Sealed Room

The second expedition began, and the three groups dispersed.

Ferda had thought about moving over to Lize’s team, but he had no choice but to head right again.

Their method of movement was different from before.

They moved while looking at each other’s faces.

The two adventurers watched each other, while Ferda and the armored knight watched each other.

‘This is nerve-racking.’

Valdrova thought from inside the armor.

At first, that feeling had begun as the excitement of seeing Ferda’s face.

Those eyes, so terribly cold to anyone other than Valdrova, were chilling.

She had thought those two emotions would torment Valdrova.

But what she felt while facing him was different.

‘Mr. Ferda’s face looks so exhausted.’

He was in terrible pain.

Her five senses instinctively gathered every piece of information about Ferda.

His rough breathing and heartbeat, faster than usual.

Even though they were merely walking, beads of sweat had formed on his skin.

Shouldn’t she make him rest, even for a little while?

“Wouldn’t it be better if you rested, even briefly?”

As though he had read her thoughts, another adventurer said that.

“I’m fine. I won’t hold you back.”

Ferda firmly refused.

He brushed them off by saying it was only a momentary pain.

But it wasn’t.

Valdrova could tell.

What was causing him pain was growing worse with every passing moment.

Ferda himself was not unaware of that.

It meant he was desperate to find something, no matter what.

‘What could he be searching for so desperately?’

Was it something he had to find even while making such a pained expression?

Valdrova remembered what Ferda had said.

-I’m sorry.

He had said that while those masses were looking at Ferda.

She had no idea what Ferda had to apologize for.

She wished she had even the slightest clue to go on, but she knew nothing.

Valdrova had seen that trauma, too.

But it had only been a mass with a huge eye, and even when it stared directly at her, she had not reacted like the others.

Her heart had ached faintly, but she had not been tormented.

If there was anything she could do, she wanted to do it for him.

But she knew she could not do that while surrounded by something this rigid.

That must have been why her heart hurt so much.

‘If I come out…… wouldn’t he be happy?’

Ferda had always wanted to see her.

Should she take off her armor even now and tell him that she was here?

Wouldn’t that make Mr. Ferda smile, even a little?

‘I might only become a hindrance to Mr. Ferda.’

He might get angry.

He might ask her why she was in such a dangerous place.

Rather than comforting him over the worry he felt, she might only cause Ferda more pain.

Was there nothing she could do for him as the armored knight?

She could not figure it out.

Meanwhile, Ferda, who was desperately hiding his pain, thought,

‘I can still endure it.’

The pain of being unable to shake off his thoughts could be redirected toward his surroundings.

Simply walking while staying alert to the danger around him, as he was now, was enough to put on the brakes.

But if there was one thing bothering him, it was this.

‘As expected, this armored bastard…….’

At first, he had thought the annoyance caused by the distance between them would improve, but it had not at all.

He kept feeling as though he could see Valdrova’s form in that armor.

It was absolutely impossible.

Her build was smaller and more feminine than his.

‘No…… there was a time when that wasn’t true.’

When she had come wearing the dragon knight armor, she had been much taller than Ferda.

How tall had she been?

Wasn’t she roughly as tall as this guy?

‘……Is he strangely similar?’

Smack!

“Ugh!”

“What’s wrong?”

The startled adventurers turned and looked at Ferda.

Ferda had struck himself hard on the head.

“I was losing my focus, so I gave myself a little punishment.”

“Ah, I see…….”

Their faces were full of reproach for startling them over something so pointless.

They had not walked much farther before reaching their destination.

“We’re here.”

The place they had been heading toward was the study Ferda had visited earlier.

It was the closest place, and it also contained information that would let them secure their reward safely.

“Are you certain there are magical artifacts here?”

An adventurer asked Ferda.

“Compared to what I heard about Gyeonghuigung, this must be the place.”

Gyeonghuigung was a training hall that cultivated talent through something called ‘Do.’

And the name of the study Ferda had reached was said to be Boyangsil.

Taken literally, it meant a room for replenishing yang qi; its hidden meaning was that yang qi was mana.

In other words, it was a room for replenishing mana.

There was no doubt that this was a room where books for mana cultivation had been collected.

“When you go to a magic tower or academy, they leave magical tools around for cultivation. In my experience, there ought to be some here.”

Although Ferda had said ‘no doubt,’ he was not certain either.

But he had been told that when persuading someone, one had to assert one’s position forcefully.

Even the adventurers who did not trust his confidence eventually sided with Ferda.

“Then let’s search the room.”

Each of them began searching for what they wanted.

The two adventurers examined the entire room, while Ferda concentrated on the bookshelves.

Ferda brought two characters to mind.

They were characters Erika, who knew a little about Eastern writing, had hurriedly taught him.

‘Ae (愛) and ron (論).’

She had said that Ae meant love, while ron meant dealing with something.

‘Among the books I picked out, there was one on the theory of mana circuits.’

Ferda first went to the place where he had taken that book and examined it closely.

But the more books he pulled out and read, the less he understood.

‘This doesn’t seem to be a book about magical theory…….’

The format of spellbooks was mostly the same.

They contained drawings of magic circles or runes and explained the forms of the spells associated with them.

Having searched through many books structured that way, Ferda found this book, filled only with writing, unfamiliar.

‘It can’t be helped.’

He had no choice but to take it to someone who could interpret the characters.

Fortunately, Ferda knew someone who could translate the entire contents of this book.

‘Mori.’

The mysteries of the East might be beyond even the power of the Library of All Things, but if they existed in physical form, she would surely be able to decipher them.

Ferda decided to pull out and take every book bearing those characters.

Of course, he was acting on impulse.

Once the number passed ten, his arms began to tremble.

‘What a useless body.’

At that moment, the armored knight silently extended an arm.

Looking at the gesture, he asked,

“Are you offering to carry them?”

Nod.

“……Please.”

Although Ferda did not like the armored knight, it would have been a lie to say he did not find the gesture reassuring.

With the knight’s help, he was able to gather more than fifty books he could never have carried alone.

“Huh?”

One of the adventurers rummaging through the room with the single-minded goal of finding a magical artifact spoke up.

He said in an excited voice,

“There’s a gap here!”

Ferda stopped searching for books and moved over to him.

The adventurers carefully opened the gap using their tools.

A staircase leading underground was revealed.

The faces of the two adventurers who had seen the horrifying illusions bloomed with smiles.

“In a place like this, there must surely be something the master of this palace or some central figure secretly hid away!”

“If we can just get a magical artifact, then all this hell we went through……!”

But that lasted only a moment.

The horrifying illusion came back to them, making their steps falter once more.

What if one of those things was waiting down there?

After a silence in which they only watched each other’s reactions, the clatter of plate armor moved ahead of them.

The armored knight had stepped in front of the entrance.

“Are you saying you’ll go in first??”

Nod, nod.

Normally, they would have stopped him, saying that it might be even more dangerous.

But they already knew how terrifying the illusions brought by trauma were.

Of the three people in this group, the only one who did not know the terror of trauma’s illusions was the armored knight.

How had the knight escaped from trauma?

“Understood.”

The adventurers yielded to him.

Ferda then stepped after him.

“Still, going alone would be dangerous, so I’ll watch your back.”

Nod.

Thus, they formed a pair and descended the stairs.

The staircase was quite deep.

But it had none of the damp, unpleasant feeling peculiar to underground places.

There was no doubt about it.

A place as thoroughly maintained as the outside world existed below.

At the end of the stairs, they came upon a single stone door.

The armored knight pushed it sideways, and it opened easily. Ferda quickly surveyed the surroundings from outside.

Even after he entered, there was no reaction from the mana.

The armored knight also looked around, then drew a large circle with both hands.

‘I don’t know what kind of room this is, but it doesn’t look like there are any magical artifacts here.’

Ferda could only hope there were some useful books.

Ferda followed the armored knight inside.

That was when it happened.

When they reached the center of the room, Ferda felt the flow of mana.

Boom!

At the same time, the stone door they had entered through shifted and trapped them inside.

Ferda hurried over to it.

He tried to open the sliding stone door again, but it did not budge.

“Damn……. Would you try opening it?”

Ferda stepped back, and this time the armored knight stepped forward and tried to open the door.

Crack—!

They heard something splitting.

“Stop!”

The sound had come from the ceiling, too.

The way dust was trickling down was ominous.

“……If we try to force it open, it seems intent on burying us completely.”

It was a trap designed to activate when two or more people were present, but not when someone was alone.

What a headache.

He had never even imagined a trap with such a mechanism.

-What’s going on?!

The adventurers who had been waiting outside hurried over and asked.

“It seems the trap has activated.”

-Did you touch something?

“No. It seems to be a trap that only activates when there are two or more people.”

-What, a trap like that?

-Damn…… Whatever the case, we should have gone in and checked it ourselves…….

“You probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything either.”

Even Ferda, who was sensitive to traps, had been caught completely off guard.

“Is there any way to get out of here?”

There were two adventurers of Gold rank or higher.

Ferda was certain they would have an answer.

-From what we can see…… it doesn’t seem there’s any way to open it from here.

No, he did not believe them. As expected, they were nothing but all talk.

-We’ll bring Captain Eri here. Could you wait without touching anything until then?

“All right.”

He could hear them moving away.

Silence descended upon Ferda.

It was the kind of silence that brought stray thoughts to mind.

Ferda said nothing.

For now, he decided to endure it.

-Regent, are you there?

After a while, a familiar voice reached him.

He had not known Erika could sound so welcome.

“Yes, I’m here.”

-How is it? Are you having trouble breathing or anything?

Ferda answered with the information he had gathered while desperately maintaining his composure.

“There doesn’t seem to be any problem like that. The room is well ventilated.”

-It doesn’t seem to have been built with the intention of starving you to death. Are there any buttons or switches? Usually, an isolated room like this would have some kind of backup mechanism…….

Ferda looked around again.

There was a bed, several books, and the armored knight.

“There are no devices around.”

-That can’t be right…… Search one more time for now. Meanwhile, we’ll look for the secret of this room. Understand?

“Understood.”

In the end, even Erika had no clever solution.

It seemed he had no choice but to remain here until then.

Ferda sat down on the bed.

The armored knight stood awkwardly in front of him.

The knight’s entire body seemed to say that it did not know what to do in this situation.

“You should sit as well.”

The knight’s movements suggested uncertainty over whether that was really all right.

“If you waste your strength here, you might be buried alive, you know? When there’s even the slightest possibility of escape, we have to wait.”

……Nod.

The armored knight spread out a place to sit and settled down there.

The room was utterly silent.

Even the sound of the armor clattering had died away, causing Ferda’s hearing to heighten his other senses.

‘Damn.’

The Shadow Circle was spinning.

The pitch-black thing Ferda had placed directly beneath his Circle was tirelessly tempting him.

He even closed his eyes and tried to compose himself.

Red hair and two pairs of horns.

Her beautiful face appeared clearly once more.

Then it twisted.

She held out her heart.

‘This is driving me insane.’

He was trapped in the illusion trauma had shown him.

Even though he knew that magic no longer existed, he could not control his thoughts.

It was like thirst and hunger.

Just as deciding to endure something did not mean one could endure it forever, eventually, the problem would burst out.

And Ferda knew exactly what form that outburst would take.

-It’s all right.

Before long, he heard the voice tormenting him.

‘What exactly is all right?’

-You’re thinking of the person who loves you, aren’t you?

The voice that made Ferda regret everything lured him in with crystal clarity.

-You nurture those feelings and make yourself stronger.

-Like a blacksmith’s forge.

-Heat it, hammer it, temper it, and grind it down.

-That’s how you make a sword.

-A sword to protect that person.

-Kill, and kill again.

-Until all of that person’s enemies are gone, and you create a paradise for them.

-Conquest is the only true security.

‘Shut up.’

Hearing those words allowed Ferda to regain a little of his senses.

The idea of killing and being killed to avoid making enemies was something he had only done back when he was insane.

-Only a small sacrifice is needed.

-No, there may be a few more sacrifices.

-Perhaps they may even come to hate you.

-But don’t you want to ease the suffering of the person you love?

-Didn’t you make that choice to ease that suffering?

‘Get lost.’

-No.

As it spoke, it arbitrarily thrust its fingers into Ferda’s chest.

-I told you. I would always be by your side.

Then it slowly toyed with Ferda, like dissolving a sugar cube in black tea.

-Now is the time when you must become stronger.

Ferda saw the shadows moving of their own accord.

The Circle beat against Ferda’s body like a river swollen by midsummer monsoon rains.

The shadows were moving the Shadow Circle on their own, trying to ascend to a new realm.

-Move according to your destiny.

-And regain the power you once possessed.

-Let’s go together again.

He could not resist.

Cold sweat ran down his body, and his consciousness began to fade.

“Haa……. Haa…….”

But he could not pass out like this.

Those shadows were targeting Ferda’s body.

He did not know what would happen.

And he did not want to know.

Ferda thought,

How could he escape this painful regret?

‘I must not listen to this bastard.’

To do that, he had to turn his thoughts elsewhere.

Not merely turn them aside, but arrange them in a way that did not fit the creature’s intentions.

‘Lightening the burden on my heart.’

How could he do that?

Ferda suddenly thought of confession in the Alte Church.

It was the sight of a believer telling a priest their sins, and the priest relieving them of that burden.

Ferda had found that sight deeply distasteful.

To commit sins and wish to receive salvation from a god rather than from the person who had committed them.

He had not understood it then, but now he did.

If people did not do even this, they would go mad.

Humans were that fragile.

Just like Ferda was now.

While he was struggling alone, a soft sensation enveloped Ferda.

That softness startled him.

‘Valdrova.’

Was she touching his cheek?

No.

The armored knight wiped the sweat that had gathered on Ferda’s face.

Ferda did not cry out or thrash about.

Instead, he took the handkerchief and wiped himself.

The armored knight cautiously returned to his place.

Ferda quietly watched him.

The man’s actions were clumsy, but at the same time, resolute.

He was as reassuring as a fortress that would not yield to any situation.

That was why Ferda, who was on the verge of collapsing, needed him.

“You…….”

Ferda painfully opened his mouth and asked,

“Are you the quiet type?”