Chapter 58
"But it's really strange. It's already weird to predict the future, but if an ordinary person was that deeply involved with Outer Gods, their brain wouldn't have been able to handle it."
"It might be possible for a mystical scholar... but those mystical scholar guys are already crazy about Outer Gods, so they wouldn't bother believing in a cult."
Clack, clack.
The sound of heavy military boots stepping on the stairs echoes in my ears.
As we descend the stairs I discovered, White Mask and Muyeon are chatting about that old man.
Yes, the decisive reason why I didn't believe that old man from the beginning, thinking he was a cultist, was the content of their conversation just now.
The only beings that could be called 'gods' in this world are the Outer Gods.
So that old man must have heard the voice of an Outer God called the 'Observer' and predicted the future.
Does that make any sense?
Why did the Party Flute, or Horn Flute, become such an infamous weapon in the first place?
It's because the moment you blow it, you hear the voice of an Outer God, and at that moment, you die from excessive mental collapse.
But contrary to my denial, the old man really did predict the future.
I felt a sense of detachment from reality.
The reason he sought me out, the reason he asked me for this favor, and even the stairs that appeared in the area I was searching.
Is this why the old man asked me?
...For now, blindly believing is forbidden.
First, when we go down underground, if the heretics are really preparing something, then it won't be too late to reconsider the old man's words.
"Oh, I can see a passage starting to appear. Is that the entrance?"
As Muyeon said, a passage taller than even my considerable height began to appear.
It seemed to have been built quite a long time ago, with small cracks forming in the terrain features.
This wasn't something you'd see even in the underground prison.
The thought that we might not be able to get out once we enter made me hesitate.
"Hmm, since we've discovered it, we'll need to do some repair work. If the underground collapses, it will affect the domain."
White Mask muttered calmly and entered first.
Muyeon followed White Mask, murmuring, "That's right."
Did they all drink their safety awareness with soup?
...I wanted to say that, but I couldn't bring myself to, so I quietly followed them in.
"Hmm, I don't see anything particularly dangerous."
Maybe their safety awareness wasn't as bad as I thought, as White Mask was looking around, slightly lowering her posture.
Since it was supposed to be a space where heretics were, there was a high possibility that they had installed something to prepare for intruders.
It wouldn't be strange if arrows suddenly flew from somewhere.
Yeah, for example, if you step on that oddly angular floor tile...
Huh?
As White Mask stepped on the tile I mentioned, it sunk in.
As if she had pressed a button that shouldn't have been pressed.
"Damn...!"
"That one, quickly pull her back!"
I heard the Gardener's urgent voice and reflexively approached White Mask, grabbing her mask and pulling.
Whoosh!
At the same time, something quickly brushed past where White Mask had been standing, and looking at what was stuck in the wall, I could see it was indeed an arrow.
Moreover, it was so rusty that it looked like it could cause tetanus.
If you didn't die from being hit, they intended to kill you with a secondary infection.
There were no others as vicious as them.
Then...
Now, even if I didn't want to believe it, I had no choice but to.
The probability that there were those the old man called heretics here had converged to almost 100%.
"Um, subordinate."
"Yes?"
"Sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but..."
White Mask spoke in an unusually high-pitched voice, tapping my hand.
"Don't you think you can let go now?"
Only after hearing White Mask's words did I realize what the current situation was.
White Mask, having lost her balance, was entrusting her body to me.
And I was in a posture that looked like I was tightly hugging White Mask.
...I hadn't been aware of it, but I was in a very embarrassing position!
"Uh, uhah. I'm sorry."
"N-No. Rather, you did it to save me, so I should be the one thanking you."
Saying that, White Mask just nodded once instead of saying thank you.
"If, if I had known this would happen, I should have taken the lead..."
Muyeon's muttering, whose meaning I couldn't understand.
"...Sigh, they're really something else."
With even the Gardener's disgruntled voice, I've reached a point where I don't know what they want me to do anymore.
Regardless, we walked further inside.
***
The use of this underground space itself didn't seem to have anything to do with heretics.
The walls of the corridor were made only of stone bricks without any special patterns, and above all, the space was unbelievably wide.
It might be comparable to the underground prison.
Old documents were found here and there, but even when I read them, there wasn't any particularly noteworthy content.
"..."
White Mask and Muyeon were staring intently at me holding the documents.
Wondering what was going on, I looked back at them, and White Mask let out a deep sigh.
"...Even if he's immune to mental collapse from Outer Gods, when I see him casually picking up and reading documents like that, I wonder what kind of guy he is."
"Even mystical scholars aren't this reckless."
...You're the strange ones for entering here so nonchalantly after seeing the cracked entrance!
Is this the pot calling the kettle black?
Anyway, from what we've seen here and there, it seems this place was used as a passageway for people to move around.
I wonder what happened for it to be buried like this.
It felt like someone had intentionally tried to hide it.
For now, it seemed we had finished checking most of the visible rooms.
So now there was one room left in the very corner.
As I was about to move towards it, White Mask grabbed my shoulder, stopping me.
"Shh, I hear footsteps from the opposite side too."
Only then could I hear a very faint, steady sound of footsteps.
If there were footsteps in a place like this, there was only one possibility.
We quickly moved with quiet steps behind a nearby pillar and watched carefully for the approaching footsteps.
Had they already figured out our location?
The sound was honestly getting closer to us, and we could even hear the sound of metal scraping.
As White Mask drew her sword and Muyeon prepared with her axe,
I ran out first to draw attention.
Although I still didn't have a weapon, I had a body strengthened by eating the Chef's food.
Pitter-patter!
As my footsteps echoed loudly, the two figures in front flinched.
It was an opening.
Whoosh!
"Ugh!"
After taking a running start, I clenched my fists and threw an uppercut.
The two couldn't react at all and allowed my attack without any defense, falling down.
I thought they might get up again, but after twitching a few times, they stiffened as if they had fainted.
"...You're agile. Were you already this capable without the help of Outer Gods?"
"Hahaha..."
To be precise, I got stronger by eating food provided by an Outer God, so it might be more accurate to say it was with the help of an Outer God.
Well, anyway, since my stats themselves increased, I guess it's not wrong to say I did it.
But there was no time to be impressed like this.
"What's that? Didn't you hear a loud noise from outside?"
"Gordon, what were you doing to... D-Damn it."
The figures that started walking out from behind saw the ones I had knocked down and started backing away.
"I-Intruders have broken in!"
They started shouting loudly to draw attention.
With that voice, people started pouring out of the room like a tsunami, wearing armor with unique patterns different from what Muyeon was wearing.
And I could tell that these guys were probably the heretics the old man had mentioned.
...When this is over and we return, I'll have to interrogate that old man.
The fact that he predicted such a big event is already at an unbelievable level.
Among the crowd rushing towards us, two people with a particularly different aura walked forward.
A huge greatsword.
A rugged appearance.
Even intense mustaches.
These two men with similar appearances seemed to be the leaders of these militant groups.
"I can't believe the knights would break in this far."
"We thought they were just a group living off the taxes of domain residents, but we didn't expect them to move on such an important day."
Their appearance, which clearly showed years of experience, made it clear that they were by no means easy opponents.
"What nonsense."
"...They look quite rugged."
"Use this opportunity to practice mental unification, Muyeon. You probably won't feel much fear facing humans."
"...Understood!"
As soon as Muyeon answered bravely and the three knights took their battle stances,
"...Kill them!"
A roar signaling the start of the battle echoed.