Chapter 34: The Tin Knight and The Mysterious Underground Labyrinth (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 34: The Tin Knight and The Mysterious Underground Labyrinth (3)
The next morning.
The Tin Knight, Dorothea, and Adelaide were able to enter the labyrinth with Lorentz's guarantee.
“The guild staff looked uncomfortable until the very end. Did they really hate the idea of us going in so much?”
Adel tilted her head as she pulled a cart down the narrow passage.
Despite the cart being quite large, she showed no signs of struggle, a testament to her recent physical training.
The first floor was completely empty, so there was no one to question why a noble lady was pulling a cart in the first place.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that if someone dislikes you for no reason, you should give them a reason!]
“Oh, no, well, there's no need to go that far.”
Adel responded to the Tin Knight's answer with a vague smile, trying to laugh it off.
She found his logic a bit too extreme.
But Adel wasn't the only one who heard the Tin Knight.
“I like that. It's certainly more rational to be hated for a reason than for no reason at all. You've said something good for a change.”
Dorothea seemed quite pleased with the Tin Knight's suggestion.
No, in fact, it seemed she had intended to do so all along, even if the Tin Knight hadn't said anything.
Usually, a balance was struck with Dorothea beating some sense into the rampaging Tin Knight, but when the two of them teamed up like this, there was nothing Adel could do to stop them.
She asked cautiously.
“So, what exactly are you planning to do?”
“I'm going to sweep up all the treasure in this labyrinth.”
Dorothea replied nonchalantly.
“W-won't that take too long? There are only a few of us, and since we're not affiliated with the other adventurers, it'll be hard to get information...”
Adel hesitated, glancing around nervously as she spoke, but Dorothea surprisingly nodded in agreement.
“You're right, it would be difficult without information.”
Dorothea raised her wooden staff with her right hand.
It was a masterpiece she had crafted herself, made from high-quality wood purchased with the compensation money she'd wrung out of Franka, having holed herself up in the carriage's cargo hold for days to work on it.
“That's why I'm going to summon a guide.”
Thud.
The moment the tip of her staff struck the floor, a black ripple-like wave spread out around them.
Thud, thud, thud.
Like someone dipping their hand in and out of a puddle to create ripples, Dorothea's mana spread throughout the labyrinth each time her staff struck the floor.
This continued for about ten seconds.
From the ceiling, the walls, the ground.
A black, mud-like substance began to ooze out.
The sight of the amorphous, sludgy bodies squirming toward the party evoked a primal sense of unease in anyone who saw them.
Then, Dorothea raised her left hand.
As if brandishing something, she spun it twice, counter-clockwise.
In the blink of an eye, the chain ring on Dorothea's hand transformed into a birdcage.
Holding the cage between her thumb and middle finger, Dorothea tapped it lightly with her index finger.
-KUUUNG.
She hadn't seemed to tap it hard, yet a heavy shockwave, as if from a giant bell, spread out.
It wasn't just a sound, but a vibration that seemed to resonate deep within one's body.
As the mud creatures touched by the shockwave stopped moving in unison, Dorothea spoke.
“Any of you who prides yourself on knowing this maze inside and out, step into this cage. Your payment will be mana. And purification.”
The mud creatures squirmed.
Unlike their earlier appearance, which had evoked instinctive revulsion, they now seemed flustered by the situation.
“Don't want to? Then you can stay trapped in this labyrinth. I'll tell you this now: the only reason you've regained even a basic level of thought is thanks to my mana and the power of this cage. Without it, you'll go back to how you were. Go ahead, if you want to become beings that mindlessly cling to the living, in a daze, not knowing who you were or what you wanted.”
Some of the mud creatures moved forward, squirming.
Adel watched the scene with half-lidded eyes.
For some reason...
...the mud creatures, which just moments ago had seemed vaguely terrifying and instinctively alarming, now looked like workers protesting an unfair contract.
And the evil boss—no, Dorothea—declared.
“Five.”
The movements of the mud creatures stopped all at once.
Question marks seemed to pop up above their heads.
“Four.”
Ignoring them, Dorothea calmly continued her countdown.
As if finally realizing what she was doing, the mud creatures began to convulse in unison.
“Three.”
The creatures desperately tried to approach the cage, but their squirming, muddy bodies were endlessly slow.
“Two.”
Finally, the spirits cast off the black, murky parts that formed their bodies, soaring into the air as translucent, will-o'-the-wisp-like forms.
Without a moment's hesitation, they scrambled over one another, flinging themselves into Dorothea's cage.
“One.”
Click. The cage door snapped shut.
The spirits, struggling inside the cramped cage, soon merged into one, taking the shape of a human skull.
The skull sang.
《My lady Witch! Ask us anything! My lady Witch! Great Witch!》
Ignoring the dumbfounded Adel, the Tin Knight bobbed its head up and down.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses its admiration for the great and mighty Witch's vicious business tactics!]
“Shut up. It's a jumble of different thoughts, so it's hard to handle unless I center it around a relatively docile one. This isn't about my personal taste; it's a necessity.”
Dorothea retorted fiercely.
Judging by the sharpness of her voice, it seemed she herself was a little embarrassed.
Adel stammered a question.
“U-um. You gathered the spirits from inside the labyrinth, right? They've all merged into one... is that okay?”
“I've already cleansed their accumulated grudges and curses, and the souls will separate automatically when the cage's effect wears off, so it doesn't matter. Once we're done, I'll release them under the sunlight, and the contract will be over. They'll sunbathe for a bit and then go their separate ways.”
After replying, Dorothea took out a large cloth and covered the cage with it.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks what she is doing!]
Dorothea narrowed her eyes as if he'd asked the most obvious question.
“This ruin is full of other adventurers. What would people think if they saw me carrying around a cage with a skull in it?”
“...”
The Tin Knight, Adelaide, and even the skull serving as their temporary guide all had the same thought.
Aren't we long past the point of worrying about something like that?
As always, the witch's standards were skewed in some unfathomable way.
*
Adelaide was a girl who loved books.
While she mainly read romance, her older brother's influence meant she had also read her fair share of adventure stories.
Among them were books about labyrinths, which described in detail the hardships of exploration.
The protagonists constantly got lost, fell into traps, and suffered from the threat of approaching monsters and the depletion of their stamina and mana.
Therefore, when she heard their next destination was inside the labyrinth, Adelaide had been quite nervous.
Yes, she had been nervous.
《You must go right here! The other paths are dead ends or full of traps!》
《If you look in this crack in the wall, there's a device that opens a hidden room! The treasure itself has already been looted, but it's a good place to rest comfortably!》
《The monsters on this level are weak to bright light. It's best to have a magic tool with a flash spell, but since those are expensive, people usually make do by carrying several torches!》
《There's nothing special here! There used to be some monsters roaming around, but the adventurers carried out a large-scale subjugation operation last time! You can just pass through at your ease—》
-KISHAAAA!
Slice!
-Gak!
《...》
“...Didn't you just say something about passing through at our ease?”
《All hail the Witch! All hail the great Witch Dorothea!》
Watching the skull desperately flatter Dorothea to avoid her sharp glare—and the monster that had been crushed the moment it attempted a surprise attack—Adelaide thought.
Isn't this, um, different from what I expected?
I mean, it's certainly easy, but is this really how labyrinth exploration is supposed to go?
[The ‘Tin Knight’ marvels that it's like an interactive attraction!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ assesses that if developed into a tourist spot, it would attract a lot of people!]
Following the skull's information, they never got lost. Dorothea took care of lighting their way with magic, and the Tin Knight mercilessly crushed any monsters that occasionally appeared.
All Adel had to do was pull the cart and follow the other two. She never even had a reason to draw her weapon.
Of course, the spirits weren't omniscient, so there were times they lacked information, but even this wasn't a major problem.
“There are a few more around here.”
Whenever Dorothea stopped to tap the ground with her staff, new spirits would appear in response.
Some were dark, murky sludge like the ones they first saw, while others emitted a relatively bright light.
Dorothea offered them a contract as well, and the skull, having absorbed the new spirits, became more distinct and chattered on with even more accurate information.
How long did they proceed like this?
“This floor has a pretty simple structure.”
On the floor, which was shaped like a small dome, there were just three things.
A staircase leading up.
A staircase leading down.
And a large door straight ahead.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ assesses that it looks like a boss room!]
Adelaide, now somewhat accustomed to the Tin Knight's bizarre terminology, nodded in agreement.
In the books she'd read, whenever such a significant-looking space appeared in a labyrinth, it usually meant there was a powerful enemy threatening the protagonists, or a hidden treasure vault.
On a stone monument next to the main door, something was written in a bizarre language Adel didn't recognize.
“My lady Witch, can you read this by any chance?”
“I can't.”
After replying, Dorothea shook the cage from side to side.
The skull quickly spoke up.
《"Those who seek the treasure, prove your valor by offering the giant centipede's poison claw, the black knight's sword, and fairy wing powder before this stone." That's what it says, my lady Witch!》
“You know your stuff.”
《An archaeologist dispatched from the guild made a translation and distributed it to the guild members, my lady Witch!》
“But there are no signs of the door having been opened or closed.”
《The adventurers exploring the labyrinth did find the required monsters, but the party that defeated the giant centipede and the party that defeated the black knight were on bad terms, so they refused to cooperate! As for the fairy, none have ever been discovered on the currently explored floors! That's why no one has been able to open it, my lady Witch!》
“How pathetic. Are there other doors like this on other floors?”
《There's one every five floors! A few were opened when the materials were luckily gathered, securing the contents inside, but more than half remain unopened, my lady Witch!》
“Is that so.”
A wicked smile spread across Dorothea's face.
She approached the main door and caressed its surface.
“I can definitely feel mana. Well, that's to be expected if it's designed to open in response to specific materials.”
Dorothea took the ‘Key of Opium’ from her pocket.
Seeing the key, which was about the size of a finger, Adel voiced her doubt.
“You're going to open it with that? But there isn't even a keyhole.”
“Doesn't matter. I've been carrying it around and analyzing it. It's not meant to be used that way in the first place.”
“This is how you use it,” Dorothea said, touching the key to the door.
To their surprise, the key began to tremble before rising into the air.
Around the key, various geometric patterns appeared.
The patterns, like a tangled skein of thread, gradually untangled into recognizable shapes, and the very moment they were all arranged...
Ruuuumble...
With a sound like a heavy boulder being moved, the closed door swung wide open, revealing the scene beyond.
A room with a solemn atmosphere. In its center sat a single treasure chest.
While Adel was left speechless by its gleam, Dorothea spoke sarcastically.
“Labyrinths are truly bizarre things. They prepare traps and monsters for visitors who might never arrive, yet they also prepare rewards for those same visitors. I don't get the point.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that's just how dungeons are!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says it is a principle of the fantasy world!]
“A principle of the world, my foot. People always gloss things over by talking about principles or the will of the gods when they can't properly explain something they don't understand. This structure must have its own reason, whether it's simply the creator's perverted taste or born from some necessity. Well, that's not what's important right now.”
Dorothea looked at Adel—or more precisely, at the cart she was pulling—and said.
“Load it up.”