Author's Reincarnation in a Fantasy Setting

Hmm, theoretically I'd booked a room in an inn to spend the night, but I wasn't really sleeping. This was my second night without sleep, and I had to do this because of Challes; I don't trust that guy in the least.

Even if he is sleeping right now, I can't say when he'll attack. I know this is a bit of overthinking from my side, but you can never stay enough cautious.

I hold my life very dear and if now I died because of some silly assumption I made—that he can't possibly kill me in this condition, I'll die again from the shame and disappointment in myself.

Due to that line of thought, I spent the whole night rolling here and there on the bed I was provided with. From time to time I glanced at Challes who was passed out on the floor and no matter how many times I did that, his position wasn't changing anytime soon.

If you ask me, it was a little hard to stay awake when you're this tired—and of course, I was tired, after the whole faking my death thing, then traveling for a day to this town, and how can I forget the stab wound Challes gave me.

It had healed since I bought and drank a healing potion before leaving the capital city, but that potion was sold in the slum area and wasn't of the best quality. It might have healed my skin, but I still felt the pain then and now.

Thinking back on it now, it was the tingling and piercing pain that kept me from falling asleep accidentally. It wasn't particularly good but... well, let's leave it at that.

The next day, I woke up—or rather, just got out of bed. I was feeling a little dizzy, so I first drank some water and then in the bathroom that was attached to the room, I went and washed my face.

Coming back, I looked at myself in the mirror and I clearly had dark circles underneath my eyes; I was looking sleep-deprived. Anyway, I wore my cloak over the academy uniform—yeah, I only had the uniform as clothes.

When Challes kidnapped me I was wearing this and since then I never cared to change. A part of it was because I'd have to carry it around, there was a chance that someone might recognize me due to the uniform, but the cloak was helping with that.

"Wake up you bastard, we have to go," I cursed as I landed a hard kick on Challes's stomach. He was still sleeping on the floor, but it was already time.

He grumbled in pain as he clenched his stomach, then he slowly got up with a clearly frustrated look on his face. "Can't you do it more peacefully?" he asked rudely.

"I don't hear peace talk from your mouth. Shut up and get ready."

He clicked his tongue and stared at me with a very angry expression on his face; it was like he'll attack me any time now. But that didn't happen, after staring at me for a couple of minutes he went to the bathroom—when I increased the length of his chain—and then came out.

He was already wearing his cloak as he never took it off last night—he was sleeping on the floor, and it was kind of me to not provide him with a blanket, so his body can adapt to the cold.

When everything was ready, I shortened his chains and then left the inn.

"Are you sure someone would have taken the quest?" Challes asked as we walked down the path to the adventurers' guild.

"We'll see for ourselves once we get there."

Right now, my goal was to go inside a certain labyrinth. Because inside that labyrinth is the item I want—the one that'll make me strong. The novel covered the part where Leon explored the labyrinth, hence I knew its layout and how to descend the floors.

However, in the novel, he went to that labyrinth after a long time in the novel and at that time he had 4 girls in his harem. Due to the numbers, clearing the labyrinth was easier and with the help of the plot armor, no one died.

But from what I know, that labyrinth is capable of killing you if you're not careful and there's no way I was going into it alone or just with Challes—considering that I don't have plot armor. Yes, I know the structure and how it's laid all well, but even then I can't do it alone.

That's why I need a few disposable tools that can do the work for me and keep me safe while I acquire that item. And the more people we'll have, the fewer chances of me being the one to die will be.

All that talk about mining the mana crystals was, of course, fake; the labyrinth I was talking about was hidden from the rest of the world—just like a labyrinth with mana crystals in it should be, so there'll be no place of suspicion.

The time was around 8 a.m., and while the sun wasn't entirely up in the sky yet, there was enough light everywhere to walk easily. As I passed through the plaza where the guild building was, I saw that people had woken up.

The shopkeepers were opening their shops and the adventurers were going to the guild. The air around here was a bit cold and fresher than that of the city—the main reason for that was probably the forest surrounding the town.

Soon, I reached the guild building and entered through the door. There weren't as many people inside as there were yesterday, but it still held a good amount of adventures in it.

Walking up to the counter, I placed my hands on the wooden furniture and the lady—the same one as yesterday, greeted me as soon as she noticed me.

"Has anyone accepted the quest?" I asked.

"Yes, there is one party who accepted it soon after you left," she replied.

With that I looked over to Challes who was standing behind me; there was no need for words.

"Where are they?"

"Please come with me," she said and then, through a small door, she came to the other side of the counter—where I was standing.

I along with Challes followed, and she took us to a table where a group of 3 people was sitting.

'Now, now, what do we have here,' I thought as I saw who those people were.

"Hey! Ichigo! We met again!" said one of the three people.

The ones sitting on the table and the ones who'd accepted my quest were the three adventures I met on the wagon.