68 - Episode 35: Meeting for the first time

--Turn back time a little bit.

Sasha and her fiancé Mikael look cautiously to the left and right as if to confirm the situation that has shifted.

I'm surprised Sharp Hat didn't see through the traps. ......

Is this ...... still inside the 'Giant Tower'?"

It's ......." The material is probably still inside the "Giant Tower.

Sasha was being held by Mikael and moved, so even if she was caught in a transition trap, they would move to a place together.

In fact, Ellie had adjusted the transference so that even if the two were not hugging each other, they would be in the same place. ......

The transference trap sent them away, but the deputy leader of the "White Knights" and a former member of the "Gathering of Tribes" was not distraught and had time to calmly observe his surroundings.

As they pointed out, there was a straight corridor made of the same material as the "Giant Tower. It makes a gentle right turn, but as far as the eye can see, there is not a single obstacle.

It is wide enough for two people to stand side by side with their arms outstretched.

There were no doors or windows on the walls as far as the eye could see.

A light created by magic embedded in the ceiling shines brightly down the corridor.

The light was glinting off the corridor. "It's pointless to keep stopping at ......," said the man who was standing in the corridor. Let's move on."

I'll take care of the scouts.

No, there may be traps, and we don't know what kind of monsters will surprise us. So I'll go in front. I'm not as good as Sharp Hat, but I can at least do a good job as a scout. Sasha-sama, please be ready to use the fantasma class borrowed from the Countess at any time.

I understand.

Mikael's proposal is the best solution for the current situation, so Sasha does not argue any further, and as instructed, he holds the fantasy-class (fantasma class) weapon entrusted to him by the Countess ......, which looks completely "Ocarina" in one hand.

The other, which is free, grabs Mikael's cloak from behind.

This is a measure to prevent splitting up when he gets caught again in the shifting trap and flies away.

Mikael also has a shield borrowed from the Prime Minister,...... which is also fantasma class and has a design of a monster with the breath of a goddess and an expression of anguish on its face.

It has an artistic quality that could be described as a painting rather than a shield design.

He pulls out his sword and starts to walk away.

He taps the floor with his sword, checking for traps as he goes.

Sasha, please be careful not to step on any place other than the floor I step on.

Of course, Master Michael."

The two begin to walk down the hallway as seriously as if they were taking on a diabolical dungeon.

If they reveal the ...... seeds, there is not a single trap, not a single monster, until they reach the throne room where the lights are waiting for them.

They could have been transferred directly to the throne room, but they were deliberately set to fly down a long corridor.

The reason was just to harass them.

Immediately after being sent away by the transfer trap, the seemingly empty corridor goes on and on. It is a natural consequence of being on the lookout for traps, and going forward while being unnecessarily nervous.

They are just going through such a roundabout way to harass Sasha.

Unaware of this, the two proceed slowly with a determined look on their faces.

They take their time and carefully continue down the empty corridor until they come to a dead end.

There is only one way in and out.

A huge door was waiting for them.

It is a huge door that even a golem over four meters long could easily pass through.

Sasha let slip a few words.

It looks like a boss's room waiting for us deep inside a dungeon.

The boss of "The Giant Tower," is it? ...... The boss is the Red Dragon, and I hope that if we defeat him, we will be able to get out safely.

Mikael lets out a slight chuckle and shrugs.

His reaction made Sasha smile as well.

After the two finish laughing, their expressions tighten.

I guess we'll just have to go inside ......."

Michael-sama, I am always ready to use the 'ocarina'."

If you sense any danger, please do so immediately."

After the two finished exchanging other brief responses, Mikael gently touched the door and applied force.

When he touched it, the door automatically opened.

It opens and closes so smoothly and slowly, without a sound, that one would think it was being opened and closed by a dedicated Titan.

I thought to myself, "......?　Why is that human (inferior species) here ......?"

"Sasha-dono?"

When the door opens, the space is so bright that one wonders if he or she has emerged into sunlight, a far cry from the dimly lit corridor.

The pillars, though thinner than those on the first floor of the "Giant Tower," are lined regularly, and a red carpet stretches in a straight line toward the throne.

It was as large as a gymnasium.

The ceiling was high, and although there was not a single window, there was no sense of being blocked in at all.

The room is too simple for a throne room, but the beauty of the two girls standing in front of the throne, a beautiful girl in a magician's costume and a blue-haired girl wearing a cat-ear hood, is enough to make up for it.

The beauty of these two girls exceeds even that of the elf species.

No matter how much money they bore, how many skilled craftsmen they arranged, and how many designs they made, they could never exceed the space colored by the beauty of these two girls - they even gave such a strong impression.

If we consider them as a work of art, an existence that adorns the throne room, they radiate an elegance that would easily surpass even the treasures of the palace of the Queen Elf Kingdom.

The problem is that there is a human sitting on the throne, a race that Sasha is familiar with.

Even from a distance, it is easily recognizable.

He wears a clown's mask and a black cloak, and he holds a staff in his hand.

It is the human child whom I mistook for a "light" and called out to on the first day of my previous investigation of the "Giant Tower.

No matter how much Sasha may look down on humans (inferior species) and basically forget about them, he left a very strong impression on me.

There are enough burns under that mask to make her look away immediately.

'It might be a light,' he called out, ordering her to take off the mask. In doing so, Sasha saw the burns so clearly that she screamed involuntarily.

Therefore, it was deeply etched in her memory.

Sasha, are you acquainted with the man who sits on the throne?

I'm not so much an acquaintance as I am a ....... I just remember seeing him on the day we investigated the tower.

............

They are aware of us, but do not make the slightest move.

They are just sitting there, waiting for us to enter the room.

Mikael and Sasha looked around, but there was no one but them in the throne room, and there was no space for the red dragon to hide.

......It looks like we'll just have to go into the room. Let's go, Lady Sasha."

Yes, Master Michael.

As the two enter the room, the door closes.

Naturally, the two were not upset because they had expected it and moved forward.

As they approach a certain distance, they are approached by a boy sitting on a throne.

It's been a long time, Sasha.

?"　It's true that we haven't seen each other like this since the day of the "Giant Tower" survey, but I don't think we're the kind of people who can talk to each other so casually. Rather, a human (an inferior species) should not talk to me so casually. It's disgusting!

Sasha exhales in one breath.

The two beautiful girls standing in front of the throne make an "annoyed" expression on their faces, but their faces are so well-developed that even their irritated expressions are beautiful and lovely.

Because he was standing in front of Sasha, Mikael's expression was not stolen by his fiancée. Therefore, his fiancee, Sasha, could not see him admiring the two girls.

The masked boy laughs - a laugh that sends a chill down Sasha's spine.

'Ha ha ha, that's terrible. We used to party together and even dive dungeons together on good terms."

Huh?　You must be mistaking me for another elf species. Why should I dive in a dungeon on good terms with a human (inferior species) ......"

At first, Sasha is annoyed by what she considers to be horseshit and raises her voice, but then she realizes in the middle of spitting out her line.

It is true that she had dived in a dungeon with a human at one point in her life. Realizing this fact, the latter half of his words gradually faded away.

But I have already identified the face of the boy sitting in front of me.

It is not him.

However, the paper that said "Wait at the Giant Tower" had put Sasha himself in mortal danger several times, and he had managed to reach the inner part of the "Giant Tower" as instructed.

If the paper is correct, there can only be one human being there.

The human sitting on the throne puts his hand on the mask.

Sasha could never take her eyes off it, even though she had seen with her own eyes that there was a terrible burn under it, an ugly thing that she hated the most.

At this moment, he even forgets his fiancée at his side, Mikael, who is his glorious future itself, and devours it.

The boy takes off his mask completely.

Sasha unconsciously utters an ugly sound.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

'I'll say it again. It's been a long time, Sasha."

The lights laugh.

He laughs ferociously.

He laughs with the joy of a ferocious beast just before it leaps at you.

I'm here to avenge what happened three years ago, Sasha .......