Boundary Labyrinth and the Foreign Magician

"I apologize for the delay in waking up. As a Guardian, it takes a long time at a time to build up enough magic."

and Hervorte, in a pale tone, utters words of apology to Claudia.

"Okay. Morning, Hervolte."

"Yes. Good morning. Looks like the princess is acting with someone, so I came to see how it went. It wasn't forever."

"Yeah, maybe. Shall we introduce ourselves to each other and then explain the situation in a more calming place first"

And Claudia laughs bitterly.

Following those words, we were to move to the dining room and everyone was to sit in a chair and talk.

I move to the dining room and when I calm my hips, Swordmaidens bring me tea. Ask Claudia to introduce each of them in the meantime.

"- I see. Again, you don't mean enemies. The princess is relieved to judge by heartbeat movements, and you have similarly not spoken falsehood, etc. The individual named Belius also appears to be a guardian of the planetary gardens, while still following him."

Introducing herself, talking about the fact that she is currently fighting a demonic group, talking about her engagement to me, and then being told that it is the current state of the labyrinth village, or that she is planning to defeat the Last Guardian and undo the system of the labyrinth, Hervorte replied that way.

The same goes for me on my way to listening, and so does my current response...... I'm not surprised or impressed, I'm just not angry or looking offended. It's just a flat reaction.

"Oh, excuse me. I'll tell you something first, because once the inhabitants of Endewills often misunderstood me, it's not that I'm not celebrating your engagement with the princess."

Hervorte said, "Look at me." Although the eye lid remained closed.

"I am here to do the princess's side guard and eliminate anything avenging the princess. Nothing else unnecessary has been brought on much. My own emotions are not able to move much, so I'm not sure what other people's emotions are either. Please understand that."

"Is that because... it's going to be a long-standing assignment?

"Yes. At the same time, it also means to ensure that those emotions are not disturbed for the expeditious performance of the mission."

I see. I see why Hervorte is oddly pale.

If the Labyrinth is controlling negative feelings so that Claudia doesn't despair, and Hervorte is self-absorbed, is it created as a spiritual structure that can accommodate long-term tasks? They thought it would be more convenient for you to fight.

"Hervorte - rather than defending the castle when I fall asleep - has me guarded against demons falling into labyrinth villages or little children falling out of the castle by mistake."

And Claudia smiled and told us.

As a matter of fact, the connection passage is sealed off and you can't come and go, so while you're dormant, it means letting you interact with the residents of the labyrinth village so you don't miss them. He laughed like that before he got here and explained it to us.

I mean - Claudia seems to be worried about Hervolte, just like the residents of the labyrinth village.

So usually it seems that the Guardian senses the intruder and then wakes up to act, but Hervorte says he's active while Claudia's asleep.

So when Claudia woke up, she only needed a little dormancy for her activities.

Even so, he said he was forced to wake up looking at the castle situation and Claudia's condition, or a proportionally accommodating dormant... but this time it was a long time without waking up inside.

Sometimes just before Claudia wakes up, she goes into dormancy first... and when she does, things don't happen for quite a while.

"Princess. May I have a moment? There was a part of my earlier story that I was curious about."

"What could it be?

"If you confront the Last Guardian, I know it's better for me not to die."

Claudia frowns like a little trouble with Hervorte's words.

"Hervorte. We tried to beat that one over and over again, and each time we lost... sometimes my heart broke better first. I wish I had you and the village dwellers. I've kept my distance from the outside world as much as I can."

"Yes. The princess - because she even hates that I get scratched. But as I said before, if I were alone, I wondered if the princess would ever be offended to see it. Even if you can't win now, if you engage the Last Guardian again and again, you'll all see a breakthrough."

Hervorte said that in a pale tone. Claudia shook her head sideways at the words.

"I... I thought I'd meet Theodore and believe in people again, get up. Seeing Theodore and everyone else battling to put themselves at risk, I thought he was someone I could trust. I thought it was preferable. So next I'm thinking of joining forces with everyone to defeat the Last Guardian. Some of them include you, Hervorte. I'm awake. I'm begging you, too. I want you to fight with everyone."

Hervorte - didn't answer right away.

"… mentioning my findings from the experience I have learned about the princess, I understand that the loss of the Theodores gives the princess a strong sentiment of sorrow. If you know it is, you can't easily say it is."

"It's..."

Claudia was stuck in words.

… on learning? He said he doesn't know because his emotions don't move, but I guess it means he's been watching a lot over the years and learning what emotions he'll be when. Especially with regard to Claudia's emotional movements.

I say it first because it was often misunderstood, because that's it. I guess I've been shown discomfort by Endewills residents and such.

"Please, I'll play it over time. I'll take care of it."

Hervolte tells him to repeat himself, but Claudia shook her neck to the side.

"No, you can't. As I forbade before, it's not good because I haven't seen it."

Claudia must be worried about Hervolte. So how do you feel about Claudia from Hervolte?

Because Claudia told me. Because it's a mission. Is that what you are doing because you are making sensible decisions?

That's - I feel different somehow.

Because if it really works mechanically, you won't even feel the need to try to solve misunderstandings or take into account feelings.

I guess Hervorte hasn't lied the most, and it's also true that the emotions of others are difficult to understand.

In short, I feel that the emotional amplitude is just extremely small. So the mission easily overrides my discomfort with pain and my fear of temporary death.

But even Claudia would worry if they showed it. That's why I'm also asking about the labyrinth village, the Guardian dormancy, knowing that gaps will be created.

But is Hervorte unconscious that he can sometimes be the one to worry about?

"- Would you like to do a mock fight, Mr. Hervorte?"

So I told Hervolte from the side before they said the next word.

"Theodore......"

Claudia and Hervolte turn to us at the same time.

"Mock battle, is it?

"If we - enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with you and fight the Last Guardian... no, if we actually have enough arms to take them down, why don't we just let them see and prove it and convince and reassure us?

"Rest assured... In short, if I think there's a formula or probability that we can win if we fight together, do you mean"

"It will."

I was facing Hervolte for a little while, but eventually she nodded quietly.

"Okay. Let's deal with them."

Mm-hmm. Whatever you're talking about, you'll need to show Hervorte how powerful this is first and have some faith in your skill.