I Became a Slave Collector in the Labyrinth City

A brief sweet respite.

Rien, who had been on a forced march without rest for nearly two days, fell asleep as if fainting.
Erika also couldn’t resist drowsiness and nodded off, eventually closing her eyes.

‘But why are they sleeping on my shoulder?’

For some reason, both of them used my shoulders as pillows to sleep.
Rien put her head on my right shoulder, and Erika borrowed my left shoulder.

I don’t know why, but as drowsiness overcame them, they naturally came to my side and leaned on my shoulders without a word.

“Are those two lovers?”

“Huh? No. I just met them yesterday.”

“….What?”

Rohan opened his eyes wide in surprise, as if to say ‘what do you mean?’
But surprisingly, I haven’t even been with these women for a full day.

I was actually with the young lady longer.
I have no connection with them other than spending a few hours in the labyrinth.

Yet somehow, I seem to have become someone they can rely on.
Seeing how they came and leaned on me to sleep so comfortably.

“Wait, wait, wait a minute.”

“Yes?”

“No, so. They’re not precious people to you, and you just met them yesterday, but you came to rescue them risking your life? Why? For what reason?”

“Ah, well, you see.”

It’s a bit awkward to tell the truth that I agreed to receive gold coins.
Adventurers are very faithful to their desires.

No matter how kind and trustworthy they seem, there’s no need to readily reveal all the financial aspects.

Money, gold coins have a demonic nature.
Some people kill for a single gold coin.

Rohan and Hachi are certainly reliable men.
But they’re also people I just met today.

I haven’t been with them long enough to fully understand their inner selves.
There’s camaraderie, but in terms of trust between humans, there’s nothing to say.

Above all, these two have six companions that need to be saved.

Six corpses in the underground city.
I don’t know what relationship they have with these two.

Resurrection requires a huge amount of money.
It’s common to become indebted or end up having to watch your companion be sold as a slave because you couldn’t raise the resurrection costs.

That’s why I decided not to say anything about the compensation I’ll receive.
There’s nothing more foolish than boasting about money in the labyrinth city.

“A noble I have a connection with asked me. Since I owed them a favor. I couldn’t refuse, so I came in.”

I didn’t lie.

I certainly made a connection with the young lady, so it’s true that she’s “a noble I have a connection with”.
And since the young lady dragged me up to the 3rd floor when I collapsed on the 4th floor of the breeding grounds, it’s true that “I owed them a favor”.

Moreover, it was too large an amount of gold coins to refuse, so I came in.
It’s also true that “I couldn’t refuse, so I came in”.

I didn’t lie.

“Ah. So that was the reason. You’re a more loyal man than I thought.”

“Haha. It’s nothing.”

Rohan nodded with a slight smile.
He must have constructed a story about me and the noble in his own way.
It’s not loyalty but money that made me come in, but it’s good if he thinks well of me.

“Anyway, those two. Even though they’re not lovers, they seem to rely on you quite a bit.”

“That’s right.”

This is all because of the suspension bridge effect.
When you go through crisis moments together, hearts sprout, love sprouts, and such.

Actually, it’s common in mixed-gender parties.
Of course, you should absolutely not “date within the party”, but you know.

No, to be precise, it’s better not to date “active adventurers”.

This is, how should I put it.
Like the reason for not having a company relationship.
No, is it a bit different?

‘It’s dangerous. Dating an adventurer is dangerous.’

If you date within the same party, you can see each other often.
It might be good because you can naturally do various things when you see each other often.

But.

‘What if they die. What will you do then?’

Let’s think about dating a woman in the same party.
To be honest, labyrinth excursions are crazy.

Adventurers are clearly a 3D job.
Dirty, Difficult, and Dangerous.

If there’s a way to make money without fighting monsters, there’s no reason to be an adventurer.

Of course, there are quite a few people like me who aim for a life reversal through labyrinth excursions, or those who enter the labyrinth to raise their level and gain abilities through mana adaptation.

But why?
Is there a reason to enter the labyrinth if you already have money?

This was why I inwardly laughed at the young lady when I first saw her.
I was irritated by the fact that a noble child, who didn’t need to struggle in the labyrinth, was voluntarily trying to enter.

While some risk their lives to enter and struggle like dogs.
I thought nobles entered just for fun without such hardships.
And this notion of mine was formed by months of experience.

Of course, the young lady was a bit different from that type.
A young lady whose dream is to be an adventurer? She’s not in her right mind.

Anyway, adventurers are in a profession where it’s completely unpredictable when, where, how, and in what state they’ll die.
Can you date someone in such a profession with peace of mind?

Especially within the same party.

What if your partner gets torn apart by monsters right before your eyes while dating?
Your mental state would be completely shattered that day.

It would be better if the corpse was completely destroyed, leaving no possibility of resurrection.
You could quickly commit suicide or give up on life in despair.

But what if resurrection is possible?

You’d go crazy trying to raise the resurrection costs.
Blinded by money, you’d take risks and die.

Those who die like this are discovered by someone again, moved to a temple.
After being forcibly resurrected, they’re given the choice to either forcibly repay the money, go to the mines, or be sold as slaves.

I’ve seen this ending several times already.
A truckload of adventurers have died like this.

The temples in the labyrinth city have a tenacious side.
If they can collect the resurrection costs, they’ll use any means to do so.

And among these methods, there are cases where they threaten to auction off the resurrected person in the slave market.
Because the temple holds the identity of the resurrected “revived person” until the resurrection costs are repaid.

Adventurers without relatives are sent to mines or handed over to slave traders to receive a suitable price when judged unable to repay the money.

But for adventurers with relatives, or those judged to have someone who can repay the money, there’s no way they can’t repay the money.

They must repay it no matter what.
Moreover, they make it impossible to buy the resurrected person as a slave at a cheap price.

If you want to get your dead companion back.
You must prepare at least 100 gold coins.
Revived people are products for the temple.

Especially for adventurers who have gone through many mana adaptations and have high levels, the price becomes even higher.
Furthermore, the cost can increase several times with each resurrection.

The minimum is 100 gold coins.
If you were killed by another adventurer or companion, you might not have to pay separate resurrection costs if you testify in front of a priest with lie detection… Well, that doesn’t happen often.

Anyway, if you’re from a wealthy family, or your parents are nobles, or you’re a rich adventurer, it might be easy to prepare 100 gold coins, but for others, it’s an amount they can’t gather even if they earn for a lifetime.

For these reasons, dating within the same party is crazy.

And dating someone from a completely different party is like saying it’s okay for anyone to sleep with your girlfriend anytime.

As I’ve said many times, the labyrinth city is full of Golden Suns, and cases of NTR happen more often than you can imagine.

I’d like to give examples of how you might lose your girlfriend…
But just imagining it makes me want to vomit.

‘Wait, so what’s the conclusion?’

In conclusion, you need a pretty slave who will faithfully do housework without having to enter the labyrinth.
Moreover, people in the labyrinth city don’t intimidate or discriminate against someone just because their status is a slave.

Because it’s not their slave.
Unless you’re the slave’s owner, you can’t treat that slave recklessly.
You shouldn’t use or damage other people’s property carelessly.

If you treat someone else’s slave recklessly, you should be prepared to face the consequences.

Treating something that’s not yours carelessly?
That’s a challenge to the slave owner.

Anyway, after going round and round, my conclusion is this.
I’ve given various reasons, but in the end, what I want to say is always one thing.

Slaves are the best.
Hmm. No matter how I think about it, slaves are the best.

Without having to enter the labyrinth and risk my life fighting.
Living off the money I earn without complaint.
Furthermore, unable to cheat no matter what happens, by order.

Such a woman.
Even better if she’s a virgin.

Actually, I didn’t care much about virginity, but after what the slave merchant said last time, I don’t want to buy slaves who aren’t virgins.

Right? If you’re buying with expensive money, new is better than used.

‘Come to think of it… The young lady was a virgin too.’

Oh my. What am I thinking?
After going through various things with the young lady, her face naturally came to mind.

My goodness, I must be crazy.
To consider a noble young lady as a dating prospect.
I’m crazy. Know your place, porter.

‘Don’t even imagine it. I don’t want to die prematurely at the hands of Margrave Lionel.’

As I shook my head to clear my thoughts, Rohan spoke to me again.

“By the way, do you belong to any party?”

“No. Not particularly.”

“Then.. would you like to join our party later?”

“You’d always be welcome, my friend.”

Rohan proposed an exclusive contract.
And Hachi, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, chimed in.

Those two seem to like me quite a bit too.

“Haha. I don’t really plan to join anywhere.”

“Is that so. May I ask why?”

“Well, you see. How should I put it…”

There are several reasons why I don’t seek an exclusive party.
There’s the reason that I don’t want to be deeply tied down anywhere.
And I’m also afraid that if I get too close to companions, I won’t be able to accept their deaths.

Moreover, if I get an exclusive party and go in and out of the labyrinth, somehow…

‘I really don’t like feeling like I’m actually working.’

It feels like becoming a company employee.
It feels like I have to go to the labyrinth out of obligation.

Being part of a team means coordinating schedules with team members.
That alone is quite stressful.

I’m satisfied with just grabbing a suitable party on days I want to work, when I want to work, and just going around the upper levels and coming out. You could say I aspire to a freelancer’s life.

But if I have a team I belong to, I have to adjust to the party leader’s opinions, which is a bit uncomfortable. It feels like getting a workplace superior.
The situation is different between participating as an external member and as an official party member.

Even without an exclusive party, there are many who seek me out.
To increase my value and expand my influence further, it’s better to be free.

And probably after escaping from this labyrinth, there will be even more people seeking me out.

Why, you ask?

‘Because now I can roam around the underground city too.’

I went through my 6th mana adaptation while rescuing the young lady yesterday.
I reached level 6. I’ve met the minimum entry condition for the underground city.

Up to level 5, you show symptoms of mana poisoning when entering the underground city, but at level 6, you can roam the underground city without problems.

Love calls from those who usually want me will pour in.
Spatial pockets are that rare.

“I see. If you ever change your mind, let me know. You’re always welcome.”

“Yes. Thank you for the invitation.”

“It’s nothing. A porter of your caliber will be welcomed anywhere.”

Hachi and Rohan left the possibility open.
It seems they really don’t want to let me go, even though I clearly refused.

“Well, let’s end the chat here and start going up.”

“Yes. Rien, Erika. Wake up. It’s time to leave.”

I woke up the two sleeping women.

“Sssip.. Mmm…”

Rien woke up, wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth.
No, there’s drool on my shoulder…

“Ugh.. M-my legs.. They hurt so much…”

Erika couldn’t stand up.
She looks like she wants to be carried, but there was no one to carry her.

I felt like I was about to collapse and die too.
Rohan and Hachi needed to fight, so they had no room to carry a burden on their backs.

Even if they had room, they probably wouldn’t have carried her anyway.

“Get up quickly. There’s no time to whine.”

“Ugh… Okay..”

The whiny priestess got up too.
We moved towards the transfer stone on the 3rd floor again.

“Monsters are coming from the front.”

“Erika, can you cast buffs?”

“Yes..! Just a moment.”

There were still many monsters.
If there’s one fortunate thing, it’s that we now have a healer in the team.

“There! The transfer stone!”

“Damn bug bastards!”

We ran towards the transfer stone.
An enormous number of killer bugs chased us from behind.

It’s still dangerous even up to the 3rd floor.

“It’ll be easier once we get to the 2nd floor! Run!!!”

Rohan shouted while sweeping away the bugs.
Rien ran half-crying because her legs hurt so much, and Erika, who was lagging behind, was eventually carried by Hachi.

“Haa. Haa.. Shit..”

I feel like I’m going to die too.
Damn labyrinth.

“Go in!!!”

Hachi, carrying Erika, jumped into the blue gate.
Rien and I immediately followed, and Rohan, who was watching us enter until the very end, succeeded in coming up to the 2nd floor.

“Ha. Hahaha!”

Rohan laughed.
Killer bugs don’t appear on the 2nd floor.

Goodbye to those damn bug bastards.

“Cursed sewers. I’ll never enter here again in my life.”

“I agree.”

Hachi agreed with Rohan’s words.
Rien, who was bent over dripping sweat because she was so out of breath, nodded vigorously.

“Rien, are you okay?”

“Yeah.. I’m fiiine…”

She didn’t look fine at all.

“Well, let’s go up again. We’re about to escape.”

“Phew. That way. We should go that way.”

“Ah, there’s a map here. I’ll guide us.”

The place we transferred to was marked on the mapping.
We can move to the transfer stone by the shortest route.

“Haah.. Thank goodness.”

Rien, who was suffering from a headache due to overusing search tracking, sighed and stroked her chest.

Soon we were able to go up to the 1st floor through the transfer stone.
As expected, we quickly found the transfer stone and were able to escape the labyrinth.

Finally, we could escape from this damn labyrinth.