Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City

"Lots of customers today."

The signboard girl's presence really makes a huge difference. There seem to be about 1.5 times more customers than when Sarah wasn't here.

Look at Sarah serving tables with food in both hands. Looks like she might trip at any moment.

"Sarah. I'm back."

"Welco- Woaah!?"

Uh oh, she's really going to fall.

"Oops, you okay, Sarah?"

"Oh my, when did you get here? I was too busy to notice."

As she was about to trip, I caught Sarah and placed the floating food back on the plates as it fell. With improved reaction speed, even this is possible now.

"Mmm... Yoo Eon, you have a… very wild smell right now...."

Sarah has such a nice way of putting things. If she wanted to say it badly, she could've cursed me out considering my state. How thoughtful of her to just call it a "wild smell."

After placing the trendy-looking plates that had unintentionally become "dirty plating" on the customers' tables, I went into the kitchen to greet the owner.

"Owner. I'm back. Want me to help with anything?"

"Go wash up first. Who'd have an appetite if you serve food in that state?"

"Ah, right."

I changed into clean clothes stored in my inn room and dumped the gambeson and other blood-soaked equipment in the backyard to wash later. It's a dirt yard, but since I'll wash them anyway, it doesn't matter.

After washing thoroughly with now-warm bath water, I also cleaned my blood-caked hair, roughly dried it, and swept it up.

"Madam? Can I help with anything?"

The madam, silently working in front of the fire, glanced at me and spoke without turning her head.

"Go take a walk outside for a bit."

"Huh? Why?"

"The blood smell hasn't completely gone. Go walk around outside for 10 minutes before coming back."

"I see."

Can she smell blood accurately, even with all these strong spices? She must have an incredible nose. I went outside for about 10 minutes to move around and eliminate the smell. Actually, I can't really smell anything - maybe my nose has just gotten used to it?

While walking the streets, I checked my body. My strength has definitely increased, but since the muscle fiber type is different, it doesn't feel like gains from weight training. I also tend to get tired quickly, so it's not all advantages.

"Still, a 3-meter sergeant jump is insane."

In a less frequented alley, I tried running a 100-meter dash from a crouching start in under 3 seconds and jumping about 4 meters high using maximum muscle power. It felt a bit awkward since I'm not used to my muscles' output yet.

I walked the atmospheric streets as the sun set and the moon rose. The sunstones hanging on the street lamps give off a warm red light, giving a cozy feeling despite the slightly lower temperature.

"Wonder if the smell's gone now."

I lifted my arm to smell it, but like before, there wasn't much of a smell. This should be fine, right?

I went straight back to the inn to help with work. Even more customers came in after that, half of them women. Is Sarah popular with women, too?

"Hmph..."

Judging by her pouting expression, she doesn't seem to like being popular with women.

* * * * *

Around 1 AM. I chatted with Sarah while finishing up the final cleanup.

"Ah, Sarah. Did a woman come by before I arrived?"

"Huh? We had lots of female customers?"

"No, I mean... a knight with bright blonde hair wearing pauldrons."

"Ah! Right. She came to leave a message. When I asked who it was from, she said she forgot the name.... So it was from you, Yoo Eon? I thought it might be."

Is Rubika a bit slow? How does she forget the name? Still, I'm glad she didn't deliver it to the wrong inn.

"Wait a moment. She left something here."

Sarah went into the kitchen and brought out a leather pouch. Inside were seven silver coins marked with the number 5. 35 silver coins? That's incredibly expensive.

"Give this to the madam."

I took 20 silver coins from the pouch and handed them to Sarah. Sarah accepted them and looked at me with an expression asking what this was for, but I brushed it off, saying I was repaying a debt. I finished cleaning up and headed to the Appraisal Office.

"Wonder if they're still awake at this hour."

Creeak

"Lavi? Are you in there?"

"Ughh... Yoo Eon..? Is that you...?"

"Yes. Come out quickly. Something's wrong with my body."

Lavi, sleeping on a bedless cot hugging some papers, got up with strands of hair in her mouth. She was wearing the wide-brimmed hat she had on during the day over her face like an eye mask... Does she use that cot at night?

"Eek?! Y-your eyes are glowing!"

"Yes. That, and various other things are wrong with my body."

In the dark building interior with no streetlight, my left field of vision brightly illuminated her figure. Lavi's surprised expression as she looked at my eyes.

She made awkward movements as she turned her body to get down from the cot, where her feet couldn't reach the ground. Her face without glasses, her clumsy walk as she searched for them - I could see it all.

"Ah, could you bring in the lamp hanging outside?"

"Sure, why not."

I brought in the lamp that had been hung out to receive sunlight and placed it on the desk, immediately brightening the room.

"Wow... your eyes just went swoosh and closed."

"It's because of the wolf's pupils. I can see well even in the dark."

"You even gained its characteristics! As expected, it really is a wolf's eyeball."

"Yeah, now stop eating your hair and come here."

"Ugh... I got it already...."

Lavi pulled the strands of hair out of her mouth and wiped her lips several times with her sleeve. What, did she work at a construction site or something? Why did she get so grimy in just a few days?

"Hmm...? Did you get a bit taller...?"

"Lavi got shorter."

"T-that can't be..?!"

"Just kidding. I am in better condition at night. Could you figure out what's going on?"

"U-um.. I have a few guesses...."

Lavi looked through her bookshelf a few times with the sunstone lamp, then pulled out a book and placed it on the desk.

"What's this?"

"It's a book recording the characteristics of magical beasts that appear from floors 1 to 10 of the labyrinth. Here, look at floor 2...."

Dire wolves start appearing on floor 2 of the labyrinth, and their numbers increase on floor 3. Seems the chapters are divided by the floor where they first appear.

Fumbling through the book, Lavi pointed to one spot with her tiny finger.

"This is it! The dire wolf's nocturnal characteristics!"

"Let me see."

As expected, wolves are nocturnal. The book's content stayed at the level of normal wolves I knew about, but there was one unusual point.

The dire wolf's nocturnal nature isn't derived from physical characteristics like good night vision.

"The mana possessed by dire wolves... activates under moonlight...?"

"That's right. Dire wolves are clearly magical beasts with mana. Their mana tends to fluctuate more strongly at night."

According to the book, dire wolves at night have increased activity range and significantly increased muscle fiber strength per weight. Thanks to this, though the difference is subtle, they appear slightly larger, and their muscles seem more developed.

"Wait, are you saying that I got dire wolf mana just by drinking some blood?"

"Surprisingly, the way mana flows through the body follows the blood vessels. So it seems likely...."

"This is crazy. Then would Lavi also get like this at night if she drank dire wolf blood?"

"N-no, that's different. Blood and its contained mana that enters through the mouth and esophagus disappears without being absorbed by the body. Because the dire wolf's blood mixes with stomach acid and loses its original state...."

So you're saying that because the blood I drank is circulating through my body maintaining its original state, the mana was absorbed the same way?

"Wait a minute, wouldn't it still mix with human blood?"

"The form is what's important. Though if you directly injected dire wolf blood into a normal person's blood vessels, they'd probably die."

So the conclusion is that I've gotten stronger at night because of the dire wolf's blood?

Functionally acceptable. Emotionally unacceptable.

It means I failed as a human but passed as a beast. How do you know if the blood flowing through those parasite-infested crawling creatures is clean or dirty? Of course, I'm a bit weird, too, for drinking it willingly, but when you're about to die, you'll do anything.

"J-just in case, could you maybe take off your shirt... or not..."

"I don't mind."

It would be good to properly check my body first. My clothes definitely feel tighter, as if my body has gotten bigger. Is this muscle pumping? That's quite remarkable.

"Lavi. Look at me."

"T-that's... I am looking...."

"How is it? You've seen my body before. Did it get bigger?"

"Eep...."

What kind of reaction is this? Is she sick?

"Hey, Lavi? Did you catch a cold? Your face is really red."

"W-wait! Stay back!"

When I tried to check if she had a fever, Lavi suddenly stepped backward and started to trip over her feet.

'She's falling.'

My body sensed the danger and reached out to grab the back of Lavi's robe.

"Ack..."

"Ah, sorry."

After setting Lavi down from dangling in the air, she finally straightened her clothes and cleared her throat several times.

'Feels like my body reacted first just now.'

I feel a bit sorry since she's so thin she could really break something if I'm not careful. By the way, isn't she too light?

"What was that just now...?"

"That's what I came to find out about."

"Ah. Right."