episode_0049

The moment when Princess Rasiel was concentrating on her prayers.

The leader informed everyone in the group that he was calling off the search for the missing person and was planning to return.

When the order was given, not everyone immediately agreed and moved on.

There was an opinion that since there was still time, it would be okay to investigate a little more and then go back.

But no one could dispute the point that the lives of the entire team could not be put at risk because of a few missing people.

“Damn, I came in and didn’t do anything.”

Although I lost my comrades for nothing and found a treasure chest, I was more focused on finding the missing people after that, so I was practically empty-handed.

The only consolation was that since I fought the monsters to the death, there might not be much room for loot.

The incident occurred when, while going back the way they came, they saw traces of a trap that had caused missing and dead people to fall into it.

“Can you please check this one more time before you go?”

I thought that if we went back like that, everyone would be disappointed, so I suggested to the leader that we inspect the trap again so that the group could acknowledge that they did their best.

“Haven’t you already checked everything you can? It’s just a waste of time.”

“At that time, we were all suddenly trapped and had narrowed vision. If you check again now, you may be able to see things you didn’t see then.”

In fact, there were many cases where we saw things we had not seen before as we walked back the way we came.

For example, a hidden room appears, so you can go in and check the box.

“… … .”

The leader pondered my suggestion for a long time and then said:

“Okay. I’ll search for the last one and go.”

“Thank you!”

“No, I should be the one thanking you more. I know you said it for our sake.”

I don’t think anything will really come out of it either.

Still, I thought it was worth investing time into if it could soothe my anxious mind.

Look, isn’t everyone so happy about the leader’s decision?

“I guess it’s different because he’s a priest.”

“Would it be okay for a leader to give such an order? For the sake of all of us, the leader took on the role of a villain.”

“Ahem, anyway, thanks to you, priest, I feel a little better.”

“Everyone, stop chatting and save time! Find something!”

They dig the ground, carefully check the walls, and some people even bravely hang from the ceiling to check.

How much time has passed like that?

At a time when everyone was starting to feel discouraged, thinking, ‘Well, well, then…’

“Leader!!! Something is strange here!”

Someone’s shout caught everyone’s attention.

“What is it?”

“What is it?”

“Look here.”

When everyone quickly ran over and demanded an explanation of the situation, he noticed something strange and started banging his fist on the wall, telling everyone to take a look.

Ice and rocks clatter down from the frozen wall.

Everyone’s eyes widened at the distinctly different sound.

I never thought I would actually find what I was vaguely looking for.

“If you hit it like this, it makes a thumping sound, right? But if you hit it here, the sound is different. It seems like there’s space inside here.”

In fact, despite being similar walls, one side produces a heavy sound and the other side produces a somewhat lighter sound.

“There’s definitely something inside.”

The leader also hit the wall with his fist and was convinced that there was something inside.

It may not be what you expected, but you can’t help but feel hopeful that you’ve discovered something.

“Try to break it down.”

“I will do it.”

Princess Rasiel stepped forward, saying she would do it.

“Your Highness?”

At first she didn’t fight, but now everyone knew about her extraordinary strength.

It means that no one stopped Princess Rasiel from stepping forward.

Kuung!!

Princess Rasiel’s clenched fist slammed into the wall, causing the stones in the dented wall to fall down.

Kwung!! Boom!! Boom!! Kwung!!!!

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

“Cluck, cluck!”

I waited for the stones to crumble and the dust to settle.

The collapsed space revealed a much larger space than expected.

Everyone was on guard and took out their weapons, as monsters might come out from inside.

First of all, we didn’t go inside hastily but waited in front of the door for a long time.

“… … .”

“It seems like no one is here. I can’t feel any movement.”

“Okay, let’s go in.”

The one holding the shield entered first.

Half of the total number of people had decided to enter the space.

It was natural to divide the group because if everyone went inside and something bad happened, there would be no one to come help.

“Priest, please stay here.”

They stopped us from going inside, saying they were afraid something might happen inside.

I waited, hoping that the people who went inside would bring the missing person.

‘I hope you hear good news.’

It may have been deeper than they thought, or there was a lot to investigate, but it took a while for the group that went inside to return.

“I think you should come inside.”

The leader called Princess Rasiel.

“Who is missing?”

“Found.”

You found a missing person, but you don’t call me urgently?

There was no one who didn’t know what it meant.

With everyone’s expressions gloomy, Princess Rasiel and the rest of the group went inside.

It wasn’t difficult to see inside, thanks to the group leaving the lights on brightly.

“Passage?”

“Yes. It goes deep inside. If you follow the path, you will come across a large open space.”

“Did you fight a monster?”

“Yes. It was a reptilian monster.”

It must have taken a long time to fight the monsters.

“And the missing person’s body was found there.”

“All of them?”

“Two.”

It was a story of going downstairs becoming meaningless.

“They all seemed to have died from monsters.”

As we went inside while listening to the leader’s explanation, we saw our group resting with the corpse of a dead missing person.

I moved towards the resting people to check if anyone was injured.

“Is anyone hurt? Raise your hand.”

“Here!”

“Where does it hurt?”

“My ankle got tangled up in the tail and was thrown into the air. I landed, but it was a little swollen. ”

“Let me check.”

While I was treating my injured comrades, Princess Rasiel, who had disappeared with the leader, returned and spoke to everyone.

“First, I would like to thank Father Arthur for suggesting that we investigate this place again. Thanks to him, we were able to find three of the missing people. If I had gone back like this, I would have blamed myself for a long time.”

First of all, I was surprised because I didn’t know that she would mention me, but Princess Rasiel continued speaking.

“Three out of the four missing people are dead. It is highly likely that the remaining one has also experienced the same thing. I wish I could find the remaining one and return him, but I hope you understand that it is not possible.”

No one complained about having to go back without finding the last one.

Although the missing person had died, it felt like a great weight had been lifted from my mind by being able to take the body with me.

“And Arthur the priest.”

“Yes.”

“There’s something I want you to see. There’s something inside that looks like a prayer room. I want you to go and see what kind of place it is.”

“Okay.”

There’s a prayer room inside the labyrinth?

“Follow me.”

The leader guided me inside, and to my surprise, I found something that looked like a prayer room.

“Is this the prayer room?”

“The appearance of the room seems to fit a prayer room. It looks like someone built it here a long time ago.”

“Because it was inside a labyrinth, I wasn’t sure if I could touch it.”

A prayer room designed to welcome unknown beings.

“Well done. If you touch something like this, you might be cursed.”

It seemed like a prayer room set up by a fairly devout believer.

All kinds of gold and silver treasures were seen being offered as offerings to the gods.

If an ignorant person had discovered this, he would have tampered with it to get the jewel, which would have resulted in bad consequences.

“However, it would be more correct to say that this is not a prayer room, but a ceremonial altar for offering sacrifices to God.”

“Is this for the sun god?”

“Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. There is no sign of the sun god anywhere.”

“… Are you a heretic?”

“Yes.”

The leader sighed deeply at the word heresy.

If those gold and silver treasures were normal, then it would be fine, but if they were used as sacrifices for heretics, then they were worthless.

“I’m just a stone. Damn it!”

“It’s unnecessarily heavy, so it’ll be a hassle to move it. But I can’t leave it here any longer. I’ll have to bring a bundle and holy water.”

“Yes.”

“I hope no one took the jewels out of greed?”

“No way. But I’ll explain the situation and give you a warning.”

It was a situation where one could easily be greedy, as it appeared to be gold and jewels.

But collecting the cursed gold and jewels will only ruin your life.

Among those who have profited from cursed objects, there is not a single person who is in good shape.

What was even more vicious was that it not only ruined the person’s life, but also spread the misfortune to those around him.

“If anyone takes something from around the altar, I won’t say anything, so just quietly return it to the priest. They say it’s an item that a heretic offered to the evil spirit. Don’t keep it around and cause trouble to those around you.”

We busily packed our bags while listening to the leader explain the situation to the group.

I took a large bundle that could hold all the gold and silver treasures, and a large amount of holy water.

Then he returned to the altar, poured holy water into a large dish, dipped each object in the holy water, took it out, and then put it in a cloth.