Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Ancient Ruins Arben (1)
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I may avoid building relationships with others, but life has a way of forcing my hand sometimes.
The time with the Hero's Subjugation Party was a prime example.
Still, I could endure it because I believed a worthwhile reward awaited me afterward.
Back then, I thought defeating the Demon King would let me return home right away.
Humans will challenge trials and push through hardships if there's a satisfying reward on the other side.
So, here's one question.
"Here, Lady Rion, try this too!"
"Lady Rion doesn't like that kind of food... You must not know her well."
"What did you say?"
What reward awaits me for enduring this ordeal?
...The emperor did hand over a pouch heavy with gold coins as compensation.
But for someone like me who's never lacked for money, it was utterly useless.
Two people treating me like their personal property, tugging at my arms from both sides.
"Hey, could you two quiet down a bit?"
And having to travel with that foul-tempered elf who glares at me whenever she gets the chance—what's the reason for that?
I knew the answer, but I couldn't help asking myself the question over and over in my mind.
The group was barely over half the size of the Subjugation Party, but the mental exhaustion felt twice as bad.
I kept swearing this would be the last time, that I'd finally get some rest—but life only seemed to pull further away from any laziness.
Sion stifled a heavy sigh and pressed on with the uncomfortable journey.
"So, why do we have to stop there?"
The destination was Elnora Forest, the elves' sanctuary, but they weren't heading there yet.
At Sion's insistence, they'd detoured to a ruin on the way before entering the forest.
"W-Well..."
"I'm getting annoyed, so spit it out without stuttering."
"...Before entering the forest, there's something we have to retrieve from there..."
If it had been anyone else, Linie would have ignored them and gone straight to the forest—but she couldn't dismiss Sion.
Ever since the Subjugation Party days, whenever Sion acted strangely, there was always a reason behind it.
They might seem like incomprehensible antics at the time, but looking back, there was always a valid explanation—which was why Linie trusted Sion relatively well.
"...Haa, fine."
Personal feelings about her aside.
'This is... so hard to get used to.'
Linie avoided relationships with others for reasons unrelated to Sion.
She was only traveling with them temporarily to resolve her hometown's issues, and she didn't like the noisy atmosphere either.
"Um, Lady Rion, may I ask why we're stopping at the ruins?"
"Ahh! I was about to ask first!"
"Umm... well..."
For that reason, Linie was under tremendous stress right now.
Rion, surrounded by Cloe and Edelra, wore a troubled expression.
It looked like a cheerful gathering of girls her age on the surface, but Linie, who knew the truth, couldn't help feeling a profound disconnect.
The girl standing between them, Rion, was just a shell containing a grand archmage who might have decades of experience inside.
And they had no idea, sticking to her side like that.
She wanted to expose Rion's true identity right now, but the condition for bringing Cloe to Elnora Forest was keeping that truth hidden—so she couldn't.
Besides, they might not even believe her if she did.
And what grated on Linie's nerves the most...
"It's... a bit hard to explain..."
...was Rion's constant stuttering and inability to make proper eye contact during conversations.
If she hadn't known her true identity, it wouldn't have bothered her this much.
There were countless personality types in the world, and people like Rion were fairly common.
But knowing Rion was Sion created an inescapable gap between the two personas, and that disconnect was excruciatingly uncomfortable for Linie.
Pointing it out would just lead to a tiresome end anyway, as she'd already experienced.
"We're here."
In the end, all Linie could do was hope this journey would end quickly.
"This is the Arben Ruins."
Arben Ruins.
The remnants of the ancient city of Arben after its fall, one of the continent's tourist spots.
When first discovered, scholars and explorers flocked to it seeking ancient knowledge and artifacts, but after centuries of failure, they'd given up.
Now, it had settled into just another commonplace tourist attraction.
But Sion's group had come here for a different reason.
This Arben Ruins offered tremendous rewards relative to its conquest difficulty—a so-called "hidden piece."
Just as in the Prifre sewers and the Bestia Mountains, Sion had seen Cloe fall into danger multiple times in her absence.
Determined not to let it happen again, Sion had resolved to use this chance to help Cloe grow stronger quickly.
...For her new temporary disciple, too.
"Somewhere around here..."
Of course, even finding the entrance to conquer the dungeon was no easy task, let alone clearing it.
If it had been, explorers wouldn't have failed for centuries.
-Rumble!
But for Sion, a veteran player of Rilteia, it wasn't that difficult.
"Oh."
Sion deftly manipulated the ruin's pillars, and with a grinding sound from the floor, a hidden door revealed itself.
The others watched her casually uncover a secret untouched for centuries, each harboring their own thoughts.
'As expected of Lady Sion's disciple... Truly admirable!'
'Lady Rion it is.'
'Sion... how does she even know about places like this?'
They were moments away from opening the door to the hidden dungeon.
But Sion just stared blankly at it, showing no further movement.
"You don't know how to open the door?"
Linie assumed Sion knew how to find it but not open it, given her current behavior.
Sion did look quite troubled, after all.
"That's... not it..."
But contrary to Linie's guess, Sion knew the exact opening condition.
It was just... deeply embarrassing to perform it in front of others.
'Why hesitate now...'
She'd steeled herself to come to the Arben Ruins in the first place.
"Ahem... ahem."
Sion cleared her throat lightly and pulled an item from her subspace magic: a silver-blue flute adorned with ornate decorations.
"The opening condition is playing music?"
"...Yes."
Linie quickly realized it was the door's activation method.
Most hidden dungeons had such outlandish conditions.
"Hoo..."
Sion put the flute to her lips and assumed a fairly convincing posture.
Linie found herself captivated by this unexpected side of Sion.
Elves naturally loved music and performance, and Sion's form was masterful enough to call her a virtuoso.
'Her posture is pretty good...'
And the performance Linie heard next was—
-Squeeeek!
—nothing short of catastrophic.
"...Could you all stop staring like that?"
...If they hadn't all been watching, she wouldn't have flubbed it.
Your stares made me nervous, she wanted to say—but Sion held it back.
"Th-That's... fine! No one needs to be perfect in everything!"
"It sounded pleasant to my ears."
"Cloe... white lies like that hurt even more..."
"...Sorry."
-Rumble rumble rumble...
In any case, the door's opening condition was playing "The Song of Ancient City Arben."
Performance quality didn't matter, so the door did open successfully.
"...That was the worst performance I've ever heard."
"That's too much..."
Though it came at the cost of some emotional damage.
"Then... let's all head in..."
Unable to bear the stares any longer, Sion hurried into the dungeon.
The others followed without adding commentary.
"This dungeon... consists of four rooms..."
The underground Arben Dungeon divides into four rooms: the Room of Wisdom, Room of Friendship, Room of Courage, and Room of Trust.
Clear them in sequence, then overcome the final trial from Arben's Wraith, and the dungeon is fully conquered.
That might sound difficult, but...
"In truth... it's just hard to meet the conditions—it's not actually that dangerous..."
Precisely matching the entry requirement of four people, and knowing each room's condition, makes it easy enough for ordinary folk to pass.
"...How do you know the conditions?"
"It's a s-secret..."
Of course, knowing the answers in the first place is nearly impossible.
The group entered the dungeon and found themselves in a room with a single firmly shut door.
A voice echoed the moment they entered.
"So this is the Room of Friendship?"
"Seems like it."
They quickly realized this was the Room of Friendship Sion had mentioned.
No problem there.
"So, Rion, what's the condition for this room?"
"It's..."
Sion appeared to have full knowledge of how to clear this dungeon.
Linie thought, 'No wonder she brought us here so confidently—there's a reason.' She waited for Sion to speak.
But Sion was inwardly trembling, imagining what would happen once she explained the condition.
"...To pass this room, we have to pair up in twos and hold hands."
As if confirming her unease wasn't unfounded, two pairs of eyes immediately turned her way the moment she finished speaking.
Sion had a premonition that conquering this dungeon wouldn't be so straightforward.