Chapter 23
I was staring blankly at Tesilid, wondering if I had misheard, when—
*Grrrrrumble!*
"……."
"……."
The mood, which had been building up nicely, suddenly turned awkward.
"I, I was just on my way to the cafeteria."
"Yeah, right. It's a physiological function, nothing to be ashamed of."
"……But why are you looking at me like that?"
Because the way his face turned red as he made excuses was cute.
The poor meals of the Holy Emperor's Court suddenly came to mind. I immediately rummaged through my satchel.
"Here, a gift."
"What is this……?"
"Food. It's delicious."
Tesilid took the tomato-pasta-flavored pill I offered him with a bewildered expression.
"The necklace is really mine, so don't worry about it and go eat already."
"R, right. I can check with Cardinal Cattleya later. My friends are waiting, so I'll be going……."
At that moment, a suspicious word struck my mind.
"Huh? Friends?"
Tesilid has friends?
It's not that I'm trying to blame the Sweet Potato Route's ability to form relationships. This was a matter of the settings.
In the original work's flashback, the setting values of the protagonist's childhood friends were clearly…….
-I was the only one who survived among the Stigmata Bearers caught in the Dungeon Sync. I think it was from then. The Festival of Sacrifice began to take something away from me every year.
Friends. Dungeon Sync. Festival of Sacrifice.
What could these puzzles mean?
"Don't tell me……."
"What's wrong?"
The moment the puzzled question rang in my ears, what was bound to happen came.
*Boom—!*
"……!"
"……!"
A massive and heavy shockwave struck my heart directly. At the same time, the ground beneath my feet shook and cracked.
No, that's not it. It was space itself that was cracking. There was no way I couldn't know what this phenomenon was.
"Dungeon Sync……!"
The pieces of the puzzle fit together perfectly.
The Dungeon Sync that devastated Tesilid's childhood occurs right here, right now!
['The Word that Constructs the World' panics, wondering why a disaster event had to trigger right now.]
['The Scales that Judge Souls' rebukes, asking what we should do if the Creator says such things.]
['The Cynic that Tunes Balance' slowly shakes its head, remarking that as expected of an S-rank, trouble always comes when you least expect it.]
As the disaster struck, the number of spectators grew.
The survival difficulty is adjusted to F-rank only inside the Count's estate.
Let alone that it's a dungeon that annihilated people just to give Tesilid his tragic childhood setting. I should brace myself for the difficulty.
Meanwhile, it seemed the range of the Dungeon Sync encompassed the entire cafeteria building. The interior visible through the window broken into the flower bed was in complete chaos.
"W, what! An earthquake?"
"Kyaaah! The floor……!"
"Waaaah! Mommy, save me……!"
An irresistible gravity stretched out from the black subspace, pulling at the children's bodies.
And mine as well.
*Snatch!*
My wrist was suddenly grabbed tightly. It was Tesilid.
"Don't leave my side."
"……."
……I was a little moved just now.
*Whoooosh!*
Along with nausea-inducing vertigo, the shattered darkness swallowed us up.
And the scene that unfolded after the darkness lifted was…….
*Chug chug! Chug chug!*
*Boom boom boom boom—!*
*Ring…… riiing…….*
*Ting-a-ling ding-dong ding-ding dong…….*
A toy train running on rails, a soldier doll beating a drum, a clown head popping out of a jack-in-the-box, a music box with a spinning carousel, sparkling Christmas-themed decorations and light bulbs.
The message in my head informed me of the name and rank of this bewitching space.
[
Hmm, this is the average difficulty of this world. I can handle this.
Chapter 8. Children's Playtime
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You?"
"Me too."
After exchanging pleasantries, Tesilid and I surveyed our surroundings.
We had dropped right into a reception hall reeking of a Christmas atmosphere, along with the other children.
As time passed and nothing happened, some children began to let their guard down.
"W, where is this?"
"It's pretty. There are so many toys."
"They're moving. How fascinating."
"Huh? I wanted that doll!"
The children's eyes sparkled with greed at the sight of the toys their parents hadn't bought for them last Christmas.
When a few children started grabbing the toys as if they were their own, even the hesitant ones were swept up by their desires and joined in.
Excluding Tesilid and me, the children were busy rummaging through the toys and tearing open gift boxes.
"Don't touch them carelessly! We're inside a dungeon!"
Tesilid shouted, but.
"Wow! This is fun!"
"I guess we can take the stuff here!"
"Hand it over! I picked this doll first! ……Dammit, you tore its arm off!"
If they listened, they wouldn't be children, and if they had the ability to solve things with words, it wouldn't be the Sweet Potato Route.
In the first place, trying to save everyone in a situation like this is what makes it the Sweet Potato Route.
I stopped Tesilid.
"It's useless. They'll only think it's a dungeon if a magical beast jumps out."
"I know. I only did it out of duty."
"……."
That's right. To him, even good deeds are just business. But he's strictly calling it a duty.
Tesilid abruptly asked.
"Why aren't you throwing yourself at the presents like them?"
"My mental age is way higher than it looks. You can call me Older Sister."
"It's also weird that you're so calm after entering a dungeon."
"It's not my first time. You're the one who has only lived in the Holy Emperor's Court, so this is your first time in a dungeon. Are you okay?"
"I am……."
At that moment, as the air in the reception hall fluctuated, tension appeared on Tesilid's face.
Opening the space and appearing was a white-haired young man.
"Welcome, children! Welcome to Count Orshu's mansion!"
Dressed in a tailcoat, he was clearly a demon in the butler position.
'Not yet.'
The use of Divine Descent must be decided carefully.
['The Word that Constructs the World' advises that showing our power here would only make the butler flee through spatial teleportation.]
It meant he was an opponent we had no choice but to push into a sealed Boss Room and dispose of.
The Boss Room is a last-stand domain even for demons. Once inside and combat begins, it's impossible to leave.
At the appearance of the unfamiliar existence, the children who had been running amok stopped their actions and focused.
"Haha! There's no need to be so tense. And there's no need to put the dolls and toys back in their places. Because……."
*Pop! Boom!*
Firecrackers went off behind the butler demon's back.
"You are all very, very special chosen guests! Not only the toys, dolls, snacks, and cakes here, but everything in the mansion has been prepared just for you."
"R, really? Really?"
"Then it's true we can take all of this, right?"
The innocent children asked again, their faces lighting up with joy.
"Of course. They were prepared according to my Master's order to serve you all with utmost care. I, Rodrigo, as the butler, will dedicate myself to the reception of our special guests. In that spirit, I have prepared plenty of fun games as well. Let's play excitedly together with me!"
"Waaaah!"
Cute animal dolls approached and began handing out vividly painted eggs one by one.
"It's an Easter egg!"
"I'm hungry!"
Following Christmas, this time it was an imitation of Easter. How very demon-like in its twisted taste.
"Has everyone received an egg? Then, before you eat, shall we give our thanks to the Count who invited you to this wonderful mansion? Repeat after me, 'Thank you, Count Orshu'!"
"Thank you, Count Orshu!"
The starving children cracked the eggshells in an instant.
"Don't eat it!"
Of course, completely ignoring Tesilid's obligatory warning, the eggs were swiftly swallowed into the children's mouths.
The eyes of the pleased butler Rodrigo curved in an unsettling way.
"Count Orshu is truly a magnificent person. He loves good and pure children like you very much. To be exact…… he loves the souls of good and pure children!"
"C, cough!"
A few of the children who ate the eggs grabbed their necks and collapsed. Their bodies, foaming at the mouth and convulsing, soon poofed into dolls.
"Hieeek?!"
While the children were panicking, I checked the debuff on the system status window.
[
A dark magic debuff created by Rodrigo to store and extract human souls in a fresh state. If your life is in critical danger inside Count Orshu's mansion, you turn into a doll and your death is delayed. Instead, you become a body that is neither dead nor alive until your soul is completely extracted.
Note: Where do you think all the toys and dolls scattered around came from? Think about it.]
Privilege for the Possessor