Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The Labyrinth (5)

“Acupuncture... you practiced a lot, right?”

Priscilla tilted her head and asked.

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

I gave Priscilla a smile that should be enough to earn her trust.

After I answered, her gaze touched the sword at my waist.

“As expected, she can feel it to some extent too.”

However, Priscilla did not pay any more attention to it. Treating the injured came first right now.

This Medical Technology Exchange Group quest, a related quest for the lycanthrope episode, was a kind of benefit given to those who chose the Medical Technology Exchange Group.

Since I had learned acupuncture in the exchange group, I only needed to remove the status abnormality “confusion” afflicting them.

I followed Priscilla into the infirmary.

“Perhaps the monster’s claws had poison in them, because the injured students are suffering from confusion.”

As Priscilla continued explaining to me, the groans of the students reached my ears.

“Uuugh... Kgh...”

The injured students lying on the beds were writhing.

“Well, that makes it hard to put ‘Heal’ into them. I could place the needles myself or use ‘Divine Clear,’ but that would take time. So, Zeto... do you remember the location of the ‘confusion point’?”

“...This part of the left wrist, right?”

I pointed to the confusion point on my arm and answered Priscilla.

“Exactly. But since the injured are thrashing hard because of the confusion, placing needles won’t be easy either. If you think it will be difficult, could you tell me now?”

Priscilla’s question followed.

In the game, at this point, if acupuncture had not reached level 2, one could only choose the option saying they could not do it.

I was already level 3 in acupuncture, and I was confident I could treat them.

I nodded to Priscilla, set my backpack down in one corner of the infirmary, and said.

“I think I can do it.”

And so, I took on the role of placing needles in the injured students before Priscilla used Heal, removing their “confusion.”

At most, it would only shorten the time somewhat, though.

“Ugh...”

Sitting beside Priscilla, I grabbed the left arm of a student whose thrashing was severe.

I had to aim for the moment their strength drained away.

In the game, it had been a mini-game like a rhythm game.

At that moment, I felt the left arm loosen as strength left it.

In an instant, I placed the needle in the exact spot.

How many seconds passed?

Before long, the student’s grimacing face relaxed, and the violent thrashing calmed down.

“Hmm. Your skill has improved quite a lot...?”

Priscilla, who was applying Heal to the student whose needle I had placed, praised me and grew puzzled at the same time.

“Ahaha... I practiced a lot.”

I scratched my head and moved to another student. Priscilla glanced sidelong at me, then focused on Heal.

[ My disciple has many talents. Acupuncture... ]

Meanwhile, Sierra floated around beside me, watching my acupuncture with interest.

After that, it was repetitive work.

Grab the injured person’s arm, wait for their strength to leave, then place the needle.

I could feel fatigue rushing into my body.

Since I had spent thirty hours in the Labyrinth, I did need to rest.

“Just a little more.”

Like that, I steadily removed the “confusion” from the injured students, and Priscilla’s treatment was also getting faster.

“These are the last injured!”

Butler, the senior student who had told me about this work, entered the infirmary while supporting an injured person.

Behind him was Yuri too.

“Oh, Zeto?!”

Yuri shouted when she found me.

She too was supporting an injured person.

“Haha, we meet again.”

However, Yuri and I did not have the leisure to chat.

Following Priscilla’s directions, Butler moved the injured students into place and checked the state of their bleeding.

Yuri stepped out of the infirmary for a moment and joined the group of students watching the situation from afar.

After a little time passed, the urgent cases inside the infirmary were all handled.

The rest was left to Butler and Priscilla.

It seemed Butler could also use a little “Heal.”

When I looked outside the infirmary, I saw students with light injuries leaning against the wall.

They were those who were still more or less conscious.

I approached the nearest female student.

“Is there any particular place that feels uncomfortable?”

“Uh, my head... My head hurts a little...”

“Could you relax your arm?”

Now it was time to obtain information.

While placing the needle, I naturally asked questions in a gentle voice.

“What kind of creature was it?”

“Well, it was so fast I couldn’t really see... It, it was much bigger than a person, I think...”

“...That must have been a terrible experience. Do you remember which floor it was?”

“The fifth... It was the fifth floor...”

The female student lifted her head and pondered for a moment before answering.

I placed the needle in her as she sat still, continuously moving her lips, then after a short while, I opened my mouth.

“...Has the headache eased a little?”

“Yes, yes...! My head feels clear...”

“That is a relief.”

“Your eyes must be inconvenient, but you are amazing... Thank you.”

“It was nothing. I’m glad I could help.”

Leaving those words behind, I passed the female student whose face had turned red and extracted information from the others in the same way.

[ Disciple, must you stroke their arms like that...? Then again, since you cannot see, perhaps that is the only way... ]

After finishing everything I had to do, I left Sierra’s grumbling, spoken with a sulky face, behind me and sat in one corner of the wall outside the infirmary, gathering the information in my head.

It was large.

Dark gray fur.

Its claws were very long and sharp.

They felt as if they had faced a single beast of prey.

It was definitely a lycanthrope.

It was on the fifth floor.

“Should I call this fortunate...”

Since today ended on the third floor, my level should rise a little more by the time I descended to the fifth.

The groups of students looking into the infirmary seemed to mostly be waiting for friends or watching out of curiosity.

Among the group, the female students looked especially busy whispering.

Yuri’s face was there among them as well, but perhaps because she was tired, her expression was not very good.

[...As expected, I think my disciple is too kind for his own good, especially toward women. ]

Sierra, who had been drifting here and there among the groups of students, approached me and said words whose meaning I could not understand.

Then she narrowed her eyes toward them and wore a chilling smile.

“She does that sometimes...”

After that, several students whose treatment had ended left the infirmary, and the groups gradually shrank.

Soon, Yuri slowly approached me, tapped my shoulder, and spoke.

“Zeto, it looks like it’s almost over?”

“I think so. What a day, to have this happen as soon as I came out of the Labyrinth. Haha... It’s been hectic.”

Yuri had also grasped the situation as soon as she came out of the Labyrinth and immediately helped Butler.

“She helped without a word... You’d think someone from the Clementine family would be a mage, but she’s strong. Really strong!”

Butler, who was inside the infirmary, saw Yuri and shouted loudly.

Yuri muttered, “Not that strong...” and turned her head away from Butler.

“Is it very late?”

I asked Yuri.

It was because I thought we might eat together when everything ended.

“Yeah, I’m going to head back now.”

“I think I need to stay until everything is finished.”

“Okay. Then see you next time. You really worked hard today.”

Like that, I exchanged farewells with Yuri, who showed me a bright smile.

Seeing her smile again, it seemed she had only been tired earlier.

Not long after Yuri left, Priscilla came out of the infirmary.

“Haa... It’s finally over.”

Priscilla stood before the infirmary door and stretched fully, then turned her head to look at me.

To be precise, her gaze was on my sword.

The quest completion reward had not come in yet.

For some reason, that meant the quest had not ended.

“Zeto, do you have a moment? There is something I want to talk about.”

Priscilla asked me that.

“So it’s come.”

Priscilla seemed likely to bring up the cursed blade.

“Understood.”

I silently followed her.

The place I arrived at after following Priscilla was the academy rooftop. Perhaps because it was late at night, no one was on the rooftop.

Cool air flowed unobstructed into my lungs.

“You worked hard today.”

Priscilla, leaning against the railing, opened her mouth.

She did not get to the point right away.

“Haha, Medical Officer, you worked harder than I did.”

“Sometimes things like this happen when a monster that’s hard to deal with appears on a low floor... Your acupuncture skill improved quite a bit. You must have practiced hard. Good job.”

Priscilla praised me and smiled faintly.

I smiled along with her, but that was not what mattered.

Priscilla’s eyes had been directed at the cursed blade for a while now.

Judging by the fact that her gaze did not turn toward Sierra, who lingered beside me, it did not seem she could see her as a lump of demonic energy like Daidros before.

However, she still had not brought up the matter.

“How did you practice acupuncture?”

“Like last time, on Boar skin...”

“Hmm... There’s no way your skill improved that much with only that, is there?”

Hearing my excuse, Priscilla let out a low hum.

Her eyes held the moonlight and shone a clear emerald.

“...I don’t dislike people with many secrets. I have quite a few secrets myself... Should I say I feel a sense of kinship?”

Priscilla said this as she leaned back against the railing as if collapsing into it.

“Secrets...”

Priscilla had secrets too.

They were matters tied to her past.

In the game, if one became involved with Priscilla often, one could dig into her past.

The reason she was currently treating students as a medical officer was nothing more than “atonement” to her.

What was unusual was that learning about her past was a bad ending.

Priscilla realized the player had dug into her past and imprisoned them.

It was force majeure.

The player could not respond at all and went straight into an imprisonment ending.

Thus, it was best to keep an appropriate distance from Priscilla.

Priscilla looked at the moon in silence for quite some time, then lowered her head.

“...Anyway, thanks to you, treatment was easier. Take this.”

Priscilla said this and threw me a pouch that jingled.

I naturally caught the pouch and asked her.

“What is this?”

“It’s the money the students from earlier left behind as thanks. I already gave Butler his. Think of it as a reward.”

“Ah...”

I put the pouch into my clothes and felt strength spring up through my whole body.

“A level-up?”

The entire quest had ended.

After saying that, Priscilla leisurely left the rooftop.

In the end, she never asked me about the sword.

“I thought she would ask something since she brought me to the rooftop... Does this mean it was resolved comfortably?”

I remained on the rooftop and looked around. The sun had already set, leaving everything dark.

In the sky, a round full moon stood alone, scattering light.

[...There are quite a few suspicious people in this academy. Instructors, students, and even the medical officer...? ]

Sierra’s following words pierced through a major characteristic of this game, and I could not stop a laugh from slipping out.

“Ha... You’re right.”

I actively agreed with her words.

***

After a deep rest, I went to the Labyrinth again early in the morning.

After cutting down the orcs on the fourth floor, I was on my way down to the fifth. It was to meet the lycanthrope on the fifth floor.

I had finally found the descending stairs.

I slowly went down the stairs while checking my status window.

<​Zeto> Lv.23

Skills Owned

-Demon Swordsmanship Lv.12

-Sierra Style: Rebellion Against Heaven (Incomplete) Lv.3 - Effect of [Demon Swordsmanship] currently applied

-Keen Senses Lv.7

-Weakness Detection Lv.MAX - Effect of [Blindfold of Piercing Insight] currently applied

-Acupuncture Lv.3

Remaining Skill Points: 3

Items Equipped

-Blindfold of Piercing Insight [Legendary]

-Bracelet Bearing Wishes [Epic]

-Cursed Blade “Sierra” [Bound]

-Necklace Containing the Hero’s Protection [Epic]

I had risen two levels from yesterday’s Medical Technology Exchange Group quest. After quickly sweeping from the third to the fourth floor and descending, I rose one level more, bringing me to level 23.

I left three points remaining and invested everything else into Demon Swordsmanship.

Thanks to that, the level of Rebellion Against Heaven had risen, but... I still could not use “Chapter Two.”

Judging by my rough estimate, if I raised the skill level once more, it seemed I would become able to use the second chapter.

With every stair I descended, the fishy scent of blood grew thicker.

The thing was definitely on the fifth floor.

It was probably tearing apart anything it saw, whether student or monster.

When I finished descending the stairs and first stepped onto the fifth floor, I saw one large man.

His face was one I knew, though it was not extremely familiar.

“You bastard...”

The moment he found me, he lowered his voice like a snarling dog.

“Amon Caligus?”

As usual, he was armed with stone gauntlets on both arms and glaring at me.

“The ‘prey’ on the fifth floor is mine. Don’t even think of laying a finger on it, and get lost.”

Amon spat that at me.

It seemed he had heard the rumors and come to the fifth floor to catch the lycanthrope too.

Just then, a good idea came to mind.

“...Ah, then I have no choice but to yield.”

I showed Amon a smile and answered like that.

Thanks to the kind Amon, I would be able to gauge how powerful the lycanthrope was.