Chapter 36: The Tin Knight and The Mysterious Underground Labyrinth (5)
You looked around.
The large cavern-like space that existed every 5 floors once again unfolded before you.
The only difference was there were no more stairs going down.
“Phew, finally, it’s the last one!” Adelaide looked around just like you and spoke.
A sense of relief could be felt in her voice, and beads of sweat were flowing down her nape.
The cart Adelaide was pulling was quite large for a single-person cart, and it was mostly made of metal to ensure durability even under rough handling.
The cart itself must be quite heavy, and unlike when they first set out, it was now full of various contents, so it was natural for Adelaide to be struggling.
It was rather a bit surprising that she hadn’t complained until now.
You suddenly came up with an idea.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ offers to pull the cart on the way back!]
At your words, Adelaide flinched in surprise.
“Ah, no! I’m fine! But, I’m happy you’re concerned.”
A smile filled Adelaide’s face as she said this.
It wasn’t just lip service, she seemed genuinely pleased.
You spoke again.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists, but says Adel must defeat the magic beasts that appear while going up instead!]
Adelaide’s smiling face froze.
In your view, there were quite a few enemies among the magic beasts in this labyrinth that Adelaide couldn’t defeat, but there were no strong enemies that could “instantly kill” Adelaide.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ argues that trials that cannot kill Adel will only make her stronger!]
“Can’t we start with trials that definitely won’t kill me?”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he won’t intervene even in an emergency!]
“Please intervene...!!”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ argues that trusting one’s pupil is also a virtue of a teacher!]
Adelaide was on the verge of tears, her earlier smile nowhere to be seen, but you were simply pleased with the idea of giving your pupil practical experience.
Ignoring you and Adelaide’s chatter, Dorothea approached the stone tablet near the main door.
The skull, already accustomed to its role, opened its mouth.
《Gather all the treasures from the treasure rooms and offer them here. The path forward lies ahead. That’s what it says! Witch!》
“Ha.”
Dorothea let out a short laugh.
It was an overt sneer.
“I heard the exploration had been stagnant for months. So that’s the reason.”
At first glance, it seemed like a condition that could be easily solved if the treasure rooms were opened sequentially, but in reality, it was as good as an impossible demand.
There was no guarantee that the party that obtained treasures from various treasure rooms would all be the same party, and even if it was the same party, there was a significant possibility of losing or selling the obtained treasures while going back and forth to the surface in between.
If there were papers with some kind of code written in each treasure room that needed to be combined, or puzzle pieces that needed to be assembled, it might be understandable, but this kind of condition was virtually impossible to meet.
Therefore, Dorothea declared, “It’s a fake interpretation.”
The skull was startled and caused a commotion.
《Witch! We didn’t lie! It’s not a lie! It’s not a lie!》
Dorothea lightly tapped the cage to calm the skull.
“I’m not saying you deceived me. But, the interpretation you know was ultimately given by an archaeologist dispatched from the guild, correct? It makes sense if the guild side intentionally gave wrong information to the adventurers.”
The skull fell silent.
Dorothea took out the animal compass.
When she put mana into one of the eight sentences, a goat appeared.
The goat with a wine-colored body wandered around near the closed door of the 30th floor.
“The guild knows the ‘real condition’ for opening this door. Controlling people’s entry and exit must be related to that too. Whether they want the door not to open, or they’re trying to stall other competitors until they can fulfill the condition themselves...”
Dorothea took out the “Key of Opium”.
“..that’s none of my concern.”
The Key of Opium, touching the main door, floated into the air.
Geometric patterns leaking from the door entwined around the key like rings of stars.
The rings tried to strangle the key as if resisting somehow, but the key continued unlocking, ignoring all resistance.
The patterns, tangled like a complex ball of thread, unraveled, disassembled, and at the moment they were neatly organized.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The entire floor began to shake violently as if an earthquake had occurred.
“Kyaa!”
Adelaide lost her balance and collapsed on the place, while Dorothea leaned on her staff.
You looked ahead.
The door made of thick walls was opening, revealing the scenery beyond.
A corridor filled with gray and green.
The gray was stone, and the green thorny vines.
Vines with sharp thorns were growing indiscriminately on the ground, walls, and ceiling.
After a while, the tremors subsided, and the goat Dorothea had summoned skillfully jumped between the vines and walked forward.
Dorothea frowned.
“It’ll be inconvenient to walk through. Adel. Leave the cart there for now and come.”
“Ah, yes!”
You started leading the way, as you had been doing all along.
The corridor was a single path without any forks, and it was very long.
You noticed something strange and informed the two of them.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ points out that the thorny vines are gradually turning red!]
“What?”
Dorothea narrowed her eyes and examined the surrounding vines.
Then, she clicked her tongue.
“...There’s a limit to being oblivious. To notice this only now.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ consoles that everyone makes mistakes!]
“I’m not talking about the color. These vines are brimming with mana.”
Dorothea poked the thorny vine with the tip of her staff.
The color of the sap flowing out was so vividly red that it looked like the blood of a living being.
Adelaide asked with a slightly frightened look, “I, I’ve heard that among magic beasts, there are many that look like plants and eat people. Could this be one of those?”
“Well. If it really attacks adventurers and sucks their blood, it would be worthy of being called a magic beast... but this place was sealed until a few moments, right? There wouldn’t have been any source of prey to sustain it in the first place?”
Dorothea frowned as if it didn’t make sense, but even while she was lost in thought, the goat was advancing without hesitation.
Though the circumstances were dubious, there was no choice but to press forward.
After walking, walking, and walking for a while.
A space appeared that was wider than the previous corridor yet not distinct enough to be called a separate room, as it lacked doors.
A stone tablet was erected in the center of the space.
There was an inscription on the stone tablet, but the skull in the cage was silent.
“Tsk, I can’t understand what it says... Huh?”
Dorothea, who was clicking her tongue, suddenly stopped.
She looked around with a suspicious expression, then struck the ground with her staff.
Bang, bang, bang.
Again and again, Dorothea’s mana spread like ripples.
Adelaide fidgeted and said, “Um, the goat is going away...”
“Wait a moment.”
Dorothea grasped her staff upside down.
Instead of the thin tip, she struck the ground with all her might using the blunt head part.
A tremendous flow of mana was created, visible even to ordinary people.
And then—
A faint will-o’-wisp-like thing rose from beneath the stone tablet.
Towards the soul with a particularly faint presence even compared to those seen so far, Dorothea declared, “Become my guide and answer my questions. In return, I shall grant you rest.”
The soul didn’t move at all.
Rather than intentionally ignoring, it seemed unable to react in the first place.
Dorothea opened the entrance of the cage with a reluctant expression and forcibly put the soul inside.
“Speak. What’s the content of this stone tablet? What lies beyond here?”
The skull, merged with the new soul, trembled and shook, then stared straight at the stone tablet and opened its mouth.
《Heretic who denied paradise. Sinner who pursued the taboo. Foolish monster who coveted the fruit that should not be coveted.》
《Judge her. Punish her. Hang her upon the gallows as an example. Do so swiftly, as miserably as possible, condemn their sin.》
《By doing so, we declare our non-involvement.》
《By doing so, we claim our infallibility.》
《By doing so, we prove our innocence.》
《Oh, great ones of the heaves. Truly, truly we implore you.》
《Do not associate this foolishness of the unwise one with us... d-o not don-ot dono-t d-onot d-onot—》
Like a broken phonograph, the skull stuttered its words, then a large crack appeared, and finally, its body split into several souls.
“...The deterioration of the soul is too severe. Is this the limit?”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ is indignant that nothing makes people angrier than stopping mid-sentence!]
“It’s meaningless to complain to me, you know?”
Dorothea scratched her head.
“Haa, something about this feels ominous. But we can’t not go since the compass is pointing that way.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares that there’s always a final boss at the end of a dungeon!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses anticipation for a new boss battle!]
“How long has it been since we killed the golden monkeys and you’re at it again?”
Dorothea gave you an exasperated look, but you didn’t mind.
The Tin Knight’s intuition was sensing signs of an unusual battle.
To catch up with the departed goat, you all quickened your pace.
And.
What greeted you was the sight of the goat being horribly crushed and disappearing into powder.
Boom.
The culprit who crushed the goat turned its body to look at you.
Its body was made of a large tree from head to toe and stood at twice your height.
It was a size that would have been difficult to move properly if this place had been the corridor from earlier rather than a large cavern-like space.
[Kya-hahaha.]
Palm-sized winged people circled around the massive creature, laughing.
Their overall shape was similar to humans, but their skin was dark green, and their eyes were compound eyes like those of insects.
A golem made of wood and fairies fixed their gazes at you.
Dorothea, placing her hand on your back, poured in as much mana as you could handle.
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“You take the golem, we’ll handle the fairies. Got it?”
You nodded and stepped forward.
Behind you, Dorothea and Adelaide stood side by side, as if embracing each other, ready to guard one another.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ burns with fighting spirit!]
You charged towards the enemy.