Plan (3)

Come to think of it, the game, from Aetherna Chronicles 14 onward, hadn't only been about Leo.

It was true that Leo was the player character. He never left the party and could never be removed from it, so he was obviously designed as someone the player could easily project onto. But that didn't mean the other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠characters couldn't be used.

If you had another character in the party, you could set them as the representative character and change which character appeared in the field. It also mattered because of field-exclusive mechanics, like being able to take the initiative by attacking monsters first in the field, or approaching carefully from behind to land a stun.

So in most guides, rather than the sword-using protagonist, you'd set a ranged-attack character as your representative and start battles by hitting monsters from a distance, striking the backs of their heads.

One of the most frequently used characters was Mia Crowfield, whose basic attack fired ice arrows.

And not a single one of those party characters ever said, "This place is filthy, I'm not going in," or "I don't want to go anywhere that smells bad." Even in situations where you had to crawl through ventilation shafts, not a single character refused. Even if that character was an imperial princess, a royal princess, or even a guest character like Jennifer.

"......."

"......."

"......."

So my assumption that "the smell is so awful they'll give up on their own" could fairly be called a profoundly stupid choice.

About ten minutes after entering the sewer, I was already regretting it.

The two people following behind me had superhuman physical abilities, so they could endure the smell and everything else without the slightest trouble. But someone like me, who could barely reach the "su" in "superhuman" no matter how much I trained, found it miserable.

And even that "barely hanging on near the 'su'" was just my own guess. There was no telling what the reality actually was.

During those ten minutes, I seriously considered whether I should turn back time again...... but in the end, I decided not to.

How should I put it? It felt like that.

It was the feeling you got when you'd boldly started your first playthrough on the highest difficulty, then got stuck at a boss fight because of a faulty guide, tasted total party annihilation about three times, and then saw the message on the screen: "Would you like to reset to a lower difficulty?"

The developers probably put it in because they wanted the player not to give up no matter what, but from the reader's perspective, it provoked your pride. No one else was watching beside you, and you weren't streaming the game either, but for some reason, pressing that button felt embarrassingly humiliating.

Besides, multiple playthroughs were essential for writing a guide anyway, and even if you couldn't get the difficulty-related medal right now, you'd inevitably earn it eventually.

In the end, with a feeling like pressing "No" on that option prompt and challenging the play again, I didn't turn back time this time.

Still, the fortunate part was that the two people behind me didn't seem to have the composure to strike up a conversation either. If they opened their mouths to speak, that foul-smelling gas would rush right in. You can't really smell through your mouth, but that peculiar gross, unpleasant sensation exists, doesn't it?

"This way."

I produced a voice, careful not to let my words get cut off. No answer came back from behind me, but I could still hear their footsteps continuing without pause.

Honestly, at this point, going out alone would've been pretty awkward anyway. The way here had been complicated enough. Even if it wasn't quite on the level of being inside a maze, it was certainly a place where a first-time visitor could get confused.

Yes. A "first-time visitor."

I was not one.

There were parts that differed from my memory. The map, made passably with low-resolution textures, hadn't felt that repulsive. And even though darkness was expressed, it wasn't so dark like a horror game that you couldn't see ahead at all without a light.

No, actually, just in terms of brightness alone, it was as bright as if someone had left a fluorescent light on. It wasn't a horror game, and including that kind of annoying mechanic wouldn't have earned a good reception anyway.

The minimap revealed itself block by block, so if you stepped even one foot into a block, the appearance of the area ahead instantly showed up on the minimap, and the camera wasn't bad either, so in the game you almost never got lost. The only annoyance was occasionally forgetting a mechanic and having to backtrack.

In that sense, this sewer we were walking through now was different from the game in many ways. Especially the atmosphere.

It wasn't so dark that you couldn't see ahead. It was a place where maintenance workers came and went at intervals I couldn't determine, so lamps using ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Mana Stones had been installed here and there, however faintly they glowed.

But the sections between lamps were terribly dark. Where water flowed, truly...... filthy liquid was running, and black things that, no matter how you looked, looked like cockroaches were crawling across the floor with unsettling frequency.

But even so, the structure itself was the place I knew.

I didn't know what lay beyond the spots blocked by iron doors in between. But it didn't matter if I didn't know. Those were places you couldn't go in the game to begin with.

A dungeon I'd run through several times to clear the game.

Ah, of course, that didn't mean I remembered every single part of it like some kind of navigation system. It had been ten years, after all.

But still, I carried memories of the truly important places. It was written in the notebook I'd organized as best I could from memory the moment I arrived in this world.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?"

"Yes, of course."

At Alice's slightly uneasy voice, I answered with conviction.

At least I knew where this was. If we went deeper, real monsters would probably be swarming about.

But those monsters wouldn't come this far. It was still the very, very early stage of the game. The time when those monsters would become a problem was a bit further ahead from then.

And, well.......

Actually, even if they did come, it probably wouldn't be a big problem.

In the game, they were treated as strong monsters because of "levels," but in reality, nothing like that existed. Aetherna Chronicles wasn't the kind of game where you freely roamed a vast field enjoying adventures in the first place. Areas opened and monsters appeared according to your story progress. Monster levels didn't serve to keep you from going to an area; they were simply a device for confronting protagonists who had grown just strong enough by the time you got there.

And since it was different from a turn-based game where you had to stand still and get hit by swords and shot by guns, the animals living here would die just from being struck by the crossbow I fired.

"Here it is."

Taking one last major turn, we entered a place that looked like a small room.

I didn't quite understand why a sewer would have a space like this. In the game, it was called a sewer but its role was a dungeon for adventuring, so you could just shrug and say, "Well, it's a game" and move on, but a real sewer had no need for this kind of space.

...... Well, it was probably something like a storeroom. The sewers were long and wide, so maybe they'd built spaces here and there where workers could rest.

Though for something like that, the room wasn't even locked, and the only things inside were a few pieces of trash scattered about and a single closed chest.

On top of that, the chest's appearance was almost identical to the item chests from the game.

A chest sitting alone in the middle of an empty room without any lighting looked rather eerie, even.

"......A chest?"

I heard Alice mutter from behind me, but I didn't bother answering and walked up to the chest.

A thick layer of dust had settled on top of it. Enough that you could probably draw a picture on it with your finger.

I took the black leather gloves from my pocket and put them on.

Then I slowly bent down and opened the chest.

The dust-covered chest opened so easily it was almost anticlimactic. No special lock had been set on it.

And in this respect, it was no different from the game.

"......."

I'd confirmed that my thoughts and memories were correct, but now that I was actually looking at it, the feeling was a little strange.

How long had this chest been here? Who had placed this here, and how had the chest alone remained while the room became empty?

I bent down and took out the object that was inside the chest.

"Huh?"

"That's......?"

Marmaros.

What I held in my hand was Marmaros.

Compared to the Marmaros that appeared in the game, it wasn't particularly expensive or rare.

But compared not to the "game" but to this "reality," this Marmaros was truly the highest-grade Marmaros. In the game, all sorts of insane situations unfolded in the empire during the later stages, creating many opportunities to obtain rare Marmaros, and it would probably turn out that way in reality too...... but at this point in time, at least, it wasn't an item you could easily buy even if you had the money.

The blue Marmaros, perfectly cut into a sphere, was so cold that its chill could be felt even through the glove. Touching it with bare hands probably wouldn't have injured me, but my hand would've stung as though I were gripping a drink can fresh out of the refrigerator.

This Marmaros, far more powerful than the fire-attribute Marmaros I'd received from Jennifer, was used after the mid-story to be mounted on Mia Crowfield's staff to supplement her attack power.

In the game, it probably would have been a moderate increase in ice-magic damage, but in reality, it would be far more threatening.

"Why would something like that be here?"

Charlotte asked, taking a few steps toward me. In the setting, Marmaros was also used by embedding it directly into magical weapons. So if I'd pocketed this by myself and secretly made a weapon without anyone knowing, I might have been able to carry a weapon around unnoticed.

...... If the person who found this hadn't been me but someone we didn't know, it might have become a bit dangerous. Was it more dangerous than a firearm itself? If you asked that, I wouldn't really have anything to say.

Danger level aside, this was a valuable item. What Charlotte was asking me about probably wasn't only why "this object" was here.

More than that, it was probably a question about how I'd known this object would be here.

I looked at Charlotte and Alice once each. In the two faces illuminated ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by the Mana Stone lamp, questions filled every feature.

Up until now, I could have packaged it as simply "because I'm skilled," but coming all the way here was an entirely different kind of action.

Because I could only have come here if I'd already known from the start that this object was here.

And on top of that, the inside of this room was thick with dust. If someone had come ahead to prepare and had told me about it, the room could only be described as having been neglected for an excessively long time.

So it wasn't at all strange for Charlotte to ask this.

'How did you know about it and come all the way here?'

That was likely the essence of the question Charlotte wanted to ask.

"I'll let you know next time."

I said that as I put the Marmaros into my coat pocket.

Honestly, doing this made the reason I was wearing the coat disappear, but still...... well, it wasn't as if I could walk around holding it in my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand either.

I spoke and turned toward the door,

Step.

Someone's body blocked my path.

Without needing to look, the person in front of me was Alice.

"Tell me."

Alice stared at me with will in her eyes as she spoke.

"Just how you knew something like that was here and came to find it. I won't move until you tell me."

"......."

Hm.

What should I do?