“I understand. But even if you told to attack the Holy Land of your beloved Kingdom just because we’re friends, I’m sure it would be hard to understand.”
“......”
Fortunately, Sophia didn’t snap back at or shout that we weren’t friends. I was able to carefully continue the conversation.
“Then, how about this? Your role is to observe us.”
“Observe, you say?”
Sophia seed a little taken aback by my words.
“I don’t intend to turn any historical landmarks into ashes,” I continued.
Though I had been thinking of barging in and extracting information, in the end, I planned to rewind ti, so I wasn’t exactly lying.
“I just want to know a little more.”
“Can’t you ask directly?”
“Yes.”
I answered firmly.
Sophia, in the original story, had been quite high-ranking, but there was much she didn’t know. Naturally, considering she was at the lowest rank among the cathedral knights now, it was safe to assu she knew next to nothing about the most important matters of the Holy Kingdom.
“...Then you know that it’s my duty to ensure that this information doesn’t leak out.”
“......”
I paused for a mont to think, then said,
“If I gain any useful information, I’ll be sure to share it with you.”
“And, I’ll tell you about ‘,’ the things you’ve been so curious about.”
Sophia’s eyes widened slightly at my words.
“You were told to learn about my fighting style, and if that’s really your assignnt, I’m sure you were also told that there were other instructions, right? Sothing like, ‘Report any unusual circumstances imdiately.’”
I could practically see an exclamation mark popping up above her head.
“I suspect the Holy Kingdom believes my power is related to ‘the goddess’s power.’ If you join us and cooperate, I’ll tell you more about . I’m sure it’ll benefit you.”
If, by so chance, I couldn’t rewind ti, I’d have no choice but to keep my promise.
But honestly, I didn’t think sharing this information would be such a disadvantage for .
So...
“How am I supposed to trust you?”
Sophia asked, her voice filled with hesitation.
“The only proof I can offer is friendship. I don’t know how much you feel that, but I believe we’ve beco close enough.”
Yeah, even if Sophia and Leo ended up together, I could genuinely congratulate them.
It would ease the guilt I felt toward Leo.
“...Can you still use the na Fangryphon?”
“This conversation isn’t about that na.”
I looked at Sophia directly and spoke.
“I’m not asking as the princess of the Empire, but as your friend, Sylvia.”
“......”
Yes, Sophia too.
She had grown up in the Holy Kingdom, constantly drilled into the idea of competition. Everyone around her, even those her age, was a rival, soone to be stepped on in order to rise higher.
Once she reached the top, she might have tasted friendship. In fact, there seed to be sothing like friendship among the knights of the Holy Kingdom.
“I’ll leave whether you believe or not to you.”
I stood up after saying that.
It was a little while later when Sophia, having made up her mind, finally left the room.
The rest of our party had finished preparing their weapons, and the tension was starting to ease when the door to Charlotte’s dressing room suddenly swung open, and Sophia erged.
“......”
When our eyes t, Sophia nodded at with the sa stiff expression.
“So, it’s decided, then?”
Charlotte spoke, her voice cutting through the tension.
“One thing’s for sure. What we’re after is the secret facility rumored to be beneath Lutetia. We cannot destroy the St. Latina Cathedral, it’s a sacred landmark, and as a princess, I can’t allow that. And as for the underground—destroying that is out of the question. After all, there are hos for the people of Lutetia above.”
At Charlotte’s words, everyone nodded in agreent.
Looking at , Charlotte took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, her expression determined.
“Alright, then. Let’s go.”
The underground secret tombs in Lutetia were inspired by the catacombs beneath Paris.
The real catacombs are extrely narrow. There are spaces where a few people can walk side by side, but often, a person can only enter by squeezing through tight gaps. They’re so vast and deep that people can actually go missing down there.
And, of course, our Millennium-era technology wasn’t quite advanced enough to replicate all that perfectly in-ga.
Unlike the winding and sprawling catacombs in reality—
“This place, what the heck...?”
The underground tomb we arrived at wasn’t like the chaotic, scattered piles of skulls and occasional odd skull towers you’d find in a real catacomb. This one looked more like a clean, organized underground tomb you’d find in a subculture ani.
Of course, it had the setting that the entire facility stretched across Lutetia, so it was hard to know the full scale—just like the real catacombs.
“Is it true that such a place existed beneath Lutetia, and no one knew about it until now?”
Right?
Even in the original ga, and now in this world, monsters—beasts that are practically like monsters—wandered the streets, and inexplicably, crates filled with Marmaros were casually placed in the sewers, yet no one knew... it was a bit ridiculous.
If this were a ga, I’d chalk it up to “ga chanics,” but now that it’s reality, it’s a different story.
Everything in the dungeon in the ga was intentionally placed by soone. The fact that this place is so vast is due to more than just technical limitations—after all, if it were too small, it would be difficult to play.
So who, in this “reality,” thought it was a good idea to blatantly allow such “ga chanics” to exist here?
Furthermore, these “ga chanics” were limited to the resemblance of this place, and didn’t extend to other mundane aspects. There’s no HP, no MP, no inventory system—if we want to carry anything, we have to either hold it in our hands or put it in a bag.
It’s pointless to ponder why such a hybrid “reality” exists.
At the end of the day, this place is real, and it’s in front of us.
“Even if we use so explosives, the ceiling won’t collapse. But let’s be cautious, as Charlotte said.”
When I said that, the group, who had been gazing absentmindedly at the ruins, nodded.
...Well, we did blow up part of the sewer on the way in, but it wasn’t a huge issue.
I moved my arm again, the enchanted suit still functioning well with its several powerstones embedded in it.
“I’d love to et the artisan who made this equipnt.”
Rena had ntioned that before.
Maybe after this job is over, I’ll introduce her.
I strapped my specially-made elephant-hunting revolver on my back and held the rifle I always used in my hands.
My holster had both a pistol and a revolver, with magazines full of regular ammo and one Marmaros round each, in sequence.
This was probably the most heavily ard I’d been for any mission so far.
“If there are any people down here, we’ll avoid them as much as possible. Even though it’s such a large area, since it stretches across all of Lutetia, it’s easy to get lost. Make sure to follow closely.”
“...I really want to ask how you know all this, but now that I’ve seen this place, I’ll put that question aside for now.”
“Once everything is over, I’ll explain it all.”
I looked at Sophia. She looked a little pale, probably because the torches in the underground ruins emitted a faint blue light.
“......”
Alice still hadn’t said a word.
For so reason, I could almost feel her thinking, “You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”
...No.
Well, if she thought I’d been here before in the ga, she wouldn’t be wrong.
...Wait a minute.
Did I just read Alice’s expression?
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