Ch.53Mary Grant’s Secret

Inside the boss room was a spacious circular area about 20 meters in diameter.

The ceiling, reaching 4-5 meters high, was adorned with chandeliers of various sizes, while the walls featured antique bronze lanterns instead of the torch holders seen throughout the dungeon.

The atmosphere contrasted sharply with the dark rectangular corridors of the dungeon, resembling something more like a banquet hall.

However, the massive, bizarre magic circle drawn on the circular floor and the pitch-black rocking chair placed at its center served as reminders that this place was not meant for amusement or celebration.

“So you’ve made it this far, you shameless, insolent intruders.”

Sitting on the jet-black rocking chair—which remained lusterless despite the light from the ornate chandeliers—was a girl wearing a worn dress.

The girl, who appeared to be around 14 or 15 years old, had snow-white curly hair and pale skin. Her limbs, visible beyond her cream-colored dress, were so thin they brought to mind a malnourished child.

“A human… a girl?”

“Oh my, were you expecting a fierce battle with some large, ferocious monster?”

With an expressionless face, the white-haired girl slowly rose from the rocking chair, stepped down to the floor, and shot us a look filled with contempt and mockery.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but this is all your own doing.”

“Our own doing?”

“Well, you people are the ones who made me the boss of this dungeon, aren’t you? Ah, I suppose after 38 years, no one remembers my face anymore. I’ve grown so thin, and my hair has turned white.”

“…No way… it can’t be…”

Upon hearing the boss’s lament, Jessica’s face turned deathly pale, and she began to panic as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

And through Jessica’s reaction, the three of us, including myself, could guess the white-haired girl’s identity.

“Mary Grant?”

“No, that’s impossible… it can’t be.”

“Hmm… so forcibly dragging an innocent girl here and offering her as a sacrifice makes sense, but that same girl appearing before you as a dungeon boss doesn’t?”

“Ugh…”

“Does it upset you to witness evidence of your sins right before your eyes? You didn’t even pretend to listen when I begged for my life, but now you feel pangs of conscience? If you’re that uncomfortable, shall I say it like this?”

The dungeon boss who claimed to be Mary Grant looked at each of us—me, Setty, and Mina—one by one, then finally thrust her face right in front of Jessica and spoke in a subdued voice.

“Thank you so much for finally coming to rescue me. I’m truly delighted, even though I’ve been trapped in this filthy dungeon for 38 years.”

“Aah… aaah…”

Jessica’s mental state, which had barely recovered after withstanding the psychic attack in the stairway corridor, was beginning to crumble again.

The Mary Grant incident from 38 years ago was a dark stain on Western Frontier history and an old wound for the people of the Third Western City.

As a pioneer and adventurer from the Third Western City, Jessica was now facing the irreversible sin committed by her parents’ generation.

‘Bang!’

“!?”

A single white magic bullet fired from my revolver cut through the air between Jessica’s and Mary Grant’s faces, which had been nearly touching.

Startled, Mary Grant hastily stepped back and glared at me, while Setty readjusted his spear and moved to shield Jessica and me.

“That’s enough. I know your circumstances from what I’ve heard, but 38 years ago, Jessica wasn’t even born yet.”

“Will…”

“Jessica, pull yourself together. Whatever those adventurers did 38 years ago, you have no reason to be blamed or feel guilty about it.”

I approached Jessica, who had slumped down powerlessly, and gently rubbed her back. Gradually, she began to regain her composure.

Her panic seemed unnaturally severe, even considering how the taboos of the pioneers had been triggered. It seemed likely that some form of mind-affecting magic, similar to the voices in the stairway corridor, had been used to destabilize her mental state.

“You’re truly annoying. To so easily restore a mind that was falling apart…”

“Let’s just call it the power of love.”

“Heh, then what about that thing on the stairs earlier? That was just mating between animals in heat, wasn’t it?”

“No comment on that. After all, you were the one who caused it in the first place.”

“Then why don’t you share some of that love with me? Being forcibly dragged here as a sacrifice, and now having to be killed by the descendants of those people—don’t you think that’s too cruel?”

“What exactly are you suggesting?”

“It’s simple. Bring me a replacement sacrifice to take over as the dungeon boss. That dwarf woman over there would do. No, actually, she’s the only one among you who qualifies.”

Mina, who had been singled out by Mary Grant, let out a short “Eek!” and hid behind me.

As a dungeon boss who demands virgin sacrifices, she apparently possesses the ability to discern whether a woman before her is a virgin or not.

“If we bring a new sacrifice, you’ll step down as the dungeon boss?”

“Yes. This dungeon is structured to make a sacrificed girl its boss. Don’t you think I deserve to ask for this much after keeping you safe for 38 years thanks to me?”

“What do you mean we’ve been safe thanks to you?”

In response to Jessica’s question, Mary Grant gave an expression of disbelief before asking back.

“Who do you think has been holding back the plague-spreading rat-men from leaving this dungeon entrance for the past 38 years? If I had wanted to, I could have spread the plague and wreaked havoc outside long ago.”

“…So despite being forcibly sacrificed, you’ve been sealing the dungeon yourself to prevent the plague from spreading?”

“That’s right.”

“For the sake of the people who dragged you here, placed you on the altar, and ignored your pleas for help?”

“That’s what I said.”

“…You really do lie as easily as breathing.”

As I shook my head in disbelief, Mary Grant glared at me fiercely and retorted.

“Are you saying I’m lying?”

“It’s more like I doubt you’ve spoken a single word of truth so far. After all, you’re not Mary Grant.”

“Wh-what are you talking about…!”

“Jessica, you noticed it too, right? It was you who told me about the Mary Grant incident in the first place.”

“…Yes. That child is not Mary Grant. Her body might be, but her soul definitely isn’t.”

Jessica, who had been calming herself in my arms until just now, slowly rose to her feet.

With a resolute expression devoid of any fear or agitation, she looked straight at the dungeon boss and spoke in a firm voice.

“Mary Grant was secretly moved to the altar after being drugged with sleeping medicine. She might remember waking up already placed on the altar, but there’s no way she would have memories of being forcibly dragged there or begging for her life.”

“Ah! Th-that’s…”

“Now I’m certain. You’ve stolen the bodies of sacrificed girls and manipulated their souls, but you don’t possess their memories. You’re just trying to deceive us with plausible generalities.”

“……”

“Do you have any more excuses?”

In response to Jessica’s question, the white-haired girl briefly seemed at a loss for words, then began to slowly back away with a resigned expression.

“Sigh… things aren’t going as planned. I was hoping to avoid a fight if possible.”

“A dungeon boss who dislikes fighting—that’s an amusing joke.”

“I’m serious. Direct combat isn’t my style. When intruders get infected and lose consciousness, I turn them into rat-men, and they go off to kill their comrades on their own. There’s no need for me to take risks personally.”

“Go to kill their comrades… Then the monsters discovered outside the dungeon 38 years ago were—”

“That’s right. They were intruders who lost consciousness inside this dungeon. I shattered their minds just enough and used transformation magic to change their appearance into that of mice. The ones you met in the dungeon were toys that remained intact even after completely transforming into monsters.”

This was the moment when the mystery of the overflow precursor phenomenon from 38 years ago was revealed.

The monsters that were thought to have emerged from the dungeon were actually adventurers whose minds had collapsed and appearances had changed, but who still maintained their lives as humans.

It made sense that they could freely pass through the dungeon entrance and exit if they were humans, not monsters.

But the pioneers, unaware of this fact, attacked the “monsters” that appeared near the city, and the victims, unable to make normal judgments due to their collapsed mental states, fought back against the Western City pioneers who attacked them.

The outcome of that conflict goes without saying.

“Let me ask you one last thing. Won’t you consider backing down and ending this fight? There’s nothing for you to gain by defeating me, so why take unnecessary risks?”

“I’m afraid that won’t work. There’s something we absolutely must obtain by defeating you.”

“What is it?”

“Peace for the Third Western City and the settlement of its sad history.”

With those words, Jessica extended her right hand forward and delivered an ultimatum in a resolute voice.

“Mary Grant… no, Boss of the Plague Dungeon. We’re going to demolish this dungeon today.”

“Foolish intruders. You’ll regret this.”

“…Flame Lance.”

Flames ignited in Jessica’s outstretched right hand, while ominous black energy gathered around the boss who had taken Mary Grant’s form.

It was the beginning of a decisive battle where neither side had any room left to retreat.