CH 189

Afterwards, we successfully navigated through the maze on the plain, taking quite a bit of time. However, there were no traps or monsters that pushed us off the path, so it seemed that anyone could make it through as long as they had enough time.

However, taking time meant consuming physical stamina and concentration. Especially for me, who had been engrossed in the [Automapping] for a long time, I felt a slight heaviness in my head, if not a headache. Nonetheless, I walked the straight path at the end of the maze, and finally reached its deepest part.

“…Huh? What’s this?”

“A pedestal, huh?”

In front of us appeared a stone pedestal about chest-high. On its diagonally cut surface were palm-sized protrusions, strongly demanding to be pushed.

“There’s nothing else… so we have no choice but to push it, right?”

“Hold on, Lunaritia.”

Gou stopped Tia, who was reaching for the button, and went around to the back of the pedestal. I also leaned in to take a look, and there I saw a discreetly placed jar.

“Hehehe, so there was a jar after all!”

“Wow, you figured it out nicely.”

“Well, it’s just a result of my years of intuition. Now then…”

Gou smirked and took the jar in his hand, slamming it onto the ground. A pleasant sound, like a ringing bell, resonated, and a shining medal flew out from the fragments.

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“Oh! This is something good.”

“Oh, you’ve seen that one before. What is that?”

The thing Gou was holding it in his hand, looked like a gold coin at first glance, but its design was different from regular gold coins. However, having seen Gou acquire the same thing several times during our journey, I knew that there were similar items all over the world.

“You mean this? I’m not entirely sure either, but if you collect these and bring them to the castle, you can exchange them for convenient magical tools or something like that.”

“Is the king collecting them?”

“You could say that, or you could say it’s not. You can exchange them at any castle in any country around the world, so it feels more like the royal family is collecting them rather than a specific individual. I don’t know anything beyond that, and I’ve never really thought about it.”

“I see. Is it like a trendy artwork among the kings?”

As Gou put the picked-up medal into his bag, Tia lightly tilted her head and asked.

“It might be. Well then, Gou-san, press the button!”

“Very well, let’s do it.”

As we prepared ourselves again, Gou slowly approached the large button and pressed it. The stone button made a sliding sound as it sank in, and in that instant…

“Whoa?!”

“What is this…?!”

Suddenly, the scenery in front of us distorted, and the next moment, the pedestal disappeared from sight. I hurriedly checked the [Auto-Mapping] and it seemed like we had returned to the place where we entered the first main path.

“It seems like we’ve returned to the first path.”

“Phew, that’s good. That means we didn’t have to go back through that maze.”

“Right. Besides, we’ve finished investigating all the branches, so there’s no need to enter it again.”

“Eh, so you mean if we had taken the shortest route, you were planning to go back into that maze?”

“That’s right, why?”

Upon hearing Gou’s response, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Tia made a deeply disgusted face. In that case, the time it would have taken to get back here would have been much shorter, so there shouldn’t have been much difference in total… But wait, if that button can only be pressed once, does that mean we have to walk back the second time? If that’s the case, then it’s certainly right to go through everything the first time…

“Well… well, it’s fine since it didn’t happen. But, if that’s the case, what was the meaning of that button?”

“Maybe it made the wooden fence at the dead-end disappear?”

“Oh, that’s possible! But there were two fences, I remember. So…”

“There’s at least one more button somewhere in one of the branches.”

The branching path that diverged from the main road totaled seven in all. If we suddenly hit the jackpot, the next one will likely be quite challenging…

“Hahaha! What are you two talking about? Even if there’s a button at the next fork, it’s all the same since we’re going to explore them all anyway!”

“…I suppose you’re right.”

Well, yeah. I knew Gou would say something like that. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have completely explored a maze that appears to be empty.

“However, as promised earlier, let’s hear everyone’s thoughts. I personally want to explore them all, but what do you two think?”

“Since there were seven side paths, I’d like to investigate up to four of them and then continue ahead if there’s nothing significant. That seems like a reasonable compromise, don’t you think?”

“As for me, I think it’s worth exploring them all. It’s obviously a special place, and there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to come back or maybe we won’t be able to return, so it’s better to thoroughly investigate within the limits of not depleting our supplies like food and healing potions.”

“I see. As I’ve been saying all along, I intended to explore them all from the beginning. So how about we thoroughly investigate up to the fourth side path, which is the unanimous decision of everyone, and then discuss it again there?”

“I’m fine with that.”

“I’m okay with it too.”

“Great, let’s do that then! Hehehe… It’s nice to discuss strategies with companions.”

Quietly, but with a joyful smile, Gou laughed, and Tia and I exchanged glances and smiles in response. And so, our party continued to enter the remaining side paths one after another.

The paths diverging ahead, such as crossing a bridge made of floating trees by adjusting the water level or manipulating moving shadows to create a path by changing the direction of light, each presented their own challenges… but given enough time, they could be overcome without much danger.

We successfully cleared them one by one, and at the fourth path, we found the endpoint with the desired button. However, considering the elaborate mechanisms present, we thought there might still be something more to it, so in the end, we completely explored all the side paths.

“It was quite long… and surprisingly enjoyable.”

“That’s right. Even though you seemed so bothered by it at first, you willingly engaged in solving the mysteries along the way.”

“Mou! Don’t say such mean things!”

While being lightly slapped on the forehead by Tia, I pondered about the path we had taken.

A path that can be overcome if you don’t give up. It wasn’t a test to be discarded but a trial to be overcome. Indeed, this was the “Trial Mountain.” There were no significant dangers, and if it were open to the public, families might come here for a leisurely visit.

“However, well, I was bothered by the fact that we could achieve it so easily just by going off the path. I wonder what would happen if we left the path?”

Laughing heartily, Gou said, “That’s pointless to worry about. Anyway, I won’t stray from the path! Besides…”

In front of a genuinely delighted Gou, a jar was placed. Without any hindrance, he reached out into the space where the wooden fence had disappeared and slowly picked up the jar, which seemed to be the final challenge in this “Trial Mountain.”

“Now, this is the end!”

As he raised the jar high and slammed it onto the ground, a satisfying clatter reverberated through the surroundings. However, from within, the “Proof of the True Hero” did not emerge.

“Huh?”

“Look! The path!”

In front of Gou, who tilted his head in confusion, a new path appeared where there was once a dead end.

“It seems it’s not over yet.”

“Yes, it seems so… Ahem, Ahem. Well then, shall we go again?”

“Yes!”

“Sure.”

With a somewhat crestfallen expression, Gou cleared his throat, and we proceeded down the path that seemed to hold the final trial.