Reincarnated User Manual

Chapter 257: Hemaim

Chapter 257: Hemaim

In the pitch-dark labyrinth, a damp and fishy smell pervaded the air.

If this place were just a normal underground path, one might simply dismiss the odor as garbage or mustiness, but here, it was filled with creatures that even a group of knights would struggle to defeat.

Corpses of beasts, or perhaps those sacrificed here.

‘The smell of bodies accumulated over hundreds of years is unmistakable…’

Louise Bisconti couldn’t help but think this. The labyrinth was mostly covered with neatly laid tiles, but there were puddles of unidentifiable liquid at intervals along the path.

Small puddles could be jumped over with a leap, but for others, getting wet was unavoidable.

Squelch-

“Eek!”

An unpleasant sensation transmitted from the sole of her foot.

A dreadful experience one would never want to repeat, forced by the need to survive. As Louise navigated further, her spirit gradually wore thin.

Facing a beast as large as a house or being wary of poisonous insects was detestable, but Louise most hated the touch of something that might be a beast or, perhaps, a person.

“Hey, over there!”

Knowing she would be rejected, Louise still reached out.

Suddenly, with a swoosh, Shiron landed effortlessly at the edge of a puddle, turning around with disgust.

“What now?”

“It’s not ‘what now’! Help me get out of here!”

“…Just cross over. Really, what’s the big deal about getting your shoes wet?”

“It’s not about making a fuss! Something weird is touching my feet!”

Despite her tears and pleading, Shiron just sighed heavily, offering no help.

Ultimately, Louise had to repeat the horrible experience.

Squelch-

“Yaaah! What is this!”

Slip!

“Aah! Aaaaah!”

Thud!

“Oh, mother!”

“Really, this is just too much.”

Watching the spectacle, Shiron held his forehead. Louise, who had finally reached his spot, looked miserable.

Having fallen several times, her whole body was soaked even though the water was not very deep. Just two days ago, her hair emitted an aura of nobility, but now it was a horrific mess tangled with filth.

[Gross.]

Latera, who had materialized, retched disgustingly. Perhaps due to the stale magic energy lingering for years, Latera’s stomach was particularly unsettled.

[Hero. You really should have just helped her, right?]

‘Is it necessary to help someone just to cross a puddle? She’ll get used to it eventually.’

[Still though.]

Latera expressed regret.

[Look at her, it seems like it’s the first time she’s been driven to such a state. Given her noble status and influence, helping her would surely increase your favorability.]

‘…Still, it’s a no-go.’

Despite being tempted by the prospect of gaining significant favor, Shiron shook his head, dismissing the temptation.

‘That woman belongs to Victor. It’s necessary to keep a distance.’

[Is that the reason?]

‘Why, does it bother you?’

[Not really, but…]

Latera glanced at the pitiful state of Louise, who was sitting on the ground, wringing out the filthy water, and giving Shiron a resentful look.

[I just thought, maybe you’re being spiteful because you dislike that woman!]

‘You think I’m that petty?’

[But you’re the type to return one blow with ten. Haha. You even said last time you wanted to hit those who discriminate!]

Latera spoke with a light-hearted voice.

Had spending days in this magic-filled labyrinth affected them?

Shiron and Latera’s conversation was jestful and cheerful, but Shiron felt a sting in Latera’s words he hadn’t noticed before.

Could it be that Latera was also reaching that age?

Lost in such thoughts, Shiron frowned.

‘Anyway. We’ve been trapped here for quite some time now. The palace must have received news that both the empress and I are missing, and Victor, being a man, must be worried about what might have happened between me and the empress, right?’

[Eh… I see!]

“That’s right. Victor might seem more than just a friend to me, suspiciously gay, but who knows? Which madman would willingly hand over his woman to another?”

Their first meeting wasn’t pleasant, but Victor had been a childhood friend, always there to play with, and had even made Shiron’s military post comfortable during his five years of studying abroad, allowing him to safely acquire the heart of the Fervent Dragon.

‘I still feel grateful, though.’

[But the emperor got his throne thanks to you, hero. No one would blame you even if you settled that debt.]

‘Hey, how can friends count gains and losses so meticulously? I just don’t want to see Victor sad. I have no desire to antagonize him.’

[That makes sense!]

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

Ignoring all dignity, the missing empress approached messily. Shiron drew a line on the ground to signal her not to come any closer.

“Stay behind this line. I’ll answer from here.”

“Treating people like they’re garbage…”

“What, got nothing to say?”

Shiron, grumbling with a sullen expression, handed her a wet towel. It was unclear whether he was tormenting her or caring for her. Louise, puffing breaths of air, reluctantly took the towel and wiped her face.

“Are your legs okay?”

“Why are you yelling…”

Shiron handed her another used towel.

“Why suddenly about the legs? Am I still limping?”

“No, that’s not it. You just zone out occasionally. Like just now…”

“Just mind your own business.”

With a whoosh, Shiron burned the dirt-filled towel in the fire. Whether made from the corpse of a beast or not, the filth held potent magic energy and produced acrid smoke.

“So, are you okay?”

“What?”

“You’re new to actual combat. Did your continuous marching cause any muscle cramps or blisters?”

“What, are you worried about me now?”

Louise crossed her arms and turned her head with a huff! Her face color was indiscernible in the dark, but her sulky demeanor was enough to astonish Latera.

[Hero! Her, this woman’s favorability is increasing!]

‘…Driving me crazy.’

Shiron rubbed his forehead and sighed.

Just by maintaining a cumbersome method to avoid stealing his friend’s love, and yet a simple greeting was enough to raise favorability—what was he to do with such a fickle woman?

Gugugung- Sighing, Shiron made a chair rise from the ground and plopped down on it.

“Don’t worry, just don’t make that ‘what about me?’ face. Being nobility, you can at least create a chair with earth magic, can’t you?”

“Oh, I know that!”

Louise extended her hands forward and exerted all her strength, warming her energy center. Then, poof! A small stone-like object rose from the labyrinth floor.

“What is that?”

“Ahem…”

The size was too small to be considered a chair. Louise, ignoring Shiron’s incredulous look, sat down on the ground.

“The Bisconti family comes from a martial background. Having already thrown myself into the filth, sitting on the dirt is nothing to me.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“So, did you get any blisters? I still don’t feel any discomfort.”

Ziiiik- Louise unzipped her military boots and checked inside. Her pale feet, devoid of any calluses, shone with the presence of a single floating light orb.

“Yep! No blisters. No stiffness, and I’m not even tired despite all the movement.”

“…You’re naturally ungifted.”

“Of course! I am the daughter of Viscount Bisconti, from a family that has protected the empire from foreign enemies for generations, producing many of the empire’s greatest swords before Sir Hugo.”

“No, I’m not curious about that.”

Shiron waved his hand dismissively, cutting off Louise’s words. He ignored the smirking Louise and continued.

“How about the magic energy?”

“…Magic energy?”

“Yes, the puddle you just crossed, filled with water from decomposing beast corpses.”

“Ugh. A drop got into my mouth earlier.”

Louise rinsed her mouth with a water bottle, which Shiron had been refilling daily.

Was it that standards fade when pushed to the limit? Shiron nodded at Louise’s more tomboyish behavior compared to Lucia.

“Seems like your magical ability is just fine. Truly ungifted.”

“Even if you praise me, nothing comes out.”

“It’s not praise.”

“…Isn’t it acknowledging my talent? That’s praise.”

“A talent that can’t even be properly utilized.”

“Do you want to say it’s an excessive talent?”

Pie in the sky.

A pearl necklace on a pig’s neck.

Certainly, Shiron was not praising Louise’s lack of talent. However, even potentially insulting remarks made Louise look smugly proud.

“Unfortunately, you’re wrong. My lack of talent still finds its use.”

“Yeah, like this. You can swing a sword and slice through beasts when attacked by an apostle.”

“Well, that might be useful, but fortunately, there’s a more important place to use it.”

“…What is it?”

Shiron looked at Louise with slightly narrowed eyes. Perhaps it was because he had struck a nerve with the reluctant man. The corners of Louise’s mouth were slightly raised.

“It means I have a body suitable for bearing offspring. I’m as robust as they come and ready to have healthy children.”

Referring to herself as a baby factory.

‘…What did I just hear?’

Shiron tilted his head, wondering what he had just heard.

[This woman, she’s out of her mind! How can she speak such embarrassing words to a stranger so casually?!]

Agreeing with Latera, Shiron decided to step back from the ‘strange woman.’

So, with a rustle, as if the dirt mound might roll away.

The next thing Louise said surprised Shiron even more.

“Of course, this might also be a useless trait, just like you said.”

A quality for effortlessly bearing healthy children.

Listening from the side, Shiron felt dizzy.

Although Shiron frequently used vulgar vocabulary, he had no tolerance for delving into a friend’s sex life. However, for some reason, he couldn’t interrupt Louise as usual.

“Useless… Could it be infertility?”

Shiron listened attentively to Louise’s words. Viktor was currently his only same-sex childhood friend, and the fact that he was troubled by issues of succession was not something to overlook lightly.

“It’s not for such a grand reason. It’s just that His Majesty won’t share a bed with me.”

“A bed?”

“You know, the thing where men and women align their belly buttons.”

“You mean…”

“Yes, embarrassingly, I still haven’t fulfilled my role as the empress.”

‘The embarrassing part isn’t that.’

What could possibly make someone discuss their sex life with a man she met less than a week ago? Shiron was repeatedly amazed by Louise’s unconventional thought process.

[From childhood, a life of a woman who became the property of the royal family against her will. I, Latera, am trembling with fear.]

‘…It seems there’s more to fear.’

Gulp-

Shiron moistened his parched throat.

“There’s… something I want to check.”

“What is it?”

“By any chance, does Viktor have any concubines?”

“Not at all.”

Louise shook her head sadly.

“If he had taken concubines, I wouldn’t feel this miserable. At least there would be a chance for him to divert his attention, right?”

“So, he has never been interested in women?”

“Well, while he was still studying at the academy, I once caught him with a collection of erotic paintings of naked women in his room, under the bed of his summer villa.”

“Then…”

“But now that I think about it, it was too careless. Under the bed, really? In his room, there are secret doors and safes that I can’t open, as if someone had deliberately prepared it for others to find.”

Sigh- Louise paused to take a deep breath. Her piercing gaze turned towards Shiron.

“Do you know what’s funny?”

“…What?”

“In His Majesty’s room, there are stacks of letters exchanged with you.”

“…”

“Of course, there are letters exchanged with me too, but seeing the content of the letters with you and the smiles it brings him… I’ve seen it so many times it’s sickening.”

Swoosh!

A chill ran down Shiron’s spine.

[Aaaaaaaaaah!]

The fluctuations in emotion were so extreme that Latera, who could share sentiments with Shiron, screamed in terror.

“So I thought, naturally, you were of the same kind as His Majesty.”

“Don’t spout nonsense.”

Louise giggled, a curve forming at the corner of her mouth.

“I see. You’re not a homosexual.”

“Of course not. What nonsense that I’m gay.”

“Thank you. That’s one less worry on my mind.”

Krrng- Louise stretched and chuckled.

Having probed his inner thoughts with a suspicious mind, seeing him sweat profusely and react unnaturally to the gaze, it seemed unlikely that Louise’s concerns would come true.

Gugugung!

“Huh?!”

Was it a moment of relaxation? The ground shook violently. Louise lost her balance and fell on her bottom.

“What, what is this?”

“Something seems to be happening outside.”

Tap- Crack-

Shiron looked up as dirt and sand fell from the ceiling.

What had been a dark purple ceiling was now covered with fresh dirt.