the elderly recited prayers with trembling voices.

“I will guide you to the guild.”

Brian took a step forward.

His voice was filled with relief.

When they arrived at the guild building, Arthur flinched when he saw them.

His usual dignified appearance was nowhere to be found.

Instead, his expression was clearly one of deep fatigue and tension.

“Saint…”

Arthur bowed his head.

“You came all the way to this remote place.”

“How have you been, Arthur?”

Seraphina’s voice was calm.

The guild master found them at the window and hurried down the stairs.

His wrinkled face was engraved with deep worry.

He immediately shouted at the staff.

“Quick! Prepare the best guest rooms! Call the chef and have a special dinner!”

“No, guild master,” Seraphina said softly.

“We just…”

“No!”

The guild master said firmly.

“We cannot neglect these people. Especially not now…”

A shadow fell over his face.

It was as if he already knew everything.

“Come in,” the guild master said, opening the door wide.

“We have much to talk about…”

Seraphina’s pink hair swayed slightly in the cold wind.

She looked out at the distant mountains for a moment.

There will be the flower I saw in my dreams every night, the being that prays in Michel’s name.

“Yes,” Seraphina nodded.

“I came to hear that story too.”