“I saw it! This castle is truly a terrifying place!”
Monica sparkled her golden eyes and tightly clenched both hands.
“Listening to Monica makes me even more scared for no reason.”
“Still, we have Lady Murmur with us, yes?”
Before our eyes was a massive castle gate, firmly shut.
You might think, “What’s with this club having a castle gate and being called a castle?” But it’s entirely plausible.
The thing is, clubs at ‘Cosmos Academy’ aren’t provided by the school.
Clubs are built by students pooling their money together.
If they can’t afford it? They just do club activities in the small room provided by the academy.
Of course, nobles who like showing off would never be satisfied with a small room.
“Anyway… If we don’t know how to open this gate, we won’t be able to save Torlin, I think.”
Esme pointed at the gate entangled with vines and said.
“It’s almost like a joke calling it Demon King Castle. Our club eventually took the shape of a castle, huh?”
“That’s right! You need to open the castle gates to enter!”
Monica nodded as well.
“That’s correct. But opening this gate isn’t an easy task.”
“M-Monica, did you see something?”
“Up there! There are naughty automatons hiding up there. They attack when we try to open the gate.”
Esme hugged herself with both hands and shivered.
“You foresaw that future, Monica? What should we do to open the gate then?”
“T-That…”
Monica broke out in sweat.
“Murmur knows. We don’t necessarily have to go through the gate.”
“Of course.”
It’s obvious.
If Monica could flip through futures like pages in a book, she’d have convinced more sisters back in the day.
“Eeeh, is it hard?”
“Sorry… I apologize.”
“Not at all! Why is Monica apologizing?! I-I mean, it’s because I’m disappointed!”
Esme urgently pressed and kneaded Monica’s shoulders.
“Well, I expected this from Monica’s character. She wouldn’t withhold good futures from us.”
“That’s right! Citrine! I always tell everyone when I see good futures!”
“By saying that, you’re making me look like such a bad person ohhh!”
Monica smiled broadly, grabbed Esme’s hand, and patted her affectionately.
“Murmur knows the way. There’s no need to enter through the gate.”
“Murmur sometimes talks in riddles.”
Esme rubbed her forehead with her hand, looking troubled.
“This time, Murmur is speaking plainly.”
I, Murmur, pointed at the gate with my hand.
“There’s no way Senior Torlin entered through this gate.”
“If he didn’t enter through the gate, where else… … Oh? That’s right?”
Esme seemed to realize something, pointing at the moss-covered steel gate.
“If plants or dirt were all over it like that, he couldn’t have lifted the gate!”
“That’s right. With so many vines coiling from the ground, it’s impossible to think the gate was lifted.”
I, Murmur, quickly scanned the nearby castle walls and moved my legs.
This really is just like a game.
I thought there might be some subtle differences due to the time difference since this is a high school chapter location…
“We can enter through here.”
“Eek… Isn’t this a dog hole?”
What we call a “dog hole” was actually an incredibly large hole welcoming us.
Of course, this is based on my, Murmur’s, standard of “large hole.”
From Citrine and Monica and Esme’s perspective, it probably looks like a hole slightly bigger than their bodies.
“But it’s a hole hidden by these huge leaves.”
“I didn’t foresee this future, but this method seems correct?”
“If not this way, we’d have to climb the castle wall, which would be too difficult.”
Thus, our only option was this “dog hole.”
“I’ll go first!”
“Hold on! Hold on! Since Monica is the Saintess, maybe I should… Gyaah!”
Monica immediately placed both hands on the ground and happily crawled into the dog hole first.
Esme doesn’t know this, but our Saintess has quite formidable tanking abilities, so it’s fine for her to go first.
There was even a popular build in the community that turned Monica into a tank!
“Ugh! Seriously! Sometimes Monica doesn’t listen at all!”
Esme screamed and went in second, followed by Citrine.
I, Murmur, ended up last strangely, but I guess it’ll be okay?
“This hole wasn’t made naturally, I think.”
“How can you tell that, Citrine?”
“There are traces of digging with a shovel. The stones have been carefully removed to make crawling easier…”
“Aiyaa!! Why did Monica stop?!”
Citrine stopped enthusiastically explaining, causing Esme and Citrine to scream.
She suddenly stopped, and thus my, Murmur’s, head and face collided with Citrine’s bottom with a “Kung!”.
“Hiiyaahh…?!”
Though poor Citrine’s scream erupted pitifully, fortunately, my horns didn’t pierce her back or bottom.
“Mu-Murmur-sama, please! Move back! Back!”
Probably because Esme’s bottom was rubbing against her face?
I, Murmur, obediently stepped back.
Citrine’s bottom is surprisingly big and soft.
And it smells nice too.
“There’s something hard… blocking the exit.”
“Murmur knows. There’s a pulley nearby. Turn it, and it opens.”
Monica clapped once and quickly turned the pulley.
─ Clunk-clunk!
“It opened!”
“Hurry, hurry! Up! Ugh! It’s suffocating being sandwiched like this!”
Since there was a proper ladder leading up, we managed to escape the hole without much trouble.
“Uuuuuhh…”
Citrine, whose face turned subtly red, massaged her bottom with both hands.
Thinking maybe she needed to dust off her knees, I, Murmur, brushed off the dirt from Citrine’s knees.
“We’ve entered Demon King Castle!”
Monica said brightly, her eyes sparkling.
She’s sticking with the Demon King Castle gag until the end, huh.
“What should we do next?”
“I saw it! If we enter that big building over there, something terrible will happen!”
“… That doesn’t help at all, does it?!”
Citrine shook her head.
“But there’s nothing else in the castle except that building.”
“Ugh… Knowing it means trouble, we still have to open the door, don’t we?”
That sounds like Colette Auntie’s experience getting scolded.
Anyway, since the place where Torlin is trapped is obvious, this time I, Murmur, took the lead.
“The building ahead of us is a three-story luxurious square palace.”
Clubs are places for club activities, but ultimately, they also serve as accommodations where one can live instead of staying in the dormitory.
In a certain sense, it’s paradise for students.
Being able to spend all day with extremely close friends while doing club activities together.
Moreover, “clubs” aren’t limited to students of the same grade; anyone from the middle school section to the high school section can join freely.
“Murmur thinks we should enter through this door.”
I pointed at a vivid red door clearly imprinted in my memory.
“Do we have to enter through this door specifically? There are plenty of doors here.”
“I saw it! When Esme opens the gold door, a giant rock rolls out!”
“H-Hey, if you see traps, tell us properly, Monica!”
Esme panicked and quickly grabbed onto my, Murmur’s, waist.
“However… Murmur-sama? We can’t enter through this door.”
“Yeah, it’s locked so we can’t enter.”
It was a door that required a key to open.
“But Murmur can open it.”
I, Murmur, proudly showed off the lockpick I pulled out from my pocket.
In RPG games, it would be awkward if lockpicking was missing!
It’s a mini-game after all, so of course, I know how to do it.
Adjusting the gauge carefully so the lockpick doesn’t break while turning it skillfully adds to the fun!
“Like this…”
I slid the thin lockpick into the keyhole and started turning it around─
─ Crack!
“… …”
“B-Broke? Is that supposed to happen?”
What is this?!
How could it just break before I even had a chance to move my hand?
“Aaah… In that case, Esme opening the blue door leads to dancing on oil in the future…”
“Why always me?!”
Monica clasped her hands in prayer.
“Murmur-sama? Let me give it a try.”
Citrine smiled and pulled out a lockpick from her pocket while speaking.
“Ohoho~ Consider it my cute hobby~”
Not just any lockpick, but a ‘Master Lockpick,’ right?
Why do you have it? Is it really a hobby?
Well, of course! Though I know Citrine’s base character is a ‘rogue,’ but still? Still?!
Many people, knowing her dexterity is inherently high, teach her all sorts of miscellaneous skills like lockpicking, trap disarming, item appraisal, scroll copying, conversation skills, bargain trading, etc., simply because it’s convenient.
But I didn’t know she was this passionate about lockpicking!
“Hem… Hmm… This locking mechanism is quite old. On these archaic locks, the pins rust, so actually…”
Citrine’s nimble fingers deftly maneuvered the lockpick.
A sense of expertise beyond mere familiarity could be felt…
─ Click-click!
Citrine, crouched down and attached to the keyhole, diligently moved her hands left and right.
─ Creak!
“Wow!!! Opened! Citrine opened it!”
“Amazing! Citrine!”
Esme and Monica, unaware that Citrine had embarked on a somewhat great misdemeanor, applauded enthusiastically.
“Ho-ho-ho, what does Murmur-sama think?”
“… Murmur thinks Citrine did an incredible job!”
Thinking about it, since my, Murmur’s, dexterity is trash anyway, lockpicking was unreasonable!
Deciding to ask for help next time something like this happens, I lifted my heels high and patted Citrine’s head affectionately.
“Oh~ Ho-ho-ho! For Murmur-sama, I can pick locks like this anytime!”
Though it is a crime!
But I won’t let her pick any other doors in the academy!
“Then let’s hurry inside and rescue Torlin!”
Esme entered happily with a bright smile.
Stepping boldly on the first marble floor, she didn’t even consider the possibility of a trap and stepped on the right marble floor.
“Esme!”
“Esme!!”
Monica and I, Murmur, simultaneously grabbed Esme’s arms, waist, chest, and armpits and pulled her back forcefully.
─ Thud!
Thanks to that, the three of us fell backward, our butts hitting the ground.
─ Whizz!
“Trap?!”
An arrow flew toward where Esme had been standing, colliding with the wall and falling to the ground.
“E-Eh! What is this?! It’s a joke, right? Look! Monica! Murmur! There’s no sharp tip on this arrow!”
Esme laughed brightly and picked up the arrow from the ground.
“Don’t grab it─”
─ Zzzzzip!
Before Citrine could warn her, Esme had already picked up the arrow.
And thus, she got zapped beautifully by the electric magic emitted from the ‘rune stone’ attached instead of the sharp tip.
“Hiiyaaa, ya, ya, ya, ya, yaaah!”
“Esme…”
Monica shook her head while stroking Esme’s back and cast healing magic.
Esme’s hair, spewing black smoke, was puffed up like popcorn.
“Murmur thinks we need to be extremely careful.”
“Yes, understood… I’ll be careful… I won’t touch anything recklessly.”
Esme sniffled in response, and I, Murmur, clenched my fists.
Though it’s regrettable, thanks to Esme, I confirmed that the walkthrough in my memory is correct!
“Everyone, follow Murmur! Murmur will lead you safely!”
If you know all the answers to the traps, it’s no problem at all!
