The mirrors threw back a procession of warped, impossible images. The corridors themselves stayed disturbingly still.
Kanzaki walked in front, the tip of his staff tapping a steady rhythm against the glass floor.
The footsteps at his side were almost weightless. The small hand he had been holding had never warmed.
"Why have you stopped talking, Reserve Food?"
The question came out casual, almost lazy.
"What's the trick to the third stage? You still haven't told me."
"A pure labyrinth," Herta said. "You can only leave by finding a specific mirror and stepping through it. There is a time limit."
"The active area of the labyrinth will shrink. If we have not left after five hours, everyone inside will be crushed into paste."
Kanzaki sounded faintly surprised.
"No tricks? Then I'll just follow you. Saves me the trouble of thinking too hard."
"Mhm. Okay." Herta nodded.
Time slipped by, second after second.
Without either of them quite noticing how, more than four hours had already gone.
Kanzaki sensed the state of the girl beside him and narrowed his eyes. In the dim refraction his pupils looked deeper than they should have.
"Your endurance is impressive. Walking this long without getting tired or hungry. I'm starving."
A playful curve touched the corner of his mouth.
"I didn't even have time to forage, just to keep my side of the request. Do you remember our contract? What price are you supposed to pay?"
"You said you would eat me."
Herta answered without hesitation.
"I am your Reserve Food. Once we return to Azure Star, my life is yours."
Kanzaki was silent for a moment. Then he leaned in until his face was almost at the tip of her nose.
"For the food I like, presentation matters. A great deal."
His voice dropped, gentle in a way that did not match the words. It sounded like a demon coaxing a child who did not yet understand the cost.
"You have been wearing that blank face the entire time. The presentation is terrible. Come on. Give me a smile. Make it sweet."
"It should not be time to eat me yet."
"You wouldn't understand. Guess why I like people who smile when I eat them. A smile gives people strength."
Kanzaki was smiling warmly now. He did not look at all like someone who intended to eat a person.
"I can only look and not eat for the moment. Even so, a little recharge would help."
The air locked for a second.
Then Herta obediently lifted her face.
The corners of her mouth rose, slow and careful, until a bright, energetic, almost sweet smile sat on her features.
In that unpleasant stretch of the Labyrinth Zone, she looked like the only patch of sunlight left.
The instant the smile fully opened...
The dull sound of flesh being pierced cut through the corridor.
Herta's sweet expression froze on her face. The tip of the staff had gone through her throat without the slightest warning.
The warmth on Kanzaki's face vanished. What replaced it was a cold, naked disgust.
"Tch. How fake can you get?"
He yanked the staff free. Instead of blood, a coil of black mist came with it.
He kicked the body aside and watched, expression flat, as the corpse on the floor collapsed into a shattered mirror.
"If she could smile that happily right now, it would be a miracle."
In this temperatureless Labyrinth Zone, anything could be real.
Anything except a smile that clean.
"Where are you…?"
Kanzaki's chest rose and fell a fraction harder than before. A thin thread of anxiety cut through him.
Thinking back, the swap had probably happened not long after they entered. The person walking beside him had been exchanged so cleanly he had not felt the seam.
Since the Mirror Ghost had gone down that easily, its combat strength was likely nothing special.
The problem was the opposite. Herta had no combat strength at all.
More than four hours had already passed. He had to find that girl who had eaten a single lollipop and could fold from hunger at any moment.
He had to find her soon.
===
Meanwhile, in another Mirror Corridor.
Herta clutched her abdomen. With every step, cold sweat slid down her forehead and ran into her eyes.
Beside her, Kanzaki reached out to steady her arm.
"There are stairs ahead. Don't trip, brat."
Herta kept her head down. Something unreadable moved through her eyes.
Haven't you noticed yet… time is running out…
The hand holding her was warm. She pulled free of it all at once and dropped to the floor, breathing hard.
"…I can't walk anymore. Let me rest for a while."
"If you rest any longer you'll be crushed into paste. Have you still not found the right path?"
Impatience leaked into Kanzaki's tone.
"Let's get this straight. I am not dying here with you. Get up. Now."
Herta did not move.
He reached for her shoulder.
The instant his fingers were about to close...
Bang!
The mirror wall to the side exploded without warning.
Sharp glass burst outward like a sudden rain. A black figure tore through the spray, hostility rolling off him in a thick wave. His wide robe caught the shards and flung them forward.
"Stay away from my Reserve Food!"
The Kanzaki standing over Herta never even got a scream out. Glass punched through him in dozens of places. A staff drove through his throat and forced him back into his true shape before he dissolved into mist.
The real Kanzaki stood in front of Herta, looking distinctly worse for wear.
His black robe was slashed in several places. His left hand hung wrong at his side. Blood dripped from his fingertips and dotted the glass.
His eyes were bloodshot. He stared at her and did not look away.
"Hey!"
His voice came out hoarse. Relief sat under the familiar banter and refused to hide completely.
"Are you stupid, brat? You clearly saw that thing was a fake, and you still sat there waiting to die?"
Herta's expression barely changed.
She did not believe Mr. Creditor had missed how bad her body was right now.
"To clear the stage, every Mirror Ghost has to be killed. I can't kill them. If you don't come, I have no way out."
Kanzaki had not expected her to put it that plainly. He could not stop the corner of his mouth from lifting. He reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Fair enough. You stalled well. Here's a reward."
He took out two lollipops, pressed them into her hands, then picked her up in a bridal carry.
Not far ahead, a familiar doorway rose out of the mirrors.
"The fake that followed me said this was a timed labyrinth stage. In reality, the next stage is the labyrinth. Right?"
"To think you could figure that out with your brain. I'm impressed, Mr. Creditor."
"What do you mean 'with my brain'? Do you believe I'll eat you right now?"
Kanzaki glared down at the girl in his arms.
"You said you had only seen the first four stages. Since this one isn't among them, the fourth stage has to be the one waiting ahead. My brain may not be as sharp as yours, but that does not make me a half-wit."
She gave him nothing back. He got bored and changed the subject.
"You seemed to know what this stage was from the start. Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"
"This stage appears at random between the second and the fourth. Even if I had told you, it would not have mattered. Once you enter, the rules here rewrite a person's memory and the way their subconscious reads the space."
"I'm impressed. This screenwriter really does not know how to write a story. Not only is it cliché, they also love slapping extra rules onto everything."
Kanzaki rolled his eyes.
"If they wanted horror, they should have let the ghosts kill directly. If they wanted suspense, they should have put in the work on the path itself. This is neither. We are stuck acting in a terrible movie and we are not even getting paid. Infuriating."