Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

There were several roads extending from it, and each of them had several shops on each side of the road. And in the center of the rotary, there was something that looked like a mound of earth with a portal right in the middle of it. Could it be

Is that Quratars Labyrinth?

Thats right. Everything has been built around it, and the Knights guardhouse is located right next to it so that they could move swiftly and surely in case that any kind of emergency would happen.

As if to confirm Roxannes words, the full scenery of the area of Labyrinths entrance has came into our view. Indeed, the portal that was presumably leading inside was situated right in the middle of that mound-looking structure, and the Knights guardhouse was situated in its immediate vicinity.

Oh, and by the way, that large brick building right across the entrance is the Quratars Explorers Guild.

Roxanne pointed at the large, five or six stories high building made out of brick that was sandwiched between the two roads coming off from the rotarys center. Yup, that building was most definitely what I would call majestic. Compared to that, the quarters of the Adventurers guild looked tiny and unimpressive, as if they just took whatever vacant building they could find for themselves. Just by looking at that towering building alone it became apparent how influential the Explorers must be for this city. The double door on the ground floor were widely opened, and we could see many people as they were coming in and out of it like a constantly flowing stream of human mass, and the similar thing was happening in front of the guardhouse, but there people were standing in an ever-growing line.

Whats up with all those people? What are they waiting for?

They are queing up to pay for their Labyrinth Entrance Certificates.

Entrance Certificate?

Yes, this is one of Quratars laws: if you want to enter the Labyrinth and explore it, then you have to pay for it every time you enter. The usual price for one person is 100 Nars.

So you actually have to pay money to enter this Labyrinth? Whoever came up with that idea, I have to hand it to them, they definitely knew what they were doing, turning such a dangerous place into something akin to a tourist attraction.

Well, if its like that, then I think we will be better off just going to the weapons and armor shops today instead of a Labyrinth. If we have to pay for the entrance, then it would be best to come back here when we will have more money on us, and most importantly, more time on our hands. Looking at the sheer size of that queue, I dont think we would wait five or ten minutes for our turn. Also, in order to maximize our gains from such an excursion, we would have to come here first thing in the morning to spend as much time as possible inside before we would have to leave and then come back and pay the entrance fee again.

Then again, spending a whole day in the Labyrinth, from sunrise to sunset without taking any breaks in-between? Ugh, that might be difficult to do in and out of itself. Not to mention that our purpose of coming to Quratar in the first place was to buy equipment and accessories for my Mage Job, not to go delving into this citys own Labyrinth. But there are so many roads extending from the rotary that I have no idea which one we should take to arrive at the weapons shop, which would be our first stop.

Master.

Suddenly I felt Roxanne pulling lightly at my sleeve.

Hm?

Its just a thought, but wouldnt we be able to enter that Labyrinth without having to pay every time if we used that Movement Magic of yours?

!!!!!!

I looked at the entrance to the Labyrinth, then at Roxanne, and then at the entrance to the Labyrinth again.

Roxanne, thats thats a pretty clever idea! Atta girl!

Thank you very much, master!

She said with a satisfied smile on her face.

I see. Her suggestion was a very sly, but ultimately a practical one from the standpoint of our financial condition. If we were to come in and out of the Labyrinth here like any regular Explorers and Adventurers, then we would have to pay 200 Nars of entrance fee every single time we would want to enter there. But if we enter there once, then we could be using my Warp to come and go there as we please without worrying about any stupid payments, similar to how we can go inside Veils Labyrinth by warping there from the alley behind Veils Adventurers Guild. Oh Roxanne, you little evil impish devil, you! If you were wearing a kimono right now, the I would have grabbed your obi and untie it with one single, swift move so that you would start spinning around until even your eyes went all round, thats how happy I am right now!

Since Roxannes with helped us solve the problem of the recurring Labyrinth entrance fee, now we can focus entirely on our initial objective of browsing Quratars stores in search of a wand or a staff for me.

We begun our search in a nearby hardware store. It might not be the weapons or magic oriented shop, but maybe it will have swords or shields, and its as good of a place as any to start our search, especially since we definitely wont find wands or staffs at a fishmongers or in a bakery.

Unfortunately, the hardware store was a bust (who would have guessed) because the only things we found there were pots, scissors, hoes, shovels and all kinds of other metal products whose intended usage and purpose I could not wrap my head around. Oh, and also padlocks. So if we want weapons, we really have to go to the weapons shop specifically. Everything that is being sold by the hardware shop can only be classified as a gardening tool or a daily necessities. Not a single piece of weapons to be found here.

Welcome!

The person who greeted us in a cheerful voice was a middle-aged lady. Identifying her revealed that she was a 37-years-old Lv.44 Merchant. Wow, for someone her age, her level was certainly quite high, but maybe it was like that because she was running a successful, profitable business? She didnt have any distinctive features that would point otherwise, so she must be an ordinary human as well. Maybe women had a natural predisposition to be merchants and the like, hence her high level? She was obviously older than that female elf Adventurer who brought me to Imperial City and then to Quratar, but she was an elf, so maybe there was no sense in comparing those two races in the first place? But you know, even that male elf, who was supposedly in his fourties looked younger than she looks now, so it really has to be the matter of different races having different points of aging. Humans who approach the age of fourty are classified as middle-aged people, but for the elves those who lived for fourty years might still be considered maybe not children, but most definitely young people, so maybe thanks to that Roxanne wont age as fast as me, staying as beautiful as she is now for longer?

Ah, that reminds me! Back when I formed a Party with that female elf Adventurer, she could probably see my level through the Party Job Settings! And if she saw it, I wonder why she didnt comment on it in any way? Did she not find it suspicious? Or maybe levels are not as big of a deal as I thought they are? Well, whatever the case with that may be, its not like I can do anything about it now, can I? Yeah, nothing that can be done, so its best to just drop that subject entirely and not think about it too much.

Pardon our intrusion, maam.

Roxanne and I bowed to her lightly.

If there is anything you are looking for but dont see on the shelves, I can help you find it. Or perhaps youre here in order to buy a house?

Actually, I was wondering if we could find any weapons here.

Weapons? My oh my, no, you wont find those here. If its weapons you want, then you have to go to the weapons store. Lets see do you see the Knights guardhouse outside? You should find a store that sells weapons easily if you go down the street that goes past it.