Chapter 36: Marcel – 1

What should I do?

My mind was a mess.

All I had been thinking about was getting out of the labyrinth.

But now.

‘Why did Marcel have this?’

I looked at him.

From the first time we met, Marcel had left an impression.

The glasses made him feel oddly familiar.

He was a reliable mage.

His personality was likable.

But.

What if it was all an act?

What if his real goal had been to get close to us?

‘If he’s part of the terrorist group Rebellion…’

What should I do?

No—the answer was obvious.

‘I have to kill him.’

A harsh conclusion, but…

I had already seen how dangerous they were.

I had encountered two of them so far.

Han Ul.

And the one who tried to kidnap the Magic Hero Candidate, Celly, whom Rozanté had been protecting.

Only two encounters.

But both of them were irredeemable.

Of course, not all of them were evil.

Some might have been forced into joining.

But that didn’t mean I had to spare them.

‘But…’

One thing bothered me.

That disgusting skull-faced monster.

The one that had single-handedly wiped out Nation’s party.

When it charged at me.

‘Marcel tried to protect me.’

He sacrificed himself for me.

Maybe he thought I had a better chance of survival with the talisman.

Maybe it was just a reckless, meaningless action.

…Or maybe.

‘He was working with them all along.’

There were too many possibilities.

Should I really believe that Marcel just happened to have that item by chance?

“Yuseong?”

Erme was looking at me with concern.

Right.

Focus, Han Yuseong.

‘This isn’t the priority right now.’

It was important.

But there was something even more urgent.

The labyrinth incident.

I needed to figure out what that skull-faced thing was.

‘…Too much is happening at once.’

My head hurt.

Only then did I start noticing my surroundings.

There were a lot of people gathered nearby.

But the problem was.

‘Most of them were inside the labyrinth earlier.’

If they were unharmed, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.

But most of them were wounded.

Some were clutching belongings of the dead, crying.

A few—never made it out.

“…What the hell happened here?”

Volcan was staring at us, his expression grim.

His brows furrowed, as if this shouldn’t have happened.

And he was right.

The Adventurer’s Guild had sent in a large number of upper and mid-ranked adventurers specifically to minimize losses.

But the result.

Severe injuries across the board.

And some never returned at all.

“Han Yuseong, do you have anything to report?”

“On the first floor, I confirmed the death of an adventurer named Nation.”

“And?”

“I also encountered a… strange monster.”

“What did it look like?”

“A skeleton—with antlers.”

“…A skeleton with antlers?”

Volcan’s eyes widened.

Like he had just heard something that should never be spoken aloud.

“…Was it wearing something like a coat?”

“Yes.”

“Then it was the Deerbone Fiend. A monster with antlers—the boss of the 15th floor.”

15th floor?

What the hell was a 15th-floor boss doing on the first floor?

A wave of frustration hit me.

But something didn’t add up.

If it was such a high-level monster…

‘It felt too weak.’

Its movements were exaggerated.

And if it had truly intended to kill me.

I hesitated.

Wasn’t this too strange?

I was just a Rank 2 adventurer.

A newly-leveled one, at that.

For me to assess a monster like that was ridiculous.

—That’s not true, Yuseong.

Before I could dismiss my thoughts, Rishiel interrupted.

Her blue eyes met mine.

—You have an unusual sense. Among the Elf race… even within the Three Great Families, I am considered the Darkmoon Family’s greatest talent.

—Yet your instincts surpass even mine. You should trust them.

‘…My instincts?’

—At times, you seem strangely detached from common sense.

—As if you were dropped into this world from somewhere else.

…

She was sharper than I expected.

Or maybe, after all this time together, she had finally pieced it together.

I turned to Volcan.

He met my gaze briefly—then nodded.

“You have something to say?”

“It may just be my intuition, but… I didn’t think it was that strong.”

“Hmm?”

“I definitely thought I’d die if I fought it… but I didn’t feel like it was overwhelming.”

“Compared to me?”

I turned to Volcan and focused all my senses on him.

As always.

I couldn’t see a single blue line on his body.

Only red lines, radiating an overwhelming sense of danger.

But.

The Deerbone Fiend was the same.

If I had to compare them in absolute terms.

‘Volcan is slightly stronger.’

But only by a thin margin.

If luck wasn’t on his side, Volcan could lose.

I told him as much.

“…You’re saying that thing was nearly my equal?”

Volcan looked at me, baffled.

Did I just say something ridiculous?

“Rishiel, this doesn’t match what you said earlier.”

—Yuseong. Did you really feel that the Deerbone Fiend was comparable to Volcan?

‘…Yeah?’

—That’s impossible. Volcan is a veteran warrior—one of the few who have cleared the 20th floor.

‘That old man?’

—Only you could speak of him so casually… well, no, I suppose there are others.

Rishiel sighed faintly.

It seemed that the elves viewed Volcan very differently than I did.

‘Maybe if I were part of the Empire or the Kingdoms, I’d see him differently too.’

It just meant he took good care of his own people.

But back to the real issue—

I looked Volcan straight in the eye.

Volcan fell into deep thought, his expression serious.

“So, you’re saying that if we strip away any hidden tricks or unknown factors, the Deerbone Fiend was actually weaker than me?”

His lips stretched into a wide grin.

As if he found this absolutely hilarious.

“I trust your instincts. But if you claim that thing was on my level, no one else will believe you.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course.”

“The Deerbone Fiend is known as the Grim Reaper of the 15th floor, but it doesn’t stand a chance against someone like Volcan, who has cleared the 20th floor.”

Here we go again.

Just how significant was clearing the 20th floor for them to treat it like this?

“Your instincts and perception are remarkable—even I can see that. Which means you’re probably right.”

“But that’s exactly what makes this troubling.”

“…What do you mean?”

“My gut wants to fight that thing myself. But if it was on the first floor, that means at least five entire floors have been affected.”

“And at worst? Creatures from the 20th floor could be roaming as low as the 5th.”

At Volcan’s words, Erme frowned.

She seemed deep in thought, but after a moment, she closed her eyes and sighed, as if giving up.

‘Is it just the Deerbone Fiend that’s acting strange?’

Maybe it was the only one that had moved.

“For now, you guys should rest. The Guild will issue a reward.”

“…How much?”

“You greedy bastard. Of all times, you show your materialistic side now? You always act like you don’t care about money.”

Volcan chuckled at my words, then pulled a coin pouch from his pocket.

“You gave us top-tier intel—this should be more than fair. Take it.”

He tossed me a pouch filled with 200 gold coins.

“…200 gold…?”

Erme’s voice trembled.

200 gold coins.

That was nearly 2 billion won in Earth’s currency.

‘Am I really supposed to be earning this much at this level?’

Then again, now that I thought about it—our party had been making quite a bit.

We’d never made billions in one go, but we often cleared hundreds of millions per expedition.

‘I guess this will be split between the five of us, excluding Viola.’

—Or should I give Viola a share and put her in my debt for the future?

‘If I give her a cut, my share goes from 400 million to about 330 million.’

But considering Viola’s talent, investing in her might be worth it…

…Investing…

‘Damn, I still have that commoner mindset.’

The idea of losing 70 million won still stung.

But Viola had lost nearly all her belongings, so it wouldn’t be unfair to give her some.

‘I’ll discuss this with the party later.’

For now, there was a bigger issue to deal with.

I turned to Marcel.

Are you an enemy or not?

I hoped he wasn’t.

I didn’t want to be forced to kill someone I considered a friend.

After leaving the Labyrinth.

My mind was still a mess.

But my body?

My body knew exactly what it needed—

Rest.

I spent two full days fused to my bed.

Eventually, I realized…

It was time to get moving again.

‘There’s a lot to do.’

I had already handed over Nation’s head, but I wanted to officially bring Viola into the party.

No—more precisely…

‘I need to decide what to do about Marcel.’

I had spent the last two days thinking it over.

But I still couldn’t reach a decision.

Should I cut him off now, or keep him in the party?

That was the real problem.

I needed to talk this over with someone—but there weren’t many people I could consult.

‘If I had to pick someone…’

There was one person in my party who was both the most suspicious and the most trustworthy at the same time.

Erme.

A vague but reliable presence.

And then…

‘Lucia, maybe.’

That woman was obsessively fixated on me.

The Villainess.

The Execution Princess.

Her titles were nothing but ominous.

But.

‘According to what my friend told me…’

At the very least, she treats her own people extremely well.

She might be a villain to everyone else.

But to me, she’d be an ally.

After Getting Ready

I took a shower, changed into fresh clothes, and stepped outside.

“You’re awake?”

Erme greeted me, looking groggy.

Not surprising—she had been at the front lines holding off the goblin horde.

“…I’d love to rest a bit longer, but you’re not already itching to get moving again, are you?”

“…If it were up to me, I’d take a whole month off.”

“Yeah, right. You don’t mean that.”

“No, I really do.”

I confidently declared that I could spend an entire month doing nothing but lying in bed.

But Erme, either unconvinced or just ignoring me, gave me a serious look.

“…What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Glasses.”

“….”

I stared at her.

Her crimson eyes and fiery orange hair reminded me of the setting sun.

She met my gaze head-on.

‘What is she getting at?’

If anyone had insight into this, it would be her.

She would know exactly how unusual the labyrinth’s anomalies were.

She might even have some idea of who or what Marcel truly was.

…And maybe.

She even had knowledge about the future.

‘But I don’t have enough information yet.’

I closed my eyes briefly.

It was time to start digging a little deeper.

“…Why?”

“Because I realized something during our last fight,” Erme said.

“Marcel is talented… but he doesn’t quite fit with us.”

That was true.

Marcel was skilled, but he struggled to keep up with me and Erme.

And more importantly.

‘We already have Rozanté.’

Rozanté filled a similar role to Marcel.

A support buffer—but one who could also fight on the front lines.

Marcel had a wider variety of buffs, but he lacked her combat ability.

“For now, we’ll keep him in the party,” I decided.

“But things might get complicated once we all reach Rank 2 Adventurer status.”

Erme was implying something.

If Marcel didn’t learn any useful skills by the time he reached Level 2, they might drop him.

‘Does she suspect Marcel of being in Rebellion?’

I narrowed my eyes at her, but she only tilted her head with an innocent expression.

“If we replace Marcel?”

“The best choice is Viola. She’s battle-ready. Celly would also be a good option, but she’s still too young and lacks training.”

In other words.

She was willing to train Celly just to bring her into the party.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

I crossed my arms, thinking deeply.

Then, after some time, I had my answer.

“Have you decided?”

“Before that… I have a question.”

“Oh? If it’s from you, I’d even tell you my secrets.”

She smiled playfully, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

It was the same mischievous expression as always.

But her eyes.

Something about them was tense.

I pulled out the iron nail I had found in Marcel’s clothes.

“This.”

“…What is it?”

“I found it on Marcel.”

“…”

I looked at Erme.

Her usual gentle expression.

Was long gone.

Her gaze turned icy cold as she stared at the nail.

“Ah… so that’s why they all died.”

Her voice was as cold as ice—completely different from usual.

Erme stared at me with frosty eyes.

“Yuseong, do you know what kind of people these really are?”

“…Roughly. But there’s one thing that doesn’t add up, so I’m asking you.”

“And what is that?”

“When I was about to clash with the Deerbone Fiend… Marcel threw his life away to protect me.”

“Ah… so that’s why they all died.”

“Hmm. So that’s what’s bothering you?”

Erme seemed to think for a moment before calling over a nearby child.

She pulled a piece of paper from her coat, scribbled a few words, and handed it to the kid.

“Take this to the Adventurer’s Guild. If you do, I’ll give you another silver coin.”

She flashed a friendly smile and sneakily slipped the boy a silver coin.

Her movements were too natural—as if she had done this a hundred times before.

“We’ll have our answer tomorrow. I’m curious too—whether Marcel is with us or against us.”

Erme then quietly strapped her sword to her waist.

“Shall we go find out?”

“Let’s.”

Sitting here thinking wouldn’t get us anywhere.

It was better to move.