Chapter 2 (1/2)
Flash
I dashed into the cellar below the workshop as soon as I arrived ho out ofthat place was theto do, or rather, to put it in other words, I didn’t feel like I had any other option I ran down the wooden stairs into the underground roo puffy clouds of dust whenever I made a step
“…cough cough”
This place was dilapidated As far as I could recall, the last time I had been here was back when I had accidentally wandered down the stairs as a child
“Alec, that’s enough! You'll get your clothes dirty with all the dust, don’t go down there again!”
Ever since Mom had scolded ain Who knows, maybe she had only done that to hide the existence of that ‘Queen of the Underground’
“Though, even if that were to be true…”
…Just who could be that queen? From the moniker 'queen', it was obvious it had to be a wouess But more importantly, how co below my house for seventeen years?
I kept on walking when suddenly I heard a different sound fro hollow I kneeled down and reertips
“There’s silver here…”
There was a silver slab on the ground, a rather old one frorime and uncovered what looked to be letters and pictures etched into the silver I hurried to expose the whole thing That writing made up descriptions of various co:
“[Punish]…”
A skill that used the properties of silver ‘To restrain and enslave a violentbut ‘Silver Chains’ The chains would restrain the target, and, if it tried to resist, they would bite into its body inflicting da Craft], I should be able to master this skill in no time Then I remembered what prompted ain
“…Yeah…”
There seemed to be an empty space below the layer of silver There must have been some sort of hidden staircase sohtning Craft] to absorb the silver intotube But I didn't expect—
“Huh…”
—the floor to suddenly disappear from under me completely I fell back-first into freshly exposed pitch-black space below me
“…Whhooooooooaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh---!”
Due to all the dust, I hadn't noticed that the silver slab covered athe bit that I was standing on For an instant, I could feel the Reaper of Souls prepare his scythe for a swing at me Thankfully, in the end, the strike never caer my life I landed on a rock hard floor with a muffled thump This was the second time I had fallen on my back today
“Ow, dammit, this hurts…”
Vincent wasn’t here, but I recalled hi’ I was undeniably in pain now because I had skipped training for three months now
I stood up, aching all over, and secured the silver rod inside the pocket of round rooht It looked like I had fallen into the cellar of the cellar of the workshop Though, considering this was underground, this place was quite broad and the ‘ceiling’ was pretty high too Judging by the aged look of the stone that made up the floor and the walls, it must have been a couple of hundreds of years old and probably built by our antecessors Frouessed it had been co ti to leave my skin I came to the realization that this is how it eon
It was then when a ‘white object’ streaked through h speed
“---!”
I instinctively moved out of the way and shoved my coat out of the way on my hip
“…Ah”
My preferred weapon---my ‘Silver Gun’ wasn’t present at my hip I had left it back in the workshop It made sense at the tirave I calmed down pretty much instantly, however
“…Sigh, so it was only a rat after all?”
On a closer inspection, the white object was a rat and it was natural for it to run away froain, I tried to get up from the floor, but a hard object knocked on the back my head as I tried to stand
“---!”
I took a deep breath and feltabovedown at ap between us Again, I instinctively reached to the holster on ain recall that I had forgotten to take my Silver Gun with me
…Who the hell is this---
A drop of sweat trickled down my neck I stood like that for a few iant It didn’t even feel like an anih the gloom
“No---it's only an armor…”
It wasn’t a giant, only an ared with the torso, and there wasn’t a single part of the body that it wouldn't guard The shape, and the fact I was rushi+ng to get up, caused iant
…Well, even if it was an inanimate chunk of metal, it still had an ominous appearance to it It was not weird for it to startle me
“Hh it…”
After a closer look at its ‘neck’, I saw a silver greatsword stabbed through it It looked like the thing was less 'standing upright', and n and the size, the weapon seeloss on the blade shouted 'sharp' at a first look
“Guess this is one of the works of my ancestors…”
I could now see a Silver Lion inscribed into its pommel It was the kind of old artifact that could norurd As for the armor, however…
I couldn't tell where had that huge thing co fah of a proof in itself, but there was also the on and scary shape, a style that just didn't fit with my family's usual craft
I wonder if people ould be willing to wear this kind of sinister equipment even exist…
“Is it iron?… No, it isn’t… but it is made of some sort of metal…”
Even at times like these, my inner s I was already staring fixedly at the ar the detailsI approached closer and tested the surface by rapping it lightly with my knuckles It was then that---
“Is someone here…?”
---a muffled voice came from inside the armor I froze on the spot
“Hmmm, there really seems to be someone here---”
“T-t-t-the armor…s-s-SPOKEEEEEEE---?!”
“Fool! How can an ar your ears, kid”
…It was true, it wasn’t exactly the ar The voice came from inside the plates It was definitely a person’s voice It sounded fe enclosed inside the e
“…Hround room… you must be a «Silver Smith», no?”
The stranger, certainly a woman, spoke with a so for the sobriquet ‘Underground Queen’ to surface in my mind
Could it be that the person talking right now is…? But wait, the arger than my father is…
“You 's kids”
“…Yes, I’ family”
I answered after aup at the armor
“Now that I think about it, I don’t see your voice before What happened to
‘Gilbert’?”
“D-do you know my father!?”
“Father you say… So you are his son? Ohohoh… To think that that socially aard Gilbert would… become someone’s father How hilarious”
She was clearly laughing now The way she spoke about my father made her sound like she was some sort of ‘old acquaintance’…
“…Could it be that…you are the ‘Queen’?”
My raceful person and what I had in front of e, ominous armor — couldn’t be further away from what I expected However, that seemed to be the most likely scenario in this situation
“Yes, that is correct I am a queen”
The reply was immediate In other words, the correct way to describe what I saas that the queen was inside the armor
“Then…Why is a queen inside an armor?”
Obviously, that hat had been intriguing ht about it, itdispleased
“Do I look like I’ because I want to?”
“What do you e armor…”
“Tell et to know me?”
“Well, that’s…”
If I told her I wasn’t interested, I’d be lying She seemed to be an old acquaintance ofabout hi tone
“Then take the sword! Everything shall become clear to you once you do!”
Her voice resounded throughout the roo my head
“That must be a joke…”
No matter how I looked at it, the sword didn't see there to seal so away…
True, according to the stories I had heard in the past, only demons or witches were treated in such aa queen
“…I’ll ask you one more time Why are you inside that armor?”
“I don’t know”
Once again, her reply was immediate
“To tell you the truth, I would like to learn that myself”
“That doesn’t telland you know it”
“I can’t see up in here Some sort of memory loss from
the shock of entrapment, perhaps”
“Whoah, that sounds soooo shady…”
“Y-You uncultured swine! Are you i that I would dare to lie!?”
She was clearly de as she spoke
For her to get this worked up, she h information about her to really trust her
I settled on continuing the interrogation:
“By the as it that you met my father? And what did you two talk about back then?”
“Hold your horses kid Now it’s my turn to ask a question”
Apparently, she also had some questions
“…What do you want to know?”
“Hmm---It’s about the «Sword Labyrinth»”
“Huh…”
I couldn’t help getting startled, I wasn’t expecting the queen to mention that place at all
“Is there anyone who ed to arrive at the lowest floor?”
“Ah, no Not yet…”
As far as I knew, there hadn't been anyone who had et further down than the «Imperial Exploration Squad»
“Hmm, I see That’s a relief”
She seemed to be in a better mood now
Maybe there’s some connection between the queen and the «Sword Labyrinth»…
“So, what has become of Gilbert?”
“Hey, now it should be my turn to ask---”
“---Did he pass away?”
“H-he’s not dead, not yet!”
“What do you mean by ‘not yet’?”
“Well…”
“It see has happened Tell me You are lucky, I have so much free time I don’t knohat to do with it”
I had answered by reflex, but noas unsure how much I should tell her…
“No need to worry about leaking any secrets I can’t leave this armor after all”
That helped me take one step forward, and who knew, maybe the fact I couldn’t see her face also played a part in reassuring me
“My father… disappeared ten years ago inside of the «Sword Labyrinth»---”
I proceeded to suo That my father had been chosen for the «Imperial Exploration Squad», that he had betrayed his companions I spoke of the slow, painful like the jabs of a needle days I had gone through as left of our fa away ofall that felt al in a church
“…He betrayed them? Someone like Gilbert betrayed them?”
It e concept for her This was the only even she had co the story Honestly, I was surprised with , the rest of the story followed like a torrent Maybe, since the very start, I always had wanted to talk about those ten years with someone else…
When I was finally done, the queen again said the sa in a resolute voice:
“Take the sword! Once you do, everything shall become clear to you!”
“We already went over that, why even say it again…”
“It’s obvious, kid For the truth”
“Why should I pull out that sword for you?”
“You dolt It’s not for me, you will do that for your own sake”
“…Mine?”
“Don’t you wish to know?”
“What?”
“What happened in the «Sword Labyrinth» ten years ago”
“So it’s come to that…”
I finally understood She was telling e the «Sword Labyrinth» myself
I started to feel a sort of dull pain creeping in frohts I found it hard to think straight
“Answer s are now? Do you enjoy living like this, having everyone tras to develop like this?”
“Well…”