The Fourth Floor of the Ice Castle
“There are still some areas we haven’t confirmed because they haven’t been cleared yet, but…”
“At this point, wouldn’t you say the accuracy is remarkably high?”
“Hmm… I suppose so.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. The team members who had gone out to verify the map I’d drawn were returning one by one, each confirming that the paths matched exactly and proving that the puzzle pieces I had assembled were correct.
“Do you enjoy solving puzzles in your spare time?”
“No.”
Puzzles had never been a hobby of mine. I answered honestly, worried that anything else might invite strange misunderstandings, and simply passed it off as good luck. Still…
I definitely felt like I’d seen it somewhere before.
The map fragments had given me a strong sense of déjà vu. Reassembling something I’d already seen wasn’t particularly difficult.
Could it have been from a dream?
If it had come from a dream, that would make sense. The swelling on my forehead had healed, but I’d been disappointed at the time for gaining nothing. Perhaps the completed map had been placed inside my head without my realizing it.
Nothing happens without a reason.
Everyone seemed energized, likely because they now believed the map pieces I’d assembled were probably genuine.
“Doesn’t this mean we’ve nearly completed it?”
“Yes. The first floor is fully done, and the second floor is almost finished as well.”
“We heard faint sounds of battle earlier, but they’ve stopped now. It seems they’ve moved up to the third floor. Perhaps we should consider heading there ourselves soon?”
On the second floor, we had primarily found map pieces for the first and second floors. Third-floor maps had appeared, but only four of them. To complete the third-floor map, we would need to ascend soon.
“We’ve already sent quite a few people up to the third floor.”
The castle now housed not only the prince’s subjugation party but several other teams as well. Besides the group we had encountered second, more people had begun entering the castle in earnest. We had been forced to delay our own ascent to the third floor while collecting map fragments, but once we confirmed this floor did not contain the hidden room shown on the map, there was no longer any reason to linger.
“We’ll head to the third floor tomorrow.”
After consulting with Princess Reciel, the leader decided on the ascent.
The third floor was far noisier than the relatively quiet second floor, likely because the monsters had not yet been cleared.
“We’re later than I expected.”
I hadn’t thought the floor could be cleared in a day or two, but I hadn’t anticipated that even while we lingered on the second floor, the others would fail to reach the fourth. At the leader’s muttered remark, Princess Reciel spoke up.
“They’ve probably gone up to the fourth floor already.”
“Pardon?”
“They must have decided to abandon the third floor and push straight to the fourth. That man wouldn’t stay on the same floor as people like them.”
“What will you do, then?”
“We’ll go to the fourth floor as well.”
“Skipping the third entirely?”
“Even a quick look shows the third floor has almost the same layout as the second. Searching it would only yield the third-floor map and a few fourth-floor fragments.”
From the outside, we could see that the floors began narrowing starting from the fourth. Higher floors were also more likely to hide secret rooms, so the princess chose to boldly abandon the third floor and head straight for the fourth.
“Once we reach the fourth floor, won’t we have to fight monsters as well?”
“If we encounter them, we’ll have no choice but to fight, but we won’t go out of our way to seek them out. We’ll search areas that have already been cleared, staying just out of Prince Loras’s notice.”
Princess Reciel seemed intent on trailing behind Prince Loras and reaping the benefits. We remained on the third floor only until we found the path to the fourth, then ascended immediately. Locating the trail left by the prince’s party proved easier than expected; they had left behind quite conspicuous marks.
“Even a glance at the traces tells the story. They were in a great hurry.”
“Moving that fast is bound to have consequences…”
“Look over there.”
We spotted a corpse that appeared to belong to one of the prince’s subjugation party members, left where it had fallen.
“What a complete bastard…”
“Hey, hey. Watch your language in front of the princess.”
“Ahem…”
“That son of a bitch.”
“!!”
At that moment, a coarse curse slipped from the princess’s own lips. Everyone turned to stare in shock, but she paid no heed and continued to rail against Prince Loras without restraint.
“That inhuman bastard! Blinded by greed, he just leaves people lying in the street?”
“M-might they not return later to collect the bodies?”
A flustered noble tried to soothe the furious princess with an excuse, but it only stoked her anger further.
“He used that very excuse to push forward! If he promised to retrieve the corpses after stuffing his bags full of loot, do you really think anyone would object?”
Collecting the bodies would mean emptying space in their packs. It would require abandoning the hard-won spoils, and no one would agree to that. It was a calculated move designed to manipulate people’s emotions.
“This is exactly why I despise him. What does he think human lives are worth?”
The princess, still fuming, managed to rein in her rage.
“I swear I’ll see that bastard’s face when he’s seething with anger later! Everyone, let’s move.”
Thanks to the princess’s sudden outburst, everyone had vented their emotions before they could fester, but we were all equally outraged by such behavior. Knowing that our future plans involved profiting at Prince Loras’s expense only made us move with greater determination. Sympathy for someone capable of such acts was clearly undeserved.
“The fourth floor feels different.”
The first thing that greeted us upon reaching the fourth floor were the corpses of what must have been Prince Loras’s subjugation party. While the third floor had not been entirely without casualties, the sheer number of dead here proved the fourth floor was no easy challenge.
“Ugh! That startled me.”
The reason the fourth floor felt so chaotic was the icicles hanging from the ceiling.
“This is really unsettling.”
“Are those actually icicles?”
The real problem was that something was trapped inside each icicle. The frozen figures appeared to be humans who had entered the Ice Castle three hundred years ago. We tried to break the icicles, but they were thicker than old tree trunks and refused to crack no matter how much force we applied; they were clearly not ordinary ice.
“It looks like the prince’s side tried to break them too. There’s a small crack here.”
“They must have given up and moved on.”
“How did these people end up hanging from the ceiling like this?”
“Only a monster would do something like this.”
“We’ll need to keep an eye on the ceiling.”
They hadn’t started out this way. Someone had suspended the victims from the ceiling, and over time they had become encased in ice. We needed to stay vigilant as well.
“The thought of ending up like that if we die here is horrifying. We absolutely cannot die in this place.”
It felt as though the monsters were treating the corpses like prized art pieces. The other team members seemed to share the same revulsion.
A museum curated by monsters…
It was a refined hobby befitting creatures that dwelled in such a beautiful castle.
“Let’s go. We need to collect the map fragments as quickly as possible.”
Beyond the unsettling frozen graveyard of icicles, we found dozens of chaotic staircases.
“Stairs? Already? Did we take a wrong turn?”
“I wish that were the case, but it looks like we have to climb these.”
“Please don’t say such terrifying things.”
The narrow staircases shifted and moved in a pattern reminiscent of the moving stairs in Harry Potter’s school. We would have to time our ascent carefully. One misstep on those narrow steps could send someone tumbling, and with everyone forced to climb in single file, a single slip might drag the entire line down with them.
“Wouldn’t falling mean certain death? The drop below looks endless; we wouldn’t even be able to climb back up.”
“Prince Loras’s party made it up, so there’s no reason we can’t.”
“Let’s find our courage. We’re not children; we shouldn’t be frightened by something like this.”
The steep, constantly shifting stairs looked daunting, but we had no other choice. If the fourth floor was already this treacherous, I couldn’t imagine what the higher floors held. To prepare for the possibility of someone falling, we held a quick meeting before attempting the climb.
“What if we tie everyone together with rope? That way, if one person slips, the others above and below can catch them.”
“We could all lose our balance and fall together.”
“Let’s just rely on individual skill. Everyone here should be capable of handling this much.”
Opinions ranged from tying everyone together for mutual support to trusting each person’s ability to climb independently. Both extremes were rejected.
“How about having one skilled person climb first, secure a rope to the wall, and lower it for the rest?”
A practical suggestion finally emerged. It was the same method used in mountain climbing or rock climbing, and it seemed well suited to these shifting stairs. Everyone brightened at the idea.
“The question is who will be the first to climb.”
“I can do it.”
To everyone’s surprise, the first to raise her hand was Sister Melody. She had remained silent while the plan was being discussed, so her sudden offer caught us off guard.
“You, Sister?”
“I believe I’m the most suited for the task.”
It was unusual for someone who rarely volunteered for anything beyond her assigned duties to step forward like this.