Chapter 88. Drifters #3
I currently have 16 Transferable Return Tickets in my possession.
That’s more than enough to send all the drifters I brought to the hideout back to their original worlds.
【Bubble Bubble】─The Transferable Return Tickets can only be given to drifters, right? You can’t give them to explorers?
【Pururu】─Yeah, they’re for drifters only.
I paused to think for a moment.
For now, making them into assistants wasn’t possible.
I didn’t have any Intermediate Invitation Tickets at the moment.
The idea of giving them a Return Ticket in exchange for helping me with my labyrinth life, like Merino, was also out of the question.
They didn’t seem like they’d be of any help to me.
No, to be clear, they definitely wouldn’t help.
They’d only be a hindrance.
So if I were to give them a Return Ticket, I’d have to ask for something valuable in return…
‘…Except for Iara, none of them seem to have anything worthwhile.’
After briefly glancing over the appearance of the drifters, I sighed.
They looked so pitiful that it almost felt wrong to ask them for anything.
‘The clothes they’re wearing aren’t useful either.’
I don’t even wear clothes that often in the first place.
Right now, I was only wearing something because I had to stand in front of people, but usually, I just go around without a shirt.
‘Should I just send them for free? Kicking them out without giving them a Return Ticket is basically telling them to go die.’
Honestly speaking.
Like with Rize, I don’t necessarily need to ask for compensation when giving out a Return Ticket.
Right now, I have a generous coin sponsor.
If I need anything, my assistants usually provide it for me.
Still, the idea of sending them off for free didn’t sit well with me.
I wasn’t a charity worker, after all.
‘I’m torn. What should I do?’
A good person might just let them go.
But I didn’t know if they were good people or not.
Just because someone was weak didn’t mean they were good.
I had a way to check, but I wasn’t interested in going through the hassle of testing them.
‘Should I just ask them to show a little sincerity? Nothing big, just something small.’
As I thought that, I slowly looked them over again.
None of them seemed to mind my gaze.
Perhaps because I had already explained the Transferable Return Tickets, they seemed to understand my intentions as I examined them.
The drifters flinched and nervously began to approach me one by one, offering up whatever they had.
“H-here… I don’t have much, but please take this…”
A young man handed me a cigarette and a lighter.
“Oppa, here… This is my precious rabbit doll. Please take good care of it.”
A little girl handed over the stuffed animal she’d been holding tightly.
“Please accept this. It’s a ring that’s worth quite a bit.”
“I don’t know if expensive rings or jewelry are of any use in a place like this, but this is all we have. Sorry.”
A married couple handed over what looked like wedding rings.
“This wig is like my soul. It might smell a bit, but if you wash it, it should be fine. Of course, since you have a full head of hair, you probably won’t need it right now, but you never know what might happen. It’s good to keep one just in case…”
An older bald man handed me his wig, slyly throwing in a curse.
Hmm. Maybe I should send back everyone except him?
Anyway, besides that.
Other drifters also began fumbling around, desperately trying to find something to offer me.
“This is currency from our world.”
“These are shoes from a globally famous brand.”
“T-this is my prosthetic leg. It’s really sturdy, so you could use it as a weapon.”
“It’s a diamond ring I bought to propose to my girlfriend. I don’t need it anymore, so please take it.”
…This doesn’t feel right.
I was planning to ask for something, but now it feels like I’m extorting them.
【Mysticism】─😶
【Bubble Bubble】─Hmm…
【Pururu】─Wow, they’re giving everything they have.
【Yumi】─I’d probably be that desperate too. The first priority is to return to their world, after all.
【Pururu】─But none of them are begging to be sent back for free. They seem to have decent morals.
【Yumi】─You’re right. No one’s acting like Pururu here.
【Rizenova】─With terrifying monsters surrounding them, who would dare to say such things?
After letting out another deep sigh, I told the drifters from Normalia that I wouldn’t be accepting any of the items they offered.
Some of their belongings were a bit too sentimental.
Most of them were things I didn’t need anyway.
Although they looked dejected at being turned down,
“It’s fine. I’ll give you the Return Tickets for free, just as a goodwill gesture.”
After hearing my next words, their faces lit up with joy.
I didn’t like the idea of playing the part of a volunteer worker, but just for today, I decided to be generous.
***
“Thank you! Really, thank you so much!”
“I’ll never forget this favor! I’ll remember it for the rest of my life!”
“Brother, I love you!”
“Mom, is that oppa a god?”
“Shh! He’s probably trying to hide his identity, so keep it quiet.”
“Got it. I’ll whisper. But why is he a god?”
“Isn’t it a miracle that he’s sending us back to our world?”
“Ohh, I see!”
The drifters from Normalia.
I handed over the actual Transferable Return Tickets to them.
They thanked me with sincere voices, tearing up the tickets and returning to their homeworld.
I sighed as I watched them leave, feeling like I had just acted like a complete pushover.
「You have returned 10 drifters.」
「Total drifters returned so far: 13.」
「As a reward for returning 10 drifters, you have received a Vending Machine Tracker.」
“Huh? What’s this?”
Out of nowhere, I received something called a Vending Machine Tracker.
Apparently, it was a reward for returning 10 drifters.
“Centaurides. I just got a reward for returning 10 drifters. Has your mother ever received something like this?”
[Reward for reaching a certain number of returns? I’ve never heard of it. Besides, my mother never returned as many as 10 drifters.]
While it felt nice to receive an unexpected reward, I didn’t quite understand.
Why would returning drifters earn me a reward?
What benefit could the Ancient Labyrinth possibly gain from it?
It was a strange world, no doubt.
Well, a reward’s a reward.
【Pururu】─That Vending Machine Tracker is awesome!
【Bubble Bubble】─Nice, that worked out well.
【Mysticism】─😋
【Yumi】─Sometimes unexpected rewards come from doing good deeds.
【Rizenova】─Perhaps the Ancient Labyrinth was moved by Gauntlet Gong’s good deeds and bestowed a gift upon him.
【Pururu】─Nah. Don’t start spouting nonsense.
While I was confirming that I had indeed received the Vending Machine Tracker, I heard a voice beside me.
“They’ve all left.”
Iara approached me quietly.
She had purposely delayed her return.
She had been waiting for the people from Normalia to leave.
The reason was simple.
Iara had told me earlier that she wanted to repay me for returning her.
But if she did it alone, it might make the others feel uncomfortable, so she had whispered to me that she would give me her gift once everyone else had left.
In other words, she was being considerate of the people from Normalia.
“This is a magic sword. The more skilled someone is in magic, the stronger its power becomes, and it has the unique ability to change its form to suit its user.”
【Bubble Bubble】─Oh, that sword looks pretty good.
Iara handed me the sword she had been holding.
“I wanted to give it to you right away, but… I held back because if I gave you this, the others’ gifts wouldn’t have compared. To be honest, this magic sword is on a completely different level from what the others were offering.”
She continued to explain just how extraordinary the sword was.
【Yumi】─She’s very considerate. It’s sweet of her to think of others like that.
【Mysticism】─Definitely a hero. 😀
【Rizenova】─If she had given that sword first, the others might have felt a bit inferior.
【Pururu】─Hey, Gaon. Gimme that sword. I want it.
【Yumi】─Stop it. You can’t even use magic. What are you going to do with it?
【Pururu】─ㅠ
I couldn’t use magic either.
To someone like me, it was just an ordinary sword, but that wasn’t a problem.
I wouldn’t be using it myself anyway.
I could always give it to one of my monsters who could use magic.
Like the Jellyfish Princess, for example.
【Yumi】─You refused the others’ gifts but accepted this sword?
【Pururu】─You’ve got to accept the good stuff.
【Bubble Bubble】─There’s no way you could refuse. That woman clearly won’t stop until you accept her gratitude. She seems like the type who won’t let it go until you do.
“And I know it’s rude to ask this, but… I have a small favor to ask…”
Iara hesitated before making eye contact with me and cautiously continued.
“Could you help me find my companions?”
“Your companions?”
“…Yes. There are six others who came here with me. I-I understand if you find it burdensome. I’m just asking in case…”
She bowed her head, nervously fidgeting with her fingers.
If the Normalia people had made such a request, I would have refused immediately.
But her situation was different.
A magic sword, the only one of its kind in SageWorld.
A family heirloom passed down through generations of the Un family and a symbol of heroism.
After receiving such a rare treasure, it wasn’t difficult to agree to such a request.
I could use the Necro Puppet Master’s psychic abilities or the Drifter Tracker to find her companions.
“I’ll help you.”
“R-really? Thank you!”
“But first, there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”
“Yes! Please, ask me anything!”
“You mentioned being betrayed by your companions, didn’t you?”
“H-huh? How did you know…?”
“I heard it from the other drifters earlier.”
“…Oh. I guess someone must have seen it happen.”
Iara gave a bitter smile.
“To be honest, I was disappointed in them and, somewhat unheroically, even held a bit of a grudge… but I don’t really care anymore. They didn’t stab me in the back, after all.”
It didn’t seem like she was looking for them to seek revenge.
“If they were scared, they had the right to run. I don’t want to hold onto ugly feelings of resentment towards people who ran to survive. In fact, I would’ve probably told them to run if they hadn’t fled. Probably.”
【Pururu】─She wants to find the companions who abandoned her? I don’t get it.
【Mysticism】─Definitely a hero. 🙂
【Pururu】─She’s way too forgiving.
It seemed that she had already forgiven the companions who had left her behind.
Well, I guess a betrayal like that isn’t too big of a deal.
It’s not like they stabbed her in the back to pay off gambling debts, sold her organs, or tried to sell her as a slave to pay for a trip to a brothel.
By the way, that last bit was something I went through in Elemencia. Damn it.
Anyway.
I promised I would help Iara and checked the current number of drifters in the labyrinth.
『Number of Drifters: 11』
Before meeting Iara, the number of drifters had been thirty.
After rescuing the people, nine of them had been eaten by Pig King, leaving twenty-one.
And after subtracting the ten who had just returned, that left eleven.
The numbers matched perfectly.
When Iara had been captured by Pig King, her companions were all still alive.
In conclusion.
There were two drifters with me.
Nine were still separated.
And six of those were Iara’s companions.
“Well, let’s go find them right no—”
『Number of Drifters: 5』
“…What?”
Just as I was about to leave.
Suddenly, six of them died at the same time.