The wooden cart was fairly comfortable if you were the only one on it. Another aspect that made it comfortable was the hay. If one simply spread it over the cart like a bed instead of keeping it stacked, while rough it made for a comfortable place to lie down on.

The old farmer should have mentioned all of this before I took the cart from him forcefully.

The wind blew, and fresh oxygen was brought to my nose. The birds called—

"MOOO!"

"MOOOOW!"

Ok, maybe not the birds. It was hard to hear them over the sound of the oxen pulling this cart. The oxygen was not that fresh either. To my dismay, the wind was blowing from the front and that meant all the stink in the oxen was carried straight to my nose.

God, they smelled bad. I thought I was used to smells and grime and dirt while living in this world, but that clearly wasn't the case.

I sat up on the cart and looked behind me. The distance from Scarlet had increased largely over the last few days. I kept my grip on my ax and rested on the sides of the cart. Slow as it was, it wasn't particularly inconvenient to use the oxen. Of course, I would prefer to use horses over them any day, but I wasn't going to find ownerless horses.

A sigh left me.

I gripped the ax tighter. If not for this thing I wouldn't have gotten a wink of sleep.

How strange was it? I couldn't understand myself. There was no grief at the loss of my friends, no seething anger at the injustice, nor was there any guilt or disgust about my actions.

All I felt was numbness.

I couldn't feel anything.

Nothing at all. As if my heart had gone on a strike and was only going to do the bare minimum task of beating from now on—that too not of its own volition.

If I could choose between death and my revenge. I would choose death at any moment. I forced myself to frown at the smell and smile at the skies, but there was nothing behind it. If I didn't even do that much, I would collapse.

All I could do now was to get revenge. By any means necessary. If I kept going, if I kept fighting, then maybe.

Maybe those gods that brought us to this world and gave me this accursed ability could take it away too. Until I took my last breath, I planned to get revenge.

Now and then, I would tire out from the numbness and the only other thought that came to my mind was how I could screw the gods over until my mind was clogged again by the fog of unfeeling.

Whatever my path, there was only one way to reach it.

"Power..."

I had to grow stronger. Stronger than I had been ever before. That was the only way to move ahead.

If I wanted to keep myself safe from the bastards that had driven me to the ground and get my revenge on their masters, then strength was the only way forward.

There was a way in my mind.

I quickly unfurled the map I had purchased before leaving the city and looked at it. North-East from the town of Scarlet was another big city. A place that was governed by Count Blue.

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Initially, this place did not have a lot going for it. No trade like in the South, no protection like in the North, no specific mines like in the West, or even any Oceans that one could find further East. The City of Blue one day became different.

"Star-fall... is it?"

It was something a little comedic for people like me, who had come from a modern world. But the people of this world did not change.

Three hundred years ago, a star fell in the land of Count Blue. And just like with every place where the power of the constellations reached the ground, mana caused a giant havoc and a magical phenomenon gave birth to a giant Labyrinth.

The Labyrinths were the dreams of adventurers and knights alike. Magical powers coming straight from the stars had come to the ground, it was natural for the people of this world who believed all magical phenomena were in some way birthed from the stars and the constellations to gather here.

The Labyrinth wasn't just for show either. Though no one had seen the bottom of the Labyrinth in Count Blue's territory, there had still been many star-falls throughout history.

Some were small, some as large as the one in Blue, and some even larger that gave birth to the 12 Catacombs.

"But stars don't fall..." I couldn't help but think that way. Wasn't it meteorites that fell to the ground? The closest star around us was the sun, in this world or in my old one. If something the size or temperature of a real star fell to the ground won't that spell the world's end?

Maybe a Starfall wouldn't be so bad.

I slowly brought my hands to my lips and pulled them up. I could feel something rising up my chest and choking my throat.

Since when had I become so dismissive? Why was I not thinking about my friends? Why was I forcing myself to look at this labyrinth?

The more questions I asked the worse I felt, the worse I felt, the number I became, and the number I became, the more questions came to my mind. Even my heart seemed confused about what to feel. Was this pain or was it a lack of pain? Was this grief overtaking my mind, or was the lack of it haunting me? Every single thought and emotion in my mind swirled and coalesced into one muddled murky tar that drenched my nerves.

That tar said just one thing—It was all my fault.

All of this was my fault.

In the end, I couldn't get rid of that idea. Even if I blamed the gods who abandoned everyone, had I fought even a moment earlier couldn't I have saved Evans and Rimi?

If I had died when the arrow stabbed my chest, I could have avoided all this. All I could do was FUCKING WATCH AS MY FRIENDS—

"Haaah..."

A deep breath left me.

Yet again.

No tears came out.

What was wrong with me?

What the hell kind of person had I become?

"MOOO!"

"MOOOOW!"

The oxen growled and flailed as if they had sensed my discomfort. I quickly stepped over the cart and onto the driver's seat. I stroked the back of the oxen and lowered my head.

Labyrinth...

Power... I had to get stronger.

The next time, I wouldn't let anyone else face this thing.

I wouldn't let anyone end up like Evans or Rimi or even me.

But if everything was indeed god's plan. I was going to hate them.

"I'll screw them over."

The words repeated under my breath. Again and again.

I was going to hate them. I was going to blame them.

That was the only way to stop this pain.

***

The shadow of a man in armor covered the dawn sunlight peeking into the prayer room.

The echoing footsteps came to a stop as the paladin halted three steps away from the girl with gray hair. His eyes fell on the veiled girl kneeling with her head bowed, and then at the statue in front of him.

Almost instinctively, his hands clasped together in a prayer. No matter how many times he saw it, the statue that was only touched by the sunlight in the early hours of dawn never failed to fill him with a sense of reverence.

After a few quiet moments, the kneeling girl finally sat up. Her long gray hair fell to her back as her veil slid down.

“Speak,” she said.

“Word has come from the pope. We have spent enough time in the Empire.”

“Is that so?” the girl said. “I was getting bored anyway. It’s a hassle when all seven of us gather.”

“It never gets old. I quite enjoy seeing it, it’s like watching cats. You get along one moment and fight the next.”

“I can have you publicly pelted and beheaded for that statement alone.”

The man in the armor chuckled at her words as if her threat was no different than her asking of the weather.

“As we head back,” the girl rose from the ground and adjusted her long robes. “Let’s stop by the new labyrinth. It’s on our way, correct?”

“New labyrinth? Do you mean the one in the territory of Blue? I believe they named it Sirius.”

“Indeed, that one.” The girl stood up and walked ahead, passing the knight by. “It is quite fitting for us, is it not?”

“The star that rises before the sun,” the man laughed again. “It is quite fitting.”