66

Ancient dungeon.

A dungeon is an unknown space that has existed since long ago.

People only speculate that it was a place to safely protect or seal something; who made it and why are unknown.

However, there is a space very similar to a dungeon even in today’s world.

It was the mages’ workshops.

“…Hearing it like that makes me not want to go in.”

Ono and Daniel wore openly uneasy expressions.

They were surely recalling Haidern’s mansion.

Hamel continued calmly.

“It could be even more dangerous than that.”

“…More than Haidern?”

Daniel’s expression hardened.

Hamel shrugged and said.

Some say the mages’ workshops are inferior copies imitating ancient dungeons.

Others claim dungeons are workshops of mages hundreds of years old.

Which of the two is true is now a remote matter to determine.

If there is one thing certain….

“Whether the former or the latter, wouldn’t this be more dangerous?”

“…”

“Because it means a space that has been functioning for hundreds of years.”

Hamel’s words fell and the party all fell silent.

Not only Daniel but everyone now wore uneasy expressions.

Hamel opened his mouth calmly.

“Still, if there’s one positive element….”

Hamel pointed to the bloodstains leading from the door and spoke.

“At least, the man who went in earlier came out of here alive.”

“…”

Seeing the darkened bloodstains, the party’s expressions became subtle.

As if they didn’t know whether to feel glad or not.

It was certainly true they had found the place well, but….

‘That means someone went in there and died….’

The party fell silent, unable to speak, at that moment.

Only Ono frowned and asked.

“…Was that supposed to cheer us up?”

“Yes. Was it insufficient?”

“Just shut up and start moving.”

“…?”

Hamel tilted his head and then slowly led the way.

The half-open door was pushed aside without difficulty.

─Rrrr

The bloodstains continued inward.

Hamel took slow, cautious steps inside.

After advancing for a short while.

Hamel stopped walking.

At the point where the sloping passage ended.

For the first time a wide chamber appeared.

And there, there were.

“…Bodies, it seems.”

Bodies lay fallen as if asleep.

There were six of them.

They immediately kept watch around but found no special threat.

“Please wait a moment.”

“Alright. Leave the watch to me.”

Daniel took the watch while the others carefully inspected the fallen bodies.

Hamel touched the blood on a corpse with his hand.

The blood had not coagulated.

There was still body heat.

They were not corpses dead for long.

‘Cause of death….’

Hamel examined the wounds carved into the bodies.

Then he let out a slight admiration.

Skilled workmanship.

Only then did Hamel realize why the bodies seemed to have died as if asleep.

‘They couldn’t even properly resist.’

A dagger had pierced exactly through the back of the neck.

Hamel understood the reason for the lingering warmth in the bodies.

‘The spinal cord alone was precisely severed.’

Because the dagger struck a lethal spot, the amount of external bleeding was small.

It’s a technique likely used by those who don’t want to leave traces.

It was, at the very least, far from the work of demons.

This is.

“Human handiwork.”

Probably assassins or similar beings.

“…!”

Hamel’s words stirred the people for a moment.

If they hadn’t fallen victim to dungeon traps, it meant other people were in the dungeon.

But compared to what would come next, this was nothing.

“And all of these people….”

Hamel pulled aside a collar to reveal a neck.

Then a black tattoo hidden there appeared.

A beast-shaped brand.

“…What’s that?”

“Yes, they are probably the ones we’ve been chasing.”

They were surely the ones who had acted in Haidern’s mansion, the Colorless Mage Tower, and Lonelybirch.

‘The frequency of seeing the brand has increased.’

That meant Hamel was tracking in the right direction.

They had almost followed them all.

Somehow he had that hunch.

“Let’s continue.”

Hamel rose to his feet.

He didn’t know what was happening inside, but the presence of an unknown assailant who attacked those guys bothered him.

But Hamel had to stop a short distance later.

A solid stone gate blocked their way.

“It’s really similar to a workshop.”

Ono squinted.

Runes were inscribed beside the stone gate.

[Only the source of life shall and will open the door.]

“The source of life…?”

“What is that?”

Daniel and Rupert tilted their heads as if they couldn’t guess.

Meanwhile Ono, Rena, and Hamel almost reflexively inferred an answer.

“Water.”

“Or blood.”

“Maybe a heart.”

Hamel shook his head at Rena’s guess.

“It wouldn’t be a heart, look there.”

A brass cup placed under the door.

Beneath it, holes drilled on both sides connected to a channel carved under the stone gate.

Certainly the method was to pour the required liquid into the brass cup.

Ono opened his water skin without hesitation and poured it into the cup.

─Splish-splash

The water poured into the cup flowed along the channel straight to the floor.

“…So it doesn’t seem to be water.”

“I’ll try.”

Hamel stepped forward and cut his finger.

Then blood dripped down with a plip-plip sound.

Hamel’s blood flowed into the cup and, again, passed through the holes into the channel.

─Sss

Then, as if gravity reversed, the blood climbed up the relief carvings on the stone gate.

“This… is not mere decoration but a circuit.”

The deeply carved geometric reliefs were magic circuits.

Probably when they were activated, the door would open.

But that lasted only briefly; the blood filling the circuit stopped before reaching even the ankles.

There wasn’t enough blood.

Hamel glanced down at his arm for a moment.

He could squeeze out more blood, but the physical cost would be too great.

It was then.

Rupert, who had been watching from the side, opened his mouth with a resolute expression.

“If… if blood is needed, then even my blood…!”

“No, it’s fine.”

Hamel immediately shook his head.

Then he stood and returned the way they had come.

Daniel silently followed him.

“…?”

Why were they suddenly going back the way they came?

Rupert tilted his head with that puzzled look.

The answer came soon after.

“…That is.”

Rupert trailed off and fell silent.

Even without words, the gaze felt awkward.

Hamel offered no excuses.

─Thud

He simply set down the corpses they had brought.

They were the corpses from the dungeon’s entrance.

Hamel and Daniel calmly did what needed to be done.

They cut the corpses’ flesh and let the blood flow into the cup.

This would be a greatly euphemistic way to put it.

Even if external bleeding was small, extracting blood from corpses was far from smooth.

A while passed in silent, horrific and monotonous labor.

“…Ugh.”

Rupert involuntarily turned his head.

No matter how villainous the victims, witnessing a person being slaughtered wasn’t easy to watch.

He hesitated, then asked.

“…Are you okay?”

“It’s not pleasant.”

Hamel replied as he continued to squeeze blood.

The blood they collected steadily filled the cup and gradually the door’s blood channel.

Then he turned to look at Rupert.

“You seem disappointed in me.”

“…”

Rupert said nothing.

But the emotions shown on his face could not be hidden.

Clearly this version of Hamel was far from the figure he had admired.

Hamel continued calmly.

“I was perhaps undeservingly given the title Saint. But I’m not particularly a saint or a nobleman.”

Hamel looked down at his blood-stained hands.

How much blood had these hands stained?

And how much more would they need to be stained?

He couldn’t even guess.

It was probably no small amount.

Yet what these hands could protect was not much.

That’s all.

What could fit in his small hands.

“If necessary, I’ll do worse things. If that’s what it takes to keep the conviction I’ve set.”

“…Conviction.”

Rupert murmured softly.

Then he asked cautiously.

“What is conviction?”

“That’s not something I can tell you.”

Hamel shook his head as he spoke.

“That is something you must think about yourself.”

What kind of person you will be.

What you desire.

To know that you must ask deep questions to your own heart.

“I too am still learning.”

Only a year ago, Hamel had lived solely for vengeance.

Of course, that goal hasn’t changed even now.

But something has changed.

He found someone he wanted to protect.

He found a conviction he wanted to uphold.

In truth, all of that felt somewhat heavy.

He feared that if he let go, everything would turn to bubbles.

But….

“The process is enjoyable. I certainly feel that way.”

Hamel looked at Rupert with a faint smile.

Rupert stared at him with a dazed expression.

“What is it that you truly want?”

“I…”

Rupert couldn’t answer easily.

It was then.

─Clack

The door, its blood channel now full, began to open.

With a heavy sound, the thick door slid open.

“You can think slowly. It’s not an urgent matter anyway.”

What is needed are experiences and time to fill yourself.

Hamel moved toward the door, hoping Rupert would find his own conviction.

“Let’s do our best together.”

---

Inside the door a large chamber unfolded.

Only two things occupied the empty chamber.

A massive door.

And a suspicious-looking wooden box placed in the center of the chamber.

Hamel avoided the box and approached the door first.

Again, a sentence was inscribed in runes beside the door.

[Show your weakest self and overcome it. Then the door will open.]

Once more, it was a somewhat vague phrase.

They didn’t know what “show your weakest self” meant, but it was surely related to the suspicious box.

But Hamel couldn’t step forward easily.

The instruction to show one’s weakest self gave him pause.

‘As expected, surely….’

While everyone hesitated, it happened.

Lena stepped forward and said as she walked.

“I’ll open it.”

“…Be careful.”

At Hamel’s warning, Rena nodded lightly and grabbed the box’s lid.

Then she lifted it in one motion.

The next moment.

Dense gray mist billowed out, and something stood within it.

As the mist dispersed, a figure revealed itself.

Hamel could recall that face without difficulty.

A student he had met at the Magic Tower and the main culprit who had bullied Rena.

“Mellina.”

Rena muttered as she looked at the figure.

Mellina, as if to answer, opened her mouth.

“Lena. What are you doing there? Did you find the Blue Moonlight Herb?”

“Moonlight herb?”

Lena tilted her head to one side.

Seeing that, Mellina sighed as if exasperated and said.

“You’re really dense, Rena. Do you think that’s cute and do it on purpose?”

“…”

“Still silent. Hello? Are you listening, Rena?”

“Yes. I can hear you well.”

Rena nodded and answered.

Mellina tilted the corner of her mouth.

“Yeah. You should’ve answered like that sooner….”

But she didn’t finish that sentence.

Because….

─Crack

Rena, with an expressionless face, punched Mellina in the face.

“Ugh…!”

Mellina flew back bleeding and dissolved into smoke.

“…”

A brief silence hung in the chamber.

Clap clap clap.

“Still a masterpiece even on a second look.”

Only Ono clapped as if delighted.