There are a lot of reasons as to why someone would go to the Labyrinth. Some people go there to find treasures and make money, some for honor, some for strength, and wizards who study magic go there to explore the origin of magic.
Some people from other worlds, like me, go to the Labyrinth, believing that there is a way to return to the original world we come from among the countless mysteries of the Labyrinth.
I don't know if anyone has succeeded. Some speculate the explorers who went deep into the Labyrinth did not return and returned to their original world. While others say that they simply died and could not return.
Honestly, I think they all died.
Of course, if there were people who returned to Earth, wouldn't it have been a hot topic? And I, too, have dreamed of exploring the Labyrinth.
The reasons are complex.
Even though I've lived here for three years, I still want to explore the mysteries of this amazing world, and I also think that I might be able to return to Earth. The desire for growth was due to the backlash of the past three years, where I didn't do anything to become stronger.
With such thoughts in mind, I planned to go to the Labyrinth under the premise that 'if my skills grow' while working at the treatment center for three years. Then, my skills are sure to evolve even further if I go into the Labyrinth.
I also need to find out more about the [Adaptation] skill, which I'm still unsure if I like so much.
This is the biggest one. Honestly, when I think about how I was swayed by sexual desire like today, no matter how much I think about it, it was far from normal. First of all, the most suspicious cause is the [Adaptation] skill, but since I can't tell anyone about it., I have no choice but to figure it out on my own.
Of course, I'm not thinking of just buying some equipment and rushing into the Labyrinth without any companions like I did the first time when I was transmigrated into this world.
Thinking back, I really was reckless.
What did I believe would happen to go into the Labyrinth alone and without even checking the effect of my skill properly?
This time, I decided to buy the beginner explorer training promoted by the Labyrinth Guild. It costs a bit, but it provides basic theoretical education about the Labyrinth, and it also allows you to form a temporary party with an explorer from the Labyrinth Guild and to gain experience inside the Labyrinth.
It costs a total of 50 silver coins. Considering that my monthly salary is only 5 silver coins… it's definitely an investment. And while it might seem like a crazy price… I had almost died the first time I had gone in there, so I preferred to make this investment instead of dying stupidly.
Now, I only had one last thing to do before leaving for the Labyrinth.
Tell the priest that I was quitting.
***
"I see. Thank you for telling me."
Huh? Was it that easy?
He didn't try to hold me back or do anything like that; he was very understanding. I thought that he would have been somewhat angry or at least asked me to find a successor to hand over the work I was doing, but no.
"Ian, I knew that you would head back to the Labyrinth at one point anyway. Do you remember the first day I met you?"
Of course, I could forget.
I came back with wounds all over my body and headed to this clinic instead of a temple since I didn't know how things worked back then.
Fortunately, the priest had been able to treat me since I hadn't been affected by the Labyrinth's magic or anything of that sort, so the low-level priest had healed me right up.
"Usually, those who head inside the Labyrinth can be divided into two categories. Those who are discouraged or those who become stronger. You escaped covered in wounds, but you never left your sword behind. You also immediately asked me for a job. From my experience, those types of people always head back to the Labyrinth at one point."
As he said that, the priest took something from the chest in the corner of the room.
"I-Isn't this the sword I left behind in exchange for you healing me?"
The blade wasn't all rusted like I had expected, but it was well-polished and oiled up. It seemed that the priest had been taking care of it.
"It is. I want to go to a blacksmith I know and ask him to restore it. Please accept it as a gift from me for your hard work for all these years."
The priest held out the sword before me, waiting for me to grab it, and that's exactly what I did.
It was a feeling that I had not felt for more than three years. Gratitude welled up from the depths of my heart.
"If you were a woman, I might have proposed to you."
"And if I was a woman, I would have refused to marry you."
I wiped away the tears that were slowly running down the sides of my face and bowed in gratitude to the priest who had taken care of me for more than three years.
"Thank you so much for everything! I will never forget about you, and if I ever get the chance. I'll pay you back tenfold!"
The priest frowned slightly at those words as he kept staring at me. "People usually say those things to their teachers. Is this a tradition from where you come from?"
Oh, that's awkward. I was trying to control my emotions and not show them so openly, but it seemed to have failed.
I hope he doesn't think I'm a weirdo now.