Labyrinth: Chapter 88/89

Chapter 88: I Was Acting in Self-Defense, Do You Believe Me?!

"EHHHHHHHHH?!"

A shriek echoed through the mansion.

Frieren and the others froze for a split second, exchanged glances, then immediately grabbed their weapons and dashed out.

They burst into the master bedroom—and stopped cold.

The room was wrecked.

Broken glass scattered across the floor. A tray lay overturned. A stool was on its side.

In the middle of the chaos, a black-haired young man knelt on the floor, shirtless, panting.

Pinned beneath him was a purple-haired woman with flushed cheeks.

Chishiya flashed a victorious grin.

"Shion, you're still too green to take me down."

"Give up quietly!"

He looked up, just in time to meet Megumin's horrified stare from the doorway.

And behind her—

Frieren, Fern, and Stark stood frozen, their faces locked in complex expressions somewhere between horror, confusion, and full mental shutdown.

"Uh…"

Chishiya's throat bobbed.

"I'd just like to say this was purely self-defense. Do you believe me?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Megumin roared, storming in, fists clenched.

"Sensei! Are you still human?!"

"Are you letting that thing down there do your thinking now?!"

She grabbed Chishiya by the shoulders and shook him so hard his bones rattled.

"You actually forced someone?! Have you completely lost it?!"

I even learned a health soup recipe from Mom to help you live longer! And THIS is what I come back to?! If I'd been one day late, Shion would've been pregnant by now!

Shion, still on the floor, quickly waved her hands.

"Megumin-sama, please! It's not what you think!"

"I was just trying to help Chishiya-sama… take off his pants!"

Chishiya stared at her, utterly betrayed.

Frieren and Fern, who had been glaring at Chishiya with full-on moral condemnation, suddenly paused.

"Wait," Fern said. "Did she say 'Chishiya-sama'?"

"You mean… this guy is Megumin's Sensei?"

That couldn't be right.

He looked so… young.

How could someone who'd mastered both magic and blacksmithing be barely in his twenties?!

That kind of talent was downright terrifying.

But…

They glanced around the wrecked room again.

The mess. The suggestive position. The chaos.

Yeah, the talent was insane.

But the personality…

"Huh…" Fern muttered quietly, giving Stark a cautious side-eye.

Stark blinked. "What?"

—

Thirty minutes later

Chishiya sat on the edge of the bed, now fully dressed.

"And that's the whole story, okay? Get it now?"

"I swear, I'm not some depraved maniac."

It had taken half an hour of straight explanation.

Shion had also repeated multiple times that nothing actually happened.

That it was all a very unfortunate misunderstanding.

Only after all that did the group finally believe him.

With a heavy sigh, Chishiya glanced up at the air in front of him.

The system panel floated silently in view.


---

[Target: Frieren]
Recruitable Employee
Reward: Veteran Mage – Greatly increases magic control proficiency

[Target: Fern]
Recruitable Employee
Reward: Quickshooter – Greatly increases magic casting speed

[Target: Stark]
Recruitable Employee
Reward: Blood Bull – Greatly increases stamina and burst power


---

You've got to be kidding me…

Of course. Of course they'd be core recruitable employees.

And they just happened to walk in at the worst possible time.

Chishiya groaned internally.

The irony burned.

"I heard you three were looking for help?"

"Yeah," Fern nodded. "We'd like to ask for your assistance getting us back to our world."

Chishiya didn't respond right away.

Turns out, the [Cross-World Promotion] feature unlocked after the Labyrinth's upgrade was what pulled them here in the first place.

Now they were asking him to send them back?

Yikes…

He'd actually been thinking about recruiting them.

With Rimuru gone, the teaching spot at City Academy was wide open.

Frieren and Fern could handle magic lectures.

Stark could cover combat training.

And Frieren's knowledge of ancient spells would've been perfect for adding more content to the Library of All Worlds.

But… after today's incident…

First impressions? Not great.

Recruitment was going to be… challenging.

Still thinking it over, Chishiya noticed something in Frieren's hand.

The sunny doll.

Wait… isn't that one of the magic-silk dust-warding dolls I made?

He'd engraved a practically useless "clean air" enchantment on it. Just a novelty item.

How did she end up with one?

…Could it be she liked it?

Oh, right.

In the original story, Frieren had a thing for odd magical trinkets and strange grimoires.

A new plan formed.

Chishiya cleared his throat.

"I can help you get home. But I think there's something I should explain first."

"You're probably here because of me."

"?"

All three tilted their heads, confused.

Chishiya explained the situation.

About the Labyrinth being a cross-world hub.

About the system-generated pull that brought them here.

He made sure to clarify that he didn't summon them intentionally. It was part of the Labyrinth's upgrade effect.

"I'm telling you this so it doesn't blow up later. If we can cooperate, great. If not, no hard feelings."

"That's the deal."

"I can send you home. Or—if you'd be willing to temporarily teach until the original staff returns—I'll reward each of you with ten gold coins and a reward of your choice."

Frieren paused.

A maze? A world?

Beyond our world and Megumin's, there are others?

Even after living so long, this was the first time she'd seen anything like this.

Was she curious?

…Not really.

She'd never cared about foreign kingdoms, let alone other worlds.

She glanced at Fern and Stark.

For her, time moved slowly.

But for them, it moved fast.

Compared to exploring some abstract multiverse, what she really wanted now was to cherish the time they had left.

To enjoy the journey they were still on together.

To live without regrets.

Frieren spoke gently.

"Sorry. We can't accept the offer."

"There are still things we need to do. We can't stay here."

"Frieren-sama?" Fern blinked in surprise.

She turned down a legendary magical reward?

That's… unheard of.

In the past, she would've jumped at this chance.

And now, she was the one walking away?

She's changed…

Even Chishiya looked surprised.

He didn't expect Frieren to reject the offer so directly.

She's even turning down the grimoires?

Could it be… there's something even more important to her now?

(To be continued.)

Chapter 89: Welcome to Underground Labyrinth Co., Ltd.

"I see."

"I understand. I'll take you out of here, then."

Chishiya didn't argue. He just nodded calmly.

"Mm."

Frieren turned to Fern. "Let's go."

She stood up, prepared to leave, but Fern tugged at the edge of her robe.

"Frieren-sama, there's something I have to say."

As Fern spoke, she pulled a small coin pouch from her pocket.

She upended it in her hand—six lonely copper coins dropped into her palm.

Frieren leaned closer.

"Fern… what is this?"

"Frieren-sama… this is all the travel money we have left."

"…"

Frieren slowly turned her head to Chishiya.

"Chishiya-san, how much did you say you were offering?"

Chishiya blinked, caught off guard.

So in the end… we're all still bound by poverty, huh?

Even the legendary elf mage was broke?

"Ahem…"

He cleared his throat. "Ten gold coins."

Fern's voice dropped to a whisper as she leaned in close to Frieren's ear.

"That's enough to eat dessert with every meal for three years."

Without hesitation—

Frieren turned back.

"Chishiya-san, could you tell me more about this commission?"

Chishiya: "...?"

—

Inside the room...

Stark was admiring the silver wrist guard on his arm.

The more he looked at it, the more he liked it.

"Thank you, Chishiya-san."

"It must've taken you ages to craft something this refined."

He scratched his cheek, slightly embarrassed.

His job wasn't even that complicated. He was just sparring with monsters during training.

Honestly, he didn't feel worthy of such a reward.

Chishiya waved him off casually.

"No big deal."

Truthfully, these wrist guards were just mass-produced copies from Kaijin's workshop.

Chishiya had originally stocked them up with Great Sage's help to sell later—but hey, might as well use them now.

Guess Stark really likes it. Good thing Great Sage doesn't produce junk.

Right then, a familiar voice called out.

"Chishiya-sama!"

Gobta poked his head in through the door.

"Huh? Guests?"

His gaze landed on Frieren and the others.

Chishiya gestured to Stark.

"Stark, you'll be training with him from now on."

Gobta's eyes lit up like fireworks.

Perfect!

With both Youm and Stark on the team, there were now two more people to take hits with him.

Now Sensei won't always target me first, right?! Hahaha!

He clapped Stark on the back.

"C'mon, Stark! I'll take you to meet everyone. You'll be joining us for tonight's training."

"Eh? Thanks a lot!"

Stark looked at the round-headed goblin in front of him.

Even if he was technically a monster, he seemed pretty nice.

Meanwhile…

Across the room, Fern and Frieren were now seated in front of a massive pile of magic books.

Fern flipped through them one by one, placing them aside carefully.

"Frieren-sama… these are all legendary spellbooks!"

Her voice trembled with excitement.

An entire wall of bookshelves was lined with these.

Where did Chishiya even get this many…?

Over by the side…

Frieren pursed her lips, visibly conflicted.

(´-﹏-` )( ˘-﹏-˘ )(´-﹏-｀)…

So many rare spellbooks.

All ancient, practical, and obscure.

Even ten years wouldn't be enough to study them all.

Was I too hasty with what I said earlier…?

It's not like I can't help out a little…

Not far off, Chishiya peeked in.

Their eyes were practically sparkling.

Not bad… not bad.

As long as they do the work, I'll definitely treat them right.

He smiled faintly.

All those "useless" books the system gave him turned out to be legendary relics in Frieren's world.

They weren't offensive spells, sure—but they were highly useful.

And exactly the kind of quirky magic Frieren liked to collect.

"Ahem… let me take you to the school."

Chishiya finally spoke.

Frieren reluctantly put the book down.

Dragged along by Fern, she followed him out.

—

Thirty minutes later.

They arrived at the academy's training field.

From a distance, Frieren and Fern could see wooden targets lined up on one side.

On the other, dozens of demi-humans were channeling energy toward the targets with intense focus.

"What are they doing?" Frieren asked.

"That's magic class," Chishiya replied.

The curriculum was split into three categories: magic, academics, and physical training.

Only the physical lessons were taught personally by Hakurou.

The others used standardized teaching materials.

The magic textbook was a "blank" spellbook pre-written with certain skills.

Chishiya turned to look at the students.

Even with pre-written content, learning magic still took time.

It couldn't be mastered just by reading.

It depended on talent, magical reserves, and even personal disposition.

For instance, people gifted with physical strength might never grasp a spell, no matter how hard they tried.

They moved past the playground and approached a five-story building.

Above the entrance, bold letters read:

[Education for All]

Frieren and Fern stopped in their tracks.

"…What does that mean?" Fern asked.

"It's the school motto," Chishiya explained.

"This academy is open to everyone. Human or monster, rich or poor—everyone is treated equally and can receive the same education."

"I founded this school to give people a shot at changing their fate."

He turned to look at them as he spoke.

There was no sarcasm in his voice this time.

It was genuine.

After spending years cramming for exams back in Japan, he knew how hard it was for regular people to change their lives.

To claw your way up, you needed to work ten, even a hundred times harder than others.

But without the right opportunity, all of it could be wasted.

...Of course, he didn't mention the second half of that thought.

He's not running a charity, after all.

He'll help people—if they're allies. Otherwise, don't get greedy.

Fern stood still, stunned.

Teaching everyone… changing destinies…

It reminded her of her own past.

Her parents had been killed by demons. She'd been completely alone.

If Himmel hadn't found her, she probably would've died.

And Frieren.

It was Frieren who taught her magic. Gave her a future. A purpose.

Because of them, her fate had changed.

And now… isn't Chishiya doing the same?

In this world, kids like her wouldn't have to fear hunger or despair.

They could learn. Grow. Become strong.

Fern clenched her fists.

Maybe this commission meant more than she thought.

She wasn't doing this for others anymore.

She was doing it… for the child she once was.

Right then, Chishiya turned around, extended a hand, and said—

"Well, I'll be counting on you."

"Welcome to Underground Labyrinth Co., Ltd."

(To be continued.)