“I had my hopes up ’cause I heard these were ancient ruins, but what the hell’s this?! Not a single piece of freakin’ furniture, forget treasure!”
A middle-aged man clad in swordsman attire spewed vitriol as he traversed through the most inward part of the underground labyrinth. His name was Gawain, a member of the reconnaissance team dispatched to investigate this labyrinth.
“P-Please settle down, Gawain. We still have yet to search the entire area; there might be something hidden away somewhere.”
“In that case, you go and freakin’ find it! Cocky little shit trainee; don’t forget that I let you come aboard on this trip out of pity!”
“Eek! I-I’m sorry...”
The person that was trembling as a result of Gawain chewing them out was Nanami, a frail-looking girl clad in sorcerer’s robes.
Nanami was young at a tender fifteen years of age; a greenhorn adventurer. The reason she was selected for this reconnaissance team was because they recognized her skills and was not out of pity, however, due to her frail personality, she just couldn’t find it in herself to object to Gawain’s statement. She was a member of the reconnaissance team just like Gawain, but the team itself was a mishmash formed throughout the guild, so the sense of camaraderie was lacking. To top it off, they had finally reached the lowest level of the labyrinth. They were assaulted by the dragon that dwelled on the floor, wiping out the rest of the members. Gawain and Nanami were the only two who had managed to run into this room. To make matters worse, the dragon blocked their path out, so there was no turning back. In spite of his coarse personality, Gawain had superior skills and technique, so there was no way that Nanami could oppose him. Plus, Gawain had been trying to keep himself alive, even abandoning his comrades to do so.
Unless I deal with this situation, he’s going to use me as bait and leave me to die to escape this, Nanami thought, having her misgivings. Nanami searched around the room, looking for anything she could use to overturn the situation. And so, she traversed into the adjoined back room—which is where she found it.
Right in the middle of the relatively empty room stood a transparent cage reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. The cage, illuminated by an unknown light source, seemed to be tremendously valuable even in just beauty alone, but easily the most shocking aspect of it was what was encased inside. Long jet-black hair, effervescent white skin—and while her eyes were closed, her nose was slender, and her lips were beautiful and decorated in what seemed to be pink lipstick. Since it came across as prepared to an excessive degree, there was a sense of incompleteness in it as a work of art. That was just how beautiful the mannequin contained in the transparent cage was.
“What... is this...?” Nanami found herself captivated by its beauty despite being of the same sex. And as Nanami stood dumbfounded, Gawain took notice of her.
“What? You found something?”
“Um, in the next room...”
“—Outta the way!” Gawain shoved Nanami away and dashed into the adjacent room. Nanami took a tumble as a result. Rising to her feet, looking as if she was about to cry, she chased after Gawain.
“...What in the hell is this?”
Just like Nanami a few seconds ago, Gawain found himself captivated by the young girl in the cage.
“I do not know, Sir. But my guess would be that it’s... some sort of Artifact.”
“An Artifact?!”
“I’m not certain, but... I can feel some kind of mana from it.” “Artifact” referred to relics from ancient times, as their name implied. Specifically, they referred to magic items created by ancient civilizations and enchanted with a bevy of different magical abilities. While their abilities were wide and varied, word had it that there were some Artifacts that could reduce a whole area to cinders. That was why Gawain’s eyes lit up once Nanami told him that this might be an Artifact.
“Alright, I’m taking out this mannequin!” Gawain started to touch the transparent cage in an attempt to open it, but there was not a single seam on it, much less an entrance or opening.
“Grk, what the hell’s going on here?!” Gawain exclaimed, irritated as he slashed at the cage with his sword. The shrill ching of his sword against the cage echoed throughout the room.
“How could you even think to do that?!”
“Whazzat?” Gawain glared at her with disdain, but this was something that not even the normally introverted Nanami could sit idly by and watch transpire.
“What would you do if you put too much force into your swing and damaged the mannequin inside?”
“If the mannequin was an Artifact, then why the hell would a simple swing from a sword break it?”
“Even so, there’s no absolute guarantee that it wouldn’t break, is there?”
“Goddammit, you’re getting on my nerves. Look, I didn’t even make a scratch on this damn cage to begin with!” Just as Gawain stated, there was not a scuff on the cage—not a single millimeter. However, that was wisdom out of hindsight. ...No, what Gawain said just might have been true. He very well might have held back on his swing so as to not damage the mannequin in the first place. Nevertheless, Nanami was concerned for the doll within the cage.
...Wait, my life is in jeopardy right now, and here I’m worried about this thing? What is wrong with me? Nanami bashed herself, having come back to her senses.
“Hey, you.”
“Oh, huh? Y-Yes?”
“You’re pretty much a sorcerer, so use your magic and do something about this dumb cage!”
“Th-That isn’t possible, Sir.” It was true that Nanami was hailed as a talented individual. However, not even modern-day geniuses held a candle to sorcerers from the ancient eras. Nanami was in a superior class for a novice mage, but there was no way she could stand a chance.
“Whatever, just do what I told you! If you’re not gonna serve any purpose, then I can just throw your ass out in front of the dragon as bait!”
Nanami fell speechless. It may have been a reprehensible option, but there would be no salvation for the two of them at this rate. Thinking in that regard, threats were meaningless. Nanami knew that, should things continue like this, she was bound to be used as bait, considering how weak she was. However, even though there was no other option, whether or not she would accept it was a different matter. I don’t want to get devoured by that monster, Nanami thought, shivering.
“Please. Please, anything but that.”
“Please, shmease! Who the hell cares ‘bout that now?! I’m telling you that if you don’t want to end up dragon food, you’ll do something about this damn cage!”
“O-Okay.”
If Nanami hadn’t accepted this job, just like her older brother had told her, she wouldn’t have been in this mess. That thought ran through her mind, but regretting her decisions now wasn’t going to help her situation. I just have to focus on getting out of here alive, Nanami thought as she decided to inspect the cage.
“...Huh?”
“What? Did you find something?”
“Text is written here.” It was also written in standard language. It was the language which tribes, including humans, had used forever, so Nanami was capable of reading them without any problems, given her history of studying them. That being said, Nanami read the inscription aloud. “It is written here that, ‘The only one who can break this seal is a little sister.’”
“Little sister? If I remember correctly, you’re Rick’s little sister, aren’t you? In that case, you should be able to open it. Try touching the cage.”
“...Okay, I will.”
Rick was Nanami’s stepbrother who took care of her, not her actual brother. Nevermind the fact that, thinking about it rationally, this enscription must have been intended for a blood relative of whoever had written it. There was no way it applied to just any little sister.
That was what she figured, but she was afraid of angering Gawain, so she did as she was told. Effectively, it ended up being the right answer, because the moment that Nanami grazed the cage with her hand, the beautiful crystal cage shattered into a million tiny pieces.
“—Eeek?!”
“What the hell?!”
There, in front of the shocked pair’s eyes—the beautiful mannequin, freed from the restraints of the cage, slowly yet elegantly sat herself down on the floor, as if ignoring the laws of gravity.