SAE 04

Chapter 04.

I frowned and looked back at him.

“…Don’t tell me you can’t read ancient script?”

“……”

“It’s written right here. Bring a bone stained with the blood of a pure maiden. If we place it here, the door will open.”

Pure maiden, whatever.

What a load of nonsense—yet that’s exactly what was carved on the door.

Among Leonard’s companions, there had been someone from a devout priestly family.

So he immediately understood what the inscription required.

They all looked at me like I was insane when I picked up the stones, though.

Anyway, thanks to the fact that I had prepared several stones in advance, those bastards were able to open the door and go down to the next floor without retracing their steps.

They opened it using the stone stained with my blood… and then left me behind.

“So let go. Now.”

“……”

Isael reluctantly released my wrist, looking displeased.

“So that stone was…?”

“You saw that statue crying tears of blood on the way here, right? The pebbles piled beneath it.”

“You actually had the foresight to pick those up.”

“I knew they were needed to open the door.”

When I answered without hesitation, he clicked his tongue and asked:

“Are you saying you also knew that because of your clairvoyance?”

“Of course, of course. I knew it from the upper floors.”

“……”

“Anyway, once we put it here, the door will open.”

Ignoring Isael’s suspicious gaze, I placed the bloodstained stone before the door.

A moment later, as if it had never been sealed at all, the door swung open effortlessly.

Once we passed through it, the door shut behind us and vanished altogether.

In front of us stretched a staircase leading downward.

Without a word, Isael and I began our descent.

The stairs went on and on, seemingly endless.

But the moment you reach the final step always comes eventually.

Both Isael and I knew that from experience.

After walking in silence for a long time, we finally arrived at the 4th basement floor.

Once off the stairs, the scene that greeted us was… utter emptiness.

A vast, open space filled with smoke.

The smoke was so thick and pervasive that it was impossible to gauge how large the floor actually was.

“…It’s real,” Isael murmured.

“There really is nothing here.”

He muttered in disbelief, then turned to me with a strange expression.

“Well? I was right, wasn’t I?”

“……”

“I think this is basically a rest floor. We just have to endure until the door to the next floor opens.”

“Endure… against what?”

“Against anything that tries to make us fail to endure.”

After saying that, I looked around again.

I needed to find a suitable spot.

There was still a chance that Leonard and his group hadn’t escaped this floor yet.

It’ll take a while before I can properly use the fruit’s power.

Until the door to the 5th floor opened, I needed to make good use of my time.

“First, we need to find a dead-end. That’s where we’ll set up.”

I grabbed Isael’s forearm.

His body jerked in surprise.

“W–what? Why suddenly—”

“Uh… sorry. Did I startle you?”

“……”

“Sorry. But deal with it for now, even if you don’t like it. It’d be bad if you got lost.”

This place was so thick with smoke that even a small distance was enough to lose sight of each other.

Which made it great for hiding… but also great for getting separated.

Holding on to Isael, I reached out with my other hand, feeling blindly through the haze.

Soon, my fingers brushed against a wall.

We didn’t know when or where the door would open.

And with this floor full of smoke, finding it would be difficult.

But once I regained full control of my abilities, that problem would be easy to solve.

Come to think of it… he hasn’t said a word about how casually I treat him, even though he’s a prince.

If it were me, I would’ve complained ages ago.

He was still royalty, after all.

Yet Isael seemed unbothered by my informal tone and casual behavior from the very start.

Then again, in a place where you might die any moment, titles and etiquette were pointless.

“Stay right here for a moment. Don’t move.”

I gave Isael a firm warning.

Then I dug the flower he had plucked for me from the cliff out of my bag.

“That flower—why?”

“I’m going to plant it.”

I crouched down and planted the flower in the dirt.

Isael watched silently, then plopped down beside me.

With his arms resting on his knees, head tilted, staring at me—he looked impossibly laid-back.

“…Suspicious.”

“Huh?”

“You’re suspicious. No matter how I look at it.”

He tossed the words out casually, but his eyes were filled with doubt as he stared at me.

My attention kept drifting toward the sword at his waist.

A thought flickered through my mind.

But first, I needed to clear his suspicion.

“What’s suspicious?”

“For someone who supposedly figured all this out with clairvoyance, your attitude is way too calm. Too composed.”

“……”

“You act like you already know everything about this place.”

…A frighteningly sharp suspicion.

Granted, making him do the item farming on my behalf might’ve been a bit much.

But I’m injured! What else was I supposed to do?

“…Actually, I have an ability even more remarkable than clairvoyance.”

“And what would that be?”

“Insight.”

“……”

“I was born with it.”

Isael stared at me, speechless.

I avoided his gaze and changed the subject.

“Anyway… that’s a sword, right? Did you get it in the Tower?”

“I found it on the 2nd floor.”

“Can I see it?”

He stared at me, then drew it from its sheath as if deciding there was no reason to refuse.

The exposed blade was chipped all over.

But I recognized it instantly.

I had hoped I was wrong, but…

That’s a holy sword.

The Holy Sword Exolid.

No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find it—so this is why.

Isael got to it first.

That’s why I couldn’t find it on the 2nd floor.

I didn’t know how it ended up in his hands, but…

It was originally meant for the protagonist of this world—Leonard.

Well… maybe this is a good thing.

Because thanks to Isael picking it up, I didn’t have to stupidly find it and hand it over to Leonard.

At least I didn’t end up a disposable extra who delivers the holy sword to the hero.

“…It’s more useful than it looks,” Isael muttered, misinterpreting the way I stared at the sword.

How do I help him awaken as the true wielder of a holy sword…?

Since he’d picked up the protagonist’s weapon ahead of time, making him its rightful master didn’t seem like a bad idea.

I was sinking into new thoughts when—suddenly—everything went black.

It’s starting.

I explained calmly to Isael:

“Just stay still. It’ll pass. Don’t panic.”

“…Do you know what this is?”

“It’s just the void.”

“The void…?”

“Yeah. Darkness, silence. It’ll repeat several times.”

The trial of the 4th basement floor was simple in theory.

In an empty space—dark and silent.

You just had to endure the passage of time.

But enduring it was far from easy.

When faced with endless, uncertain emptiness, anyone without extraordinary mental strength would eventually go mad.

It felt like it would never end.

Like escape was impossible.

And sometimes, hallucinations would hit.

But the flower I planted earlier could nullify the demon who governed this trial.

So we didn’t have to worry about hallucinations.

“…Hmmm.”

Just in case, I asked:

“If you’re scared… want me to hold your hand?”

“Ha… No. I don’t need that.”