As soon as we’re done having breakfast, we go into the ruins.
Today our destination is the third basement floor, and the moment I step foot inside it, I sense the presence of people.
The first and second floors were deserted, but I heard the third floor is still being investigated, so I’m sure that’s what’s going on.
It’s a pretty large area, so when I check Map, I see thirty people nearby.
It looks like they’re around the center of this floor.
We can leave that to the end, so we’re going to go room by room again today. That’s actually going to be a pain because there are close to fifty rooms on this floor.
We borrowed a map, but this isn’t constructed like a labyrinth like dungeons are, so there’s no danger of getting lost in the first place.
What we really need is patience to get through this mostly boring work.
It looks like it’s a little tough on Rurika, Sera, and Hikari in particular. The empty rooms are really empty, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’d be a different story if there was treasure to find, but it’s all been explored… At first I wondered if we could actually still find something… But no, there’s nothing at all.
The one thing that’s left are the wall paintings, but they’re not particularly artistic, and most of them are so abstract that I don’t know what I’m looking at, so I don’t get anything from them either.
At first I thought I just lacked the sensitivity, but everyone else feels the same way, so I think the paintings are the problem.
And it’s not like there’s one in every room either, and when we enter a room and see nothing, it really takes a toll on our motivation.
There’s a storehouse, but all that’s left are empty shelves.
Maybe I shouldn’t be thinking this, but if monsters appeared, at least there would be some tension. Although we are still a little careful.
“That makes twenty-two.”
We found eight wall paintings on both the first and second floors. We found six on the third floor so far, so if it’s the same as the other two floors, that means there are two paintings left.
At this point I’m pretty sure I can figure out the message, but we’ve come this far, so we might as well find the last two.
That said, we still don’t know where to use these characters even after we find them.
Maybe Chris’ pendant will react to it in some way… But it doesn’t look like it’s doing anything.
I feel a mix of expectation and worry as we continue checking the paintings. There are two rooms left.
We enter the first one, and see a space that looks like a big hall, along with thirty visitors that got here before us.
People react with caution when they see us, but they ease up a little when they see the map we have.
And suffice to say, none of us are holding our weapons.
“I haven’t seen you around here. Are you here to investigate?”
Rurika nods, looking a little nervous.
Apparently this adventurer is high rank, and pretty famous in the republic.
He looks to be a veteran adventurer, and his name is Slayn. There’s no trace of the usual roughness that you’d expect from an adventurer, and he speaks softly and like a gentleman.
“We are planning to return soon. Although our companions are still quite heated.”
He says as he looks at five researchers who are glued to a painting.
And just as I think that we aren’t going to be able to check it, Slayn talks to them, and asks them to let us have a look.
“Don’t worry, they need to take a small break as well.”
He has a smile on his face the whole time.
Rurika and Chris smile too, and say he’s just like the rumors say. Although the women adventurers who I guess are his followers are glaring this way really hard.
The men all have awkward smiles on their faces. I’m assuming they’re used to this.
And then we check the wall, and find the twentieth character, ‘op’.
When we put them all together, it says…
‘If you show the proof of friendship the path will be opened for you.’
It feels like something a noble or something in a videogame would say.
I try whispering it, and nothing happens. Don’t look, it’s embarrassing.
There’s one room left. Would something happen there? Or not?
If nothing happens, does that mean this whole thing was pointless?
But it’s so elaborate, to the point where they even used characters from another world, that I want to believe there is a meaning to it all.
“What now? The next room is the last one, but should we rest a little?”
Hikari is the first to react to those words. Yep, she’s hungry.
She was looking a little down earlier, so I’m glad to see her reacting normally.
We go a little further away from Slayn and the others, and start preparing our food right away. I say prepare, but since we can’t start a fire here, I’m just taking stuff already cooked out of the Item Box.
But thanks to Space-Time Magic’s level being maxed out, it’s warm like it’s freshly made.
After we eat, we enter the final room.
On the way here I was wondering if something would happen, but it’s another room just like the others, with no real peculiarities in sight.
But when Chris, the last one in, enters the room, it all changes abruptly.
I can’t even process what’s happening. The scenery around us is different, like we were just warped somewhere else.
This sudden phenomenon leads Rurika and Sera to immediately draw their weapons and hold them ready.
I check Map, and it doesn’t look like we moved to another room, but the reactions of the people that should be nearby are gone.
Is this some sort of separate space? I don’t understand anything anymore. My thoughts can’t keep up with this very sudden development.
We’re all cautiously looking around us, until a person appears in front of us. No, this is like a hologram.
The person displayed by the hologram looks to be a man in his twenties with black eyes and black hair. More importantly, his features lead me to believe he’s Japanese.
And then, the hologram starts speaking.
“You who cleared the conditions, are you from another world? Or from this? What I’m about to say is the truth, the path I have taken… And a confession.”
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Thanks for the treat.
The path a previously isekao person took. Wonder what confessions is maybe some kinda sin