A little over two weeks had passed since we began the labyrinth investigation.
Lately, we'd been working on a rotation of two days of investigation followed by one rest day, and today was one of those rest days.
At first, Rogue and Sophia had been overwhelmed by the mansion's atmosphere and remained tense the entire time, but gradually they'd grown accustomed to life here. It seemed they'd even become friendly with the household staff.
Today, the four members of Twilight Moonbow had apparently gone out into the city together with several of the off-duty servants.
As for me—
"Orun-kun, sorry to keep you waiting. I've organized my thoughts, so would you mind listening?"
I was seated across from Abel in his research room, facing him over the desk.
As promised—in exchange for letting me read the books in this room—I had come here to hear what he had to say.
"Of course. Every book in this room contains content I've never encountered before; it's all incredibly fascinating. I've been looking forward to hearing your thoughts, Abel-sama."
"I'm not sure if I'll live up to your expectations, but let's get started anyway."
"Please do."
"As I mentioned before, my hobby is historical research. I've been devouring all kinds of documents, but there's one period after which records from earlier eras become abnormally scarce. That period is the age of fairy tales. It's a well-known fact, right?"
The age of fairy tales referred to the time when the Hero of legend defeated the Evil God.
It was an era even older than the current calendar—the Holy Calendar Year 1—dating back to the old calendar.
Aside from the contents of fairy tales, almost all traditions and records from that time had been lost.
"Yes. I've heard the reason so many documents were lost was due to the Evil God's devastation spreading across the entire world."
The details weren't clear, but during the age of fairy tales, the Evil God's appearance had sparked conflicts all over the world.
The leading theory was that, caught up in that chaos, nearly all records and traditions from the era had been destroyed.
The Hero Saga, on the other hand, had spread through oral tradition and thus survived without fading.
"Yeah, it's probably true that the Evil God's influence engulfed the entire world. Thanks to my status, I recently managed to read a few surviving documents from that period. But those documents contained numerous strange descriptions. If we take those documents as accurate, then current common theories contain contradictions."
"…What contradictions?"
"The common theory states that the Hero defeated the Evil God and founded a nation in the same year. That year is said to be Holy Calendar Year 1. You know this, right?"
"Yes, of course."
It was common knowledge.
The year the Hero founded the nation marked the beginning of the new era—the Holy Calendar.
"That's the contradiction. In the documents I read, after defeating the Evil God, the Hero focused on 'a certain task.' Only after completing that task did he establish the nation. And that task apparently took several years. In other words, there should have been—at minimum—several years between the defeat of the Evil God and the founding of the nation."
"…He didn't found the nation immediately after defeating the Evil God? Then—"
"Exactly. At the very least, there should have been far more surviving documents from those intervening years… and yet there aren't. That's strange… because by then, the Evil God's devastation had already ended."
If Abel's account was correct, it certainly contradicted the common explanation that "records were lost due to the Evil God's destruction."
So the loss of documents had nothing to do with the Evil God?
Documents were records—the very traces left by the people of that era.
For such vital materials to be lost in such massive quantities, there had to be a cause.
I had believed—still believed—that the cause was the Evil God's rampage.
There was always the possibility that what Abel was saying stemmed from delusion or misunderstanding.
But the look in Abel's eyes carried a certain conviction.
"So what exactly was this 'certain task' the Hero focused on after defeating the Evil God?"
"According to the documents, it was described as the construction of a sanctuary."
"…A sanctuary—as in 'a sacred place'?"
"Yes, that meaning seems correct."
"…I've never heard of such a thing."
If a sanctuary created by the Hero—who must have been revered by the people—truly existed, it would likely have been off-limits to ordinary people.
Even though it was hundreds of years ago, if such a place had existed, stories of it should have been passed down to the present.
Yet I had never once heard anything about "the Hero creating a sanctuary."
"Yeah, I figured you hadn't. I've never met anyone who refers to that place as a 'sanctuary' either."
"The way you phrased that… it sounds as though you know where this place is, Abel-sama."
"I can't say it's absolutely correct. But when I cross-referenced the location described in the documents with modern maps, it matched one specific place."
"You mean it still exists in the present day?"
"Yes. —The great labyrinth."
"…Huh? —Ah, forgive me."
Abel's words were so unexpected that my natural voice slipped out.
"Haha. Don't worry about it. Hearing something like this out of the blue would make anyone react that way. By the way, you can drop the formal speech with me if you want."
"No, that would be too presumptuous."
"I really don't mind. —Anyway, back to the topic. According to the documents, the great labyrinth was once called a sanctuary. I believe that over a long period of time, the name gradually changed to 'great labyrinth.'"
Abel's statement was far too shocking.
If what he said was true, it would mean the great labyrinth had been created by the Hero.
And it had even been given such a grandiose name as "sanctuary."
What exactly was a sanctuary? What was a great labyrinth?
The reason for the great labyrinths' existence remained unknown even now.
Yet they were places indispensable for maintaining modern human life, and so they were utilized.
— "The vermin infesting this world! Beings like you are ultimately driving the world toward destruction!!"
While pondering the great labyrinth, the words of the robed woman from Amuntsāsu suddenly flashed through my mind.
"…This is understandably confusing. This conversation is…"
"Yeah, I get it. But this is still just the prelude. Can you keep up?"
All of this was just the opening act?
What kind of revelations were still to come? I was both excited and a little afraid.
"…I'm fine. Please continue."
After my reply, Abel nodded once and went on.
"I've had a question for a long time. Labyrinths are now deeply intertwined with human life. That's fine in itself, but when you consider that labyrinths occur naturally, they feel far too convenient for humans."
"Is that because they're the only place magic stones can be obtained…? But that's only because technology to utilize magic stones was developed. Humans are simply making use of something that already existed."
"That's true when it comes to magic stones. What I'm talking about is the structure of the labyrinths themselves. The most obvious example is the crystal placed at the entrance of each floor. You'd know more about its effects than I do, Orun-kun."
"The labyrinth crystals? To modern explorers, they're teleportation devices. Once registered to a guild card, they allow movement between crystals within the same labyrinth. Beyond that, they also have a demon-repelling effect."
"Exactly. Labyrinths are, without exaggeration, spaces that spawn magic beasts. Yet because of the crystals at each floor's entrance, those beasts are effectively confined within the labyrinth… almost as if they were placed there for humans to hunt."
"…That's true."
It was certainly one way to look at it.
Without the crystals, magic beasts would likely have overrun the surface long ago.
The fact that they prevented that could indeed be seen as convenient for humans.
"While holding onto that vague suspicion, I kept forcing myself to accept it with 'Well, labyrinths just happened to be that way, and humans took advantage.' Then I came across the contents of those documents. That's when I started thinking: If the sanctuary—the great labyrinth—was created by the Hero, then perhaps the regular labyrinths were also created by someone."
"That's certainly a possibility. But if labyrinths are artificial, what would be the reason for creating them all across the continent? Labyrinths exist everywhere, with no apparent pattern. If someone had the technology to create them, wouldn't they monopolize it? At the very least, I would. Just that would bring enormous wealth and influence."
"That's exactly the part I can't figure out. But if labyrinths really are artificial, there has to be a reason. It's reasonable to assume there's a 'return' that far outweighs mere wealth or influence. If so, this is something enormous."
Abel was right.
If his hypothesis held true, then whoever was creating the labyrinths had some kind of purpose.
And since labyrinths existed across the entire continent, it was reasonable to assume that purpose was on a global scale.
Moreover, labyrinths were said to have appeared suddenly during the age of fairy tales. That would mean the plan leading to that purpose had likely been in motion since that era.
If that were the case, then the disposal of inconvenient documents from before the age of fairy tales would explain why so few records survived from earlier periods.
It was a stretch, and it would mean that person already possessed world-spanning influence.
If the theory was correct, that individual would have to be someone above the level of any nation's ruler. Otherwise, it would be impossible for records across multiple countries to vanish so completely.
Did such a being really exist? At the very least, I had never heard of one.
"…This is clearly beyond what any individual can handle."
"I agree. That's why I plan to present this to His Majesty the King. Fortunately, I'm on good terms with the second prince, so I'll use that connection."
Indeed, this matter might need to rise to the national level.
Even if its truth was uncertain, if the sources leading to this conclusion were solid, it was better to bring it to the attention of someone capable of mobilizing a country.
"In that case, doesn't this qualify as a state secret? Is it really all right for someone like me to have heard it?"
"…That's… uh, y-yes! It's still unclear, so I wanted the opinion of an S-rank explorer! So please keep this confidential—no telling anyone."
Abel averted his gaze and hurriedly made excuses.
…He was clearly hiding something, but he wasn't going to tell me.
"Of course. I promise not to speak of it."
"Thank you."
After that, Abel and I continued discussing labyrinths and related topics.
It was a highly speculative theory, so for now I would keep it in the back of my mind as one possible interpretation.
It did seem plausible that they were once called sanctuaries, but if so, something major must have happened for the name to change to "great labyrinth."
Perhaps the state of the world shifted in such a way that humanity had no choice but to make use of them.
I had no idea what that shift might have been.
More than anything—how had Abel managed to read surviving documents from the age of fairy tales?
He said it was thanks to his status, but honestly, this didn't seem like the kind of thing the son of a mere count could easily access.
…Well, there was too little information to judge further. No point overthinking it.
◇
Several more days had passed since that conversation with Abel.
Since it was a rest day, I woke up later than usual and headed to the dining hall that had been prepared for us to have breakfast.
There, I found unexpected early guests.
"Morning, Orun. You're sleeping in late for you."
"Good morning… Why are Will and the others here?"
In the dining hall, Will and Lucre—who had been assigned to a different labyrinth investigation—along with five A-rank party members, totaling seven people, were eating together with the members of Twilight Moonbow.
Will and the others were supposed to be in Lugau, the city closest to the border with the empire, farther north from Roils.
"Ah, well—our labyrinth investigation went way smoother than expected. These guys were making a huge fuss about wanting to play."
"What do you mean 'fuss'?! You agreed with us too, Will!"
Lucre complained at Will's words, and the A-rank party members chimed in with "Yeah, yeah."
It seemed the separate team was getting along well too.
"Well, yeah, that's true. Anyway, Orun—let's go to the beach!"
…What do you mean "anyway"?