"U-urhhh..."
I slurred, regaining consciousness slowly.
'I can't remember the last time I felt so lightheaded and drowsy.' My mind wandered as the blurry images of everything around me started getting clearer.
"... Uh?" My eyes finally regained sight, and I realized that we were no longer in the Labyrinth—or at least, I wasn't.
'Wait, this place is...'
"You're finally up." Someone murmured beside me.
Silver hair flowed with the breeze, causing me to glance in the direction of the owner of the voice.
"M-Maria...?"
The girl's eyes wandered elsewhere, as though intentionally avoiding eye contact with me.
'Come on...'
"How are you feeling?" She muttered once more.
I couldn't tell whether she was upset, shy, or worried. Her expression looked blank, and her blue eyes looked distracted.
"Y-yeah, I'm good. I feel much better now. Where are the others?"
Now rising from my previously laid state, I looked around. Maria and I were definitely in the Green Forest where the Arcana's monument was located.
But why were we outside, and where were the others?
"E-er, they wanted to explore more of the Labyrinth, but then you fainted. So..." Maria didn't look in my direction as she spoke.
The girl's gaze was on the floor—and her cheeks were flushed pink.
"... They decided that someone should watch after you, outside, while they went on to see what else we could find in the Labyrinth."
"I see..." I murmured, rubbing my chin.
I doubted there was anything else we could find in the Labyrinth, though.
'Still, it's not impossible. Since the owner is a Mage, with knowledge and stuff we've not seen before... maybe he left them behind?'
Suddenly, an image of the man I spoke to appeared in my head.
What did he say his name was again? Merlin? Just who was he?
"E-erm..." Maria's voice became a bit more erratic, and it seemed I was missing something.
"What is it?"
"Could you... put on some clothes...?"
"... Eh?"
Why did I only notice after Maria told me?
"What? Why am I naked??!"
"W-well, after you grabbed the Arcana, everything you had on you was torn apart. We tried to outfit you with something else, but as long as that Arcana was in your grasp, nothing worked." Maria explained.
"A-ah..."
I noticed the Arcana in my right hand, glowing and warbling.
The card's multicolored glow drew me in, and I found myself marveling at its beauty. The image ingrained in it was that of a maiden and a lion interacting—which further reminded me of Merlin and the words he told me.
"Every cloth we tried either bounced off, or was consumed. We decided to just carry you out and leave you until you regained consciousness. But, since someone had to watch over you... I was chosen."
"I see... but why you, though? Ivan or Jerry would have been more suitable. They're guys, after all." At this point, I had used Magic to create a barricade between myself and Maria, so she wouldn't see me naked.
The next thing I did was to reach out to my special subspace to find the right attire to don.
"Well, they all wanted to explore more of the Labyrinth. No one wanted a role as boring as keeping you company."
"Not even Edward?!"
My goodness! I didn't know I had traitors for friends. Who would have thought that they would give Maria the responsibility of watching over a naked me?
"Ah, Edward wanted to volunteer... but... in the end, he was more than happy to go along with that Half-Elf you're always with."
"What?"
My eyes widened instantly and I realized what happened.
'Those bastards...!!!'
Without my supervision, they decided to let loose, didn't they? How could I have let them out of my sight!?!
"I was the last choice, so it was decided that I would watch over you. Of course, I didn't do anything weird to you, or anything. I also... didn't see anything."
Somehow, I found that hard to believe.
There were a lot of holes in Maria's story, and I noticed her tone felt inconsistent.
'Guess I'll have to ask Neron or Aloe... what exactly happened.'
"Thank you."
I brought down the earthen barrier that separated us, leaving nothing between the two of us.
At this point, we unintentionally made eye contact, and I found myself being drawn into her eyes again.
"... For what?" As her lips parted, I felt oddly excited.
Memories of our kiss replayed in my mind, and something else began to rise.
'No. Not now!!!'
"W-well, for watching over me. You could have had fun like everyone else."
"Well, you're right. It's not every time you get to explore a Labyrinth as vast as this one. Plus, it did seem like a lot of fun."
'Urgh! Now she's making me guilty.'
"Haha, I see. I'll make it up to you, then."
"Yeah, you better. I was scarred by watching over your naked body too... do you know how much I've suffered?"
'Hold on, what's with this switch in tone?'
"Wait, didn't you say you didn't see anything?"
"That's beside the point..."
What the heck? How was that besides the point? Did she really see something?
'I've been sensitive of my... stuff... ever since Jane commented on it. Did she really see it? Oh crap!'
To be fair, it was a young teenager's junk, and she was practically an adult at this point. If anything, she should have been the one guilty of sexual indecency, not me.
'I'm the minor, after all...' Using that excuse to justify myself and quell the embarrassment within me, I sighed.
"You have to take responsibility, you know?"
"Uh?" I glanced at Maria, and her expressionless face was staring directly at me.
It seemed so creepy and overwhelming that she was staring so intensely at me. I didn't hate the feeling, but... I was beginning to get worried.
"Jared..." Maria began to move closer.
'Wait. Wait. Wait.'
"... Remember our last conversation?"
My skin tingled as I recollected the incident.
'Is that... is that what's going to happen again?!'
