Ariadne - Labyrinth of Questions 1
Location: Inside the Labyrinth
Rinne: But man, now this is what I call a labyrinth! Think they’re gonna make us do hard labor down here?*
Kohaku: Even ES ain’t shameless an’ cruel enough fer that.
This labyrinth — well, it’s more spacious than my place back home, but it still don’t seem like a pleasant place ta be brought to against my will. The air here’s all stuffy an’ humid, an’ it’s way gloomy in this place.
HiMERU: It’s hard to say whether it’s due to the geological features of the area, but it indeed feels quite musty here.
Niki: Hey, what gives? Why are your reactions all so lukewarm, like “Welp, this sure is a labyrinth”?!
What the hell do you mean we’re in a labyrinth!? Where are my beef tongues~?
Kohaku: Give up on those beef tongues already. Look, we’re clearly imprisoned in a place where we might struggle to find anything ta eat at all.
Lettin’ this ruffle our feathers ain’t gonna help one bit. All we can do is keep a calm head an’ unravel these circumstances we’ve been thrust into.
Niki: I-I mean, you’re right, but… It’s scary how you’re all way too used to being in trouble! What if we starve to death locked up in this labyrinth?!
HiMERU: — Please be at ease. Since they passed this off as a simple job, they won’t go as far as to make us die of starvation. Also, for what it’s worth, this country has laws in place.
They wouldn’t want to run the risk of breaking those for a group of troublemakers like us.
Judging from how there are surveillance cameras and monitors installed everywhere, it would be reasonable to infer that this is the contrivance of someone who wants to turn us into a spectacle.
Niki: Now that you say it… What are those things for?
HiMERU: They’re likely related to the job. In all probability, they’re equipment for broadcasting and video recording.
As for what kind of person would go this far to play an intricate prank on us, even choosing to monitor us at this remote location — There’s pretty much only one man who fits that criteria.
Rinne: Right on. If ya narrow it down to people who’ve got incentive to lock us up, you can count the suspects on one hand.
Hey, you can see us right now, can’tcha, ya ol’ viper?
Ibara (Off-screen): “Ah ha ha ☆ Indeed, clear as day!”
“Did you enjoy your first impression of the labyrinth, esteemed members of Crazy:B?”
Niki: S-So it was the Vice President who brought us here?!
Rinne: Who the hell else would’ve done it?
There’s no one else who’d willingly mess with killer bees — unless they’ve got a reliable antidote to our poison, that is.
Like fightin’ poison with poison. Ain’t that right, Snakeyboy? Finally felt up for teachin’ us some manners, huh?
Ibara: “Far from it! I have no intentions of keeping unruly pets ♪“
“I merely arranged for a variety show recording for all of you in my function as a manager at our agency, seeing as how Crazy:B is always in want of work!”
“You would not believe it, but I was made to suffer — I mean, enjoy, this very same underground labyrinth myself during Bogie Time.”
“Although I’m aware that I may be overstepping my boundaries, I took the liberty of recycling it for my own purposes in order to help Crazy:B become a more friendly and approachable unit.”
“By delivering the viewers a cheerful comedy during primetime, Crazy:B can break into a new fanbase bracket, and I’ll be able to subject others to the hardship I was made to experience during Bogie Time...☆”
“What do you think? Aren’t you glad to have such a considerate superior?”
HiMERU: That is just about the worst reason to abduct someone that HiMERU can think of.
Kohaku: Bogie Time — Ain’t that this show Rinne-han exploded with laughter watchin’? The one where they called Vice Prez-han “Ibanyan” the whole time? So that’s the kinda experience we’ve gotta steel ourselves fer, huh.
Niki: So that whole story about getting to eat local specialties in the countryside was nothing but a lie!? That’s so heartless! You do realize I only made it through the past week of my life because I had those beef tongues to look forward to, right?!
Ibara (Offscreen): “Fufu, please be unconcerned regarding that matter!”
“These kinds of challenge-based variety shows have prizes and penalties prepared for the participants.”
“Humans are capable of dealing with less-than-reasonable circumstances when there is a reward waiting for them at the end — Needless to say, I’ve kept that in mind when coming up with this plan.”
“There are a number of treasure chests placed in this labyrinth.”
“Inside them are your prizes — The catch being that you need to accomplish missions in order to obtain them.”
“The name of this show is “Labyrinth of Minotaurus”! I hope you thoroughly enjoy it, dearest members of Crazy:B!”
HiMERU & Kohaku: ……… (Staring coldly)
Ibara: “My oh my, your motivation strikes me as quite lacking! And here I went through all this trouble of preparing a project for you all, in spite of how busy I am~...”
“Very well. Figuring out how to put your subordinates to work — that is also the duty of a manager.”
“The prizes we’ve prepared for you contain items that you have been coveting! Particularly the “Golden Treasure Chests” hold prizes that you won’t want to miss out on, so please try your best to obtain them unabashedly!”
“It only makes sense that due to this, the difficulty level of the corresponding missions are that much higher than the ones for the regular ones — the “Red Treasure Chests”, so feel free to try your luck at those as well!”
“Allow us to witness from a safe distance whether or not you troublemakers will be able to escape this labyrinth unharmed…☆”———————————
* TL Note: Rinne is making a reference to the “Underground Labor Camp” in “Tobaku Hakairoku Kaiji”, the second part of the “Kaiji” series. As the name implies, in this story Kaiji is incapacitated and brought to an underground labor camp in which debtors are put through backbreaking work in order to repay their debts. From the wiki page for this arc: “The meals provided to the workers are intentionally to be made scarce so the workers would spend most of their earnings to buy foods and drinks, effectively making them unable to pay off their debts.” The workers at this labor camp also gamble (as Kaiji is a gambling manga first and foremost), and interestingly, the gamble they do there is “Underground Chinchiro”, a dice game. Something to keep in mind for this event.
