“In any case, I’m rather surprised that you’ve retained your memories from Hell. If I recall, the abandoned have their memories of suffering and sadness erased, and are forced to cast aside any items used for combat before being led here.”
“Oh, you’re right; this situation is odd. You don’t seem to have any messengers with you either,” Noix said.
I get it now. It’s starting to make sense.
“It is?” Grida asked.
Remember those announcements in the labyrinth? Only we could hear them. No normal human could get here anyway.
“Yeah. Everyone would’ve probably died in the very first room.”
If, by any stroke of luck, they managed to make it out of that room, they definitely wouldn’t have noticed the invisible wall. That means there were originally guides to lead us here.
“I see! So that must’ve been what the messengers were for!”
Exactly. Very good, Grida. These messengers are most likely beings that led people here, “saving” them from “Hell,” and were able to hear those announcements. They confiscated people’s weapons and armor and wiped their memories along the way.
“But Furutsu, why would they do that?”
I’m not sure. There’s a possibility that they really believed that they were saving people from Hell. At a glance, this place seems very peaceful, and the outside world’s Hell, teeming with evil demons and dangerous parasitic creatures.
“Hey, Datil. Do you think this place is...?”
“Yeah, this is a village inside of the labyrinth. These people are living here without ever having contact with the outside world.”
Seems like Fresa and Datil caught on.
“This is the center of Rhuvae Village, the residential area,” Okhar said.
“My, my! It’s a much larger village than I’d imagined!” Gruszka looked around happily.
You’re not thinking of anything nefarious, are you?
Okhar laughed. “There’s around one hundred people living here. It’s very lively.”
“Oho? How wonderful!”
Stop licking your lips! You’re definitely up to no good, aren’t you?
“Over here!” Okhar said, leading the way.
In the center of the village square was a scaffold of some sort, reminiscent of the building we saw at the campsite. This probably isn’t used for fighting, but for...
“Today is our annual festival!”
I knew it. I feel like I’ve seen one of these at my neighborhood festivals.
“This year’s sacrifice for the Great Gaokerena will be chosen tonight. We must hurry—it may just be you!”
Will you look at that! The Great Gaokerena is one hundred percent a devil! Change the current BGM from a relaxed country theme to a hype final boss battle theme! Hurry!
Gruszka gave a forced laugh. “A s-s-sacrifice, you say? Ha ha, I sure do enjoy your jokes!”
Okhar laughed in response, and Gruszka seemed a little relieved. Hey now, it’s a bit too soon for you to feel at ease. Okhar isn’t kidding; he’s serious about the sacrifice bit.
“What are the odds we’d arrive on the day of the festival? I feel rather bad—it almost looks like we aimed for today specifically!” Gruszka said.
“Ha ha, everyone has equal rights here... There’s no need to have any reservations,” Okhar muttered. Gruszka, who perhaps didn’t hear a word of it, was all smiles.
I heard you loud and clear though. Rights? Do you seriously think that being sacrificed is a “happy occasion” and “full of honor” or something?
“Come on in! This is my house!” he said, standing in front of a large log building. He opened the door and guided us in. “Hey, you all! We’ve got guests!”
Three boys and a girl quickly ran out to greet us.
“Welcome back, Mom, Dad!”
“Guests?! Welcome!”
“Huh? You came from that door? That’s amazing!”
It got pretty lively, huh? What a warm reception.
“Hey, they’re tired, all right?” Noix scolded her kids. At once the girl fell silent and happily sat on her mother’s lap.
“You guys sure have a lot of kids! Oh, please don’t eat this apple, okay?” Fresa said. Two of the boys grabbed her arms, and she seemed to be having fun. I was being toyed with by the other boy, who rolled me around.
Argh...
“Not at all. We actually have fewer children when compared to others.”
“Our neighbor gave birth to her sixteenth just yesterday.”
Sixteen?! Wait, is that the norm in this world?
“Wonderful! That’s a lot of children,” Datil said, sounding surprised.
Seems like it’s not.
“How very joyous! But if it’s her sixteenth child, she must’ve given birth at quite a mature age,” Gruszka said.
Yeah. If she were to give birth to one child a year, that’d still take sixteen years. I’m not sure if it takes about a year for a full pregnancy term in this world though. I don’t even know how many days are in a year here.
“Mature age? Uh, Noix, how old was she again?” Okhar asked.
“Not too old, I believe. She was a year or two younger than me.” They both looked confused, and neither seemed to be lying.
She’s younger than Noix and has had sixteen children?
“Datil, do you think these kids...?” Fresa said.
“Yeah, they don’t seem to differ in age very much. Okhar, are they perhaps quadruplets?” Datil asked.
They’re all about the same height, but really?
“Yes, that’s correct,” Noix replied, lowering her voice. She seemed to look a little troubled.
“We may not have many, but we’ll definitely raise our children to be the best offerings they can to the Great Gaokerena!” Okhar chimed in hastily, as though to protect his wife.
The Great Gaokerena again? And how does he figure this isn’t “that many” of them?
“Our next-door neighbor gave birth to eight children again. As the wife of the village’s leader, it’s a shame that I can only give birth to four. I don’t know what to say to the village,” Noix said, her shoulders slumped.
Okhar comforted his wife. “Noix, this is all part of the Great Gaokerena’s plan. We each have our own roles. I’m sure of it.”
Gruszka was at a loss for words as he gazed at the children. Fresa and Datil looked at each other with confused and troubled expressions.
“Fresa-san, have you ever heard of octuplets?”
“No way! That’s, like, unheard of!”
It sounds like octuplets are extremely rare in this world too, but is it normal in this village?
The girl who was quietly sitting on Noix’s lap ran over to Okhar with a smile. “Hey, Dad! Is it the festival yet?”
“Oh, it’s about time. Everyone, let’s go to the village square.”