Chapter 36

#36 Episode: Tin Knight and the Mysterious Underground Labyrinth (5)

You looked around.

Once again, a large communal space that had existed on every fifth floor was spread out before you.

The only difference was this: there were no more stairs leading down.

“Phew, finally, the last one!”

Adelheid glanced around just like you and said that.

There was a sense of relief in her voice, and beads of sweat were trickling down her neck.

The cart that Adel was pulling was quite big for a one-person job, made mostly of metal to withstand rough handling.

It was no wonder she was struggling, especially since it was now filled with various items unlike when she first set out.

In fact, it was somewhat surprising she hadn’t cried out so far.

You suddenly came up with an idea.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggests he’ll pull the cart when it’s time to return!]

Adel shot up in surprise at your words.

“Oh, no! I’m fine! But I appreciate the thought!”

She had a genuine smile on her face, not just pretending to be happy.

You reiterated your point.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that Adel must defeat any monsters that appear while he takes over!]

Adel’s smile froze on her face.

From your perspective, while there were definitely some monsters in this labyrinth that Adel couldn’t handle, none were strong enough to ‘obliterate’ her.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ claims that a trial where he can’t kill Adel will only make her stronger!]

“That doesn’t really make sense. If I die, what’s the point?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ demands to not interfere when things get dicey!]

“Please interfere…!!”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ argues that trusting his apprentice is a virtue of a master!]

Adel, who until just now had been smiling, now wore a worried expression, but you were just thrilled to be giving your apprentice practical experience.

While you and Adel were chatting away, Dorothea walked up to a gravestone near the front gate.

As if the skeleton was already accustomed to it, it opened its mouth.

《Gather all the treasures from the treasure room and offer them here. The way forward shall be before you. It says! Witch!》

“Ha.”

Dorothea let out a short laugh.

It was a blatant scoff.

“After months of exploring with no progress, I see why now.”

At first glance, it seemed that if they had sequentially opened the treasure rooms, it should have been easily resolved, but in reality, that logic was pretty nonsensical.

There was no guarantee that the party that had obtained treasures from various rooms was the same party, and even if they were, there was a reasonable chance they could have lost or sold the treasures while making their way back and forth.

If each treasure room had a sort of riddle written on a paper that needed to be pieced together, or if the puzzle pieces were scattered and needed to be gathered, it might have made sense, but this kind of condition was essentially impossible to clear.

Thus, Dorothea asserted.

“This is a fake interpretation.”

The skeleton jumped in shock, creating a ruckus.

《Witch! We did not lie! It is not a lie! It’s not a lie!》

Dorothea lightly tapped the cage to calm the skeleton down.

“I’m not saying you tricked me. But the interpretation you know was ultimately provided by an archaeologist dispatched from the guild, right? If the guild deliberately gave the adventurers misleading information, that would fit.”

The skeleton fell silent.

Dorothea pulled out an animal compass.

When she infused magical power into one of the eight sentences, a goat appeared.

The deep purple goat was wandering near the locked door on the 30th floor.

“The guild probably knows the ‘real conditions’ to open this door. Controlling who can enter and leave is likely related to that. Whether they’re hoping the door won’t open, or they’re preventing other competitors until they can meet the conditions themselves, I can’t say for sure—”

Dorothea pulled out the ‘Opium Key.’

“-But that’s none of my concern.”

The opium key touched the main gate and floated into the air.

Geometric patterns spilling from the door intertwined with the key like rings of stars.

The rings seemed to resist desperately, wrapping around the key, but the key ignored all resistance and continued to pick the lock.

As the intricately tangled threads untangled and were laid out neatly in that moment—

Brrrrrrrrr!

The entire floor started trembling violently as if an earthquake had struck.

“Eek!”

Adel lost her balance and plopped down, and Dorothea leaned on her staff.

You looked ahead.

A thick-walled door opened, revealing the landscape beyond.

A corridor filled with gray and green.

Gray was stone, and green was thorn vines.

Vines armed with sharp thorns grew wildly across the floor, walls, and ceiling.

After a moment, the tremor stopped, and the goat summoned by Dorothea nimbly hopped through the gaps of the vines and moved ahead.

Dorothea scrunched her face.

“Walking will be a pain. Adel, leave the cart over there and come.”

“Oh, okay!”

You began to walk ahead, just as you had done so far.

The corridor had no intersections and was quite long.

You realized something strange and informed the two.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ points out that the thorn vines are turning reddish!]

“What?”

Dorothea narrowed her eyes and scrutinized the surrounding vines.

Then, she clicked her tongue.

“…There’s a limit to how oblivious one can be. Noticing this now?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ comforts that everyone makes mistakes!]

“It’s not about the color of the vines. These things are packed with magical power.”

Dorothea stabbed the thorn vines with the tip of her staff.

The juice flowing out was distinctly red, resembling the blood of a living creature.

Adel asked nervously, “I heard there are many monsters that look like plants and eat people. Is this one of those kinds?”

“Who knows. If they’re the kind that ambush adventurers to suck their blood, they’d definitely qualify as monsters, but… this place has just recently been closed off. There would have been no food supply, right?”

Dorothea frowned as if skeptical, but even as she pondered this, the goat continued on without hesitation.

Despite the suspicious situation, they had no choice but to keep moving forward.

After walking, walking, and walking some more, a space appeared that was wider than the corridor, but without doors, making it difficult to call it a separate room.

In the center of the space stood a gravestone.

There were words inscribed on the gravestone, but the skeleton in the cage remained silent.

“Tch, can’t tell what it says… huh?”

As Dorothea clicked her tongue, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

With a puzzled expression, she looked around, then struck the ground with her staff.

Thud, thud, thud.

Time and again, Dorothea’s magical power rippled outward.

Adel fidgeted and said, “Um, the goat’s leaving with no sign of stopping?”

“Wait.”

Dorothea held her staff upside down.

Instead of the thin end, she brought the blunt head down with all her might.

The sheer amount of magical power created a phenomenon visible even to a normal person.

And then.

A faint will-o’-the-wisp-like glow rose from beneath the gravestone.

Towards a soul whose presence was remarkably faint compared to what you had seen so far, Dorothea addressed it.

“Be my guide, answer the question. I’ll pay for the rest.”

The soul did not flinch.

It was as if it couldn’t even react, rather than being purposefully ignored.

Dorothea reluctantly opened the door of the cage and forcibly shoved the soul inside.

“Speak. What does this gravestone say? What lies within?”

The newly merged skeleton trembled and shivered before eventually locking its gaze on the gravestone and opening its mouth.

《Heretics denying paradise. Sinners pursuing taboo. Fools who craved forbidden fruit.》

《Condemn them. Punish them. Hang them on the gallows as an example. As soon as possible, as painfully as possible, condemn that sin.》

《Thus, we declare our disconnection (無關).》

《Thus, we assert our integrity (無失).》

《Thus, we prove our innocence (無罪).》

《Ah, great celestial beings. Truly, truly, I declare.》

《Do not place the foolishness of this witless one among us, do not, do not, do do do do not.》

A large crack formed in the skeleton, which had been stumbling over its words like a broken record, and ultimately, its body split into multiple souls.

“…The degradation of souls is too severe. I can’t go any further.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ fumes that nothing is more infuriating than someone stuttering!]

“Why are you arguing with me?”

Dorothea scratched her head.

“Ugh, I sensed something was off. The compass is pointing, so I can’t just ignore it.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ claims that there’s always a final boss at the end of a dungeon!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ feels excited about the impending boss battle!]

“How long has it been since we wiped out those Golden Monkeys? And now this?”

Dorothea shot you an incredulous look, but you brushed it off.

The ‘Tin Knight’ sensed an unusual battle brewing.

To catch up with the departing goat, you all hurried your steps.

And.

What awaited you was the sight of the goat, utterly crushed to the point of disintegration.

Kowang.

The culprit who crushed the goat turned to look at you.

Its entire body was made of massive wood, standing about twice as tall as you.

In a place that wasn’t a large communal space but the very corridor where you just were, it would look like it could hardly move.

Cackling.

Tiny winged creatures the size of a palm circled the rock monster, laughing.

Its overall shape resembled a human, but its skin was a deep green and its eyes had insect-like compound features.

The Golem made of wood and the fairies eyed you.

Dorothea, placing a hand on your back, poured magical power into you as much as you could handle.

“The Golem is yours; the fairies are ours. Got it?”

You nodded and stepped forward.

Behind you, Dorothea and Adelheid stood side by side, shielding each other.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ ignites with fighting spirit!]

You charged at the enemy.

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