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After binding the hands of the young man who had tried to dump the magical beasts on us behind his back and gagging his mouth with cloth, we brought him along to the deepest part of the labyrinth.
It seemed all the magical beasts on the twenty-second floor had been gathered toward us earlier, so after that we encountered almost none and were able to reach here without much trouble.
Since we turned the entire twenty-second floor's magical beasts into magic stones in such a short time, maybe we should thank this guy.
The deepest part was an open area like a boss room. Besides us, nine people dressed as explorers were there.
"Heath!"
A bearded man in his forties or older standing in the center of the group raised his voice upon seeing the bound young man.
It seems the guy who tried to dump the magical beasts on us is named Heath.
"Are you this person's comrades?"
I point at Heath while asking the group.
"Yeah, that's right. Hey, brat. You realize what you're doing by roughing up my comrade, right?"
The bearded man who had shouted earlier responds in a low voice, glaring at me.
"He was the one who attacked first. He maliciously tried to dump magical beasts on us. Restraining him in self-defense is only natural."
"Hah, don't spout nonsense. You think we'd believe such bullshit?"
"Orun, let's just cut them all down after all. Talking to these people is pointless."
Fuuka—whose expressions rarely change—slightly furrows her brow while placing her hand on her sword.
"Wait, Fuuka. Give me just a bit more time."
I stop Fuuka, who is about to draw her blade at any moment.
Even if we kill them, I want information first.
I need to know why these people harbor such hostility toward us.
We'll continue conquering labyrinths across various places from here on.
I don't want to face similar interference every time.
If this is a problem we can nip in the bud, we should resolve it now.
"Acting all cocky, huh? Pretty cool, you Tsutorail explorers!"
Apparently displeased with my demeanor, the bearded man raises his voice again.
'Tsutorail explorers,' huh.
Come to think of it, Heath called us that too when he tried to dump the magical beasts on us.
"My apologies for my comrade's rudeness. To save time, let's get straight to the point. Why do you people harbor such intense hostility toward us?"
"Hah? You don't even understand that?"
"Yes. So please tell me. If this can be resolved through discussion, that would be best."
The bearded man's body trembles, his face turning redder by the second.
I said it to provoke him, but he's angrier than I expected.
"You people really piss me off...! Fine! Die, you Tsutorail explorers!"
The bearded man roars while raising a large axe.
The other eight follow suit, each drawing their weapons.
They've crossed the final line.
Confirming they have entered combat stance, I immediately amplify the gravity at their location with [Gravity Manipulation].
"—Gahaa! Wh-what is this..."
The bearded man falls face-first to the ground and lets out a surprised voice.
The others are similarly prone or down on one knee, barely enduring—no longer able to move freely.
"Hart-san, are there any more of their comrades lurking nearby?"
"No. I scanned the entire floor—this is all of them."
"Got it. Thanks, Hart-san."
Thanking Hart-san, I grab Heath—who has been struggling with muffled "Nngh! Nngh!" sounds—by the collar and walk him over near the group.
He seems to be resisting desperately, but against my ki-enhanced strength, he can barely put up any fight.
Once we're beside the immobilized group, I yank his collar hard.
Heath stumbles forward into the amplified gravity zone and collapses, unable to move.
"We were the ones who drew weapons first. I'll let you off lightly for now. So let me ask again: why do you hate us so much?"
The moment they drew weapons, they became my enemies, but technically Fuuka was the first to reach for her sword.
If they speak honestly now, I have no intention of harming them further.
I'll need to drive home a warning to prevent future revenge, though.
"Is that any way to ask someone a question? You Tsutorail explorers sure are barbaric—guahhh!"
Without letting the bearded man finish, I further amplify the gravity only at his location.
Crushed by the increased gravity, the sound of his bones creaking echoes from his body.
After a moment, I return his gravity to the same level as the others. He coughs violently, desperately gasping for breath.
"You don't seem to understand your position. Right now, we're not equals. You should realize that your lives are in my hands."
"You're not satisfied with just taking our labyrinth... you're going to take our lives too!? You fiends!"
The bearded man glares at me with eyes so filled with rage they could kill, raising his voice.
"...Take your lives?"
"Of course! You came here to conquer this labyrinth, right!? If it's conquered, how are we supposed to live!?"
(...I see. So that's it.)
Finally, I understand why these people are so hostile toward us.
Explorers earn their living by delving into labyrinths, selling the magic stones and materials they obtain.
Simply put, for explorers, losing a labyrinth means losing their source of income.
To these people, we must seem like enemies trying to steal their jobs...
"If this labyrinth disappears, how are we supposed to survive!? Not just me—my wife and kids too—are you telling us to starve to death!? Huh!?"
The bearded man's furious voice pulls the others along, and angry shouts rise from them too.
...If you cut out just this part, we're definitely the villains here.
Just as I open my mouth to respond, Fuuka speaks before I can.
"—Pathetic."
(...Fuuka?)
"What did you...? Hey, girl! Don't get cocky just because you're in a superior position! You people are unreasonably trying to steal our 『peace』! Don't you even have the brains to understand that much!?"
The bearded man hurls angry words at Fuuka, but she remains completely unfazed, as if a breeze passing by.
"I understand that this labyrinth is the foundation of your livelihood, and that to you, we who are trying to conquer it seem like unreasonable beings. That said—it's utterly pathetic."
"...Ha, haha... Ahahahaha! You people really are insane! That's why you can do such unreasonable things so casually! Destroying people's peace—normal people can't do that!!"
The bearded man's anger meter seems to have maxed out—his eyes are bloodshot and bright red.
In contrast, Fuuka's gaze toward him is ice-cold.
"Feel free to hurl as much abuse at us as you want. It's easier for you that way... if you keep averting your eyes."
"Averting our eyes? That's you people! Don't make me say it again! What you're doing will ultimately kill us!!"
"That's wrong. What we're doing is conquering this labyrinth."
"So! That ultimately——"
"Even if this labyrinth disappears, you won't die immediately. If you're going to die anyway, that's because you've spent your time in 『laziness』. Trying to push that responsibility onto us is way out of line."
Fuuka doesn't raise her voice.
Yet her words carry such 『weight』 that they drown out the bearded man's shouts.
"Laziness? Us...? Don't screw with me! We've come to this labyrinth almost every day for over twenty years, working ourselves to the bone for the people of this domain! Some little girl who doesn't know anything spouting whatever she wants!!"
"I understand. You said earlier that 『we're destroying your 『peace』』. ——There is no such thing as 『peace』 in this world...? People who cling to such nonexistent illusions and call it peace are nothing more than lazy individuals who have stopped moving forward."
"Wh-what are you..."
"Thinking that yesterday will be the same as today, and today the same as tomorrow—that's why you're panicking now. ——The illusion of 『everyday peace』 that you take for granted is built on thin ice that could shatter at any moment."
As always, Fuuka's voice lacks inflection.
Yet the words she speaks now carry her 『emotions』 so strongly that it comes through vividly.
"If you truly desire 『peace』, you cannot remain stagnant in the place you call peaceful. If you stay there complacently in laziness, people like us will come and shatter that 『shallow peace』 of yours."
"......"
At Fuuka's words, the group that had been shouting abuse at us falls completely silent.
Fuuka is from Kyokuto.
And there, a civil war broke out a few years ago.
She must have built her current values through experiencing that war.
In the current political climate, people who say 『we have peace』 or 『we have security』 could never have words strong enough to refute Fuuka.
"Even if we conquer this place, you won't die immediately. Then you still have time to struggle so you don't die. You seem to think this labyrinth is everything, but the experience you've gained here won't disappear even if the labyrinth does. As long as you don't give up, your lives aren't over."
With those final words, Fuuka steps into the area where the men are.
——Into the zone where I have amplified gravity with my unique skill.
"H-Hey..."
The bearded man lets out a worried voice, but Fuuka pays the gravity no mind and walks past them toward the dungeon core.
"Wh-why can she walk normally in there..."
The bearded man watches Fuuka leave with a stunned expression.
"She's said quite a lot already, so I'll just add one thing from me. Do you people understand the current situation the kingdom faces?"
After Fuuka passes through the amplified gravity zone, I return the gravity to normal and address the bearded man.
"...The war with the empire, right? We know at least that much."
The bearded man answers somewhat listlessly.
"Yes. And the most widely accepted theory in the country right now is that the empire has the means to cause labyrinth overflows."
"Hah!? The empire can make labyrinths...!?"
The bearded man widens his eyes in shock as if hearing this for the first time.
Before we left Tsutorail on Her Highness Lucila's request, apparently all explorer guilds in the country had already informed explorers of this and issued warnings.
The explorer guild near this town—where we obtained information about this labyrinth—had the same information circulating.
Still, we came here from Tsutorail by the shortest route.
Yet the local guild already has this information, meaning the explorer guilds have an extraordinarily fast information transmission method compared to normal means.
Personally, I'm curious about that transmission method.
It would be extremely useful for the clan too.
——Oops, got sidetracked.
"This information was something you could have obtained immediately by going to the explorer guild. From your behavior, I suspected as much, but you really didn't know."
"Then the reason you people are conquering this labyrinth is..."
"Exactly what you're thinking right now. If an overflow happens during wartime, it would be difficult for the country to aid this town. That's why the decision was made to conquer this labyrinth to prevent an overflow."
"I-is that so... What have we..."
Learning the reason we came to conquer the labyrinth, the bearded man drops his shoulders in regret.
"...Well, we suffered no damage, and we have no intention of saying anything more to you people. We have many more labyrinths that need conquering."
"Thank you... And sorry. That girl's words earlier really hit home. Yeah, even if this labyrinth disappears, we won't die immediately. We can't just stand still in a place like this..."
"I see. Then tell those words directly to her."
While saying so to the bearded man, I turn my gaze toward Fuuka—she has already reached the pillar.
In the center of this dome-shaped space stands a pillar made of the same material as the crystals at each floor's entrance, stretching to the ceiling.
However, the pillar is severed in the middle, and sandwiched between the lower pillar extending upward and the upper pillar descending downward floats the dungeon core—a large magic stone.
Fuuka places her right hand on the hilt of the sword in her left and performs an iaijutsu-like slash at the pillar.
A diagonal line runs across the pillar. The lower section slides along that line and falls. The dungeon core begins dropping in accordance with gravity.
Fuuka effortlessly catches the falling dungeon core and walks back toward us.
With this, the first labyrinth conquest is complete.
There were some troubles, but at this pace, let's keep conquering labyrinth after labyrinth.