Ruuuummmble…
The first sound I heard was an unfamiliar, echoing tremor through the cave.
And then, cutting through the ringing in my ears—
“Gillian! Hey—Gillian, stay with me!”
Ariel’s urgent voice called out.
When I opened my eyes, I saw her face hovering over me, filled with worry.
“Ugh… What happened…?”
“The floor collapsed. We fell. …I think we’re on the fourth floor now.”
“The fourth…?”
I glanced around at her words.
Beyond the dust rising from the rubble, I saw a wide-open corridor stretching ahead.
When I looked up toward the ceiling—
“How… are we even alive?”
A gaping hole yawned above us, far too deep to see the top.
Still dazed, I murmured without thinking, and Ariel, crouched on the floor, gave the answer as she tapped the ground beneath us.
“This guy saved us.”
“This guy?”
“Our target—the troll.”
Only then did I realize what we were sitting on.
Soft fur and a cushion of thick blubber.
It was the corpse of the Stone Troll that had hurled itself downward moments before we would’ve hit the ground— breaking our fall and saving our lives.
“Still, surviving a drop from that height… it’s a miracle.”
“…Yeah, which reminds me—”
My voice drifted off again, but Ariel was already scowling.
She turned her piercing adventurer’s gaze on me—one I hadn’t seen since her days hauling gear back at the guild.
“Are you an idiot?! What were you thinking, jumping after me like that?! You could’ve died!”
“But… I couldn’t just—”
“No buts! I told you not to act without thinking or planning!”
She was right.
Ariel and I were the same age, but in terms of experience, she was miles ahead.
I respected that.
But this time—
Even I couldn’t back down. I met her glare with a firm expression of my own.
“Sorry, but if it happens again—I’ll do the same thing.”
“What…?”
It was the first time I ever talked back to her.
Maybe that’s why she looked so startled.
“A teammate—someone important to me—was in danger. Even if I didn’t have a plan, even if it was reckless, I couldn’t just stand there and watch.”
“……”
“And I did manage to catch you. The least you could do is say thank you, you know?”
“…Tch.”
She didn’t argue.
Instead, she turned her head away with a huff and a strange expression—
Was that… a blush?
“…Next time, say it after you’ve actually saved me properly.”
“Huh?”
“Thanks! Okay?!”
And just like that, she muttered her thanks at last.
I couldn’t help it—I broke into laughter.
***
We waited for the dust to settle, and once our visibility returned, we stood up from the troll’s massive corpse.
“The fourth floor… This was our party’s main hunting ground, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Still, thank goodness it’s not the fifth.”
“Can you not jinx us?”
“What? I thought you were used to this floor?”
“I am—but that’s when the whole party’s together. Right now, it’s just you and me.”
“Ah…”
“And even with the full team, we barely managed to scrape by here.”
“So this is really dangerous, huh…”
I nodded at her explanation, slowly beginning to understand.
Until now, our party—the Red Hammer Squad—had explored up to the third floor without issue.
But hearing that even our party found the fourth floor difficult?
That said everything.
Just the two of us wandering around down here—it was practically suicide.
“Guess… we’ll have to wait for rescue.”
I stared blankly up through the hole in the ceiling, murmuring the obvious.
Ariel’s voice came back low and uneasy.
“…And who knows when that’ll be.”
“I mean, wouldn’t the others come down right away?”
“I told you. The fourth floor’s tough even for all of us together. How are the three up there supposed to get down alone?”
“Oh…”
She was right again.
Ariel had sharper judgment than I did—not just in battle, but in grasping the situation.
And what she saw now… was a bleak reality.
But then—
“…Huh?”
“What is it?”
“Up there, in the light…”
Something caught my eye.
A glimmering shape falling from above, sparkling in the light of the World Tree’s roots.
It spun in the air as it descended.
Then—
Tap.
Tap-tap, thud.
Roll…
It hit the troll’s corpse, bounced off, and rolled onto the floor.
We both rushed over to check it.
“…A bottle?”
It was a small glass vial.
Inside was a rolled-up piece of paper.
With handwriting we immediately recognized—
Ronabelle’s.
“If you’re alive, hang in there! I’ll find help and come down as soon as I can!”
“Thank goodness, Ariel—Ronabelle’s getting help!”
“So we just have to hold out until they get here.”
We knew now that our comrades were doing everything they could to reach us.
All that was left was to wait.
So we sat down beside the troll’s body.
It was the perfect spot—
Warm enough to share body heat, and good cover if anything wandered by.
“This labyrinth really is… life or death, huh.”
“Told you. I’ve been saying that from the start.”
With nothing left to do, we naturally drifted into idle conversation.
Staying silent might’ve been safer— but talking helped keep the fear at bay.
We leaned into each other, grounding ourselves in the only comfort we had.
“Hey, Ariel…”
“Hm?”
Since we finally had the time,
I asked something I’d always wondered about.
“…Why did you become an adventurer?”
“……”
It was a question that had been on my mind for a while.
We were the same age, still young.
Too young, really, to be risking our lives like this.
Most adventurers were desperate— people with nothing left to lose.
But us?
We still had so much ahead.
So usually, kids our age only turned to adventuring if they had a clear goal.
I figured Ariel must have one too.
And I was right.
“…Actually…”
She hesitated—then spoke.
“My parents were adventurers.”
And to my surprise—
“So were mine.”
We shared the same reason.
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah, my parents died in the Labyrinth too. I ended up in an orphanage.”
“I see…”
Ariel blinked, clearly surprised by my words.
She stared at me for a moment, then slowly turned away and rested her head on her knees.
She glanced at me sideways and asked softly,
“That knife… it was a keepsake, right?”
“Oh, this? Yeah. It belonged to my dad.”
“Do you… remember their faces?”
“No. They died when I was a baby. I don’t remember anything.”
“…I see.”
Ariel lowered her gaze, the fleeting glance she gave me now gone.
From beside her, I could see a shadow of sorrow in her eyes.
“I remember. They passed away when I was around eight.”
“Ah…”
I had guessed as much—her parents were gone too.
I was in the same boat, yet… unlike me, Ariel seemed to carry actual memories with her.
I didn’t know what to say, so I held my breath and stayed quiet, offering silent sympathy.
Then, slowly, she began to speak again.
“After they died, I was sent to live with relatives. On my fifteenth birthday, I left home and became an adventurer.”
“…”
I wondered if her relatives had treated her well.
But I didn’t ask. If things had been good, she wouldn’t have left so young.
Instead, I offered a light smile to lift the heavy mood hanging between us.
“You know… if you’d ended up at the orphanage instead of with relatives…”
“Huh?”
“Then you would’ve been my little sister. That’s kind of a shame.”
I chuckled at my own words.
Ariel blinked at me, then smiled faintly and gave my shoulder a soft punch.
“Little sister? Please. I’d be the older one.”
“What are you talking about? Sorry to say, but at the orphanage, seniority goes by arrival date. I’ve been there since I was a baby. That makes me the big brother.”
“Pfft. You, my big brother? That’s weird.”
Luckily, my joke seemed to land. Ariel’s sad eyes were replaced by a soft, warm smile.
Then she looked up at the wide-open ceiling above and murmured,
“But you know… maybe that wouldn’t have been so bad.”
“Right?”
“Even if you’re kind of a useless big brother.”
“Haha.”
There was something different about Ariel now—something brighter, softer.
Above us, the roots of the World Tree shimmered faintly with blue light, casting a gentle glow on her golden hair and sapphire eyes.
For a moment, I just stared at her profile, quietly taking it in.
Then Ariel turned from the ceiling to meet my eyes.
“Hey, Gillian.”
“Yeah?”
She tucked her face into her knees again, peeking at me with a shy look, her cheeks tinged pink.
“Earlier… I kind of snapped at you.”
“Yeah.”
She got annoyed so often I couldn’t tell which time she meant, but I nodded anyway.
“When we fell… and you reached out to save me.”
“Oh.”
It clicked then—what she was trying to say.
With a timid look, Ariel finally spoke from the heart in a small, sincere voice.
“Thanks. Honestly… it made me really happy.”
“…”
“When I think about it now, you were kind of like a big brother.”
Then she gave me a gentle smile, sweet and honest.
It was the first time I’d seen Ariel smile like that—so openly, so sincerely.
Facing that emotion, I felt my cheeks flush and my heart flutter unexpectedly.
“…”
“…”
After that, we both fell silent, caught in a strange, quiet awkwardness.
But strangely enough… it wasn’t unpleasant.
In fact, it felt kind of nice.
Maybe Ariel felt the same.
Because where our shoulders touched, I could feel a calm warmth spreading through us both.
***
Not long after our conversation with Ariel ended, the rescue team finally appeared.
Astonishingly, they came down from the collapsed ceiling above.
We had assumed the hole was far too deep—its top completely out of sight—so their descent was unimaginable.
But they had used a massive boulder.
A man holding a staff had floated it down through the air, lowering himself and the rock slowly to the fourth floor.
Later, Ronabelle explained that the man was the wizard she had mentioned earlier.
Apparently, right after we fell, the rest of our party had rushed back to the surface and requested help from the major guild, Fenrir.
Luckily, a wizard happened to be resting there at the time, and they managed to borrow his aid.
Of course, there was a price.
Half the bounty for subjugating the Stone Troll.
It was a hefty cost— but since we were rescued without a single injury, Garon had accepted the deal without hesitation.
“Hahaha! What a draining day this turned out to be!”
“Seriously… You scared me to death, Ariel.”
“Yeah… Sorry.”
“You alright? Any injuries?”
“None at all, Master Levan!”
After safely returning to the surface, we headed to the tavern inside the inn we always stayed at.
It was a sort of ritual for Garon—almost like a superstition.
“After a dive, it’s gotta be stew and roasted pork leg! Wahaha!” He always insisted on this set menu to wrap up our expeditions.
Creaaak…
“Yo! Garon! I heard things got real dicey for you today!”
“Haha! I’ve never seen you with a face like that, Garon!”
As soon as we entered, adventurers who knew our party called out to us.
We greeted them as we made our way further into the tavern.
Then—
“…Huh?”
“Hm? What is it, Gillian?”
I had spotted a man sitting alone in the corner of the room.
Something about him made me freeze.
When Garon noticed my reaction, he turned to me curiously.
“That man… he’s crying.”
I raised my hand slightly and pointed in the man’s direction.
Just then—
Grab.
Levan suddenly caught my wrist.
Startled, I turned to look at him.
He silently shook his head, then gently led me away from the scene.
It wasn’t until we were seated at our usual table that he explained in a low voice,
“He probably lost a comrade today.”
“…Ah.”
And just like that, I understood.
Why the man was crying.
Why Levan had stopped me.
Then, as I fell into silence, Garon clapped me heartily on the shoulder and boomed with laughter.
“Hahaha! All the more reason to keep our spirits up!”
“Huh? Shouldn’t we be quiet instead?”
Unlike Levan, Garon wasn’t the type to mind what others thought, so I asked, genuinely puzzled.
It was Ronabelle who answered me with a gentle smile.
“That’s just how it is.”
“I see…”
“What’s this, Gillian? You question me but believe Ronabelle right away?”
“…Um. Excuse me! We’d like to order!”
In the end, I dodged Garon’s mock outrage until the server arrived— and until then, I had his thick arm wrapped around my neck in a playful headlock.
Ronabelle and Ariel watched us and giggled quietly to themselves.
Everything felt… normal.
Our party, the adventurers around us— no one paid that man in the corner any mind.
Maybe that’s just how adventurers are.
If I had died today…
I thought of the companion who would have been sitting in that lonely seat instead.
And that moment, I learned something deep in my bones.
Adventurers truly are…
…People who live far too close to death.