Chapter 100

Part 25: Entering the Ruins (2)

After walking for a short while, they discovered the reason for the bodies lying at the entrance.

Thud!

A hammer suddenly shot out from the wall, sending the knight leading the group flying.

His armor was dented, and the arm that blocked the hammer seemed to be broken.

"It's a trap! There's an injury!"

A knight following behind shouted loudly, and the senior knight gave an order.

"Change the lead!"

If it had been an ordinary person, they would have been unable to react and died on the spot. However, the knight who blocked the hammer, following the senior knight's command, grabbed his broken arm and retreated.

He fixed his broken arm to his armor and drank a potion he had, and the gap he left was immediately filled by another knight.

Although there was an injury, the pace did not slow down.

"Ordinary people wouldn't be able to block or avoid this."

It was a trap that ordinary people would find impossible to react to.

As Katrin had said, it seemed difficult for adventurers or mercenaries to move inside the ruins.

The traps continued after that.

The ground suddenly caved in, the ceiling dropped, poisonous gas spewed from the walls, and arrows shot from the floor.

However, the group overcame these traps and continued to move forward.

They used telekinesis to pull up the falling knight, used strength to hold back the collapsing ceiling, administered antidotes to those who inhaled the poisonous gas, and blocked the arrows with shields.

Despite the injuries, the injured knights drank potions and followed behind.

As the traps continued, the number of injuries increased, but the more traps there were, the greater the group's expectations grew. The more traps there were, the more important the relics must be.

Indeed, it was different from the ruins in our territory. The underground facility in the ruins of our territory was just a pile of dust, having come to a standstill.

Seeing all the traps in action, it was clear that the relics must still be there.

Continuing forward, the group suddenly stopped.

A fork in the path appeared before them.

The senior knight looked around at the noble officers and the count, then turned to look at the princess.

"The princess must make the decision."

At the senior knight's words, I couldn't help but laugh.

Until now, they had made decisions on their own, but suddenly they were passing the decision-making to the princess.

No matter how young the princess was, it wasn't something that could be said to a royal. Clearly, the senior knight hadn't made the decision alone.

'Could this be what they mean by hardship?'

The princess's life wasn't in danger, but it was a terrible joke.

Everyone seemed to be excited, as if they had been given a hint.

Grinding her teeth, Katrin calmly replied.

"Are you saying I should make all the decisions from now on?"

Oh! A brilliant counter to a terrible request.

The senior knight was speechless at the princess's words.

"Ah, that is..."

His eyes wavered, and he eventually apologized to the princess.

"...I'm sorry. Please consider it as if it was never said."

The princess accepted his apology.

Though it was a short conversation, everyone could feel a change in how they looked at the princess.

'I should like this...?'

It was a great answer, but it made it hard to hide the princess's greatness.

Is this what they mean when they say a needle in a bag will always stick out?

After discussing with the count, the senior knight chose one of the paths and continued forward.

It seemed they had taken the wrong path.

After walking a bit, the corridor was in a mess.

The traps were exposed and the walls of the corridor were collapsing in various places.

Moreover, a foul smell and polluted mana could be felt, signs left by monsters.

Though it seemed they should turn back, the senior knight continued forward.

'Did he feel bad about what happened to the princess?'

If so, it would be a foolish thought, but since I couldn't know his true intentions, I warned Katrin and the princess to be careful.

"Monsters might appear."

The princess was puzzled, but Katrin immediately understood.

The princess and Katrin moved to the center of the group, and I stayed at the back, keeping watch.

"Are you the princess's chosen guard?"

A knight with an injured arm, walking at the back, spoke to me.

Though I didn't like the way he looked me up and down, he wasn't wrong, so I nodded.

"Seems like the academy chose a young kid. I wonder if he'll be of any use."

He hadn't seen me fighting and blocking the monsters from the front.

"You're not a commoner, but as the princess's guard, you're probably not from a well-known noble family."

Though from a well-known duke's family, being a bastard, I was likely worse off than an unknown family.

"Tsk, tsk. Though you didn't choose this, you've picked the wrong side."

The knight, looking down at me, who hadn't fully grown, clicked his tongue.

"I feel sorry for you, it seems too late."

Though I felt bad, his warning was more serious than I thought.

"It's not just me. There are nobles under the princes who have radical thoughts. They think it's okay to touch a princess, even if they can't touch other princes."

If I hadn't misheard, what he said seemed like a confession.

"I'm the same."

Indeed, it was a confession.

He drew his sword with his uninjured hand.

Then I shouted.

"Everyone, be careful! Monsters!"

"What? Monsters?"

The knight who had raised his sword looked at me in disbelief, but that was his last expression.

Crack.

A giant maggot burst through the wall and swallowed him.

"Monsters!"

"Monsters are coming out of the walls!"

"Multiple monsters in front!"

"Monsters are appearing behind us too!"

Giant maggots swarmed from all directions.

They blocked the entire corridor from the front and quickly crawled from behind.

The knights hastily raised their shields, and behind them, fireballs and various attacks were launched at the approaching monsters.

Indeed, they were the royal knights and noble officers of the kingdom.

The dozens of monsters that suddenly appeared were unable to advance and died one by one.

The monsters pushing from the front were blocked, but the problem was the monsters from behind.

Behind the group, there were only injured knights and me, an academy student.

Thud!

I swung my greatsword to block the approaching monsters.

The greatsword split a giant maggot in half.

An un-digested knight spilled out, and a new monster I had never seen before spewed digestive fluid.

But I had no time to think about what came out of the stomach.

Injured knights were dying one by one beside me.

Behind us, ranged attacks from the noble officers were flying, and I also revealed my true strength and cut down the monsters, but the number of monsters was too great for me to handle alone.

"Support the back!"

I shouted, but it seemed the support from the front would take a while.

Swoosh!

Then, help arrived.

Katrin stood beside me, holding a shield.

Given her personality, she couldn't stay back.

A translucent barrier spread wide next to the shield, and the maggots that rushed forward were stopped.

Behind Katrin, mist rose from her sword, and she cut down the stopped maggots one by one.

However, Katrin and I alone couldn't block all the rushing monsters.

The injured knights who were still alive were blocking the remaining monsters.

"Block them!"

"Roar!"

Whether they had chosen a prince or had other thoughts, the royal knights were throwing themselves at the monsters, fulfilling their duty.

Seeing this, another person moved.

"I can't let them die."

The princess, unable to bear it, rushed forward.

"Aisha!"

Katrin shouted in surprise, but the princess ignored her and charged at the monsters.

Swish!

The sword swung, and a monster was cut down.

Zap!

Sparks flew from the sword, and the monsters were electrocuted, rolling on the ground.

The knights, who had been saved from certain death, looked at the princess in surprise.

The princess, standing in front of the monsters, was glowing.

'No way to hide. I couldn't hold back after learning from Katrin. I'm doomed. I'm doomed.'

I sighed while blocking the monsters.

I had tried to hide it, but it was all exposed.

Though the princess had saved the knights, it would be hard to survive the princes' wrath.

Thud!

But now wasn't the time to worry about that.

The traps, which hadn't been activated, were now triggered by the swarming monsters.

The walls came down, and the floor dropped.

The formation, which had been holding the two sides, was instantly in chaos.

And a trap was activated right under the princess.

Rumble.

The floor caved in, and the princess fell with the monsters.

"Ah!"

The princess screamed in surprise, and I leaped toward her.

Click!

I caught her in time.

I kicked the falling monsters and soared upward.

Fortunately, we hadn't fallen far. At this height, we could easily escape.

Thud!

But at the last moment, I hit something in the air.

Looking up in surprise, I saw only empty space.

Then I saw a noble officer reaching out to us from beyond the trap.

I recognized him. He was the noble who had used telekinesis to save the knight who fell into the first trap.

He was smiling at me.

Seeing him, I understood what I had hit.

It was an invisible wall created by his telekinesis.

'Not just one.'

I had been too relieved by the other knights throwing themselves at the monsters.

I had no choice but to fall again.

The walls were far, and there were no monsters to use as a foothold.

"Aisha!"

The princess and I fell, hearing Katrin's scream.

* * *

Thud.

A moment later, the princess and I landed on the ground.

Fortunately, we didn't die.

I was holding the princess, and a 10-year-old's weight wasn't too much.

The impact was significant, but I could endure it.

'Is the princess unconscious?'

Fortunately, her breathing was stable.

I put the princess down and looked around.

Though there was no light, I could see quite far by infusing mana into my eyes.

'Still inside the ruins.'

Unlike the dungeon I explored with Katrin, this place showed signs of human activity.

Stone corridors stretched endlessly in all directions.

It was clearly a maze.

"The more we go, the more difficult it gets."

I sighed and looked around.

Since the princess was unconscious, there was no one to see.

I took out a pouch from my coat.

I hadn't been able to check it with people around.

Honestly, it seemed useless.

But since we were in a strange maze, I needed to find even a small hint.

I opened the pouch and took out a map.

"Huh?"

The map was glowing brightly, and the parts that were previously erased were now filled in.