First Labyrinth Exploration (8)
At the time when Princess Reciel was concentrating on her prayers, the leader announced to the entire party that they would halt the search for the missing members and prepare to return.
The order wasn’t met with instant agreement from everyone. Some suggested that since they still had time, they might as well investigate a little longer before heading back. Yet no one could argue against the fact that they couldn’t risk the lives of the whole team for the sake of a few missing people.
“Damn it, we came all this way and did basically nothing.”
They had lost comrades for nothing and found only a single treasure chest. After that they had focused almost entirely on searching for the missing, leaving them essentially empty-handed. The sole consolation was that their desperate battles against monsters had left plenty of room for future loot.
The moment came while they were retracing their steps to return, when they spotted the remnants of the very trap that had created the missing persons and casualties in the first place.
“Couldn’t we check this spot just once more before we go?”
I proposed to the leader that we examine the trap one final time. I wanted the party to feel they had done everything possible, knowing how much regret they would carry if they left now.
“Haven’t we already examined everything that can be examined? This would only be a waste of time.”
“Back then we were suddenly caught by the trap and everyone’s field of vision had narrowed. If we look again now, we might notice something we missed before.”
In truth, retracing our steps often revealed things we had overlooked on the first pass—hidden rooms we had walked right by, chests we had never known were there.
“......”
The leader pondered my suggestion for a long moment before answering.
“Very well. We will conduct one final search and then withdraw.”
“Thank you!”
“Not at all. If anything, I should be thanking you. I know you spoke for our benefit.”
I didn’t actually expect anything to turn up. Still, if it could ease that lingering unease in my chest, the time spent would be well worth it. And see? Weren’t they all smiling now that the leader had decided to stay a little longer?
“As expected of the priest—his way of thinking really is different.”
“You think the leader wanted to give that order? He took the villain’s role for the sake of all of us.”
“Ahem. Anyway, thanks to the priest, my mind feels a little lighter.”
“Enough chatter, everyone! Save your breath and look for anything unusual!”
They dug at the ground, scrutinized the walls in minute detail, and one person even hung from the ceiling to inspect it. How much time passed like that? Just when everyone’s spirits were beginning to sink with the familiar thought of as expected…
“Leader!!! There’s something strange over here!”
One person’s shout pulled every gaze at once.
“What is it?”
“What happened?”
“Look at this.”
When the whole group came running and demanded an explanation, the discoverer simply pounded the wall with his fist. Ice and stone fragments clattered down from the frozen surface. The distinctly different sound made everyone’s eyes widen. None of them had truly believed they would find anything.
“When I hit it here it makes a heavy thud, right? But when I hit this spot, the sound is different. There must be a hollow space inside.”
Indeed, although the walls looked nearly identical, one produced a deep, solid sound while the other was noticeably lighter.
“There really is something in there.”
The leader struck the wall himself and became convinced. Whatever lay beyond might not be what they hoped for, but the mere fact of a discovery rekindled their hope.
“Let’s break it open.”
“I’ll do it.”
Princess Reciel stepped forward, declaring she would handle it herself.
“Your Highness?”
Although she had stayed out of combat early on, everyone now understood the extent of her monstrous strength. No one tried to stop her.
BOOM!!
Her clenched fist slammed into the wall, caving stone inward. Fragments rained down.
BOOM!! Thud!! Thud!! BOOM!!!!
Rumble—!!!
“Cough, cough!”
We waited until the collapsing stones settled and the dust cloud thinned. The revealed space was far larger than anyone had imagined. Because monsters might emerge, everyone stood ready with weapons drawn.
We did not rush inside. Instead we waited a long time at the threshold.
“......”
“There doesn’t seem to be anyone. I sense no presence.”
“All right. We’re going in.”
The shield-bearer entered first. Half the party would go inside; the rest would remain outside. Splitting the group was only logical—if something went wrong, someone had to be left to provide aid.
“Please remain here, Priest.”
They stopped me from entering, saying they didn’t know what might await inside. I waited, praying those who had gone would return with the missing members.
Please let it be good news.
Whether the interior was deeper than expected or there was simply a great deal to investigate, a long time passed before the team returned.
“We believe you should come inside.”
The leader called for Princess Reciel.
“What about the missing persons?”
“We found them.”
They had found the missing, yet they weren’t urgently summoning me? No one failed to grasp what that meant. As every face in the party grew somber, Princess Reciel and the others stepped inside.
Thanks to the bright lights the party had already lit, examining the interior was easy.
“A passage?”
“Yes. A long path continues deep inward. Following it brought us to an enormous open area.”
“Did you fight monsters?”
“Yes. Reptilian ones.”
So that was why it had taken so long.
“And there we discovered the bodies of two of the missing.”
“Only two?”
The news made the descent to the lower floor feel utterly pointless.
“They all appear to have been killed by monsters.”
Following the leader’s explanation, I entered and saw our resting companions beside the corpses of the dead. I moved toward the ones sitting down to check for injuries.
“Is anyone hurt? Please raise your hand if you are.”
“Over here!”
“Where does it hurt?”
“My ankle. The tail wrapped around it and flung me into the air. I managed to land, but it’s swollen.”
“Let me take a look.”
While I was treating the wounded, Princess Reciel—who had left with the leader—returned and addressed the group.
“First, I wish to thank Priest Arthur, who suggested we investigate this place one more time. Thanks to him, we were able to locate three of the four missing members. Had we returned without doing so, I would have spent a long time blaming myself.”
I was startled to be mentioned first. Princess Reciel continued before I could respond.
“Of the four missing, three are dead. The odds are high that the same fate befell the last one. It would be ideal if we could find the final member and return together, but I ask you to understand that we cannot.”
No one voiced discontent about leaving the last person behind. Although the missing had perished, the ability to recover their bodies seemed to have lifted a great weight from everyone’s hearts.
“And Priest Arthur.”
“Yes.”
“There is something I would like you to examine. Inside there appears to be something resembling a prayer room. I ask that you go and determine what kind of place it is.”
“Understood.”
A prayer room inside the Labyrinth?
“Please follow me.”
The leader guided me deeper. To my surprise, there really was a space that looked exactly like a prayer room.
“Is this a prayer room?”
“The arrangement matches that of a prayer room. It appears someone created it here a very long time ago.”
“Because it is inside the Labyrinth, I was hesitant to touch anything without certainty.”
A prayer room prepared to worship an unknown being.
“You did the right thing. Touching such things carelessly can bring down a curse.”
It looked as though a genuinely devout believer had prepared the space. All manner of gold and jewels had been laid out as offerings to a deity. Anyone ignorant of the danger would have reached for the gems and brought disaster upon themselves.
“However, it would be more accurate to call this not a prayer room, but a ritual altar for presenting offerings to a god.”
“Is it dedicated to the Sun God?”
“Regrettably, it does not appear so. There is no mark of the Sun God anywhere.”
This is no sanctuary of the Sun God.
It is a ritual altar where heretics offered sacrifices to the Evil God.
Any who touch these treasures without purification will invite misfortune—not only upon themselves, but upon everyone around them.
The leader let out a heavy sigh at the word “heretic.” If the gold and jewels had been ordinary, it would have been different; but items used in heretical rites were essentially worthless.
“They’ve become no better than ordinary stones. Damn it!”
“They’re also pointlessly heavy, so transporting them will be a chore. Even so, we cannot leave them here. We will need a large cloth and a good quantity of Holy Water.”
“Yes.”
“I trust no one took any jewels out of greed?”
“Surely not. Still, I will explain the situation and issue a warning.”
Outwardly they were gold and gems—objects that could easily tempt a person. Yet anyone who kept cursed gold and jewels would only ruin their own life. No one who profited from such items ever lived normally. Worse, the misfortune did not stop with the one who took them; it spread to everyone nearby.
“If anyone picked up something near the altar, do not rebuke them. Have them quietly return it to the priest. Tell them it is an item a heretic offered to the Evil God. Make certain no one keeps anything that might bring harm to those around them.”
While listening to the leader explain the situation to the party, I busily gathered supplies. I prepared a cloth large enough to hold all the gold and treasure, along with a generous amount of Holy Water. Returning to the altar, I poured the Holy Water into a wide basin, dipped each item in turn, then transferred them one by one onto the cloth.