“I’m going to take a shower. Do any of you have to use the bathroom?” Leo asked the others shortly after they entered the tent.
When the ladies shook their heads, Leo entered the bathroom and began washing away the sweat he’d accumulated.
Leo came out of the shower after spending 10 minutes inside to see the others sitting apart from each other, almost as though they were intentionally avoiding each other, and the atmosphere was quite awkward.
“I’ll take a shower now.” Helia quickly stood up after seeing Leo come out.
While they waited for Helia to finish, Leo retrieved a high-quality MRE and began eating it.
“Aren’t you two going to eat?” Leo asked them when he noticed that they were just sitting there.
“I-I will do so after I clean myself…” Celeste hastily responded.
“Is that so?” Leo didn’t bother them any further and focused on his own meal.
Once Helia came out of the bathroom, Celeste went inside next. Meanwhile, Helia started eating her meal.
About an hour later, once everyone cleaned themselves and filled their stomach, Helia spoke while looking at Leo, “What do you think about the Ancient Labyrinth thus far? Are you recalling anything?”
“Huh? Recall what?” Leo looked back with a puzzled look on his face.
“You have amnesia, right? I was wondering if this place is helping you with regaining your memoires.”
“R-Right. Unfortunately, I still don’t remember anything.” He quickly shook his head.
“How do you feel about it? Losing your memories, that is.” Helia continued to ask, her face field with curiosity.
“I don’t know what to say… But if I have to say something… I feel nothing, I guess?”
“If you ask me, I’d say that losing one’s memories is akin to dying. After all, you don’t just lose your memory. You also lose your identity, so whoever you were before is now dead. Honestly, I feel a little sad for you.”
Leo smiled, “There’s no need to pity me. No matter who I was before, I am content with my current situation.”
“Is that so?” Helia turned to look at Celeste a moment later.
“What about you? How are you feeling? This is your first time entering the Ancient Labyrinth, right?”
“Yes, this is a first for me.” She nodded.
“I was expecting something much worse, and I was expecting to put in more effort. However, what I’ve experienced up to this point is the complete opposite of my expectations. To be honest, I feel like you’ll do fine even if I wasn’t here— like I am useless.”
Ever since they entered the Ancient Labyrinth, Celeste hasn’t used her magic to fight monsters even once. In fact, she used her first magic when they arrived at the 21st floor, and it was a personal request. If she didn’t say anything, they would’ve entered the bridge without any buffs.
“You’re thinking too much, and you’re definitely not useless.” Leo shook his head.
“He’s right. Our team is just strong enough to not require a healer… yet. However, once we enter the 26th floor, we will definitely start relying on your light magic more and more, so be prepared for that.” Helia said.
“Alright.” Celeste nodded.
After resting for a total of 3 hours, Leo’s team resumed their journey.
Three days later.
“We just reached our 500th mile. We’re halfway there.” Leo said as he stared at his watch, which had the function of calculating their distance traveled, which was a special function only available for the 21st floor.
“500 miles… since every 200 miles count as a floor, we’re halfway through the 23rd floor.”
“Will there be a boss at the end of the bridge?” Leo suddenly asked.
“No, this floor is special. There won’t be any boss room. Once we reach the end of the bridge, we can immediately enter the 26th floor.”
“Great.”
After traveling for 2 days, Leo’s team decided to take a long break before they push the final day.
“You guys can go to sleep first. I will be on the lookout.” Leo said once they entered the tent.
“Thank you. I have to take a shower first, though.” Helia said as she entered the bathroom.
Once they all used the bathroom and ate, everyone but Leo took out their sleeping bag and entered it.
Celeste and Helia laid their sleeping bag on their own corner while Lia placed her sleeping bag right beside Leo.
Helia and Lia quickly fell asleep, but Celeste couldn’t sleep for reasons that she would rather not say.
After trying to sleep and failing for an hour, Celeste gave up and sat up on her sleeping back.
Leo noticed her movements and turned to look at her.
“Can’t sleep?”
She nodded.
Leo smiled and continued, “I wouldn’t be able to sleep either if I were in your shoes. After all, how can I possibly sleep peacefully while knowing that monsters could spawn at any moment? However, you don’t need to be worried. I alone am more than enough to deal with the monsters. As long as I am here, I will protect you.”
Celeste’s body trembled after hearing his last few words.
“…”
After a moment of awkward silence, Celeste spoke in a low voice, “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you really not remember me… or are you just pretending?”
Leo raised an eyebrow and asked, “What are you implying? That I am pretending to not know you? Why would I do something like that?”
A disappointed look appeared on Celeste’s face, and she sighed, “Please forget what I just said. It was just a misunderstanding on my part.”
She proceeded to lie back down in her sleeping bag and went silent.
‘Was she acquainted with the old Leo?’ Leo wondered inwardly as he continued to watch over them while they slept.
Monsters would spawn every half an hour, and when that happened, Leo would approach them by himself.
After casting several magic spells in quick succession, Leo went back inside the tent and acted as though he didn’t just slay over a dozen monsters by himself, silently and patiently waiting for the next wave of monsters to show up.