Chapter 275

275th Episode: Ceres’ Obsession 2

The conference room of the Mars Guild.

Unlike the grandeur of the external building, the conference room, accessible only to authorized personnel, was surprisingly simple.

A large round table with several chairs.

On the table lay a massive map and a model of Sodomora.

That was it.

It looked somewhat like a field-installed officer’s command-and-control room. In fact, that was probably the inspiration.

We sat around the table with crossed arms.

The people in this room were me, Antiope, Hippolyte, and Valtma, the half-bald, one-eyed middle-aged man who was the Mars Guild’s supervisor. Additionally, there was the inquisitor dispatched from the Shrine Knights, the Paladin of Bacchus – Vice Vein, who had long, purple-colored hair.

Vice Vein pointed at a certain spot on the map with a long, baton-like object.

“As I previously mentioned, it’s expected that this entrance will open near the city of Sodomora. Since this is a divine message from the high priest, the location is certain.”

“Hmm-.”

At that, Valtma exhaled slightly.

“We were aware that the entrances appeared in random places, and we knew that over time they were getting closer to Sodomora, but… I never thought it would be this close.”

Valtma’s remaining eye was fixed on the map of Sodomora and its surroundings.

From the abandoned shrine near the west gate, through the Forest of Deer near the south gate, the valley by the north gate, and the plains near the east gate – all were depicted in detail on the map.

Among these, the place Vice Vein pointed to was a hill located about half a day’s walk from the abandoned shrine near the west gate.

A distance that wouldn’t take more than a day from the city. Both Valtma and everyone else present seemed to feel quite weary at the idea of a peculiar dungeon appearing so close.

“Can you mark the previous entrance locations for us, Sir Vein?”

In response to Hippolyte’s question, Vice Vein casually said, “Certainly,” and began placing red pins around the map near Sodomora.

“Thirty years ago, just after the Long Winter ended, the first entrance was discovered here. In the plains of Calan…or rather, the marshes of Calan at the time.”

At this, Antiope, who had been lounging with one sandaled foot on the table, commented,

“You’re talking about the first rift sealed by Theseus?”

“That is correct.”

“Tch, Theseus… I hate the sight of him. Thanks to him, countless daughters of Mars have died.”

“Shh-.”

Hearing this, Hippolyte chimed in with a serious voice, her arms folded,

“Antiope, this isn’t the time to voice personal thoughts.”

“But even you said you didn’t like Theseus.”

“True, but now is not the time to talk about Theseus. Now is the time to discuss the entrance to the Autumn Rift.”

Antiope looked like she had many complaints, but it seemed that Hippolyte’s words had an effect, as she quickly closed her mouth.

As I looked at the sulking face in front of me, Antiope and I made eye contact, and she quickly composed herself, lowering her legs from the table.

Am I that scary?

Perhaps I am. The person who set a city on fire…well, it would be quite frightening to hear that someone I once knew well was responsible for setting a city on fire.

While my mind was slightly wounded, Vice Vein continued with the purple-toned hair explanation.

“Twenty-five years ago, the rift appeared here, twenty years ago, it was here, and fifteen years ago, ten years ago, the entrances were here. As you can see, they are gradually approaching Sodomora.”

“Why?”

Hippolyte asked.

“Why is it getting closer to the city?”

“I don’t know. Maybe places where people gather draw in power. The problem is that this year’s entrance is closer to the city than any previous time. If this continues, in five or ten years, the entrance might open right in the middle of the city.”

If a dungeon entrance opened in the city center…

Everyone seemed to share that impression as they exhaled softly.

To my knowledge, dungeons have certain benefits for human life.

To be precise, when a dungeon appears, there are always people who attempt to conquer it, and from those conquests come byproducts that stimulate economic activities.

The city of Kolkata, which serves as the base for mostly exploring Pluto’s Labyrinth, can be seen as a prime example of this. But Kolkata was located a safe day to two days’ journey from the entrance of the labyrinth.

Dungeons.

Otherwise known as “Magical Realms.” No one knows what might come out of them to attack and cause trouble.

If one were to open near a city, let alone right in the city center, even a hub city like Kolkata would have faced great turmoil.

Let alone Sodomora, which is not much associated with dungeons. If a dungeon entrance appeared somewhere within this densely populated metropolis, the outcome would be predictable.

Balancing his folded arms, Valtma leaned forward and addressed the table.

“There will probably be nothing but chaos. Nothing but confusion. So, what’s your conclusion, Sir Inquisitor? You’re a busy man, so there’s no need to beat around the bush. Tell us your conclusion.”

“So far, we’ve only sealed the Autumn Rift entrances, which lasts for five years. But now, simply turning a blind eye and continuing with the process is no longer enough. Therefore, it’s been decided to completely destroy the Autumn Rift.”

At that, there was a moment of great commotion. Hippolyte was the one who opened her mouth wide in disbelief.

“Destroy the dungeon? Even if we call it a dungeon, it is originally in the domain of Goddess Ceres. To destroy it—what authority do you have for such an act? It could even be considered sacrilege.”

“It has already been approved by the Royal Castle.”

“Prince Friedrich, then. There’s no one who can truly command you except for him, right?”

“That’s correct. By the decree of His Highness Prince Friedrich, our Shrine Knights have resolved to completely destroy the Autumn Rift, Goddess Ceres’ domain. Doesn’t this justify it sufficiently?”

“Ample justification… Hmm, but even so, it’s not an easy matter. After all, even the hero Theseus only managed to seal it.”

“I don’t think poorly of the people here to the extent of comparing them to Theseus. Amazon Sisters, the two of you are demigods, successors of the divine essence. You’re certainly no less than Theseus, are you not?”

At Vice Vein’s words, Hippolyte slightly considered, emitting a subtle “Hmm.” Meanwhile, Antiope, who had been sitting upright and attentively listening until then, raised her voice excitedly.

“Yes, we can do it! If that guy Theseus had destroyed the dungeon back then, we wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble now. We’ll do what he couldn’t!”

“Very admirable indeed.”

At that, Vice Vein smiled contently.

So, summarizing what I’ve heard so far…we’re supposed to go to a place that’s essentially the territory of a god turned dungeon, and then we destroy it, right?

Regardless of anything else, I was confident in my destruction capabilities. After all, I am Samarian, known for burning an entire city to the ground. There’s probably no one better at breaking things than me.

I will utterly demolish everything.

Hassan, smash.

While I was lost in these thoughts, everyone stood up.

“We’ll leave after lunch. We’ll rent some carriages for the trip. Please make all necessary preparations by then.”

*

Two splendid carriages were prepared at the West Gate.

Each carriage was pulled by two horses adorned in shiny iron armor with sleek tail feathers and other fancy decorations. They looked like the cream of the crop in the horse social hierarchy—perhaps even the Gold Tier among horses.

Wow, what magnificent carriages. They looked better than any adventurer’s outfit. A single ornamental nail from the horses’ hooves could probably cover a few days of meals if sold.

You fool, if you tamper with that, you’d lose your head. Look at the emblem of the dragon—it’s a carriage from the Shrine Knights.

People gawked at these carriages just like I did when I saw a Rolls-Royce in my neighborhood once.

It really was similar to that situation.

Expensive carriages like these make people feel proud and want to brag, so as I climbed aboard one of them, sitting on a cushioned seat, I felt a little self-conscious.

While I was thinking this, Vice Vein, another passenger in the carriage, sat across from me and struck up a conversation.

“I heard you’ve been going through a tough time recently.”

It seems everyone I meet asks the same thing. So, I replied with the same standard answer I’ve been giving to people.

“More or less, yes.”

“However, you look better than expected. What made you set the city on fire? You don’t seem like the type to do something like that to me.”

“Everyone has an inner destructive desire to some extent. Haven’t all of us, at some point in life, thought about doing something out of the ordinary?”

“Ah, that’s true. I am a follower of Bacchus, and I’m quite knowledgeable about inner destructive urges.”

Vice Vein said casually and then signaled the carriage driver.

“Let’s get going.”

The driver gave a short whip crack to urge the horses forward. As Vice Vein admired the changing view outside the window, he said a few more words.

“Alcohol is a great tool to bring out one’s inner self. It is, so to speak, a blessing from the gods. But drinking too much inevitably leads to madness. Samaritan, I suspect you should stay away from alcohol.”

I understood that Vice Vein was trying to offer advice.

People like me who are somewhat cautious tend to be sensitive to hostility or affection, easily detecting whether someone likes or dislikes them. This man seemed to have a decent liking toward me, probably because we both had fun criticizing cultists during our first meeting.

But why bring up alcohol now?

Trying to guess where this conversation was leading, Vice Vein said,

“So, tell me honestly. What kind of alcohol did you drink?”

“What do you mean ‘frankly’? What alcohol are we talking about?”

“You don’t have to hide it. Samaritan, if you could set a whole city on fire, you must have been quite drunk, right? How many bottles did you drink?”

“Um?”

“At one point, you drank a powerful liquor, and yet you never showed any signs of intoxication. If you were drunk enough to set a city on fire, it must have been an incredibly potent and fiery drink.”

“What—?”

“I heard that Samaritan’s secret art is quite powerful. Could it be that secret recipe?”

“Samaritan’s secret recipe?” That’s not alcohol; it sounds more like a skill. Apparently, this Vice Vein thinks I committed a crime while under the influence of alcohol.

As I was about to explain, Vice Vein added a few more words.

“If you exceeded a certain amount of alcohol consumption, we could argue for a mitigation of your crime due to intoxication. That’s Bacchus’s grace, after all. I’m curious why such facts weren’t mentioned.”

Bacchus’s grace, huh?

I recalled the alcohol-related laws of the Gaia Continent.

It’s rumored that because followers of Bacchus defend and cause all sorts of riots by drunk people, there’s an official law that becomes lenient towards crimes committed by drunks. Hence, some delinquents deliberately drink heavily after committing a crime to take advantage of this leniency.

It’s really an uncivilized law characteristic of the Gaia Continent. The fact that crimes committed under intoxication lead to reduced sentences is something I simply can’t believe.

That said, I hadn’t touched a single drop of alcohol that day.

“I was fully conscious.”

“…Is that really true?”

“At least, I didn’t drink anything.”

“Goodness, you mean you did such a crazy deed in your right mind? That’s truly astonishing. How did you even think of doing something like that consciously? You’re more extraordinary than I imagined. This is getting interesting.”

Is being told by a devotee of the god of madness that I did something insane a compliment or an insult? Is this guy subtly mocking me?

While I was pondering this, Vice Vein continued.

“Still, your reckless nature seems to intrigue His Highness. I hear you refused the offer to join the Shrine Knights?”

“Yes, I did back then.”

“I find it hard to believe more that you turned down His Highness’s offer than setting the city on fire in a sane mind. How can someone be so reckless while being fully conscious?”

Is it less believable than setting an affluent district of the city on fire? Recalling those court proceedings made me contemplate.

The voices of countless people.

Countless staring eyes.

Conflicting interests.

My own self-loathing.

And Elpride…

At that time, my mind was filled with all these things, leaving little room to focus on anything else, but now, I remember rejecting the prince’s offer to join the Shrine Knights.

To put it simply, was I rejecting a parachute drop recruitment to a stable public enterprise like getting a guaranteed job? Indeed, it was an action one might describe as crazy.

But back then, I had no intention of kneeling before that guy.

Prince Friedrich.

The proud advocate of justice.

The enemy of cultists.

Why did I reject something so perfectly suitable for me? Also, at the end of the court session, something odd about the prince’s demeanor began to bother me.

Although no one else seemed to notice, for a brief moment, the prince’s face twisted as if his mouth had split open like a monster’s. It was quite frightening.

At that moment, my instincts screamed that the prince was my adversary. Considering the future sovereign of the kingdom as an enemy certainly seemed like a crazy move.

Yet, my common-man intuition often proved surprisingly accurate.

Maybe he isn’t the upright justice advocate that everyone says he is. Haven’t I seen people with seemingly spotless faces committing sinister acts behind the scenes countless times?

Ah, but by thinking this way, I’m no different from the cultist Paranoi.

As I reflected on these thoughts, the carriage had swiftly arrived at a hill known as the “Nymph Hill.”

At this, Vice Vein crossed his hands over his forehead as if making a sign of the cross and whispered,

“O all-powerful Bacchus, may the wrath of the seasons and the harvests pass us by.”

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