Chapter 172: of Unknown Promise: Begin of the Underground Search

“Well, you two getting along aside, it’s good to see you two have woken up.”

While suppressing a chuckle—and not doing a very good job at it—Korwen welcomed us back. I had half a mind to say something about Karen and me getting along and everyone else here eavesdropping on us, but I swallowed my complaints. It would only serve to prolong the whole thing and I really wanted to pretend that nothing had happened.

Plus, seeing how Yumias and Merim had joined us here… and that Korwen had called for us.

“Captain, did something happen?”

“Mm, a little something.”

“...”

Well, didn’t that just sound foreboding? I could only hope that it wasn’t something too serious. At least, it didn’t seem to be anything too urgent.

“But first, you should sit down. Miss Yumias, too.”

“Yes, yes.”

With a lackadaisical reply, Yumias returned to her seat at the table. At least, she didn’t interrupt Korwen for her shenanigans.

Aaand… Of course, the only free seats are next to her… What else did I expect?

I stopped myself from sighing and sat down next to Yumias, while Karen sat down on my other side.

“Want something to drink?”

“Nn, thank you.”

“Yes, please.”

One of the mercenaries offered us a mug with water, which we gratefully accepted. I just woke up so I was a little thirsty anyway.

“So, Captain, what happened?”

“Where to start… First off, you remember how we wanted to search the underground area, right?”

“Nn, of course, I do.”

That was the whole reason we had come here, after all.

“It turns out that something… Well, something lives down there.”

“... Seriously?”

“Seriously. Ria confirmed it.”

“Ria did?”

Speaking of Ria, she wasn’t at the table with us…

“She noticed some ‘fluctuations in the surrounding mana’ or something like that. At the very least, she suspects that something used magic at the time.”

“A monster?”

“Possible.”

Great. The fort not only became a base for bandits—however long they actually lived here—but was also home to monsters now?

“We don’t know for sure yet but chances are quite high. Haa… We really didn’t expect monsters to live here, in the Sleeping Forest of all places. But it would still be better than the alternative.”

“The alternative being… people?”

“Exactly.”

“You can reason with people.”

“I very much doubt any decent person would willingly live in an abandoned fort. Heck, they might be survivors from that bandit group.”

Oh right, that was possible.

“Anyway, Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“The situation being how it is, I would like to bring some reinforcements in and have them accompany us.”

“I see. Sounds fine?”

If he had decided to do that, why was he telling me about it as if he would need my permission?

“That would also mean that we’d have to bring them in through a little… shortcut.”

“... Oh.”

He really was asking for permission…

“Captain. I think I said this before, but I’ll leave that matter to you. If you have decided on that, then I have nothing else to say.”

“... I see. Haa… Sorry, I simply wanted to make sure once more after you had some time to think about it again.”

Rather than spending that time thinking, I spent it sleeping on Karen’s lap. Not like it would have changed my decision even if I had time to think. I already knew for a long time it would come to this but… I guess, now that it really was time to let others know, it did make you a little nervous. Probably why Korwen wanted to make sure one last time.

“Thank you, Yumi.”

“Nn, no problem.”

“Merim, you heard her. You know what to do.”

“Sure, Captain. I’ll be going.”

Merim, who had been waiting for his cue, stood up and saluted, then promptly left us. I watched him for a little until he disappeared into the tower.

“Haaa… That’s one thing dealt with…”

“Glad to hear that.”

It was probably a load off his shoulders or so. At times like these, I was glad that it wasn’t me in that position. While I was thinking about that, Korwen had collected himself again and addressed the other mercenaries.

“Now then… You lot. Get the preparations done. We’ll go in as soon as Merim returns, you got that?”

“””Yes, Captain!”””

The surrounding men all saluted and promptly carried out their new orders. With everyone gone, it was now only Korwen, Yumias, Karen and I left at the table. Speaking of Yumias… Why was she here anyway?

“By the way, Captain… What is Yumias doing here?”

“Sightseeing,” answered Yumias, who I hadn’t asked.

“You heard her… She followed Merim, saying she wanted to see the fort.”

Oh, she did mention wanting to see it, didn’t she?

“My, and it’s really something. It’s so big, a veritable castle, is it not? To think it was such an amazing and cool place!”

“Yes, yes! You really get it, don’t you?”

“Of course!

Korwen nodded vigorously, happy that she was praising the fort. And Yumias seemed quite happy to indulge him.

I mean, a fort is… pretty cool, I guess… Nn.

But I didn’t want to say it out loud in front of these two.

“Oh, before I forget it. Now that Yumi is here, I have something I wanted to ask, Yumias.”

“Oh my, what is it?”

“... It’s about the woman named Yumelia.”

I froze the moment that name left his lips. Yumelia… The worshipper woman who had caused us quite some trouble back in Larfas, the capital city.

Glancing to my side, I looked out for Yumias' reaction to it. However, as she cutely tilted her head…

“Who is that?”

“... That’s honestly about what I expected, yet I still feel quite disappointed.”

So did I…

“I am sure you already know about what we did back in Larfas, right?”

“Of course I do.”

“Yumelia is the one who instigated the whole problem… or, at the very least, she was a major part of it.”

“I see. But what does that have to do with me?”

“Well, those people are part of the Witch Worshippers… People who worship… the Witch.”

“Oh!”

Yumias hit her palm with her fist, as if she had just understood what the connection was.

“So you thought I might know something because they worship me?”

“That’s about it, yes.”

“Unfortunately for you, I have to disappoint. Those freaks are nothing short of bothersome and I have nothing to do with them, thus I cannot help you.”

“... I see.”

So even the person they worshipped thought of them as bothersome…

“But that woman, Yumelia, had pink hair like you and Yumi. And then there’s her name…”

“Mmm… Well, she is certainly not one of my children. Though, are you sure that she was a manakin and did not simply dye her hair?”

“According to what Ria and Yumi said, there’s little doubt of that.”

“Oh? Now I am interested. Yumi, what did you see?”

Suddenly, the conversation steered towards me. I didn’t even know what Korwen meant for a few seconds until I remembered… about what I had seen of her soul.

“Nn… Her soul was… a murky pink… as if someone mixed some other colours into it.”

“... Oh my, that’s interesting.”

Was it now?

“If that is the case, then she really is a manakin. How surprising.”

“So, can you tell us anything?”

“Not really?”

“... Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

Korwen rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“So, you don’t know her and have no idea where she came from?”

“That’s correct.”

“Not even any thoughts? For example, what about the muddy colour thing Yumi mentioned? Or what she could do, her skills, her magic, anything.”

“Mm, maybe I do? But even if I do, I have no intention of sharing them.”

“I see…”

Maybe realising it was pointless to get anything out of her, Korwen leaned back, with a look of resignation on his face.

“Too bad. Well, at least we know she has nothing to do with you, which is a good thing. Then we won’t have to worry about earning someone’s ire at least.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. In fact, I’d encourage you. Those people have been annoying for a while already. They keep poking holes where they aren’t supposed to poke, it’s a bother and I’m the one who has to fix it.”

Shouldn’t that be some motivation to give us some hints to help us then? No? Apparently not.

Then again, what holes was she even talking about?

“... Wouldn’t you be able to deal with them by yourself?”

“Oh, certainly. If I blow everything up they’ll be gone for sure. But then I have to listen to others nag for so long and that’s equally bothersome.”

“... That so.”

Maybe it was better if we didn’t ask her what exactly ‘blowing them up’ would actually entail. I had the feeling it wouldn’t be pretty. Korwen also seemed like he didn’t want to ask about it. It was easy to imagine the scale her 'blowing them up' would be...

“Well, anyway, thanks for answering my questions.”

“Sure, sure, always a pleasure. Ah, but if you really want to thank me, you could treat me to something nice.”

“... I’ll think about it.”

Considering that he barely got any answers, it was a rather expensive conversation if he actually had to treat her.

“Haaa… Oh well… Before I forget it, Yumi, Karen, you two should eat something and get ready as well.”

“Nn? Will we be leaving soon?”

“As soon as Merim comes back.”

Right, he did say that earlier, too. And it wouldn’t be so good to search around on an empty stomach, huh…

“Nn, we’ll do that then.”

“Sure, food’s over there.”

“Okay. Sis, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

A while later, after we had eaten our rations and killed a bit of time talking with Korwen, Merim finally returned.

“Captain, everyone’s briefed and on standby.”

“Finally, sure took your sweet time, didn’t you?”

“I had some explaining to do…”

Merim shrugged with his shoulders in exasperation. Seemed like it took quite some time to explain that portal, huh… I could only imagine.

“Now that you’re here, we can finally get to searching. Call everyone and lead them down.”

“... I feel like I’m an errand boy.”

“That’s exactly what it means to be the vice-captain, Merim. You’re my personal errand boy so get moving.”

His personal errand boy… He did send Merim all over the place so… Yeah, he kind of really was an errand boy, wasn’t he?

“Oh, I see someone thinks that’s amusing. Guess I won’t have to hold back when we resume your training regimen, do I?”

“I’m sorry. Please don’t.”

“... Only this one time.”

Safe. That was close. I nearly screwed myself over there.

“I’ll be going then, Captain. Down in the first hall?”

“Yes. There is fine.”

“Okay.”

Merim nodded and then went off to collect the other mercenaries.

“We should go as well. Are you two ready?”

“Yes, Mr Captain.”

“Nn, we are.”

“Good, good. Yumias, what will you do?”

“Me? My, how nice of you to ask. Alas, I have no interest in that dusty basement so I will explore the fort itself.”

Wasn’t the fort just as dusty, though? Nobody had been here for so long…

“I see. Then it’ll be only the three of us.”

“Yes, yes, have a nice trip.”

Waving with her hand, she sent us off. With Korwen in the lead, we once more entered the tower and the small room leading down into the hidden underground.

“Now then, I am sure you can manage to get up and down by yourself now, don’t you?”

“Nn? Is that a ladder?”

“It is.”

Instead of the rope from before, there was now a ladder hanging down and leading downwards. That said, it was still a rope… just as a ladder. How the heck did you turn a rope into a ladder?

“I’ll go first then.”

Korwen graded the first rung and then slowly climbed down. Or actually not so slowly, as he moved down with experienced steps. It didn’t take him long to actually arrive at the bottom.

“Next one!”

“Yumi? Should I go first again?”

“No, I’ll go first this time.”

Even I could climb down a ladder… and even in the off-chance that something were to happen, Korwen was still down there. Although, if Yumias was to be believed, I probably wouldn’t die from falling anyway. Not that I wanted to try that one out.

I grabbed the first rung stepped on the ladder.

“Woah… This is actually a little…”

It was swaying… The ladder was swaying… It was only a little but it was more than enough to make me feel a little insecure. I’d have to take it one step at a time like this.

“Okay, here I go…”

One step at a time… One step after another, I climbed down the ladder. My pace was slow but I made progress at least. After a while of climbing, the ground came into sight and with a final step down, my feet returned to the ground.

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“Done! I did it!”

“Not sure why you’re so proud of that but good job.”

Leave me be. This was actually a little nerve-racking.

An unstable ladder like this was vastly different from a fixed ladder. It really was noticeable once you climbed down yourself.

“Anyway… Next one!”

I shouted up, expelling all the air in my lungs.

Actually where does the air come from when I breathe out? Do I have lungs?

While I was thinking that, the ladder swayed and I could see Karen climbing down as well.

“Something wrong, Yumi?”

“No… Nothing. Sis is coming down.”

“Good. But you should move away from there, you know?”

“Nn?”

“It’s rude to look up like that.”

It wasn’t like Karen was wearing a skirt, though… and she was my lover so surely I got a pass? Uhh, well, I probably still shouldn’t do that, so I stepped away a little.

“Didn’t expect to be lectured by the captain about that…”

“That’s also quite rude, you know? In the first place, unless you can catch her in case she slips up and falls down, you shouldn’t stand below a ladder either way. Can you catch her?”

“I don’t want to be a pancake.”

“Then don’t. And really, don’t say that to her, okay?”

I didn’t intend to. Seriously.

“Mm? Is that her?”

“Nn?”

As we were busy making small talk, Karen had reached the last part of the ladder. With quick movements, she made her way down and arrived at the floor.

“Mr Captain, Mr Merim has already come as well.”

“Oh? Then go on and tell them they can go.”

“Ah, yes…”

Karen turned around, facing the hole in the ceiling.

“... Next one!”

Korwen nodded, satisfied. Now that Karen was down, we moved to the hall… and were greeted by the reinforcements.

A dozen fully-armoured men were lined up, saluting the instance they spotted Korwen.

“The Dragon Knights?”

“That’s right.”

Wow, he really was bringing out the big ones for this…

“They’re trained to respond to any sudden ambushes, even if they are of magical nature. They’ll keep everyone safe.”

“Huh.”

Right, if there was someone or something that could use magic, then falling for an ambush would be even more dangerous, wouldn’t it?

“Nn, glad to see them here.”

“You heard that? Don’t disappoint her!”

“””Yes, sir!”””

At the very least, whoever was down here, now knew for sure we were coming… Shouting like that…

“Where is Ria?”

“Miss Ria is still in the pink magic room!” answered the left-most mercenary.

“I see.”

Pink magic room… It wasn’t wrong but… The name…

“Go and tell Ria to come. After that, we’ll wait for Merim and the others and then we’ll divide the groups.”

“””Yes, sir!”””

The man who had been answering about Ria left to fetch her. We waited for them for a while until he returned with Ria. Coincidentally, Merim arrived with everyone else right afterwards. With the Dragon Knights here, we had quite the crowd in this hall. It even seemed a little cramped now.

Everyone, including Karen and me, lined up on Korwen’s orders while he stood in front of everyone, with Merim standing next to him.

“We’ll divide into four groups. The people heading the groups will be as follows: The first group by me and Ria, the second group Merim and Wendl, third group will be Fenna and Rieke, fourth group Taddick and Yumi. As for who is in which group…”

Korwen stepped a few steps to the side and then made a cutting motion with his hand in front of us.

“First group.”

Then he stepped a few steps to the side again and repeated it…

“Second group.”

And, of course, he repeated the same with the third and the fourth.

“Now then, we have four doors. Each group will take one path. Be aware of potential ambushes. Each group has at least one person with mana sight and every group except the third has a magician, so consult them as necessary. Any questions!”

“Yes!”

Fenna raised her hand immediately.

“Should we handle split paths as usual?”

“Yes, prioritise the left as usual. We will search for one and a half hours. Should any group not return, we will make a search party. If you are late because you forgot the time, you will have to treat everyone to dinner. Got that?”

“””Yes, sir!”””

Everyone saluted in one fluid motion.

“Good. Move out as soon as your group is ready! That’s it.”

Korwen clapped his hands once more before moving to join his own group. Which left us with…

“Taddick.”

“Oh, Yumi, excited already?

“... You could say that.”

Rather than excited, I was nervous and a little worried, though. That said, seeing this line-up for our made me wonder if I was worrying for naught. Four large armoured men and several men from the original group that came to the fort with us.

In addition, there were also two women from Fenna’s squad with us, one of them being Sanna. The girl who had drawn the map back when we had been in the mother roper’s cave. This time, too, she was holding her drawing utensils and a sheet of paper at the ready… more or less, as her eyes darted back and forth between the members of our group. Someone was even more nervous than I was, huh…

But a map would be quite useful. Captain said there were no blueprints of this area and we’d definitely need a map anyway.

With that in mind, I approached her to ask whether she’d draw one.

“Sanna, are you going to draw a map again?”

“Hyah?!”

“Wah?!”

But instead of a response, I got a shirek.

“Don’t surprise me like that, Miss Yumi!”

“... I wasn’t trying to.”

Seriously, I was the one surprised here.

“So, err, are you drawing a map again?”

“Y, yes… I, I got the order to.”

She stammered a little but at least I got an answer.

“Nn, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best!”

She saluted vigorously, making me smile wryly. I still wasn’t quite used to this treatment so it felt a little awkward.

“Okay, are we all ready?”

“Nn?”

Behind me, Taddick called for our attention.

“The captain assigned a path to us, so we’ll now move out and search the area. Our four Dragon Knights will take the front and back. Stay in line-of-sight of at least one of them at all times. Anything suspected of magical nature will be brought to Yumi. As usual, no pilfering, no loitering. If you need a bathroom break, you better be ready to shit your pants.”

That’s not what I wanted to hear…

“No questions? Good. Move out.”

With two of the Dragon Knights in the lead, we entered into our assigned area. A long pathway with several doors to each side.

“Remember, left room first, right room second. The Dragon Knights take point at all times.”

Just as Taddick finished the reminder, our group already stopped at the first set of doors. One Dragon Knight from the front and one from the back moved to one door respectively.

“Ready?”

“Ready. Open.”

The Dragon Knight pushed the door open and entered, bracing himself with his weapon drawn…

“... Clear.”

“Okay, next. Open.”

The other Dragon Knight repeated the same with the left door, entering the room.

“Clear!”

“Okay, search. Again, left before right.”

With Taddick in the lead, we entered the first room. Stone walls on all sides, caked in dust and mold.

“Taddick, the room is empty.”

“It sure is.”

The room was quite large but there was nothing inside. No furniture, no animals, no monsters, no people. Nothing at all except a thick layer of dust. Or mold. Probably mold from the looks of it.

The mercenaries spread out, kicking up the dust as they searched for anything amiss. It didn’t take long for a huge dust cloud to fill the room.

“We should’ve… brought something to cover our mouths…”

Taddick coughed as he tried to fan his face and get rid of the dust. Obviously without much success.

“Ugh…”

With a groan, he turned around and went back into the hallway where he coughed like mad. Karen and I followed him, half out of worry from the intensity of his coughs and half to get away from that dust as well.

“Spirits, how long has this place been abandoned!”

“Two hundred years or so.”

“Couldn’t they have cleaned up at least once since then?”

“Then it wouldn’t be abandoned!”

“I’m not looking for logical replies!”

Then don’t ask questions… is what I’d like to say but, well, I could understand his feelings. Behind us, I could hear several mercenaries coughing as well from the dust. All that coughing only served to make the situation worse, too.

“Ugh, if you’re done, get out of there. And don’t stir up more dust than necessary, got that? No dinner if you do!”

“That’s unreasonable!” someone shouted from inside the room.

“Stop complaining and work faster!”

“There’s nothing here!”

“Then next room. Go, go.”

The mercenaries poured back into the hallway one after another, catching their breath and coughing out the dust. Several of them were covered in dust themselves now. And this was only the first room…

“Okay, next one.”

Taddick pointed at the room and everyone poured into said room this time.

“It’s empty!”

“No shit! I can see that, too!”

Yes, it was empty.

“Hey, Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“Anything unusual on the magic side of things?”

“No, everything looks normal.”

“I see. The previous room, too?”

“Yes.”

I was quite sure that nothing magical was happening in this room right now. Which didn’t necessarily have to mean much. There could also be mechanical passages and the like. In fact, considering this was a fort, I wouldn’t be surprised if mechanical traps and hidden passages were preferred, since a magician wouldn’t detect them so easily.

“Nothing to see here, Leader!”

“Okay, come back then. We’ll move on to the next ones.”

We waited for everyone to come back and then moved to the next set of doors, where we immediately repeated the whole spiel. As I watched the mercenaries touch the room in the hopes of finding something, I turned to Taddick to ask him a question.

“Taddick, why the left one first?”

“There are several reasons, actually. First, having a determined pattern makes it easier for us to search and know what we already searched, as well as for others searching for us, in case we don’t return.”

Ah, they could retrace our steps in that case, huh?

“Second, do you know how to get through a maze?”

“A maze?”

“Yes.”

“Uhh… Probably not what you want to hear.”

“Ha! Probably.”

Taddick chuckled at my response. Mazes were annoying… But a maze… I felt like I could vaguely remember that there was something to ensure you could get through a maze…

“If you follow one wall in a maze, you will get to the exit. It can be time consuming but it works for most mazes.”

“One wall? You mean, the left or right wall?”

“Exactly. Easiest way is to just keep your hand on the wall and follow it to the exit. As long as you strictly follow it, it works.”

“Huh…”

“Searching a place like this is not much different from treading a maze. There’s a goal somewhere and we’re looking for it. If we follow one wall, we’ll never get lost.”

That was actually smart… but…

“We’re looking at both sides, though?”

“Well, can’t exactly ignore them now, can we? Imagine there was someone trying to hide from us and we’d miss them. Or someone hiding to ambush us.”

“That’s true, I guess.”

“Right?”

But really… I was a little surprised how even this was structured in a simple and clear way.

“There’s also a reason why we choose left first instead of right.”

“Oh?”

“Most people are right-handed. It’s easier to respond and attack around a left corner than it is to a right one. Not too important if we have to search both sides anyway, but in case when the path splits, it can be important at times.”

“... I didn’t even think of that.”

Now that he mentioned it, swinging a weapon when there was a corner in the way… would be difficult. Not everyone could claim to just cleave through the wall, like Lily. Though Lily could also back up that claim, if her cleaving through trees was any indication.

“Leader, sir, it’s empty!”

“Like I said, tell me something new!”

“We’re done!”

“Great, to the next one!”

Rinne

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