A suffocating silence.
Ellie, lighting a Mana Herb cigarette, stood up from her seat.
“Alright. I’m just going to go kill this Eve person or whatever.”
“Stop with the murder threats…!”
Why are you saying it so calmly?! It’s like you actually might do it!
I hugged Ellie from behind, trying to stop her. But was it the difference in our muscle strength? Even while dragging me along, her steps didn’t falter.
“Calm down, Ellie! I turned her down properly! It’s not like it’s some sort of fling!”
“…Well, that was good. But what I see as a problem isn’t that. We’re at least a hundred years apart in age! Does it make sense to propose to such a little kid?!”
“I’m not a kid, you know? I’m a full adult! And you’re saying this while getting all flustered about me?!”
“Ugh…!”
You’re just as worked up!
It seems my words had some effect, as Ellie froze, letting out a huff. I had to keep pressing while I had the advantage.
“First of all, it was you who was doing nothing even when I said I’d marry you, right? So now you’re mad just because you found out I got a proposal?”
“That’s…!”
“If I hadn’t stubbornly decided that the first one would be you, what would you have done? Would you be throwing a fit like this back then too?!”
“…I don’t think I was that cold.”
“Is that important right now?!”
As I shrieked, Ellie flinched, her ears and tail drooping in what looked like a pitiful manner.
“Haah… Ellie. Look at me.”
“Okay.”
She turned around with a glum expression, and I pinched her cheeks playfully.
“I think there’s something else Ellie needs to be doing right now. What do you think?”
“Um… sorry?”
“I’m not looking for an apology. Now, repeat after me, Ellie.”
Saying that, I opened my arms wide. Hesitating but still following along, Ellie opened her remaining arm.
Dressed in her full-body suit, her body lines were disturbingly apparent.
Starting from her voluptuous chest to her slender waist and curvy hips… the subtle impression of her belly button…
Entranced by her feminine curves, I pulled her in for a hug.
“Yup.”
“Huh? Uh…?”
Ellie stammered, still with her arms open. If this is cute, it’s cute, but… I’m not exactly satisfied with this.
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting used to this by now?”
“Ugh, it’s not easy.”
With her awkward response in a clumsy position, I sighed deeply.
“What did I say? I told you to follow my lead, didn’t I? Am I not holding my arms out right now?”
“…No?”
“Glad you know. Then you should hug me back just like this.”
“…Okay.”
Following my words almost magically, Ellie wrapped her arms around my shoulders and back, pulling me closer.
His/her bodies pressing together tightly. But like usual, it didn’t have a lewd vibe.
It was a pure hug, sharing warmth without any awkward movements.
In that state, I softly opened my mouth.
“Ellie.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’m not going to marry Eve.”
“Okay.”
“And I’m also not going to marry you.”
“…Huh?”
I pulled Ellie in closer, caught off guard by her shocked expression. Reflexively, she pulled me in closer too.
The grip was strong enough to bring a strange sense of security. …But with it came a sense of responsibility.
I had to handle the dangerous threads I’d woven around Pangrave. No matter how risky, I knew Ellie would try to help.
Thinking that made a pang form in my chest.
“Technically, I’m saying I can’t get married right now, though.”
“Ah, is that what you meant?”
“Yes. I have things I need to do now. Quite a lot of them.”
“It shows.”
Ellie gave a short reply while stroking my back.
Honestly, I hadn’t had any thoughts of trying to do anything with this world at first.
To be honest, the dangerous elements I scattered were merely meant as episodic plot points, not something that would lead to an unavoidable finale.
At the start, I was just trying to get by. Even when I got a little comfortable through pickpocketing, I thought about leaving Pangrave with Ellie.
I believed the Protagonist would handle things on his own. Even if a few things fell through the cracks, I never thought those flames would reach me.
But the Protagonist died. I killed him with my own hands.
Now, I have no choice but to take action myself.
“One day, once I’ve finished everything I need to do, I’ll propose again.”
“…For now, may I ask when that will be? You’ll have turned 20 at that point, right?”
“Is that even important right now?!”
I found it a bit ridiculous, but it seemed Ellie meant it, so I decided to answer.
“Probably. It won’t take just a year or two to reach the bottom of the Labyrinth.”
“Good. As long as you’re an adult… wait, what?”
Ellie released the hug and grabbed my shoulder, creating distance between us.
“Ugh. Did you want to hear that again? There’s no helping it then… ahem. I won’t bug you about marrying me for a while. But when I become an adult, can you hug me then…?”
“No! Not that! It’s nice to hear, but isn’t that more dangerous than what we’re talking about?!”
“More dangerous than that? Don’t tell me Ellie… are you hoping that I’ll just like you as a child until I become an adult?!”
“That’s a different kind of dangerous! I meant the Labyrinth! What do you mean by going to the bottom of the Labyrinth?!”
“Literally! We have to go to the deepest part and meet the Goddess of Love.”
“Meeting the Goddess of Love…?”
Ellie frowned slightly. Could it be she’s jealous of the Goddess of Love?
“Don’t worry, Ellie. I like you a bit more than the Goddess!”
“I wasn’t worried about that! I just don’t know how to respond to something so grand!”
With a complicated expression, Ellie scratched her head. Lydia, who had been nodding approvingly from a distance, looked equally perplexed.
“Jonah. No one has ever reached the end of the Labyrinth. The deepest part, now called the Inner Depths, is only the 7th floor. And the surviving gods from the War of the Gods…”
“There are thirteen of them. Take out the Goddess of Love, and that leaves twelve.”
“Right. So the estimated number of labryinth floors is twelve. And in a thousand years, adventurers have only explored seven of them. They haven’t even conquered half… And yet, you want to see the end of the Labyrinth?”
“Yes. I’m saying it fully knowing. I think it’s absolutely possible. And whether it’s possible or not isn’t important. It’s something I have to do.”
I had already decided to take responsibility in this world. So, I’ll simply do what needs to be done.
I smiled widely at the bewildered expressions on Ellie and Lydia’s faces.
“It’s okay. You saw today that I have faith in things too, right? And I have other reasons to focus on the Labyrinth, besides the Goddess.”
The third floor. The place where the God of Mechanical Devices sleeps.
The technology that rapidly advanced during the War of the Gods had gone through explosive evolution, resulting in the birth of a new field called Magical Engineering, which combines magic, alchemy, and blacksmithing.
Even in daily life, things like lighters, stoves, subspace, and plumbing are common.
All those strangely modern convenient technologies can be seen as products of Magical Engineering.
And new concepts tend to bring forth new gods.
The youngest deity born during the war. The God of Mechanical Devices. From the start, he was an extraordinary being.
That’s because he was born by splitting open the belly of the God of Blacksmiths, consuming its corpse, and seizing the divine seat.
As a god born in the harshness of war, his nature was equally ruthless.
He viewed the world as a finely-tuned machine, where every living being—including himself—was just a part.
But that doesn’t mean he’s an evil god.
The God of Mechanical Devices was cold and lacking compassion, yet he was undeniably a god of righteousness.
His sole purpose? To end this wretched war as quickly as possible and bring peace to the continent.
For the greater good, the God of Mechanical Devices would unhesitatingly ‘consume’ even his own followers by converting them into magical devices, and he did the same to himself.
At the end of the War of the Gods. Surviving due to his cold rationality, he judged that such an unfeeling god would only be a harm to the world.
Once he made a decision, he never hesitated. He ceased all external activities, focusing on leaving behind knowledge of Magical Engineering.
He discarded lethal, inhuman, and excessively advanced technologies as much as possible and chose to enter eternal rest.
However, time was in short supply, and no matter how divine he was, he couldn’t manipulate every facet of the world.
Some of the artifacts he discarded had popped out due to the shock of the Labyrinthization.
Naturally, adventurers eagerly took and used them… and it’s those over-technology products that I’m after.
I gently toyed with Ellie’s empty sleeve, a faint smile creeping onto my face.
“Ellie’s arms. I’ll get you something cool.”
“…Huh?”
Ellie blinked her yellow eyes, as if she couldn’t fathom what I just said.
