Ch.5Chapter 5

Aghartha was the first to react.

“…As expected, you’re a lunatic! You’re calmly doing things we couldn’t even imagine! That’s thrilling! I can’t help but admire you!”

“What.”

I was trying to set a serious tone, but this damned woman is just labeling me as a lunatic.

…Well, I did admit to it earlier.

But still!

Thinking The Huntsman would be different, I shifted my gaze to him, only to find him resting his chin on his finger, seriously contemplating something.

Yes, I believed in you, that’s right!

As I watched The Huntsman with high expectations for his response, he nodded.

“Hmm, indeed a lunatic.”

“Oh come on!”

I trusted you, at least I trusted The Huntsman!

How could you backstab me like this!

Seeing my despairing expression, The Huntsman smirked and stood up.

“Well, if it’s nonsense, I can just listen and ignore it.”

Then he shifted his gaze back to me.

As I stared back with a question mark floating above my head, not understanding what he meant, The Huntsman pointed at me with his chin and said:

“You said you have a method?”

“…Ah, ah!”

Ah, as expected of The Huntsman! What disrespect have I shown to this rising coin!

I found myself speaking excitedly without realizing it.

“There’s probably something around here that can defeat that Outer God.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s… a feeling, I guess?”

“A lunatic’s intuition, huh. And then?”

Ah, really.

They keep bringing up that lunatic meme.

I guess it means they don’t trust me.

“Ah, right. Remember I said I could read the writing on the wall earlier? I got a sense from reading that! Look at my mental state, haha.”

“…You believed me when I said lunatics don’t go mad from reading the text? I was just teasing you.”

Aghartha suddenly chimed in from the side.

You damn woman!

Keep quiet!

If you say the wrong thing here, we’ll all die, got it?!

Aghartha saw the look in my eyes, seemed slightly startled, then averted her gaze and started whistling.

I was considering giving her a forehead flick out of anger when The Huntsman made a “hmm” sound as if thinking about something.

“…Surprisingly useful.”

“Eh?! You believe this?”

Aghartha exclaimed in surprise.

She’s not even trying to hide it anymore.

“I may have an easygoing personality, but this is a matter of life and death! Shouldn’t we think about this more carefully?”

“Would you rather just sit here and starve to death together?”

“Well… no, hehe.”

The thief shriveled up and lost her momentum at The Huntsman’s words.

Yes, how cute you are when you obediently listen.

I hope she stays like this from now on.

“So, where is this ‘something’?”

At that question, I gave an awkward smile.

The Huntsman frowned, and I let out an awkward laugh before answering.

“…We’ll have to look for it now.”

Was it my imagination that I felt a murderous intent from The Huntsman for a moment?

#

As we looked around, we found some items that the guards had left behind when they disappeared.

The most valuable among them was a lantern.

I could see fine since everything looked bright to me, but well, they said it was dark for them.

With improved visibility, Aghartha finally began to demonstrate her abilities properly.

I suppose a thief is still a thief?

Thanks to her Super Coward Mode, she quickly found something that even I, with my passive brightness, couldn’t detect.

“There’s something here!”

What she found was, according to Aghartha, a fake wall.

“This is an invisible wall created with illusion magic, but it’s not civilian magic—it’s imperial magic, so it’s not easy to dispel.”

See, look.

I was right.

I knew there would be something!

This is my gaming experience at work!

The Huntsman stared blankly at the thief, then closed his eyes and sighed.

“…Now you want to play a shell game?”

I scratched the back of my head, embarrassed by his tone of lamenting his situation.

“But we found it, right?”

Not understanding The Huntsman’s feelings, Aghartha chattered excitedly.

“I’ve been exceptionally good at finding these things since I was young! There’s a technique I use to find them, passed down through generations of thieves. But not all thieves can use it—only the most talented ones can acquire this skill…”

“I get it, so please shut up.”

When The Huntsman spoke with disgust, the thief became dejected, but then seemed to think, ‘Why should I?’ and raised her head again.

“This is such important information! Oh, right. And the method to unlock this wall is crucial too—only scholarly thieves can even attempt to…”

“I bet your precious mouth would float even if you drowned.”

“No! I! Found! The! Wall! Can’t you at least listen to this much?

Can’t you empathize?”

…Listening to their conversation, I realized.

That empathy-seeking type exists in every era and world.

…I regretted not letting her stay quiet when The Huntsman told her to shut up.

The Huntsman now turned his back on Aghartha, apparently no longer wanting to deal with her, and looked only at me.

“So, what do we do now?”

“Well, I think what I mentioned should be inside there…”

I was speaking cautiously since I wasn’t certain about anything, when suddenly I heard a snort.

“Sure, that’s how you’re going to be? So petty.”

Then Aghartha approached the invisible wall and placed her hand on it.

Sparks flew as if there was some resistance, but Aghartha scoffed and, holding a needle in her other hand, tore through it precisely as if ripping fabric.

The invisible wall shimmered like a rainbow for a moment, then disappeared, revealing the space beyond.

Aghartha seemed intoxicated with her accomplishment, but wanting to show she was still upset, she maintained a sulky expression as she turned around.

“I’m going in first, follow me or do whatever you want!”

And then Aghartha recklessly tried to enter the space.

At that moment, The Huntsman, who had been acting indifferent, moved quickly and grabbed Aghartha by the scruff of her neck just before she entered.

“Kyaak!”

Aghartha screamed in surprise, but The Huntsman didn’t care at all and brought the thief’s face close to his with a fierce expression.

“After acting like you know everything, are you so desperate to die?”

“…What suddenly…”

“For all your boasting about fake walls and defunct imperial magic, you don’t actually know anything.”

The Huntsman roughly released the thief and looked down at her with contempt.

“Did you not know that this place is packed with ‘The Exiled God’?”

“…The Exiled God?”

Hearing this term for the first time, The Huntsman shook his head and said:

“They’re like fragments that failed to become Outer Gods. Do you think you can handle them?”

“Hiccup.”

Unlike me, Aghartha seemed to understand what this meant and was so terrified she started hiccupping.

I couldn’t help but snicker at the sight of her pale face and hiccups.

“Y-you laughed?!”

“Yes.”

“And you’re so shameless about it!”

Well, I don’t really understand what’s going on.

Besides, seeing Aghartha, who had been mocking me, so frightened—shouldn’t I be pleased?

I thought that if I got the chance to deal damage, I should periodically hit her for my happiness index.

Did she notice my thoughts?

Aghartha took out her needle with a vicious look, so I turned away.

The Huntsman sighed at their antics before focusing on the situation again.

“So what are you planning to do now? Surely you’re not suggesting we go in there and commit suicide?”

I scratched the back of my head absently as I listened to The Huntsman.

“Are they really such frightening beings?”

The Exiled God—with “small” in the name, they seemed weaker than Outer Gods.

The Huntsman sighed at my words, then approached the former wall and held up the lantern.

As the room beyond brightened, what I saw was:

“Oh.”

“…Eeeek!”

My reaction differed from Aghartha’s.

The Huntsman pointed inside and said:

“If there were only one of those, I might risk entering.

Look, do you think you can handle all those densely packed creatures?

When gathered in large numbers, their feeble power amplifies and drives anyone who approaches them insane by tearing at their minds.”

Hearing The Huntsman’s explanation, Aghartha seemed to feel it more acutely and began slowly moving away from the passage.

But even after listening to The Huntsman, I could only tilt my head in confusion.

Because to my eyes, they looked like fairies from a fairy tale, resting on the walls.

“They’re cute though?”

“What?”

The Huntsman’s voice clearly revealed his surprise at my comment.

But what can I do if that’s my impression?

Just then, one of The Exiled God stretched and detached from the wall, making eye contact with me.

“Human?”

It didn’t seem to be addressing me directly, more like expressing surprise at seeing a human.

Hmm.

“What, never seen a human before?”

When I responded, The Exiled God looked around and pointed at itself.

As if asking, ‘Are you talking to me?’

I nodded, and The Exiled God’s expression gradually changed to a bright smile.

Then it started poking and waking up all The Exiled God sleeping around it.

“…Mmm, why?”

“There’s a human who understands our language!”

“Is that real?!”

Starting with that one, the fairies that had been densely attached to the walls began flying around inside with bright smiles.

“What have you done! Why are The Exiled God suddenly going wild…!”

The Huntsman exclaimed in shock, but I couldn’t respond because one of The Exiled God interrupted.

“Human, can you really understand us?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my! How fascinating!”

“Everyone! This isn’t the time for this.”

The one who appeared to be the leader calmed everyone down, then fluttered its butterfly wings and approached the entrance.

I could tell from its firm resolve that it wasn’t particularly friendly toward humans.

“I never thought I’d be saying this to a human, but I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll explain if you come into this room.”

Huh.

Isn’t this normally a death flag?

But I had some inexplicable confidence?

When I read the text earlier, I remained fine, so I had a feeling I wouldn’t be affected by whatever mental interference they were talking about.

Those Exiled God didn’t look scary either.

They were rather cute, weren’t they?

“…I don’t know what’s happening, but this plan is aborted. These creatures were already dangerous, and now that they’re acting like this…”

If I stopped here, The Huntsman would discard me and the thief, so I decided to choose the option with a higher survival probability.

Before The Huntsman could react, I stepped toward the passage and entered the room.

“Not a big deal, huh.”

“This crazy…!”

I could hear The Huntsman cursing from outside, but why should I care?

As I was thinking that, all The Exiled God that had been densely packed suddenly rose into the air and rushed toward me.

“Uh, uhh?!”

I was swarmed by countless Exiled God, and I…

Started being sexually harassed as they clung to my face, stretching my mouth, or pressing on my stomach.

“Wow, this is the first human we’ve touched who’s still sane!”

“We can even talk to him! So this is a living human body!”

“Come on, everyone, calm down!”

…I could say it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.