This is a place that looks like ancient ruins of some sort.
The vague, dream-like feeling that had been present the entire time is now gone. In its place is a slightly chilly air that quickly wakes me up.
The ceiling is high, and the entire surroundings is illuminated by magic light.
âSo this is the center.â
Violet-san does a quick spin to take in the entire space.
âSo what is it that we should destroy?â
I donât see anything that looks like a magic core. The only thing here is a huge door standing a distance away.
âBeyond the door, most likely.â
Violet-san walks on the stone paving, approaching the door.
âMakes sense.â
I follow after her.
The door is ridiculously enormous. Its width is enough for 100 people to walk abreast. Well alright, maybe thatâs a bit of an exaggeration.
Point is, itâs a really big door.
That ancient-looking door is covered here and there with black stains that is clearly blood, underneath which are innumerable ancient letters packed tightly together. Wound around the entire door are swathes of chains thicker than the average human waist that are keeping it tightly shut.
âWould we be able to go in if we get these chains off?â
âProbably.â
I grab one of the chain links and pull.
It doesnât even budge.
âYep, not happening.â
No matter how many tournaments for people who canât use magic I may win, something this thick is just physically impossible for me.
If I try to cut it with my sword, itâll definitely be my sword that breaks.
âYou know, this thing most probably has a key.â
âI see, good point.â
We spot it in one second.
Right beside the door is a dais with a really fancy-looking sword stabbed into it.
âWhichever way anyone looks at it, this is it for sure.â
âWhichever way whoever looks at it, this is it for sure.â
The side of the sword dais is, again, packed tightly with ancient letters.
âIt seems that this sword can cut through those chains.â
So says Violet-san as she reads the ancient lettering.
But Iâve already understood it. A sword in a dais. This patternâŚâŚ
âBut this sword canât be drawn, right?â
âEhâŚâŚ?â
âI can tell with a single glanceâŚâŚâ
So saying, I place a hand on the sword hilt and give it a tug, but as expected it does not budge.
âAs I had thoughtâŚâŚ here, tooâŚâŚâ
So I mutter profoundly.
âThis sword can only be drawn by the chosenâŚâŚâ
âWhatâŚâŚ!?â
Violet-san hurriedly traces the ancient lettering on the dais with her fingers.
And so, I let go of the sword.
âThe swordâŚâŚ is rejecting meâŚâŚâ
So I say on the spur of the moment, but the swordâs not actually rejecting me.
But the sword stuck in the dais being draw-able only by the chosen hero is mere common sense, a cliche used well and well again.
âThe Holy Sword can only be drawn by direct descendants of the heroesâŚâŚ thatâs indeed what it says here. Iâm surprised you managed to read and decode this magic text in one look.â
âHmphâŚâŚ everything exists as clichesâŚâŚâ
âSo youâre familiar enough with magic letter secret codes to recognize the various patterns as clichesâŚâŚ so thatâs how you knew.â
âSomething like that.â
I nod with satisfaction.
A sword stuck in a dais, and a seal on a door that can only be undone with said sword. Itâs indeed extremely cliche, but actually I love contrivances like this.
Isnât it great? Really feels like a fantasy world.
âHow troublesomeâŚâŚâ
Violet-san sits on the dais and sighs.
âAny other way?â
I sit down next to Violet-san.
âNone recorded on here, at least.â
âI see.â
I think for a while in the silence. Probably weâre both thinking about the other.
So I speak up first.
âYou want to disappear?â
âDisappear?â
âDidnât you say that if the core is destroyed, youâd disappear?â
âHmm, how should I put it. Rather than âdisappear,â itâd be more accurate to say that Iâd be âfreed,â I suppose.â
Violet-san looks at me and smiles.
âWhatâs the difference?â
âHere is a jail where memories are repeated again and again without end, for eternity. Itâs a bit hard to bear for me, you seeâŚâŚâ
So she murmurs in a voice that sounds like it might vanish at any moment.
âI see. Then letâs wait a while.â
âWaitâŚâŚ?â
âIf we wait a while, we might be able to do something about the door. But before thatâŚâŚ we have guests.â
Before the door appears a glowing rift in space.
The rift gradually grows to a certain size, then a bald ossan and a beautiful elf girl comes out from there.
âNnâŚâŚ?â
âWhatâs the matter?â
âNot much, just that that elf-sanâs face looks really similar to a friend of mine.â
But theyâre different people. Their bone structure is different. So is their gait and manner too.
âHouâŚâŚ to have brought Aurora all the way here.â
So says the bald ossan while looking at Violet-san.
âYou know him?â
âI donât remember having seen him before. But my memory is incomplete, so maybe Iâve met him before?â
The two of us are whispering to each other.
âBut what a pity. The door cannot be opened by the likes of you.â
The bald ossan is smirking.
âYouâre quite an unlucky one, arenât you, lad?â
âEh, youâre talking about me?â
I point to myself.
âI donât know where or how youâve wandered into here, but because you were deceived by the witchâs honeyed words, you will now have to die. Cut to pieces by this Olivie here, to be specific.â
Under Bald Ossanâs instruction, the elf-san steps forward.
Bald Ossan is not much, but this beauty is strong.
âYou canât, she isâŚâŚâ
âI know, sheâs strong.â
âLetâs run!â
âWhy?â
Weâre whispering again.
âIf you must hate someone, hate that witch next to you, not me. And also your foolish self! Kill him, Olivie!â
Olivie-san readies a sword that looks exactly like the Holy Sword.
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I draw my cheap Academy-issued sword. Her glass bead-like eyes are looking solely at me.