"The Council and I will protect the weaker players like you. Just... please don't spread panic and drag down the morale before we even begin."
Ian stared at her.
"What are you talking about? It's not about being a coward! This isn't a game! One mistake can lead hundreds of people to their deaths! You're all taking this place too lightly!"
He stopped just short of calling Leia stupid. His so-called friend had just completely dismissed a legitimate survival strategy to maintain her new image.
He looked at the sneering A-Ranks, the arrogant Council, and the girl who had already rewritten him as a helpless burden in her mind.
"Enough! Stop making a scene! Just because you're scared, you can't hold everyone back! We must reach the safe zone. If you're scared of entering, you can stay back!" a red-haired woman with a sniper rifle on her back scolded Ian.
"Stop taking advantage of your friendship! Just because you're her friend, she isn't telling you off! Otherwise, do you think you could raise your voice to an S-Ranker?!" another Ranker chimed in.
Ian felt a headache setting in. These people looked like they were hellbent on entering. No, it was more like the more he tried to stop them, the more they wanted to enter.
They were like children. The more one told them not to eat something, the more they wanted to eat that thing.
The only difference was that these people weren't children, and he couldn't use authority or force to stop them.
If there was one person who could stop them, it was Leia. But she had also formed a strange misunderstanding about him for some reason.
He didn't know why, but it felt as if the distance between them had only been increasing ever since he lost his arm.
He looked at her helplessly. After all, she was the only familiar face in this place.
Leia saw him standing there, entirely at a loss for words under the scorn of the crowd.
A part of her felt deeply annoyed by his stubbornness. He was embarrassing her in front of everyone by talking back to her, making a scene over nothing but his own fear.
But as she looked at his shattered right arm, a fleeting memory surfaced. His family had taken her in when she had nothing. He had protected her from bullies, and just an hour ago, he had taken a monster's charge meant for her.
'I owe him a little,' she thought, suppressing a sigh. 'But I cannot be shackled by past debts. I need to free myself from this debt if I don't want to be held back.'
In her mind, an invisible scale tipped.
If she granted him this ridiculous request, if she stood against the crowd for him to appease his cowardice, it would serve as a payment.
'Three times... I will listen to his unreasonable requests three times. And after that, I will not owe him anything. Let this count as the first time.'
With this, she would be repaying all his favors. After this, she wouldn't owe him anything ever again.
Making up her mind, Leia stepped forward. Her elegant white robes fluttered as she reached out, gently wrapping her perfectly clean hands around his left hand.
"Alright," Leia said, her voice carrying a soothing tone that immediately silenced the mockery of the crowd. "We will do as Ian suggests. We will delay our entry by half an hour. Everyone, use this time to familiarize yourselves with your weapons and new skills."
The crowd quieted down. While the A and B-Rankers clearly disagreed, none of them were willing to directly oppose an S-Rank.
"Thank you, Le-" Ian was startled, feeling a small surge of relief that logic had finally won out.
But before he could finish his sentence, Leia let go of his hand.
When she turned around to face the labyrinth entrance, the warmth in her eyes completely vanished, replaced by a chilling indifference.
The action of defending him hadn't brought them closer; it had done the exact opposite. In her heart, a portion of the debt was cleared.
Her emotions towards him had weakened even more. She didn't side with him because she thought he was right.
After all, this place was just a labyrinth, which meant a maze. The faster they entered the maze, the faster they could leave. But because of him, they had to waste half an hour.
The only reason she sided with him was to repay favors from the past, even though she believed that the request was wrong.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere among the Rankers had turned toxic.
The S-Rank men, including the Vanguard, the elegant Paladin, and the grim Moonlight Assassin, stared at Ian with suspicion and burning jealousy.
They were the chosen leaders, the pinnacle of this new world, yet Leia had just compromised their grand entrance for an F-Rank cripple.
They watched Ian standing there in his ridiculous casino attire, clutching his broken arm. To them, he was nothing more than a pathetic leech using childhood guilt to drag down a goddess.
The Vanguard locked eyes with the Assassin, a silent communication passing between them through their gaze alone.
If they were going to lead humanity properly, they couldn't have this dead weight influencing their most valuable asset.
If they truly wanted to free Leia from this leech, they would have to do something to permanently break the bond between them once they were inside the labyrinth.
Although Ian had stopped everyone to help them, he had indirectly become a villain in everyone's minds.
He didn't even have to read minds to know that many people had already started hating him. Then again, it was something that he couldn't do anything about.
As long as they became even a little stronger before entering that unknown labyrinth, the chances of their survival were going to increase.
If the chances of their survival increased, he believed that his own survival chances were also going to increase.
Although he hated the thought, he had indeed become a leech because he didn't have a good class or any decent stats. He could only rely on others, but he wasn't too embarrassed about that.
In this world, survival was the most important thing, after all.