CH 131

“What is this place?” (Kei)

Such words come out of my mouth. It’s like another world, different from a dungeon. If you think the entrance is a cave, you’ll suddenly enter a forest, and if you continue, you’ll end up in some kind of man-made ruins. This is the end.

I wonder how many people have seen this view. Probably not. It would be impossible to look at a view like this and not tell someone.

The ground was cracked, and rotting trees were tumbling around, stripped of their roots. The air is filled with a black mist that looks as if a monster has been killed, but the mist is wavering as if it has a will of its own.

This is a wilderness. It is smaller than the forest, and I can see a solid wall in the distance. And between that and the wall, you can find a number of things to indicate that it was not a wilderness, just by looking around a bit.

In the distance is a pile of rubble blocking the way to the far side. Near us, there are several smaller piles of rubble that remain in regular order.

“Haru, let’s go.” (Kei)

“Yes.” (Haru)

I see Haru gripping her tonfa tightly and I put my hand on the hilt of my sword. It’s not as if there are no monsters here, I remind myself.

There is no pile of rubble in front of us as if it were a road. Even the biggest ones are only knee-high. We pass over small piles of rubble and reach a large pile of rubble.

“It’s a moat, right?” (Kei)

“Well, it’s buried, so I can’t tell how deep it is.” (Haru)

The pile of rubble we had seen was only a small part of it. The rubble had filled a large trench, a moat, and all we could see was what was left over after filling the moat.

“Where did all this rubble come from?” (Kei)

“Let’s just go back.” (Haru)

We climbed over the pile of rubble but stopped when we were about halfway through.

“The size of the rubble is different in the front and the back.” (Kei)

“Should we start digging?” (Haru)

From the point of view of where we came into this wilderness, the back of the pile of rubble seems to be more detailed.

Using our raised status, we finished digging the hole in no time at all. I cleared away a lot of debris, both large and small, and what I saw underneath was what looked like a crushed foundation.

“I guess all the rubble here came from a building that was built on top of this foundation.” (Kei)

“I wonder why there’s such a building here.” (Haru)

The depth is about the size of our house, including the garden. The width.

If you look to the right, you can see a wall a few hundred meters away. Surely the rubble continues to that point. The same goes for the left. The distance is about the same as on the right.

“Oh, I see. That’s a castle wall.” (Haru)

Haru’s words made sense to me. That’s right, I thought. The moat in the front and the wall in the back. So this place was meant to stop some kind of intruder.

But if that’s the case, why was it built here?

This place is far away from the entrance of the dungeon. Even if we were as strong as we are now, even if we knew all the paths, it’s not a place we could reach in a day or two.

And yet, here we were, on the walls. And yet, here is the wall, a wall that is no less an obstacle than a wall, with a long way to go and a nasty monster.

“Brother, is that a house?” (Haru)

Haru pointed to the many small piles of rubble near us when we first arrived here.

“Maybe.” (Kei)

Haru and I didn’t know how to build a castle or a castle town. I’m not sure if there is such a thing as a house outside of a castle wall and moat, but this is a dungeon. It doesn’t matter how normal the castle is outside.

Just as I was wondering what was going on, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Do you guys know where you are?” (Burlando)

My hand on the hilt of my sword was grabbed and couldn’t move. I was aware of the voice, but I moved my head to check.

“What is it this? Burlando.” (Kei)

It was the person we had just parted ways with a short while ago, Burlando. I looked around, but there was no sign of Sostenuto.

My grabbed hand is pulled and I added more force, but Burlando’s grip also becomes stronger. The pain in his hand began to increase. Suddenly, my hand was squeezed tightly as if it was tense. The next moment, Burlando’s hand left mine and she took a few steps backward.

“What are you planning?” (Haru)

A cold voice came from behind me. A tonfa, which was thrust out by Haru, was in the place where Burlando was just before, and a drop of red liquid remained.

“Oh, was Haruka-chan such a scary girl?” (Burlando)

There was a small but sharp cut on Burlando’s cheek, who has a silly expression on her face.

“You attacked my brother, didn’t you?” (Haru)

I felt Haru’s eyes glance at my hand, and I shook it to show that I was fine. My hand was still moving, but there was a clear handprint of Burlando on it. Haru’s eyes become even sharper when she sees it.

I don’t feel any pain anymore, but with a bitter chuckle, I pull out my sword and put my left hand on my mouth.

If the opponent is a monster that doesn’t think, there is no need for such tricks. I hide my mouth from Burlando and cast magic in a whisper.

Haru’s body glows, indicating to Burlando that I have cast an Enchantment spell. Then I cast a spell on myself. There was no interruption.

Burlando just looked at us with a blank expression.

“Are you ready to fight?” (Burlando)

Burlando sees that we have used the Enchantment Magic and the rings on our fingers. Our ring, the treasure glows hot. It is a sign that the restrictions on the treasure have been lifted.

“We refused, so you came to destroy us like this?” (Kei)

“No, I’m not going to do anything. I told you. I told you, we want you to take down our colleague.” (Burlando)

Burlando slowly turned around and put her hands to her ears.

“Come on, a hero has come.” (Burlando)

The words that came out of Burlando’s mouth were carried by magic and flew away.

The next moment.

The dungeon shook as the mist swayed in the air.