Chapter 61 (2/2)

“Wh–What was that? Where are we?”

It was so bright. My vision was all blurry. Lifting myself up, I waited several moments for my sight to recover.

“Ughh…”

I heard Palmira groan behind me. I turned to look at her, but it didn’t seem like she’d sustained any particularly serious injuries. However, she might have been dizzy from that crazy tumble we took.

Once my eyes had adjusted, I surveyed the surroundings.

This room was completely different from the one we were just in. The walls were perfectly flat, constructed from a material that might’ve been metal, might’ve been stone, I didn’t know. The floor was slippery, too, and deliberately made that way. The whole thing was uniformly tinted a cobalt green.

“……”

If that hole we fell through was a trap, then was this a prison…? When the thought occurred to me, it didn’t seem to be the case. An ordinary hallway led away from the front of the room.

There was no door. The way forward grew darker the deeper it went, so I couldn’t get a good look at how far in it extended.

When I turned back around, I found Palmira peering into the hole we fell through.

“Does it look like we can go back?”

I asked, taking a look myself.

The hole extended upward from the wall, its insides pitch-black. I couldn’t see the top of it.

Because the walls and floor were made of the same slippery material, it didn’t seem at all possible to climb back up. Apparently coming to the same conclusion, Palmira shook her head.

“What a pain in the a.s.s.”

“I’m sorry, Chris. It was my mistake.”

While I wondered what the d.a.m.n thing’s deal was, Palmira apologized to me with a despondent look on her face. It seemed like she thought it was her fault for triggering the trap.

It was true that she’d tripped it, but I’d had the same thought as she did, of course. It was impossible to blame her.

“Don’t worry about it. I was thinking the same thing. More importantly, we have to think of a way to go back…”

I put my hand on her head and tousled her hair with a slight roughness. Taking it, Palmira nodded deeply and moved away from my hand. She seemed to be curious about the pa.s.sageway, all the same.

Even so, what a weird place. Its material was completely different from the stone primarily used in the castle. No, forget the castle, it obviously belonged to an entirely different culture than the one we currently had.

But I knew of a place with an atmosphere close to this.

The labyrinth.

It depended on the location, too, but the atmosphere here bore a slight resemblance to that of the labyrinths constructed during those so-called ‘ancient times’. It was a feeling of otherness that I couldn’t quite express. A structure built by a completely different civilization.

I placed my hand against the wall. Like the floor, its cold, mineral smoothness lingered on my hand, even through the glove. I couldn’t even get a good read on what it was made of.

If anything, the sensation was close to that of well polished granite, but I knew that wasn’t it. Granite didn’t come in cobalt green, for starters.

“…An ancient labyrinth underneath the castle…?”

It went without saying, but I’d never heard of such a thing.

Of course, if a place like this existed underneath the capital, to say nothing of the castle, adventurers wouldn’t exactly be in on it. Neither would the Guild, for that matter. And even if they were, there wasn’t jack they could do about it.

I mean, this was the Imperial Capital. Adventurers weren’t even allowed to enter; this was Empire business to begin with. There was no reason to call in the adventurers just because there was a labyrinth around.

“Chris, what’s the plan?”

Palmira returned from her cautious survey of the pa.s.sage ahead. There was what had just happened, too; she seemed to have grown quite wary.

Hey, even if you ask me what the plan is…

Once more, I took a look around the room we were currently in.

With the exception of the hole we tumbled out of, there was nothing other than the corridor in front. Climbing back up through the hole was impossible, so in the end, there were only two things we could do. Take the corridor, or sit tight.

Even if I say ‘take the corridor’, it occurred to me that this was essentially a labyrinth, and we were totally unprepared. Palmira had a sword, but that was more or less it. I wasn’t carrying anything on me — h.e.l.l, I was wearing a G.o.dd.a.m.n dress.

And high heels. I was the total opposite of battle-ready.

It goes without saying, but in a labyrinth, there are usually monsters or the enemies known as ‘guardians’ on the prowl. They’re strong enough as it is, but they come in great numbers too.

Whether the room was safe or not, at least it was better than going forward. Because there was no way I could promise that there weren’t any monsters lurking up ahead.

Still, I was also conflicted about waiting here. Leon had probably noticed our disappearance by now, and he might come to rescue us before long.

When I imagined that, my feelings grew genuinely remorseful.

Leon said he would protect me. And yet here I was, trying to run off by myself. It could even be considered a breach of his trust. He was most likely going into a frenzy searching for me. Thinking about that, my chest constricted painfully.

Really, what am I doing?

…But right now, I have to think about what to do.

For the time being, I’ll wait for Leon’s rescue.

As it stands, I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I mean, we might be underground, but this is the castle — maybe Leon knows about this place too. I’m not one-hundred percent sure, but he’ll eventually make it here… probably.

However, I also had my reservations about continuing to wait and wait here. Looking at it from a different angle, this was a dead end, and I could hardly say for sure monsters wouldn’t attack us here. What’s more, there was nowhere to hide, and fighting back was out of the question.

So, isn’t it the same as going forward?

Besides, I was still concerned about that guy. I bet our mystery man came through here too. In that case, he should have taken the pa.s.sageway deeper inside. I didn’t know what his aim was, but under the current circ.u.mstances, following him wasn’t a bad idea either.

If we traced his steps, any monsters that were around would’ve attacked him ahead of us, so the risk would be a little lower —

“Let’s go forward,”

I said to Palmira. I was conflicted, but ultimately, I decided to proceed down the pa.s.sageway.

Though I continued to be extremely worried, Palmira would become anxious, and the man was gradually getting further away too. Besides, I was personally concerned about what would happen beyond this point, too.

After all, what is this place? The thought roused my adventurer’s curiosity. If this was an ancient labyrinth, then there must be something lying ahead.

Honestly, I was curious about that too, so what can ya do?

“…Understood. I’ll take point, so you watch the rear, Chris.”

“Okay. I’ll be counting on you, Palmira.”

Palmira nodded and drew her sword from her waist, holding it at the ready in one hand. Right now, her figure was rea.s.suring.

If worst came to worst, I might even have to use my power. Because I still wasn’t clear on what the activation conditions were, I could only take a gamble, but I had to consider it my trump card out of necessity.

Running berserk wasn’t out of the question, but it was way better than leaving behind a pair of corpses.

I took off one of my long gloves and left it behind.

To leave a trace, if Leon came here later.

At the same time, I apologized to the absent Leon.

Sorry. I’m going.

Following Palmira as she headed toward the pa.s.sage, I stepped forward.

Our double set of footsteps echoed awfully loudly down the pa.s.sageway.

Considering not much happened this chapter, I’ll have 62 up today too. Don’t say I never did anything for you guys~~

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