GILF Hunter

Chapter 376 Agggh>>>>>!!!!!

’Ugh...’

Everyone let out a small groan as they stepped onto the stairs. Dazzling sunlight was pouring down from the sky.

The sun had just begun to rise. It was a clear morning without a single cloud.

Squinting at the long-awaited sunlight, everyone followed behind Ian, walking out of the Labyrinth while carrying heavy backpacks.

Not only Tanya, the porter, but everyone including Ian had spare backpacks stuffed to the limit.

This was the loot they had gathered while traveling through the Labyrinth.

Unfortunately, since one couldn’t enter and exit the same Labyrinth multiple times, they could only bring back what they had on them when they left.

What the members were carrying were the spoils of war filtered down after picking only the most valuable items.

One of the Labyrinth Guard officers watching them approached and spoke.

’Looks like you had a good harvest this time. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a party coming out packed like this.’

’We were quite lucky.’

’At this rate, shouldn’t you guys form a separate supply party?’

’I’m thinking of considering that later. The more people there are, the more things there are to worry about.’

This was something he often heard from mercenaries like Frey or Chris.

Ian was more accustomed to a small elite party, but usually, high-ranking mercenary groups were more used to moving in large numbers.

Such groups seemingly entered Labyrinth expeditions with a separate supply team made up of porters.

However, that was only possible for mercenary groups that were large and long-established. It was daunting to think how long it would take to recruit additional personnel and train them from scratch until they adapted to the Labyrinth.

’No change in personnel...’

The guard officer checked the entry/exit records while glancing at the large backpacks the members were carrying.

He seemed curious about what they had encountered to bring back such a haul of loot.

’By the way, what did you meet inside?’

’Harpies.’

’Oh, really? Harpy materials should be quite expensive. You must have made a fortune. I heard wealthy archers always use arrows made with Harpy feathers.’

It was a shame, but most of the Harpy feathers had been burnt. There would likely be a shortage this year.

Keeping those words to himself, Ian finished the return formalities and headed back to the city.

＊　＊　＊

’Ugh... too bright...’

Blinding sunlight leaked through the gaps in the curtains. Everyone frowned as they lifted their heavy eyelids.

The lights were off, but the room was bright due to the light coming through the window.

Is it morning?

They had definitely returned from the Labyrinth and fallen asleep in the morning, but when they woke up after a nap, it was still morning.

Did I not sleep much because I was tired...?

They thought so at first, but in fact, everyone had been asleep for a full day.

Rin, who had opened her eyes, tried to lift her body from the bed, but realized her body wouldn’t listen. Her body was refusing to get up.

Not just Rin, but everyone was lying in bed with only their eyes open, looking around.

Well, they had been sleeping on the damp dirt floors of narrow beast burrows for a long time in the Labyrinth.

It was only natural that they couldn’t possibly leave the beds they hadn’t lain in for so long.

Everyone spoke to the other members while still lying down.

’Are you awake?’

’I don’t know...’

’...Should we sleep for one more day?’

’We still have to eat, though...’

Perhaps due to the long expedition, the fatigue was much greater than usual.

Still, their minds were at ease, perhaps because they had resolved a big task this time. Rin, buried in her bed, muttered.

’Phew. Still, since we saw ’that’ this time, we can rest for a while.’

’You mean the Abyss? I wonder if those strange monsters will come out again this time.’

’Eek... I hate that.’

Rin grimaced as she recalled how much they had struggled to deal with the monster called a Stalker in the previous Abyss.

The rest felt the same as Rin.

And there was only one person in the room who couldn’t sympathize with that feeling.

While everyone was lying immobile in bed talking, a small voice leaked out from a corner.

’Um...’

Airi called out to the members in a small voice.

But because the sound was so low, it seemed no one heard Airi’s voice. No one answered her and they continued their small talk.

When no one responded, Airi gave up on speaking and quietly shut her mouth. She planned to ask later.

However, Mika, who was right next to her, happened to hear Airi’s voice.

Turning her head with a puzzled look and making eye contact with Airi, Mika realized Airi had just tried to speak and said to the other members.

’Wait a second! I think Airi has something to say!’

’...’

The room, where everyone had been chatting, instantly became silent.

It happened in a flash before the flustered Airi could even say it was fine.

’Okay, you can speak now.’

’...’

Mika, who had made the others focus, looked at Airi and spoke.

Everyone was concentrated on hearing what Airi had to say.

Airi suppressed the urge to bolt out the window and brought up the story she had wanted to ask earlier.

’Um... what were those stairs we saw at the nest at the end?’

’The stairs? The ones in the Labyrinth?’

Between embarrassment and curiosity, curiosity eventually won.

Looking at the expressions of the other members at that time, it seemed like a very important matter, and it was especially so because of Ian’s expression.

The look Ian gave her at the end was perfectly identical to the look he gave her when he had planned the Harpy lure strategy.

It was more important to find out what was going on rather than being caught up in it without knowing anything.

While everyone was contemplating where to start explaining, Rin first asked Airi.

’Airi, where were you during the last invasion?’

’Me? I was in the labor unit then...’

’...Labor unit?’

’Since I was being held as a slave...’

’...Ah.’

She did say she was caught because of debt.

Since the treatment within the mercenary group wasn’t particularly different, everyone often forgot that Airi was still in a slave status.

’So there’s a separate labor unit too?’

’Yeah... I just carried luggage in the warehouse.’

Even if she was a prisoner, it seemed they wouldn’t let a C-rank mercenary just sit idle during an invasion.

Of course, they weren’t deployed to battlefields where it was easy to escape or cause trouble; she seemingly worked mainly on heavy supplies that were difficult for E-rank mercenaries or ordinary laborers to handle.

’Then have you heard about the Stalkers?’

’The new monsters? I heard as far as what the guild announced...’

Airi, who worked in the rear, had never even seen the face of that monster, but she knew the whole city was in an uproar because of it.

Immediately after the invasion ended, that was all anyone talked about, so Airi could hear the rumors to some extent.

It’s easier to talk if you know at least that much. Rin nodded and explained to Airi.

’Yeah. Those monsters, we actually discovered them in the Labyrinth.’

’Discovered? Like how we did this time...?’

’Exactly. The Captain opened the door like that to confirm it, and even developed the potions in advance.’

’Eh... It wasn’t just that a new potion coincidentally worked?’

’No. Louise-ssi went through so much trouble to make that.’

To ordinary people who didn’t know the detailed circumstances, it was known almost like that.

’Is it okay to tell me that? It sounds like a secret...’

’Not really.... I think everyone in the guild knows? And since we know too, it doesn’t really matter if you know. We’re in the same party.’

’Yeah, that’s right. We saw it together in the Labyrinth this time too.’

’I, is that so...’

...Somehow, this feels like a story it would have been better not to hear.

Regardless, Airi could only understand how important that suspicious door found at the end of this expedition was after hearing such a story.

The whole city had been noisy because of that new monster called the Stalker, and this meant that at least a similar level of trouble would happen again.

’Then, does this mean that kind of monster will come out again this time?’

’I suppose so? The Captain said he goes into the Labyrinth to find out about that in advance.’

Since the Captain was rich, she had expected he wasn’t going into the Labyrinth for money. She just hadn’t expected it would be for such an important reason.

Hearing the full story she hadn’t known before, Airi recalled Ian’s face as he had been contemplating something while looking at her.

Ian hadn’t told her the reason, but it was definitely an atmosphere of him forming some kind of plan. She had seen that expression when she first met Ian, and she had seen it a few times in the Labyrinth as well.

Perhaps it meant they had to do something to face those mysterious monsters during this invasion? Just like with the Harpies.

’...’

Airi, who was silent for a while, shook her head, thinking that couldn’t be it.

The flock of Harpies they met in the Labyrinth last time was large, but the level of monsters swarming during an invasion wasn’t at that level no matter what.

No matter how hard Airi tried, there was nothing she could do about such a horde of monsters.

...It can’t be, right?

Ultimately deciding it was a ridiculous worry, Airi plopped her body onto the bed with a slightly lighter heart.