Intermission (7)

My stomach full while fatigue from the day's hardships weighing on me, I found myself gently patting the dozing child on my lap, lost in thought. The approaching challenges were significant, but another separate issue lingered. When will this intermission period end? Will it ever conclude before we reach El Dante? Can we even find a village once we escape this forest?

In this world, if it's not part of the story's stage, it might as well not exist. In the beginning, this world was so ruthlessly efficient that extras who had served their purpose were reduced to ashes. Does that mean a village not mentioned in the story doesn't exist at all? Or would a temporary stage be set up because the protagonist needs it? Right now, these are questions without answers. Following the stranded problem, if we can't figure out when we'll get out of these mountains, another issue arises.

"We can't survive on just potatoes. What will we do for food until we find a village?"

Then Leonardo responded, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Supply lines never go as planned. They rarely work out. We've managed to supplement our food during our stay by hunting, so we can do the same this time."

"...?"

'You're a soldier, right? Even at the frontlines. Isn't supply the lifeblood of the military? Or am I thinking too much like a modern person?'

Noticing my curiosity, he casually smashed a dead tree trunk into pieces with his bare hands, maintaining a calm expression as he added to his explanation.

"When you lead an army, food gets consumed quickly, and equipment is prone to rust or breakage. So we'd regularly hold competitions among the knights to hunt monsters, selling the byproducts to cover repair costs. With that money, we'd buy fodder for the horses and sleeping bags."

"What?"

But what on earth is this grim self-sustaining military management? Leonardo remained unfazed.

"It couldn't be helped. My unit mainly consisted of bastards or commoners."

The nobility who were disregarded and the commoner heroes who gained fame during the wars. When the kingdom organized its army in response to the chaos, bastards and commoner heroes were formed into the First Field Army to defend the front lines.

"Most of the knights and heirs from noble families were assigned to the Second Field Army or the capital defence forces," Leonardo said casually. 

They'd shoved the easiest and most manageable people into the most dangerous positions. While it might be a convenient setup for someone like Leovald, who rose to the position of commander as a wandering commoner, the absurdity of it was undeniable.

"The noble units often enjoyed lavish hospitality at their family castles or mansions, but for the First Field Army… well."

"Never even once?"

"Well, there was one time… A squire named Paulo, the son of a farmer, invited us to his hometown. I remember cramming into a hut with him, his large family, and about twelve other knights. Apart from that, we mostly camped out in the open."

The image of Leonardo quickly finding a sheltered cave, skillfully starting a fire, and preparing a place to sleep flashed through my mind. So it wasn't a natural talent but rather something he had learned through experience? Then a certain hypothesis came to me. For some unknown reason, King Godric, who harboured deep resentment towards Leovald, might have been negligent in supplying Leovald's unit. It seemed far-fetched, but it felt oddly plausible.

I couldn't help but briefly hide my troubled expression as I looked at Leonardo, who seemed like he might not have had a proper meal of gruel while wandering around.

'This kid… I'll have to feed him until the very end. There's no other choice.'

That sense of urgency washed over me. But it was Leonardo's role to supply us with food right now. Both Vittorio and I were complete novices when it came to hunting. He mentioned that it seemed like the rain would stop by tomorrow without a hint of resentment towards his past experience in a self-sufficient military unit.

He suggested that to save travel time, we could set traps before going to sleep at night and then collect whatever we caught the next day. He explained how to make a pit trap that could even catch a bear, using just wooden stakes and his sword. The only traps I knew about involved propping up a stick under a basket and tying it with a string.

I happened to have a potato basket and some branches nearby, so I quickly made a simple trap and showed it to him. After seeing my makeshift trap, Leonardo said seriously:

"Is this a worm trap? Since it rained, they should be quite visible. Catching some bugs to use for fishing could be a good method, too."

This guy. I turned my back to him and ignored him for five minutes.

At first, Leonardo tilted his head in confusion, but eventually, he started to flounder and hurriedly spouted words he didn't really mean, saying that with some luck, I could catch a rabbit with that trap.

"Liar."

I decided to pretend I didn't hear his insincere words. As we bantered back and forth, the sun completely set, and it was dark outside the cave. Sitting in front of the crackling campfire, Leonardo insisted that he would stand guard and urged me to go to sleep first. I agreed to take a nap and asked him to wake me up when it was my turn to keep watch.

I closed my eyes.

And then I dreamed.

***

4th floor, underground. Dampness. Ragged breaths.

The lantern shattered into countless pieces, reflecting the dwindling sparks of light, casting shards of brilliant illumination that danced upon the walls of the labyrinth. It looked as though flowers had bloomed, sculpted in light upon the stone surfaces.

My hands felt sticky. The texture was slippery and writhing. Ah, the human body is truly remarkable. How can so many organs be packed away beneath the skin like this? And how can they so easily escape? Is a human really just a taut water balloon, ready to burst at any moment?

My irrational mind conjures absurd thoughts. As this arm struggles to wedge its way into my innards, I can't help but wonder if this peach-coloured skin might swell and pop at any moment.

"Ugh…"

Tears streamed down my cheeks, wet and trembling. A hot, slick hand approached, gently wiping away the tears.

"Shh. They can hear us," Leonardo whispered. His hand was soaked, stained red with his own blood. Since being ambushed by those things disguised as henchmen, he had maintained that same hue.

Red.

In the midst of this urgent situation, with the seals about to break and danger encroaching, he paid no mind to his own wounds. He wielded his great sword, crashing it against the ceiling to create stone barriers, blocking the walls and desperately trying to hinder them as best he could. As a result, we were now hiding somewhere deep within the labyrinth, gasping for breath.

Vittorio had been sent up first. After asking him to request support from the church, it was just the two of us here. However, even if that boy were to return with a legion of paladins, I doubted the situation would change significantly.

Shuff, shuff, shuff…

Somewhere in the labyrinth, I could hear them prowling. The chilling sound made my stomach churn. No matter what I did, Leonardo's wounds showed no signs of healing. Even when I pressed down on them, his insides seemed to keep trying to spill out.

I thought about the risk of heading back to the centre of the labyrinth to sprinkle holy water on his wounds, but Leonardo had warned me that the water pooling there was contaminated and would be of no use. So I sank into despair, watching the spreading red puddle on the floor, realizing it had begun to seep into my knees as well.

"Don't die," I whispered, looking at him. I had already seen him send Vittorio and me up in the lift during our first run, only to fight back against those things trying to pull the lift down to protect us. I had watched him die. Seeing that scene again filled me with an overwhelming anxiety that twisted my insides.

"Don't die, don't die. Please. Leo…"

Leonardo responded with a faint smile but no words. Had he already tasted death once in the form of Leovald? Even in this dire situation, he seemed oddly calm as death approached.

Ah, damn it. Damn it all.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. But they would hear me. I wanted to cry and confess how scared I was. But that would only be a waste of energy. I knew the next reset was coming. Everything starts again from the entrance to the underground. I would notice the lines on my forearm, deduce what was happening, and come up with a plan. But just thinking wouldn't be enough. Judgement alone wasn't sufficient.

[Sinistra's Underground Labyrinth 4th Floor – Current Exploration Rate 35%]

Just as the heart must beat diligently to survive, life always demands effort. To not let this opportunity slip away, I had to keep striving without rest. Wiping my tears and lifting my body, Leonardo grabbed my arm with a strength that seemed unbelievable for someone on the verge of death.

"Where are you going? That thing is still nearby. If I signal you, then at least you should…"

"I'm not leaving here."

Instead, I intended to confine myself to this labyrinth. I wanted to search for light in that darkness. Noticing something strange, Leonardo persistently asked questions. I felt so exhausted that I didn't even have the energy to make excuses, so I said…

"I'm preparing for the next opportunity."

"Next opportunity?"

"Yeah. The next opportunity for you and me."

The system window, which used to warn about hiding the sense of discrepancy, is unusually calm today. Or maybe it doesn't matter whether the characters realize the secrets of the three worlds, since this episode will be reset anyway.

It seems like the writers are busy fighting over messages as if preparing for the reset, but that wasn't an important factor for me. That opaque window was the fourth wall that couldn't be crossed by the roles, and right now, this place was my reality.

"Next time," Leonardo murmured softly.

"Yes. From the moment we entered this underground place. Again."

As I answered absentmindedly, the blood-soaked hand slipped down from my arm to the tip of my fingers. The hands that touched each other just lingered, and I felt the connection of our fingers. The blood was sticky and congealed.

"Does it mean this will repeat?"

"Yes."

"How many times is it now?"

"Second."

"Okay…"

He seems to be struggling to accept everything for a moment. But it doesn't really seem like he understands.

"First, let's go together. If you really need to navigate the labyrinth… I'll provide cover."

Since he can discern the entity, he can obscure the presence of it and suggest ways to avoid it in advance. I hesitated to put him through unnecessary hardship, but if I refused his help, I might not be able to go far and could end up dead.

'Yeah. It's a reset episode anyway.'

With that thought, we begin to walk. As I supported him, I felt vividly the tremors of Leonardo's convulsions, flinching with each painful step.

[Sinistra's Underground Labyrinth 4th Floor – Current Exploration Rate 40%]

The map slowly rose, and his blood dripped like droplets, leaving tracks behind. This map uses his blood as ink. It will be completed as a vivid red map so bright that it stings the eyes. He turned his attention away from his pain and spoke to me.

"So this is like foresight for you. You experience the possibilities of what could happen and then start again at the entrance with that memory, or so it sounds."

"It's similar. That's how it is."

"Then am I just an illusion to you right now?"

"No, you're real. You are Leonardo, as you know yourself."

[Sinistra's Underground Labyrinth 4th Floor – Current Exploration Rate 50%]

Leonardo looked a bit surprised. He slowly murmured, 

"Did you know? That I am Leovald."

"Yes."

"From the beginning?"

"From the beginning."

"You can see through my soul with your foresight. What exactly can you be defined as?"

"I don't know either."

[Sinistra's Underground Labyrinth 4th Floor – Current Exploration Rate 60%]

"…It feels like something sent by a god. I'm not one to believe in gods, though."

"After thinking deeply for a while, were you thinking of my identity? And your nickname is Divine, after all. The gods would weep."

"When disaster strikes, the people bestow myths upon heroes. My personal traits are overlooked, and I am merely expected to fit that role."

[Sinistra's Underground Labyrinth 4th Floor – Current Exploration Rate 70%]

"I see that I will forget all of this."

"Yes. I will forget too, but later I will regain the memories."

"Can you tell me your name? It's been a while since we met, and I'm only asking now."

"..."

"But I'm going to forget anyway."

"…I don't know either."

"Is that so?"

[Sinistra's Underground Labyrinth 4th Floor – Current Exploration Rate 80%]

"Young master, are you okay? Your breathing…"

"…There's a presence up ahead. Into another alley."

"Ah…"

"Call me Leo— can you do that?"

"Mm, okay. Do you like it when I call you that?"

"Yes. I would like you to keep calling me that in the 'next time' as well."

"Got it. From now on, I'll keep calling you Leo."

[Sinistra's Underground Labyrinth 4th Floor – Current Exploration Rate 90%]

"About your name—if you don't have one, why don't you create one for yourself?"

"Well, it's strange when you think about it. Is there anyone who truly defines themselves? It's the same with names. We are always called and defined by others. We don't name ourselves, just like a newborn doesn't choose its own name upon being born."

"So you're waiting to be called by someone."

"Maybe. So… are you in a lot of pain right now?"

"Not really."

"Liar."

[Sinistra's Underground Labyrinth 4th Floor – Current Exploration Rate 95%]

"Next time, I won't let even a single strand of your hair be harmed.."

"..."

"I promise."

"A promise is like a contract—it only holds meaning when both sides share it. Can I make a promise too?"

"Sure."

"One day, can I be the one to give you a name?"

"You're going to forget."

"Maybe not everything. Perhaps fragments or traces might remain."

"Alright, fine. Then you can name me."

"I promise."

"I promised."

"..."

Leonardo leans his head against my shoulder and then goes limp.

"Leo?"

"..."

"Sleep well. I'll see you in a bit."

[Sinistra's Underground Labyrinth 4th Floor – Current Exploration Rate Achieved 100%!][Reversing the development of a certain scenario segment.]