Tavros let out another huff and brought his hand up to his face as if to compose himself. I couldn't help but compare what he did to what I had done earlier in that room with Gary.
Was this perhaps the universe giving a taste of my own dicine?
"My apologies," he said, though I could hear in his voice that he wasn't sorry at all. There was a total of zero pinch of sincerity in his tone. "It has been… quite so ti since I've had the opportunity to make a joke. I saw my chance and felt like I had to take it or else I would regret it."
Staring at him, I asked just to clarify in case I was misunderstanding, "You were joking, right?"
"Yes."
"Which ans that… I'm not trapped here. Correct?"
"You are not trapped here, Bell. Don't worry."
My entire body paused for a mont, from my brain to my heart. Then once I resud, I let out an audible exhale.
"That was a good one. You got there," I said.
Tavros lowered his hand and on his face was the faint hint of a smile tugging at his facial muscles. He had the head of a bull, so I wasn't exactly sure if it was a smile. It had to be though.
"To clarify, I am the only one confined to this room. Others may enter, such as you, but unlike , they can leave whenever they want."
"...It's only you?"
"Yeah."
"Even with your strength? I an… I haven't seen you in action, but even sitting here, I can feel just how powerful you are."
Shaking his head, Tavros said, "It is not a matter of physical power."
"...Magic?"
"Sothing like that."
Glancing around the room, I tried to spot anything that looked like it could be so sort of spell that was anchoring him inside the room.
"There's no point looking. I've searched plenty. Not like I had anything else to do."
"...Did you perhaps sign a contract? So sort of binding oath?"
"Not that I can rember. But you're probably right," he said after a mont. "There probably is so sort of rule attached to my soul which has prevented from exiting."
"...That's rough," I muttered.
"At the point, it is what it is. It's been so long that I don't even know what freedom tastes like anymore," he said while giving a small shrug which caused to rise a little higher into the air montarily as I was still sitting on his shoulder.
Sensing that his mood was starting to dampen a little bit as the thought of being alone here, trapped for so long, was on his mind, I decided to change the topic.
"You must get a lot of visitors then," I said. "I an, this place was a little hard to reach but being here for so long, there have to be others who reached this room just like I had."
Tavros was quiet for a mont, then he nodded.
"Indeed, you are not the first. This labyrinth is a place of many paths with tunnels that twist, overlap, and exist in ways that defy simple logic."
Yeah… I've noticed.
"Many of those paths lead here. It's not just one definitive gate or door you can cross to reach this destination," he added.
"Wait… seriously?" How was that possible? There was only one corridor that connected to this room and it was connected to the gate that had opened up when I sacrificed Gary.
Nodding, he said, "Over the years, I've had many visitors. Demons, vampires, a werewolf, so demonic monsters that accidentally stumbled their way inside… However, you're the first one to co in through that specific path."
Was it because none of them were able to solve the puzzle? I an, there's no way I'm the only one to have made it that far in that path, right? I an, the puzzle wasn't exactly child-friendly, but it's just three keys. There are only so many combinations possible.
I concluded that it must be that no one understood the ancient language, so when they encountered the phrase on the gate that told them to sacrifice soone, they didn't know what to do next.
Stumbling on Gary when I did was a blessing. He's like the kind of plot armor that you would expect a protagonist to have. A plot device that makes life a lot easier for… .
Obviously, I kept these thoughts to myself.
Before I could dig deeper into so of these guests he had in the past, Tavros spoke again, "You're carrying sothing with you."
"Hm? I an… I guess. I am carrying quite a few things. I have the map, my earrings, a few cores, my bag, so—"
"No no," he interrupted. He turned his head just enough so that I could see his large eyeball staring at my chest. "You have sothing alive with you."
"...What?"
"A small creature," he continued. "Hidden beneath your clothing."
There was a brief pause as I was confused about what he was talking about, then I said slowly, "...Violet?
"Is that her na?" he asked.
As if on cue, a tiny head peeked out from the opening of my shirt. A small snake, no bigger than my hand, flicked her tongue curiously at the air. To be honest, she had been so quiet and so still on my body that I had forgotten montarily that she had been with this entire ti.
I stared at Tavros and began asking him, "…How did you—" Then I stopped myself.
What am I saying? Of course he knew. With how powerful his aura is, it would be weirder if he didn't notice.
I could see his eyes soften slightly as he focused on her.
"Interesting friend you have there," he murmured. "Hi. Nice to et you. I'm Tavros. What's your na?"
Violet chirped like a bird.
I was about to explain that she wasn't able to communicate and I would be able to be the middle man between the two of them if he wanted, when he responded with:
"Violet Snow? That's a beautiful na. Did Bell give you that?"
"Chirp!"
"...Did you just… How did… How are you able to…" I muttered to myself, unable to finish my sentences.
Tavros tilted his head as Violet chirped again.
"I see. That's very interesting."
"Hold on, hold on. Wait just one second. Are you able to communicate and understand what Violet is saying?" I asked.
"Yes."
"How? Have you perhaps t another creature from her race before? Is that where you learned their language?" I began asking. If I could get a clue on what Violet was, I'd be able to understand why she hatched from that precious egg I won.
So far, she showed no signs of being a special creature other than the fact that she was able to speak to telepathically.
"No. I don't speak her language exactly. Your friend here is just very expressive," he chuckled. "Let's just say that there is a connection between us that is helping understand what she's saying."
I waited a few seconds for him to continue, but he said nothing.
"...Which is?"
"Chirp!" Violet suddenly sounded. She let out a series of chirps, this ti a bit more animated than before. Tavros listened very intently before nodding once she was done making noises.
"Sorry Bell, but… your friend here wants to keep it a secret."
I looked down at my chest, where Violet's head was poking out.
"You're my pet. Why are you hiding secrets from—"
Before I could finish my sentence, I suddenly felt a shift in the mood. I looked up at Tavros and could see that he was a little tense.
"...Is sothing wrong?" I asked.
The shift in him was instant and he had gone from this relaxed, almost gentle presence to sothing sharp and dangerous.
Violet slithered back into my chest and hid herself.
"…They're coming," Tavros said quietly.
They? Who is "they"? It's never a good thing when soone says the word "they" followed by "coming."
My stomach dropped. If Tavros was acting like this, then it would probably be right for to also be concerned.
"Who is coming?" I asked.
"The demons."
My grip on Gon tightened instinctively. Was I going to have to fight?
"Why are they coming?" I asked, confused about how sudden their appearance was.
"I didn't tell you this but after the demons sealed here, they didn't just leave alone. They frequently co here to observe my state and to test so things."
"What things?"
"Sotis it's a spell. Sotis it's a new tool. But they all have one purpose. They want to control my mind and turn into a human-killing machine like they wanted to be in the past. I didn't care for serving their agendas in their past, which is why I was sealed here."
"...How many of them are coming?"
"Hmm, it's a small group this ti. Only twelve."
"Twelve? Yeah, I don't like the sound of that. Are you planning on fighting them?" I asked.
Tavros shook his head. "No. I don't think you'll co out unhard if I were to fight them. There are a few nobles in the group. They must not find you here with ."
"No kidding."
How far were they? If they were really close, then I would have no ti to think or ti to plan.
Tavros turned his head slightly, his expression extrely serious. "Bell, you must trust now."
That sentence usually leads to betrayal and nothing good.
"I know we just t a few minutes ago."
"…I don't like where this is going."
"I'm going to hide you."
"Where?" I hissed, glancing around. "There's nowhere—" Tavros opened his mouth as I was talking. He opened it wide — very very wide.
I stared into it and could see every tooth, the waves of his tongue, the darkness of his throat, and the stench of it was surprisingly not that terrible.
I an — not saying that it slled pleasant by any ans.
But for a bull who clearly doesn't have a toothbrush or toothpaste, it was better than expected/
My eyes slowly turned back to et his eyes.
"…Absolutely not."
"It is the only place they will not check, and they won't be able to penetrate through my body to detect your presence if you're in there."
"...You want … to go inside… your mouth?"
"Yes."
"I can see you have no food here. If you want to eat , then just say so," I sighed.
"Hahaha. Very funny. But no. Hurry up. They will be here very soon."
Tavros didn't move, didn't rush to enter his mouth, but there was urgency in his voice now.
"I will not harm you," he promised.
I hesitated for a second before muttering to myself, "I guess this is how I die. I get eaten by a giant minotaur."
With a deep breath, I stood up on his shoulder.
"…If you bite down, I'm warning you," I said, "I taste like garbage. You're going to have a stomachache."
"Understood."
I climbed toward his open mouth.
I have to be careful not to stab him with Gon.
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