Abandoned Dungeon (1)
Ernst Alecto Kastner. He’s the male sub-lead who assists the heroine in the novel and is also the person who kills my favorite character, Adin. I was familiar with his face from the novel’s illustrations—the dark blue hair like a night sky, the sea-like blue eyes, and his completely smile-less expression.
He’s a man who graduated from Konatus Academy, an 8-year school for people with unique abilities, in just 5 years and became the youngest officer in the Empire. He always leads the charge in subduing magical creatures and saves the heroine whenever she’s in danger, so he was nicknamed ‘Ernst-emon’ by the novel’s readers.
To me, though, he was the one who killed my favorite character.
“You’re an assassin, so why are you dressed as a maid? Are you a spy? You don’t seem to be a servant of the Kastner ducal family. Who on earth are you?”
It was almost laughable that I, a grown woman, was threatening a mere child. From his appearance, Ernst seemed to be in his early teens. His height must be around 160cm? He was tall for his age.
After confirming it was Ernst, I let go of his arm. Crucially, I didn’t have enough strength in my body to keep holding on to him.
“I’m neither a spy nor an assassin. This is the Elias family’s territory, so why is the young duke here?”
“This is the Elias Count’s land?”
When Ernst raised his voice, a faint, blue thread-like magic power flickered around him. Is that magic? Adin said she could see magic when she awakened as a mage, so I guess I can see it too.
However, I carefully observed the magic power flickering around Ernst, which was spreading as if a pot of boiling water was about to explode. Then I found something strange.
One of the conditions for opening the lake dungeon was being a ‘mage.’ Ernst, who had entered the dungeon, must be a mage. The reason a mage’s magic flow would be unstable was obvious.
“Ability overload…?”
‘Ability overload’ is a disease that only mages suffer from. A normal human body’s magic power (unique ability) stays for a certain period before leaving the body. However, in the novel’s character setting, Ernst was born with a constitution where magic power constantly accumulated inside his body and couldn’t leave. As a result, the young Ernst couldn’t control the leaking magic power and would often cause his unique ability to go out of control. Since Ernst’s ability was ‘spatial teleportation,’ he must have made an ’emergency landing’ in the lake dungeon because of an ability overload.
Unlike me, who was already deflated after figuring out the situation, Ernst suddenly got triggered by something else.
“You, are you a mage?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie. Your surroundings are filled with magic power! Besides, you’re not a normal maid; your movements look like you’ve been trained for years. What is your real identity?”
I did go to a martial arts academy for three years in my past life. It was a dark past I had built up because my older sister was an actress in my previous life, and I wanted to be one too. Since I inherited the skills I had used in my previous life after transmigrating, is it a good thing, after all?
For now, the priority was to resolve this confrontation with Ernst.
“I am Amila Matias Elias.”
“The eldest daughter of the Elias family? I heard that she’s a recluse due to an illness. Just say you’re a maid. That’s more believable.”
I wondered if he would suspect that I was Amila after seeing my face, but my worries were unfounded. It was either because my disguise was perfect or because he couldn’t imagine a terminally ill lady disguised as a maid entering a dungeon.
This is good. If this guy thinks I’m Amila, he might sue me for a noble drawing a sword against a noble. And since he said he’d rather believe I’m a maid, it’s better to play along with him at this point.
“I’m Rose. I have no last name.”
“Rose…”
“If your questions have been answered, let’s go our separate ways.”
And I started walking away alone. It was described in the novel that even if the young Ernst made an emergency landing somewhere, he would always return home after a certain amount of time, so he should be fine. I disliked Ernst, but I didn’t hate him enough to kill him. Ernst killed Adin because Adin asked him to. And his competence was needed to prepare for the future ‘Monster Wave.’
However, as I was walking and clucking my tongue, I heard subtle footsteps behind me. When I turned around, Ernst, who had been timidly following me, flinched and stopped. I frowned for a moment and then sighed.
“Why are you following me?”
“There’s still something I want to ask. You are a mage, right?”
“You’ve already confirmed it, so why are you asking?”
“Anyway, you’re not an assassin, right? If you’re not an assassin, are you, um, planning to enroll in Konatus Academy?”
Konatus Academy. It’s a training ground for people with unique abilities—mages. The entrance age is between thirteen and fifteen, and the average student attends for a total of 8 years. Of course, since I’m a mage, I do have a plan to enroll there. However, it’s a different matter for him to know that fact. I don’t like Ernst, and unless it’s to stop the future ‘Monster Wave,’ I don’t want to be involved with him. So I gave him a plausible lie.
“I don’t have the money.”
“Then I’ll lend you the money. With a low interest rate.”
Is he happy to see a fellow mage? The original novel also had a setting where Ernst was a talent collector, so maybe it’s both.
“I don’t need it. Are you aware that I almost killed you just now?”
“It’s my fault for ambushing you. If you were going to kill me, you would have already. If you’re embarrassed, I’ll say it first. By the way, I’m planning to enroll in Konatus next year.”
In the original novel, Ernst enrolls at the youngest age of fourteen. So, he’s probably around thirteen right now. How do I get rid of him? Will he leave if I just stay quiet? I thought he would leave since I had answered all his questions, but Ernst wiggled his fingers.
“Aren’t you scared of this place?”
I wondered why he was following me, and it seemed he was scared of being left alone. But I didn’t want to search the dungeon while babysitting him.
So I tried to walk faster, but I suddenly started coughing. I covered my mouth with my hand and saw that blood had formed. I was already used to my terminally ill body and was about to continue walking when Ernst hesitated and said, “Did you get… hurt somewhere?”
“It’s a chronic illness. Don’t worry about it.”
“No, if you’re sick, you should rest.”
“I don’t want to just wait and die.”
When I talked back, the young duke fell silent. Since it’s quiet now, I should speak my mind. If I leave Ernst like this, he’ll only get in the way of me finding the potion in the dungeon.
“Anyway, there’s no one who would look for me if I went missing. You must have many people waiting for you, so please wait here. I’m leaving.”
As I started to walk, I heard footsteps behind me. I thought he was scared and following me, but this time it was different. Ernst’s face hardened as he spoke to me.
“Take that back.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I am not a coward. I don’t leave people who are in danger behind.”
Who is he to be worried about me? I scoffed inwardly. Ernst made an emergency landing in the dungeon, and he knew less about this place than I did because I read the novel. If anyone should be worried, it should be me worrying about him.
However, I was too lazy to talk back, so I just stayed quiet. After that, Ernst and I walked straight along the path. After a while, we found a long stone slab. When I tried to examine what was written on it, Ernst stepped forward.
“It’s the ancient Astorian language.”
‘Astoria’ refers to the Holy Land ruled by the Holy Father, who is the religious leader of the various countries on the continent. It’s also a neighboring country of the Licht Empire and the heroine’s hometown in the novel. I wonder if the explanations for magical artifacts were mostly written in this language. I don’t know the ancient Astorian language, but I had read the content of the stone slab in the novel. Just as I was about to confirm if what I knew was correct, Ernst suddenly cleared his throat.
“Ahem! I can read Astorian.”
So what? I barely held myself back from saying that. Anyway, since Ernst had already followed me this far, it would be ridiculous to send him back to where he was. It was better to just play along with him for the sake of efficiency.
“…Read it.”
While I looked at Ernst with indifferent eyes, he read the contents on the stone slab with his eyes sparkling.
“It says, ‘Those who wish to go to God, offer a sacrifice with a worshipping heart.’ How is it?”
Ernst puffed out his chest after reading the ancient language. I wasn’t that surprised since I already knew what it said.
“Wow. That’s really amazing.”
“You don’t seem very surprised.”
He’s unnecessarily perceptive. Anyway, it was confirmed. The moment I stepped over the stone slab, it cracked.
The ground shook from the moment the system window appeared. The stone walls surrounding the cave behind us became wobbly like jelly and then flew toward us like arrows. The stone walls didn’t fly toward the front, but soon, a group of water droplets, large enough for an adult to enter, rushed toward us.
In a situation where obstacles were all around us, I grabbed Ernst’s hand.
“Run!”
I shouted and put my foot down hard. Soon, both of our bodies entered a water droplet.
Squish-
Whoosh-
The walls that were flying like arrows stopped in front of the water droplet. But not only did our bodies enter the water droplet, we were also breathing just fine inside it. We could even talk.
“W-what is this.”
When a flustered Ernst couldn’t continue his words, I let go of his hand first. And I pointed to the faint message that had popped up inside the water droplet.
[You have entered the ‘Cave of Oblivion,’ a zone within the dungeon ‘Abandoned Temple.’ (Number of entrants: 2)]
[Those who have entered God’s domain must humble themselves.]
[Please give up one of the following senses. (Sight / Hearing / Touch / Taste)]
[*However, if two people enter the cave, one person must give up either ‘Sight’ or ‘Hearing.’]
Just like when I awakened my ability, a system window appeared in the dungeon.
In the world of Happy Ending Nonetheless, dungeons and people with unique abilities existed. When a ‘magical creature’ appeared from a ‘dungeon’ that was a ‘Gate’—an unidentified rift—a ‘person with a unique ability’ would stop it.
Since I was living in such a world, Ernst, a mage, probably wasn’t surprised by a system window.
“Give up a sense? Rose, can you see this message too?”
…Or not?
I was puzzled by Ernst’s flinching in front of the system window, but then I realized the reason for his confusion.
