Chapter 440 Underground Pa.s.sage, and Nokia Royal Palace.
A group of twelve people, only women, went on the night road while holding their breath.
Fortunately or unfortunately, there was moonlight tonight and it was not so dark. However, if you were not careful, your foot might be stumbled.
They could easily sneak into the royal mine north of the royal capital of Nokia. In the first place, this mine had exhausted the remarkable ore and was almost unused.
“Over here. There should be an entrance to the ruins in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the royal palace.”
As they followed Princess Pafia’s guidance, they saw something like a tunnel that pierced a rock and was solidified by earth magic in a corner of the mine.
The height of the tunnel was about 3 meters and extends down to the bas.e.m.e.nt. Naturally, the inner part was pitch black and they can’t see anything.
“[Come Hikari, small illumination, Light]”
Linze created a small ball of light in the palm of her hand. Relying on the light, they went down a b.u.mpy but gentle downhill and came out to a slightly wider mine.
The road was a junction, and the road continued to the left and right. Pafia’s foot stopped just at that intersection.
“It’s supposed to be here … but there should be an underground pa.s.sage ahead. It seems that we can’t enter from this side.”
“Is there a pa.s.sage ahead? We can only see it as an ordinary rock wall, degozaru ga …”
Yae murmured while touching the rock wall. Similarly, Lean touched the rock wall and hit it.
“I don’t think this is an illusion like [Mirage], this is just a rock wall. I wonder if it’s crushed normally to proceed.”
“There is a magic stone that reacts to the magic power of the royal family in the pa.s.sage over there, and that is the key, and the door here opens …”
“Oh, I see. Earth magic is used.”
As soon as Lean was convinced, he nodded a little. Since ancient times, earth magic traps and gimmicks have been common in these underground ruins and dungeons. This is probably one of them.
“What should we do? Crush it?”
“How about using [Explosion] to blow it?”
Older Sister (Elze) clench her fist, and Little Sister (Linde) try to activate magic… Is it because they are twins that they have similar thoughts for some reason?
“It may be a bad idea to destroy at here. It leaves a mark that someone has trespa.s.sed.”
As Yumina replied with a bitter smile at the twins’ actions, Sakura picked up the stone at her feet and began to hit the rock wall. Sue called out with a suspicious expression.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m hitting with a rock”
“No, I can see that by looking at you …”
“There is a difference in the sound that resonates. The thickness is less than fifty centimeters. In this case, I can ‘jump’. [Teleport]”
Sakura’s figure disappears.
“Ah!”
While everyone except Tokie was surprised, Sakura reappeared in her original place a few seconds later.
“It’s okay. There’s a dungeon pa.s.sage ahead. There seems to be a demon beast, so I can jump with two people at a time.”
“Oops, Sakura-dono!?”
“Sakura-san !?”
“【Teleport】”
Shun, Sakura grabbed Yae and Hilda then disappeared again. She chose them first in case something happened at the transfer destination.
Sakura that came back then held Lean and Lou’s hands and transferred again.
Pafia and Lithia, Yumina and Sue, Elze and Linze, and then Sakura transferred everyone to the other side of the wall one after another. Tokie transferred by herself.
“……Tired”
Although she said that, Sakura had a face that didn’t look tired. Actually, she was not too tired.
The magic power consumed by [Teleport] is determined by the distance. Everyone knew that teleportation, which is less than a meter away, wouldn’t consume much magic power, depending on the number of people jumping with her. Sakura’s “tired” remark was probably mental fatigue that came from fine control of coordinate designation.
“Fumu. It certainly feels like a dungeon of ruins.”
Sue looks around and gives her impressions. Earth-type magic stones were embedded in the dead-end wall. The rock wall will open when magic power is poured into it.
The underground pa.s.sage was similar to a dungeon on a remote island owned by Brunhild. A stone wall and a floor, apparently an artifact made of earth magic. Even if it wasn’t illuminated by Linze’s [Light], a faint light was emitted from the stone.
“Did they synthesize light magic when making stones with earth magic …?”
“Synthetic magic. I think this is an ancient magic civilization for the times.”
Linze and Lean consider while touching the stone wall. The underground pa.s.sage stretched straight and turned to the right.
With Yae and Hilda at the front, proceed steadily through the stone pa.s.sage. The width and height of the pa.s.sage was a square of about 4 meters, and it was not narrow enough to swing weapons.
Yumina asks Princess Pafia, who walks ahead.
“This underground pa.s.sage was originally a dungeon of ruins, wasn’t it?”
“To be exact, it’s part of the dungeon. There’s an entrance from the bas.e.m.e.nt of the royal palace into the dungeon of the ruins.”
“The dungeon and the royal palace are connected …? Is it okay? Some monsters enter the royal palace …”
“It’s okay. Many barriers on the royal palace side keep monsters away. There are monsters in this pa.s.sage, but only weak monsters such as slime.”
Is it safe? Yumina, Elze, Linze, and Yae suddenly stop at Pafia’s words, who always smiles.
“Let’s crush slime as soon as we find it …”
“Yeah. Completely…”
“Don’t leave a single one, desu …”
“It’s a deadly enemy, degozaruna …”
The eyes of the four people who muttered were completely set.
The four of them once had a terrible experience with slime and have hated slime ever since.
Princess Pafia, who did not know such a situation, suddenly withdrew with a laugh at the four people whose atmosphere changed.
“Ah, slime, ja“
“[Penetrated ice, freezing needles, Ice Needle]” (koori yo tsuranuke, hyouketsu no sans.h.i.+n)
As soon as Sue finds the green slime in front of her, Linze shoots an ice needle. The slime, which turned into a hedgehog in a blink of an eye, pierced the core on the spot and died quickly.
“I’m scared …”
“Green slime is a female enemy, desu. It’s the same with Kanaza.”
“Female’s?”
“Green slime likes to eat textiles such as clothes. It’s a natural enemy for female adventurers.”
Lean explained to Sue, who twists his neck. As she was convinced, Sue nodded and catch up to everyone walking ahead.
After that, they climbed the stairs, and although there were some forked roads, Yumina and the others went on the road to the royal palace with almost no hesitation.
One of the reasons was that Princess Pafia remembered this path well.
Eventually, her sister, Refia, who was thinking about these possibilities, repeatedly reminded her. They wouldn’t have expected it to be an invasion route to defeat Kanaza, not an escape route.
“It’s a forked road …”
“Um … on the left. To that direction.”
The reason for the delay in replying to Hilda, who leads the way, was that the directions she learned were reversed. Following Pafia’s instructions and everyone turned to the left aisle.
“It’s quite a long, I think we are already quite advanced …”
“It’s a little more. We should have already reached the bas.e.m.e.nt of the royal palace.”
“Yes, right … Then we should proceed carefully from here, right?”
Linze, who is relatively physically weak, listens to Pafia’s answer and regains her spirit. Certainly, monsters such as slime have disappeared from earlier. The influence of the barriers of the royal palace may have already come out.
After a while, Yae and Hilda, who were leading the way, stopped.
“What happened?”
Lou, who was behind them, looked forward over Yae’s shoulder. There was a staircase in front of them, but it hit the ceiling on the way and disappeared.
“Is it the end point, degozaru ka na?”
Climb the stairs and Yae knocks the ceiling.
“The sound is different. The ceiling is probably thin.”
When Yae examined the ceiling in response to the voice from Sakura, there was a slight joint point in the square. Pafia in the back opens her mouth.
“It should lead to a royal palace room that is no longer in use.”
“I see. Then I should lift this up, degozaru na? … Funu!“
When Yae reached the ceiling and put some effort into it, the square stone slipped slightly and lifted up. However, even though it is thin, stones are stones. It was quite heavy, and Yae tried to lift it with her face bright red, but she couldn’t move it.
“Fununununu ou ou ou …!“
“Ya-Yae-san? Your face is getting into a state where you can’t show it!”
“Buha!“
Yae breaks her knees, exhausted by Hilda’s voice. Seeing that, it was Elze who came forward while waving her arm.
“Leave this to me. I’ll lift it in one shot.”
“Nuu. I’m sorry, degozaru …”
Elze makes a light baton touch to Yae who descends from the stairs.
Like Yae, she put her hand on the stone on the ceiling and Elze exhaled.
“[Boost]!”
Gagogo! There was a sound of the stones s.h.i.+fting, and the stones above Elze’s head were lifted at once.
What Elze saw when she lifted the stone and stood up was a dimly lit room.
Elze lowered the lifted stone to the front and crawled out of the hole. It wasn’t until she turned around that she realized that she was crawling out of the fireplace.
It seems to be an unused room, and there are almost no furnis.h.i.+ngs. The fireplace was also empty.
Look carefully around and make sure there are no people around.
“It looks okay. Come up.”
“[Block the wind, calling the silence, Mute]”
Lean’s magic was released from the bas.e.m.e.nt to answer Elze’s voice. With this, the noise in the room does not echo outside.
It is wind magic that has an effect similar to the non-attribute magic [Silence] used by Touya found in Babylon’s “Library”.
Everyone crawled out of the fireplace one after another. Only Sakura and Tokie have transferred.
“Successfully sneaked in, right?”
“What are we going to do next?”
“I’ll talk to Otou-sama and Refia Ane-sama and ask them to evacuate somewhere. And Kanaza with this hand …!”
Pafia clasped her hand. A flame of anger swirled in his eyes.
“And where is His Majesty’s room?”
“The sleeping area is the innermost room on the third floor. Etto…”
Pafia runs through a dimly lit room while answering Elze, heading towards the window. Slightly open the closed curtain.
“See, you can see it from here. It’s the innermost room on the third floor.”
In the front window where Paffia stands, the courtyard spreads out in the moonlight, and Pafia is pointing to the building diagonally above to the left.
“It’s surprisingly close”
“If I can see it, I can jump with [Teleport]”
Sakura looks into the king’s sleeping quarters through the window and checks the distance. Unlike [Gate], [Teleport] does not interfere with the transfer destination, so it is not hindered by amulets. The question is whether there is anyone other than the king at the end of the transfer …
“Maybe it’s okay. Even Tou-sama‘s trusted retainer and maids couldn’t get close to him at Kanaza’s command. Only our sisters and doctor were able to enter the room. Of course, the doctor was Kanaza’s puppet. But … “
The fact that the doctor is a puppet means that the king can be killed at any time. Or it may be that he continues to be in such a desperate situation and is waiting for the king’s heart to weaken.
“Then, Pafia-san and Lean-san will transfer with Sakura-san. If you transfer, [Mute] as in the room here.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Sakura takes the hands of Pafia and Lean. By the way, Paula also clings firmly to Lean’s leg. Make sure to check the king’s sleeping quarters that can be seen through the window.
“【Teleport】”
In an instant, the three transfers to another room. It’s as dim as the previous room. It seemed to have transferred to the edge of the room, with a wall behind it and a large canopy bed in front.
“[Block the wind, calling the silence, Mute]”
Lean immediately activated the blocking magic. It was another person who was neither Sakura nor Pafia who responded to the action.
“Who!?”
With a rattling noise, a person who seems to beside the bed stood up and headed to us Who What (Asking Ident.i.ty).
Not a king. It’s a woman’s voice. Apparently, there is a different person in the room than the king who slept on the bed. Pafia jumps before Lean casts a spell to neutralize her opponent.
“Refia Ane-sama!”
“Pafia …? Are you Pafia !? Ah, you are safe …!”
From Lean’s point, she can only see her dimly, but it looks like she is Pafia’s sister’s, first princess, Refia.
Refia strongly embraces Pafia who jumped into her chest. It was the first reunion in three months.
Three months ago, Kanaza made up a fake corpse and said Pafia was dead, but Refia didn’t agitate at all. No matter how similar she is, she won’t mistake her sister. She has always believed that the absence of her body means that her sister is still alive.
After all, her sister is alive, she embraces her like an important treasure in her chest.
Lighted by the moonlit, the first princess of the Nokia kingdom, Refia, looks a lot like Pafia.
She is over 20 years old, dressing in a Nokia folk costume based on white, and has long chestnut-colored hair, the same as Pafia, extending to her waist. Although her eyes are not as sharp as Pafia, she seems a strong woman.
“It looks like it’s okay. Leave here to me, bring everyone here.”
“Hmm”
When Sakura nodded to Lean’s words, only she disappeared from the room.
In less than thirty seconds, Sakura with Elze and Linze reappear, and only the person disappears. Seeing strangers appearing one after another in the king’s sleeping quarters, Refia wide her eyes.
“Pafia … w-who are these guys?”
“The fiancée-sama of His Majesty King Brunhild, who is a collaborator.”
“Eh !? Even someone who is that old!?”
“Ah no, she is His Majesty’s grandmother …”
Pafia hurriedly corrected Refia, who widened her eyes, when she saw Tokie who had been transferred by herself. She may be a natural airhead.
Refia loses her word when she sees a total of nine fiancés, excluding Tokie and Lithia, Pafia’s maid.
Since the destruction of Yulong, information on here and there and the outside world has come in, but the most talked about is the Princ.i.p.ality of Brunhild, which also (believed to have) destroyed the hated empire Yulong. Among them, the anecdotes of the King are numerous.
”Alone, defeated a huge demon,” “leaded a soldier to subdue a flock of dragons,” “scratched the princess of the demon kingdom,” “crushed the military power of the new continent,” etc. It’s hard to tell which one is a lie.
However, one of the most frequently heard stories is the rumor that the king loves women. “He prefers like a hero,” but because of Kanaza, Refia didn’t have a good image of King Brunhild.
Unlike Kanaza, in the case of the King, he showed his intention to properly marry his wife and evaluated only the fact that he seems to treat them carefully.
“Refia-sama, right?”
“Ah, yes”
“Sir Kanaza of your kingdom used summons a monster in our country to aim for His Majesty’s fiancée. Therefore, Sir Kanaza will be punished… or so that is the official stance. Because Pafia-sama was in trouble, so we came to a.s.sist her. “
Yumina talks to Refia in a somewhat ridiculous tone. When Refia heard Yumina’s words, she bowed deeply. It is a declaration of overthrow Kanaza after understanding all the Nokia circ.u.mstances. No other ally is as powerful as this.
“Thank you very much …! As a Nokia princess, I really give my thanks to Brunhild …!”
“Brunhild … Do you want to get in the way of Kanaza-sama? Can’t be forgiven… CAN’T BE FORGIVEN! “
A voice that suddenly echoes from the bottom of the earth echoes around. The room is in [Mute] magic. In other words, the voice comes from inside the room.
“It is over there!”
At Yumina’s point, something like a white haze was rising from the king’s mouth lying on the bed.
The haze gradually grows, and two golden eyes appear in it. It had the same shape as Evil Spirit (Specter’s) appearance that rampaged in Brunhild.