Rex smiled wryly at his current circumstances, though he frowned slightly mentally ‘Shit. How? The group hadn’t retreated. They were-‘ his own thought was interrupted by a realisation which would cause his eyes to open wide if he didn’t need to control his expression right now. He had found two bodies right before the third floor, then two more a little after entering it, two again a little before the guardian room and seven inside. Thirteen bodies in total. He would slap himself right now if he didn’t have a possibly hostile audience. That added up to thirteen bodies. The group had eighteen members.

“Hey.” Called out the old man before he could think anymore “We heard there’s a labyrinth around here. D’you maybe know what that’s about?”

“Yeah. You’re in the right place. Just a bit on the late side.” Rex answered, nonchalantly pointing a thumb to the cave behind him. There was no point in lying. It was obvious they were aware of the situation to an extent. If not everyone then the old man that seemed to be the leader was, and that was bad enough. Rex wasn’t going to lie. Fighting his way out of the situation would be difficult. Incredibly so. He had no confidence in being able to do so at all. His condition in the hours that he’d spent coming out of the labyrinth had improved, but that was just a change from “nearly dead” to “barely able to keep himself standing from exhaustion”.

“Oh? So this one just looks like a normal cave huh? Hey! I thought you said there’s a door!” he yelled at two members of the group behind him.

“There was We swear!” one of them answered. The other pointed at Rex and shoutedq “This guy! He must’ve followed the group and then stole the rewards when they were exhausted. Look at that hammer! Its probably a magical item!” Everyone’s gazes suddenly locked onto it like hungry wolves. Rex had yet to strap the hammer to his belt or put on a cloak. It was always in his hand. He was unwilling to let his guard down while walking through the labyrinth.

“Is that true?” the old man asked again, turning to Rex.

“Please don’t insult me like that. I beat the guardian myself fair and square after the other lot’d taken their go.” The drakin answered with a half-smile.

“I see. And the core? How was it?”

“I think it tried to kill me multiple times. Its probably dead by now though.” Everyone got on their guards. Obviously negotiations didn’t seem to be going well. Though Rex still didn’t know. The old man was unreadable. Rex decided. He would bet on the old man being a true adventurer.

“Did you know that the unauthorized killing of a labyrinth is forbidden by the law?”

“Yeah.”

“I see. Can I ask why?”

Rex hesitated in answering for a moment, thinking carefully how to word it “A promise.”

The old man also paused for a moment, then closed his eyes “I hope that promise is worth it. I want you to know that as citizens of this country we have a duty to report you. Everyone! We’re going back!” He turned around

“Wait, wait! What? You’re kidding right? He’s right there! We should apprehend him!” One of his companions shouted.

“I’d like to remind you that adventurers are not allowed to have serious fights with one another. Keep your fists shiny for your next tavern brawla, Host.”

“But-!” he tried to retaliate only to be interrupted.

“I’d also like to remind everyone here that clearing labyrinths is strictly allowed by the guild and in the case that a country’s laws contradict those of the guild, guild members should not act against each other and should inform appropriate authorities of the circumstances.” The old man recited surprising many people. Rex himself hadn’t known that’s how rules worked. He had thought that the guild also wouldn’t allow the clearance of labyrinths.

“Oh. But!” the old man suddenly remembered something, turning to Rex once more “Did you kill any of the group in there? “ he asked Rex.

“No. They all died from the labyrinth itself. Two were poisoned and put out of their misery on the second floor. Four died on the third in unknown to me circumstances. It wasn’t human work though. Their heads were crushed and mangled beyond recognition. The other seven died in the guardian room.”

“I see... did you retrieve any of their cards?”

“No?”

“A few of you go confirm that! I’ll have your report at the guild. If what he’s saying is true the labyrinth poses no threat.” The one addressed as Host earlier and two others moved inside the cave, torches at the ready. It was dark outside so several members of the group already carried light. “The rest of you are free to go. And just so you know in future, Rex. Retrieving the cards of dead member is rewarded. The higher ranked, the better the reward.” Rex simply nodded. He still couldn’t believe he would just be let go.

“Then I’ll be going before the country gets on my ass.” Rex said, turning and starting to walk away.

“One last thing.” The old man called out “When you lie about your race at least make it believable.”

Rex froze for a moment. Then proceeded to walk away without saying anything. If he were to go back to the road and follow it, it would take a day or two to reach Ann’s village. So he decided to cut through the forest for a large shortcut. Like that, considering he was already quite deep in the forest, another few hours and he would be at the village. He had already ran the marathon. Now all he needed was to bring the trophy home. Just a bit longer. Like that, constantly forcing himself to proceed forward, he made his way through the forest.

It was an hour or so of walking later when he suddenly felt a pain in his thigh, looking down he saw an arrow had bounced off of his scales. The pain was only because of the shock to his already damaged insides the impact caused. Still even then he was almost too tired to make note of it. No. He almost relished in it. The pain kept him awake. He felt another, this time on his back. It was then that he realised finally he was in danger. His left hand took out a knife from his pouch and concentrated as much as he could. He heard this time the string of the bow being pulled back, immediately sending the knife flying in its direction, he soon heard a scream and a fall.

He walked over tiredly through the foliage to see a man running away , holding his shoulder. Taking another knife out, he threw it and hit the man straight in the back of the head, causing him to fall limp. He heard the creak of a branch above him and his tail rose, swatting the man falling towards him with a knife, out of the air, causing him to hit a tree. The last thing the man saw with his left eye was the tip of a knife that immediately pierced it, killing him.

Rex retrieved and cleaned his knives off with the tools he’d bought from the blacksmith in Fyric. He also took the men’s coins, thinking they might make a good gift for Ann. He certainly wouldn’t need them where he was going. After he was done he proceeded forward. The last member of the group left his hiding place well after he was gone. The plan was supposed to be simple. He stared at the bodies of his comrades in disbelief before collapsing to the ground, his body fine, but his spirit shattered.

Rex didn’t receive anymore interruptions. By the time he left the forest the sun had risen and the mark of twenty four hours since he had woken up passed. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem for him as he could stay awake for multiple days without tiring, but this time he had gone through too much in this one day. He started following the road, after two hours he arrived at the village, passing through it, quite a few people remembered him and greeted him, but all he could afford in greeting were small gestures like a nod of his head or a raise of his hand. When he arrived at Ann’s hut he knocked on the door and upon hearing Maya’s voice answering to wait just a moment. His legs gave way and his consciousness faded.

When he opened his eyes again he saw a familiar ceiling. He had slept here for two months before.

“Ah! Masteeer! He’s awake!” he heard from next to him. Turning his head he saw Maya, the fellow student of Ann. Though she had been taught for much longer and much more.

“Hey.” He greeted as he stood his body up. He was mostly naked which wasn’t too surprising, considering he probably received medical attention, as much as Ann and her apprentice could give.

“H-hi again...” the girl answered back as Ann entered the room., barely fitting together with the other two. The room really wasn’t the biggest with only a single bed and some space to the side of it.

“You’re awake. Good. You scared the life out of us.” The old woman said, though she couldn’t stop her smile from showing.

“How long was I out for?”

“About a day. You must’ve really been tired huh?”

“Yeah... did you rummage through my bag already?”

“Huh? No we really haven’t.” She pointed to the side of the bed where his bag was left, confusedly. Though that confusion quickly turned into anticipation as she thought about the hammer he had carried. She should have rummaged through it.

Rex leaned to it and picked it up, opening the strings and taking out the green labyrinth core. “Request complete.” He told her with a smile. Ann instantly snatched it out of his hands, causing his smile to widen slightly. She examined it in wonder, but then turned to Rex again.

“How did you get this so fast?” she asked, her wonder turning into worry.

“I came across a new labyrinth and cleared it.”

“Does anyone know?” Ann asked him, causing him to pause and nod grimly.

“Shit...”

“Master, language!” Maya scolded.

“Sorry, sorry. How long do you think you have until they look for you here?”

This gave Rex pause as he hadn’t thought about it. It had been a day since he’d collapsed. Considering by the time he reached the village, the others had also reached the town. He must have already been reported. If that was the case then.

“Probably another day or two at most.”

“You need to leave again...?” Maya asked sadly.

“Probably...”

Ann sighed. She now slightly regretted sending him on the job. But it couldn’t be helped. One way or another she needed the core. And that was most likely her last opportunity to find it.

“I prepared some things for you for when you came back. Give me a moment.” Ann left the room and came back with a bundle of adult-sized clothes.

“Aren’t those a bit large for me?”

“Just put them on. You’ll see.” She handed him the bundle.

They were quite well-made clothes and seemed like they would be comfortable. There was even underwear there, specially made for him, but the size was still wrong. Ann urged Maya to leave and he was left alone in the room to change. Deciding that there must be more to the clothes than it seemed, Rex undid the more draconic transformations to his body, then replaced the underwear he was wearing with the pair Ann had brought, which then fit perfectly to him. ‘So that was it’ At least he wouldn’t have to worry about clothing size anymore until these ones became unusable. He put on the rest of the clothes which fit to him comfortably just like the underwear and left the room, taking some stuff from his bag with him.

Ann, seeing him leave the room smiled and asked “How do you like it?"

“Its great. I finally don’t need to worry about outgrowing my clothes. Now I’m worried about damaging them though.”

“Don’t worry too much. It also has self-repair and self-cleaning.”

“That’s... really useful. Could you put that on something else as well?”

“Something else? Like that thing you’re holding?”

Rex smiled and unfolded his cloak, handing it to her.

“Hmm... Normally I would need a few days to finish this at the very least but with the core I might be able to finish it today. I’m not sure. It depends on how much mana the core has in it.”

Hearing the word mana Rex remembered unlocking his own. Looking down, he realised that the sheet he had put around himself wasn’t active. He fixed that immediately, knowing how useful it was against the gem.

“Then could you try?”

Ann giggled slightly “Of course. Its the least I could do after you got me this. Also here.” She grabbed a large backpack off the ground and threw it to him. “Your bag’s sort of small so you can use that instead.”

Rex wondered for a moment if he wanted to use this. It would be a bigger pain to move with during combat until he grew up. That being said where he was going he might need the space. “Thanks.” He decided he would take it. It was sturdier and larger than his own.

“Do you know what these are by the way?” He opened his other hand to reveal the small white and slightly bigger green gem. Ann took the two and looked at them closely.

“Hmm... Where’d you get these?”

“Rewards from the labyrinth.”

“They just look like normal gems to me. Could probably fetch a few coins at a jeweller.”

“Huh... I’ll keep them then. Have any Beast Lands currency around here?”

“I have a few bits around left over from my travels. Maya could you look for them?”

“Alright...” the young girl said, slightly disheartened. She had been looking forward to Rex coming back yet here he was and they were already rushing to prepare for his next departure.

As she started looking around, Ann went into a separate room with the cloak and core, closing and locking the door behind her. Rex himself transferred his belongings from his bag into the new backpack and looked for his new hammer. Finding it next to the door, he strapped it to his belt and went over to help Maya, who was rummaging through a chest of junk.

A few minutes of rummaging through the chest later they found a coin pouch in it. Maya took it to the table and took out the coins. There were quite a few small, round and copper ones, a few square iron ones and two hexagonal silver ones.

“These are bits. The copper ones are worth the least. A hundred of them make up one iron. Then ten iron make up a silver, ten silver a gold and a hundred gold a jade one.”

“Great. At least I won’t be broke there.” He picked up the coins and put them in the purse, before exchanging it with his own.

“So... you’ll be heading to the Beast Lands...?”

“Yeah.” He answered simply.

“Are you going to come back again...?”

“Hard to say. If I do, it won’t be anytime soon.”

Maya looked down, dejected. Rex had been her only friend in a village where there were no kids her age. Not that Rex was her age of course, and she knew that, but since she was more mature than usual and shared many interests with him, she got along with him better than anyone else in the village except Ann herself. Rex of course knew that, but he couldn’t really stay. That would be bad both for him and Maya and Ann, not to even mention the rest of the village. In the first place he doubted the villagers would hide him. He had just slightly helped around during the two months of his stay here. He didn’t consider himself a part of the village by any stretch. But even if they did help, the consequences for when that was uncovered would be dire.

Maya of course understood that as well, maybe she was twelve and maybe she looked even younger, but she was more intelligent than any normal child her age would be. She understood that Rex was a criminal and that the country would be looking for him, that if anyone protected him they would be just as much criminal as him and punished for it. But that didn’t stop her from being sad and frustrated.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. It was only near night that Ann came out of her room with the cloak, seeming more happy with it than the one that would be using it, thanking Rex again profusely for the core. She had also decided to hide it, though even Rex didn’t know where that had been. The dinner was sombre as all three were aware it was most likely the last they would have together and after it Maya went home, to the house she lived alone in in the village. It was then that Ann brought something up to Rex.

“Hey... Rex.”

“Hmm?” Mumbled Rex back at her.

“Would you perhaps take Maya with you tomorrow?”

“What?!” Rex raised his voice in disbelief. “Are you serious? Just getting there will be deadly and you know the treatment of humans there can be as bad as for beastmen here don’t you?” Ann nodded “Then why?”

“Having her spend her life here isn’t going to be good for her. She needs to go out and see the world just as I did at her age. I’ve armed her with the knowledge. Now she needs someone who can help her. I don’t think there’s a better person for that than you.”

“You know I dislike babysitting.” Rex narrowed his eyes at her.

“Hah! I wonder who’ll be babying who. Don’t worry. The girl might not be a great fighter, but she knows much more about the world than you. I’ve made sure she knows a whole lot. That knowledge will surely be useful for you.”

“Even if that’s the case I can’t guarantee her safety!”

“Rex are you... afraid?” Rex froze “Are you afraid of losing...?” No answer came “You remember don’t you?” Rex had initially hidden behind the convenient excuse of partial amnesia. “What do you remember?”

Rex didn’t say anything for a few moments, then sighed “I have to apologize to you... I never lost any memories in the first place. It was just impossible for me to explain some things at first and... with time it only got harder.”

Ann was surprised, but didn’t say anything. Rex sighed again and explained. Everything. Though he kept many details of his previous life hidden, he mentioned he had been old and died, he had explained the dark space he had found himself in afterwards and his birth from the egg. How he found them around a week after that while trying to find his way to civilisation.

“Another world...” Ann mumbled “And you were born from an egg?” Rex nodded in confirmation “Then you’re not a drakin. No. Not at all... a dragon. You’re a real dragon...” She laughed slightly at the unbelievable mess of a situation. “I know little about how dragons work but your parents. They must have sensed something different about you and abandoned your egg in that forest. The beasts. They must have stayed clear due to their residual scent. If they were dragons then even the smallest of smells would have caused them to stay completely clear. “

“I look more like a drakin than a dragon.”

“There is no “look like a dragon”. I mean there is, but not truly. Dragons are all born and raised with unique forms. It just so happens that instead of your horns, head and tail being a unique draconic shape you look human. Its possible that was affected because of your memories of your past life.”

“That’s... still. I’m way weaker than what I imagine a dragon would be.”

“You’re like three-four months old, Rex! And you already single-handedly cleared a labyrinth, even if young. Can you imagine a human baby walking in there and doing that? Memories of past life or not? Or a drakin one at that?!”

This caused Rex to shut up. It was true. Even a drakin wouldn’t be capable of it... a dragon... he was an actual dragon... Ann sighed.

“You still sure you want Maya with me...?”

“Am I sure?! You’re a walking, talking natural disaster to us humans! If you can’t protect her no one can!” Rex’s eyes widened. “What’re you looking like that for?! You think just cause you changed from drakin to dragon I’d be bothered?! For someone who was an old man you sure are an idiot.” Ann smiled and started laughing.

Now it was once again Rex’s turn to sigh. The two had done that a lot tonight.

“Reincarnation though huh...? And that dark space... even I can’t tell you anything about that. Your best bet is to pursue the knowledge of the gods.” The now-dragon raised an eyebrow at her. “I didn’t say it was a fair bet. What of Maya though? I still haven’t heard your answer.”

“You know what... fine. I’ll take her.”

“Brilliant! I’ll prepare a pack for her as well!”

“You do that. I’m going to sleep.”

“What? Already? You usually stay up days on end.”

“I still haven’t fully recovered! Now excuse me.” Rex ended as he went into “his” room. He laid down on his bed and with a small smile, he dozed off.

In the morning he woke up again, feeling much better. He picked up his cloak and backpack, putting his hammer on his waist again. He reactivated the sheet of mana around him again and left his room. Ann and Maya were already eating breakfast with the young girl seeming excited, though also somewhat reluctant. Rex guessed they had already talked.

“Hey Rex!” Ann greeted first “I hope you don’t mind that I told Maya everything we talked about yesterday.”

“Everything?” Rex felt his eye twitch

“Everything.” The old woman’s grin widened.

The breakfast was spent with Rex answering various questions about his previous world or his physiology as a dragon. Maya seemed enthralled with how Rex could transform his hands and feet into claws and spread his scales. After eating everyone went outside, Rex putting on a pair of boots that were apparently enchanted as well. He pulled his cloak out and threw it on. Then the backpack under it. It was a bit uncomfortable wearing it with the cloak, but that was just because he was unused to it. Maya threw on a backpack of her own and looked up at Ann, who smiled and patted her on the head.

“Alright, you two. I wish you good travels.”

Ann and Maya had apparently already talked about the whole thing. Maya herself wanted to see the world, but she was still sad leaving her teacher behind. She looked at Ann again and her expression hardened for a moment.

“I’ll make you proud, Master. Thank you for everything until now.”

Ann nodded.

“I’ll see you again. In this life or another. Someday.” Rex said before turning away and walking towards the blue forest, one the boy had affectionately named Nocturnalis. Back to his birth place. Maya followed after him.

As the two went out of sight Ann had a sad smile on. She was happy for her apprentice, but she sure would miss the two kids. Wait no. One of them wasn’t a child. Right. ‘Well. At least I have plenty to practice with now with that core the boy brought me.’ With that thought she went back into her hut where she had decided she would live ‘til the last of her days.