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Volume 13 Chapter 5 Part 4

If he convinces her that it’s her duty as a noble, she won’t oppose him. As expected of the Dirty Duke.

「I see. 」

「We’ll have to defeat the Yezera Labyrinth after all, so if you can join us, it will be easier for us to allocate the personnel to do so. Apart from our members who will be sent elsewhere, even the most advanced party shouldn’t have even reached the 40th floor yet. There is still time. We could just figure out the location of the Boss Room and defeat the Floor Boss when the difficulty level has been eased. I don’t intend to ask you to challenge the 51st floor, but if you can, please consider it. It is hard for me to imagine that the Yezera Labyrinth has grown to the 52nd floor though. 」 Gozer also said it was okay. If Gozer, who has had a hard life with the Duke constantly pushing him around, says it’s okay, then it should really be okay.

Or would he push the hardships onto me instead? No, this doesn’t count as hardship, but there are people in my Party who would certainly like to push us even harder with the Labyrinth exploration.

Roxanne is probably already thinking about the Floor Boss battle on the 51st floor. She’s charging ahead and showing no signs of stopping. It’s absolutely clear what she’s aiming for. It’s as clear as day. It’s absolutely certain.

If that’s the case, then surely there’s no problem with using the axiom of choice for Zermelo’s Labyrinth? Perhaps persuading her to wait until the difficulty level goes down before fighting the Floor Boss on the 51st floor will work.

The possibility is not zero. It exists at the level of microparticles. If there’s a possibility, then if you keep trying it infinitely, you’ll eventually succeed. It’s practically a victory. Even if I won’t be able to persuade her, I can probably just think of it as repeated training on the 51st floor. It’s a small price to pay. There’s no harm in accepting it.

「If that’s what you’re saying. 」

「Oh, so you’ll accept it? As expected of a great Adventurer like you, Lord Michio. 」

「No, no. I was the one who suggested it in the first place, but are you really sure about it? 」

Oi, oi, what’s this now, Gozer?

「W-Well… 」

「Umu, umu. 」

「Hou? As expected. 」

Not as expected! As expected, my ass! I was a fool to believe him! The Duke is just going to cause more trouble for Gozer.

「Well, in any case, we’ll be taking on the 51st floor. 」

Mainly because of Roxanne, so there’s no mistake in the axiom of choice.

「I guess this is what a person who truly aims to liberate the Labyrinths is like. 」

Not at all. However, for that compliment, I will forgive you for causing Gozer trouble. So in the Duke’s eyes, I am someone who seeks to liberate the Labyrinths with every last drop of his being, huh?

「Fortunately, there are still Adventurers who went to the 51st floor of Yezera’s Labyrinth remaining. We haven’t yet decided which Labyrinth to send them to, so let’s call them right away. 」

Maybe it would be best for Gozer to also become someone who truly aims to liberate the Labyrinths with his entire being? If he does that, then I’m sure that the Duke won’t cause any more trouble for him. He will become someone who will cause trouble for the Duke instead. If you truly aim to liberate the Labyrinths, you will be forgiven for every misgiving. You will become like a tiger.

「That’s bold. 」

「And all of this is thanks to my wonderful Party Members. 」

「Exactly what I expected from someone like you. 」

Gozer left the office, so I was left alone with the Duke. Come back soon, Gozeremon! Besides, if Gozer truly becomes the one who aims for the liberation of the Labyrinths in the territory of the Hartz Duchy, who will be the one to suffer the constant trouble from the Duke?

It would be troublesome if there was no buffer between me and his shenanigans anymore. I hope Gozer will always be the one to take on the trouble from the Duke of Hartz.

「Michio-sama. The Adventurers have arrived. Let’s go. Please join the Party. 」

Thankfully, Gozer returned soon after. He is a useful and necessary person to act as a buffer between me and the Duke. I will give you the right to take on all the trouble from the Duke from now on, so just keep doing what you have been doing thus far, man!

「Understood. As expected. 」

「I don’t know what’s so impressive about it. 」

It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand. Or rather, you probably don’t want to know. I disbanded my current Party with Roxanne and the others and joined the Party of Adventurers that Gozer has brought with him.

「Well then. 」

「I’m counting on you. 」

After being seen off by Gozer, I flew out of the lobby using Field Walker.

Is this some kind of labyrinth of the axiom of choice? It was located in a peaceful countryside that could be found anywhere. The Labyrinth itself was right next to where we flew to with Field Walker. The Adventurers entered the Labyrinth without saying a word, and I followed after them.

「This is the fifty-first floor of the Yezera’s Labyrinth. 」

One of the Adventurers finally spoke after we entered the Labyrinth. I see. So it’s not good to start at the entrance.

There is a specialized Explorer at the entrance to the Labyrinth. Considering the Explorer at the Old Hag’s labyrinth, it’s not surprising that the Explorer at the Labyrinth entrance here is under the control of the Duke of Hartz, but maybe he can’t be trusted that much. It seems quite likely that he would sell the information to other people for some easy pocket money. Or perhaps he is not under the control of the Duke of Hartz but rather the current Earl of Selmar. They probably didn’t want to tell him that the exploration had progressed to the fifty-first floor. The Duke said that ordinary people don’t even reach the fortieth floor.

「Okay. 」

「Are there any other levels you need guidance on? 」

「Yeah. Could you please show me the fiftieth floor as well? 」

「Okay. Follow me. 」

「Okay. 」

He said he would show me, so I was guided to the fiftieth floor, one floor below our current location. It might be useful, just in case. The adventurer left the Labyrinth at once, then immediately returned back in whileI followed him.

I wonder what the Explorer at the entrance to the Labyrinth thought of our strange behavior? Well, rather than being strange, it might be common behavior. Someone with experience in the Labyrinth would bring someone else with them for the ride. It’s not unusual. Everyone does it. I don’t think anything of it, at least, even if I was being introduced to a level higher than I know.

「I’m going back to Bode, what would you like to do? 」

「That’s fine. Remove me from the Party. 」

When we reached the fiftieth floor, the Adventurer removed me from the party and left by himself. I can Warp back home without having to go out of my way to go with him. There’s no need for the Explorers at the entrance to look at me strangely.

If someone who entered the labyrinth in a group of two came out alone, no one would suspect anything had happened. I don’t know, though. There might have been an incident inside, but since no one would see anything, no one would be none the wiser, so it doesn’t matter.

I’ve also discovered that the Explorer at the entrance is not under the control of the Duke of Hartz, so there’s no need to show my face there. From the Yezera’s Labyrinth, I went back to my home in Quratar.

「Welcome back, Master! 」 Roxanne greeted me immediately, as usual.

She was waiting for me to come back, as usual. This isn’t because I went out to be introduced to a Labyrinth that we can conquer. I think so. I hope so. I didn’t think I’d be introduced so soon when I left anyway, so hopefully, she wasn’t waiting for a labyrinth to conquer.

However, I have disbanded the Party. She may not know what happened, but she should know that something happened. It’s not unreasonable to assume that I was introduced to a Labyrinth to conquer. So maybe that’s it?

「Ah. I was introduced to a Labyrinth we can conquer. It seems that there was an extra one. 」

「Leave it to me! 」