"Why didn't you suggest going together after butting into something trivial and causing a commotion?"
Gillian, walking through the maze, asked the air. Beside him, Beatrice, held like a princess by Morbang, crossed her legs and fiddled with her fingernails.
Only the two were in the long, silent passage. Occasionally, pebbles fallen from the stone walls rolled on the ground, kicked by Morbang's feet.
"Because there was a weird kid stuck next to Leo."
"Since when did you care about such things?"
Beatrice's sulky eyes glanced at the massive build.
"You dragged me away before I could say anything. And Andrew said not to move around together from the start. Even Council battalion commanders don't get dispatched to the same place simultaneously."
Gillian, wearing a surprised expression, looked to the side.
"Wow, but I'm glad he at least listens to that."
"Andrew listens well originally."
"Not him, you."
The platform heels extending from under the dress instantly kicked Gillian's abdomen. Gillian only giggled while brushing dust off his clothes. There seemed to be no impact at all.
After a moment, the first choice divided into three paths appeared before the two. Other participants seemed to have passed this place long ago, as no presence could be felt around. Morbang, supporting Beatrice firmly like a servant, carefully set her down on the ground.
She arranged her dress and kissed the bright red mouth of her beloved doll before approaching the wall. Stone fragments had gathered at her feet—participants seemed to have left marks this way since it was difficult to scratch the walls.
Beatrice kicked the marks to scatter them and asked Gillian.
"Where do we go now? I bet with Mirail whether we could pass within two hours."
"How long have we walked?"
"Not money, something else. You don't need to know."
"I need to know, since I'll be the one getting you through."
"There's no share for you."
"How heartless."
Gillian fumbled to untie the wine bottle attached at his waist and opened the cap. Morbang blocked Beatrice's front, protecting her like a guard knight.
His thick Adam's apple rippled as he gulped down the drink. When a red liquid like blood trickled from his lips, Gillian removed his mouth from the bottle, wiped with the back of his hand, and sighed.
"Was it 20 token chances?"
"Yeah."
"The exit should appear before breaking through 20 times."
Having simply organized the plan, he rolled his shoulders to loosen up.
He clenched his fists like blunt weapons and struck the maze's stone wall with all his might.
* * *
"Ow ow ow..."
Ero, shaking his reddened fist, let out a groaning moan. He had only tried to gauge how hard the wall was, but even his knuckles throbbed. Of course, not even a scratch appeared on the stone wall.
He, who had been wrapping his fist in his clothes and groaning, looked up at Leonardo floating in the air.
"Big brother, do you see something?"
Leonardo, having reached the top of the stone wall, lightly tapped the empty air with the back of his hand. The sky he had thought was just open was blocked by a mysterious barrier. The barrier covered the top of the stone wall without gaps, so it seemed impossible to climb up and walk over the maze or cross walls at will. Indeed, if that were possible, maze escape would lose its meaning.
The operations side seemed to have appropriately blocked shortcuts.
'Then is breaking through possible?'
Just as he was about to attempt it by gathering mana in his grip, wind blew through the entire passage the two were investigating. Leonardo turned his head toward where the wind came from. After narrowing his eyes and staring at that direction, he descended to the ground where Ero was and landed lightly.
Tensed Ero hid his body behind him hesitantly and asked.
"Why, why is wind suddenly blowing?"
"It's my mana. I instructed the spark to turn left when it hits a wall while going straight. When it meets a place blocked by walls on three sides, it burns and returns as is."
Ero's eyes widened.
"Wow, that's possible? Then hasn't it already gone around all the escape routes? But you say the path is blocked? What about up there?"
"Above also looks open but is actually blocked by a barrier. That sky we see might not be the real sky. And I didn't check all of this maze—I ignored detailed paths to first see only the main trunk."
Where Leonardo gestured with his chin was small passages at the top or bottom of the walls. This maze occasionally had dog holes to move to side passages in the middle of walls, or U-shaped grooves with steps. As a result of Ero going out through a hole earlier on Leonardo's instructions, the token number decreased by 1 every time they crossed a wall. Additionally, even when turning a curve path rather than a fork, the token number decreased by 1.
Inferring commonalities from these two examples, the case where token numbers decreased should be seen not simply when meeting a choice, but the moment of crossing one section of the maze's stone wall.
Leonardo, rubbing his lips while keeping his gaze fixed on the wall, asked.
"Hey, are you good at using your head?"
"Pardon? I'm amazingly good at using my wits!"
At the excessively confident statement, his rolled golden eyes sent a distrustful look. But wits were still brains.
"The Council values fairness. In other words, they wouldn't have designed rules so passage is decided only by overwhelming ability differences. If you had entered this maze alone without me, how do you think you would have escaped?"
"Uh..."
Ero tilted his head, then pondered quite seriously before opening his mouth.
"Honestly, I would have immediately tried to climb up above the maze. But since that doesn't work... initially I think I would have chased after other participants. While proposing alliances or hearing reactions of those who turned curve paths first with sound to judge, wouldn't I have saved token chances? Though there's no guarantee of passing."
Certainly. Unless one could use magic or had expensive tools, humans had to pass this maze only with information from the five senses, others, and 'intuition.' However, probabilistically, the possibility of all those choices falling into place at once to pass the maze by the shortest route was extremely low.
There would be several trials and errors, and within that, the risk of losing tokens by fighting other participants would be frequent. In other words, for an ordinary person to escape the maze within the limited 20 opportunities, the number of times turning curves or passing walls would be much less than 20.
'Perhaps this maze isn't as complex as I thought.'
"Then where do you think this maze's exit is? Just pick anywhere."
"The exit? Hmm... Big brother, did you happen to hear what the guide said earlier?"
The guide? Leonardo immediately traced his memory.
"He said no entrance was advantageous or particularly close to the exit. If that's true, it means the distance is similar no matter which entrance you take. Then where the exit might be is—"
"The maze center?"
"Yes, I think so."
Leonardo, nodding in acknowledgment, ruffled Ero's hair a bit roughly. It was quite an affectionate touch, so Ero, who had reflexively hunched his body worried about being hit, blinked. Leonardo grinned and said.
"You're the second most useful baggage I've met."
"Uh... pardon? Th-that's good, right?"
"Of course it's good. Let's go for now, it's better to check directly until a dead end. While we're at it, let's increase token chances too."
"Will you fight?"
"If they pick a fight first, I won't avoid it."
As Leonardo, slightly lifting off his feet, flew along the left wall, Ero also hurriedly began chasing him. Perhaps out of consideration, the speed difference wasn't great. Ero grinned and caught up to Leonardo's side.
"Big brother, who's the first one besides me?"
"What would you do knowing? But why did you bring that useless gun you used last time again? You can't shoot people with it anyway."
"Ah, about that. I brought amazing ammunition this time, and they said as long as it doesn't pierce bodies to kill, it can be used for controlling competitors or overcoming obstacles. I got permission for each bullet while registering support items!"
Ero boasted without rest while running, saying he had collected rare bullets made with magic during the spare time between Part 1 and 2 matches. Some bullets, when fired, burst with flames causing gales, and some could block pursuers by laying lots of stinging sea urchins on the ground.
'Like it's a toy.'
Leonardo listening was indifferent, but his gaze changed a bit when he learned there were paralysis bullets that could prevent a person's body from moving for 10 seconds or sleep bullets that could instantly put them to sleep.
"That's possible?"
"Yes! Isn't it awesome? And I even brought net bullets that can be used on mages! Big brother, if there's a troublesome opponent, just say the word! I'll hit them right with this—, agh!"
Bang—!
As soon as they turned the curve twice to the left, three ambushing participants rushed at the two. Leonardo, hesitating in mid-air, immediately pulled back to create distance, and Ero, completely unexpected, pulled the trigger as is.
As he had explained moments ago, a net flew from the decomposed bullet, covering the three in front and instantly subduing them unable to move. The net had several heavy weights attached to suppress threatening movements, and squeezed their bodies more strongly each time the targets struggled. They only made groaning sounds saying 'these bastards knew in advance.'
Looking at it, Mana Restraining Stones were embedded at the net's intersection points. Though incomparably crude compared to what Leonardo had experienced before, remembering that time, he grimaced. Only those who had experienced it would know the sensation of Mana Restraining Stone energy flowing through skin and seeping into every bone joint. Beyond feeling dirty, it was disgusting, and helplessness to the point of difficulty moving even a finger, along with stuffiness as if foreign matter filled the lungs, wrapped around the entire body.
Whether knowing Leonardo's heart or not, Ero, who had fallen backward due to recoil from firing, looked at the offerings before his eyes with a dumbfounded face.
Soon he examined the muzzle where the bullet had exited this way and that, as if looking at a miraculous object. His complexion and voice became extremely triumphant as he looked back at Leonardo.
"Big brother, did you see that?"