Chapter 18: Volume 3, Epilogue

Volume 3, Epilogue

Boo Boo ran all around the mountains.

Beatrice had gone on alone. He had noticed fairly quickly, but it had already been far too late. He ran and ran, but saw no sign of her.

After checking everywhere he could think of, he finally reached the entrance of the Labyrinth.

The Iberian Orcs and all the other Nonhumans in Ground’s Nir avoided even approaching that place. Even he never would have had anything to do with that deep, dark hole if Beatrice and the others had not asked him.

“Gulp.”

But he took a step inside once more.

To see if someone important to him was safe, he broke that taboo and entered the Labyrinth on his own.

But just before he could...

“Boo...Boo...?”

“Beatrice!!!???”

“...Ha ha. I look pretty pathetic, don’t I?”

The Holy Swordswoman was a mess when she left the depths. She always seemed like his big sister and he saw her as a powerful person who calmly watched over him from a step or two ahead. And yet now she looked so very weak. Her armor was broken, she had cuts and bruises all over, and one of her eyes would not open as it oozed blood onto her cheek. She limped as she walked and she gingerly held her ribs with her dominant hand.

She must have relaxed upon finally seeing a familiar face.

Beatrice collapsed forward, so Boo Boo found a way to support her without destroying her in his too-large hands.

“Sorry. I’m sorry, Boo Boo...”

“...What happened?”

“I couldn’t become a proper partner for you. No, I was never qualified in the first place...”

“What happened, Beatrice!?”

He shouted, but she did not answer.

The strongest Holy Swordswoman passed out in that precious person’s arms.

The battle with the Sage had more or less been a disaster. Beatrice had only attempted to endure instead of actually standing up to her. And even that had been risky.

Beatrice’s Holy Swordswoman was a rare Job that allowed her to handle offense, defense, recovery, and support all on her own. Using her limited Experience Points on every one of those directions would have made her a jack-of-all-trades who did not stand out in any one way, so she had narrowed her focus down to fire and learned all of that Magic. That should have been the shortcut to the greatest success.

And yet...

“Heh.”

After removing all her bonds, the Sage smiled thinly and drew her sword – the one pieced together from the remains of many destroyed Shining Weapons – with her left hand. The world then blossomed madly with uncountable changes. Some used water, some used wind, some used earth...and some used the fire that Beatrice specialized in. The Sage overwhelmed all else as her storm Magic combined into a single giant mass.

When she drew a large circle with the tip of her sword, she had already hit Beatrice with more than 100 explosions that sent her flying backwards.

“Did I attack the Iberian Orc village with Elkiad? Yes, I did. Did I give my Shining Weapon to young Boo Boo? Yes, I did. Did I collect the unneeded containers of flesh and use them for my own purposes? Yes, I did! But you know nothing! You don’t even know the definition of an Iberian Orc!!”

“!!!”

The Sage had the same face and knew unfamiliar Magic, but Beatrice stood her ground. The soles of her boots scraped at the floor, she raised her rapier, and she attempted to escape the explosive blasts pushing her helplessly away.

“The Iberian Orcs were not originally pig-faced giants.”

She fired countless flames, but not even one of them hit the Sage. In fact, Beatrice used those flames to shake the air with the extreme temperature difference and produce vacuum blades or to rub soot and smoke particles together to produce lightning. And yet it barely had any effect.

(Is it not just Fire Resistance? Has she also mastered wind and water!?)

“Orcs were originally a species with no defined form. They repeatedly crossbred with all sorts of animals and plants and their descendants retained the strengths of those other species. The pig-faced giants with extraordinary muscular strength and a superb digestive system are merely the form they reached as a result of that. It seems there were eras during which they delved into the sky or sea before reaching this point. If they had continued to reproduce with Elves or Mermaids, they would likely have become handsome and beautiful. If they had repeatedly bred with humans, they would likely have become intellectuals with a full understanding of Magic.”

Beatrice wanted to silence that talking mouth.

She wanted to end this monologue and make the Sage lick the floor instead.

She clenched her teeth and sent back fierce attacks, but the Shining Weapon in the Sage’s left hand sent back the lights of many Elements with two or three times the intensity.

“They are the peak of all living things. But that is why they felt cornered.”

She could not beat her. No matter what she did.

“The Iberian Orcs’ bodies changed drastically along with their frequent optimizations, but their blood grew rusty and their blood vessels broke down like some kind of disaster. Their elder came to me directly with a request. They essentially held a bomb no matter where they evolved from there, so he wanted me to bring an end to all of them except for Boo Boo, the only one who showed no sign of the disorder! Iberian Orcs can reproduce with any animal or plant, so the village could be repopulated even with Boo Boo as the sole survivor. But if the sickly village remained, Boo Boo would undoubtedly choose his sickly brethren over anyone else. So the elder asked me to kill them all so that would not happen!!”

Finally.

Her situation had not improved, but Beatrice finally felt like she had something to latch onto.

“That’s why you worked up the soldiers of Elkiad and attacked the village?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s why you let only small Boo Boo escape on the day of the attack?”

“Yes!!”

“If you were really satisfied with that, why did you digitize the souls of the Iberian Orcs you killed? Why did you give them to Boo Boo!? Why collect their bodies afterwards!? And it’s not as directly related, but why create the Sage’s Stone on Skull Wave’s head!? You weren’t satisfied with anything you’d done, so you’ve just been trying every method you could think of, haven’t you!? So can you really stand before Boo Boo and feel proud in what you’ve done, Sage!!!???”

“...”

“If that’s enough to silence you, then I already have my answer. If you can’t answer me, I’ll do it for you. Your life was a failure. That’s why all those Iberian Orcs gave up on healing themselves and had you kill them!! No matter what reasons you might have had, how can you possibly claim what you did was right!?”

For a brief moment, Beatrice’s flames held back the Sage’s ever-changing Magic. No, they even pushed it back.

“Explain everything you’ve done and go apologize to Boo Boo for it all, Sage!! No matter what grand excuses you make, that’s something from which you can’t escape!!”

“I wanted...” The Sage clenched he teeth. “I wanted to save them too.”

“But you gave up. No matter what you might have thought, you did it. And that’s why the bodies piled up in reality!”

“But...”

Did she really have more to say? Did she still have more excuses for why she had been in the right? The Holy Swordswoman found the act more disgusting than what the actual excuses might be, but the Sage’s next words were entirely unexpected.

“What would you have done if their elder had convinced you that Ground’s Nir would be destroyed if you didn’t?”

“What...?”

“Why do you think the Iberian Orcs continually took in the strengths of so many different animals and plants despite the risks involved? And we’re not just talking about an individual. Their village was an organized gathering of that great strength. But it wasn’t just for the fun of it. They had a mission. A raison d’être.”

Beatrice’s mind nearly went blank, but one piece of information floated to the surface for some reason.

...The Iberian Orcs did not like that the humans visited the Labyrinth.

“They were gatekeepers.”

The Sage spoke the cruel truth of the world.

“They existed to stop that which sleeps in the Labyrinth’s greatest depths when it rises to the surface. The elder and the others were facing the death of their kind, so their only choice was to leave everything with Boo Boo and have him rebuild the village! And he had to do so before that monster crawls up from the depths!!”

And...

“That should do it.”

“Yes, I suppose it’s more or less complete.”

Voices spoke deep in the giant library constructed by secretly redesigning a portion of the Labyrinth.

The Sage wore red armor. A blonde-haired, green-eyed Royal Elf wore a green dress that revealed her slender and pale body from the chest to below the navel. They were dealing with some medical equipment and an examination table far more sturdy and large than one meant for humans. Instead of electronics, they were all metal devices that might be on display in a museum, so some might have thought they looked more like torture devices.

But there was more than that there.

For example, the food that had gone cold after no one touched it. Among the food were the skewers of Master Rabbit and Sliced Fish soaked in yogurt that a certain someone continued to eat despite the nutritional value or lack thereof. There was also something like a giant picture book drawn in the hieroglyphic writing only seen in ancient wall art. There was a rough but sturdy cloth used to polish animal tusks and a special Mixed deodorant that could eliminate even the strongest bestial odors in an instant.

The two of them continued disposing of it all.

But after reaching her breaking point, the Sage threw a bottle of deodorant against the wall.

Sibyl, the Royal Elf with a circlet adorning her beautiful face, covered her long ears at the loud noise and spoke like an exasperated parent as a floral scent wafted out.

“C’mon, don’t throw things.”

“Sorry.”

“Now, then. Disaster was an undead-type, so we need to sterilize our entire bodies now that we’re done.”

“...Please don’t ask me to take a bath with you at this age.”

“Don’t act like you haven’t found it useful working with a long-lived Royal Elf who barely ages. Besides, you can’t even make your own breakfast without a maid. And yet you always pour all your effort into things like practicing how to make Iberian Orc delicacies.”

“I’ve more than repaid you.”

“That’s almost the worst part. I really am grateful you fixed up this thing you picked up.”

The slender Elf’s long ears twitched as she toyed with a strange weapon that resembled both a bow and a staff. A thick tree branch was bent in a crescent moon shape, green ivy was wrapped around that and drawn into a string, and a large eyeball-like crystal was embedded at the top end. It had likely belonged to someone who had lost their life in Ground’s Nir. In other words, it was a Shining Weapon. The Sage had repaired it, released the ID authorization lock, and given it to the Royal Elf.

The transparent bathtub they soaked in was filled with an assortment of disinfecting agents like high-concentration medical alcohol and chlorine. It was not an electric bath, but they felt a tingling pain in their skin as they soaked up to their shoulders. They were wearing bath towels, but since this was for disinfection purposes, they occasionally dunked their heads below the painful bathwater without worrying about their hair.

“Sigh...”

“C’mon, if you’re going to get in, then try to relax and submerge your body.”

“You are just full of complaints today.”

“Kh. Don’t move your legs in the tub. Where do you think you’re poking me? Besides, this fairly nasty disinfectant liquid is splashing out of the tub.”

“Who cares? We’re leaving here today anyway.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

A short silence fell. While soaking in the glass bathtub that had measurement markings like a beaker, they gave themselves over to the fizzy feeling of the disinfectant attacking every part of their soft skin.

Finally, the slender and pale Royal Elf opened her mouth again. And she spoke solemnly.

“...So that’s really what’s going to happen, huh?”

“This place was really only used to approach the outline of success through repeated failure. It was nothing more than a recycling facility, so it isn’t that painful a loss.”

“But you stayed here longer than anywhere else. Perhaps even longer than you were on Earth.”

“...”

“And you’re still going to throw it out?”

“Yes.”

With a splashing sound, the Sage rested the back of her head on the edge of the clear bathtub. Her chest rose and fell as she took a deep breath and she looked up at the tall, tall ceiling.

“I completed my obligation to the elder and the rest of the Iberian Orcs. I brought them death and left Boo Boo at the starting point of a new village. Hee hee. And it seems he is well on his way to surrounding himself with girls. ...So from here on out, I am going to do what I want. If Boo Boo has already created a new village, it shouldn’t be a problem if I get carried away and bring back the old Iberian Orcs. Especially if they are perfectly healthy this time.”

“...That violates the principles of bioethics. Although it may not be my place to say that as a Royal Elf who has a nearly infinite lifespan with no risk whatsoever.”

The digitized souls, Skull Wave, and Disaster. It was true the Sage’s experiments had a Necromancy-like sense of desecration and she could not guarantee success. In fact, she seemed to be searching for the answer by gathering data on failures.

“I had to throw out any kind of ethics when I granted their wish. And I did so by staining my own hands with blood. So now it is time for them to grant my selfishness. That’s the way I see it.”

“That’s the thing about you. No matter where you start from, you always end up being pretty bad.”

“Ha ha. That’s what he said too.”

The Sage snapped her fingers and the entire library burst into flames. The two of them were soaking in highly flammable medical alcohol, but they did not even tense.

“Farewell, my failures.”

“If we’re leaving here, where should we set up shop next?”

“How about somewhere warm, quiet, and with good food?”

“I don’t think a heavenly paradise is an option.”

They looked at the floating embers like they were watching fireflies over a clear stream. Of course, if just one of them fell into the bathtub...no, if one even touched the unseen volatilized substance, they would be set on fire.

“When will the ruin arrive next?”

“I thought you Elves were good at statistics since you have so much free time, prophecy-loving Sibyl. No one gathers more data than you.”

“...Do you think we’ll make it in time, given the Labyrinth’s operation speed?”

“We must ensure that we do,” said the Sage. “Ground’s Nir. The monster in the ground’s depths. We have continued to hone ourselves so that we can let Boo Boo and the others live with happy smiles on their faces even if this island is a clockwork armory that produces giant calamities out of countless gears.”

Beatrice was badly injured, but that was why she could not immediately Sign Out and head back to Earth. Those injuries would remain. If those deep wounds were to open without her Percentage-type support, she would die before she could receive the benefits of modern medicine. She needed Magic healing before returning.

“Over here! Over here!”

Filinion was unsure where to go, but after some advice from Sutriona who was blending in with the humans, she chose to heal Beatrice at Boo Boo’s house instead of the inn town. The level cap warriors who were representatives of the strongest tended to create grudges, so it would be best not to let anyone see her so weak.

The White Witch took the lead while Boo Boo and Armelina could only follow her instructions by boiling water and wiping away sweat.

And feeling so helpless may have been why Armelina spoke up.

“But didn’t Beatrice’s story not entirely make sense?”

“You mean the possibility of the Gates transcending time as well as space? Before even getting into the concept of time paradoxes, I don’t really know how the Gates work, so I can’t really say.”

“No, not that. ...This third party looks just like her and claimed to be Beatrice. But this is Ground’s Nir. Isn’t there a simpler explanation for this than anything as crazy as time travel? Besides, wouldn’t it cause a paradox if you met your past self?”

“Boo. What do you mean? This sounds confusing, but I want to know everything I can about Beatrice.”

“It might not be as obvious to you since you were born here, but the combination of Percentage-type Magic we wear gives us different appearances between the real world and Ground’s Nir.”

“Wait a second. Is that why the Sage wouldn’t have been afraid to meet her past self?”

“If she knew about Beatrice in the first place, she could adjust her own appearance to match.” Armelina chose her words carefully. “Of course, that’s easier said than done. Just choosing the same equipment as Beatrice wouldn’t be enough. Your appearance in Ground’s Nir is a combination of your original appearance and the equipment you wear. But the Sage had mastered all kinds of Magic. She might have tried billions or even trillions of combinations to make herself look so much like Beatrice that it shocked Beatrice.”

They had no proof for this either. It was just another theory. But even if it was true, the motive was still a mystery. They had no way of explaining why the Sage would have adjusted her appearance to match Beatrice’s at some point in the past.

Boo Boo and the others looked down to where Beatrice slept. Boo Boo spoke quietly to the frail girl who remained unconscious and only frowned while stirring uncomfortably.

“...What happened, Beatrice?”