“Well, you two getting along aside, it’s good to see you two have woken up.”
While suppressing a chuckle—and not doing a very good job at it—Korwen welcod us back. I had half a mind to say sothing about Karen and
getting along and everyone else here eavesdropping on us, but I swallowed my complaints. It would only serve to prolong the whole thing and I really wanted to pretend that nothing had happened.
Plus, seeing how Yumias and rim had joined us here… and that Korwen had called for us.
“Captain, did sothing happen?”
“Mm, a little sothing.”
“...”
Well, didn’t that just sound foreboding? I could only hope that it wasn’t sothing too serious. At least, it didn’t seem to be anything too urgent.
“But first, you should sit down. Miss Yumias, too.”
“Yes, yes.”
With a lackadaisical reply, Yumias returned to her seat at the table. At least, she didn’t interrupt Korwen for her shenanigans.
Aaand… Of course, the only free seats are next to her… What else did I expect?
I stopped myself from sighing and sat down next to Yumias, while Karen sat down on my other side.
“Want sothing to drink?”
“Nn, thank you.”
“Yes, please.”
One of the rcenaries offered us a mug with water, which we gratefully accepted. I just woke up so I was a little thirsty anyway.
“So, Captain, what happened?”
“Where to start… First off, you rember how we wanted to search the underground area, right?”
“Nn, of course, I do.”
That was the whole reason we had co here, after all.
“It turns out that sothing… Well, sothing lives down there.”
“... Seriously?”
“Seriously. Ria confird it.”
“Ria did?”
Speaking of Ria, she wasn’t at the table with us…
“She noticed so ‘fluctuations in the surrounding mana’ or sothing like that. At the very least, she suspects that sothing used magic at the ti.”
“A monster?”
“Possible.”
Great. The fort not only beca a base for bandits—however long they actually lived here—but was also ho to monsters now?
“We don’t know for sure yet but chances are quite high. Haa… We really didn’t expect monsters to live here, in the Sleeping Forest of all places. But it would still be better than the alternative.”
“The alternative being… people?”
“Exactly.”
“You can reason with people.”
“I very much doubt any decent person would willingly live in an abandoned fort. Heck, they might be survivors from that bandit group.”
Oh right, that was possible.
“Anyway, Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“The situation being how it is, I would like to bring so reinforcents in and have them accompany us.”
“I see. Sounds fine?”
If he had decided to do that, why was he telling
about it as if he would need my permission?
“That would also an that we’d have to bring them in through a little… shortcut.”
“... Oh.”
He really was asking for permission…
“Captain. I think I said this before, but I’ll leave that matter to you. If you have decided on that, then I have nothing else to say.”
“... I see. Haa… Sorry, I simply wanted to make sure once more after you had so ti to think about it again.”
Rather than spending that ti thinking, I spent it sleeping on Karen’s lap. Not like it would have changed my decision even if I had ti to think. I already knew for a long ti it would co to this but… I guess, now that it really was ti to let others know, it did make you a little nervous. Probably why Korwen wanted to make sure one last ti.
“Thank you, Yumi.”
“Nn, no problem.”
“rim, you heard her. You know what to do.”
“Sure, Captain. I’ll be going.”
rim, who had been waiting for his cue, stood up and saluted, then promptly left us. I watched him for a little until he disappeared into the tower.
“Haaa… That’s one thing dealt with…”
“Glad to hear that.”
It was probably a load off his shoulders or so. At tis like these, I was glad that it wasn’t
in that position. While I was thinking about that, Korwen had collected himself again and addressed the other rcenaries.
“Now then… You lot. Get the preparations done. We’ll go in as soon as rim returns, you got that?”
“””Yes, Captain!”””
The surrounding n all saluted and promptly carried out their new orders. With everyone gone, it was now only Korwen, Yumias, Karen and I left at the table. Speaking of Yumias… Why was she here anyway?
“By the way, Captain… What is Yumias doing here?”
“Sightseeing,” answered Yumias, who I hadn’t asked.
“You heard her… She followed rim, saying she wanted to see the fort.”
Oh, she did ntion wanting to see it, didn’t she?
“My, and it’s really sothing. It’s so big, a veritable castle, is it not? To think it was such an amazing and cool place!”
“Yes, yes! You really get it, don’t you?”
“Of course!
Korwen nodded vigorously, happy that she was praising the fort. And Yumias seed quite happy to indulge him.
I an, a fort is… pretty cool, I guess… Nn.
But I didn’t want to say it out loud in front of these two.
“Oh, before I forget it. Now that Yumi is here, I have sothing I wanted to ask, Yumias.”
“Oh my, what is it?”
“... It’s about the woman nad Yulia.”
I froze the mont that na left his lips. Yulia… The worshipper woman who had caused us quite so trouble back in Larfas, the capital city.
Glancing to my side, I looked out for Yumias' reaction to it. However, as she cutely tilted her head…
“Who is that?”
“... That’s honestly about what I expected, yet I still feel quite disappointed.”
So did I…
“I am sure you already know about what we did back in Larfas, right?”
“Of course I do.”
“Yulia is the one who instigated the whole problem… or, at the very least, she was a major part of it.”
“I see. But what does that have to do with ?”
“Well, those people are part of the Witch Worshippers… People who worship… the Witch.”
“Oh!”
Yumias hit her palm with her fist, as if she had just understood what the connection was.
“So you thought I might know sothing because they worship ?”
“That’s about it, yes.”
“Unfortunately for you, I have to disappoint. Those freaks are nothing short of botherso and I have nothing to do with them, thus I cannot help you.”
“... I see.”
So even the person they worshipped thought of them as botherso…
“But that woman, Yulia, had pink hair like you and Yumi. And then there’s her na…”
“Mmm… Well, she is certainly not one of my children. Though, are you sure that she was a manakin and did not simply dye her hair?”
“According to what Ria and Yumi said, there’s little doubt of that.”
“Oh? Now I am interested. Yumi, what did you see?”
Suddenly, the conversation steered towards . I didn’t even know what Korwen ant for a few seconds until I rembered… about what I had seen of her soul.
“Nn… Her soul was… a murky pink… as if soone mixed so other colours into it.”
“... Oh my, that’s interesting.”
Was it now?
“If that is the case, then she really is a manakin. How surprising.”
“So, can you tell us anything?”
“Not really?”
“... Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
Korwen rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed.
“So, you don’t know her and have no idea where she ca from?”
“That’s correct.”
“Not even any thoughts? For example, what about the muddy colour thing Yumi ntioned? Or what she could do, her skills, her magic, anything.”
“Mm, maybe I do? But even if I do, I have no intention of sharing them.”
“I see…”
Maybe realising it was pointless to get anything out of her, Korwen leaned back, with a look of resignation on his face.
“Too bad. Well, at least we know she has nothing to do with you, which is a good thing. Then we won’t have to worry about earning soone’s ire at least.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. In fact, I’d encourage you. Those people have been annoying for a while already. They keep poking holes where they aren’t supposed to poke, it’s a bother and I’m the one who has to fix it.”
Shouldn’t that be so motivation to give us so hints to help us then? No? Apparently not.
Then again, what holes was she even talking about?
“... Wouldn’t you be able to deal with them by yourself?”
“Oh, certainly. If I blow everything up they’ll be gone for sure. But then I have to listen to others nag for so long and that’s equally botherso.”
“... That so.”
Maybe it was better if we didn’t ask her what exactly ‘blowing them up’ would actually entail. I had the feeling it wouldn’t be pretty. Korwen also seed like he didn’t want to ask about it. It was easy to imagine the scale her 'blowing them up' would be...
“Well, anyway, thanks for answering my questions.”
“Sure, sure, always a pleasure. Ah, but if you really want to thank , you could treat
to sothing nice.”
“... I’ll think about it.”
Considering that he barely got any answers, it was a rather expensive conversation if he actually had to treat her.
“Haaa… Oh well… Before I forget it, Yumi, Karen, you two should eat sothing and get ready as well.”
“Nn? Will we be leaving soon?”
“As soon as rim cos back.”
Right, he did say that earlier, too. And it wouldn’t be so good to search around on an empty stomach, huh…
“Nn, we’ll do that then.”
“Sure, food’s over there.”
“Okay. Sis, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
A while later, after we had eaten our rations and killed a bit of ti talking with Korwen, rim finally returned.
“Captain, everyone’s briefed and on standby.”
“Finally, sure took your sweet ti, didn’t you?”
“I had so explaining to do…”
rim shrugged with his shoulders in exasperation. Seed like it took quite so ti to explain that portal, huh… I could only imagine.
“Now that you’re here, we can finally get to searching. Call everyone and lead them down.”
“... I feel like I’m an errand boy.”
“That’s exactly what it ans to be the vice-captain, rim. You’re my personal errand boy so get moving.”
His personal errand boy… He did send rim all over the place so… Yeah, he kind of really was an errand boy, wasn’t he?
“Oh, I see soone thinks that’s amusing. Guess I won’t have to hold back when we resu your training regin, do I?”
“I’m sorry. Please don’t.”
“... Only this one ti.”
Safe. That was close. I nearly screwed myself over there.
“I’ll be going then, Captain. Down in the first hall?”
“Yes. There is fine.”
“Okay.”
rim nodded and then went off to collect the other rcenaries.
“We should go as well. Are you two ready?”
“Yes, Mr Captain.”
“Nn, we are.”
“Good, good. Yumias, what will you do?”
“? My, how nice of you to ask. Alas, I have no interest in that dusty basent so I will explore the fort itself.”
Wasn’t the fort just as dusty, though? Nobody had been here for so long…
“I see. Then it’ll be only the three of us.”
“Yes, yes, have a nice trip.”
Waving with her hand, she sent us off. With Korwen in the lead, we once more entered the tower and the small room leading down into the hidden underground.
“Now then, I am sure you can manage to get up and down by yourself now, don’t you?”
“Nn? Is that a ladder?”
“It is.”
Instead of the rope from before, there was now a ladder hanging down and leading downwards. That said, it was still a rope… just as a ladder. How the heck did you turn a rope into a ladder?
“I’ll go first then.”
Korwen graded the first rung and then slowly climbed down. Or actually not so slowly, as he moved down with experienced steps. It didn’t take him long to actually arrive at the bottom.
“Next one!”
“Yumi? Should I go first again?”
“No, I’ll go first this ti.”
Even I could climb down a ladder… and even in the off-chance that sothing were to happen, Korwen was still down there. Although, if Yumias was to be believed, I probably wouldn’t die from falling anyway. Not that I wanted to try that one out.
I grabbed the first rung stepped on the ladder.
“Woah… This is actually a little…”
It was swaying… The ladder was swaying… It was only a little but it was more than enough to make
feel a little insecure. I’d have to take it one step at a ti like this.
“Okay, here I go…”
One step at a ti… One step after another, I climbed down the ladder. My pace was slow but I made progress at least. After a while of climbing, the ground ca into sight and with a final step down, my feet returned to the ground.
“Done! I did it!”
“Not sure why you’re so proud of that but good job.”
Leave
be. This was actually a little nerve-racking.
An unstable ladder like this was vastly different from a fixed ladder. It really was noticeable once you climbed down yourself.
“Anyway… Next one!”
I shouted up, expelling all the air in my lungs.
Actually where does the air co from when I breathe out? Do I have lungs?
While I was thinking that, the ladder swayed and I could see Karen climbing down as well.
“Sothing wrong, Yumi?”
“No… Nothing. Sis is coming down.”
“Good. But you should move away from there, you know?”
“Nn?”
“It’s rude to look up like that.”
It wasn’t like Karen was wearing a skirt, though… and she was my lover so surely I got a pass? Uhh, well, I probably still shouldn’t do that, so I stepped away a little.
“Didn’t expect to be lectured by the captain about that…”
“That’s also quite rude, you know? In the first place, unless you can catch her in case she slips up and falls down, you shouldn’t stand below a ladder either way. Can you catch her?”
“I don’t want to be a pancake.”
“Then don’t. And really, don’t say that to her, okay?”
I didn’t intend to. Seriously.
“Mm? Is that her?”
“Nn?”
As we were busy making small talk, Karen had reached the last part of the ladder. With quick movents, she made her way down and arrived at the floor.
“Mr Captain, Mr rim has already co as well.”
“Oh? Then go on and tell them they can go.”
“Ah, yes…”
Karen turned around, facing the hole in the ceiling.
“... Next one!”
Korwen nodded, satisfied. Now that Karen was down, we moved to the hall… and were greeted by the reinforcents.
A dozen fully-armoured n were lined up, saluting the instance they spotted Korwen.
“The Dragon Knights?”
“That’s right.”
Wow, he really was bringing out the big ones for this…
“They’re trained to respond to any sudden ambushes, even if they are of magical nature. They’ll keep everyone safe.”
“Huh.”
Right, if there was soone or sothing that could use magic, then falling for an ambush would be even more dangerous, wouldn’t it?
“Nn, glad to see them here.”
“You heard that? Don’t disappoint her!”
“””Yes, sir!”””
At the very least, whoever was down here, now knew for sure we were coming… Shouting like that…
“Where is Ria?”
“Miss Ria is still in the pink magic room!” answered the left-most rcenary.
“I see.”
Pink magic room… It wasn’t wrong but… The na…
“Go and tell Ria to co. After that, we’ll wait for rim and the others and then we’ll divide the groups.”
“””Yes, sir!”””
The man who had been answering about Ria left to fetch her. We waited for them for a while until he returned with Ria. Coincidentally, rim arrived with everyone else right afterwards. With the Dragon Knights here, we had quite the crowd in this hall. It even seed a little cramped now.
Everyone, including Karen and , lined up on Korwen’s orders while he stood in front of everyone, with rim standing next to him.
“We’ll divide into four groups. The people heading the groups will be as follows: The first group by
and Ria, the second group rim and Wendl, third group will be Fenna and Rieke, fourth group Taddick and Yumi. As for who is in which group…”
Korwen stepped a few steps to the side and then made a cutting motion with his hand in front of us.
“First group.”
Then he stepped a few steps to the side again and repeated it…
“Second group.”
And, of course, he repeated the sa with the third and the fourth.
“Now then, we have four doors. Each group will take one path. Be aware of potential ambushes. Each group has at least one person with mana sight and every group except the third has a magician, so consult them as necessary. Any questions!”
“Yes!”
Fenna raised her hand imdiately.
“Should we handle split paths as usual?”
“Yes, prioritise the left as usual. We will search for one and a half hours. Should any group not return, we will make a search party. If you are late because you forgot the ti, you will have to treat everyone to dinner. Got that?”
“””Yes, sir!”””
Everyone saluted in one fluid motion.
“Good. Move out as soon as your group is ready! That’s it.”
Korwen clapped his hands once more before moving to join his own group. Which left us with…
“Taddick.”
“Oh, Yumi, excited already?
“... You could say that.”
Rather than excited, I was nervous and a little worried, though. That said, seeing this line-up for our made
wonder if I was worrying for naught. Four large armoured n and several n from the original group that ca to the fort with us.
In addition, there were also two won from Fenna’s squad with us, one of them being Sanna. The girl who had drawn the map back when we had been in the mother roper’s cave. This ti, too, she was holding her drawing utensils and a sheet of paper at the ready… more or less, as her eyes darted back and forth between the mbers of our group. Soone was even more nervous than I was, huh…
But a map would be quite useful. Captain said there were no blueprints of this area and we’d definitely need a map anyway.
With that in mind, I approached her to ask whether she’d draw one.
“Sanna, are you going to draw a map again?”
“Hyah?!”
“Wah?!”
But instead of a response, I got a shirek.
“Don’t surprise
like that, Miss Yumi!”
“... I wasn’t trying to.”
Seriously, I was the one surprised here.
“So, err, are you drawing a map again?”
“Y, yes… I, I got the order to.”
She stamred a little but at least I got an answer.
“Nn, I’m looking forward to it.”
“Yes, I’ll do my best!”
She saluted vigorously, making
smile wryly. I still wasn’t quite used to this treatnt so it felt a little awkward.
“Okay, are we all ready?”
“Nn?”
Behind , Taddick called for our attention.
“The captain assigned a path to us, so we’ll now move out and search the area. Our four Dragon Knights will take the front and back. Stay in line-of-sight of at least one of them at all tis. Anything suspected of magical nature will be brought to Yumi. As usual, no pilfering, no loitering. If you need a bathroom break, you better be ready to shit your pants.”
That’s not what I wanted to hear…
“No questions? Good. Move out.”
With two of the Dragon Knights in the lead, we entered into our assigned area. A long pathway with several doors to each side.
“Rember, left room first, right room second. The Dragon Knights take point at all tis.”
Just as Taddick finished the reminder, our group already stopped at the first set of doors. One Dragon Knight from the front and one from the back moved to one door respectively.
“Ready?”
“Ready. Open.”
The Dragon Knight pushed the door open and entered, bracing himself with his weapon drawn…
“... Clear.”
“Okay, next. Open.”
The other Dragon Knight repeated the sa with the left door, entering the room.
“Clear!”
“Okay, search. Again, left before right.”
With Taddick in the lead, we entered the first room. Stone walls on all sides, caked in dust and mold.
“Taddick, the room is empty.”
“It sure is.”
The room was quite large but there was nothing inside. No furniture, no animals, no monsters, no people. Nothing at all except a thick layer of dust. Or mold. Probably mold from the looks of it.
The rcenaries spread out, kicking up the dust as they searched for anything amiss. It didn’t take long for a huge dust cloud to fill the room.
“We should’ve… brought sothing to cover our mouths…”
Taddick coughed as he tried to fan his face and get rid of the dust. Obviously without much success.
“Ugh…”
With a groan, he turned around and went back into the hallway where he coughed like mad. Karen and I followed him, half out of worry from the intensity of his coughs and half to get away from that dust as well.
“Spirits, how long has this place been abandoned!”
“Two hundred years or so.”
“Couldn’t they have cleaned up at least once since then?”
“Then it wouldn’t be abandoned!”
“I’m not looking for logical replies!”
Then don’t ask questions… is what I’d like to say but, well, I could understand his feelings. Behind us, I could hear several rcenaries coughing as well from the dust. All that coughing only served to make the situation worse, too.
“Ugh, if you’re done, get out of there. And don’t stir up more dust than necessary, got that? No dinner if you do!”
“That’s unreasonable!” soone shouted from inside the room.
“Stop complaining and work faster!”
“There’s nothing here!”
“Then next room. Go, go.”
The rcenaries poured back into the hallway one after another, catching their breath and coughing out the dust. Several of them were covered in dust themselves now. And this was only the first room…
“Okay, next one.”
Taddick pointed at the room and everyone poured into said room this ti.
“It’s empty!”
“No shit! I can see that, too!”
Yes, it was empty.
“Hey, Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“Anything unusual on the magic side of things?”
“No, everything looks normal.”
“I see. The previous room, too?”
“Yes.”
I was quite sure that nothing magical was happening in this room right now. Which didn’t necessarily have to an much. There could also be chanical passages and the like. In fact, considering this was a fort, I wouldn’t be surprised if chanical traps and hidden passages were preferred, since a magician wouldn’t detect them so easily.
“Nothing to see here, Leader!”
“Okay, co back then. We’ll move on to the next ones.”
We waited for everyone to co back and then moved to the next set of doors, where we imdiately repeated the whole spiel. As I watched the rcenaries touch the room in the hopes of finding sothing, I turned to Taddick to ask him a question.
“Taddick, why the left one first?”
“There are several reasons, actually. First, having a determined pattern makes it easier for us to search and know what we already searched, as well as for others searching for us, in case we don’t return.”
Ah, they could retrace our steps in that case, huh?
“Second, do you know how to get through a maze?”
“A maze?”
“Yes.”
“Uhh… Probably not what you want to hear.”
“Ha! Probably.”
Taddick chuckled at my response. Mazes were annoying… But a maze… I felt like I could vaguely rember that there was sothing to ensure you could get through a maze…
“If you follow one wall in a maze, you will get to the exit. It can be ti consuming but it works for most mazes.”
“One wall? You an, the left or right wall?”
“Exactly. Easiest way is to just keep your hand on the wall and follow it to the exit. As long as you strictly follow it, it works.”
“Huh…”
“Searching a place like this is not much different from treading a maze. There’s a goal sowhere and we’re looking for it. If we follow one wall, we’ll never get lost.”
That was actually smart… but…
“We’re looking at both sides, though?”
“Well, can’t exactly ignore them now, can we? Imagine there was soone trying to hide from us and we’d miss them. Or soone hiding to ambush us.”
“That’s true, I guess.”
“Right?”
But really… I was a little surprised how even this was structured in a simple and clear way.
“There’s also a reason why we choose left first instead of right.”
“Oh?”
“Most people are right-handed. It’s easier to respond and attack around a left corner than it is to a right one. Not too important if we have to search both sides anyway, but in case when the path splits, it can be important at tis.”
“... I didn’t even think of that.”
Now that he ntioned it, swinging a weapon when there was a corner in the way… would be difficult. Not everyone could claim to just cleave through the wall, like Lily. Though Lily could also back up that claim, if her cleaving through trees was any indication.
“Leader, sir, it’s empty!”
“Like I said, tell
sothing new!”
“We’re done!”
“Great, to the next one!”
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