CH 25

“Uh, there is a ‘Box.’ But there is no way to tell if it’s a trap or not.”

“Indeed.”

Having concluded our break, one of us opens the door to the room across the hall and we check out the interior.

Like the passageway, the room has a wooden floor and metal cylinder on the walls, but in the center is a black cube of about 30 centimeters on a side, slowly rotating and floating.

“Is that the ‘Box’… I believe there are materials inside?”

“Yes. Just like the clay we recovered earlier, it is said to contain objects that are useful for processing by God’s power.”

This object is commonly called a “Box,” which can be opened and taken out when someone puts their hand on it.

Apparently, the crucial content of the box is an object that belongs to a different system from the clay that can be retrieved by defeating monsters. However, the use of the object itself is the same.

Why such an object exists in the “Maze” is unknown, and one theory suggests that it may be a sort of bug that appears when the “Maze” is reconfigured.

“If it is possible to recover it, I would like to do so… Toki-san. Can you open the ‘Box’ through your shield?”

“I have never tried it, so I can’t say.”

“Yeah. How about leaving the door open and testing it in a situation where we can escape right away? Toki nee-chan?”

“I suppose so. It might be worth checking if it is possible to do this for the future. Why don’t I give it a shot?”

“Watch out, Toki-san.”

“Be careful, Toki nee-chan.”

At the entrance of the room, Sora-san is vigilant to ensure that no hostiles are forthcoming from the end of the passageway that spreads out to the left and right, and while I am keeping an eye on the situation, Toki-san approaches the “Box” with her shield at the ready.

“…”

Across from the shield that Toki-san is holding, the sound of something coming off is heard.

Toki-san then slowly moves back to our side after extending her face and hands from the edge of the shield to retrieve something.

We should all three return to the small room we were in previously for our own safety.

“It appears it can be retrieved.”

“Good work. That’s a good piece of information.”

“Heh, it really is a little different, huh?”

Toki-san presents a rectangular object with a red jelly-like texture in her hand.

It seems that this is the object that was in the “Box”.

[That’s a Red Jelly Cuboid. The quality appears to be reasonably satisfactory.]

“Ah, Ys-san.”

“Huh? Can you reveal yourself in the ‘Maze’?”

“[That’s because our contract is unique.]”

This is where Ys emerges from me and enlightens me on the name of the object recovered from the “Box,” which I will share with the two people who cannot hear Ys’ voice.

The specific use of the objects is beyond Ys’ area of knowledge, but even simply knowing the name and quality of the objects would be invaluable information in the “Maze”.

Therefore, after putting the recovered object in a special pouch so as not to lose it, the exploration is resumed.

Incidentally, even a God with disproportionate power is essentially unable to manifest themselves until an appropriate physical form has been attained since the “Maze” is the domain of the woman in a military uniform. The fact that I have assimilated Ys into my being is perhaps the reason she can appear.

But if one is willing to risk losing their existence by exerting all of their power, it is also conceivable to temporarily appear even without a physical body.

“And there’s another noisemaker on the floor again. Please be attentive.”

“Got it.”

We pick up our exploration again and come across the noisemaker on the floor once more. Since we don’t have time to look for another route, we avoid this and continue on, altering our course whenever a door is discovered.

“Even so, there are so many noisemaker floors.”

“Maybe it’s a feature of this ‘Maze’.”

“That could be…”

“Speaking of which, Akira onee-sama, I heard that you had entered another ‘Maze’ once, but what was that one like?”

“The floor, walls, ceiling, and pillars were all composed of metal at the time, as I recall.”

“Wow…”

While running down the passageway, I unconsciously grumble about the number of noisemaker floors I have been warned about by Sora-san, but Toki-san’s remarks make me think that’s how a “Maze” should be.

In any event, stepping on a noisemaker floor increases the risk of being found and targeted by the enemy, so it’s best to steer clear of them.

[Kokokonkon♪]

[[!?]]

“A hostile presence is approaching us!”

And here, all of a sudden, a light sound like the tapping of a xylophone and the sound of destruction that seems to be caused by the combat start reverberating from far away, and as soon as Toki-san and I get into position, Sora-san informs us that the enemy is approaching.

“What was that sound!?”

“It is likely the sound of the noisemaker floor!”

“That means someone other than us must have stepped on it.”

“And we are not in luck… if we are in the path of those who have been summoned by it.”

“Burushaaaaah!”

Just as we are poised for battle, a quadrupedal monster that I had initially seen in my first encounter with the “Maze” appears from a different direction than where the xylophone sound was heard, emitting a strange cry and positioning itself to leap out at any moment, identifying us as its prey.

As I recollect, this monster is known as “Brush” due to the way its head is covered with fangs.

The red crystal is on the tip of its tail, and the combination of its sharp fangs and speed with a physique as tall as an adult male can easily tear through metal, or so I have heard.

As of right now, all we can say with certainty is that this is one of the “Maze’s” most ferocious monsters and that under such circumstances, it would be preferable to take it down rather than run away.

“The two of you should prepare yourselves for the fight…”

With my left eye closed, I slowly begin to spin the sling in my right hand.

“I know what to do.”

“Yes.”

Both Sora-san and Toki-san are also reinforcing their equipment and physical body to be ready for the battle.

Then, as if not waiting for us to get into position, Brush scrapes the ground with its right foreleg a few times and then…

“Burushaaaaaah!”

A peculiar squeal escapes from it, followed by a wide jerk of its head as it rushes towards us.