“Damn it.”
In the end, Hans cursed under his breath and threw his sword.
Thud.
The sword flew haphazardly and lodged itself into one of the corpses.
Alje simply tilted her head as she watched.
“Wasn’t that what you were looking for?”
“I don’t need it anymore.”
Despite saying that, Hans went back and picked up the sword again.
He still needed a weapon, after all.
The sword rested quietly in its sheath, no longer baring its sharp edge at anything.
Not anyone.
Hans belatedly greeted the girl, who didn’t even exude hostility.
“Thanks.”
“Hm?”
“For treating me.”
Like a flower bud blooming, the girl smiled brightly.
“Because I don’t like pain!”
“I wish others didn’t have to suffer either.”
If this wasn’t some cunning deception meant to fool even a seasoned hunter, then at the very least, this girl’s heart was far more human than most of the wretches swarming the labyrinth.
Including Hans himself.
“I guess there’s no helping it for me…”
As Alje drooped her shoulders and looked down at the gaping hole in her chest, Hans suddenly removed his outer garment and draped it over the girl’s shoulders.
“Uh?”
“Here, at least put this on.”
From Hans’ perspective, the more he saw her as human, the more uncomfortable he felt about her being naked.
But Alje seemed to interpret it differently.
Instead of slipping her arms into the sleeves, she placed the garment over her chest and tied it around her neck.
It did cover the hole in her torso, but…Watching the fresh blood seep into the fabric, Hans said nothing.
It was already caked in dirt and corpse remains anyway.
“Thanks!”
“…No, I should be the one thanking you.”
He replied in a weary voice and turned away.
In the end, Hans had decided not to kill the girl.
Whether it was a deliberate decision or just an escape from this situation, he wasn’t sure himself.
But now that one problem was resolved, it was time to think about the next.
Escaping this wretched place.
“Do you know where we are? Or a way out?”
He asked Alje just in case, but the girl only shook her head.
“I was running away from bad people and fell in. Since then, I’ve just been here.”
Well, if she knew the way out, she would have left already.
The wall where she had been leaning was stained black, soaked in dried, yet still sticky, blood.
The intricate ripples of the stain were like tree rings, proof of how long she had been there.
Hans pulled himself together and started searching through the hill of corpses.
Without any discussion, Alje naturally followed behind him.
Crunching over the brittle, leaf-like bodies, they made their way down the gentle slope.
“Hmm.”
Hans wasn’t an explorer mapping uncharted territory, but he had some knowledge.
Even if it was incomplete and full of gaps, it was better than nothing.
Of course, half-baked knowledge could also be a misleading signpost, but in a situation like this, with no clues at all.
“Hmm.”
He stopped mid-step and looked down at the ground.
The corpses, long abandoned and dried up, showed no distinction between human and monster.
A chill licked at the back of his neck.
The bodies themselves weren’t particularly frightening.
He was too used to them.
If anything, their pale, brittle appearance made them feel more like decorations than something real.
But.
“No.”
As he reached for a fragment of a corpse, Alje slapped his hand away.
“Hm?”
“Don’t eat that. Gross.”
“…Did you think I was going to eat it?”
He asked incredulously, and the girl tilted her head.
“Then what?”
“I was just examining it.”
When Hans picked up the corpse fragment again, Alje didn’t stop him this time.
She only muttered from a slight distance.
“Don’t eat it. It tastes bad.”
Had she eaten this before?
The object in his hand seemed to be part of someone’s arm.
The shape and color were so deteriorated that he couldn’t be sure, but comparing it to the body it came from, that seemed likely.
He hadn’t meant to disrespect the dead It had simply been so decomposed that it crumbled at the slightest touch.
As he studied the discolored fabric covering the corpse’s arm, he finally realized what had felt off.
The faded color made it hard to be certain, but this kind of luxurious, delicate clothing wasn’t something anyone would wear in the labyrinth.
He checked the other bodies.
Ignoring the monsters, since they belonged in the labyrinth, he examined only the human corpses.
Those who lived in the labyrinth dressed in a specific way.
The harsh conditions and limited resources forced them to adapt.
People wore the closest available materials monster hides and leather.
Even water was scarce underground, making easily dirtied fabrics an impossible luxury.
Yet here were out-of-place garments.
A noblewoman’s dress.
A desert warrior’s traditional robes.
Silken garments from the distant east.
A holy knight’s ceremonial uniform.
As if people from outside the labyrinth had fallen in ‘That’s ridiculous.’
Hans shook his head, clearing the thought away.
Yeah, it was absurd.
The labyrinth’s entrances were strictly controlled by the great families’ witches.
Besides, even if the theory was true, it wouldn’t help their immediate situation.
Hans wasn’t an exceptional man, but he had survived as a hunter for a long time.
That meant he had the discipline to push aside pointless thoughts and focus on what mattered.
Shoving the fleeting suspicion to the back of his mind, Hans resumed his search.
There were more absurd things to worry about—Like the girl following him.
“Speaking of which, how did you survive?”
“Hm?”
Alje looked puzzled, as if she didn’t understand the question.
“What have you been eating?”
Among a saint’s abilities, some could stave off hunger, but miracles could only be granted to others, not oneself.
And even if she could use it on herself, it wouldn’t apply to her as a monster.
Monsters had remarkable resilience compared to humans and animals, but they still needed sustenance.
Judging by the bloodstains forming a tree-ring-like pattern, Alje had been here for quite some time.
“You were hungry, weren’t you?”
“It’s not that.”
“Geez, you should’ve said so sooner!”
Before Hans could stop her,Alje cupped her hands into a makeshift megaphone and shouted.
“YAHOOO—!”
Unlike her earlier [Saint’s Voice], this was a purely physical sound.
But that didn’t make it any less powerful.
Her voice alone overwhelmed even the war cries of an elder dragon.
At that level, the fact that it came from a cute little girl didn’t matter anymore.
“…Why?”
Hans instinctively covered his ears and crouched from the sheer force.
He hadn’t been expecting it, which made the impact worse.
“My ears hurt.”
“Oh, sorry!”
“No, more importantly “
Fortunately, he was tough enough to endure and recover quickly.
More importantly, he was sharp enough to notice.
As his hearing returned, he picked up the sound of footsteps, like dry leaves rustling.
“When I do this, food comes!”
Grinning wide, Alje spread her lips, revealing small, pointed protrusions.
Hans felt a cold chill run down his spine.
Though tiny, barely the size of a fingertip, they were undeniable proof.
She wasn’t human.
“Grrrrr…”
A guttural growl rumbled through the darkness.
A monster emerged.
Hans alone would never dare face such a formidable creature.
A towering figure, almost human-shaped but massive, with three long toes on both its hands and feet.
The Three-Toed Giant.
Its single, enormous eye gleamed as it stared down at its fearless prey.
Even among its kind, this one looked particularly emaciated.
A clear sign of starvation.
Just like what would have happened to Hans if he hadn’t met Alje.
Hans swallowed dryly and recalled the golden rule of the labyrinth:’Never make loud noises.’
Light and sound In the dark and silent depths, even the slightest disturbance could wake the sleeping inhabitants.
Hans gripped his sword tightly.
Now that they had encountered it, there was no escape.
Unlike their size might suggest, Three-Toed Giants were silent and agile one of the labyrinth’s most feared hunters.
If you encountered one, it was better to strike first rather than be pursued to death.
Or be killed.
Hans was a skilled hunter, but no legendary warrior.
However Just as he tensed to fight,The girl, still barely clothed, stepped forward.
The cloak he had given her fluttered behind her like a playful cape.
“Thanks for the meal.”
Alje’s mouth opened.
Wide enough to swallow the towering giant whole.