“Ellie’s arm. I’ll get you a cool one.”
“…Huh?”
Ellie’s yellow eyes blinked as if she had heard something she never expected.
“You mean you’re going to get me a new arm? What are you talking about, Jonah…?”
“Just what I said. I’m saying I’ll fetch a new arm for Ellie.”
“If it’s about reattaching it, that’s impossible. My right arm was completely obliterated by Bress. Even if it were somehow intact, it would have rotted away without special treatment.”
“I wasn’t talking about reattaching your old arm?”
“So you mean to regrow it? I’ve heard that some races with strong regeneration can do that with the help of a high priest and some conditions, but I can’t. I’ve already been healed by the Archbishop before.”
“Even if the Pope intervened directly, it wouldn’t be possible to regenerate Ellie’s arm. The healing power of the Goddess of Love is only a symbol of compassion; it’s not an inherent force, right?”
“…The Archbishop said something similar once. What does that mean?”
“It means if the God of Life, who has already died, doesn’t return, it’s going to be tough to heal Ellie’s arm. Ah! If the Goddess of Love grants a miracle to Ellie herself, then regeneration could happen! But even that would require reaching the depths of the Labyrinth.”
“…”
I chuckled at Ellie’s skeptical expression.
“Ellie. In fact, there are more ways to fix your arm than you think. The problem is that they’re all dangerous and time-consuming.”
For instance, right now, the Alchemist Union is probably brewing an elixir at the Truth Society.
Homunculi, the Philosopher’s Stone, and the elixir, which is considered one of the three great goals of alchemy. With the elixir, one can bring the dead back to life, so losing an arm shouldn’t be that big of a deal.
Well… as you can see from my awareness of this setup, the elixir of the Truth Society tends to be the origin of various incidents, but…
Anyway, the important thing is that such things do exist. It might even be on the gacha list. Whether we can actually pull it is another matter, though…
Additionally, there’s the ability left by the Beast God on the Sixth Floor, the Source of Bestiality, and there are ways to obtain Ellie’s arm from the past using the distortions in time that occasionally occur, despite the Goddess of Love’s control.
To obtain the Source of Bestiality, we need to ascend to the Sixth Floor, and the time rift is a minor issue since it arises from pure coincidence outside of the Goddess of Love’s influence…
But still, there are methods available.
However, they’re all incredibly difficult in practical terms or take too long.
In the meantime, how about an artificial arm that we can get on the Third Floor?
It’s just a thing, so it won’t grow with Ellie like a real body, but it would be quite useful.
After all, it’s based on the overtechnology from the Great Divine War. It should last us until we obtain the elixir or the Source of Bestiality.
Most importantly, it’s one of the fastest options among the alternatives I’m considering.
The requirements to clear each floor are two:
First, you must outdo the average monster stats of that floor through growth.
Second, you must achieve a great feat on that floor.
A great feat means uncovering a significant secret or subjugating the Guardian of that floor.
In other words, I’ve already cleared the First Floor.
When I head to the Labyrinth next, the path to the Second Floor will be open.
“Thanks to Lady Lydia’s help, it took me about a month to clear the First Floor. It shouldn’t take too long for the Second Floor either. The higher floors are already completely laid out, be it maps or strategies, right?”
“That’s… true.”
After a moment of contemplation, Ellie glared at me fiercely… then failed and just pouted her lips.
“Jonah, you know well enough. Given your skills that I just saw, getting to the Third Floor shouldn’t be hard at all. But….”
The Second Floor is classified as the upper floors, and all information about the Labyrinth is disclosed by the Guild.
Thanks to this, many adventurers ended up dying and spent decent time learning how to conquer the First Floor, but…
Conversely, that means we can clear the Second Floor much faster than the First Floor.
Well, the moment we set foot on the Third Floor, where even the maps are incomplete, we’ll have to gamble our lives step by step through the exploration again.
It’s not called the mid-level floor just for kicks.
“But it’s dangerous, right? I know.”
“Then…!”
“But you see, Ellie.”
After a brief pause, I grabbed Ellie’s empty sleeve and smiled brightly at her.
“Living as an adventurer is inherently a dangerous job. You know that since I kept telling you not to go along with that Dual Dagger Clan before I got kidnapped, right?”
“….”
Ellie was left speechless. I continued counting on my fingers.
“Also, trying to fight the Pope is dangerous, stopping the ambitions of the Blacksmith Union is dangerous, thwarting the crazy emperor’s insane plans to invade outside Pangrave is dangerous, and breaking through all layers of the Labyrinth is also dangerous!”
“Wait a second. I can understand the Pope and Labyrinth discussion, but what’s with the Blacksmith Union and the Empire?!”
“Is that really the priority? What’s important is that delaying going to the Third Floor because it’s dangerous could make it even riskier!”
“It is important?! That’s not something I can handle alone!”
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s just a possibility, not a certainty.”
“That doesn’t mean there won’t be a prophecy! That’s too frightening…!”
Ellie shook in fear. On close inspection, Lydia wasn’t much different. Everyone seems to lack faith.
“I have no idea why you’re that worried. I’m going to stop everything anyway.”
“…What?”
“Is that possible?”
“No, Lady Lydia. It’s about making it possible. With the Goddess’s help, it’s entirely doable!”
Yeah. If I have the assistance of the Goddess of Love (gacha)…
Is it because of the gleam in my eyes filled with the desire for a five-star? Ellie stared at me blankly and sighed.
“I was just thinking of leveling up until the Second Floor so I wouldn’t get beaten up….”
But soon realizing her determination, she nodded.
“Alright. Then I guess I also have to return soon.”
“Huh? What do you mean? You should run the Fairy and Silver Coin as usual.”
“You want me to stand back and watch? You know, even without one arm, I’m strong.”
“I’m not saying Ellie is weak; I’m just saying that we will be under scrutiny. Don’t you know why you moved separately from Investigator Karen today?”
“…The Temple.”
The Pope and the temple she wields are certainly no powerless entities. If that were the case, they would not have continued reigning as the true rulers of Pangrave until now.
Right now, even if she didn’t fully trust the relationship between us and Karen, it’s probable she at least has some suspicion.
She’s probably just observing to avoid the backlash of oppressing two high-ranking adventurers without clear evidence.
“So, you should not change suddenly. Not until I fetch an arm for you. Then, I’ll have a reason to return, right?”
“Annoying but true.”
Ellie slumped down, drained of strength. But what can we do? This is just the beginning.
“Now, let’s wrap up this conversation… and get to the main topic, shall we?”
“Main topic?”
“Yes. Ellie. Lydia. You both remember our bet, right? We agreed to grant one wish each if I defeated the Guardian of the First Floor.”
“Ah.”
“…Oops.”
Both Ellie, who turned into a semi-dried squid state, and Lydia, who had been secretly sipping expensive liquor behind the counter, flinched.
I shrugged lightly, enjoying their expressions.
“Wish tokens. Where should I use them….”
“Isn’t there something more important to discuss right now?”
“Ellie-senpai is right. There’s definitely something else.”
“Nope. Among the complicated things, I’ve resolved all the urgent matters today. The only thing left is to focus on my strength for the things that might happen much later. That’s what we’ve been talking about until now, right?”
“Ugh….”
“Ugh.”
Both swallowed hard and nodded awkwardly as they realized there was no justification for halting the granting of wishes.
“Jonah. You know? No excessive demands, okay? Right?”
“Yeah. My excess is different from ours. Let’s clearly set a line here. If you give me a beer, I’ll watch while you two enjoy yourselves.”
“Lydia! You’ve betrayed me, you traitor…!”
Ellie gritted her teeth while Lydia desperately pretended not to notice Ellie’s glare.
Shaking my head, I chuckled at the friendly duo.
“Come on now. Do you really think I’d ask for something outrageous? I lack the trust here. I’ll be asking for something simple to fool around with, so don’t worry.”
“…Is that for real?”
“Ahh.”
Ellie brightened, while Lydia let out a relieved sigh. I nodded vigorously and pointed my finger at Ellie.
“Ellie. From now on, no moving a single step for ten minutes, no matter what I do.”
“…I just can’t move my feet, right?”
“Yes. Your hands are free to do as you like.”
Next, I directed my finger at Lydia.
“Lydia.”
“Got it. I just need to stay still, right?”
“Nope. You, Lady Lydia, should let me touch your chest.”
“……?”
Lydia tilted her head in confusion, not quite grasping what she had just heard. For her benefit, I spoke clearly once more.
“I’m asking you to present your chest to me while Ellie remains immobile.”
“……!”
Lydia’s eyes widened in shock. Reflected in those red irises was Ellie, looking as if the world had just collapsed around her.
