CHAPTER 45: THE PRINCESS

Before she hit the ground, I caught her, my hand sliding beneath her shoulders as if it were second nature.

"Careful, Princess. You’re about to make a crater," I joked, but she was too unconscious to hear it.

While I held the princess’s limp body in my arms, I decided to ask a question that has recently surfaced on my mind.

"System, is it possible to create weapons that use magic?"

[Yes, there are two ways to create weapons capable of using mana, but only one is accessible to you.]

What was that supposed to mean?

[The first way is through mana stones. Mana stones are rare items usually found in labyrinths or dungeons. Though I must warn you, weapons made from mana stones aren’t all that powerful. The second option is soul extraction. This method is not accessible to you yet. Through soul extraction, you could theoretically extract the soul of someone who possesses mana and impart their soul onto a weapon.]

Soul extraction? It sounded more like necromancy than smithing. I assume, extracting someone’s soul would mean killing them. I’ve come close before but I’ve never actually killed anyone before.

Would I actually feel anything then?

What would I need to extract a person’s soul?

[You’ll need a chalice forged from voidstone.]

From what I had heard about this world, there were people with strong enough magic to rival us heroes with systems, but they were few and far between. That was why this world needed our help in the first place.

If I could extract the soul of a capable mage or even beasts to create weapons...

"Hmm," the princess moaned and stirred until she finally opened her eyes. Her eyes widened as she saw me. "Huh?... What are you doing? Don’t touch me!"

She squirmed, trying to get up even though her legs were like jelly.

"You’re welcome," I said, but that seemed to infuriate her even more.

"Don’t act like you’re some big hero. People are out here dying, and none of you were anywhere to be seen. You heroes are all useless!"

Talk about entitlement. Here she was, laying helplessly in my arms, and she was still complaining. Ignoring her grievances, I proceeded to scoop her completely off her feet.

"W-What are you doing?" Her face flushed. Something told me she wasn’t the type to let her vulnerable side be seen. "Put me down!"

"I’m taking you to someplace safe. It would be trouble for us if you got hurt on our watch," I said, adjusting my grip before she flopped out like a sack of flour.

She pouted and averted her gaze.

"Tch... I didn’t ask for your help. You should mind your own business. Your job is to protect the people of this city—"

"That includes you too, princess. You are part of the city. I’m pretty sure the people of this city don’t want to see their pieces lying bloody on the street."

"They’re dying; they couldn’t care less. It was our job to protect them in the first place."

"And you did protect them," I said, staring into her eyes. "You saved lives, so rest easy."

"Don’t look at me like that." she said, half covering her face. "You’re nothing but a rooftop monkey." she mumbled under her breath.

A what?

For the rest of the time I walked with her, she didn’t utter a word. After a while, I felt her head ease into my chest—she had fallen asleep. I guess it would be more accurate to say she passed out; she did lose a lot of blood.

Not long after, I came across some knights and promptly handed her over to them. When all of the harpies had been slain, I did as Amelia instructed and regrouped with her and the others at the East Ward.

There were a lot more injured than I had anticipated. Nearly half the class was suffering from injuries. I even spotted the members who were supposed to be part of my group—of course, they were all fine since they had spent the entire time cowering.

Luckily, no one had been killed, but from the looks on my classmates’ faces, I could tell they were traumatized.

One girl clung to her best friend while muttering incoherently. Another kid was slouched in a corner, shaking like a leaf. The joy-filled gazes I had seen last night during the celebration were now lifeless.

I even spotted Luna. She gave me a polite smile and a bow when she saw me. She was being cautious; since we were both in our combat suits, her approaching me might raise some flags.

All in all, she looked fine; she was sticking close to Kiki who was pretending not to see me. Over the past couple of weeks, the two of them had grown a lot closer.

"I’m glad that none of you were seriously hurt, but the work isn’t over yet. I know that most of you are tired, and after everything you’ve been through today, you deserve to rest. But we still have the labyrinth outside the city to close. Luckily, our teacher said that we only need 15 students to enter the labyrinth."

A lot of the students began to sigh in relief upon hearing that. From their expressions, it was obvious they didn’t want to enter the labyrinth. I, on the other hand, wanted to see how a labyrinth differed from a dungeon, so I decided to volunteer. Plus, I needed more points.

The first thing that struck me about the labyrinth was its shape. As they said, it was just beyond the wall of the East Ward.

The labyrinth looked almost like a religious temple, adorned with strange sculptures that I could only describe as demons. The sculptures were roughly 10 feet tall, with some creatures featuring scales and others sporting horns on top of their heads.

The door to the labyrinth was also quite large. It took two people just to open it.

"Be on your guard," Amelia said just before we entered.

She took the lead and guided us inside, while our homeroom teacher stayed at the back, watching as we entered. True to her word, she wasn’t going to get involved.

THUD!!

The loud door slammed shut behind us as we stepped inside. The design of the labyrinth mirrored that of the exterior, except the sculptures now depicted sea creatures. The room was illuminated by a floating orb of light in the ceiling.

It was also larger than it appeared from the outside. The entire room was the size of a football field, and at the far end, there was a winding staircase.

[DING!]

[YOU HAVE ENTERED A LABYRINTH OF THE SEA GOD]

A notification popped up out of nowhere, and from the looks on everyone’s faces, it seemed they received it too. We didn’t even have time to process this before another notification appeared.

[DING!]

[The labyrinth is sinking. To survive, you must make your way to the top floor.]

Sinking? As in going underground? My question was quickly answered as a puddle formed beneath my feet. Water was seeping into the room seemingly out of nowhere.