The Earfolk might see the agreements as natural, but others did not.
Because of this, they were universally despised.
How many had died at their hands already?
Even if the agreements technically limited outright killings, the chaos they caused had buried the reputation of the elves as a race deep into the ground.
This was the reality of the modern elves.
So, those who defeated them were often treated as heroes.
“…You subdued those Earfolk with words?”
“What terrifying charisma. To think you could make those maniacs listen to reason.”
That seemed a bit over the top.
Did they really have to talk about me like I was some incarnation of malice?
Still.
“Where did those scavengers come from, anyway?”
I frowned, glancing toward the group that had been lurking nearby.
These were the ones who had been tailing us, waiting for an opportunity to backstab.
“Scavengers.”
True to their nickname—animals that feast on corpses—they had slipped into the scene, likely hoping to claim the spoils.
“Should I kill them?” Erme asked, stepping closer to me.
I paused to think.
“When did I become the type to casually consider killing people?”
That thought could wait for another time.
“Is killing them the right move?”
Sure, eliminating them would simplify things.
But the real issue wasn’t whether we could kill them—it was whether we could cover up the incident afterward.
I explained my concerns to Erme.
“That might be difficult.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. The Earfolk already caused a commotion here, and their group is split across multiple areas. If we try to deal with them, we might attract even more attention.”
“…So, it won’t be easy to cover this incident up.”
“Yes, but I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing,” Erme replied.
“Why not?”
“This incident will have at least boosted your reputation—and the party’s reputation as well.”
“…”
I hated that idea. Absolutely despised it.
“Honestly, you’re such an odd one. Most people would be scrambling to gain fame, yet here you are, trying to avoid it like it’s a plague.”
I didn’t bother responding and just ignored her comment.
Still.
“My name will get out there, huh?”
What would that lead to?
At this point, perhaps the best thing to do was embrace it.
Use that fame to become so well-known that even Lucia, the villainess, couldn’t easily make a move against me.
“If that’s the case, I should take advantage of this situation.”
I turned to Erme and asked her a few questions.
“What? What’s that for?” she asked, puzzled.
“Just something I need.”
By now, the rumors would be spreading uncontrollably.
If it couldn’t be stopped, I might as well direct the narrative to suit my needs.
“You there, scavengers,” I called out.
“Yes, sir!”
The scavengers immediately ran over.
One of them looked ready to bolt, but I didn’t care.
What I had to say wasn’t complicated.
I relayed my instructions to them, keeping it simple.
When I finished, their faces lit up with wide smiles.
“That’s exactly our specialty!” one of them replied confidently.
“Thank you, great hero, for sparing us!”
“Eastern accent, huh? Well, he does look like it,” Erme muttered with a faintly discriminatory tone.
I ignored her remark.
At least I had taken precautions with those scavengers, so I could feel somewhat reassured.
“But why did you suddenly make up your mind like that?” Erme asked, curious about my actions.
“If you’re too famous, annoying people start following you around.”
“If even you think they’re annoying, Yuseong… what kind of monster are we talking about here?”
Erme’s eyes trembled slightly as she spoke.
“Why are you the one trembling? I’m the one calling them a pain.”
Not that I knew exactly how it would turn out.
Regaining my composure after coming to this world, I recalled some advice a friend had once given me.
“I really should write it down in a notebook at some point.”
I’d stash it in the hidden space, ensuring only I could access it.
The language was different here, so no one would be able to decipher it anyway.
“That’s a problem for later.”
Right now, the immediate concern was the looming presence of Lucia.
She might appear much sooner than I anticipated.
“Hey, Erme, I’ve got a question.”
“What is it?”
“What do we do with the spoils we’ve gathered?”
“Oh, those? They’re all ours.”
“Really?”
That was great news.
I was growing more attached to Whisper of the Wind than I thought I would.
“Not to mention the loot we got from the goblins… and the elves.”
Thinking about it that way, the haul wasn’t bad at all.
Still, I couldn’t deny that the Earfolk were a troublesome group to deal with.
Things had been resolved well enough, all things considered.
But now… what should I do with her?
I turned my gaze to the ghostly form of Rishiel.
She was a member of the Darkmoon family, and judging by her appearance and demeanor, likely someone of significant rank.
“This… this can’t be happening! I… I died?!”
“And to make it worse, I can’t even recover my body! I can’t return to the World Tree!”
“Why me? Of all the elves, why did it have to be me? I didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t even break the agreements!”
“Please, just spare me! I’ll admit I was wrong! If you return my body, I promise that when you come to the Darkmoon family, I’ll reward you greatly!”
“I… I’m so hopeless now. There’s no reason to live. Trapped like this, without a body… what’s the point…”
After staring blankly for a while, Rishiel broke down completely, wailing and making a scene.
I studied her ghostly figure: golden hair, radiant blue eyes that shone like a serene lake.
Her appearance was certainly my type, but.
“Her personality is absolutely awful.”
Even her beauty felt more like admiring a doll than anything else.
Still, one thought lingered in my mind.
“What would happen if I put her soul back into her body?”
It was pure curiosity, but I couldn’t ignore the potential outcomes.
If she regained her body, she might surrender, but what if she sought out the other elves nearby?
“That would be a nightmare.”
For now, keeping Rishiel under my control was the only safe option.
I glanced at the gemstone holding her soul.
“It’s such a hassle. Should I just call it a Soul Stone?”
Deciding on the name, I tucked it into my hidden space.
Clink.
I sighed as the system notified me that the hidden space had reached full capacity.
“But this hidden space is really running out of room.”
Hidden Space (B).
There were only three slots available, and all were currently occupied:
One held the Obsession of the Villainess.
Another contained Rishiel Darkmoon’s Soul.
Even storing a single weapon was becoming a struggle.
After some deliberation, I decided to put the Blood-Soaked Dagger into the hidden space and keep Whisper of the Wind on me.
Although the dagger had been briefly seen during the fight, everyone was too preoccupied with their own battles to notice.
“Besides, the Blood-Soaked Dagger is a higher rank.”
While Whisper of the Wind was rated B-, the Blood-Soaked Dagger was a solid B, with the potential to grow stronger over time.
“Wait a minute… Could I use the space differently?”
I pulled out a small pouch, placed both the Obsession of the Villainess and Rishiel’s Soul inside, and then attempted to store the pouch in the hidden space.
Pop.
The entire pouch fit neatly into a single slot.
The space now had two free slots.
“Huh, so that works. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?”
The newfound flexibility felt a little anticlimactic, but it was welcome nonetheless.
“The potential applications for this ability just keep growing.”
As I pondered how to make the most of the hidden space and Rishiel’s soul, Erme and Theresa approached me.
“All the loot’s sorted now,” Erme said.
“We got a ton of stuff! V for victory!” Theresa grinned, forming a V with her fingers in childlike excitement.
Marcel followed behind, letting out a faint chuckle as he approached me.
The scavengers hadn’t brought much, but what they did have was surprisingly decent.
“Is it because of their connection to the Darkmoon family?” I wondered aloud.
“But isn’t it risky to mess with the Darkmoon family?” Marcel asked cautiously.
I wanted to say, “It’s not dangerous at all,” but that wouldn’t be entirely true.
Even if the agreements technically allowed for such actions, killing a noble from a prominent family was bound to cause issues.
Erme added, “Normally, yes. But we’ve done everything we can to cover our tracks.”
She gestured toward the area we’d just cleared.
“All the elves in the vicinity have been dealt with, haven’t they?”
“Exactly,” I replied.
Every elf who had surrendered had been killed.
There was no other choice.
“It’s not like letting them live was an option.”
If any of them had leaked information to the elf families, the danger would have been on us.
“Well, at least they had a peaceful death,” Erme said, as if trying to console me.
“Captured elves don’t usually meet such an easy end.”
Not that I needed comforting—I felt no guilt over the matter.
Of course, I didn’t.
“My survival is what matters most.”
I was selfish.
There was no heroism in me, no noble willingness to risk my life for someone else.
“How do you feel about it?” Erme asked suddenly.
“What do you mean?”
“You know, becoming one of the rare adventurers who’ve made this much of a splash in their first labyrinth.”
She stretched out her hand, emphasizing her point.
“One of the rare few, huh?”
It made sense.
Even being a B-rank adventurer was enough to make people take notice.
Considering the items tied to this labyrinth, Erme herself must be someone extraordinary.
“Even if her personality isn’t quite as impressive as her skills…”
Mother, and the father I’ve never met… I, Rishiel, leave this world now.
Please, avenge me.
I glanced at Rishiel’s soul.
She was gazing upward, as though praying to some unseen deity.
“Elves pray too, huh?” I thought idly.
“The labyrinth has existed for a long time,” Marcel said, adjusting his glasses.
“Even those who stumble upon opportunities like this tend to get swept away in the chaos.”
He looked at me, his expression unreadable.
“You’re remarkable. From my perspective, you’re destined to become one of the most renowned adventurers in the Cradle.”
“Don’t you usually hype people up more at times like this?” I asked, half-joking.
“Oh, I think you’re doing great,” Marcel replied, adjusting his glasses.
“But the rules the higher-ups have put in place? They’re tougher than you’d expect.”
“Ah, I see,” I responded.
Erme’s expression shifted subtly, her eyes narrowing as though thinking of someone irritating.
Her dangerous smile made it clear she wasn’t fond of whoever had come to mind.
“The problem now is how we’re going to split the spoils,” Erme said, glancing slyly at Theresa and Marcel.
The two flinched slightly under her gaze.
“I think we should give most of it to Han Yuseong,” she said decisively.
“I agree,” Marcel chimed in.
“Honestly, I didn’t contribute much this time. I’d be happy with just one elf corpse or so.”
Erme’s face lit up with a grin.
“Oh, Theresa, you’re too modest. Our Yuseong may seem coldhearted, but he’s not stingy when it comes to sharing rewards!”
This was all part of the distribution plan Erme and I had discussed earlier.
“What if we distribute based on contribution? Give the largest share to whoever did the most in the labyrinth.”
“Not a bad idea,” I had said.
“But when I say ‘largest share,’ I mean something like 70%. If you give too much to one person, it could cause dissatisfaction among party members and affect your reputation.”
“Seventy percent? Really?”
“Only if someone’s contribution was overwhelming, of course.”
With the loot sorted and agreed upon, we began making our way out of the labyrinth.
Having spent what felt like only a short time in the labyrinth, the sudden sunlight was blinding as we stepped outside.
Here and there, people were emerging from the labyrinth as well.
“They did say this place messes with time and space.”
Even if people enter together, without a party bonding spell, they get scattered into different areas.
Conversely, regardless of the time differences experienced inside, everyone exits the labyrinth together.
Perhaps that’s why this place was so crowded—teeming with adventurers of all kinds.
The sheer number of people bustling about was overwhelming.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
Noticing my discomfort, Erme nudged me lightly and said, “I’ll handle things here.
Consider it my thanks for dealing with Rishiel.”
She smiled brightly, her expression cheerful.
There was no reason to refuse her offer, so I simply nodded and headed for a quieter corner.
“Finally, I can breathe again.”
Even though it wasn’t as packed as the main plaza, there were still quite a few people here.
Maybe it’s because it’s near the square, I thought.
Suppressing my presence, I wandered around slowly for a moment, taking in the surroundings.
I saw a woman.
“…Ah.”
A sigh escaped my lips before I even realized it.
How could it not?
Why had I come to this place called the [Cradle] in the first place?
“To run away from the owner of the gem I stole.”
The Obsession of the Villainess, stolen from none other than Lucia, the infamous villainess herself.
And yet, as if fate had decided to mock me, here I was, face-to-face with one of the very reasons I had fled to the Cradle.
“Oh my,” a soft voice said.
Startled by my sigh, a woman turned to look in my direction.
Her crimson hair and piercing red eyes glinted like blood under the light.
When her gaze met mine, her expression shifted—her eyes narrowed slightly, a delighted glimmer in them.
“Hello, Silly,” she said warmly.
“…Excuse me?”
Lucia.
The villainess herself.
Our reunion felt… strange.