Chapter 58
Artie, Aria, and Mave followed the merchant Ross into the banquet hall. But the sight of this swamp of indulgence left them stunned.
‘What in the world is this….’
“….”
“….”
“….”
The lavish banquet hall was thick with the smell of alcohol.
Even just breathing,
they felt as if the intoxicating scent might make them drunk.
Countless people, their eyes glazed over, indulged in every pleasure imaginable. They covered themselves in gems and silk, searched with their eyes for lovers for the night, and shoveled food and wine into their mouths.
“Heh heh, smack, smack. All that exertion has made me hungry.”
“Buuurp—!”
“I like the look of that woman over there.”
Like a city of sin from the Bible.
A madness in which every human desire surged was on display.
The merchant Ross, who had brought Artie and the others here, was horrified and turned back. He seemed to feel guilty for bringing the Saintess and her companions here without realizing what kind of place it was.
-Uhahaha, I… I didn’t expect this. Ahem, ahem. Well, I have somewhere to be, so I’ll be off. Uhahaha….
-U-Uncle Ross?!
Ross hurriedly disappeared.
Left on their own, Artie and the others froze at the entrance to the banquet hall. Countless people bustled past, adjusting their clothes, without so much as glancing at them.
People blinded by luxury and desire.
Among them, Artie and the others felt completely out of place.
It was Aria who finally managed to pull herself together.
“Let’s go….”
“…Yes.”
Without a word, they left the lavish banquet hall behind and walked down the dark corridor. There, they saw a scene that had been cleverly hidden from view at the entrance.
A scene they hadn’t seen on the way in.
All along the rather complicated corridor, women in bunny outfits, men with satisfied expressions, and people who had found their partners swayed and clung to one another.
‘This isn’t a place for us….’
Feeling that way,
they quietly tried to leave the Hanson Troupe building.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Artie was breaking into a cold sweat, seemingly unsure where to look. To prevent any mishaps, he had to avoid anything too stimulating (?) as much as possible.
He cast a suggestion on himself.
‘I can’t hear anything. I can’t see anything….’
Aria puffed out her cheeks and reached out to cover his eyes with her palm. Her white hand covered Artie’s eyes like a blindfold.
Aria said quietly,
“Artie, don’t open your eyes.”
“But you’re already covering them, Aria.”
“….”
“…Yes. I won’t open them.”
Even as they walked,
an embarrassing white noise continued all around them.
-Heh heh, I’ll show you why they call me the Viper of Gallia—!
-Oh my, oh my…!
Every time they heard something like that, the group flinched.
“?!”
“?!”
“?!”
And Aria spoke again.
“Artie.”
“…Yes.”
“Cover your ears, too.”
“M-my ears… I’m in the Flowing Realm, so no matter what I do, I can hear everything….”
“Pretend you didn’t hear it.”
“…Yes.”
Artie raised both hands and pretended to cover his ears. Through the gap between Aria’s fingers, he caught a glimpse of something that made him tilt his head.
“?”
‘The Holy Sword’s mark seems to have been glowing faintly for a while… Maybe it’s because it’s dark.’
But that thought didn’t last long. A sweat-soaked woman in a bunny outfit came staggering toward them, trailing the scent of alcohol.
Her eyes were completely unfocused from drink and exhaustion.
“Oh my, handsome young man! You’re quite popular~ Oh ho ho… You have two lovers? Could you maybe let me join in, too~?”
“?!”
“?!”
“?!”
Toward her,
Aria said quietly,
“We’re on our way out. Please don’t mind us.”
“Heehee, all three of you? That young master there looks bolder than he seems. Why are you covering his eyes? Is this some kind of unusual game?”
“?!”
Mave, included as one of the three ‘bold’ ones, flinched again. Her face reddened with embarrassment.
“W-what?!”
In that situation,
Aria shook her head.
“No. …We’ll be going now.”
“Oh my, how scary~”
“….”
The bunny woman waved at Aria, then went looking for another partner. Seeing that, Aria tightened her grip.
“….”
Squeeze—!
“Ow, w-wait…! Your grip is too strong!”
“Artie, don’t even breathe. The smell of alcohol is much too strong here.”
“Th-then I’ll die.”
“By my hand?”
“…I’m sorry.”
She hadn’t really meant for him to die,
so Artie merely pretended to pinch his nose.
‘If I’d known this was the kind of place it was, I wouldn’t have come…!’
At Aria’s jealousy-tinged irritation,
Mave scratched her head awkwardly.
“U-um. I never imagined the banquet the merchant brought us to would be a place like this. No wonder the route here was so complicated.”
Glance….
No matter how they looked at it,
men and women in ‘that sort of mood’ were wandering around everywhere.
Everyone seemed drunk and had lost their reason.
Mave sighed and said,
“This is a bit… It feels like the sort of place we’d be better off not getting involved with. I’m not denying human desire, but this is… something else. There isn’t even a shred of order here.”
“….”
Aria sighed, too.
“…Phew, if I’d known this was the kind of place it was, I wouldn’t have come along. Uncle Ross ran off in a hurry, too.”
“I didn’t know the atmosphere would be like this, either. I knew there were ‘this kind of banquet’ in Saintroix… but I never imagined it would be this extreme.”
“As soon as we get back to the inn, I’ll pray and clear my mind. Just remembering what I saw today makes me feel sinful.”
“Mm. I just want to pretend I didn’t see any of it.”
They walked for several minutes.
Artie’s nose had started running from the strong smell of alcohol, so he wiped it. Then he looked around and asked,
“Sniff, sniff. But where are we?”
“?”
“I feel like we’ve been going around the same corridor for a while.”
“!”
“Now that you mention it….”
“It’s strange that we keep hearing the same sounds.”
As the group stopped, they heard the same familiar man’s voice as before. It was the ‘Viper’ man.
-Heh heh heh! How about that! The Viper of Gallia is—! A legendary monster that comes back to life nine times!
-A-amazing—!
What on earth was so amazing…?
Their minds were growing hazy.
“….”
“….”
“….”
It was Artie who pulled himself together.
“Anyway, those people… They look like the same ones we passed almost ten minutes ago. Haven’t we walked quite a ways since then?”
“Certainly….”
“How strange.”
Mave said as she placed a hand against the wall. This theater wasn’t a maze; its walls were ordinary wood. And yet it felt as if they were going in circles inside a dungeon.
“All three of us walk pretty quickly. Even if this were a huge mansion, ten minutes would be more than enough time to get out. But… this should just be an ordinary theater with a somewhat complicated layout, shouldn’t it?”
“The atmosphere feels strange, too.”
“It’s unnervingly quiet, isn’t it? The corridor keeps going, but it feels as though we’ve crossed into another building….”
“Is there something around here?”
An unpleasant silence
A dark corridor
In that corridor, they saw a sign.
『Dress Room』
“…?”
Then Artie pointed toward a dim corner.
“There’s someone standing in front of that door.”
“….”
There was another brown-haired bunny girl there.
She was dressed in alluring black and pacing back and forth. Her astounding figure was striking even from a distance.
Aria murmured quietly,
“Artie, close your eyes.”
But Artie narrowed his eyes and answered,
“W-wait a moment. There’s something over there…”
“…Hey.”
“No! Aria! It looks like someone’s collapsed up ahead!”
“!”
A man was lying on the ground.
The brown-haired bunny girl was supporting him.
Artie and the others approached.
“Excuse me.”
“—?!”
The brown-haired bunny girl flinched. Since she was wearing such revealing clothes, the slight trembling of her whole body was plain to see.
She looked like someone who’d been caught doing something suspicious.
At that reaction,
Artie and the others were the ones who became flustered.
“?”
‘We’re the ones who should be flustered.’
Thinking that, they drew closer.
The bunny girl answered calmly.
“Why have you come here…?”
Artie answered.
“Ah, we just ended up here somehow. We felt a little awkward going into the banquet hall, so we were trying to leave. But we couldn’t find the way out, so we’ve been walking around in circles.”
“I see. No, I see.”
“?”
Artie fell silent for a moment.
“….”
“….”
The bunny girl broke the awkward silence.
“Was there something you needed?”
“No, your voice just sounded a little like someone I know.”
“…?!”
The bunny girl hurriedly cleared her throat. Her clear, distinct voice sank to an ordinary pitch.
“Ahem, ahem… This is an area set aside for drunk guests to lie down and rest. This gentleman drank too much wine and couldn’t stand, so he’s resting here.”
“!”
A man who’d had so much to drink he couldn’t move.
Aria was the one who reacted to that.
“Ah…! Then I think I can help a little.”
She reached out her hand and prayed.
“O Sun, grant a peaceful breath to the one who has fallen into the well.”
“!”
Flash!
A gentle light illuminated the corridor.
The smell of alcohol coming from the fallen nobleman began to fade. His breathing had become much more even.
“Mmm….”
Aria said proudly,
“This should keep his alcohol poisoning from becoming dangerous. In the Holy Country, people who drank strong liquor too quickly sometimes went to the Sun’s side in their sleep.”
“I see.”
Then another awkward silence fell.
“….”
“….”
This time, too, the bunny girl hurriedly broke the silence.
“Was there something you needed?”
“Ah, n-no… Your silhouette looked a little like someone I know.”
“Ahem, ahem…. I’m afraid I wouldn’t know. I was born and raised here in Saintroix, so I’ve never crossed paths with anyone from the Holy Country.”
“I suppose not.”
Mave suddenly asked,
“Um, is your hair dyed?”
“!”
The bunny girl brushed her hair back. Even that small gesture revealed her pale underarms and back.
“No. It’s naturally brown.”
“Hmm. I see. Maybe it’s just me, but I think a lighter color would suit you better… Still, there’s no way that person would wear such a lewd outfit….”
“….”
“Oh, never mind. I was talking nonsense. Pretend you didn’t hear that.”
“Yes.”
Artie awkwardly looked away and asked,
“Are you in charge of bringing the drunk guests here?”
“Well, um… not exactly. My companion got drunk on wine and started staggering, so I supported them while looking for somewhere quiet. You know, this place is noisy right now in ‘more ways than one.’”
At that, the group nodded.
It was certainly noisy here.
The Viper and the rabbits were sprawled all over the place.
“Ah….”
“That’s true.”
“Good grief.”
“….”
At their strangely relaxed reaction,
Lydia, the bunny girl, hurriedly glanced at the dressing room door, which remained firmly shut.
‘Morgan, do you need more time…?’
At the very same moment, the door opened.
Bang—!
A brown-haired genius mage poked her head out. She’d been undoing the complicated seal hidden beneath the purple dress until then.
“It’s done, Ly—!”
But Morgan saw the riffraff.
They all murmured at Morgan’s words at the same time.
“Li?”
“Li?”
“Li?”
“…!”
Lydia and Morgan exchanged a signal with their eyes.
-What do we do…? Why are they here?
-Morgan, don’t let it show. These guys might follow us right in.
Morgan hurriedly changed the subject.
“I… I think I found a dress with lots of ribbons…!”
“Ah! So you’ve found the right costume for tomorrow’s play! That’s a relief. No matter what’s happening at the banquet, we still have work to do tomorrow, miss!”
“R-right! Daisy! Just like you said!”
The group stared blankly.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Then they looked at one another and nodded.
“Well, you seem busy, so we’ll be on our way. Do you need any help?”
“N-no! Daisy and I are enough!”
“I see. Then….”
Artie and the others headed down the dark corridor, making their way out of the theater. Lydia and Morgan stared blankly at their retreating backs.
It was a truly unlikely coincidence.
“….”
“….”
“What on earth was that?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea myself.”
“Your act slipped, so I guess even you were flustered. Those tagalongs would faint if they knew you were wearing an outfit like that.”
“They left without finding out, so it’s fine.”
Morgan and Lydia finally passed through the seal that had been undone. There was a staircase leading underground. At the bottom, they found several boxes.
The boxes, firmly locked with magical seals, looked suspicious. And the candlelight flickering beyond them seemed to be guiding those who entered somewhere.
“!”
“Th-this is…!”
Lydia nodded at what lay before her.
‘…We found it.’
Among these,
would be the party’s ultimate equipment.