ăThe traps from awhile ago were stupid but considering how many there were the absence of them is kind of creepy.ă
ăRight?ă
The levels above them had been rigged in areas that would have been difficult to notice. The worst trap would probably be where one was caught in an explosion, got covered in soot, and their hair fried. But other than that the number of booby traps was enough to annoy anyone.
Compared to that, it had been 10 minutes since they had begun their exploration of the passageway and they hadnât encountered a single booby trap.
ăWeâve reached a t-junction.ă
ăWhat should we do? This is really bothersome. ă
ăLetâs check it out for now.ă
Mio proceeded with utmost caution toward the suspicious t-junction, carefully making sure to examine everything. The t-junction gave her a bad feeling.
ăThe passageway itself doesnât seem to be rigged with anything. ă
ăBut, you feel something is strange donât ya?ă
ăYes. Somethingâs off. ă
The fact that there were no traps was the only thing they were certain about. The two of them had high sense capabilities and intuition, and something had raised their suspicion.
ăIn this case, it wouldnât be strange if the structure itself is a trompe lâoeil. If so, then weâd discover something by attacking the framework.ă
While saying so, Hiroshi pulled out a spirit level that he had used during construction and placed it at his feet. The spirit level revealed that the area was perfectly horizontal since the bubble was fixed in the center.
ăNext.ă
So as not to provoke a miscalculation, Hiroshi stretched his arm as far as he could and placed the spirit level further ahead. The bubble formed on the right side.
ăThe passageway is slanted, to the point where if ya were to place a marble it would roll off. ă
ăItâs that inclined?ă
ăHmpf, whoever did this must have a lot of time on their hands to pull off something of this caliber. ă
At Hiroshiâs words, Haruna tilted her head. The passageway had been expertly built to the point where she narrowly didnât feel a sense of unease and Makoto, Tatsuya, and the Norton sisters hadnât even been able to pick up on it at all.
ăMâkay, the passageway is slanted so weâll go with a pattern.ă
ăAre we going with a ârolling stoneâďźă
ăYup.ă
Everyone agreed.
ăJust how slanted is it? ă
ăEnough for ya body to barely sense where it is in space. Theyâve also installed a bunch of mechanisms so that while your body thinks itâs walking straight ahead itâs actually headed downwards. ă
ăYou mean a ghost slope?ă
ăYeah something like that.ă
ăThatâs wily.ă
ăYouâre saying that now? ă
Hiroshi and Tatsuya grumbled about the crafty structure that had clearly had a lot of time and thought put into it. Even though it was a sinister structure, they didnât feel bloodlust or a mysterious aura. If anything, the purpose of this structure was to withhold a secret from trespassers and was meant to divert them, so they could relate.
ăThe problem with this situation is that we donât know whether we should block the stone from rolling all the way to the bottom or just it roll.ă
ăWait, youâre already certain that a giant stone ball is going to come? ă
ăBased on the circumstances I will even promise ya that it will come.ă
Hiroshi affirmed his prediction to the mystified Judith. The traps they had faced at the upper levels pretty much backed up his declaration, and their current environment didnât seem like it would betray his promise to Judith.
ăOkay. Iâve understood that a giant stone ball will come rolling down, but what do you mean blocking it from reaching the bottom or letting it roll to the bottomďźă
ăWell with this type of trap, there are usually two outcomes. One is that if you avoid colliding with it youâll be able to continue onto a different route, another outcome is that if you let it roll to the bottom it might trigger another booby trap.ă
Hiroshi politely answered Primulaâs question. What made this trap bothersome was the fact that the outcome could go either way.
ăIn this case, the problem is that we donât have enough grounds to determine what outcome itâll be.ă
ăThatâs right. Makoto, do you have any ideas?ă
ăMy observational skills arenât that great, and if I had happened to notice something I bet you guys and Haruna would have already figured it out.ă
ăHm, I guess so.ă
Meanwhile, Mio was explaining to the Norton sisters that in cases like this where Tatsuyaâs skills werenât adept for the situation he would always ask Makoto, whose skills also werenât adept for this situation, and how it had become something resembling a ritual. The fact that this always happened without fail was a bit tiresome.
ăIf we split up into groups to check out the structure of this trap we run the risk of getting separated.ă
ăSo, we should prepare for the worst and stick together.ă
ăIn that case Iâll be at the very back.ă
The worst scenario would be if it was necessary to stop a giant stone ball the size of a giant buddha statue. This was because other than Hiroshi, no one else in the group had skills capable of dealing with a stone ball of that size.
ăDepending on the situation, itâll be really bad if the stone ball doesnât break, so itâd be better to carry a maul.ă
ăIâm counting on you.ă
ăSorry about entrusting you with something dangerous.ă
ăDonât worry Iâm not afraid âcause this is just like a honey trap.ă
If he got caught in the trap heâd be laughed at by that mean-spirited woman and if he didnât get caught in it his existence would still be denied by that same mean-spirited woman. As for Tatsuya, itâs easy for him to ignore verbal abuse, but itâs difficult for Hiroshi.
ăAs usual you find relationships with women more frightening than an actual life-threatening situationâŚă
ăBut Makoto, you find monsters less frightening than straight guys, donât you? ă
ăâŚI canât refute that.ă
The three of them spoke while they made changes to their formation and entered the t-junction. Hiroshi climbed up the incline in order to buy the others time while the rest of the group looked for a place to hide within the passagewayâ framework.
Mio led the group in charge of surveying the area and advanced 10 meters until the end of the passageway was visible, when suddenly a loud vibration was heard.
ăItâs here!ă
ăHiroshi! Are you okay!?ă
ăIt hasnât picked up much speed yet so we got time!ă
The heavyweight Hiroshi thrust himself at the boulder that was slowly tumbling toward him and
brought it to a complete stop. The stone was somewhat heavy but Hiroshi was fully capable of supporting it with one hand; it actually wasnât as heavy as he had expected to the point that if the stone were to hit one of the Norton sisters at full speed she would survive.
ăThis stone seems to be made out of mostly paper-mache.ă
ăHow heavy is it?ă
ăItâs a bit heavier than my maul. The surface is as hard as a rock but Iâd say itâs quite hollow.ă
ăNo wonder I couldnât sense any bloodlust despite the sinister aura. Iâm not saying we canât let our guard down a bit but this place doesnât seem like a theme park either.ă
ăHow are things over there?ă
ăThere seems to be some sort of mechanism deep in the passageway. Or rather, it looks like a stone is blocking the way through.ă
ăThen it looks like we ought to smash this stone huh?ă
ăNo, wouldnât it be better if we smash it after inserting it?ă
ăReally? Alright thereâs a possibility that it has to roll at full speed so Iâll move it back and let it roll from there.ă
ăGot it. ă
Once the plan was decided the stone-imitation was rolled back to the top with a heave-ho.
After he reached the peak, Hiroshi took out two linchpins, secured them into position, and tied spirit silk around one of them making it easy to swiftly pull it away between the stone and the wall.
As Tatsuya watched the spirit silk, that they seemed to never get rid of, being put to use he felt somewhat grateful.
ăThe setup is complete. Is there room for avoiding it?ă
ăI think so.ă
ăWith this amount of people we barely have enough space.ă
ăYeah. Sorry about that.ă
ăNah, you donât have to apologize.ă
Hiroshi looked at where the group stood, his face paled as he realized how closely they were all huddled together. However, since he was the tank of the group he was able to stand at the edge. Meanwhile, with the excuse that if things were to go wrong she should stand closeby to cast an aid enchantment, Haruna was able to secure a spot next to Hiroshi. She was so close that she was practically glued to him. Then, she realized how dangerous this was for her.
UwahâŚ
She couldnât have imagined how bad it was for her heartbeat to be this close to the man she had a crush on, even if he was nearly completely covered in leather armor. She felt sorry about seeing his pale face but suddenly her mind steadily went blank as she noticed things that havenât captured her attention before, such as his scent, his burly physique, and the texture and temperature of his skin that could be perceived and felt through the thin areas of his clothing.
ăHere we go.ă
Hiroshi showed no signs of noticing Harunaâs reaction, nor Judithâs, even if his face had paled at feeling their bodies against his, as he made his announcement and removed the linchpins.
In the next moment, the boulder-like paper mache ball slowly began to roll, then as if some kind of mechanism had been involved, it rolled faster than they had predicted along the incline, and crashed with a large amount of force.
The ceiling above the place where they stood was higher than expected, this meant that even if an error were to occur and someone was run over by the paper mache boulder, the boulder would easily roll over oneâs body and one wouldnât suffer much damage. Even Mio hadnât been able to detect the fact that the carefully constructed mechanism and the ground that had been constructed in such a way to serve as a cushion, meant that the entire structureâs purpose was to serve as an attraction.
ăHm, letâs see.ă
Hiroshi scrambled as fast as he could away from that area. If he stood there any longer he was sure his sanity point would drop to zero. Haruna suddenly felt lonely as Hiroshiâs warmth disappeared along with him as he skittishly hurried away. She then unconsciously let out a sigh at his absence. This man was indeed enveloped in his phobia.
ăHmm, well, I know the reason but, Haruna, youâre bright red arenât you?ă
ăUm Judith, so are you?ă
ăI donât want to hear that from you?ă
It goes without saying that because the girls had been able to be in such close proximity to the guy they had a crush on, all of their faces were red, and there was a strange tension in the air.
ăSo, what did you think?ă
ăI guess you guys are happier than if it was your birthday, huh?ă
Makoto looked at Haruna teasingly and Haruna replied softly since she was still bewitched by what she had experienced. At the moment, Haruna resembled a Buddhist priest who had relinquished all earthly desires and seemed to be veering off that path.
ăWell, if this situation hadnât occured you probably wouldnât have ever had an opportunity to get that close to him.ă
ăHaru and Judith are so sneakyâŚă, Mio said while reproaching Haruna and Judith with her gaze. She ignored their conversation and looked over to where Hiroshi now was. Hiroshi was examining the area where the paper mache boulder had collided.
ăIt seems that the top of the slope is a dead end, so even if we go back itâll be blocked. But, while it seems we canât make a new path, by the texture of this stone, if we strike it a bit we might be able to get through.ă
ăSo weâre doing the same thing as back in the forest dungeon? ă
ăYup, something like that.ă
The rest of the group stared at Hiroshi and Tatsuya as they got to work. Harunaâs heartbeat was yet to calm down. She wasnât sure what she was doing that placed a burden on Hiroshi.
ăIâll knock it down in one swing.ă
ăGo.ă
After Hiroshi received Tatsuyaâs permission, he swung the maul down with all his might. Little did he know, if only he had investigated further he would have found a switch at the top of the slope. If one pressed that switch then the hidden pathway would have opened. But since they had been completely ignorant of that, the group had to resort to brute force to get through.
After they broke through the wall they decided to take a rest. As they rested, their faces changed into ones of annoyance and they recounted the events that had happened up until this moment.