Chapter 42

-Uaaah, she pressed it!

-It’s over, man.

-See you guys in the next playthrough.

“No!”

The protagonist, noticing the Countess’s movement, cried out. Arianne nimbly grabbed her hand and forced her to drop the device, but the button had already been pressed.
The protagonist and Ilian immediately rushed toward me, pulling me into a protective embrace. At the same time, the sharp sound of something shattering rang out.

Shatter!

…?

-???

-?????

I didn’t hear any sound of an explosion.

What was it? A dud?

“This is quite a shame. Now the barrier is gone. I suppose I’ll end up like Hans, bleeding from my entire body while the demonic energy rots my flesh.”

A barrier?

Wait, was that supposed ‘self-destruct device’ actually just a device to deactivate the barrier?

-What? It wasn’t a bomb?

The protagonist and Ilian slowly relaxed their grip. I could see the bewildered expressions on both of their faces. Over their shoulders, I also saw the Countess, her lips curled into a strange smirk. She wore a casual smile that didn’t fit the situation at all, but then her brows narrowed as she sensed something was wrong.

“How… how strange. Hans died in an instant, so why is everyone perfectly fine?”

The Countess, clutching her wrist, muttered incoherently as if she were confused.

“I-I am too. Exactly how, and why?”

“Why do you think! It’s because I—no, because we came back after subjugating the Mother!”

Astonishment spread across the Countess’s face.

“How could you… all of those things…”

“Fufu, there’s always a way!”

Kalat squared his shoulders as if he were proud. Now I understood. Why I didn’t know about that device.

‘The sequence is different.’

In the game, Ivanke originally visited the Countess’s mansion only after subjugating all the Mothers and purifying the demonic energy.

‘If the demonic contamination is gone, removing the barrier isn’t a threat anymore.’

That was why the Countess hadn’t even brought out a self-destruct button in the game. But since it was a threat that might work on us, she had tried to use it.

-This was a branching point.

-If they had come here without subjugating the magic beasts first, holy crap.

It was just as they said. If we hadn’t chosen the option to look around the mansion’s surroundings a bit more, we would have been forced to watch the people in the mansion die right before our eyes.

‘The choices really are helpful for progress.’

When I thought carefully about the choices Mo Je-won had made so far, it felt like they were nudging us toward the right path.

Was it the same for my choices?

While I was lost in thought, the group bound the Countess as she tried to flee. The Countess still seemed unable to accept reality and attempted to resist, but of course, it was useless.

The next day, leaving Kalat and Arianne at the mansion under the pretext of guarding the Countess and the employees, I took the protagonist and Ilian out to subjugate the magic beasts.

Using the detailed map of the County we obtained from the mansion and the Sacred Armor’s magic beast detection ability, we were able to hunt down all the Mothers over the course of four days.

Watching Ilian and the protagonist take turns carrying me on their backs while fighting magic beasts… I wondered if there could ever be a more humiliating moment in my life.

-Finally finished.

-That was long lol.

-I don’t know for sure, but the Saintess’s affection probably dropped a lot.

-Lmao.

“Good work. Nothing happened on this end.”

“Saintess! Oh my, you’re completely covered in magic beast blood! Sir Hereis, you should have been more careful!”

“Why are you nagging someone who just worked hard at subjugation?”

When we returned to the mansion, Kalat rushed out to meet us in his stocking feet¹ and nearly fainted at the sight of us drenched in magic beast blood.

Well, in any case, the incident was somewhat settled.

The demonic energy would soon lift, and the group reacted as if they had breathed a sigh of relief.

“It should return to normal in about two days.”

“Though we’ll need to hurry with the damage recovery.”

This was a place where all living things had lost their lives. Before desertification could set in, they would have to recover the bodies, replant trees, and rebuild the infrastructure.
It would take a long time to regain its former appearance, but it wasn’t at an unrecoverable level.

“How was things on the Countess’s side?”

“Ah, about that…”

A look of trouble crossed Kalat’s face.

Arianne answered the protagonist’s question while shaking her head as if she were fed up.

“It seems difficult to get a confession.”

“Sigh~ the Countess is truly stubborn. How can she not say a single word?”

Kalat grumbled that the Countess hadn’t reacted to prodding, threats, or persuasion, and simply kept her mouth shut.

“Now that things have come to this, I wonder what she has so much to hide.”

Ilian clicked his tongue.

‘I think there was a passing mention in the game that the Countess was tight-lipped.’

“Spending any more time on the Countess seems like a waste.”

“It is as you say, Saintess.”

“Then that leaves the long-awaited investigation of the basement…”

Kalat grumbled that it was depressing to have to go back there again. It was certainly a damp and dark place that one wouldn’t want to visit. If he didn’t want to go, he didn’t have to. I offered him the option out of the goodness of my heart, but…

“J-Just me? That’s a bit much.”

Even if a place is originally safe, being alone is always scarier. Kalat followed us with a tearful face.

“Ah, while you all were working hard at the subjugation, I felt bad just staying still, so I investigated the mansion a bit.”

“An investigation?”

“Yes.”

Arianne took the lead and brought us to the Countess’s bedroom.

“Do you know what I found? It’s another entrance leading to the basement!”

The basement was located on a hidden floor of the mansion. Finding the path from the ground floor to this level was usually incredibly complicated. You needed a key for every single door, you had to solve passwords, and it was basically like an escape room.

To be honest, I had only done it once in the game and couldn’t really remember the solution, so I had just chosen to force a shortcut…

‘She actually found it.’

I had to hand it to Arianne for her tenacity.

“They say it’s darkest under the lamp, don’t they? I searched the Countess’s bedroom thoroughly and found this.”

Arianne fumbled under the bed a few times, and then there was a clunking sound.

Rumble, rumble—

The wall vibrated and the bookshelf moved aside, revealing a hidden door. Except now, it was quite broken.

“Ahem. It was locked, and I just… didn’t realize my own strength.”

-How refreshing.

Kalat waved his hands in horror.

“Oh, don’t even get me started. Every time we hit a wall, she just tries to smash it. This is why knights are…”

Unfortunately, Kalat’s sentence remained unfinished. It was because he had locked eyes with Arianne’s fierce gaze.

“I mean… it’s wonderful…”

If something isn’t working out, perhaps one should consider if they simply lack sufficient martial force… Feeling somewhat hollow, we entered the basement through the broken door.

“There are traps from here on out. That’s why I had to move while disarming them one by one.”

Don’t people in other works of fiction usually get a harsh lesson after trespassing into historical ruins? Similar to those places, various traps were installed all over the area.

“Still, there are definitely signs of people coming and going here.”

“Yes. It seems the place where we dug through the ground was just a side path, and this is the real deal.”

As Ilian said, the path here was wider, more organized, and well-lit. It was worlds apart from the last time when everything had been covered in thick dust.

“First, let’s head to the area I’ve already cleared. It’s safe up to that point.”

-No matter how safe it is, is it okay to take the Saintess?

-It’ll be dangerous for Kalat too.

-Shouldn’t the non-combatants stay back?

-I’m worried, you never know what might happen.

It was a concern of mine as well, but as we walked, I began to realize why Arianne could be so certain.

Arrows were scattered about where traps had been triggered, some paths were so completely covered in spikes that we had to lay down floorboards or jump across while being carried, and there were even traces of fires that had been extinguished.

-At this point, didn’t she just trigger every single trap?

-This is hilarious lmao.

-How is Arianne even fine?

‘She pushed forward all alone despite all this?’

I had to re-evaluate Arianne’s tenacity once again. After that difficult trek, we reached a wide square space where the path split into three directions.

‘Ah, this place.’

I knew this spot.

“I haven’t been past this point. It’s dangerous, so I’ll scout ahead with the Vice-Commander first. The rest of you, please wait here for a moment.”

None of those three paths were safe to take. Every single one was a room rigged with traps. While the protagonist and Arianne discussed which way to go first, I cast my eyes toward the wall on the right side of the junction.

“Ah, I’m feeling a bit dizzy…”

“Oh dear, Saintess!”

Acting as if I were having a dizzy spell, I leaned against the wall and felt a crudely protruding brick. When I pushed it with a bit of force, it gave way with a grinding sound. And then…

Rumble, rumble—

The basement floor began to vibrate.

“E-Everyone, stay sharp!”

Believing a trap had been triggered, the knights stepped in front of me to protect me.
But instead of an attack flying out, the floor split open to reveal a hidden staircase.

“My goodness. Wh-What on earth could this be…”

-???

• ????

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that line. I could feel the strange looks from my speechless companions. Just as I was regretting making such a forced move.

“A-As expected, the Saintess is clearly always being watched over by Ralphican! For a path to open on its own!”

Kalat cried out in a voice full of conviction.

“Now! Shall we go? To the place where Ralphican has led us!”

…Thanks to Kalat, the three knights, who had been gaping in absurdity, seemed to accept their fate and headed down the stairs. Meanwhile, Ilian clutched his aching head and spoke.

“Please, from now on, don’t touch just anything… And you shouldn’t even lean against the walls.”

I replied that I would keep that in mind.

-If it were a normal person, it’d be trolling, but since it’s the Saintess lol.

-People blessed by Ralphican are just different.

Grrrrr…

Sssss— Shhhh—

As we descended the stairs, we heard the sound of flowing water and strange, unidentifiable noises.

“Oops, it seems there are magic beasts from here on.”

His nuance sounded intrigued, but his guard was up.

“Magic beasts?”

“How are magic beasts other than the Mother still alive?”

When Arianne asked in confusion, the protagonist answered.

“This area must have been within the range of the mansion’s barrier.”

“Haha, so the barrier was protecting not just people but magic beasts as well. I wonder if the Countess intended this too?”

“We’ll know when we get there.”

“Saintess and Priest Kalat, get to the center.”

The protagonist pushed me toward the inside, and with the three knights surrounding the two non-combatants, we gradually moved forward.

Grrr!

Yelp! Ki-yeek!

The bizarre cries of beasts echoed from beneath our feet. It was strange; they were howling desperately as if they were injured. The protagonist shone a lantern toward the ground.

“Ah…”

Below was a circular pit that looked like a trap. It was swarming with magic beasts that had fallen in and couldn’t get out.

Perhaps because the pit was at full capacity, several beasts were being pushed around until they fell into a bed of spikes, dying instantly with holes throughout their bodies. The blood draining from the carcasses flowed along the slope into a waterway…

-Uaaah.

• Are they collecting the blood?

“What on earth is that waterway for?”

Kalat frowned and covered his nose. Even though he shouldn’t have been able to actually smell anything with the protective barrier active, it seemed like an instinctive reaction.

“They say high-quality magic energy is emitted most from fresh magic beast corpses, especially the blood. It looks like they’re siphoning only the blood through that waterway.”

“…Let’s check it out.”

We followed the path where the blood was flowing. And what we encountered was a massive mechanical device. The purple-tinted blood, sucked into the machine through transparent tubes, was turning a dark crimson inside a glass cylinder. Ilian spoke while looking at the thick glass tube filled with blood.

“They’re concentrating the magic beast blood. This way, the concentration of magic energy increases as well.”

Next to it was a transparent chamber containing what looked like a large seed. It looked like an incubator, given that a sprout was beginning to bud.

The concentrated blood branched out into two paths: one was a very small amount that diverted into another channel to mix with water, while the other was sucked into the incubator.

I could see the dark crimson liquid being sprayed inside the incubator like water from a sprinkler…

“Hah. It looks like they’re mass-producing magic beasts by feeding them magic energy.”

“This is clear evidence of magic beast experimentation.”

“Yes. They artificially created the Kektumatu, which possesses Grade 10 magic energy.”

Ilian spoke in a tone that sounded appalled and disgusted. While Kalat and Ilian searched around the incubator, the protagonist returned after checking the waterway where the blood mixed with water with Arianne. When Kalat asked how it was, the protagonist explained with a grim expression.

“Judging by where it leads, I believe this is a water main that supplies drinking and utility water to the residents of the territory.”