I Became a Slave Collector in the Labyrinth City

“Urgh…”

“Sion! Are you conscious?”

“Uh… Yuria. Where is this…”

“It’s the first floor. We’re almost all the way up.”

The upper levels of the labyrinth, an empty room on the first floor of the botanical garden.
The group was resting there.

Since I, who had the map-making ability and acted as a guide, was unconscious, it seemed the group had wandered their way up.

“There were no clothes, so we just covered the important parts for now.”

“Thank you, Hachi.”

Only my lower body was covered with a blanket.
When I turned into a mouse, all my clothes came off.
So apparently when the transformation wore off, I was in a naked state.

“Hey, Yuria.”

“Hmm? What?”

“Stop staring and turn your head away.”

“But I’m covering my eyes.”

“You’re peeking through the gaps between your fingers.”

“Tch.”

Yuria turned her head away.
No, she was pretending to cover her eyes with her hands but was clearly peeking through the gaps between her fingers.

‘Am I being too sensitive?’

Actually, situations where you end up naked like this happen more often than you’d think in the labyrinth, with clothes getting torn or melted away.
So there’s no need to be embarrassed about every little instance of showing nudity.

But how should I put it.
I felt a bit embarrassed about showing my naked body to Yuria.

If I had no feelings for the other person, it wouldn’t matter if I showed my naked body.
But Yuria isn’t like that.
So I felt a bit shy about showing my bare body.

“But why is Yata-ssi turning away?”

“Huh? Ah, well. Um. I’m… also a woman, so..?”

“What?”

Wait a minute.
Yata-ssi, you were a woman?

But your hair is definitely short and…

“Long hair is cumbersome…”

I thought your speech and behavior were completely like a man’s?

“Well, it’s easier to act like a man…”

“I’m sorry about this. For not realizing right away.”

“Ah, no. I get told I look like a man a lot. I’m deliberately acting in a way that makes my gender ambiguous. Hahaha.”

Yata-ssi laughed awkwardly.
No wonder her body looked a bit delicate, she was a woman.

Well, it’s not easy to maintain femininity while fighting in the labyrinth where even men struggle to survive.
Especially for women who seem weak-natured, there are more guys who try to hit on them.

Come to think of it, there seem to be more short-haired female adventurers than I thought.
There are also those who wrap their chests with bandages, saying breasts get in the way.

“I’m fully dressed now.”

“Tch. You could have shown a little more.”

“Yuria. If I were just a bit stronger, I would have flicked your forehead.”

“What! I can be curious too.”

“Haah.”

I sighed and shook my head.
That girl is now just openly coming on to me.

“Well then, shall we head out now?”

“Let’s do that. We’ve rested enough too.”

“Yes. There should be a transfer stone nearby.”

“Woo woo. We can finally get out. I’m excited!”

Horaru looked very excited at the mention of being able to get out of the labyrinth.

I deliberately turned my head away to avoid looking at “her”.

Right.
Horaru was female.

How did I come to know this, you ask?
I wish I didn’t know either.

‘Damn it.. This is driving me crazy.’

She’s cute.
Horaru is so cute I feel like I’m going crazy.
Blood keeps rushing to my lower body.

I feel like I’m going to lose my mind from wanting to ejaculate.

‘That furry bitch, I just want to… Argh, get a grip. Are you insane, Sion.. She’s a bear.. Grrrr..’

My mind is going back and forth.
I want to rush over to Horaru right now and bury my face in that soft, fluffy fur and rub against it frantically.

Slap!

“Sion, what’s wrong?”

“Ah, nothing. Just trying to get a grip. Come on, let’s hurry up.”

I slapped my cheek to regain my composure. No, I tried to regain it.

“Woo woo. Sion. If you’re tired, just say so. I’ll carry you on my back.”

“Hup..!”

I covered my mouth.
She’s so kind-hearted…

‘That, that.. furry bitch.. keeps tempting me!’

Aaargh.
This is driving me crazy.

I feel like I’m going to lose it.
My brain has gone weird.

A side effect of becoming a fur lover.
A furry love potion..

Raffnel, you crazy elf bitch!
What the hell did you make!

Why does that bear keep looking so appealing?
Stop wiggling your butt.

I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.

“Urgh.”

“Sion..!”

“Oh oh. You seem to have overdone it. Hey, Horaru. Can you carry him on your back?”

“Mm hmm. Leave it to me.”

“No, no. No!!!”

“Don’t refuse and just get on. I’m fine with it.”

“No, I’m not fine with it! Argh…!”

I desperately refused…
I resisted with all my might…

But in the end, I ended up riding on Horaru’s back.

‘C-crazy. Fur.. It’s fur..’

The beastly scent emanating from Horaru.
That musky fur smell that roughly assaulted my nostrils and flowed in aggressively.

It’s vulgar but… I got aroused.

‘Shit.’

An immense sense of shame towards myself and self-loathing to the point of wanting to die.
And beyond that self-destructive desire, a horizon of ecstasy.

The feeling of burying my nose in the belly of Boksil, the pure white dog I raised at grandmother’s house as a child, and smelling it.

Dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, goats, sheep, et cetera.

Furry creatures.

The best.

“Aargh!!!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Ah, nothing. Nothing.. I think I had a really bad nightmare.”

After about an hour, I was able to return to a normal state.

During that time, all sorts of stray thoughts, misguided desires, and wrong preferences that had polluted and disturbed my mind, spirit, and soul returned to their original places.

“Horaru. I’m okay now. I can walk on my own.”

“Mm hmm. Okay. Tell me if you get tired.”

“Yes, thank you.”

To think there were actually two more women in our party besides Yuria, who I thought was the only female.
I learned a surprising fact!

There’s no further comment on this.
Yes, that’s how it should be.

‘Woman’… no.
Horaru, who had appeared as a ‘female’, started to look like a bear again.
Whether she or it, Horaru was still a kind bear.

“Hey, there’s the transfer stone!”

As I was shaking my head to get rid of strange thoughts, Yuria pointed in one direction.

The transfer stone can be seen in the distance.

“Haah. Damn labyrinth.”

“We can finally get out.”

Louis sighed heavily, saying he was dead tired.
Hachi smiled faintly, seemingly satisfied with the fact that we could get out alive.

“Everyone.. You’ve all worked so hard. I’ll definitely buy you drinks.”

“G-good work everyone.. Sniff..”

“Woo woo!”

Rohan laughed heartily, saying he would definitely treat us to drinks.
Yata’s eyes were slightly red, as if overcome with emotion.

Horaru just looked excited.
Like a true druid, she seemed to want to get out of the stuffy labyrinth and into the forest as soon as possible.

“Well then, let’s get out.”

This marks the end of the corpse retrieval team’s journey.
We perfectly accomplished our given mission.
We were able to complete the labyrinth excursion with everyone surviving without any deaths.

To complete the mission and have everyone return safely from the underground city, whose difficulty had rapidly increased after the Great Shift.

It’s an incredible achievement.
Although there was a crisis where we almost got wiped out in the middle.
Looking at just the results, our journey was a great success.

“Whew.”

“We’re alive!”

“Haah. The air feels different.”

“The sun. The dazzling sun is shining on us.”

As soon as we came out of the labyrinth, my companions and I went to an open space near the labyrinth entrance and sat down to catch our breath.

Coming out of the labyrinth, it feels like our stuffy chests have been cleared.
Looking up at the tall sky and taking deep breaths for a while, my mind became at ease.

“Urgh..!”

“Mana adaptation?”

“Yes..”

Soon mana adaptation occurred.
My muscles trembled slightly.

‘That makes it level 7.’

It’s the seventh mana adaptation.
My body should have become harder and stronger.

‘Ah, it’s gone out.’

When the mana adaptation ended, I felt something that had been residing inside me leave.
It must be the soul of the great warrior Shaka going out.

How long had he been wandering alone in that deep labyrinth?
His body must have long since rotted away and disappeared in the labyrinth.
It’s more amazing that his mind didn’t break.

Perhaps if he hadn’t met me, he would have continued to wander in the darkness until his soul wore away and disappeared.
He might never have had the chance to attain enlightenment.

Thinking about it that way, meeting me must have been a great fortune for him.
I was also able to survive thanks to meeting him right before I was about to die, so we must have been of great help to each other.

‘May you go to a good place.’

I briefly prayed for Shaka’s peaceful rest.
I’m not sure if he’ll be able to go to heaven, but I hoped he wouldn’t have to wander the nine hells at least.

“Hmm..?”

After praying for Shaka’s rest, this time my head started to throb and hurt.
Could it be, have I gained a new ability again?

It hasn’t been long since I gained the Spirit Eye Awakening.
To think I’d gain a new ability so soon.

[Shaka’s Remnant]

No, wait.

This was more like a trace left behind by him as he attained enlightenment, rather than an ability.
Not perfectly, but Shaka’s combat techniques and experiences remained within me.

‘It won’t lead to a dramatic improvement in skill, but even this much is amazing.’

It felt like I had laid the foundation to become a warrior.
Maybe I could say I’ve gained talent as a fighter?

It’s not simply that a new skill has appeared, but that I’ve gained talent.
It might be easier to understand if you think of it as a passive skill appearing.

‘Could it be..’

If I keep bringing out souls wandering in the labyrinth, can I keep gaining talents like this?

If I can figure out how to use the Spirit Eye freely, becoming the strongest porter in the labyrinth city might not be just a dream.

‘Of course, if it’s an ability that only activates when I’m at the crossroads of life and death like this time… that would be disappointing.’

Things in this world don’t work out so easily.
The reason I was able to contact Shaka this time was because I was really pushed to the brink of death.

The Spirit Eye probably only opens when you reach the threshold of death.
It’s not like I’ve only been in and out of the labyrinth for a day or two, you can roughly estimate it if you look at it casually.

There’s no way I could get free meals so easily.
It’s obvious that I’ll have to roll and roll and roll like a dog before I can barely grasp one soul.

Ugh, it’s disgusting.
I’d rather not have the Spirit Eye open.

Anyway, since I’ve gained talent, I should probably visit a martial arts hall during my break from labyrinth excursions.

It’s about time to improve my fighting skills.
I’ve finally become able to enter the underground city, but I can’t handle every situation with just a spatial pocket forever.

“Let’s all go to the guild first. We’ll finish the exploration report, hand over the monster corpses. Ah, I’ll treat you to lunch.”

“Rohan, you. Buying drinks and meals. Aren’t you going to go bankrupt at this rate?”

“Hahaha. I have some money saved up. And I’m also thinking about retiring as an adventurer after this labyrinth excursion.”

“What? Retirement…?”

“No. Retirement? What do you mean by that?”

“After reviving Catherine this time. I’m thinking about moving to some quiet countryside, Louis.”

My companions and I were taken aback by Rohan’s sudden retirement announcement.

Rohan is quite skilled.
Although he couldn’t do much this time because he was ambushed by the Orc Slugger.
But if he kept exploring the labyrinth, he would have eventually been able to get a gold badge.

His skills, experience, and talent seemed too precious to waste.

“Hey, Rohan. It seems like you could definitely get a gold badge if you go just a little further. Are you giving up?”

“A gold badge. Yes. Maybe if I keep entering the labyrinth, I might be able to get one someday. But I’m too tired.”

Despite Louis’s attempts to dissuade him, Rohan just shook his head.
His eyes looked full of fatigue.

Probably one of the corpses we brought back this time is his fiancée Catherine.
It seemed he was planning to leave the labyrinth city after paying the resurrection cost for his fiancée.

Unlike Hachi, who participated in the corpse retrieval team out of a sense of responsibility as a guide, Rohan’s main purpose for this expedition was probably to rescue his fiancée.

This must have been the reason he went down so persistently.
And now that the heavy duty of rescuing his fiancée was over, Rohan was trying to leave the labyrinth.

“Don’t take it so seriously, everyone. Isn’t that how adventurers are supposed to be? If you’ve made a big score, you should know when to fold. If you’re too greedy, you’ll get burned. And I’ve made a big score this time. I rescued Catherine. It’s finally time for me to fold.”

At his words, the companions all nodded.
For the adventurer Rohan, the biggest score was none other than rescuing his fiancée.

Money and fame.
They’re probably not as important as his beloved fiancée.

Right. That’s correct.
As he said, now that he’s made a big score, it’s time to fold.

We shouldn’t be too greedy.
Those who harbor excessive desires end up being devoured by the labyrinth in the end.

Maybe Rohan is the wisest person among us.
An adventurer who knows when to fold is truly a wise person.

I too will someday come to a point where I fold like Rohan.
By then, I’ll probably have become the biggest slave collector in the labyrinth city?

Of course, to become that, I’ll have to keep entering the labyrinth until I make a big score.

“Sion.”

“Yes?”

“That Rohan guy. He seems like a cool person.”

“That’s right. He is a cool person.”

“I’ll become a cool person like that too.”

“Huh? Sure. Go ahead. But why are you suddenly telling me your resolution?”

“And if anything happens, I’ll definitely protect you.”

“No, wait. Don’t interrupt me..”

Yuria suddenly grabbed my hand.

“Yeah, yeah. This is enough.”

“Hey, what do you mean ‘enough’! What are you arbitrarily concluding? What’s with this fiancée act!”

“Hehe. Don’t be shy, Sion. Didn’t you say we should have a serious talk when we get out of the labyrinth? Wasn’t this the kind of talk you wanted to have? Like… engagement. Or dating..”

“No, the serious talk I was going to have wasn’t about getting engaged to you.”

Yuria covered my mouth with her hand.

“Shh. You incorrigible porter. Let’s have this serious talk later. For now, let’s go to the guild.”

“Th-this..! Hey!”

I feel like I’m being swept along by Yuria.
This isn’t good. My slave harem plan…

Without any chance to resist, I was dragged to the guild, caught in Yuria’s hand.