Magic Academy
Total income: 14,600 gold.
This is the total profit from disposing of the miscellaneous loot we collected, excluding the service fee from Virtanen's party—
the various mana stones and junk items, plus even the belongings of Backattack, who was classified as an exit boss.
Add the service fee on top of that, and the total exceeded 20,000 gold,
an amount comparable to the earnings of a typical four-person party from a single first-floor labyrinth run.
And from that amount, Yernil's share was...
"20%."
The assistant scooped 2,920 gold out of the pile of coins.
"Yernil's buyout price is 3,000 gold. Including the 5 gold from the service fee earlier, that makes 2,925 gold. You're slightly short."
Ah! Damn it!
Of course—every bad premonition never fails to come true!
Yernil! Didn't you do quite a lot too?
Why does it only come out to 20%?!
"2,920 gold...?"
Yernil's complexion visibly worsened.
"That's correct. Yernil. Are you disappointed?"
"..."
"Yernil's income ranks in the top 0.1% of all single-run labyrinth earnings in the history of the Magic Academy's slave management department."
The assistant lowered his voice seriously.
"Normally, 90% of slave parties entering a labyrinth are wiped out.
And of the 10% that survive, the average income is barely around 4,000 gold—and that's for the entire party."
The reason is simple: almost no slave parties actually farm inside the labyrinth.
They struggle desperately just to survive with insufficient supplies,
or wander aimlessly like headless chickens after giving up,
eventually stumbling into an exit room by chance.
After a desperate fight, a few die, and the rest barely escape.
Most of it comes down to luck, and the actual earnings usually amount to nothing more than mana stones and corpse value from the exit boss.
So when they get out, the total income is only around 4,000 gold,
and what each individual receives is pitiful.
"Usually between 500 and 1,000 gold."
Compared to that average, Yernil earning nearly 3,000 gold in a single labyrinth run definitely places her in the upper tier.
"The reason your income exceeded the average by such a wide margin is your execution ability—moving swiftly in response to Caleb's strategy.
Crafting poison arrows and landing accurate shots that dealt significant damage to Backattack,
using your sound-mapping skill to detect pursuit by other slave parties,
locating the goblin shaman, and spotting Backattack while he was invisible.
That value comes to 2,920 gold."
Assistant Jacob was rigid and businesslike.
"The Magic Academy sends slaves into labyrinths partly as a form of punishment for criminals.
Because of that, a slave's buyout can never be gifted through another person's goodwill, nor can one simply be carried through a labyrinth.
Only when the money earned by one's own ability exceeds one's buyout price, proving social value—"
Jacob continued,
"—only then can one become a freeman.
The value of Yernil's abilities I mentioned earlier is 2,920 gold.
That also represents the expected income you could reasonably achieve if you entered the labyrinth again with an average party.
From my perspective, it is an appropriate evaluation.
In Caleb's case, he is assessed as being capable of earning the remaining amount or more with a standard party."
"Yes..."
"This includes overall adventure design ability and willingness to sacrifice.
Caleb expanded the pie, and in the battle with Backattack, he risked his life.
Speaking bluntly, all Yernil did was fire two poison arrows—when instructed to do so.
That's what it means to be a replaceable position."
Hey, assistant.
You didn't have to put it that harshly...
"Even so, if you have any objections to this distribution ratio, state them now."
He sounded like a textbook judge giving the defendant their final chance to speak.
"Uh, no..."
Poor Yernil was completely deflated. Her face had turned red.
Maybe she'd assumed labyrinth profits were naturally split fifty-fifty.
Most adventurers treat equal division as the standard contract.
Even the dwarf had talked about 25% shares earlier.
So she probably imagined both of us becoming freemen together,
sharing a celebratory drink at a tavern after returning.
Maybe she'd even prepared a line like,
"Escaping slavery is enough for me, Caleb. You should take the rest."
But when the lid was opened, the assistant poured cold water over her—and drove in an ice pick.
From the service fee, your two toothpick-level arrows and one lighting arrow were worth 5 gold in contribution.
...The assistant's scalpel-like weighing began there,
and it was so sharp that, given Yernil's personality, she was probably mortified right now.
Hence the red face.
Overestimating her own ability and contribution,
self-loathing over the shameless thought of becoming a freeman on a teammate's share,
and on top of that, the fear of being thrown back into the labyrinth again.
Oh.
That must feel fantastic.
So, assistant—
Please stop hitting her already...
"In my view, Caleb also refrained from making aggressive statements in his testimony.
It seems he was considerate of Yernil's share.
Remember this as well—that your party luck was exceptionally good."
"Yes..."
Completely gaslit, Yernil lowered her head.
Hmm.
It's good that my share increased, but is this scale-based evaluation system really correct?
I'm not sure.
Honestly, I don't like that magic scale.
Virtanen's party—trusting each other, giving their best, and splitting things evenly—seems far cooler.
Click.
The assistant cracked the door open slightly and instructed a junior mage outside.
"Take Yernil to the slave quarters."
So what happens to Yernil now?
In the game, slaves who fail to become freemen fall into one of two paths.
If they cleared while holding a wand, they're judged to have magical talent and admitted to the Magic Academy.
If they came out with another weapon, like Yernil, they're sold to the Adventurers' Guild.
So what about here?
"She'll be sold to the Adventurers' Guild."
The assistant confirmed—it was exactly as I remembered.
That's fine. I can meet her later at the guild.
"More importantly, Caleb."
The assistant finally got to the point.
"Have you considered enrolling in the Magic Academy?"
For slave mages, this process is simple.
The infrastructure provided to Magic Academy slaves is abysmal, so even a warm room and balanced meals are enough to recruit them.
Of course, considering they're the ones who tossed slaves into labyrinths with a wand and a potato and told them to fight their way out, feelings won't be great—but people enroll anyway.
Then, through rehabilitation and indoctrination by the academy, they slowly become real mages.
But I'm no longer a slave.
And I've just debuted as a once-in-a-generation genius mage who beat Backattack in a duo,
with silent casting and ultra-fast spellcasting—unintentionally, but still.
"In your case, Caleb, you could enter as a scholarship student."
The power dynamic had flipped.
That stiff, businesslike assistant Jacob started nervously shaking one leg.
The whole reason the Magic Academy throws slaves into labyrinths and then selects talents to train as mages is to increase the number of mages.
At least, that's how it worked in the game.
Massive casualties occurred due to labyrinth eruptions, especially among mages,
so they were scrambling to replenish numbers.
There's no way they'd let me slip away.
"What are the benefits of enrolling?"
"In every respect. First of all, someone like Caleb has exceptional magical talent—"
Bang!
The small conference room door was suddenly thrown open,
and a red-haired human woman and an elderly halfling burst in.
The woman was the assistant who had been waiting at the gate when we exited the labyrinth.
And the halfling was...
"Professor!"
Jacob jumped to his feet.
"Is this the one?"
The halfling mage examined me up and down with intense curiosity, craning his neck almost to its limit due to the height difference.
"Pleasure to meet you. I am Meldini, associate professor of the Magic Academy."
"Likewise."
"Throw that damn brochure away!"
He slapped aside the brochure Jacob had handed me.
"Dormitories this, scholarships that, curriculum this—none of that matters."
It does matter to me.
I don't even have a place to sleep tonight.
"To move real mages with hot blood like us, you need more than that.
You need to present a noble purpose for the sake of all humanity. Don't you agree?"
Meldini clenched his fist.
Jacob slapped his forehead with a look of doom,
and the red-haired assistant shrugged.
"What is the mission of a mage?
To rediscover lost magic?
To exterminate labyrinth monsters?
To develop new spell-binding methods?
No! None of that!"
Meldini dropped a bombshell.
"To eradicate the otherworldly possessors who crossed over through the game 'Labyrinth of the Abyss'!"
Fuck.
What did that halfling professor just say?
I can only hope I managed my expression properly just now.
Stay calm. Calm down. If I panic, it's over. Breathe slowly.
"I reviewed the records you have left in the Slave Administration Department. I also looked into how you ended up with a murder conviction. You're from the far eastern labyrinth city of Wyndham, aren't you? Originally a labyrinth adventurer."
"..."
"And you claimed this at the trial, didn't you? That the companion you killed turned out to be a possessor who came over from Labyrinth of the Abyss—"
What?
"And the evidence you submitted was quite persuasive. If I had been the judge there, I would have acquitted you."
"..."
"On behalf of the citizens of Wyndham, I wish to express gratitude for your noble sacrifice and courageous decision. If you hadn't dealt with that companion..."
Meldini continued.
"The labyrinth of Wyndham would have erupted."
Summarizing the professor's explanation, it went something like this.
I'm not the only one whose life was ruined after being possessed via the game Labyrinth of the Abyss.
And if such possessors fail to enter a labyrinth for more than two weeks—
The nearest labyrinth erupts.
When that happens, nearly all monsters within the labyrinth, even abyssal monsters dwelling on the master floor, spill out.
Naturally, the surface is reduced to scorched earth.
This strange phenomenon has been occurring for quite some time, and the mages investigating its cause uncovered one crucial fact.
The abyssal monsters that emerge onto the surface move in a consistent direction.
As if they share a common target.
That target is the otherworldly possessor.
"We don't know why the labyrinth works so tirelessly to eliminate possessors from another world. But one thing is certain—those abyssal monsters will always remove that one target without fail."
Could I live safely and peacefully on the surface now that I'd obtained freeman status?
That hope shattered completely. I can't escape the labyrinth.
"The labyrinth is a place of profit, but eruption crises are always a threat to all of us. And the best way to prevent that is—"
And the surface is even more dangerous than the labyrinth.
"To find and eliminate the possessors ourselves."
There's a cruel irony in my past as well.
"You've already killed a possessor. A companion you lived and fought alongside for years."
What kind of relationship did I have with that fox-tribe woman?
If we'd spent years together as labyrinth adventurers, she must have known too—that otherworldly possessors are the cause of eruptions, and therefore targets for elimination.
Which means her identity was a critical secret she never revealed to anyone.
Then how did I find out?
Surely it wasn't some horrific story like, she trusted me as a companion, confessed, and was betrayed… right?
It must've been a four-person party. What happened to the other two? What do they think of me now?
My head is going to explode. Fuck.
"Caleb."
Honestly, fighting Backattack had been more relaxing.
"Join the possessor-hunting club I lead at the Magic Academy. Let's eradicate every possessor in our city and protect it."
"..."
"You're not a possessor yourself, are you? Hahaha! You're not, right? Say—you wouldn't happen to be a possessor, would you?"
The professor asked jokingly.
I almost laughed along and said no.
'If I had, I'd be dead.'
Because the lie-detection magic is still active!
"..."
This is bad.
This is a dead end. Even using the hourglass wouldn't help here.
It feels like performing a circus act with my head inside a crocodile's wide-open jaws.
Where did I screw up?
Was it a mistake to come straight here after waking up at the temple?
Should I have investigated otherworldly possessors more through Emma first?
No—if I'd done that and been discovered later, they might've found it suspicious that I was digging for information.
Was leaving the labyrinth at all a mistake? Should I have gathered more information inside before coming out?
No—what's the point of any of that now?
If this halfling pushes me for an answer even once, it's over.
Can I laugh this off?
If I say I'll join his club, will he let it slide? Or will he instead scrutinize me even more thoroughly since I'd be on his team?
It's like standing on thin ice while watching cracks spread beneath my feet in real time.
And then—
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door of the Slave Administration Department.
It was the same mage I'd seen waiting at the gate after we exited the labyrinth.
His name was—
"Clorence."
"Good day, Professor."
Clorence greeted the halfling professor, then bowed politely to the assistants as well. And then—
"I was waiting outside for Caleb to come out and unintentionally overheard part of the conversation. Professor—don't you think recruiting him already might be a bit premature?"
"To harvest good crops, one must carefully choose the seeds at the time of sowing."
"A valid point. But Caleb."
Clorence continued.
"You don't need to decide right now. There are many clubs at the Magic Academy."
"Is Professor Ishirov also interested in this young man?"
The halfling asked.
"Of course. And... does hunting down and eliminating possessors truly require silent casting and ultra-fast spellcasting?"
"..."
"I believe he's far more specialized for labyrinth exploration. Caleb, the Labyrinth Exploration Club would like to invite you. Would you care to meet with Professor Ishirov?"
"Ah—"
Jacob, the assistant who'd been listening from behind, stepped between Clorence and me.
"Why are the professors getting ahead of themselves? He hasn't even stamped his enrollment papers yet. Right, Clorence? At this rate, you'll scare him off before he even enrolls."
"...He's someone brave enough to challenge Backattack alongside a companion instead of escaping alone from the labyrinth."
Clorence said.
"And by the same token, someone with strong camaraderie. If he had to kill a companion because they were a possessor, imagine how painful that must've been. Is it really necessary to reopen that wound by assigning him similar work?"
Clorence gently took my hand and guided me away from Jacob.
"Why not meet Professor Ishirov first? You're a freeman now, Caleb."
I followed his lead outside, doing my best to stay calm.
Honestly, if getting me away from that halfling required going back into the labyrinth, I'd do it right now.
That bastard is a hundred times scarier than Backattack.
Click.
From beyond the softly closing door of the Slave Administration Department—
—That brat dares talk back so cheekily.
I heard the halfling mutter his restrained fury.