Until just a moment ago, I could feel the nagging doubts in my mind melting away. Indeed, it was Alterra. Now it all made sense.
If it’s her, she could probably find out where I am even from far away, and she has the ability to reach me by the shortest route. The reason she hasn’t responded… well, that could happen!
Anyway, with her joining us, everything seemed to be turning for the better. Feeling glad, I called out her name, and she smirked before lightly tapping my brush aside with her greatsword, saying we should clear that up first.
“Trying to fight like a man is good, but if we’re going to fight, I think a sword would be better than a brush. You can always write after you’ve knocked someone down.”
Oh, right. I was still pointing it at her. I slung the brush back on my back and tried to defend myself.
“Well… if the creature breaking through the walls is strong enough to destroy everything, then swinging my sword wouldn’t have changed much. I just wanted to try something that might work, even with low odds.”
“Is this what they call gripping courage instead of recklessness…? Being manly and being foolish are separated by a fine line, but I don’t dislike that kind of courage.”
…Hmm, should I take that as a compliment…? It felt a little embarrassing getting praised out of nowhere. Still, why does she obsess so much about being “manly”? For some reason, I didn’t know why, so I just left it as one of my unanswered questions.
“Uh… thanks?”
“In situations like this, you should just act like it’s normal and move on. Responding to everything makes you look a bit shallow. But… since it’s my praise, you’re allowed to be happy about it.”
Is that how it works? This is harder than I thought. Feeling awkward, I scratched my neck and, unable to bear the discomfort, asked her if she could sense any other party members nearby.
“The others? Hmm. One is way over there, and I don’t know about the rest. Probably something heavy like Yuna.”
Then where did Akashi go? I set the question aside for now and decided to head toward where Yuna was. But…
“Alterra, I’m not too sure about this place, but isn’t it more like a maze? Maybe it was intentionally designed to be solved using logic.”
“Huh? Why does that matter? Logic is only for those with weak bodies. Mother always said if your brain is bad, your body will suffer, but conversely, it means only those with weak bodies use their brains.”
Since nothing special happened despite smashing through walls randomly on our way here… well, I don’t think anything significant will happen even if we break more.
“Alright… let’s head toward where Yuna is. Oh, wait. Before we break through, isn’t it true that the walls won’t collapse no matter how we smash them?”
“Yeah. There’s no telling how far it goes up or down. They aren’t going to fall just because we broke a wall. So, let’s go already!”
Alterra thrust her greatsword into the wall with force, infusing it with magic. A golden crack spread across the wall where the blade was embedded, and it crumbled effortlessly.
The ancient dwarves probably didn’t design this massive maze to be broken through like this…
Does it matter? We’re stealing something that was meant not to be stolen anyway. There’s no need to willingly get caught in security measures. Following the path of golden fragments that Alterra had carved out, I decided not to think about it anymore.
Still, the maze was enormous. Despite Alterra continuously smashing walls without pause, there was no sign of an end.
Attempting a straightforward approach might make us collapse from exhaustion first. And yet, Alterra kept destroying things like it was nothing.
There probably won’t be anything worse than this—except in this world, something always comes along that’s worse. It wasn’t unpleasant though.
It might seem funny that someone who was trying to kill me earlier is now thinking these thoughts, but isn’t thinking supposed to be free?
“What exactly are they guarding here that they went through all the trouble of building this? Ugh, whatever. These disgusting ancestors of the dwarves must’ve been creepy.”
Even Alterra seemed tired from continuously demolishing walls. She paused briefly, cursing the ancient dwarves under her breath while catching her breath.
“It must be something important if they went to such lengths to protect it… but I can’t even guess what it might be. Maybe Akashi knows something…”
At the mention of Akashi, Alterra blatantly acted disinterested and refused to give it much thought. Well, she doesn’t seem to like Akashi much anyway, so it’s understandable.
As for me… I’d say I don’t like him either. Still, the information and magic Akashi possesses are invaluable, so I put up with his irritating personality and bring him along.
Alterra took her usual ‘detecting posture,’ lying prone on the ground, and then started smashing walls again after seemingly figuring out where Yuna was.
No matter how I think about it, this feels wrong, but I decided to abandon common sense. After all, following the creator’s intent wouldn’t benefit us in this case.
If you can break it, you should.
Besides, this place twisted voices in such a way that they lost meaning while echoing around the maze.
Alterra stopped abruptly in front of a wall. When I asked why, she explained that Yuna was on the other side.
“…If that woman thinks the same way you do, steel arrows might fly as soon as we break the wall. Even I don’t want a hole in my chest. At this distance, she’ll hear us through the wall. Tell her we’re here.”
Ah. So while I’m weak and just barged through, Yuna is strong and prefers caution.
It’s reasonable, but why does it feel like a strange sense of defeat? Whether she’ll hear me or not, I shouted with all my strength, pressing close to the wall.
“Yuna!!! It’s us!!! If you have your weapon aimed, please lower it!!!”
Though there was no immediate response, Alterra seemed to think that was enough and began channeling mana into the wall, slowly creating cracks.
What started as tiny fissures spreading at the speed of crawling ants eventually demolished the wall, revealing Yuna with her bowstring drawn.
“Yuna! It’s really us! Could you please lower that thing for a second?!”
“…It seems it really is you. And Alterra too… Phew, I thought it was some kind of monster shaking the walls.”
Thankfully, neither of us ended up with holes in us, and Yuna lowered her weapon.
“Phew… well. Looks like everyone’s here except Akashi! Yuna, have you seen Akashi? Alterra says she doesn’t know where he is.”
“If Alterra doesn’t know, how would I? He probably collapsed somewhere while wandering through the maze. Besides, there’s more than one Akashi in the world. Didn’t you say you met a little Akashi kid in Korbo?”
That’s harsh treatment. Part of it is deserved, but doesn’t she hate him a little too much?
…Maybe not?
“Then let’s set Akashi aside for now… Shall we look for the treasure here?”
We need to find Akashi too, but suggesting that would irritate her, so we decided to search for the treasure first.
—
—
“Aren’t I the only one doing all the work here?”
“What can we do? Only Alterra has the strength to break through walls like paper. We’d help if we could, but… we can’t. Sorry.”
Hmm. So it’s not just me, huh? I felt a bit proud, but ultimately, the fact remains that I’m the only one working hard.
I know they can’t do anything. But while I’m putting in effort, they’re just aimlessly following me, which frustrates me.
It was me who found the source of the strange vibrations, and it’s me who keeps opening the way. Sure, Myungho occasionally strikes up a conversation to keep things less boring, but Yuna isn’t doing anything.
Isn’t it obvious she should at least draw her weapon and pretend to guard?
After briefly complaining, I started breaking through walls again toward the source of the strange vibration. It felt mechanical, regular, and periodic, making me wonder what it could be.
It can’t be nothing. This vast, expansive place has only one spot producing rhythmic vibrations. There must definitely be something here.
Could it be an exit? That black hole-like thing did hum, after all. But if it’s an exit, where is the original item supposed to be stored?
I pushed those complicated thoughts aside and continued smashing walls. Thinking about them now won’t change anything, so I can consider them later.
Just focusing on breaking walls, I got hungry and tried to eat something, but Myungho said all the food was with Akashi, looking troubled.
That damn mage. I get that he’s competent, but he’s just annoying. His attitude as if he’s superior, his smirk that seems to disdain everything…
He’s truly infuriating because he’s genuinely talented. If he were just incompetent and arrogant, I could easily dismiss him as strange and ignore him, but when someone capable acts arrogantly…
Ugh.
Listening to the continuous sound of collapsing walls, we finally managed to reach near the source of the vibration. Unlike before, this area was surrounded by an incredibly thick wall that couldn’t be breached easily.
Like that could stop me. My abilities haven’t failed me yet.
Ignoring the scales growing on my arms, I kept smashing through the walls until we reached a certain location.
In the center of the room was a tank-like structure containing an unknown girl. So this was the source of the vibrations.
And… in a corner of the room, Akashi was sitting, dozing off.
“…Hm? What is it? You came earlier than expected. You could’ve wandered around a bit longer, you know.”
