Chapter 4

A Change of Pace

「 ........ 」

.........

「 You’re doing it wrong, brat. 」

........

「 - sigh - Why can’t you understand such a simple concept? 」

Wha‒ it’s because you’re such a bad teacher!

「 Don’t put the blame on me, brat! I was very clear on my explanation, so don’t put the blame on me! 」

Everything you explained doesn’t make sense! No sense! Nonsense bird! You’re nonsense bird!

「 No, maybe you’re just too much of an idiot? 」

Oh, yeah? Well, don’t worry about me, then. It’s not like I expected much from a birdbrain, anyway.

「 You what?! I took the trouble, and you’re like this to me?! I took the trouble, so if you call me names again, I’ll‒ 」

What? Peck me to death?

「 You know what? I might just do that. 」

Umm, wait…

Thus, I can only despair as the mighty beaks rain down once again.

Ah, silly me. You must be confused because there’s no context. Well, let me roll back a bit.

Thanks to that encounter with the lifer before, I finally realized this world is a much more dangerous place than I thought. I need to come up with a way to defend myself. After all, I can’t depend on the bird forever, can I?

Then I remembered about the aether field Hadda talked about. If it’s so amazing that we don’t need food or water within its vicinity, then it should be something worth investigating, don’t you think?

So I threw my pride aside and asked Hadda about it.

「 Oh, you’re asking me because you realize you’re so weak? 」

T─That has nothing to do with it.

「 It has everything to do with it. Listen up, brat. We are weak because of what we don’t know, and you don’t know anything. That makes you the weakest of all. 」

By that point, I was already nodding my head in resignation.

「 Humph. Very well, I shall teach you the concept of magic. 」

What? Magic?

「 Like I said before, one can make use of the aether through the alignment of the will and the subconscious to warp reality. Mortals call this “magic”. You don’t even know that? 」

“Magic”, huh. Then, can you pull a rabbit out of a top hat?

「 Don’t be ridiculous. Rabbits can’t grow in top hats. 」

…Then what’s the point?

「 Listen up, brat. Since you’re interested, I guess I’ll teach you. Even though it’s a bother, but it can’t be helped. 」

If you’re so unwilling, I’m not─

「 Since you’re interested, I guess I’ll teach you, so listen up, brat! 」

And so, that’s how we got to where we are now.

From what Hadda told me, the so called “magic” is the method of using “aether” in order to affect the reality around us. The way it works is by making use of an energy beyond our world to warp the fabric of our… err… actually, I’ll just let the bird explain.

「 Reality is relative. If we change our perspective, no laws in the world can be absolute. To make it easy for your puny mind, imagine two parallel lines on a piece of parchment. In the plane of that parchment, it’s an absolute law that those lines never meet, but we, outside that plane, can simply fold the parchment to make them coincide, or reshape the plane into a geometry on which the parallel postulate does not apply. Similarly, the aether beyond our world is like us to that piece of parchment. The aether can change our world’s absolute laws. 」

Change the world’s… laws?

「 That’s right. Mass-energy, charges, and motion can be added or substracted through magic. Conventional conservation of energy would no longer hold in a model universe connected with aether. Our entire world is a closed system, and by connecting to the aether, we open a corridor beyond that system. 」

So how do I open that corridor?

「 Alignment of the will and the subconscious. 」

...His explanation started so well, though.

And so we’re back to the beginning of the chapter, where I’m hopelessly trying to comprehend this concept of, ahem, “alignment of the will and the subconscious” by meditating for hours while the bird croaks out all kinds of cryptic hints, like “reach out” or “connect your mind”.

...Connect with what, exactly?! Am I supposed to pull out my brain out and put it somewhere?!

Haah… I don’t think this is working out.

「 Well, I guess it can’t be helped. Even I can’t do it in a field such as this. It’s just the maze’s deterrent for the prisoners to the use of aether, so it’s unlikely anyone can do it, because even I can’t do it in a field such as this. 」

...Tee-hee, so basically, I did all this for nothing.

Hadda?

「 Mm? 」

With a lovely smile on my face, I ball my hand into a fist.

Can I punch you?

◊ ◊ ◊

Aside from the occasional puzzles, things had been uneventful since our encounter with the lifer. We would hear a beast’s bellow now and then, but never close enough to be an immediate threat.

Due to my, ahem, poor constitution, we had to take a rest once in a while. I was worried about the lifer catching up to us, but Hadda gave me three reasons that convinced me otherwise.

Firstly, the lifer doesn’t know its way around the maze like Hadda does.

Secondly, while we’re being avoided by the jailers for whatever reason, the lifer, on the contrary, is being constantly hunted. According to Hadda, a single jailer is enough to route the lifer.

And lastly, the puzzles.

That’s right. The puzzles, which I thought was merely Hadda’s way of having fun, turns out to be a mechanism of the maze akin to shortcuts and the lifer, naturally, has no clue on how to use it.

And so, I could rest easy and nap whenever…

…Or not.

Just because it has a handicap, it doesn’t mean that the lifer doesn’t pose a threat. In fact, we’ve had some close encounters with the lifer, with Hadda having me jog through some sections to avoid the beast. It was never like our first encounter, though. Recently, I had to run for one good length, not because the lifer was on us, but because Hadda wanted to make it lose our scent.

「 It’s because your scent is especially strong. 」

…Are you telling me that I’m smelly? Oy.

Well, I don’t care if you are. There’s no source of water here, let alone a warm bath. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with basking in one’s natural musk...

…Hmm? No, I’m not crying. This is definitely not a maiden’s tears, what are you talking about. – sniff –

Oh, and also… I’ve been training, you see, hehe...!

Since Hadda’s magic lessons didn’t work out, I decided to start improving my constitution during our rests.

Hayy—ya!

I punched my fist with vigor against an invisible lifer. It’s a headshot!

Hash—ha!

Because I wanted to somehow train my vocals as well, I also shouted out loud... well, silently.

Hatt—ta!

This time, it’s a strike to the solar plexus. The beast went down, groaning in pain.

「 ...... 」

Hazz—za!

「 ...... 」

Hadd—da!

「 Brat. Just... stop. 」

◊ ◊ ◊

「 We’re almost there. 」

We stand still as I observe the big passage before me. It’s about thrice as wide as the normal corridors, and the walls on the sides just seem to keep going deeper into the path. It’s different from anything I’ve ever seen. Perhaps it leads to a different section of the maze?

「 Just beyond is no longer an area that I’m familiar with, though I still remember the way to our destination. 」

You mean, to that “someone” who knows the exit?

「 Hopefully. At the very least, that person should know what to do with you. 」

How far does this go?

I ask as I step to the edge of the opening and see that the end is nowhere to be seen.

「 It may take quite a walk. 」

...I get it now.

Now I know why we had to lose the lifer first. This passage is just a single, straight path with no branching ways. Meeting the lifer while on this passage would mean that there’s just no way to go but a straight line, and I for one can’t imagine myself outrunning the horned beast. Just the image of it brought a shudder.

Thinking about it isn’t exactly productive, and it’s not like I have any other choice other than following the route Hadda had drawn for me. So I walk into the large passage, unsure of what to expect.

Even if we’ve lost the lifer, the fact that it’s beyond Hadda’s “map” makes me somewhat anxious. He did say that he knows the way to our goal, but it also means that he wouldn’t know where to go if we were to encounter something else. Who knows? There might be another lifer there.

The worst-case scenario would be meeting a lifer while still within the passage, or if the horned lifer were to catch up. Or both.

◊ ◊ ◊

It was indeed quite a walk. I became even more worried when I asked why the area ahead of us was outside of Hadda’s knowledge. He actually went silent for a while, as if contemplating on how to answer without making me anxious, which he did by doing just that.

「 I just never got the chance. 」.

…That’s a bold-faced lie. Just what is it? Something clearly prevented him from coming here, right? Could it be there’s something more frightening than the horned lifer? Something that won’t even budge against Hadda’s dragon-roar?

As always, the answer to that is… don’t think about it.

Sometime later, I finally notice something outside the monotonous panorama of unending walls. It’s too far to make out, but I can tell that it’s moving. Hadda sees it too and it makes him stop, and that in turn makes me stop as well.

The white figure is heading towards us. It seems to be walking, so if it’s a lifer, it probably hasn’t noticed us yet, or it’s just not aggressive because it would be charging at us otherwise.

...Or maybe it’s just a predatory tactic to let our guard down.

As usual, I look at my mentor/guardian/bully bird.

Hadda?

The bird in question stands silent on the narrow footing on the wall, staring at the figure like he’s deliberating on his next move.

Hadda, what do we do?

I ask again when he didn’t answer. His silence is starting to make me worry. Well, worrier.

「 It’s okay, keep going. 」

He sounded... unsure. Afraid, even.

Even so, his command was voiced with determination.

Hadda jumps down while I’m still in thought. Now he’s hopping in front of me, leading the way while I follow closely behind. As we got closer, though, he glances at me and does a nodding gesture, which I took as a command for me to take more distance. I comply and start walking a fair bit behind the raven.

We approach the new encounter, and now that we’re much closer, I can identify the white figure in front of us.

…It’s a wolf.

…Well, I say it’s a wolf, but back when I just woke up, I had described Hadda as a bird, so you just know that it is, in fact, not just a wolf.

Its fur is white. Pure, snow white as if it just came out of some polishing machine along with a top-of-the-line paint job bonus. I wonder if there are grooming services in the maze?

Also, is it just me, or is this wolf glowing? Like, literally. The wolf’s white fur seems to give off a faint glow, one that allowed me to spot it in the distance. How very odd.

Finally, there’s its size. Yup, you saw it coming.

On all fours, it’s as tall as I am. Yes, yes, it’s the same thing with Hadda, but change the subject from a bird to a wolf? I think my head fits in that maw and then some, but I’m not willing to make that bet.

Also, it’s a little on the furry side, it looks like. Especially around the neck and the tail is looking very... fluffy...

...Wow. Those snow white fur. So… so fluffy and… huggable. If I use that as a pillow then…

- cough - A‒Anyway, me being as strong and mighty as I am, there’s certainly no chance for me to outrun this tiger-sized wolf. Fight? I guess I can do that. If by fight, you meant pitting the bird against the wolf, that is.

With only a stride between, both animals stop. The black raven and the white wolf, staring each other down with no signs of yielding.

The raven’s crimson eyes shone, reflecting the faint glow of the wolf’s fur. I stare at them in suspense.

The maze becomes more silent than ever as the air around them crackles. My heart feels as if it stops when I see the wolf opening it’s mouth…

「 Thou fucking bird. Begone from my sight. 」

「 Croak! Beautiful as always, cur. 」

Apparently, being able to talk is a trend among the animals of the maze. Also, the wolf’s voice is an aspect of its own...

「 And what’s this? Hast thou a fledgeling as thy biddy?」

Yeah... “his” voice. Since the fur is so beautiful, I thought it would be a girl’s or a woman’s, you know? Or at least, a bit more refined?

Like Hadda, the wolf’s voice is a male’s, but it sounds older and... grumpier. It’s more mature, and I would even say somewhat cool, if not for the...

「 For fuck’s sake, bird. To think thou hast a little lass as thy fucking hen? Thou fucking knave. 」

...indecent vocabulary. Not to mention that I can’t understand half what he said.

Anyway, his attention seems to be aimed at me now. He takes a couple of steps forward, but Hadda quickly moves in front of him.

「 Do you have no manners, mongrel? For you to mouth such‒ 」

Hadda stops mid-sentence and turns his head at me.

「 ...Brat, you’re a girl? 」

......

...Oh, the maidenly tears. Do I look so unsightly that he doesn’t recognize me as a girl?

Before the tears could, ahem, before I could reply, though, the wolf laughed. At least, I think it’s a laugh. It’s like a mix of growls and howling, as well as a drop of insanity.

Anyway, despite their... umm, circumstances, they don’t appear to be hostile to each other, so I brave myself and try “speaking” to the wolf.

You’re not a lifer?

The wolf slightly starts, then glares at me, making me step back instinctively. Then I remember that how I “speak” is a rather intrusive method of sending my thoughts into their mind.

「 Ah, you see... The brat is unable to speak, you see‒ 」

「 Silence, lowly pigeon. 」

The wolf lurches towards me, passing the raven while he’s recovering from the insult. I step back, but the wolf promptly moves to my side with the intent of cutting me off. He inches towards me until I have my back against the wall. My gaze is locked with his bright, amber eyes, as he leans closer and closer to me. His maw opens slightly, revealing the many sets of fangs he had, and then...

And then he woofed.

That’s right. He woofed, and I fell down on my butt.

…You think that’s pathetic? Well, imagine a big tiger baring its teeth while you have nowhere to... argh, whatever.

Yes, it was weak, sad, and pathetic. And to sprinkle some salt, the white wolf laughs even harder this time. And guess what! Hadda, my dear, trusted mentor/guardian/bully, is laughing at me too!

「 Aruuf! Arf arf auuwaa groawawa! 」

「 Croaaak! Croaaakhawakhawakhah! 」

Such betrayal! Hadda, how could you?!

I hurriedly stand up, but the wolf is still too close for my comfort. After he’s done with the mockery, he leans close to me yet again, but I won’t fall for it this time.

「 Thou... 」

Erm…

The wolf sends me another sharp glare, but I won’t flinch or anything. N‒Not much…

「 Thou smell... 」

...What.

Yes, I know that I smell. Hadda told me before. Please, stop bullying me.

I... umm, so you’re not a lifer, right?

I ask him again. I’m not changing the topic or anything, you know.

「 Lifer? What could thou be prattling about? 」

Eh? Does he not know what they are?

Y‒Yeah, you know, as in… there are lifers and conditional prisoners, as well as jailers...?

「 What art thou… 」

The wolf glances at Hadda, then he does what I perceive as something between a snort and a chuckle.

「 Aah, I see... The pigeon bird hath been giving thee crap ideas about this place, hath he not? Mark me, lass. Therein no such thing. Only ones who hunt, and ones to be hunted. The strong survives, and bawblings such as thou get fucked, got it? 」

Hadda let out an annoyed croak, but said nothing. He didn’t refute it, but neither did he approve.

「 Oh, and by the way, Ye art being followed. I suppose the bird is too untaught to even realize. 」

「 Aah, yeah. Too bad that I don’t have the pup’s sense of smell. 」

「 What?! Don’t slight me, thou fangless bird! 」

And so it ensued once again.

More importantly was what the wolf had said.

Something is following us… could it be the lifer? Even though Hadda and I had gone through such measures to outmaneuver it. Doesn’t that mean we should hurry?

...Wait. If the wolf were to travel with us...

Umm... mister, would you mind going with us?

「 「 What?! 」 」

Oh, they’re in sync. See that double quotes? That means they’re in sync.

「 Surely thou jest, little lass! Nay shall I plod with this fucking fuckwit, pathetic excuse of a fucking birdbrain! 」

「 I’ll say the same! This good-for-nothing dog is no good for anything else other than his good-for-nothing slights! 」

Looks like they only join forces when they bully, me, huh.

「 Damn it. This is why I don’t want to go here in the first place! But I have no choice... 」

「 Wherein thy headings, anyway? 」

「 I’m just guiding the brat to meet that woman. You know, the escort? 」

「 Thou mean Cheron, perchance? 」

「 Yeah, I figured if anyone knows what to do, it’s her. If the brat doesn’t belong here, she’d have to escort the brat out. 」

「 I see. I smell her, bit beyond thither. Thou fare the way? 」

「 Yeah, yeah, I got it. 」

...All of a sudden, they stopped their scorn of each other and left me out. This is confusing.

「 Brat. Let’s go. 」

Hadda hops onto the wall-ledges and starts walking. I promptly follow, but stop and look back at the wolf.

Are you really not coming?

「 Nay. Now run along, little lass. 」

Okay... well, thank you, then.

「 Huh? 」

You came here to warn us about the lifer, right?

The wolf froze as if I said something wrong. Crap.

It’s true, though. Why would he be in the passage if not for that? He seems to have an extremely good sense of smell, so he might have smelled us and the lifer before coming here to warn us. He also asked Hadda if he knows the way, too. I’m probably overthinking it, but he would probably show us if Hadda hadn’t known the way.

「 Oy, brat. You coming or not? 」

Ah, hold on.

I turn to walk away, but stop in my tracks again.

Uh...I, can I.., I mean, do you have a name?

「 ...Do you? 」

His eyes bore into mine, as if daring me to ask further. I won’t, of course. Even if he doesn’t feel hostile to begin with, I’m pretty sure he can snack on me in a couple of big bites if he wanted to.

The white wolf turns and starts walking away, apparently not interested in whether I have a name or not.

Then, take care,

I turn and walk away as well, though not before I hear him mutter in a low voice, “you too”.

◊ ◊ ◊

Hmm, hmm… ladida....~

「 You seem happy, brat. 」

Eh? No, not really?

The truth is, this mood is because I’m currently recalling about the wolf. Seeing how they acted, he must’ve been Hadda’s friend. Though the way they treated each other suggested that something had happened between them.

If only he came with us...

- sigh -

I think I missed a rare chance to get a fluffy tail to get cuddly with. I mean, Hadda’s not bad at all, but those snow white fur seemed really fuzzy wuzzy, you know?

Ah, don’t worry, I’m not stupid. It’s just fantasy, after all. If it were reality, I’d definitely get eaten.

It had been some time after we left the long passage, and there’s still no sign of the lifer. There was no reason not to believe what the wolf had said, and Hadda seemed to buy it too, so we were walking in caution against any sign of the lifer.

One thing I noticed about this new area was how “dynamic” it is. Before, the layout of the maze were just boring walls, forks, with occasional “rooms” and puzzles. Here, there are different levels with stairs and stuff, as well as long, curved corridors and tunnels. Even the walls come in varying heights. Some corridors have towering walls like the ones we’re used to, while others have as low as somewhere around twice to thrice my height.

I wonder how the puzzles go here? I’m a little bit excited to try them out.

「 Oy, brat. 」

Hmm?

「 Other than our goal, I’m not exactly familiar with this area. 」

Yes?

「 Naturally, I wouldn’t be able to know where to go if… look, we need to prepare for the worst case, you understand? 」

Hadda, you mean…

「 My point is, you need to know what to do when you’re on your own, especially if you encounter the lifer. 」

Hadda, a─are you going to leave me?

「 Of course not, idiot brat! Like I said, we need to prepare for the worst case, idiot brat! 」

I sigh a breath of relief.

And here I though he finally realized how I won that bet of ours.

So, what exactly must I do against the lifer?

I start listening intently. This is, after all, him passing down his deep and profound knowledge of facing a lifer. He might even tell me how to roar like a dragon, like he did before!

「 Basically, you just run. 」

…Huh?

「 Just run. 」

…Hold on, where’s the promised deep and profound knowledge? What about tricks? Or even some hiding tactics I can use?

「 Also, don’t even try to hide or trick him. He can track you by scent, so tricks won’t work. Basically, if you get caught, just run. Got it, brat? 」

...Can I still exchange the bird with that wolf?

「 Are you listening? 」

Y‒Yes.

「 - sigh -... Listen properly, brat. This is for you own sake. 」

I‒I know! I mean, I am listening properly!

But where’s the promised deep and profound knowledge!

「 ...Right. Remember, don’t try to hide or trick him. He can track you by scent, so tricks won’t work. And if you ever get caught‒ 」

Just run, I got it.

I sigh in acceptance of my fate. What else can I expect from a bird?

「 Just run. Because he’s stupid and he knows the maze as much as you do, just get as far away as possible, because he’s stupid and he knows the maze as m‒ 」

Yeah, I said I got it.

「 ...Right. And also, if you ever get cornered, it might be worth to try using the aether. 」

...Eh? But you said it’s not possible in the... aether field or something?

「 It’s hard to do, but not not possible. The active mind and subconscious tend to resonate more in emergency or life-threatening situations. 」

I‒Is that so...?

「 Yes... in theory, at least. So if you ever got into such situation, it might be worth to try using the aether, because it’s possible... in theory, at least. Remember; to connect with the aether, you need to‒ 」

Alignment of the will and the subconscious, right? - sigh - Got it.

In the end, it boils down to “run away, no hiding or tricks because it won’t work. Oh, but if you’re really desperate, try pulling rabbits out of a top hat, it might work since you’re on the verge of death and there’s literally nothing else to do!”

…Ah well, it’s not like we’d be separated any time soon, right?

Whoops. My premonition on the wolf turned out true, so I better not jinx myself.

--- --- ---

While lamenting my fate, we’ve suddenly reached our destination.

We arrive at an area that’s near identical to the first place where I woke up. Inside the familiar gazebo-like structure in the middle, there’s a figure. A lean, slightly tall human figure in black.

I should be excited for finally seeing another human, and yet… I don’t know why, but my hair is standing on the back of my neck when I look at that person.

「 Yo, Cheron. 」

“ ...... “

So this is Cheron the “escort”? I don’t like her already.

The person in question didn’t respond to Hadda’s greeting and is as still as a statue. She is covered from head to toe in a hooded, long black robe and I can’t really see the eyes. I can, however, see her inhumanly pale skin as well as her dark-colored lips.

「 There’s something I want to ask you, you see... 」 Hadda continued.

For just a brief second, I see her lips forming into an ominous smile. Then she...

...Huh? She... disappeared?

“Honored Lord Hadda...,” the bone-chilling voice suddenly appeared from behind us, continuing before we could even look back, “my master awaits.”

I turn around to face her, but there’s nothing behind me.

…She was clearly there, wasn’t she?

Hadda, where did she…

…Huh?

......

……

...Hadda?

I keep looking around, but there’s no trace of both Cheron and the bird.

The heck.

This is the jinx, isn’t it.

Hadda, s─stop playing around. Come out now.

…Is it just me or the air got colder just now? And was that a roar I heard just now? No, that was the wind, I think. Wait, I don’t think there were ever any wind here?

Huh?! W─Was that footsteps behind me?! There’s no one, though?! I’m alone here. There’s absolutely no one…

…Right. I’m alone.

All alone.

........

...Okay. Calm down.

First, let’s retrace what just happened. It should be easy, right? Damn right it’s easy. A woman in black just took Hadda away. There, easy enough.

Haha…

Well,

…shite.