'Mr. Aricht, this man is moving my heart...'
Yeah well it looks like this key was the right one. Now let's see what happens...

　The box opened, so there was no doubt that there was a connection between this key and the girl - just as I expected, the key fit perfectly into the girl's keyhole.

'It's like she's starting to breathe - it's like a cold sleep in a science fiction movie. I stayed in form the whole time, and then I woke up from my long sleep...

　Mr. Igarashi also seems to have the impression of being over-technical. The things like the covers attached to the ears also look like machines.

''Hmm.........''
...it's time to wake up. Alihit, Alihit, I'm warning you, be careful.

　Elitia, tense as a taut thread, calls out to everyone. I gulp and watch the sleeping girl's eyelashes tremble - and.

　The girl's eyes open. She slowly raises her upper body in the black box and stops moving, leaving no light in her eyes, which are the same color as her hair.

　I don't feel like I'm going to seize it or anything in anticipation of danger. I don't feel any killing intent or anything - more importantly, I have a big problem.



..........
What....what...is...?

　Wordlessly, the girl looks at me. I feel uneasy when she stares at me with her lightless eyes, but I try to read her intentions somehow to understand why she's looking at me - but she doesn't say anything, and then she looks behind me.

　Behind me is Theresa. She doesn't look away, her skull-masked eyes catch the gaze of the awakened girl.

'........Can we communicate?　Telepathic?
Hey, hey ... don't make fun of me.
But you both seem to be calm. Your souls are calm and unruffled.

　Suzuna's psychic sense is very useful when knowing if the other party has hostile intentions. With full trust in the "miko" sense, we watch Theresa and the girl with bated breath - then.

(...what are they doing? Can we communicate our wills...?

　Theresia steps forward and extends her left hand. Then, the girl matches it with her outstretched right hand - and then.

''........''

　Theresia pulled back her hand in surprise. A light dwells in the eyes of the girl who has been watching with a blank expression on her face for the first time - and her lips move.

''Are you the one who unlocked the 'Covenant' and awakened me? The subhuman girl gave me the information I needed, reading bits and pieces of what had happened. Arichto-Atobe, is your name correct?
Oh, yes I am. I am a rear man, transplanted from Japan to this labyrinthine country.
Is that the place where those who have been charged with the responsibility of 'collecting gods' gather? They gather souls from the land beyond, reincarnate them, and make us 'search' for them. Is that why we are 'searchers'?

　The unexpected words of the girl make me shudder.

　-- Why do we have to become explorers after being reincarnated in the labyrinth country? The question that I had always wondered about, and thought I would be able to teach it to you someday, is just now being uttered by this girl.

''What do you mean...?　The blame of the God-gathering we're not being told anything about that.
'Wait, Kyouka. She knows something ... something very important. Let's hear the whole story.

　Igarashi swallowed her doubts as Elitia controlled her. I looked at her and she nodded with a hand on her chest, as if to say she wasn't worried.

'Reincarnated from the world beyond, you are the unshakable 'rear guard'. I would like to first thank you for getting this far, and for solving the mystery of the labyrinth.
"I'm sorry we got here, and I'm sorry I had the key. And waking you up. Does that mean you 'solved the mystery of the labyrinth'?
'Yes. I praise and bless the one who solves the mystery, and I am ruled by the price. I am Ariadne, the Iron Wheel. I am the one hundred and seventeenth secret god and an imitation of God. In the depths of the labyrinth, where there are no more visitors, I have fallen asleep.
"What.........the 117th is the first labyrinth?　The ears?　Imitation?

　I can't keep up with her either, but I suddenly realized that I looked at the license and understood a bit of what she was saying.

　The key I used was the 'Key of the Secret God' and the open box was labeled 'The Ark of the Covenant'. The word "Ark of the Covenant" originally meant a box that enshrines the remains of a holy person or something like that.

　The girl who slept in it called herself a secret god, 'a replica of a god'. An imitation - that is, a copy, or a forgery (fake).

'Giving blessings and being ruled over... does that mean you're going to lend us power?'

　Elitia asks, but the girl doesn't answer. She quickly stands up and shows her body - and.

''What.........what........?　The patterns on the body... is this an electronic circuit...?

　As Igarashi-san said, a glowing pattern like a circuit appeared on Ariadne's body. However, the pattern seemed to be interrupted.

　The pattern spread from the keyhole of her chest as well, but it was cut off at the halfway point. The pattern was clearly visible up to the middle of the chest, where it was richly ridged, but beyond that it was fading and disappearing. It's not because it's hidden by her hair or anything, but it looks incomplete.

　Eventually, the circuitry that appeared in the girl - Ariadne's body - disappears and she returns to her original form. She looks at me and hangs her head apologetically.

''After all, it is believed that the period of time since it was discarded was too long. The blessings I can give you are weak and it is highly unlikely that you will be able to recover all of your functions. It is recommended that you activate and control the preserved secret gods in a better condition.
Does that mean...Ariadne, do you want me to just let you be and leave you alone?
I am the original, discarded being. My guardian golem is not even a member of my family. The Creator placed me, a poor imitation, in a box as an outlier and sealed me in a maze. He didn't expect me to be found by anyone, and he didn't expect me to accomplish anything by waking up.

　--I want to thank you first. I didn't think deeply about the meaning of those words at first.

　Why did I preface it with 'first'? Because she was going to tell him that there was no point in waking herself up and that she herself thought it was an exercise in futility.

'Outliers are awful ... how ruthless would you be to take someone who is willing and able to talk and put them in a box for years ... how ruthless would you be to do that?'


　Igarashi-san and Suzuna are angry - the content of Ariadne's speech sounded more pathetic, just because her tone was unassuming.

　However, what can be guessed from her blank expression is that it's just a fact for Ariadne and not even something to be sad about.

''.........''
"...Theresa.

　Theresia's hand on her chest is clenched tightly. She's angry at Ariadne's situation, at the 'Creator' for putting her in a box - harder than ever before.

'....Ariadne, what are you going to do with her?　Let's just leave it here and let someone else take over... that's a possible decision.
With my power, I can send you to the ground. The transmigrator from the third layer to here, after activating it, will transmigrate itself and bury itself in the ground again. You can report me to the organization you belong to, or you can leave me alone.

　It's all up to us, Ariadne says, and both choices are equivalent.

　--but that's her one-sided view, too. Since we've come this far, we can't pretend we didn't see Ariadne.

'Well Ariadne, they say it was in a bad state of preservation, but it doesn't look that way to me. I don't know if it's years or decades, but it's hard to believe that you've been asleep here for so many years, but you can talk to each other now, and you have feelings of concern for us. I don't think there's anything missing from that figure either.

　That's exactly what made it convincing that she was an imitation of God, there was almost no waste in her form.

　Still, she was discarded - as an imperfect imitation of God.

　But if God is a being of tremendous power, as we imagine him to be, is it futile if he couldn't imitate her perfectly?

　I don't think so, even if you declare the being who created Ariadne to be futile. To us, the blessings she gives us, and the piece of mystery of the labyrinth she brings, are surely irreplaceable.

There is no chance of restoring a fully functioning system if it is 'extremely unlikely'. We've only just become explorers, and we're just starting out...although Elitia is a veteran. So we can grow together from now on. I think that will help us grow as well.
"....Once you have My blessings, you will need faith to maintain My functions. You must have faith in Me, an imperfect god, and when you encounter the secret gods who are in opposition to Me, you must fight them unconditionally. If you still wish to be blessed, show me the 'bill'.
The tags ... the license?

　Ariadne nods as I show her my license. I confirm everyone's intentions - no one disagrees, and we look at each other and chuckle.

'I'm sure Rear-kun would have the answer from the start. I'll leave it all up to the leader's choice.
''Arihito-san I'm not strong enough, but I want to help you, Ariadne. I'm sure she'll be lonely here alone for a long time.
''It's Alihito-san and Ariadne-san, and they're an antagonistic duo! Oh, wasn't I just about to make a joke?
'I'm not nervous, but well, it's Misaki, so it's no wonder. Arihito, I agree with you. I'm sure we explorers have been assembled to search the labyrinth for beings like Ariadne. I think a partnership with her would be a great way for us to continue our search.

　I'm of the same opinion as Elitia. But that means that we will move according to the intentions of the beings who reincarnated us - and by extension, the beings who created the labyrinthine country.

(.........In the beginning, let's dance on the palm of our hands. Just as long as we don't keep dancing until the end.)

　I'm sure the fledgling explorer is too early to even care about the significance of the reincarnation or the mysteries of the labyrinth - but I can't blame her, I've found Ariadne.

'We want to receive Ariadne's blessing. How is it possible for us to 'believe' in you?

　Ariadne remained silent for a moment, watching my face. While she didn't answer, Theresa stepped forward and held out her hand to Ariadne.

　Taking her hand, Ariadne stepped out of the box and held out her right hand towards me. As I hand the license to that hand, Ariadne holds it in her left hand and holds up her right hand.

"I'm adding a secret function to the 'tag' that is unknown to any third party. It will allow you to contact me. You can offer an offering to me to receive my blessings. If you fall down in the labyrinth during your search, you can be summoned back to this place by force, provided that you have given Me sufficient offerings. However, at that time, you may lose your equipment and other items.
...Isn't that only beneficial to us?
'Even this is limited in function. I am the weakest among the secret gods, and many of them are hostile to me. After all, the recommendation is........
''Don't be so humble. Because I haven't seen any explorers who have received the blessing of the 'Secret God' so far. If you can receive Ariadne-san's blessing, I'm sure you will be able to help me in the future when an unavoidable crisis comes up... just the possibility of that will be a great help to me.

　How much of the existence of the Secret God itself has been passed down - Louisa-san and Palum Komother had said 'Secret God', but even if that was a reference to the Secret God, they didn't seem to know that the Secret God actually existed itself.

　Is it just us discovering it, or are there many people who would know about it if they were higher level explorers? I don't know, but the fact that Ariadne's function of adding it to the license is 'unbeknownst to any third party' means that Ariadne's existence will be hidden from the guild and other explorers as long as we don't reveal it to them.

''........Ariadne can't move from here?''
'In its current state, it can't leave the 'Sanctuary'. If we can collect the 'parts' to restore the lost functions, we can work outside for a certain amount of time. Until then, we can only provide temporary assistance, and only a limited number of times.

　Does that mean she can borrow Ariadne's power in some way? In any case, I can only see the benefits now, but since she was so reserved, there must be some risk in some cases.

　However, a new feature has already been added to my license. A 'Secret God' page has been added, and 'Ariadne''s name is displayed in the column of the gods I believe in.


'If we can find it. If we can replenish the power of the sanctuary with offerings, we can set up a new entrance, a transition floor, outside.
Okay. First, the offering...
''I'll get back to you on that. I'm just glad you've chosen me for now. I wouldn't ask for more than that.

　Right now, she doesn't seem to be talking any more than that. The girl with the light blue hair remains naked to the end, letting the glowing letters emerge on her skin - and.

　Ariadne holds up her hand towards us, and we have transitioned into the open field.

　This landscape is one level of The Field of Dawn. Everyone had a look on their face as if they were dreaming.

''Well guys, don't worry, it's not a dream.

　The evidence of defeating the Titan Soldiers and the features that were added to my license are still intact.



　Misaki slumps into place. Everyone seemed to be in the same mood, and they were all too relieved to be distracted.

　She was able to come back safely, but how should she report to Louisa-san? There are too many factors that would cause her to faint, and I'm having trouble now how to explain it - but for now, I want to be happy that I survived without thinking about it for now.

'Oh I'm glad I made it out alive. For a while, I wondered what would happen...
Thanks for your help, Rear Admiral. Let's get some rest and then go home.
''Well Mr. Aricht, I've been on the lookout for you the whole time.
So many things happened, one after another...

　Elitia is saying something embarrassing, but I pretend I'm not listening right now and try to lie down in the grass in a wide open position.

　Then Theresia comes over, right beside me, knees together and thrusts on the grass - and.



　I can see why Igarashi-san is upset. Theresia held my head and guided me onto her lap.

''Oh, thanks but what's up with you all of a sudden?''
..........

　Theresia doesn't answer. But there seemed to be a faint smile on the mouth peeking out of the skull mask - I could feel the eyes of the others, but I was going to continue to rest my head on my soft knees for just a little while, and bask in the joy of being alive.