Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City - Chapter 51



Let’s Have a Little Duel

Even if you try to sell it as meat for carnivorous livestock, the yield is too low, making the tail useless. If you offer to dispose of it for free, the dismantling shop would be very grateful.

“Thank you, Muto.”

“Yes, miss.”

An orc with a magical cutter technician license took a spot in a corner of the indoor workshop. The freshly cut tail of the cave drake is lying on the table, exuding an impressive presence.

Even though it’s just the tail, it’s almost 2 meters long. The thickest part is nearly 50 cm in diameter, and the tip is very solid.

The orc in charge of processing is named Muto. He’s an old orc who has been working at this dismantling shop for a long time. He has deep wrinkles around his eyes and a rather kind impression, which feels quite unique. It’s rare to see old orcs in the labyrinth because they usually die before they get old.

An old orc that hasn’t died is an irregular entity. Like a great chieftain.

“Young master, how would you like it processed? Miss Theodora asked me to process it according to your wishes.”

“Oh, please don’t call me young master. I’m not that kind of person. Just process it into pieces that can fit into my mouth.”

“Uh… pieces that can fit into your mouth? May I ask why?”

“I’m going to eat it.”

“Then, shall I divide it into portions and pack it for you?”

“No, there’s no need for that. I’ll eat it all right here.”

The things stored through the skill don’t actually go into my stomach. Naturally, I don’t get full, and as long as my jaw and esophagus are fine, I can eat as much as I want.

“Please cut out the muscle parts and give them to me. I’ll roughly cut and eat them, so you just need to handle the outer skin.”

“Ah… understood.”

The skin facing the ground on the tail of the Cave Drake, like that of crocodiles or lizards, has relatively soft outer skin. Here, I roughly cut it in half with a knife, peeled off the hard scales, placed the stripped flesh on the table, and received a butcher’s knife.

Using the magic cutter placed next to me, I cut the hard scales with the magic cutter, and then I cut the flesh into appropriate sizes with a knife and swallowed it whole.

I received the scales cut to mouthful sizes and put them in my mouth one by one, repeating the process of cutting and eating the flesh.

“Aren’t you… getting full?”

“No. It’s that kind of skill.”

Old man Muto continued to work diligently, cutting the scales. Although I switched to the esophagus of a direwolf, it’s still a tough job. If the sharp scales caused wounds in my esophagus, I circulated the blood of a snow troll to heal it a few times.

“Ah, please cut the bones too.”

“Understood.”

Since there were fewer scales compared to the flesh, I finished relatively early, and spent a couple of hours slicing the muscles with a knife and swallowing them while staring idly into the air. I almost finished eating the flesh, leaving only the thick tailbone.

The other workers who were working nearby kept exclaiming in admiration as they watched, which sped things up a bit.

‘Rubica, get ready!’

I neatly cut the tailbone and put it in my mouth, and when I looked out the window, the sky was dyed red. The other workers in the disassembly room also seemed to be wrapping up their work.

“Old man Muto, thank you for your hard work.”

“Hehe… I saw something rare. I didn’t realize how time flew.”

“I was worried you might be bored, but I’m glad.”

The tail alone is 2 meters long, and the part attached to the waist is almost 50 cm thick. I wonder what would happen if it sprouted from my body, and it seems to weigh at least several tens of kilograms.

The hardness of the outer shell and the power of the muscles are evident without even seeing them. The outer shell of the drake, imbued with magic, is said to have a strength comparable to top-grade materials, and the muscle fibers showed a toughness on a different level from any meat I’ve eaten before.

My jaw is quite numb, and if it weren’t for the jaw muscles of the Ursus or the Direwolf leader, I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish it all today.

After seeing off old man Muto and returning to the office where Theodora was, I saw her lying on the sofa, hugging her tail tightly.

“Hey, are you done?”

“Yeah. I finished it cleanly.”

“Incredible, did all of that really go into your mouth?”

“Well, yeah. It all disappears in the stomach.”

“So, can you make it right now?”

“It’s possible, but it’s a bit awkward to do it here. It would be better if there was a wide open space.”

“An open space…”

At my words, Theodora buried her face in her tail and pondered.

‘Hmm.’

I should ask her to let me try it later.

* * * * *

“Where is this?”

“This is a training ground operated by the Rymane family. In a city with a great labyrinth, they usually set up at least one.”

After about 30 minutes of traveling by carriage, we arrived at a place that looked like a playground with a solid dirt floor neatly laid out. It was a location further out than the workshop, so the land price was relatively cheap. It was a place where a large piece of land could be left idle.

“What is a great labyrinth?”

“…Are you an idiot?”

Theodora looked at me as if she couldn’t believe it and spoke.

As Theodora had told me before, the labyrinths are not only found in Kalax. They don’t have any special names, and there are quite a few labyrinths scattered around this world, commonly referred to as ‘the surface,’ each varying in size.

Of course, the entrances to the labyrinths are made up of irregularly shaped portals, so the difference in size isn’t apparent from the outside. It’s said that the difference lies in the number of floors.

In the case of smaller labyrinths, there have been reports of labyrinths with at least three floors, and the monsters inside are mostly weak.

When a labyrinth exceeds around fifty floors, it is commonly referred to as a grand labyrinth. Currently, there are eight grand labyrinths on the surface, including Kalax.

Among them, the grand labyrinth of Kalax is known as one of the three labyrinths that are impossible to fully conquer, with the other two being the grand labyrinth of Hetchituk and the grand labyrinth of Roenmarie.

“How many floors does this labyrinth have?”

“As far as we’ve confirmed, ninety-one floors.”

“That’s incredible.”

To the people of this world, labyrinths are no different from treasure troves that pour out precious resources. Of course, many people die, but there is so much to gain inside.

Naturally, people gather around the places where labyrinths appear, infrastructure develops, and cities are formed. This is directly proportional to the size of the labyrinth. Kalax is a relatively recent labyrinth, having appeared less than two hundred years ago.

The history of Hetchituk exceeds eight hundred years, and Roenmarie at least five hundred. Despite the long time, neither has been fully conquered yet.

“Could an incredibly strong person conquer the entire labyrinth?”

“Each labyrinth has a different internal structure. Of course, strong people can go beyond the middle in any labyrinth, but each requires different abilities.”

“I see.”

Are the monsters different in each labyrinth? Then I’d like to see the monsters from other labyrinths too.

“Let’s stop this conversation. Now, show me your ability.”

“Sure. Just in case, could you turn around for a moment?”

“Why?”

“Last time I created a tail, my pants tore. Let’s not cause any unnecessary trouble.”

“Ah, got it.”

Theodora turned around as I instructed and looked the other way. Since my tail was large, I slightly lowered my pants just in case, took a deep breath, and focused my mind on my lower back.

Boom!

“Huh.”

“Are you okay? Can I turn around?”

“Wait a moment.”

In an instant, a tail weighing dozens of kilograms poured out. I barely managed to support myself with the tail, almost falling backward. My pants were fine, and there didn’t seem to be any major issues. I roughly pulled them up and called out to Theodora.

“No way..! It’s real..?”

“I told you so.”

“Can you move it?”

“This is really heavy. I think it needs some adjustments.”

About half of it was stuck to the ground, so standing wasn’t a problem, but dragging it around like this would be difficult. What I wanted was a light, agile, and powerful tail suitable for combat, not just a large one.

I sat down for a moment and changed the internal structure. The size difference between my spine and the drake’s tailbone caused issues with the lumbar region’s movement.

By maintaining the drake’s bones and slightly reducing their size, I facilitated a smoother connection with the lumbar region. I processed the drake’s bones to appropriately mix them with my spine, increasing the strength.

I removed the muscle fibers and replaced them with tendons to reduce volume while minimizing power loss. I also covered the relatively weaker leather part facing the ground with the remaining outer skin.

By reducing the weight by more than half while maintaining the length and wrapping the outer skin tightly, it finally became somewhat usable.

“Your tail got thinner..?”

“It was too difficult to use as it was.”

This left quite a bit of the drake’s hard scales and muscle fibers. The muscles could be used here and there, but where should I use the remaining outer skin?

Crack

“Hmm.”

“Your arm..!”

“There’s still some of Drake’s hide left. This should be useful.”

He distributed the remaining hide evenly, covering both hands. The weight was considerable, but much of Drake’s muscle and bone remained. He reinforced structural weaknesses and added tendons he’d kept to increase strength here and there.

“Hup..!”

Bang!!

He swung his tail at the wooden scarecrow standing in one corner of the training ground, smashing it to pieces, scattering it like powder.

“Good, the weight isn’t bad.”

Above all, it’s the scales with this incredible hardness. As the magic flowed, it turned a deep black, unlike the bluish-gray of the corpse. Even when striking hard wood, there was no damage.

As Theodora said, when the magic circulates, it has strength comparable to top-grade materials. The black scales wrapped around his hands like gauntlets were excellent. Beneath Drake’s scales was a very tough and thick leather, allowing finger joints to move without issue.

With plenty of scales left, he slightly altered their shape like this.

“Oh.”

They could be used like sharp claws.

“Theodora, this is amazing.”

“Y-yeah! It’s incredible!”

Drake’s muscles also produced tremendous power. When he clenched his fists covered in hard scales and struck them together, sparks flew like metal.

The tail’s weight was considerable, but it didn’t hinder his leaps. Pushing off the ground with his tail, he could jump even higher. He could leap nearly 10 meters in place without any difficulty.

“I feel like I could take down a monster right now.”

Theodora, who was beside him, stared at him silently.

“Theodora, want to warm up?”

“Huh?”

“Do you know how to fight?”

“Th-that is…”

My whole body is itching. Is it because I’m feeling better?

“Let’s have a quick sparring session.”