novelraw Chapter 112 : Caution
Chapter 112 : Caution
Chapter 112: Caution
Maria was catching her breath.
She had been terrified when Robin and Sigbard tried to fight it out to the very end.
Fortunately, they had retreated without fighting, but…….
“Uh… should I at least take off my coat for you?”
“It’s fine. It wouldn’t fit anyway.”
In the urgent situation, she had somehow managed to put her pants back on, but she had nothing on her upper body.
“I should have listened to Sigbard.”
“Don’t be too discouraged. I was simply more rational.”
“…….”
Who would wash themselves while wearing clothes, anyway.
She couldn’t refute Sigbard.
After all, judging only by the current situation, he wasn’t wrong.
“Maria, do you know where this is?”
“Umm… well…….”
Maria hesitated briefly and looked around before opening her mouth.
“I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
She bowed her head deeply and apologized.
They were lost deep in the mountains.
‘Should I at least be grateful we brought our weapons.’
They had left behind all their belongings, including the supplies needed for travel.
They had probably been trampled by monsters.
Just imagining it made her mouth taste bitter.
“But we can find a way down!”
“How? Is there another shortcut?”
“If we just get the direction right, wouldn’t it be okay……?”
Maria herself lacked confidence as she spoke in a barely audible voice.
“Since noon has passed, that side should be west…….”
Thinking she had to somehow make up for it, she rambled on.
Information that wasn’t particularly helpful spilled out at random.
“And what guarantee is there that there won’t be monsters if we take a new path?”
“…There isn’t any.”
“What will you do if we run into them again?”
“We’ll have to run away…….”
When Robin fell silent, seemingly lost in thought, Maria brought out her last resort.
“There’s an abandoned shelter nearby! It’ll be safe there!”
“A shelter?”
“People don’t really go there, but… if you rest there, I’ll go get the equipment.”
‘A shelter in the middle of these mountains.’
“If that doesn’t work, I’m sorry. There’s no other way…….”
“Let’s go there.”
“R-really?”
“It’s not like we have any other options.”
Maria quickly nodded.
Then, unlike the direction they had come from, she headed north.
“Just trust me and follow… no, hurry up!”
Was it because Robin didn’t ask for a refund?
Maria’s steps grew faster.
Keeping a slight distance from Maria, Sigbard asked,
“Are you sure this is fine? We left quite a lot behind.”
“Maria said she’d bring it.”
“What are you thinking, Robin?”
“Just… a shelter tucked away in the mountains. Isn’t it romantic?”
Sigbard raised his left eyebrow as if he didn’t understand.
“It’s best to follow the guide’s words on an unfamiliar path.”
A sound argument.
No matter how outstanding one’s martial prowess was, finding the way was a separate skill.
When Robin continued walking in silence, Sigbard raised no further objections.
The footsteps of the three spread faintly.
Maria felt like her heart was about to burst.
The two people following behind her were no ordinary individuals.
She had seen it, if only briefly—their monstrous martial power.
‘If I hadn’t been there, wouldn’t everything have been slaughtered?’
Every time Sigbard swung his rod, three or four monsters flew away at once.
That outrageous strength was hard to believe even with her own eyes.
‘And that thing that burst out from the sword…….’
As far as Maria knew, that was Aura.
Robin had said it wasn’t, but Maria didn’t believe him.
‘Was I found out? No, that can’t be.’
She didn’t know why a knight was here.
It didn’t matter.
If she had been found out, her head would have been gone long ago.
Robin followed quietly from behind.
“Are we there?”
That calm low voice pierced Maria’s ears.
“Yes. This is it.”
A white building that looked on the verge of collapse.
Even before entering, it exuded a heavy, ominous air.
Maria familiarly opened the door and went inside.
A chill rushed over them.
“You must be tired, so please rest. I’ll be right back.”
Just as she was about to leave, leaving Robin and Sigbard behind—
“Be careful.”
“Huh?”
Maria laughed awkwardly at the unexpected words.
“I said be careful.”
“Ah… yes! Don’t worry about me!”
Tatata-tat.
Without even grasping what those words meant,
Maria left the building.
In the large building that was spacious enough for the two of them, Robin spoke up.
“The monsters that attacked us. Fighting Spirit didn’t work well on them.”
“Same here. The feel of it was completely off.”
“What do you think the reason is?”
The two pondered for a moment, but no clear answer emerged.
That was why they had followed Maria to the shelter.
It might be connected to this inexplicable phenomenon.
“Sigbard.”
“What is it?”
“Since it’s come to this, shall we look around?”
“Sounds good.”
Though it looked desolate from the outside, the interior was fairly clean.
As he wandered through the building of unknown purpose, Robin looked around to see if there was anything usable.
“I’ve never seen a building with this kind of structure.”
“Nor have I.”
“It’s similar to a noble estate, yet different.”
Centered around a spacious central reception desk, long corridors stretched out to both sides.
Walking along the corridors, there were rooms at regular intervals, all the same size.
It was like an inn made up entirely of single rooms.
“Robin, here are some clothes.”
Sigbard came out of the adjacent room holding a shirt.
Aside from being dusty, it was in fairly good condition.
After shaking it off a few times, Robin put the shirt on and resumed exploring.
“Robin, I found scissors.”
“There’s a broken mirror lying around.”
“There’s a doll in the drawer.”
They went through all the rooms on the first floor, but there were no particularly special items.
‘Well, that’s only natural.’
He didn’t know who had built this facility or for what reason.
It was now nothing more than an abandoned building.
‘Could what Maria said be true.’
Maria had called this place a shelter.
Judging by the numerous rooms, it wasn’t wrong.
Before it changed into something no different from ruins, it might have been a shelter for many people.
‘Still, it’s suspicious.’
From their first meeting until now, there had been more than one strange point.
Approaching them to warn about the threat of insect monsters.
To begin with, the path Robin had taken was not one people used.
As a result of being guided along a shortcut, monsters had swarmed in.
It was not common for that many monsters to be gathered together in the mountains.
Aside from that, suggesting they abandon their luggage and run away.
And leaving them behind in a bleak building also bothered him.
‘Even if all of that were coincidence…….’
Maria was excessively kind.
They had paid 50 Cooper under the pretense of hiring a guide, and said they would spend more if the quality of guidance was good, but—
‘Risking one’s life for someone you just met? Unless you’re an angel, that’s impossible.’
Warning them about the monsters had been extremely dangerous.
In that case, there were only three possibilities.
She was truly a Ho-in overflowing with compassion.
She had judged that they would not pose a threat to her.
Or she was simply an idiot.
“Robin, there’s something here.”
While they were looking around after going up to the second floor.
Sigbard was tapping the floor with a thud-thud.
Looking closely, a small groove could be seen.
“How did you find this?”
“Instinct.”
“It’s hard to find even when it’s right in front of you. Anyway, good job.”
When Robin put strength into his fingers—
Kikikigik.
Along with the sound of fingernails scraping against an iron plate, stairs leading downward appeared.
“What is this.”
“…….”
“Those are unpleasant stairs.”
An even colder chill flowed out than when they had first entered the building.
He couldn’t put it into exact words, but a gloomy presence lurked there.
Suffering, resentment, hatred…….
If the residue of emotions piled up and rotted, wouldn’t it be like this?
As if bewitched by a formless voice, Robin stared at the stairs.
“Robin.”
Only when Sigbard placed a hand on his shoulder did he come to his senses.
“Let’s go down.”
“The reason?”
Robin tilted his head and loosened his body.
“Instinct.”
“Understood.”
Receiving the chill with their whole bodies,
they went down.
The stairs that had started from the second floor continued all the way underground.
Kiiik. Kiiik.
With every step, loud noises rang out, like water-soaked wood rotting away.
When they reached underground, it was so dark that it was hard to discern anything ahead.
“Sigbard, do you have anything we can light?”
“No.”
Robin took out the matches he had found while exploring the building.
With a light strike, the flame flared up and illuminated the surroundings.
“It’s a normal structure.”
The underground level, lit by the match held forward, was similar to the first floor.
Perhaps because the air was cold, the flame went out quickly.
‘It would be nice if we had a lamp.’
“I’ll take the lead.”
Sigbard slowly moved his feet.
From his back as he walked step by step, no fear could be found.
Step.
When he suddenly stopped, Robin raised his guard.
“What’s wrong?”
“A ghost.”
“What?”
“If a ghost appears, what will you do?”
Wondering if he had heard wrong, Robin asked back.
“A ghost? What appeared?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I once heard it from my father—beware of ghosts.”
Though he couldn’t see his expression in the darkness, Sigbard’s voice was serious.
“In dark, gloomy places, ghosts appear. This place is like that.”
“…I’ll take the lead.”
“It’s absolutely not because I’m scared.”
Sigbard readily stepped aside.
Walking through the pitch-black corridor, Robin understood why Sigbard had acted that way.
‘It’s not just cold—it’s enough to give you chills.’
Tud-buk. Tud-buk.
How long had they walked?
They made a full circuit and returned to the place they had first entered.
The stairs where the light from the second floor faintly reached.
“It’s less than I expected.”
“That’s right. There were no ghosts.”
They hadn’t checked every room lining the long corridor.
Since it was hard to see, checking them one by one would take quite some time.
The gloomy presence remained, but they couldn’t find its source.
It was spread widely throughout the underground, making it hard to pinpoint a single spot.
“Shall we go back up now.”
“Good.”
Sigbard agreed more fervently than ever.
They were just about to head up the stairs.
“They look like they’re still alive?”
“What? They’re that fine?”
“That can’t be.”
“No, look there. Two people. They’re trying to come up.”
Someone was looking down from above.
At least five people, perhaps more, poked their heads out one by one.
“It’s true.”
“What are you doing, not closing the door?”
Robin realized what they were about to do.
Sigbard shouted urgently.
“Stop!”
He couldn’t tell whether his shout reached them.
Kuuung.
Before Sigbard could leap up the stairs, the door closed.
They were left in pitch-black darkness.
Even with their eyes open, they couldn’t see anything.
“Open the door!”
He roughly pounded on the door, but it didn’t open.
“Calm down.”
When Robin lit a match to brighten their view, Sigbard stopped.
“Understood. I’ve calmed down.”
After exhaling a deep breath, Sigbard thrust his fist toward the door.
Bang!
Considerable force was put into it, but the door didn’t shatter at once.
Robin narrowed his brow.
“To withstand my fist. It’s a sturdy door.”
Bang!
When he threw another punch, the ceiling shook and cracks spread across the door.
‘Why isn’t it breaking.’
Fighting Spirit was loaded into Sigbard’s fist.
Even without Fighting Spirit, it was hard to imagine a door that could withstand that strength.
“I’ll try.”
Just as Robin drew his sword and was about to go up—
Sigbard opened his eyes wide and spoke.
“A ghost.”
When he turned around, a hazy form flickered.
It wasn’t the shape one usually imagined when thinking of a ghost.
Not a person draped in a curtain.
“Undead?”
It was closer to a dead person moving.
Its flesh was rotting and crumbling in places.
Skin peeled away like dried wood, exposing muscle underneath.
Keu heu heu heu.
In a situation straight out of a ghost story, Robin swung his sword.