Book 3: Chapter 27
Book 3: Chapter 27
The lie that Leon told was a simple one. The part where he said that Polina-san “went down the passage and brought back an automaton.”
First of all, automatons do not show up in the passages. They sometimes do appear from the passages on the other side, but that’s only when you enter a room and proceed forward to a certain point. I thought it might just be my misunderstanding, so I observed for the whole day today, but there were no exceptions.
Therefore, it was strange that Leon said an automaton was brought back from a passage.
「Hmm, I had no basis for not trusting him, just simply thought that he was suspicious.」Zerry-san said.
「Well, that kind of intuition might be necessary, too. The first thing that didn’t make sense was if you saw everyone get caught in a trap, you wouldn’t think “Okay, let’s go bring the enemy!”, right? Even if that was true, would you really go all the way down the passage to bring back an automaton?」
「I suppose that makes sense… but if Polina-san wanted to annihilate the party, she might do that, right?」
「You see, automatons won’t show up if you don’t go down the reasonably long passage to the next room at the end of the passage. Even then, you wouldn’t know if it would show up in the first place. By the time she makes that trip and comes back, the Golden Brigade could already have climbed back out of the pit. And first of all, Polina-san has no motive to annihilate the party. I didn’t feel like she carried that kind of hateful aura.」
「Then why is Leon lying?」
「Well…」
Two possibilities immediately come to mind.
The first is simply that it was embarrassing to say “I fell into a pit”. But then there is no point in painting Polina-san as a traitor. Later, when we encounter Polina-san, it would create unnecessary friction.
The second is trying to attract sympathy, maybe? If what Polina-san said was true, about half the members fell into the pit, which includes Leon. Perhaps he thought if he said, “I was betrayed. Please help me,” Silver Balance, whom he has less-than-ideal standings with, would sympathize and protect him.
Somehow the second one fits better.
However…
「Bocchan?」
「Ah, no, nothing. I don’t know, either. Shall we ask him later?」
「Nahahaha. I’m sure Leon would be surprised when we call him out.」
「…………」
While thinking about the second possibility, I felt that something was off, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
「Bocchan, what I wanted to show you is this.」
Perhaps because Zerry-san was feeling refreshed after talking about Leon, she started moving forward again.
The light of the magic lamp was also obstructed by the fog, but the wall on the other side was now visible—a wall, no doubt it was a wall.
「Wha…」
I was shocked.
I can understand why Zerry-san had trouble making a decision.
A towering wall, which the height of is unknown.
There were dozens of “human faces” that were illuminated by the light.
The faces of people who were in suffering, grieving, despairing, and screaming were lined up. The color of the faces looked as if they were alive – without【World Ruler】, I would’ve surely thought that a real person was buried in that wall.
The faces were too real.
Many of the faces belonged to Lev people, but they weren’t all.
「Members of the Golden Brigade…」
I recalled with just a glance.
The faces of the five humans certainly belonged to the members of the Golden Brigade; a crying woman, a man groaning in agony, a man grimacing in fear, a woman with her eyes closed in resignation, a woman filled with a hateful look.
「Suddenly seeing this would surely cause anyone to faint.」
Dokun, Dokun, Dokun, my heart is beating like a hammer.
What is it? This intense discomfort. Just what is it?
What am I overlooking?
「…Bocchan? What’s wrong?」
Near the faces of the human, there was a face of a Lev whom I had seen once before. All the Lev feel like they look similar since they’re from another race, but I feel like I’ve seen this face before.
Oh right, this person is the Lev who hired the Golden Brigade.
「Bocchan. Your face is getting pale!?」
Why? Why are they all here?
Everyone except Polina-san and Leon are here.
This may be some kind of trap. No, it’s definitely a part of the trap. However, if it can imitate faces, it wouldn’t be strange to have Leon, Polina-san, and our faces as well.
(I, see…)
I finally noticed.
What these faces signified.
「—What the hell is this?!」
At that time, I heard a voice from behind—it was Leon, who should not be here.
「Hey, Leon! What do you think you’re doing? We are supposed to leave the scouting to Zerry and Reiji–」
Dante-san must have absently chased after Leon. The latter must have forced his way through without heeding Dante-san’s warning.
However, both Leon and Dante-san came to a sudden stop in front of the wall – The Wall of Fear.
「Dante-san, this wall is–」
As I attempted to say, I noticed.
Leon’s face changed from shock, to stiff, and to murderous rage.
He pulled out his longsword.
「Dante-san, look out!」
And stabbed into the abdomen of Dante-san who was next to him.
「Le, Leon…」
「I didn’t think it would be found out in a place like this.」
Ah–
Leon knew right away.
The faces here were all faces of the deceased – a death mask.
Because he witnessed the deaths of the members of the Golden Brigade and the Lev employer.
No– he most likely killed them all.
「LEONNNNNNNN!!」
The sword slipped out from Dante-san as he withdrew. Blood gushed out from the wound.
Leon slashed his longsword from above, but even with an unbalanced posture Dante-san blocked the attack with his shield.
Sparks flew and a high-pitched sound echoed.
「An enemy attack!?」
「Dad!?」
It was the worst timing. Mimino-san and Non-san appeared from the other side of the fog. The two may have been delayed because of Neko-chan’s speed.
I had already activated【Fire Magic】in both hands so that I could fire magic at any moment, but I couldn’t shoot because Dante-san was too close to Leon.
The corners of Leon’s lips curled up. He ran towards Non-san and grabbed her neck from behind, taking her hostage. Non-san was unable to react because it was too sudden.
「W-What…!?」
「Nobody move! You, kid! Erase your magic!」
「…………」
When I cancelled the magic, Leon seemed to exhale in relief.
「Leon!? What is the meaning of this! You were the one who stabbed Dante?!!!」
「Don’t move, Mimino! If you try to heal him, you can permanently say goodbye to Dante’s daughter!」
「Y-Y-You! What grudge do you have against us!?」
「I don’t hold any grudge, but there’s nothing I can do since that thing is known.」
Mimino-san followed Leon’s line of sight and looked at the wall. She saw the faces of the members of the Golden Brigade and froze.
「Ju-Justin, Cynthia, and Murphy’s face…!?」
The three of them were probably the members who once were in the same party as Mimino-san and Dante-san.
「Those three… no, the members of the Golden Brigade have all died, leaving just me and Polina.」