NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36
“Now, I can’t even guess how many zombies are piled up on the 1st Floor… Even if we purify them, isn’t the entrance going to be blocked by zombie dust?”
“Honestly, that sounds terrifying…”
That’s a truth I can’t deny. Watching the endless line of zombies climbing up to the 1st Floor really made it feel like that donut-shaped passage was about to burst. After a long wait, once all the zombies disappeared beyond the stairs, we began to move in search of the key. We first approached the stairs leading down to the 3rd Floor.
“I’ll search for gravestones clockwise from here. Renny will deal with the incoming zombies and skull-buckets, and Karina will help me inspect the gravestones.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”
I really liked her enthusiastic look.
“What about me?”
“Just breathe.”
“What’s that supposed to mean! I can be smart too! If I get a puzzle like this, I’ll—”
“You don’t have hands.”
“…That’s harsh!”
Millia, who had been looking up at me with an expectant face, suddenly looked all glum.
Anyway, she can’t even move on her own. I could roll her around, but that wouldn’t be ideal in a place covered in dirt.
…Ultimately, I might need her help to check the inscriptions on the gravestones, so I can’t separate her.
She may have told me about her embarrassing head, and if the background of this dungeon is from hundreds of years ago, I would need Millia’s knowledge.
We started moving immediately. Since the time given to us isn’t much, we have to finish the search as quickly as possible. We need to find the body that will be the key among what had to be at least three digits’ worth of gravestones.
“The zombies will keep chasing us, so let’s not stray too far apart.”
Hearing my words, both of them nodded seriously. Well then, shall we begin?
We promptly started searching for gravestones in a circle around the cemetery.
“Lena Sigmund? That’s the castle that was near the coffin earlier.”
That’s two so far.
“Here’s a castle called Carcassonne as well.”
Carcassonne? That castle sounds familiar.
“Carcassonne…”
When Millia, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly reacted, I looked at her. With a complex expression of something close to recognition, she muttered the name Carcassonne. Is something bothering her?
“Millia, do you know about the castle Carcassonne?”
“Um… It feels familiar, but I don’t know why…”
That was a strange response. Still, it could be a clue of some sort. I immediately posed another question to Millia.
“Millia, do you remember your family name?”
“I don’t remember… )@*#(&$#()”
It seems like Millia has more secrets than I thought.
And it’s clear those secrets are tied up with this dungeon. It would be nice if we could pin down what that is, but I guess that’s something we’ll have to figure out on our own. I gently patted Millia’s head, who was making a gloomy expression due to her blurry memories, and shifted my gaze back to the gravestones. There were still many more to check.
I diligently scanned around: Sigmund, Carcassonne, Fallon, Hayes… Countless castles flitted through my mind. The puzzle was to find the dead bodies of those who share the same family name among the five individuals with the name of Carcassonne. It was a really annoying grind of a puzzle, but at least it wasn’t one that would make me wrack my brain too much.
None of us were really “brainy” anyway.
Karina may have learned a lot, but she wasn’t exactly a brainiac, and Renny was out of the question. Millia wasn’t much different from Renny. In the end, it would have fallen on me to squeeze out whatever little brainpower I had, but honestly, I wasn’t too confident in thinking either.
I’d rather stick to physical tasks.
“Melina Carcassonne. Only the person with that name is the third.”
“Next is Sigmund, with two people.”
If about one-third had three names from the money switch, then it seemed like the most probable choice for now. I planted my shovel in front of Melina Carcassonne’s gravestone and activated my skill.
“Crafting.”
A cross made of dirt. The size of the cross was noticeable even from a distance. The square pillar represented Sigmund, and the cross indicated Carcassonne. Keeping in mind to visualize appropriate structures, I began moving between the gravestones. Occasionally, I would plant the shovel into the heads of zombies breaking through the ground and send them back into the dirt.
How long did I wander about? The cemetery was filled with various structures. Round pillars, square pillars, crosses, and structures resembling chess pieces, and then…
“Why did you make my sculpture?!”
“I had no inspiration.”
“That’s infuriating! It’s even more annoying because it looks so similar!”
The 100% identical brown Millia, created using my skill, wore a smile that was every bit infuriating. Was my subconscious reflecting my image of Millia?
“Isn’t it pretty good? It has a vibe like a monument in a square…”
Before Karina’s words even finished, cracks began to form in Millia’s statue. The fissures slowly grew, and it looked like her head was about to break apart vertically. Everyone seemed at a loss for words, watching in silence as a rotting arm emerged from the cracks between the statues.
Of course, it was a zombie.
Strong, too.
I calmly split the zombie’s head down the middle that emerged from the collapsed structure. Though it was split in half, the idea of the face of a broken statue returning was fanciful.
“My heaaaad!”
I turned my gaze away from the broken head statue, unable to bear the weight, and looked at Karina. Karina also had a somewhat troubled expression as she alternated her gaze between Millia and me.
Don’t look at me like that. Did you think I would know a zombie would crawl out at that moment? Sigh.
I gave Millia a piece of dried meat to chew on. Millia quickly calmed down. That didn’t stop the zombies drawn by the aggro from approaching, though.
Of course, all those zombies had their heads chopped off by Renny and rolled on the ground. Truly, a guard knight’s protection was top-notch.
“Now that we’ve made a full circle… the people with the name Carcassonne must be the hinted family.”
“That’s likely.”
Melina, Asmond, Natasha, Pater…
…and Millia.
Five names.
“Millia, are you really not remembering anything?”
“…I can’t remember… but it feels familiar.”
Millia answered in a confused voice as she gazed blankly at the gravestone. What would it feel like to look at a gravestone with your own name on it? We looked down at Millia in silence.
How much time had passed? I reluctantly initiated a conversation.
“…There’s no need to dig anymore.”
“There’s nothing below! @!&$#”
Even if I was a bit stumped, I roughly understood. It probably means there’s nothing below. I looked in the direction of the other Carcassonne family members’ gravestones. Digging into someone else’s grave felt uncomfortable, but since we couldn’t clear this floor, there wasn’t much we could do.
I set my sights on the grave of the Carcassonne family, shovel in hand.
—————–
“Lord Kalon, please forgive our mistakes…”
Should I go over and pray with them? I’m not fond of prayers, but for some reason, it felt like I should offer one now.
I sighed as I looked at the four corpses I pulled from the grave.
“I don’t know who made this dungeon, but they’re truly evil…”
Turning towards the voice from beside me, I saw Renny looking down at the four corpses with a horrified expression.
I couldn’t help but agree with that statement.
Naturally, those four bodies looked just as they had moments ago—perfectly intact as if they could breathe at any minute. Am I supposed to cut them up and put them in a coffin? Is this even right?
“This is insane…”
But it must be done. In the end, that was merely a spiteful tactic to shake the morale of those who dared to explore this dungeon. I tightened my grip on the shovel and glanced over at Millia.
“…”
Millia, who had been exuberantly bouncing around like a happy puppy, now seemed unaccustomed to looking at those presumed to be her family.
“…Millia.”
“…What?”
“Can we do this?”
“…We can do it! They aren’t even people I remember clearly! They are not my family! Just kill them!”
The intense hatred that erupted from Millia’s last words made her appear startled as she widened her eyes and looked up at me.
“…Karina, hold onto Millia for a moment.”
I couldn’t let Millia see this.
I lifted my shovel high, took a deep breath, and swiftly struck down with the intention to finish it quickly.
…This was something I never wanted to do again.
I was used to the sensation of cutting flesh, but slicing up the family of someone I knew made me hesitant.
To forget the unease, I took some salted meat and stuffed it in my mouth. The insane saltiness distracted my thoughts. After re-burying the body, we moved to the coffin. The coffin stood open as if waiting for us.
“Millia.”
“…Hmph, hurry up and put it in!”
With four limbs fitted into the proper slots, as soon as Millia’s head was positioned where it was supposed to be, we heard the sound of metal scraping. Obviously, it was the sound of a door opening.
We looked at the stairs visible beyond the door. Would we have to go down for a long time again?
…Should we just head down right now?
We exchanged glances and looked in the direction of the shelter.
“We need to gather all our belongings before heading down to the 3rd Floor.”
“Karina, wouldn’t it be good to take in some fresh air outside before that? It feels like…”
“…We brought enough food, so let’s take a short rest before heading down.”
At my words, everyone nodded in agreement.