Elegy from Another World

The sudden recognition of their identities froze the tense atmosphere, which quickly turned into a sense of absurd astonishment.

"You...you guys, don't move!" I shouted instinctively, while urgently ordering Xiao Bei in my mind, "Xiao Bei! Quick! Move the crystal first! No matter what, the core is the most important!"

I could feel the tentacles encasing the crystal tightening rapidly, silently moving towards a pre-set safe point deep within the maze.

Looking at the group of "warriors" at the door, still fully armed but with faces full of surprise and doubt, I forced myself to calm down. The most direct way to judge the truthfulness of their words...

"Could you...put down your weapons first?" I asked tentatively, my voice trembling slightly. "If what you're saying is true, you wouldn't mind showing some sincerity, would you?"

To my surprise, the leader, the soldier who claimed to have been saved by me, almost without hesitation, immediately shoved his longsword back into its sheath with a clang and raised his hands. The soldiers behind him exchanged glances, but at his signal, they also lowered their weapons and disarmed.

Seeing this, my tense nerves finally relaxed a bit. It seems... they really didn't mean any harm.

"Alright..." I sighed, dispelling the flame in my hand and abandoning my guarded stance. "Then... shall we sit down and talk?"

We sat on the floor in the core hall, which had just been the site of a bloody battle and destruction, at a safe distance. The fleshy membrane floor beneath our feet still bore traces of disintegration and burning, and the air was thick with the smell of burnt blood—the scene was indescribably bizarre.

"Why did you come here?" I asked first.

The leading warrior, a man named Carlos, explained the reason in detail. They had received a commission to "defeat an evil entity entrenched in the labyrinth deep within the Gloomy Forest, an entity that imprisons a large number of women, using them as 'mothers' for reproduction or energy supply."

"Who posted the commission?" I pressed.

"He's an adventurer who claims to have escaped from here," Carlos replied.

I immediately asked Xiao Bei in my mind. After a moment of silence, Xiao Bei replied with a hint of annoyance: "No residents have left recently. However… about half a month ago, a fairly strong bandit leader did manage to escape during a minor fluctuation in the defense system. He… knows some rudimentary magic."

"Okay..." I rubbed my temples. "Then it was probably that guy's doing." It seems that the escaped bandit was holding a grudge, or simply wanted to use someone else to do his dirty work, so he issued a false request.

At this moment, Xiao Bei sent an urgent question through its tentacles, clearly still bothered by its earlier misjudgment. I relayed it to it: "There's another question, Xiao Bei... it's about the system managing this place. It's confused as to why your equipment is exactly the same as the 'Hero Squad' that fought the Demon King back then? That was the highest level of standard."

Carlos and his teammates exchanged glances, their faces showing a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Hero Squad? We don't know anything about a Hero Squad," Carlos explained. "We bought this equipment from the biggest equipment shop in Valencia. It's supposedly top-tier replicas made from ancient heroic legends, with excellent defense and enchantments, but the price is outrageously high..."

"...A counterfeit?" I was stunned, then couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. It turned out to be a huge blunder! Xiao Bei, relying on ancient records in the database, had mistaken a mercenary squad dressed in "high-quality counterfeit merchandise" for the real heroes who were going to defeat the Demon King. A similar wave of embarrassment emanated from Xiao Bei in my mind; he was clearly quite embarrassed as well.

With the misunderstanding cleared up, the atmosphere eased considerably. Carlos and the others, however, became curious: "So... is the situation here really as described in the commission?"

I knew it would be too difficult to get them to accept concepts like "symbiotic networks" and "spiritual communication" directly. So I spent nearly two hours patiently explaining to them the reality of the situation here: how it gradually evolved from an initial place of confinement into a refuge where persecuted people supported each other; Xiao Pei's role change; how we used limited resources to improve our lives; and most importantly—all the residents here stayed voluntarily, seeking peace.

To increase my persuasiveness, I even led the still-skeptical Carlos team through the maze passages to the outer area, where all the residents who had just been evacuated were gathered. The fear of surviving the ordeal had not completely faded from their faces, but seeing me return safely and seemingly having reached a peace with the "invaders," they all showed expressions of disbelief mixed with anticipation. Their very existence was the most powerful rebuttal to the lie.

Seeing with their own eyes that these women were not imprisoned, but living in a strange but relatively peaceful environment, Carlos and his team finally reluctantly believed what I said.

"So, what are your plans next?" I asked.

Carlos and his team discussed the matter and gave their reply: "Miss Liscia, we trust you. You saved my life, and I trust your character. However, we still need to confirm the details of the commission. Therefore, some team members will remain here temporarily to guard the outskirts, partly for security and partly to observe and understand the situation further. The other group will return to Valencia to report back."

"Report back? How do you plan to report?"

"Just say the intelligence was wrong. The evil entity and victims described in the commission were not found deep in the labyrinth. The publisher may have made a mistake in the location or information," Carlos said frankly. "That's standard mercenary practice. Once the mission objective is confirmed to not exist, the mission naturally ends."

This approach is reasonable, so I nodded and said, "Okay then."

I personally escorted the team members who were preparing to return to Valencia to the entrance of the maze. Only after watching them disappear into the depths of the forest did I breathe a long sigh of relief and turn back to the gathering place on the outskirts of the maze.

When I finally relaxed, the strong shell I had been maintaining crumbled instantly. The relief of surviving the ordeal, the joy of having my home preserved, and the grief and fear of saying goodbye all surged into my heart like a flood.

I don't know who started it, but the sound of crying rose from the crowd. We women, from different places and with different experiences, could no longer hold back, and we hugged each other, letting our tears flow freely.

"Thank goodness...our home...is still here..."

"Xiao Bei... is still here..."

"We don't need to separate anymore..."

The sobs were mingled with choked relief and joy. Although it was a false alarm, this ordeal made us cherish this hard-won and unique "home" even more.

I held my companion tightly, feeling each other's trembling bodies and warm tears, my heart filled with indescribable complex emotions.

Finally... our home was not destroyed.

That's really great.