Perilous Festival (7)

"Even though I knew it was just a maze that ordinary people could participate in during the festival, I thought it would be something crude, like a makeshift model... It seems my prediction was completely wrong."

Princess Layla looked genuinely impressed by the surprisingly authentic appearance of the maze. I couldn't blame her. As I scanned our surroundings, the passageways rose at least three meters to the ceiling, with multiple doors lining the walls. Each door was adorned with vivid carvings of animals—lions, eagles, and more. The floor and walls, pieced together from stones of varying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shapes, gave off a heavy, ancient atmosphere, as if they'd stood there for decades. If someone unfamiliar with this labyrinth's secrets were told it had been an empty lot just a day ago, they wouldn't believe it.

Was it called the Amusement Board of Delusion? The magical tool's performance was impressive enough—creating a pseudo-dungeon with just a day's preparation and sufficient mana—but the audacity of using such an artifact as mere festival entertainment was on another level. That thing must devour a ridiculous amount of Magic Stones.

Layla and I walked down the passage until we reached two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠doors. One was decorated with a brass-colored snake, the other with a golden lion that seemed to gleam. When I turned the handles, the snake door opened easily, revealing the path beyond, while the lion door remained firmly locked.

"Does this mean we need to find a key from the other side?"

"That would be the standard approach. But, Your Highness, I don't think we necessarily have to follow the standard rules."

I shaped both hands as if forming a door, then mimed it crumbling apart. Layla tilted her head for a moment before her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together.

"But Chrome, wouldn't that be cheating?"

"Your Highness. The only rule we were given when we first entered the labyrinth was 'Safely reach the exit and escape the maze.' If that's considered cheating, then it's the organizers' fault for not explaining the rules properly. In other words, we bear no responsibility whatsoever."

"It's a sophism, but I like it."

The terrifying princess who had exploited a loophole in the rules during the previous assignment to completely annihilate another team smiled with clear satisfaction. A mass of blue mana began to coalesce above her palm.

"Chrome, step back."

There was no need to ask why. Without hesitation, I moved aside—and in the next instant, a thunderous roar erupted as the impact slammed into the golden door.

"This pair was doomed from the start."

At the first fork in the road, Valkius shook his head as he examined the miniature figures of the two participants lingering in front of the unyielding golden door. A brass snake door and a golden lion door. To anyone, the golden one looked far more important, and it was only natural to want to head straight for it. In fact, many previous guests had tried to break the door or pick the lock with various tools.

But did they really think the organizers hadn't accounted for that? Though the maze had been whipped up in a single day using a magical tool, its actual durability was remarkably high. Ordinary blades or hammers couldn't even scratch it, and it could withstand mid-tier spells with the destructive power of artillery shells.

To destroy it head-on, they'd need at least a high-tier spell—preferably one with pure destructive force like flames or raw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mana.

"With the time limit in place, it'd be smarter not to waste energy and just move on."

Clicking his tongue, Valkius took a sip of his now-cold coffee, then munched on the prepared cookies. Lounging half-reclined on the sofa in disheveled clothes, he looked like the very picture of indecency—something high-ranking nobles would surely scold him for. But he didn't care. He was stuck in this stuffy room all day monitoring others enjoying the attractions. Decorum be damned. Besides, there was no one around to see him anyway.

"Well, it's certainly easier on my end to watch them struggle with a single door than to rampage against golems or wisps."

He was just considering slipping away to the bathroom when the next scene on the game board made his jaw drop. The door in front of the two participants had been brutally smashed to pieces and sent flying.

"A high-tier spell!?"

While mana users were elite soldiers by nature, a mage capable of using high-tier spells was practically a living weapon. Just who would bring that kind of firepower to a mere festival attraction? Had some high-ranking noble dragged along a family-employed court mage?

Valkius was momentarily stunned, but he soon let out a chuckle. After all, they were the ones using a relic-grade magical tool for a simple attraction. He was in no position to criticize.

"Still, they've only skipped about one-fifth of it. It won't be that easy from here on out."

If the first trial required circling around to find a key, the second involved passing through a door guarded by a golem. An iron golem's base durability surpassed even the golden door, and without destroying its hidden core, it wouldn't stop easily. Direct confrontation was nearly impossible. The standard strategy was to use a cleverly obscured intersection—one person would lure the golem away while the other opened the door and pulled the lever to deactivate it.

Even after clearing the first gate, countless pairs had failed here by making the wrong choice.

"Since they got an easy start, they'll probably try to brute-force their way through the rest. That very mindset will be what tightens the noose around their necks."

"It's tougher than I expected," I remarked to Princess Layla as she prepared a follow-up attack. "I think its weak point is at the back of its neck."

"Is that so?"

The mana projectile she fired seemed to graze past the charging golem's head before executing a sharp U-turn and striking the back of its neck with pinpoint accuracy. A sharp crack echoed as something shattered, and the golem collapsed completely. Her precision was terrifying.

"Oh my, you're right. How did you know?"

"I saw one during our previous dungeon trip."

Of course, that was a lie. I had seen a golem back then, but we hadn't fought it properly and just moved on. My knowledge of its weakness came purely from the game. With a few exceptions for modified models, most golems had a vulnerability at the back of the neck. Honestly, it had been useless information at the time, but telling it to this princess made it ridiculously effective.

"What about this lever over here?"

"Well, we won't know until we pull it, right?"

I experimentally tugged the lever beside the door, but nothing happened. Hmm. Was it for opening another hidden door? We'd find out as we went. We opened the door marked with a silver eagle and moved into the next area.

"They defeated an iron golem head-on? Not a wooden or stone one—an actual iron golem?"

At this point, Valkius began to feel a growing sense of crisis. It wasn't that defeating an iron golem was impossible. He himself could probably take one down in a one-on-one fight. But the fact that he, an imperial court mage, could do it didn't mean just anyone could. Besides, no matter how he looked at it, this pair appeared to be students.

"Just what the hell has Senior Neville been raising...?"

Muttering the name of his former colleague—who had been quietly demoted due to his excessively cold personality—Valkius refocused on the game board. This pair's skills seemed considerable. There was a real risk they might actually clear the whole thing.

He moved the pieces on the board, placing wisps capable of long-range attacks in the next section, which was riddled with traps.

"It's a bit underhanded, but it can't be helped."

Even for them, dodging lethal traps while dealing with small, agile, and surprisingly powerful wisps should be impossible.

A wall of mana comparable to an actual fortress rose behind us, completely halting the massive boulder that had been hurtling toward our backs. Whoa. So the classic rolling boulder trap from those Jones movies could be stopped this easily?

"By the way, is it really okay for rocks like that to come rolling at us during a festival attraction?"

"Hmm. When I touch it, it feels strangely soft, like mud. This doesn't seem like an ordinary rock."

"Alchemy? Or perhaps an illusion to make it look like a rock? Either way, it's fascinating."

Even as Layla poked her hand into and out of the boulder after me, masses of mana continuously formed around her. They not only neutralized every mana bolt fired at us by the wisps from the far end of the passage but also struck down the wisps themselves.

Since we had no idea what kind of traps might be on the ground, we decided to float through the air using a high-tier wind spell. Riding the bus with this overpowered princess was incredibly sweet.

Valkius muttered with a look of utter disbelief.

"Just what kind of insane monsters are these?"