The royal prison’s basement 6th floor had no other access except through teleportation magic circles.

And...

‘She’s young.’

The voice presumed to belong to a ‘young girl’ trapped there.

Looking again at the palm prints, I realized their position was quite low.

About the height a ten-year-old kid would reach standing.

‘Wait a minute.’

Like a philosopher crouched in a bathtub, a lightning bolt struck my head.

‘The Witch of the Land...?'

The Witch of the Land.

The main villain who drove this world to ruin, the cause of the grotesque city called Laphdonia—the last stronghold.

But connecting the mysterious girl (?) trapped inside the box with the witch didn’t seem like an absurd leap.

After all, this was the ‘royal palace’ basement.

Considering the royal family’s countless secrets, it wouldn’t be strange if not the witch, but her grandfather were hidden here.

More importantly...

—Is the Witch of the Land really dead?

When I once asked Auril Gavis this, he answered clearly:

—She is alive.

The Witch of the Land lives.

It might be hallucination, but I’ve met a girl inside the labyrinth several times who called herself ‘Alice Groundia.’

So far, I thought the witch might be hiding and living inside the labyrinth.

Well, that’s not the priority now.

Bang bang bang!

Knocking on the wall with fists the size of watermelons, trying to communicate.

“Who are you in there? Say something. Are you really trapped inside? Huh? Say it! Asking to be saved?”

But for some reason, no reply came.

I even touched the wall, thinking maybe the voice wouldn’t carry through, but no response.

Even the handprint that was once there inside disappeared without a trace.

“Yandel, is there someone there?”

“Well... that is...”

After a moment’s hesitation, I simply asked Raven.

“Raven, can you check if there’s a person inside?”

“Hmm... I don’t think so.”

“...Without even trying?”

“Why try? Judging by the mana amount, the volume of the portal inside won’t be much different from that cubic structure.”

“...”

“In simpler terms, physically no living being could stand inside! Unless they’re crouching in a corner, they would’ve been sucked into the portal long ago!”

Oh, I see.

Raven’s logical words made me wonder briefly if I had hallucinated, but the doubt quickly /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ vanished.

After all, this is not the modern world but a fantasy one.

With magic, psychic powers, holy power — a world with mysteries that can’t be explained by coordinate systems.

“So what will you do? The magic circle can be activated anytime now.”

Raven’s words made me ponder.

What should I do?

Should I investigate the box further here?

“Yandel, you always told us one thing, right?”

“...Yeah?”

“Prioritize. What comes first? Curiosity? Or something else?”

That stopped me cold.

‘Curiosity...’

Not wrong, but strictly speaking, it wasn’t only curiosity.

The moment I heard the voice from the box, I felt some inexplicable fate.

As if someone trapped inside was calling me here.

“Raven, what are the odds the floor would collapse while running along basement 5’s corridor and I’d fall down?”

“Extremely low. If it weren’t for two consecutive ‘Thunder’ explosions causing the underground prison collapse.”

Hey, no need to be sarcastic.

You probably knew what I was implying.

Slowly, I looked up at the ceiling.

There had originally been a hole there where we fell.

Everything else was intact, but exactly where we were running, a hole appeared.

That hole was restored in less than a few minutes.

Since then, no more falling rubble, and the place didn’t shake — like a scientific bed.

“Raven, I get what you’re saying. I’m not trying to stop whatever you plan, but shouldn’t we decide quickly?”

Prompted again by Raven, I asked one last thing.

“This... is a two-way magic circle, right?”

“Yes. Wherever we arrive, there should be the same magic circle there. Probably can return if desired.”

Right, that makes things easier.

“Activate the magic circle.”

No doubt something huge was hidden here.

But now was not the time to investigate.

I’d be satisfied for now to find the way and come back well-prepared to investigate.

As Raven said, everything has priorities.

More important than investigations is how safely my comrades and I can get through this.

Therefore...

“Shall I proceed?”

I nodded to Raven’s last question.

Soon, the magic circle activated.

Flash!

A blinding light filled my vision.

Then the light slowly faded and vision returned.

“This place...”

White walls, white ceiling.

A sealed chamber brightly lit like with daylight lamps.

Raven looked around anxiously and pointed at one wall.

“Why is only this wall metallic?”

“...”

“Hey, there seems to be a narrow gap between the metal plates. Looks like it opens sideways...”

“...”

“Yandel? Yandel? Can you hear me?”

“...I’m listening.”

I was momentarily dazed, but my senses were fine.

Step, step.

I finally approached the metallic wall that I assumed was a door.

Raven muttered her guesses.

“Maybe it needs magic? But I don’t feel mana, though...”

Magic, mana...

The first guess a mage would have when seeing a ‘door’ without a handle.

Usually, mages’ guesses are pretty accurate.

But...

“Step aside.”

“...Huh? If you mean to open it by force—”

“Don’t worry, it’s not that.”

I slowly reached out my hand.

I still had no clue why ‘this’ existed in this world.

But I knew how to use it.

Click.

So I pressed a button with my index finger, about the size of a German sausage.

Soon after—

Ding!

A surprisingly cheerful sound for this world.

Drerruk.

The elevator door opened.

Raven didn’t think much about how this ‘mechanical device’ worked.

She was only amazed by two things.

The shabby security of a door opening just by pressing a button.

And the absence of mana.

Other than that, no reaction.

“Oh, now I see. It’s like the mana elevator. We have something similar in our mage tower.”

Hearing that, I was sure.

This ‘device’ didn’t work by mana.

Though Raven still believed a subtle mana circuit existed...

‘No way.’

Even without the mage tower, I’d ridden mana elevators a few times.

But they were completely different from this.

They were barely safer than a cage, moved by mana-driven pulleys.

But this...

“...Yandel?”

Whether it was stamina or mana, I couldn’t tell from outside.

No, wait, could you tell?

‘Damn, why is this here...?’

Even from the design it was obviously different.

So elegant it wouldn’t look out of place in a million-won-a-night hotel...

Drerruk.

Very modern.

The ceiling lights, the button beside the door, even the mirror on the wall.

Beyond the mirror stood the barbarian and mage fully geared, yet inside this elevator I almost forgot this was fantasy and not modern.

“But how do you operate elevators like this? Usually you ask a manager by voice...”

Listening to Raven’s question, I naturally pressed a button.

It was the only button besides open/close.

“Oh! It’s moving!”

Pressing the floor button, the elevator started.

It felt like it was going up, not down...

“...Hey, Yandel, say something. You’re scaring me.”

“...”

“What if it stops and opens, and something comes out...”

Sure... that scared me too.

What could be beyond that door?

I couldn’t imagine at all.

Whoooosh...

So I just waited quietly.

Ready to swing my weapon at any time, but not overly tense.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Counting quietly, calming my breath.

And then...

‘Fifty seconds.’

After about 50 seconds passed.

Whoooong...

The rising slowed and stopped smoothly.

The door slowly opened, revealing the long-awaited sight beyond.

At first glance—

It looked like a hotel lobby.

A chandelier in the center, a small fountain.

Polished marble floors.

And...

Step.

A knight standing there.

“...”

The knight looked at us without surprise.

As if he knew we would come.

Standing in front like a royal guard on duty, asking nothing.

‘...Why is the dungeon’s first boss waiting at the entrance?’

It felt like a miniboss appeared immediately upon entering the dungeon.

I knew at a glance.

This guy was no pushover.

‘Well, if he’s guarding a place like this, that says it all.’

But I wasn’t intimidated.

Because who am I?

A top-tier barbarian confident he’d never lose to someone who uses aura.

That was me.

The only question was whether I could protect Raven behind me...

Swoosh.

Thinking that, I stepped back to a better position to guard Raven.

Then the knight calmly drew his sword and aimed at me.

And...

‘...Huh?’

That was it.

Swoosh—!

When I came to, a thin line was drawn on my cheek.

Drip drip.

A sharp sting accompanied by a drop of blood.

‘Cut...?’

It was absurd.

Of course, this knight might be a master of the quick blade, capable of cutting me without me noticing.

And the distance between him and me was more than twenty paces, which was not impossible in this world.

But...

“...Interesting.”

If such a blow had pierced my physical resistance and made me bleed, that would be a different story.

Moreover, he didn’t even use aura just now.

‘If not aura...’

Ignoring the cut, I stared calmly at him.

More precisely, at the sword he held.

‘Maybe it’s the sword...?’

There was a high chance the secret of the blow lay in that sword.

Oh, of course, I’d never seen that sword before.

Even my mental database contained no such numbered item.

But otherwise it made no sense.

Therefore...

‘I have to somehow take that sword away or stop him from using it to lead the fight—.’

Just as I was forming a plan in my head.

Clack.

Like to assert dominance, the knight suddenly sheathed his sword and turned his back.

And...

“Follow me.”

He started walking on the marble floor, turning his back with clacking footsteps.

Raven peeked out cautiously and asked.

“Uh, where are you taking us...?”

A voice like a terrified prey animal.

The knight, unguarded with his back turned, answered.

“To the audience chamber.”

“...What?”

That was totally unexpected.

“The king has granted you an audience.”

...I never imagined I’d get a chance to meet the king like this.