Chapter 942 – A Prison Named Asceticism

000

Even after passing through the stone door of the basement, Sasha keeps looking back, as if she is worried about Kuon, whom she left behind.

The place the group is passing through is completely opposite to the splendid and dreamy atmosphere of the castle on the ground, and is a bit dark, with walls, ceilings, and floors made of stone that seem to go all the way –

It was like walking inside a temple, and she felt pious without even realizing it.

“Is it okay to just move on like this?”

“You will find out soon.”

In response to Cleon’s question, Vivian nodded as if she understood what he was saying, but for some reason, as we went deeper and deeper, it did not feel like anything was changing.

“It would be nice if monsters didn’t suddenly pop out.”

“First, it’s a dungeon, so what’s going to happen? Otherwise, it will not be carried out.”

Cleon responded to Laila’s words, but she immediately frowned and gave a disapproving look.

＂The practice of magic is especially against monsters…＂

“Did you ever say that practical experience is necessary?”

“It doesn’t really help since I always deal with either humans or giant weapons.”

That’s what she said too.

Come to think of it, after they left Elessia, there were goblins, orcs, etc.

Isn’t it quite a long time ago that we fought against species commonly called ‘monsters’?

In that sense, just looking at this place, it would not be strange for such monsters to pop out, so on the contrary, Cleon started to feel a little excited by those words.

＂Was it counterproductive…＂

＂It seems so.＂

When Lila looked at Cleon like that, she put her hand on her forehead as if her head hurt a little, and Amelia smiled while looking at Lila and Cleon like that.

“So? What is it like in reality?”

Lila tried to ask Vivian that directly, and Vivian answered with a puzzled look on her face as she put her index finger to her chin.

“Well? But, which do you prefer, knowing what’s in the dungeon or going in without knowing?”

＂The one who doesn’t know.＂

＂The one who knows!＂

If Cleon and Lila give the opposite answer, this time their eyes will turn to Sasha and Amelia.

“You don’t know!”

“I’m sorry, Lila. I also think that if possible, going in without knowing will help you grow.”

＂Kuh…!＂

＂It’s a majority~＂

Lila clenched her fists, making an angry face at Amelia’s answer, but Vivian just smiled and nodded, as if she liked the group’s answer.

“Ego, ego. Don’t be so hasty, you’ll find out soon enough. Look.”

Vivian raised his hand as he said so.

In the underground path that seemed to only lead in a straight line, a fork appeared for the first time.

Of course, even though the fork was not that long, it was a short path that hit a wall after about ten steps, so the party had no choice but to express disappointment at first.

But the next moment, Lila’s eyes changed.

＂That!?＂

There was something like a small altar.

On top of it, there was a seemingly old book, and of course Lila would have reacted violently when she saw it.

＂… It looks like a grimoire…＂

＂It’s not what it looks like, it’s just a grimoire! Wow, there really was something like this!”

As Lila said that, she immediately ran away.

“Wait a minute, Lila, there might be something there…”

“Don’t worry, Cleon. No matter what comes out, I don’t want to fall into a trap.”

Lila confidently responded to Cleon, who was trying to stop her, and then ran with her quick steps and grabbed her magic book that was placed on her altar and opened it.

Then-

Coo! A heavy sound rang out, and at the same time, a large amount of magical pressure was released from the grimoire.

Then, a translucent magical barrier spread around the altar where the magic book was stored, dividing the area between where Cleon and her party were and where Lila was standing just moments ago. 〉

＂…＂

＂…＂

Of course, Lila and Cleon’s gaze will cross.

It was natural for others to open their mouths and say nothing.

＂Oh my.＂

Only Vivian covered her mouth and made a surprised expression, pretending to be on purpose.

＂You knew!?＂

“I knew that. Because that happened to me too.”

Looking at that expression, naturally, when Lila asked angrily, Vivian answered by nodding her head.

Well, she must have come here once to train so that she could have the power to become a fairy king, and she must have experienced everything in this facility back then, so it wouldn’t be strange to know…

“Because you told me not to tell you.”

＂Geugeuggeukgeuk!＂

Amelia and Sasha looked a little frightened by Lila’s boiling anger, but Cleon put his hand on her waist.

“Who said you can’t fall into traps?”

“This is a scam!”

When Lila raised her voice in exasperation at Cleon’s words, her hair immediately started fluttering as if on fire.

“Now. Calm down, wizard. To be sure, being trapped inside is a trap as planned. The way to get out of there is also properly written in that grimoire.”

As Vivian says that, Lila’s hair slowly begins to sink.

＂… Is that really true?＂

“Of course. She has no reason to lie.”

As Vivian nods her head and gestures for me to take a look at her book, Lila looks down for a moment at the book she was holding in her hand.

Then, his expression, which had been full of anger at first, gradually changed to surprise and interest, and he quickly skimmed through the contents of the book to check its contents.

＂… This…＂

“How is it? “It’s a pretty interesting book, right?”

“… Is it really okay for me to read it?”

“Of course. You are the heroes who saved this world.”

In that short conversation, I was able to learn all about the value of the book and what it meant to Lila.

Lila makes eye contact with Vivian, and then she sits down on her altar and places her magic book on her lap.

“… I really can’t help it! Because she will soon decipher all the demon books and escape from this barrier. Go forward first.”

＂… Are you okay? Lila.”

“Who do you think I am? “There wasn’t a single monster or anything on the way here, right?”

In response to Cleon’s worries, Lila smiled happily and turned the pages of her magic book.

＂Wow, what is this…? It’s the exact opposite of the theory I knew so far… No, but if it’s written here, is this more accurate…?”

And seeing her immediately begin to focus on the contents of her book made me realize once again that she is a researcher at heart.

＂Haa… If things turn out like that, Lila won’t even care about anything else for a while. I think we can move forward on our own for now.”

When Sasha nodded her head to Cleon’s words, Amelia also responded as if she understood.

“Okay, then. Let’s move forward, hoping Mr. Wizard can interpret the magic!”

And, Vivian reacts a little excitedly and moves forward as if guiding the group.

＂… Mr. Cleon.＂

In a voice too loud for Vivian to hear, Sasha came to Cleon’s side and spoke to him.

＂Did you notice…? Mr. Vivian…”

“Ah… Maybe, on purpose… But I don’t sense any malice. … Maybe this really becomes our training.”

Sasha pursed her lips with an expression that seemed a little bothered by Cleon’s words, but then she nodded.

“If Mr. Cleon says so, then it must be so! Then I’ll be careful not to fall!”

001

＂Ugh~! Mr. Cleon~!”

Hearing Sasha’s crying sound, Cleon placed his hand on his head and sighed.

There, beyond the passageway divided by the iron bars, Sasha was holding on to her bars and looking toward Cleon.

Moreover, although this iron cage looks like an ordinary iron cage, the magical power surrounding it was that of the Fairy King.

Even if you swing the sword normally, it won’t break easily.

In other words, Sasha, like Lila, was trapped behind bars.

Lila is a hunter.

Basically, her role was to stand at the forefront and scout out traps and enemies ahead.

After seeing Lila’s work, Sasha guessed that this labyrinth had some pretty evil – no, annoying traps – and so she talked to Vivian, and she found herself at the front of her group.

It was good up to that point-

She was the first to move forward, but as soon as she crossed the invisible border, her bars came down, and she was gone.

And the room she was trapped in had so many targets and shiny scaffolding that she had no idea what she should practice here.

＂Vivian… What is this room?＂

“Oh. You’ve entered the perfect room!”

Vivian answered Cleon’s question by putting her hands together and smiling brightly.

“There are steps on the floor and targets everywhere, right?”

＂Yes…＂

Sasha nods her head at Vivian’s words.

It would be almost impossible to see everything in the large room, but I could see that there were many targets and stepping stones.

“Then… Do you see the shiny scaffolding over there?”

“Ah, yes…! If I step on that, will the iron bars open!?”

“That’s right!”

When Vivian nods her head to Sasha’s question, Sasha quickly runs over and steps on her.

Then, beep! And I heard something like a sound effect, but the iron bars didn’t open like Vivian said.

＂… It won’t open?＂

“Oh, it doesn’t open by pressing it once!”

Next moment.

Another footrest glowed, and one of the targets behind Sasha’s back glowed next.

Sasha noticed that another foothold was shining and moved to that spot, but as time passed she was unable to see the target shining –

Whiuuuuu… Boom!

＂Gyaak!＂

When Sasha screamed, Amelia covered her mouth in surprise and Cleon frowned at her.

What looked like a metal tray fell on her head, hitting Sasha’s head.

＂Oh, it hurts…!＂

Sasha sat down and covered her head.

“Vivian. Please explain properly…”

“Yes. Then, the room the hunter entered is a room where you can step on or shoot the scaffolding and targets in the order in which they flash. If you’re not wrong, if you clear up to level 100, the door will open.”

“Step 1, 100!?”

That means-

It’s simple at first, but the higher the level, the more you have to memorize the sequence.

Of course, at the end, you will have to memorize the order of the 100 steps and targets to respond.

Sasha’s specialty is moving her body, but not so much her specialty in remembering things.

Naturally, the fact that Sasha’s eyes went blank and her head hurt was so shocking that she was blown away.

“I heard that agility and memory are essential abilities for a scout team.”

“Well… That’s right…”

She moves quickly and conveys exactly what she sees.

It was an essential ability for hunters who were in charge of lead scouting.

She may not require more of Sasha’s dexterity, but she would certainly benefit greatly if she trained her memory as well.

As much as she thought, she couldn’t deny it.

＂Ugh…＂

When Sasha heard Cleon’s words, she changed her slightly intimidated expression, took the bow in her own hand, and cast an arrow of her magic.

＂… Ah, okay! For me, Mr. Cleon, and for everyone… In order to become a more reliable hunter, I will try to get out of here on my own!”

＂Sasha… Are you okay?＂

Even so, it might be too much for Cleon to reach level 100… He looked at Sasha while thinking about that.

Sasha nodded her head resolutely.

“You should be able to do this! To fight against the Exiled Church and stop Adam!”

After saying such great things, even Cleon couldn’t say anything more.

“… Okay, I’ll support you.”

When Cleon said that, Sasha’s face brightened, and she came close to her cage, and she stuck her head out to Cleon.

＂Well, then… Me. Could you please stroke her head? Then, I really think I can succeed until the end…”

Although it was beyond the iron bars, there was just enough space for Cleon’s hand to fit in.

Cleon himself looked a little embarrassed, but he carefully stroked Sasha’s soft hair and Ruben’s prickly ears.

“… You must follow me.”

＂Yes!＂

Sasha nods her head at Cleon’s words, and she soon returns to her stool to escape from within the room.

“… But where should we go? The path forward is blocked by the room Sasha entered.”

Then, she spoke as if she was worried about Amelia, who was quietly looking around her.

Vivian talks.

“Ah. If that’s the case.”

And she, the only one of the torches that were naturally placed on the way here-

Grab the torch stand hanging on the wall a little lower than the other torches, and turn it to the left.

Then-

As the sound of “Ku-gu-gu-gu-gung…” Was heard, the wall opened.

＂Eek!?＂

When Sasha saw it, she naturally looked surprised.

If she had found the device, she wouldn’t have been trapped inside.

＂Gyaak!＂

Then, Sasha, who was stopped in her tracks by the impact, let out a scream as her tray fell on her head once again.

“Okay, shall we go to the next area?”

“… Sasha! You have to cheer up!”

Amelia felt sorry for something and left her cheers towards Sasha, who nodded her head while pressing her limp tail and ears with her hands.

“… That’s strange. I’m sure everyone in the party, including me, came. Only me and Amelia are left.”

“I see~ This means that the Fairy King’s Labyrinth is of such a high level that it is a helpful trial, right? Kissisit…”

＂… What will it be like…＂

Cleon sighed and shook his head at Vivian’s words, but-

At this moment, the person who was most nervous in this place was Amelia.

＇No way… In terms of order, I’m next…?’

You find yourself in a situation like a suspense novel where your colleagues are disappearing one after another.

Amelia can’t shake off that anxious feeling.

And that prediction ended up being correct.