HEO 41

〔I’ll explain the task. Please pay attention.〕

〔The task isn’t difficult. Rescue the fairy trapped in the chest. You have to finish it in the time it takes the clown fifteen rotations.〕

〔Oh, let me explain something. You are not currently an immaterial entity called “soul.” You are a human being whose biological functions have been restored through my master’s technique.〕

〔Summary for understanding. You died once, but my master brought you back to life.〕

Wolf lowered his head slightly and placed a hand on his chest. He could feel his heartbeat. As expected…

But why does that voice sound like that? I can’t even understand half of it.

〔This isn’t hell either. It’s my master’s observation area.〕

〔If you do well on your assignment, my master will reward you. Then I’ll send you back to where you came from.〕

Wolf instantly turned his gaze towards Black Weasel. Silver, too, looked as if he’d been hit on the back of the head. Under the boys’ gaze, Black Weasel arrogantly shrugged as if to say “See?” then straightened his back.

Wolf swallowed dryly. This couldn’t be happening. That absurd statement was true?

〔There is no hell. It’s a fictional space created by humans to effectively control social order and its members.〕

〔You have been selected as subjects for Master’s observation and have been mobilized here. Please faithfully complete the assignments to ensure meaningful results.〕

This time, Wolf was stunned again. Even Silver’s guess that the unlucky villagers had been slaughtered by some supernatural being, was correct. No, how could…Superstitious people can come up with such foolish ideas, he thought, laughing inwardly…

Silver was aware of Wolf staring at him with his mouth open. He coughed and raised his head slightly. Wolf’s heart pounded.

Can we go back?

Perhaps this desperate nightmare will one day be remembered as a terrible adventure?

〔Let’s begin the task. The clown begins its first rotation.〕

As soon as it finished speaking, the floor shook. Wolf closed his eyes. A moment later, when he opened them, he gasped.

Before they knew it, a dome had encircled them. A soft light emanated from its surface. In this vast expanse, only six people were present: Wolf himself, Red Eagle, Black Weasel, Silver, the chief warrior, and the woman. They had moved from the cave to the dome in the blink of an eye.

The dark gray floor was as flat as a carpet. Five wooden chests were lined up in the middle. And…

〔Help! My sister’s trapped in one of those five chests! Help!〕

A fist-sized fairy soared through the air as it desperately cried out. With its wooden body revealing its age rings, ball-jointed joints, and its lower jaw clicking whenever it opened its mouth, it was questionable whether the name “fairy” was appropriate.

All five chests were banging from inside.

First chest.

〔Open me! There’s a fairy here! Don’t trust the third chest!〕

Second chest.

〔Open me! There’s a fairy here! Don’t trust the third chest!〕

Third chest.

〔Open me! There’s a fairy here! Don’t trust the first chest!〕

Fourth chest.

〔Open me! There’s a fairy here! You have to trust the fifth chest!〕

Fifth chest.

〔Don’t open me! There is no fairy here! Don’t trust the fourth chest!〕

The shouts of the chest became so mixed that they were difficult to understand. In this situation, Wolf could only think of one thing.

I guess I won’t be able to return alive.

“Um… It’s noisy… What is it….”

Red Eagle opened his eyes, and jumped in alarm.

“Wo-Wolf, what’s this? Is there a person trapped in a chest? Explain!”

“Your Majesty, please continue to sleep.”

“How serious is it now?”

“I’d like to summarize it for you, Your Highness, but my abilities are limited. It seems the god has given us lowly mortals a gift. The gift is likely a very, very big turd.”

Silver kicked Red Eagle’s butt.

“Just go to sleep like the servant said. You’re going to faint again anyway.”

“Wolf…….”

Red Eagle, who had been crying, was hit on the forehead by the fairy flying towards him and screamed, “Eww!”

“It’s gross! What is this! Princess!”

〔Help! Save my sister!〕

The fairy circled around Red Eagle. The latter flailed his arms like a man under attack by a swarm of bees, but it didn’t fall. Silver whistled.

“That wooden doll, even its heart is ugly. It’s deliberately trying to seduce the prince.”

The screams of the chests made Black Weasel and the warrior’s eyes spin. The woman threw down her crutches.

[I can’t understand a single word you’re saying! Tell me in order, you damned things!]

[Anyway, the point is, a fairy is trapped in one of them, right?]

The warrior said as he rubbed his beard with the back of his hand.

[It’s simple, right? Just smash the chests one by one.]

[If it were that simple, would they have killed people to bring them all here? Each person has to break a chest. My gut feeling says so.]

The warrior shook his head at the woman’s response.

[No, no. There are six of us. If five of us break a chest at once, one person is left over.]

[Two people can break a chest together.]

[That’s true… … Wait a minute, could the chests be that sturdy? So sturdy that even if several people hit it together, it wouldn’t budge? Maybe that’s why they grouped us in sixes…]

Black Weasel, who had been quietly listening to his companions’s conversation, turned his head toward the boys.

“Kids. It seems I’ve accidentally picked up only rocks. I need the prince and his servant’s heads.”

“You still talk about heads even after seeing that?”

Silver pointed at Red Eagle with his chin. Red Eagle wailed and jumped around, trying to avoid the fairy. Meanwhile, the warrior approached the chests.

[I’ll break one. You cowards can just watch.]

The warrior chief pulled out the axe at his waist and raised it high. The sight sent a chill down Wolf’s neck. Break a chest? But the task couldn’t be that simple.

“Wait a minute! Don’t be so reckless…!”

Just as Wolf was about to jump forward, the warrior’s axe struck a chest. It was the fourth chest. The axe sank into the lid and sent shards of wood flying.

[.. It went in!]

The warrior smiled and looked around at the people.

[You cowards, see? A few more strikes like this and it’ll break…]

Before he could finish speaking, they started screaming and trembling. Wolf, Red Eagle, the ‘one-eyed’ woman, and even Silver and Black Weasel.

The chest pierced by the axe transformed into finger the size of a temple pillar. The warrior didn’t even have time to turn around. The finger pressed down on him. The hulking man, as big as a buffalo, flattened like a crumpled tin can, and a spurt of blood gushed out. It was as if hundreds of blood-filled sacks had burst at once.

Wolf was frozen in place. Blood rained down like a torrent. Red Eagle fainted. Silver and Black Weasel unsheathed their weapons and aimed them at the finger monster. The woman turned around while covering her face with both hands.

“……Huh.”

Wolf opened his eyes wide. The finger monster was nowhere to be seen.

It’s gone?

Wolf, who had been looking around, was soon chilled. The fourth chest had returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened. The warrior’s axe was still lodged in the lid. It was as shameless as a cat that steals cheese while its owner is distracted and then feigns innocence.

Those chests… … are all monsters.

If you guess wrong, you die.

〔You don’t have to use an axe! It can be easily opened by hand!〕

The fairy flew among the people, calling out in a natural, innocent voice. No one spoke. Even Black Weasel and Silver looked down.

“Wolf. Wolf.”

Suddenly, Red Eagle grabbed the hem of Wolf’s robe and shook it. Wolf quickly looked down at Red Eagle.

“Are you hurt, Your Highness? You must have been quite surprised.”

“That’s not the problem…. Water, the water is rising.”

“Eh?”

Wolf, thinking, “No way,” looked around. Just as Red Eagle had said, the blood scattered on the floor was mixed with clear water flowing from somewhere. Realization suddenly dawned on him. The true meaning of the “water bottle game.”

Everyone will drown like rats in a well if they fail to rescue the fairy.