Ice Castle (8)
The monsters living in the Ice Castle all had either thick pelts that let them endure the cold or bodies made entirely of ice. A white-furred gorilla and a goblin roughly 130 centimeters tall with oversized ears charged into the room on the second floor the moment we entered. From their point of view, we were the invaders breaking into their home. Still, what could be done? Our very DNA marked us as creatures born to kill one another.
There’s no map fragment in the box.
Clearing a single room proved easier than expected. Assembling an elite team had its advantages; the limit on how many people could enter at once actually worked in our favor. While the others stripped the dead monsters for useful parts, the rest of the search party moved on to sweep the second floor. Fortunately the box held nothing, but we found a fragment inside a jar in the corner. If we kept fitting the pieces together, we might eventually reconstruct a complete map of every passage in the castle.
“As long as we’re certain the fragments aren’t in the boxes, we can focus purely on searching.”
“Once we finish here, we’ll double back and follow the route Prince Loras’s subjugation force took up to the second floor.”
In other words, we would comb the very paths they had ignored and gather every overlooked fragment. At Her Highness’s decision, the entire team poured fresh energy into the second-floor push. Their faces brightened as they remembered our earlier joke about sending the prince ahead so we could reap the rewards in comfort. No one hated fighting monsters, but everyone knew searching was far less exhausting. When offered the easier task, nobody complained.
I want to find one too.
“Found it!”
Whenever someone discovered a fragment amid the focused search, cheers erupted around them.
“Whoa!”
“Already? That’s incredible!”
“Congratulations!”
“On to the next room!”
Not every room contained a piece, yet the probability was high enough that thorough searches rarely went unrewarded. We were essentially trailing the wake of Prince Loras’s expedition, harvesting what they had missed.
“Aren’t you finding them a little too easily?”
“If you have a trick, share it with the rest of us!”
“Haha, it’s my personal secret. Can’t give that away.”
The promise of a reward for every fragment had turned the whole thing into a lively treasure hunt. Everyone was clearly enjoying themselves.
“They don’t look tired at all. Look how excited they are.”
I chose to sit out the game and rest instead. I told them I would stay put so they could join the search, but she shook her head as though the very idea was ridiculous. Thanks to her stubbornness, Sister Melody and I enjoyed a sweet stretch of time eating proper meals and restoring our stamina.
“I really should have built up more endurance.”
“If you feel the need for exercise, I can instruct you.”
“When I was young the temple forced me through basic training. After that I only ever did breathing exercises.”
Once I became a healer, exhaustion meant that after work the only real choices were study or sleep. A day held only twenty-four hours, and every one of them had been required to reach the position of chief healer. And after I finally earned the title…
Even then the patients kept me busy, but it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t have exercised.
I had earned the role of youngest chief healer through long, grueling effort. At the time, all I wanted was rest. If someone ran hard for 364 days, surely they deserved one day to breathe.
“Consistent daily exercise is best.”
“I know. But time kept disappearing. Morning prayers, work, patients all day, evening prayers, more study—there were never enough hours.”
On my rare days off I usually slept through most of them. Sometimes I prayed and immediately returned to bed. Other times I organized half-forgotten medical knowledge into books. Putting what I held in my head onto paper would help others long after I was gone.
“We will keep entering the Labyrinth from now on. Perhaps it’s time to begin exercising again.”
Sister Melody’s gentle coaxing made my ears twitch with reluctant interest.
“Anything too intense feels daunting. Maybe I should start lightly…”
“Starting lightly is perfectly reasonable. Wise decision.”
We were in the middle of promising to begin training the moment we left the Labyrinth when another fragment was discovered.
“At this rate the map must be nearly complete. I’m curious. Shall we go see?”
“Let’s.”
Sister Melody and I rose and approached the leader.
“How much of the map have we reconstructed?”
“Still a long way to go. It requires far more pieces than we expected.”
It was not a simple set of ten fragments; the pieces had to interlock like a complex puzzle. We also realized just how lucky our very first fragment had been.
“Broken into such small pieces, anyone unaware of the context would probably dismiss them as ordinary scraps.”
“Exactly. They’d assume it was just a common map and never bother hunting for more.”
“We really were fortunate.”
“I’ve been thinking this for a while—don’t you believe our team’s luck comes from having the priest with us?”
One team member’s casual remark made me flinch.
“Me?”
“Huh? I was thinking the same thing.”
“I’ve felt it for some time now.”
I had no idea what I had done to deserve four-leaf-clover status.
“Many situations could have gone badly, yet they resolved smoothly thanks to you, Priest.”
“I really didn’t do anything special.”
“Without you we might have caused a disaster by disturbing that Evil God Altar.”
“Even after we safely passed it, if you hadn’t suggested there might be a jackpot down this path, no one would have been motivated. We might have changed direction after discussion.”
“In that case Prince Loras’s force would have reached this area first and claimed all the fragments.”
When they listed every small mercy, they concluded that our good fortune must be thanks to me.
“Living inside the Labyrinth is exhausting. Yet you have never once skipped your prayers.”
“Seeing that convinced me that not just anyone can become a priest.”
“When I asked what you usually pray for, you said you pray that none of us suffer serious injury and that we all return safely. I didn’t show it at the time, but I was deeply moved.”
“Every time you pray I feel as though we’re under divine protection.”
“It’s not only me. Every priest prays the same way.”
Twice-daily prayers were standard. Some days required even more. Since I could not repeat the same words endlessly, I usually prayed for the well-being of the temple’s visitors. Praying for my companions’ safety was nothing extraordinary.
“That may be true, but somehow I feel you would pray without fail whether it rained, snowed, or a typhoon struck. Knowing someone like that is praying for us makes the prayers feel especially potent.”
“Ah…”
When did my image become like this? Perhaps it was the sight of me concentrating so intensely while purifying the Evil God Altar.
“Besides, why else would he be staring at the map with such bloodshot eyes? He must suspect the heretics hid treasure somewhere in this castle.”
“I only did what needed to be done. You’re praising me far too highly. It’s embarrassing.”
While chatting with the others I kept studying the scattered fragments. The puzzle had many ambiguous connections, and the team was struggling. I stared at the pieces that seemed to fit together, then spoke.
“May I try arranging them myself?”
“You mean the map?”
“Yes.”
“Go ahead. We’ll only have to rearrange them again anyway.”
“New fragment here!”
Including the latest additions, I began the puzzle from scratch. Thanks to the team’s enthusiastic collecting, we had a sizable pile to work with.
“Like this… this one goes here…”
Some pieces clearly marked themselves as third-floor sections, but many gave no indication of their level at all.
“This belongs here…”
“How are you matching them so perfectly?”
“Pardon?”
“You fit them together as if you already know the entire layout. It’s astonishing.”
“Ah… I simply get a feeling. It feels like this piece belongs right here.”
“Remarkable. At this pace you might finish the whole thing.”
I was beginning to doubt myself. The sensation was exactly like reassembling a puzzle I had already solved once before.
“Not everything I place will necessarily be correct.”
“Look here. None of the paths you’ve matched are wrong.”
Even I could see the arrangement looked flawless. Still, believing in it too firmly could lead to painful mistakes later, so I warned them against total certainty.
“If it truly concerns you, would you at least verify the second-floor sections?”
“Is that necessary?”
“If the map you assembled proves accurate, our work becomes far easier. It’s worth confirming.”
I could not argue with the leader’s logic. Truthfully I had been uncertain whether my placements were genuinely right, so the chance to double-check felt welcome.
“There are still many empty spaces, so I’m not sure it will hold. But since we’ve come this far… shall we try?”