Chapter 299: Child of the Maze (2)

Just like that, it became chaotic in front of the maze.

“Your highness, you made sure to pack your gabag, right?”

“Of course. I’m pretty sure I cannot use it, but I have some holy stone orbs as well. Here’s water, medicine, snacks, a handkerchief……”

Our friends gathered around the Imperial Crown Prince and I to check our bags. Viscount Clément put some gold coins in my bag because we were in a rush. I didn’t think I would need money in there, but I couldn’t help but chuckle because I was thankful that he was trying to help me.

Vicarius Generalis Ronald Rupert quietly stood there like still water, waiting for us. Apparently he would be the last to enter the maze.

I grabbed my teacher’s Holy Staff and the sleeping Percy was in my pocket. The chimney bird was still breathing warmly.

“Should I leave Percy here?”

Of course, it was hard to decide. Despite him being a divine item, it weighed on my heart to take him without even asking his opinion. I hesitated and Lady Marise gently grabbed my hands.

“Please take him, your highness. If it is as Queen Hanan said, the divine item should have an important role. Even if it cannot help you in any way, you will have someone to rely on during a lonely road.”

“……Yes ma’am.” I barely managed to nod my head. ‘But if something happens, I will make sure to protect him.’

I didn’t know how since we apparently couldn’t use ether inside there, but I would make sure it happened.

“Please take care of the others, Sir Johann. I’ll see you later.”

“Yes, your highness. I’m just disappointed that I cannot go inside with you,” Sir Johann warmly answered. It was funny because it sounded like a fully grown adult was grumbling.

Hanan complained, asking why a goodbye was so dramatic. I shook hands with the rag doll, gave a tight hug to Demy, Perry, and Rhea, and then fixed Tithé’s bib. I said bye to Joanne and Sand as well. And then……

“Christelle.”

“Yes, your highness.”

– Haaa……

The Queen in her pocket sighed as if she was bored. We ended up just smiling without saying much.

Isabelle kissed the back of crown prince Cédric’s hand. He turned around first.

The Vicarius Generalis spoke in an AI-like emotionless voice. “The maze will extend its arms if you place your skin on the root of the World Tree.”

“……” The crown prince heard the explanation and pulled off one glove.

I suddenly thought of something and rushed toward him. ‘Hey, hold on!’

“Your Royal Highness!”

– Haaaa, I’m not going to watch……

I could hear Hanan sighing behind me.

The crown prince bastard silently looked down at me. I quickly placed my hand on his elbow and pushed a bunch of ether inside. He elegantly tilted his head. ‘You’re accepting it all so why are you reacting like that?’

“Even if you cannot use it inside, it should help stabilize your plate, your Royal Highness.”

“……”

“It’s nothing, your Royal Highness. Please be careful of the area under your feet.” I smiled and the punk slightly scowled. His condition had been good lately, so the amount of times he actively looked for me had decreased. His energetic work out periods had increased quite a bit as well.

The crown prince was the first to pull his arm away today as well. He turned around without even a glance my way and walked into the maze. His large hand tapped the black tree root. And then……

– Cruuuunch! Crack!

– Crack!

“Wow……”

The trunk squirmed like a large octopus before instantly pulling back its little branches to open its mouth. It looked like a large tumor had grown on the white wall. The inside of the maze that was visible was completely dark. It seemed to be an area without any sound or light.

“Aaaarf!” The scared divine beasts hid inside Sand, the Viscount, and Lady Rambouillet’s arms.

– Step, step, step……

The man walked without any hesitation. And then, swoosh! He threw his body into the maze and disappeared.

The World Tree reacted immediately.

– Craaaaaack!

– Crunch!

The charcoal-like roots instantly sealed the entrance. It was creepy how it thought and acted without anybody telling it to do so.

It was my turn next. As discussed in advance, Demy grew a rope-like vine from his tail. We couldn’t use ether inside the maze, but it was fine to use it outside. As long as it didn’t break, this would be my wayfinder. The Vatican soldiers clicked their tongues at our scheming ways.

I touched the World Tree that was as cold as plastic.

“Then I will be back soon. Please pray that it all goes well.”

“Everything will go well, your highness. Please don’t worry too much.”

– You’re finally leaving. You’ll come back faster than this, right?

“Good luck, your highness!”

“Make sure you tell her everything on your mind! Make sure to get her to promise!”

Isabelle and my friends waved their hands with smiles on their faces. A white flipper and black front paw waved as well. The corners of my lips twitched. It was something I wanted to snap a photo of to remember.

Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuumble! A black hole was now in front of me.

“I’ll be waiting for you, your highness.”

The last person I made eye contact with was Christelle. I smiled brightly and nodded my head. I patted my gabag once, grabbed the staff with my right hand, the vine in the left, thought about Percy in my pocket, and…… I thought about the peace that could be gained from this situation as well as the clues I might find.

Then I jumped into this mysterious area.

*

‘It’s hot.’

“Haa. It’s neverending.” How much time must have passed? ‘Maybe I should have borrowed a pocket watch.’

“Huff, huff…… Huuuuuu……”

I stood in place and took some deep breaths. I pulled out a bottle and drank some water and took off my light gown before folding it into my gabag. I didn’t expect to meet up with the crown prince quickly, but there really were no traces of that bastard.

‘This maze is selective about who enters, so it is probably guiding each person down different paths. Nothing should have happened to the punk.’ I nodded my head and kept moving.

I did run into some dead ends a few times but I was still okay. I was always able to return to the fork thanks to Demy’s vine.

– Step, step, step……

“Huff. Huuuuuuuuu.”

The maze, Labyrinthus, was as cold as a cave and looked more like one than a maze. The World Tree’s little roots that covered the inside had turned it into a round shape. But there were no geometric stalactites or stalagmites like in most caves. It wasn’t that big either, with the height being about a one story apartment and the width being about a friend’s one bedroom place.

The problem was these damn black branches.

– Pat!

“Gentle. Jung Yeseo, do it gently.”

The World Tree had planted its thick roots throughout the maze and looked like a typical tree. I had to squish my body a few times to dodge some large pillars too. The ground was covered by ink-black things that made it uneven and rough.

I had been especially careful after having a bad fall earlier. There were a lot of steep areas as well, making me feel like I was on a hike.

“It is hard because of this, because of this.”

– Are you sure it’s not difficult because of me?

I mumbled and ‘she’ asked, as if she had been waiting. I chuckled and looked to the side. Of course, I was completing the maze’s test as I went. It had been about two hours.

“You’re not even real. Why would you be difficult?”

The ‘guardian’ persistently stuck to me. It was called a spirit but it resembled a real person. She wasn’t half-transparent like the ghosts of Zaum ruins nor did she float around. Her breathing and footsteps were real. The middle-aged woman openly groaned as I ignored her.

I had expected this. If it was a test that looked not at your abilities but at your plate, I thought it was highly likely to be mental torture. It was a cliche that came out often, not just in novels, but movies and dramas as well.

– You schemed with your brother to push mom into the hospital! Then it should be hard!

“……”

I smiled as if it was a habit. Then I just silently walked, looking only forward.

The guardian, who had transformed into my mom, did not give up and continued to say all kinds of evil things. Tone, movement, expression, voice… It was amazing that everything was the same as my mom.

‘I guess it was true about it searching through your soul.’ It revealed everything that you pushed away into a corner and covered up.

– Don’t you even feel sorry? How can you do that to me after everything I did to raise you all? How ungrateful, truly. Truly ungrateful!

“……”

Her tantrums slowly became louder.

– You guys imprisoned me! Mommy wanted to see Eunseo’s first day of college and her graduation! You guys kicked me out of our home. Are you even listening to your mother?

“……”

– Even animals don’t act like this, Jung Yeseo! Even animals don’t act like this to their parents! Look at this punk! He’s not even crying now?! Hey!

“Umm.”

I stopped walking. The guardian’s eyes opened wide as she looked at me. She seemed to think that her pestering finally worked.

I wiped my face with a handkerchief and commented, “My mom talking like that…… It was only right before she was admitted to the hospital. It was when she was in a lot of pain.”

– You……

“That is why, to be completely honest with you, this doesn’t affect me that much. We were pretty trained by that point. All three of us.”

– …….

“I think it would have been more effective if you looked like my mom when she was healthy. Or Eunseo would have worked too.” I then smiled bitterly. The guardian blankly stared at me. I put my handkerchief away, grabbed my staff, and started to walk again.

Shaaaaaaa……! I heard a noise that made it sound like something disappeared behind me, but I didn’t look back. I could smell a foul ink smell at the tip of my nose.

‘Wait, ink?’

– Swoooooooooooosh……!

「The person who has carried on the will of the Almighty God is truly different.」

“Eek!” I took a step back in shock. I gasped almost as loudly as when the guardian first appeared in front of me. ‘Letters written in the air……’

– Swoooooooosh!

Pitch black letters with pure white outlines were floating in the air. I got chills down my entire body for a moment and the back of my neck felt cold. This was not handwriting but a font you would see on the web or on something printed. My shocked lips opened and closed like a goldfish. ‘This place, this place is really-’

「I guess it makes no sense that we would test you.」

“……”

「Oh beloved one.」

I tightly clenched my shaking hands. I then looked at the old staff and thought of my teacher before looking at the sturdy green vine and thinking of Demy. I could feel Percy’s small bundle of warmth by my heart. By the time I clenched my eyes and opened them back, I recalled the words the guide of the Ark had once told me.

– The world is already relying on you.

“Me……”

‘Let’s calmly think things over.’ Please. What appeared in front of me right now was probably a different form of the guardian. I didn’t need to get scared because it was to determine my qualifications.

The problem was the way they were addressing me, ‘The one who carries on the will of the Almighty God’? I didn’t know who the Almighty God was nor what she wanted. So how could I carry it on?

This was probably the reason they said that the world was relying on me (I doubt there was a greater reason than this), but this clue was truly making my mind chaotic:

‘I’m a transmigrator who hasn’t even read QNW……’

“Ah!”

A thunderbolt-like realization struck my head and trickled down my body. My jaw dropped.

‘You know it, Jung Yeseo. You already guessed the reason you transmigrated into this novel the first day. Then maybe-’

– I see. You didn’t even try to hide your guilt. Or maybe it was too hard to do that……

Flinch. The familiar yet strange voice echoed out. The words underneath my nose danced around like steam before spreading out like tears on a surface.

I slowly turned around. I had an extremely ominous and scary feeling, but I couldn’t avoid it.

The guardian, who took human form once again, filled my view.

– Hello, Mr. Yeseo.

“……”

The purple eyes elegantly curled up. I felt suffocated.

– My name is Jesse Venetiaan. How do you like my body?

I gasped and stood stiffly in place. His glowing golden hair fluttered every time he gently walked. The posture, voice, the way he moved his gown… Even the speed at which he blinked was different from me.

That was why I could not look away. Despite knowing he was not real, I could not look away from him.

“I……”

It was my first time seeing ‘him.’ In any form.

– You seem quite surprised. I’m truly sorry. I just wanted to thank you.

“Excuse me?” I knew that I didn’t need to react. But my mouth moved on its own. The maze had suddenly become as scary as a prison.

– You came into my body and have done a lot of good deeds.

“……”

– You saved children, looked after divine beasts, and captured people doing evil deeds.

“……”

– You’ve also made a lot of friends.

Gulp. The sound of my gulping seemed extremely loud. Prince Jesse cheerfully laughed.

‘So that’s how he laughs. That’s the kind of expression he puts on and that’s how he uses his arms.’

“I’m sorry.” The apology suddenly burst out. In the instant that even I didn’t notice that I had apologized… It just popped out like it was waiting at the tip of my tongue. “I had no intention of transmigrating into your body. I didn’t want to complicate your life either. To be completely honest with you, even I don’t know how all of this happened. But…”

– Are you making excuses?

“……”

The smile instantly disappeared from the young man’s face. I quickly gasped. That’s not what I was trying to do. ‘I’m not trying to make excuses, I-’

– I’m grateful that you did not use my body to do evil deeds, but this is theft. You yourself know that is the case.

“That……”

I needed to say no.

– You opened your eyes so you had to move, and since you moved, you had to eat. That much I understand. But isn’t everything you have done until now clearly crossing the line?

I couldn’t say no.

– My body, my memories, my relationships with people, people’s opinion of me. My……

He slowly continued to speak. I bit down on my lips.

– My everything. My life……

I could taste blood. But this was not mine either.

– You took it all away.

He sorrowfully proclaimed. I felt a terrible sense of dread. It was mixed in with guilt and I couldn’t tell the two apart. I twisted my tongue that seemed to be completely dry. A shaky voice flowed out.

“……What is it you would like me to do?”

– It’s simple.

The man extended his hand toward me. His white fingertips were the same as mine but different. I slowly closed my eyes. I was planning on leaving the final judgment to him. I had to do that and that was the right thing to do. Then more……

– Baaaaang!

Flash! I opened my eyes and looked around. I wondered if I had made a mistake for a second. However, that was not the case.

– Baaaaang! Boom!

There was an intense shock and the maze started to rumble. Prince Jesse and I made eye contact. He had a complicated look on his face.

Then it felt like a hot flame was waking my brain up. My view cleared up and my mind became cleansed from pure white ashes.

I urgently threw my body toward the direction it originated from. Then I placed my forehead on the wall as if I was looking for a breathing hole.

The punk was beyond this wall.

“Cédric!”

—

Translator’s Comments

Go save your lover, Yeseo!