Unrequited Love, Lost for the Better - Chapter 11

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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

As her seniors returned to their seats, Collette pressed her throbbing temples. To make such obvious evasions with that sly expression—it seemed…

Everyone knew.

It appeared she had been the only one unaware of Meliano’s feelings for her all this time. Collette felt a tightness in her chest.

Rubbing her face dryly, she returned to her seat and began tidying her desk, which had been left in disarray by the explosion. It was an unspoken rule that a researcher’s desk was not to be touched by anyone except themselves and their direct junior, so she had to clean it herself.

After a while of organizing, Collette furrowed her nose.

What had gone wrong this time?

Collette glared at the long workboard occupying her spacious desk. The leather spread across it was made from the hide of a horned mole, which had high mana sensitivity. She had intended to infuse the leather with oil extracted from luminous dandelion seeds—the raw material for a paralytic agent that dulled magical beasts’ movements—and then cut it to size.

Thankfully, the leather itself is undamaged. But since an explosion occurred, this combination must be discarded.

Since this work was for Valen, who struggled with his greater-than-average mana reserves, Collette had been taking extraordinary care. Yet merely hearing his name had shaken her this much.

Perhaps it’s fortunate that the Labyrinth has encountered problems at a time like this…

The current situation, which prevented Valen—the Exploration Squad’s captain—from leaving the field prematurely, also kept him from seeking Collette out. Thanks to that, she could avoid the tender blades he offered.

If only his feet could remain bound until she completed the new artifact. Then, after handing it to him and shedding the remaining attachments, she could wish for each other’s happiness as a close friend’s younger sister, just as he wanted…

Collette snapped back to her senses.

Have you lost your mind, Collette Lowell Verna? If the Labyrinth continues unsealed, a Monster Wave will eventually erupt. Do you intend to abandon a mage’s duty?

She should be thinking of her comrades struggling to seal the Labyrinth—not entertaining selfish thoughts for her own comfort.

Shaking her head, Collette took a deep breath.

The Labyrinth.

A massive ellipsoid that appeared suddenly in midair.

If exploration was not completed and the entrance remained unsealed after a certain period, it would spew forth hordes of magical beasts—that unknown existence was the Labyrinth.

The massive ellipsoid that appeared at the head of the Zairka Mountain Range—which stretched its roots across the entire continent—spewed forth hordes of magical beasts at regular intervals.

To survive the monster hordes, people joined forces. Thus, they dealt with the hordes, but could not eliminate the ellipsoid floating at the mountain range’s head, in the heart of a dormant volcano. No matter how they attacked the ellipsoid’s black outer wall, not a single scratch would appear.

Inside the mana-saturated ellipsoid, only mages could move freely; others could barely breathe properly.

In the end, people resolved to at least stop the monster hordes and established an Exploration Squad composed solely of mages. And since the interior of the ellipsoid resembled a labyrinth, they designated it as such, and began gathering mages from across the continent to counter the Labyrinth.

The Magic Tower was founded by the mages thus assembled.

Mages belonging to the Magic Tower received a lifetime of honor, but in return, they bore the duty of benefiting the world.

We’ve determined the timing of the Monster Wave’s occurrence, but still have not discovered the cause of the Labyrinth’s emergence itself.

Nowadays, they researched and utilized byproducts found in the Labyrinth, but in the past, they had staked their lives—sacrificing mages like pouring water into a bottomless jar—to prevent the Monster Wave.

For once a Monster Wave occurred, not only nearby villages but even small kingdoms could easily vanish from the map, so ceaselessly did the monster hordes pour forth.

Compared to those days, how fortunate they were now—able to conduct research with byproducts and all.

“……”

Fortunate, my foot. She needed to clear her head.

“I’ll take a short break.”

Rising from her seat, Collette left her seniors with a brief farewell and headed for the rest garden. Along the way, she greeted those who recognized her with a glance, and as she stepped into the garden, she could feel the tranquil air settle around her.