GILF Hunter

Chris climbed the stairs and emerged from the labyrinth.

The exit he had barely found by retracing his memories. After climbing those long stairs, he finally reached the surface.

In truth, it wasn’t a very long distance, but that short span felt incredibly far.

As he barely moved his feet and stepped onto the ground, the air changed in an instant.

It was dawn on the surface. The time when the sun was just preparing to rise. A slightly chilly dawn breeze brushed past Chris’s cheek.

He saw the Labyrinth Guard hurriedly running toward him after spotting him emerging from the labyrinth.

Soldiers supported Chris as he was about to collapse from exhaustion.

’Ugh....’

’He’s in bad shape. Hey, someone bring some water.’

Seeing Chris in a clearly serious condition, the Guard Captain felt a bad premonition and glanced toward the labyrinth entrance as he asked.

’Are you alone? Anyone else coming out with you?’

’I’m the only one who came out just now....’

Chris lifted his head, looked at the Guard Captain, and asked.

’Um, I have a request....’

’Don’t push yourself. I don’t know what happened inside, but for now, it’s best to stop worrying about that and rest.’

’Th-then, please just tell me this.’

Even making a sound was a struggle, but there was something Chris absolutely had to ask right now.

Fortunately, seeing that the Guard Captain seemed willing to listen, Chris opened his mouth with a stiff face.

’The... those people. The ones who... came out before me.’

’Before?’

He was referring to his comrades from the mercenary group. The comrades who had hidden him in a rest area and gone out to fight.

Chris thought that perhaps his comrades might have escaped the labyrinth first.

Maybe the scale of the surrounding monster swarm was too large. Or maybe they fell into a trap and the path was blocked. If there was such an unavoidable reason that made it difficult to regroup... they would have had no choice but to choose to escape.

If it was a situation where they couldn’t return for the stranded Chris, or where the damage would be too great to do so, they would naturally have to abandon him and get out. Chris fully understood that choice. The Captain would have had no other option but to make it.

’How many returned? Is the damage... very heavy?’

The Guard Captain knew what Chris wanted to ask. It was a question he often received from these sole returnees who appeared from time to time.

The Guard Captain opened the labyrinth entry list, showed it to Chris, and spoke.

’I’m sorry. You’re the only person who came back from there.’

＊　＊　＊

Sitting opposite Ian, Chris finished his story.

Perhaps because the story had gone on much longer than expected, Chris felt thirsty and picked up his cup.

Relating those stories of the past had made him so emotional that he felt he had even shared unnecessary details.

This was a mere venting of grievances.

If only Chris had been able to fight even a little back then... the result might have been different. Had that been the case, they could have handled it no matter how many monsters there were.

’It couldn’t be helped. Not in the labyrinth.’

Ian spoke as if he had read Chris’s thoughts. It seemed... his thoughts had been written clearly on his face.

Everyone said so. But Chris himself was the only one who couldn’t accept it.

Staring intently at the dwindling contents of his teacup, Chris looked at Ian and said.

’I’m sorry. I made my story far too long.’

This meeting wasn’t originally for this purpose, but it had turned into something like a lament at a drinking session.

However, it was something he had to explain for the request Chris was about to make. Because it wasn’t an item he could just hand over out of the blue.

’The only thing I brought out from there... was this, which was in my bag.’

Chris placed the box on the table.

The old, small box brought out from the labyrinth.

He had brought it along since an appointment with Ian had been set.

Rather than a gift... it was more like a request to take it away.

Without ever being able to open it to see what was inside.

An unsightly box that he could neither throw away nor dispose of, only aging along with him.

He didn’t have the courage to open this, their final gift....

Yet he couldn’t harden his heart enough to dispose of it either.

Chris stared at it blankly and said.

’I don’t know what’s inside either. It might be nothing, or it might even be something cursed.’

’These kinds of boxes... are mostly like that.’

Seeing as he had nightmares, perhaps a truly cursed item was contained within.

He had sugarcoated it by saying there was something he wanted to give, but to be honest, it was a dumping of a burden.

He wished for it to finally leave him, yet he had lingering attachments that prevented him from passing it to just anyone or discarding it.

He had been waiting indefinitely for someone trustworthy enough to handle this request that was close to a selfish tantrum.

’Before that, I also have a request.’

’...Right. Did I talk about myself too much? My apologies. You must have had business with me.’

Chris had expected as much. Ian had been the one to call him first, saying he wanted to meet.

Mercenaries usually did such things when they had a petition.

...Though it was a bit of a puzzling matter.

Chris didn’t hold a particularly important position in the guild. Nor did he possess great wealth, power, or martial force.

There was no reason for a captain of a mercenary group like Ian’s to have a request for him. From any perspective, Ian’s current authority was much stronger.

’What is it you want to ask of me? There isn’t much I can do for you. Did you get into some trouble?’

’Strictly speaking, I’m planning to get into trouble from now on.’

’...It’s troublesome if you confess it so bluntly. Turning a blind eye to an accident that’s already happened and condoning one before my eyes are two completely different things.’

Chris grumbled as he spoke, but he didn’t think Ian had caused the kind of trivial accident common mercenaries did.

The ’trouble’ general mercenaries spoke of was usually petty crimes, contract violations, or financial issues....

It didn’t seem likely Ian had committed such things, and even if he had, they were issues he could easily bury on his own without seeking Chris’s help.

Anything Ian would call an ’accident’... would have to be a massive disaster.

...Thinking that far, Chris felt a bit uneasy.

’...What kind of accident is it?’

’I think I should explain this first. I’m planning to greatly change the city’s defense plan this time, and I need someone to take charge of the defense for one of the locations.’

’Are you saying you’re entrusting that to me?’

Ian nodded.

To be precise, he needed someone capable who would cooperate entirely with Ian’s plans. It was an task too important and reckless to entrust to ordinary mercenaries.

Chris shook his head.

’Fighting. I can’t do that anymore. I don’t know what you were expecting... at most, watching from afar and giving directions is my limit.’

’I’ve heard about that. It’s because of the labyrinth’s curse, right?’

’Even if you tried to help with treatment, it’s far too late. I lived like a wreck for several years after returning from there, and I’ve neglected the curse for so long that it’s become incurable. Even the temple said it was impossible.’

If a curse is neglected for a long time, side effects remain.

It wasn’t that the curse had some special power; it was just a natural process.

For example. Even if someone who suffered from an insomnia curse for years late has the curse removed, the damage to their health, changed sleep patterns, and the impact of sleep deprivation doesn’t just vanish cleanly.

The stronger the intensity of the curse and the more it gnaws at the mind, the deeper those effects naturally remain.

Escaping such influences required a very special means of treatment.

Ian replied as if he knew that in advance as well.

’I know that too. It’s a selfish request... but I need even one more person who can lend their strength right now. I’m asking you.’

He must have understood well enough what Chris was saying. Yet Ian continued to make unreasonable demands of him.

’I thought you’d refuse if I asked for your consent first. I apologize for taking action on my own.’

Chris felt puzzled... and soon felt something strange with his body.

Heat.

And... cold.

Chris realized something strange was happening inside his body.

That unknown energy that had spread through his whole body seeped into every nook and cranny. His body was hot, but his mind settled into a strange, cold calm.

...The teacup. Chris noticed the cause belatedly.

’What... what did you feed me?’

Chris dropped the cup he was holding.

...No. He thought he had, but there was no sound of the cup breaking. Feeling bewildered, Chris only then realized he was holding the cup perfectly steady and straight.

His hands weren’t shaking, nor was his body out of control. Chris’s body moved perfectly according to his own will. Unusually perfectly.

Chris thought his body was strange... but in reality, it was the opposite.

His mind was clearer and sharper than ever before.

The voices, the hallucinations, the fear—all had vanished without a trace.

That peace was something he had forgotten for so long that returning to normal simply felt foreign to him.

-The traits of mercenary [Chris] have changed.

-Traits Removed: [Fear of Death], [Nightmare], [Insomnia], ....

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[Fear of Death]

- Upon entering combat, this target falls into a [Fear] state

- Whenever HP decreases, this target has a high probability of entering a [Panic] state, and the [Fear] state stack increases

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