Sita, our resident ball of curiosity, carelessly began handling the orbs to analyze them. “This underground passage is quite old, and only a select few know about it anyway. Perhaps they’re some sort of historical structures.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Orthoaguina replied. “These look newly made. They seem less like monuments and more like magic tools.”
Emilia gently placed her hands together, her memories triggered by the dragon’s observation. “Ah, yes, our aunt ordered Girtz and the others to make a prototype of a magus weapon, if memory serves...”
As though her musing was the cue, the center of the round item slid back to reveal a round crystal within.
“Huh?” we all said. All the while, loud clangs rang in the air as the items formed into what looked like a spider.
“Uh, Princess?!” Sita cried. “You should’ve mentioned something like that sooner!”
“You dunce! You’re to blame for touching it so carelessly!” Emilia roared back.
“Now’s not the time to fight!” I shouted.
The magus weapon crawled around eerily and pointed a sharp claw toward us. Clearly, this item hadn’t been created just for laughs. It sort of looked like a guard robot meant to chase away any outsiders.
“Emilia, aren’t you a royal, even if it’s just for show?!” I asked. “Can’t you order it to stop as its owner or something?”
“Your phrasing bothers us, but you’ve got a point,” Emilia replied. She stood proudly in front of all of us and declared, “By the name of Emilia Relirex, heed our order! Cease your actions at onc— Gyaaaaaaah!”
The moment the princess said her name, the magus weapons all focused on her and began their attack. Emilia was their target, and they made no attempt to attack us.
“Curse her!” Emilia roared. “My aunt plotted this— Gaaaaah!” She fought back by herself against the magus weapons. “She mentioned that she didn’t care who accomplished it since our goals were the same!” Emilia shouted. “But look at this! She definitely wants to be the one who drags mother out of the tower! Gaaah!”
“Um, did Lady Elizabeth predict that the princess would use this underground route and prepare these weapons to hold her back?” Rachel wondered.
“S-Seems like it...” I replied.
We watched on in astonishment, total outsiders to this battle. So, Lady Elizabeth made those?
Now that I think about it, it’d have been weird for her to place prototypes down here to target any intruders. They were definitely set up here only to react to Emilia. In other words, Lady Elizabeth had been keenly aware that, should Emilia ever take the lead, we’d be brought to this underground route, and that’s why she stationed the weapons here.
Since Emilia was our guide, if she couldn’t proceed ahead, we couldn’t either. This bought plenty of time. Worst case, we might even have to retreat. I shuddered at the terror of this plot, but even Lady Elizabeth couldn’t have predicted the existence of Noa.
“I’m sorry to push responsibility onto you, Noa, but do you know the way?” I asked.
“Y-Yeah, I do. I...think,” Noa replied. “But what about the princess?”
“Oh, don’t worry. She’ll be fine. Emilia’s just playing around. We should hurry ahead so that we don’t get in her way.”
It didn’t seem like Emilia was backed into a corner, and Lady Elizabeth wasn’t the type to create weapons that would truly endanger the princess’s life. These weapons were merely to stop Emilia in her tracks, and I heartlessly wanted to leave before she dragged us into this troublesome battle.
“Sita!” Emilia shouted. “Can’t you use your knowledge to do something? They’re resistant to magic and so annoying to deal with!”
“Let gooooo!” Sita shrieked. “How should I know how to handle cutting-edge technology from other kingdoms?! I’m a librarian, not a magus smith! Aghhhh!”
“Y-Your Highness!” Rachel yelled. “Please don’t drag Sita into this mess!”
As I’d feared would happen, Emilia hid behind Sita, using her as a shield. Naturally, Rachel had no choice but to jump into battle. Since I was with Noa and Tutte, two ladies who weren’t suited for combat, I couldn’t get involved with this mess. I cheered them on and believed that they could handle the weapons as I sneaked away.
“Are you sure that those three can be left alone?” Snow asked, not sure what to make of my heartlessness.
“If you’re worried, why don’t you stay and fight?” I replied. “Don’t blame me if your fur gets shaved off.”
“Oh ho ho. You’re right, those three can handle themselves. C’mon, let’s go!” She clearly wanted to stay as far away from trouble as possible and rushed ahead with me.
Always nice to have more allies!
Noa’s directions weren’t as precise as I’d figured they’d be. She only had a vague recollection of this place and struggled to guide us. As she’d mentioned earlier, she must’ve only been shown around once.
As I began to worry I’d asked too much of her, a small sound reached my ears.
“Mary!” Snow said.
“Did you hear that too?” I asked.
Only Snow, Lily, and I turned toward the noise. It was very faint, but we heard someone singing. They weren’t loudly belting out a song, but rather humming a tune. Yet, oddly enough, this faint humming was easy to hear, and the voice seeped into my heart. I wondered how the voice so easily piqued my curiosity and put me at ease. If someone’s there, maybe we’re close to the exit.
“Let’s go,” I said.
Tutte and Noa nodded back as I took the lead and walked ahead, seduced by the mystical humming. We then reached a wall—the humming could be heard from the other side, but there was no door to be found. We stood there at a loss. Was there a switch somewhere that opened the door? I gazed around and investigated the surrounding area, but I couldn’t find anything of the sort. Emilia didn’t press a switch to get us down here. I guess some sort of code word is needed.
I needed Emilia’s help here, but she was too busy fighting. I turned to Noa for help, but it seemed she never recalled setting foot in this place and turned to the ground glumly.
“I’m sorry, big sister,” Noa apologized.
“Don’t be,” I replied. “It’s fine. In fact, you guided us all the way here, all by yourself. Thank you for that, Noa.” I hugged the sad little girl and reassured her, trying my best to play the role of a self-proclaimed big sister. I continued to gaze around, hoping for some sort of clue.
Now then, I’ll speak in my defense first. I truly hadn’t meant to do anything. I’d wanted to show Noa my good side, and admittedly, I’d been trying my best to find a solution, but I hadn’t been putting that much strength into it. I promise that!
Now, with my excuses out of the way—after I calmed Noa down, I lightly tapped against the wall, trying to find a way to the other side. It was a classic thing people did in manga, and I wanted to copy them.
So, what happened then? Simple. There was a deafening roar, and a part of the wall groaned. I suppose one can say that the wall slid out of its position.
“Mary... You...” Snow gazed at me wearily and realized what I’d done.
“Y-You’ve got it wrong!” I insisted. “This was all a mistake. I didn’t mean it! I didn’t do it on purpose! Ahhhh!”
As I tried to defend myself, I thought I heard a voice from the other side, and the wall I hit slid down, unable to defy gravity.
“Heh. S-See? All according to plan.” I tried to lie through my teeth, and Noa gasped with awe. Snow, on the other hand, gave a knowing and exasperated look. Ugh, what a rude snow leopard.
“My oh my. I thought I heard a peculiar sound,” a woman said. “I wonder if it broke. It was rather old, so I suppose it was at the end of its life.” Her voice came from beyond the wall, and it was similar to the humming that I’d heard moments earlier. She must’ve heard me screwing up and decided to open the way for us.
Light flooded into the dark underground, and I narrowed my eyes as they gradually adjusted to looking into the other side. Are we in a kitchen? Beyond the half-broken door, we saw a beautiful demon lady standing there dressed in an apron. She had luscious locks of long hair with a purple-to-pink ombré, and they were slightly wavy like Emilia’s hair. Also like Emilia, she had two horns atop her head
“My word! My, oh my!” she said. “What an adorable little crowd I’ve got. What’s wrong? Are you all lost?”
She placed her hands together with delighted surprise, acting very gentle. Uh, getting lost in a secret passage reserved for royals? That’s a hard sell. But wow, she’s got quite the air of fluffiness and kindness to her.
“Well, you’re not totally wrong,” I said.
“Oh dear!” she said. “You poor things. Your parents must be worried sick about you. Come now! Do come in! You shouldn’t be standing out there in the darkness. I’ve just baked some sweet treats.”