Chapter 28………………………
“Adamas, snap out of it!”
“Huh… huh?!”
Before he even realized it, it was Sappheiros who grabbed Adamas around the waist as he nearly collapsed.
“Sorry. I guess I got startled.”
Slowly pushing against Sappheiros’ chest, Adamas straightened himself up.
What lay ahead was an extremely narrow passage. Beyond it were stairs and a small door.
“Sappheiros… no matter how you look at it, doesn’t this seem like a basement?”
“Yeah, it does.”
“But why would a basement suddenly appear? Seriously, I don’t get it. What kind of space even is this?”
Adamas kicked the wall a few times.
“Ow. That hurts. Don’t do that.”
“Yeah… I guess the only thing we can be sure of is that the dungeon owner is filthy rich.”
Even the walls along the short distance between the stairs and the door were densely embedded with glowing stones.
After rubies, now luminous stones…
Thinking of their poor marquisate, Adamas honestly wanted to pry every single one out and take them home.
“At this rate, I wouldn’t even be surprised if diamonds started popping out next.”
Adamas sighed.
Sappheiros chuckled at his complaint, then sat down halfway on the stairs.
“Let’s wait for the others first. Still… the owner really must be insane. Who makes an entrance this sloppy?”
“Well, normal people don’t stare at a stone wall and spin around three times on the spot. In a way, isn’t that kind of genius?”
Or maybe…
They were just overflowing with confidence.
Like you.
Adamas recalled Sappheiros’ lonely log cabin deep in the mountains.
A creaky door. Old windows. A place that was surely still sitting empty.
Even though there was nothing worth stealing, Sappheiros left it practically unguarded.
Even if Adamas stayed overnight at the marquis’ estate without warning, Sappheiros didn’t care.
Even when leaving for desert exploration, he barely locked anything.
There was only one reason.
Sappheiros probably knew deep down—
That no one in the marquisate would dare rob him.
And if this dungeon’s master thought the same way…
Then they definitely weren’t ordinary.
“Nothing about this is easy, huh…”
Adamas sat down beside him, scratching his head.
As if comforting him, Sappheiros quietly tapped Adamas’ knee with his fingers.
Their knees touched as they sat side by side on the narrow stairs.
Unable to bear the sudden warmth creeping up, Adamas raised his voice to change the subject.
“Oh! Wait—why didn’t you bring Tina in with us earlier?! Trusting those suspicious brothers like that!”
“Lady Privetina has enough strength to protect herself.”
“Still! What if those two brothers do something to her?!”
“…What exactly do you mean by ‘do something’?”
“Well, you know… like… that…!”
Adamas flailed his hands wildly, repeating, “Ugh, I can’t explain it!”
Sappheiros laughed.
“You use the word ‘how’ way too much. And if you were that worried, why didn’t you insist on bringing her no matter what I said?”
“Well… Stephan was the one holding onto Tina. And we didn’t know what was ahead. At least that hollow space seemed safe.”
Adamas pouted.
Hard to believe, but he had already acknowledged Stephan’s ability.
“I felt the same. I trusted Stephan too.”
“Wow. You into prophecies or something?”
You don’t look like the type…
Adamas had assumed Sappheiros was more like—
“This golem-infested trash world! The only things I trust are my body and the Marquis!”
But apparently not.
“Hey, Sappheiros. I’m being serious. Don’t believe in that stuff. I mean, I believe a tiny bit… but you shouldn’t.”
“For the sake of the marquisate’s future, really.”
“I don’t trust Stephan because he’s a prophet. I trust him because he’s a knight.”
“…Huh? A knight?”
“Yes.”
“How did you know?”
Adamas frowned.
“How could you not know?”
Sappheiros tilted his head.
“What, am I the weird one? Do knights have some kind of instinct between each other? Wait—then did Stephan really come here to see you?”
“That… we’ll only know after asking Pantheon. Stephan’s lord is Pantheon, after all.”
“What?!”
So they weren’t just brothers?
“How did you even figure that out?!”
“How could you not figure it out?”
“Sappheiros. You know what I always tell you. I took a few days off and now my mouth’s gotten sharp again. Listen carefully.”
Adamas stuck his tongue out.
“You’re obnoxious.”
“As if you’re one to talk.”
Sitting in front of the short staircase leading down, Adamas and Sappheiros talked about many things.
Pantheon and Stephan.
Privetina.
And what kind of mad wizard might be behind that door.
But no matter how long they waited…
Pantheon, Stephan, and Privetina never appeared.
Adamas frowned.
“Why are they so late? Do people from the capital and the marquisate perceive time differently?”
“That’s nonsense. Lady Privetina is with them.”
“But they’re not coming! And here I am alone with you in this narrow basement stairwell… it’s kind of scary.”
Adamas playfully twisted the hair near his ear.
“Stop joking. It’s not even dark.”
“So boring. My fiancé Ros, choose. Forward… or retreat.”
He pointed ahead, then behind.
The unopened door.
The missing party.
They couldn’t just sit forever.
A choice had to be made.
“Let’s go in. We can’t keep waiting. But first, Mas.”
“Hm?”
“Does the finger pointing at the door really have to be your middle finger? I find it extremely unpleasant.”
“That’s just your imagination.”
Ignoring Sappheiros’ discomfort, Adamas stood and hurried down the stairs.
“…Wait! Mas, stop!”
“Huh?!”
Sappheiros shouted just as Adamas was about to step onto the last stair.
“Mas. Step back. Now.”
“Why? What is it? You scared me!”
“Look down.”
Down…? What could possibly be there? Dust?
“…Wait. What is that?”
Footprints were visible on the pale dust piled before the door.
“Do you recognize them?”
This felt familiar…
“I do… and I don’t.”
“Foot size: 240 millimeters. Weight: around 55 kilograms. You get it now, don’t you?”
“…That person who cut our rope in the emerald mine?!”
“Yes.”
Adamas swallowed hard.
So that murderer was inside this room?
If so…
“That’s unfortunate. The late Marquis never wanted to suspect the people of this land…”
Adamas clenched his jaw.
He couldn’t keep ignoring the truth anymore.
It was clear now.
The mad wizard was connected to the Mano Marquisate somehow—
And so were the golems.
Sappheiros quietly drew his sword.
“Let’s go in. Stay right behind me.”
“Okay.”
Clinging tightly to his back, Adamas twisted the amethyst ring on his left thumb.
Ah…
This feels like a scene I’ve seen before.
Sappheiros reached out and turned the doorknob.
Adamas thought—
That door is definitely not going to open.
Normally this is where it gets stuck, and then someone breaks it down with a sword, and—
“Sappheiros. It won’t open in one tr— …Huh? It opened.”
Yes.
This marquisate betrayed Adamas’ expectations every single time.
The room was softly lit by an orange magical lamp.
An old wooden desk and chair.
A round tea table.
A bookshelf covering an entire wall…
Dust lay thick across the space.
It looked like a small study or office.
“Doesn’t seem like a madman owns this place.”
Sappheiros said.
“Yeah… this might take time.”
Adamas frowned.
They needed to find something worth reporting to the Marquis.
“Whew! Let’s do this, fiancé!”
Adamas shouted dramatically.
Sappheiros smiled quietly and sheathed his sword.
“Huh? You’re used to me calling you fiancé now? You secretly liked it, didn’t you?”
“Are you stupid, Mas? I don’t like the word fiancé. I like it because it’s you.”
“…Huh?! Hic! Mm—hic!”
“Why are you suddenly hiccuping? Drink some water.”
Sappheiros quickly approached and held a canteen to Adamas’ lips.
“Drink slowly.”
“Haa… I-I’m fine. It’ll stop soon.”
“Must be the dust.”
No.
It’s not the dust.
It’s YOU!
Why would you say something like that so suddenly?!
“Stop seducing me.”
“Hm? What did you say, Mas? Sedu—?”
“…F-flower! I said flower! Look! Isn’t that a flower?”
Adamas pointed at the wooden desk.
Sappheiros turned his head.
Adamas let out a silent sigh of relief.
Whew… that was close.
I almost actually fell for him.
“Hey, Mas.”
“Huh? What?”
“I’m just saying…”
Sappheiros frowned seriously, standing with one leg crossed.
What is with this serious mood now?
“…W-what?”
Adamas swallowed nervously.
“This… looks like a pinecone. Not a flower.”
He held up the desert rose with complete seriousness.
“…Haa.”
Adamas trudged over, grumbling.
“A swordsman with the aesthetic sense of a desert bean…”
“What?”
“Oh, forget it. Listen carefully, Mr. Swordsman. I’m about to explain why this is a flower.
