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Chapter 10
Daisy stared at the heir of the Burnham Trading Company.
His family would go bankrupt. After barely graduating from the academy, he would claw his way up from the bottom and eventually become the top figure in the black market.
Then she opened her mouth.
“I heard about it while passing by.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly a lie.
“I’m Daisy Sableheart.”
“I know.”
“Thanks for saving me.”
“It was nothing.”
At Stroud’s indifferent reply, Daisy shrugged and raised her hand to wipe away the cold sweat running down her face.
But her hand was already damp with sweat, so it only felt slippery and didn’t wipe anything properly.
“Damn it, I wish I had a handkerchief or something……”
Suddenly—
Stroud Burnham calmly held something out to her.
It was a handkerchief.
“Oh, thanks.”
Daisy didn’t hesitate to take it.
She had been thinking that she really needed something to wipe her sweat with after running around so much.
After wiping her sweat, Daisy waved her hand in front of her face to dry the remaining moisture.
Suddenly—
“Wow, you have a fan too.”
She accepted the fan Stroud offered and slowly fanned herself.
A cool breeze gently cooled her face and the back of her neck.
“I feel alive again.”
“Daisy……”
“What is it, Puppy?”
“I……”
Grrrrrrrrr.
A loud growling sound echoed through the maze.
“Could we go back and get another piece of chocolate?”
Milo Everett asked with watery eyes.
He clearly couldn’t stop thinking about the chocolate they had left near the side passage.
Daisy firmly shook her head.
“How are you planning to find your way back there? It’s better to just get to the exit early……”
Rustle.
Stroud Burnham held out his hand.
“…….”
“…….”
Daisy and Milo fell silent.
There was a mountain of chocolates piled up in Stroud’s large palm.
They were the exact chocolates Milo had been picking up and eating one by one.
Gulp.
Milo swallowed.
Stroud spoke in his usual cold voice.
“If you don’t want them, you don’t have to take them.”
“No! I want them!”
Milo grabbed a handful of chocolates and stuffed them into his mouth, crying.
“It’s so good……”
“…….”
Handkerchief.
Fan.
Chocolate……
Watching this scene, Daisy opened her mouth with a suspicious expression.
“It does feel a little cold now that my sweat has dried……”
Pour.
Stroud took a cute little teacup and saucer out of his pocket.
Then he somehow produced a thermos, poured hot, strong tea into the cup, and calmly handed it to her.
“…….”
Is this a dream?
Daisy took a sip of the hot tea, feeling the warmth spread through her entire body.
“A biscuit to dip into the tea would be nice……”
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 pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses with a cold, sarcastic smile.
Daisy nodded as if she understood.
You little……
You don’t look like it, but……
“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……”
Then—
“KYAAAAAAAH!”
A sharp scream erupted from somewhere not too far away.
Daisy’s body, which had relaxed from the warm tea, instantly tensed.
“G-go away! I said go away!”
The terrified voice was coming from beyond the wall where the side passage had been.
It seemed that a new student who hadn’t managed to enter the side passage had been caught by the one-eyed giant.
Daisy had almost forgotten, but the giant was only two corners away.
Once it dealt with the student who was currently screaming, it would come straight here.
This was no time to leisurely drink tea.
Then……
“I’ve had enough!”
Daisy shoved the teacup back into Stroud’s hands and started running.
If she thought about it rationally, this was the right thing to do.
Surely an academy wouldn’t actually kill its students.
At worst, it would scare them a little.
So rather than going back toward an unknown danger, continuing forward was obviously the better choice.
Besides, this was a maze.
The moment she lost the direction she had been keeping track of, she could end up wandering around without even knowing where she was going.
The original Daisy had ruined her life by being a pushover.
So this time, Daisy planned to let everyone take care of their own lives.
“KYAAAAAAAH!”
But why did I come here?!
BOOM! CRASH!
The moment Daisy turned the corner, she heard something collapsing.
She shouted at the boy following her.
“Burnham! Weapon!”
Stroud Burnham immediately placed something in Daisy’s hand.
It had a long handle and a large head designed to tighten bolts.
It was a monkey wrench.
“…….”
“This was the closest thing I had to a weapon.”
Any complaints?
Daisy firmly gripped the monkey wrench without complaining and turned toward the one-eyed giant rampaging in the middle of the corridor.
Underneath it, a girl was sitting on the floor, trembling in fear.
She was tall and had a somewhat cold-looking appearance.
Her long purple hair was tangled and messy.
Whoooosh—!
“KYAAAH!”
The girl ducked to avoid the club swinging violently toward her.
The club passed by her head by the width of a sheet of paper.
Crazy academy.
They really are trying to kill them.
“Hey!”
Daisy shouted.
The one-eyed giant looked at Daisy before the girl even did.
Even though it had only one eye, its gaze was so intense that it felt like it was burning through her.
“Move!”
BOOM! BOOM!
The rampaging giant slowly increased its speed as it charged toward Daisy.
Beyond the giant, the girl raised a finger and urgently pointed at her own face.
Why are you pointing at your face instead of running away?
As Daisy frowned and tightened her grip on the monkey wrench, the girl moved her lips.
Eye!
That’s 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 it was probably the only part of the creature that looked vulnerable.
“Burnham! Insecticide!”
Daisy caught the insecticide Stroud threw at her and charged toward the giant.
I’m insane.
Daisy cursed herself inwardly.
The original Daisy would probably be speechless if she saw this.
She’d probably ask, ‘Why did I ever criticize you?’
But Daisy couldn’t bring herself to ignore the girl.
Her scream sounded so young and frightened.
Whoooosh—!
The giant swung its club at Daisy as she entered its range.
Daisy dodged the club, planted her feet firmly on the damp stone floor, and jumped.
Her body was surprisingly light.
She faced the enormous eye that took up almost half of the giant’s face and said,
“What a nice target.”
It’s huge.
HISSSSS!
Daisy sprayed the insecticide directly into its eye.
The giant let out a deafening scream.
“GROOOAAARGH!”
THUD!
Its club fell to the floor.
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.
Then she charged toward the giant, which was stumbling around blindly.
And—
She swung the monkey wrench with all her strength and smashed it into the giant’s shin.
CRACK!
“GROOOOARGH!”
The giant lost its balance.
It staggered.
Then—
BOOM!
It fell backward.
A cloud of dust rose from the impact.
“Cough! Cough! Ugh, look at all this dust!”
Daisy waved her hand and coughed.
Then she turned at the small sound of someone approaching from behind.
“……Is it dead?”
The girl who had come closer asked cautiously.
“I don’t know. I think it’s unconscious.”
“H-how did you defeat it?”
“Well, you told me its weakness.”
Daisy shrugged and looked closely at the girl’s face.
“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 had a hard time by herself, because the neat appearance she had at the entrance ceremony was now practically that of a beggar.
“Anyway, how did you know its weakness?”
“It’s a Cyclops. I read about them in a book. I don’t know why it’s in a maze when it normally lives in swamps, but despite having only one eye, it’s large and relatively weak. Once you blind it, its attack power becomes practically useless.”
“Uh, o-okay……”
“There are also other weaknesses, such as—”
“Wow! Daisy! That was amazing!”
Puppy, perfect timing!
Milo Everett jumped between them and interrupted Monica’s explanation.
His eyes were sparkling.
“You looked so cool when you knocked down that giant!”
“You were rather impressive.”
Daisy let the compliments go in one ear and out the other with a smile.
They were both very good at flattering people.
“The insecticide did most of the work. Still, I guess being a teenager gives me pretty good jumping power.”
My body really is incredibly light.
“…….”
“…….”
Can teenagers normally jump like that?
While the teenagers remained silent in confusion, Daisy looked around and let out a short sigh.
“Anyway, where exactly is the exit……”
“This way.”
Monica Raoli spoke with complete confidence.
“……How do you know?”
“Because I remember the entire path we came through.”
“All of it?”
“Yes. All of it.”
Monica shrugged as if remembering the entire maze was hardly worth mentioning.
Daisy thought about all the paths they had taken so far.
“…….”
If I can get a navigation system like this, maybe it’s okay to be a pushover once in a while.
“Follow me.”
Monica spoke calmly, so calmly that it was hard to believe she had been screaming in terror just moments ago.
