TDFOC 10

Chapter 10

Daisy stared silently at the heir of the trading company who would, after the company went bankrupt, graduate from the academy through sheer hardship, claw his way up from the bottom, and eventually become the top figure in the black market.

Then she spoke.

“I heard it while passing by.”

Well, that wasn’t technically a lie.

“I’m Daisy Sableheart.”

“I know.”

“Thanks for saving me.”

“It was nothing.”

At Stroud’s indifferent reply, Daisy shrugged and raised a hand to wipe away the cold sweat trickling down her face.

But her hands were already damp with sweat, so they merely slipped against each other without wiping anything properly.

“Damn, if only I had a handkerchief…”

Suddenly.

Stroud Burnham coldly held something out to Daisy.

It was a handkerchief.

“Oh, thanks.”

Daisy accepted it without hesitation.

She had been thinking she needed something to wipe away her sweat after running around so much.

After wiping her sweat, Daisy began fanning her hand to dry the remaining dampness.

Suddenly.

“Wow, you have a fan too.”

She accepted the fan Stroud held out and slowly waved it.

A cool breeze gently cooled her face and the back of her neck.

“I’m saved.”

“Daisy…”

“What is it, puppy?”

“I…”

Grrrrrrrrr.

A loud growl echoed through the labyrinth.

“Can’t we go back and get another piece of that chocolate?”

Milo Everett asked with watery eyes.

He seemed unable to let go of the chocolate lying near the side passage.

Daisy firmly shook her head.

“How are you going to find your way back there? It’s better to just arrive early…”

Rustle.

At that moment, Stroud Burnham held out his hand.

“……”

“……”

Daisy and Milo fell silent for a moment.

Because piled high in Stroud’s large palm were the chocolates Milo had been picking up and eating one by one.

Gulp.

Milo swallowed.

Stroud said coldly,

“If you’re not going to eat them, I can put them away.”

“No! I want them!”

Milo grabbed a handful of chocolate, shoved it into his mouth, and cried.

“It’s delicious…”

“……”

A handkerchief, a fan, chocolate…

Watching the scene, Daisy opened her mouth with a suspicious expression.

“I think I’m getting a little cold now that my sweat has dried…”

Pour.

Stroud Burnham pulled a cute little teacup and saucer from his pocket, produced a thermos from somewhere, poured strong, hot tea into it, and handed it to her with his cool expression unchanged.

“……”

Was this a dream?

Daisy took a sip of the tea that warmed her entire body.

“There should be some biscuits to dip in the tea…”

Crunch.

“And maybe a little milk…”

Sip.

“Oh, there’s a cockroach over there!”

Hissssss!

“Why do you even carry insecticide around…”

“I carry it for situations like this.”

What does that have to do with anything?

Stroud Burnham adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses, a cold smile carrying a hint of sarcasm on his face.

Daisy nodded as if she understood.

You, little bastard, you’re different from how you look…

“You’re a traveling merchant.”

“Our trading company uses carriages and teleportation magic circles.”

Are you ignoring me?

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Just then.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

A sharp scream erupted from not far away.

Her body, relaxed by the warm tea, tensed instantly.

“G-Go away! I said go away!”

A voice consumed by fear came from beyond the wall where the side passage was.

It seemed that one of the new students who had failed to enter the side passage had been caught by the one-eyed giant.

Daisy had momentarily forgotten about it, but the giant was only two corners away.

Once it dealt with the obstacle currently screaming, the giant would arrive here immediately.

This was no time to leisurely drink tea.

Then…

“I’m done drinking!”

Daisy shoved the teacup into Stroud’s arms and started running.

If she thought about it rationally, it made sense.

The academy wouldn’t actually kill its students.

At most, it would frighten them a little.

So it was much more advantageous to continue along the path rather than return to a place where she had no idea what dangers awaited.

Besides, this was a labyrinth.

The moment she lost track of the direction she had painstakingly established, she could end up wandering around without knowing where she was going.

The original Daisy had ruined her life by becoming a pushover.

So this time, she planned to let everyone take care of their own lives.

“Aaaaaah!”

But why did I come here?!

Crash! Rumble!

The moment she turned the corner, she heard something collapsing.

Daisy shouted to the boy who had followed her.

“Burnham! Weapon!”

Stroud Burnham placed something in Daisy’s hand.

It had a long handle with a large head for tightening bolts.

It was a monkey wrench.

“……”

“It’s the closest thing I have to a weapon.”

Got a problem with that?

Stroud Burnham spoke coldly at Daisy’s gaze.

Without complaint, Daisy gripped the monkey wrench and turned toward the one-eyed giant rampaging in the middle of the corridor.

Beneath it, a girl was sitting on the ground, trembling.

The long purple hair of the girl, who was tall and had a somewhat cold appearance, was a complete mess.

Whoosh!

“Aaah!”

The girl ducked to avoid the club that was swung fiercely at her.

The club passed by with barely a sheet of paper’s width between them.

Crazy academy.

They really intended to kill them.

“Hey!”

Daisy shouted.

The one-eyed giant looked at Daisy before it looked at the girl.

Even though it had only one eye, its gaze was so intense that it felt as though it could burn through her.

“Get away!”

Boom! Boom!

The one-eyed giant, which had been rampaging around, gradually picked up speed as it charged toward Daisy.

Beyond the giant, the girl urgently pointed a finger at her own face.

Why aren’t you running away? What are you doing?

As Daisy frowned and adjusted her grip on the monkey wrench, the girl moved her lips.

‘Eye!’

That was what she was saying.

‘Its eye is its weakness!’

Oh.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Come to think of it, the one-eyed giant’s eye was enormous and perhaps the only part of it that looked vulnerable.

“Burnham! Insecticide!”

Daisy caught the insecticide the boy threw and charged toward the giant.

I’m insane.

Daisy clicked her tongue at herself.

The original Daisy would definitely have something to say about this.

She’d probably ask why Daisy was doing something so ridiculous.

But Daisy couldn’t bring herself to ignore it.

Because the girl’s scream sounded unbearably young and frightened.

Whoosh!

The giant swung its club at Daisy, who had entered its range.

Daisy dodged the club, planted her feet firmly on the damp stone floor, and leaped.

Her body was astonishingly light.

Daisy faced the enormous eye that occupied nearly half of the giant’s face and said,

“What a target.”

Quite a big one, too.

Hissssss!

The insecticide struck the eye directly.

The giant screamed.

“GRAAAAAAAH!”

Crash!

The club fell to the ground, and the giant began rubbing its eye with its enormous hand.

Incidentally, if insecticide gets into your eyes, you should wash them with plenty of water.

You shouldn’t rub them.

Tap.

Daisy landed lightly on the ground and charged toward the giant, which was staggering around unable to see.

Then,

She swung the monkey wrench in her hand with all her strength and smashed it into the giant’s shin.

Crack!

“GRAAAAAH!”

The giant lost its balance, staggered, and then fell backward with a tremendous crash.

A cloud of dust billowed into the air from the impact.

“Cough! Cough! Ugh, look at all this dust!”

Daisy waved her hand and coughed before turning at the small presence approaching from behind.

“……Is it dead?”

The girl, who had approached without Daisy noticing, asked cautiously.

“I don’t know. I think it’s unconscious.”

“H-How did you knock it down?”

“Well, you told me its weakness.”

Daisy shrugged casually and stared at the girl’s face.

Then she said,

“I remember now. You’re Monica Raoli.”

She was the girl who had passed by Daisy at the entrance ceremony.

“That’s right.”

Monica nodded.

She must have gone through quite a lot on her own because her previously neat appearance now looked practically like that of a beggar.

“By the way, how did you know its weakness?”

“It’s a Cyclops. I read about it in a book. It lives in swamps, so I don’t know why it’s in a labyrinth, but despite having only one eye, it’s large and vulnerable. If you blind it, its attack power becomes practically useless.”

“Uh, yeah…”

“As for its other weaknesses—”

“Wow! Daisy! That was amazing!”

Puppy, perfect timing!

Milo Everett jumped between them and interrupted Monica’s explanation, his eyes sparkling.

“You were so cool when you knocked down that giant!”

“It was somewhat impressive.”

Daisy let the compliment go in one ear and out the other as she smiled.

Both of them were surprisingly good at giving meaningless flattery.

“The insecticide did most of the work. Well, I guess being a teenager helped too. I can jump pretty well.”

My body was incredibly light.

“……”

“……”

Could teenagers really jump like that?

While the teenagers fell silent in confusion, Daisy looked around and let out a short sigh.

“Anyway, where exactly is the exit…”

“It’s that way.”

Monica Raoli spoke with confidence.

“……How do you know?”

“Because I remember every path we came through.”

“All of them?”

“Yes. All of them.”

Monica shrugged as if that wasn’t even worth calling information.

Daisy thought back to all the paths they had taken through the labyrinth.

“……”

If I can get a navigation system like this, maybe I wouldn’t mind being a pushover every now and then.

“Follow me.”

Monica spoke in such a calm voice that it was hard to believe she had just been screaming in terror.