The tunnel narrowed as they walked, the ceiling lowering little by little until the world felt pressed close around them.

  Cold air slid along the stone like an unseen current, carrying the faint scent of damp earth and something older... something that had slept here long before any of them were born.

  Their footsteps echoed softly.

  Too softly.

  Even sound seemed careful in this place.

  Ahead of them, the goblin girl moved with small, hurried steps, clutching the edge of her tattered sleeve as if afraid the darkness itself might grab hold of her if she slowed down.

  Every few moments she glanced back-quick, nervous looks-checking that Haruto was still there.

  Still following.

  Still real.

  Haruto said nothing.

  Haruki's presence rested over his face like a quiet weight, her awareness faint but unmistakable, while Hana balanced on his head with the stubborn dignity of someone pretending this situation was completely normal.

  No one spoke for a while.

  And in that silence, the cave felt... endless.

  Like it might simply continue forever if no one dared to interrupt it.

  Finally-

  "My lord..." the goblin girl's voice came out small, almost swallowed by the stone around them.

  "I... I must tell you something important while we still have time."

  Haruto exhaled quietly through his nose.

  So it begins.

  "Go ahead," he said. "We're walking anyway."

  She nodded, though her shoulders remained tense.

  "For a long... long time," she began slowly, searching for the right words,

  "the Great Forest lived in peace."

  Her voice carried the careful rhythm of a story told many times before-

  not from books,

  but from memory.

  "Grandmother used to say... the forest was protected by laws older than kings.

  No tribe could cross another's land.

  No blood could be spilled without answer.

  Even the strongest obeyed."

  Hana shifted slightly atop Haruto's head but didn't interrupt.

  Even she could feel it-

  This wasn't just information.

  It was loss.

  "The guardians watched over everything," the girl continued.

  "The Majin council... the spirits... and the great lords chosen by the Deity of the Forest."

  Her voice softened further when she spoke of that being, almost reverent.

  "They say... when the world was still young,

  the forest burned in endless war.

  Monsters fought monsters.

  Brothers killed brothers.

  Nothing remained but ash."

  Her small hands tightened.

  "Until... He awoke."

  The tunnel seemed colder.

  Even the dripping water somewhere in the dark sounded distant now.

  "He was angry," she whispered.

  "So angry that the sky itself trembled.

  No army could stand.

  No king could speak.

  Everything... everything was forced to kneel."

  Haruto kept walking, expression unreadable.

  But inside-

  Yeah.

  Definitely fantasy world.

  No doubt left.

  "But... He did not destroy us," she said.

  "Instead... He gave us order.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Territories.

  Guardians.

  A promise... that the forest would never fall into chaos again."

  For the first time since she began speaking, her voice wavered.

  "That promise... lasted a thousand years."

  Silence followed them for several steps.

  Then-

  "...Until recently," she finished, almost too quietly to hear.

  Haruto's eyes shifted forward.

  Here it is.

  "The Crimson... began moving," she said.

  "At first, only rumors.

  Burned villages.

  Missing patrols.

  Spirits that stopped answering."

  Her breathing grew uneven.

  "No one believed it.

  Because the guardians would never break the law of the Deity."

  A pause.

  Then, barely a whisper-

  "But one of them... died."

  Haruto's gaze sharpened slightly.

  "The forest lord of the northern valley," she said.

  "Killed... by the Crimson Queen."

  Even the air felt still after those words.

  Hana didn't joke.

  Haruki didn't comment.

  Something about the way the girl said it-

  not dramatic,

  not exaggerated-

  just true-

  made it heavier than any shout.

  "Since then... everything is collapsing," she continued.

  "Tribes are running.

  Strong ones hide.

  Weak ones... are abandoned."

  Her steps slowed.

  "We... we were told to flee deeper into the forest.

  But there is nowhere left that is safe."

  Her voice cracked.

  "So I came here."

  Haruto finally spoke.

  "...To the labyrinth."

  She nodded quickly, relief flickering across her face that he understood.

  "They say... the Deity still sleeps beneath this place.

  That if someone worthy reaches the deepest floor...

  He might listen."

  Might.

  Not will.

  Not promise.

  Just... might.

  Desperation wrapped inside a child's hope.

  Haruto looked ahead at the winding darkness of the tunnel.

  So that's the gamble.

  Risk everything...

  for a maybe.

  "...You came alone?" he asked quietly.

  The girl hesitated.

  "...Everyone else was afraid."

  Of dying here.

  Of hoping for nothing.

  Same thing, really.

  Haruto didn't answer right away.

  Above him, Hana shifted slightly, her small weight warm against his hair.

  Haruki's silent awareness lingered at the edge of his senses.

  Both waiting.

  Not pushing.

  Just... there.

  The tunnel curved gently, revealing a faint bluish glow far ahead-

  the first hint that this endless stone path might actually lead somewhere.

  Haruto watched that distant light for a long moment.

  Then he sighed.

  Soft.

  Almost amused.

  “…You know,” Haruto said quietly,

  “coming to wake a sleeping god sounds like the worst possible plan.”

  The goblin girl’s shoulders trembled at once.

  “I—I’m sorry—”

  “But,” he continued before her panic could bloom, his voice gentler now, steadier,

  “running out of options usually means you were desperate… not stupid.

  If he helped you stop it once, he probably would’ve done it again.”

  “Yes… but the problem is…”

  Her voice dropped to a fragile whisper.

  “…Lord Charybdis is gone.”

  Haruto blinked.

  “He’s… what? I thought he was a god or something.”

  The girl lowered her head.

  “Lord Charybdis… and the Mother of Monsters… were waiting for the River of Reincarnation to claim them.

  To take them somewhere else… a place where their love could bloom peacefully.

  It seems… that story was true after all.”

  Silence settled between them, thin and cold.

  “So you’re saying this god is dead now,” Haruto said slowly.

  “Then we can’t get his help.

  What are you going to do?”

  Hana, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke.

  “…So we’re supposed to be a replacement for that god?”

  The girl flinched.

  “W-well… yes. Something like that.”

  Haruto stared at her, completely lost.

  “Wait. How are we supposed to replace a god?

  It’s not like people would just believe whatever we say.”

  “N-no, my lord. It’s… complicated.”

  She hesitated, searching her memory.

  “My grandmother once told me… that a thousand years ago, before entering the labyrinth,

  Lord Charybdis promised to appoint an apostle in his absence.

  Someone who would be born the moment he passed away…

  from the deepest depths of the labyrinth…

  from the Tree of Whispers.”

  Haruto nodded slowly.

  “Oh.

  Cool.

  So we just have to find that person, right?

  Where do we start? Straight down?”

  A soft smack echoed through the tunnel as a slime-formed tentacle tapped his cheek.

  “Pay attention, idiot,” Hana said flatly.

  “She’s talking about you.”

  “…M-me?”

  He looked at the girl.

  She gave a small, certain nod.

  “Well,” Haruki muttered from within the mask,

  “we’re doomed.”

  “W-wait, hold on,” Haruto protested.

  “I think you’re misunderstanding something.

  We just got dropped in here randomly.

  And I’m way too weak to handle anything like that.”

  “You don’t need to be humble, my lord,” the girl said, smiling with innocent certainty.

  “I know my master is more than capable of defeating the Crimson Battalion…”

  She began rocking lightly from heel to toe, like a child who had already decided the ending of the story.

  Master…?

  Haruto’s thoughts stalled.

  “You showed weakness,” Hana said smugly,

  “and she captured you instantly.

  Just accept it. She’s never letting you go now.”

  He sighed, the sound heavy with surrender.

  “I really don’t understand what’s happening anymore…”

  “Wait!” Hana suddenly exclaimed.

  “I got a notification!”

  “…You mean that system thing you were seeing?” Haruto asked.

  “Yeah! It’s a mission.

  Wanna hear it?”

  “…Sure.”

  “Don’t sound so depressed,” she said, softer this time.

  “Relax.

  Everything’s going to be fine.”

  “…I hope so.”

  A few quiet seconds passed as they kept walking through the dim tunnel.

  Then—

  “Okay, listen,” Hana said.

  “Learn basic elemental manipulation before escaping the labyrinth.

  Reward: a unique transformation.”

  “…Unique transformation?” Haruto echoed.

  “Wait. How are we supposed to learn elemental manipulation?

  It’s not like we can just snap our fingers and do magic.”

  From several steps ahead, the goblin girl suddenly turned around, eyes bright.

  “Y-you want to learn elemental skills?”

  Haruto glanced up at Hana.

  Their gazes met in silent agreement.

  Then he looked back at the girl.

  “…Yeah.

  Can you teach us?”

  ...