HEO 48

Wolf rubbed his chin and continued muttering.

[And commonalities? I see those too. Distortions, perhaps? Abilities suddenly appearing where none existed before, footprints appearing before anything walks there, one’s own shadow attacking, being tested in places you absolutely cannot reach… Playful yet dangerous. In the grand scheme, it resembles our situation… And…]

The rest of his words naturally transformed into ●∩♣ as they passed through Silver’s ears. I wonder what he is going to say next.… but damn. He’s not bad.

[Right, ♣⊙∩, so ×⌒⊥, it couldn’t be helped. Definitely reflecting the ♥♥ characteristics…]

≪●★⊙, Wolf suddenly raised his head.

[Your Highness, fill your belly! Silver too! And you two, sir and ma’am!]

[What’s this brat talking about? Can’t you see this?]

The woman with the eye patch gestured to her belly. It bulged as if she were carrying two baby goats, while Black Weasel was carrying three.

[But you, little brat, why are you meddling? Do you have some reason?]

[When we found the fairy, the voice said, ‘Bonus points will be awarded according to regulations,’ right? Setting a time limit for the clown is the same. The skeleton seems to like rules. And it’s unfriendly. It made us form teams without telling us what punishment awaited. So now, we need to fill our bellies as much as possible. There must be some reason the skeleton prepared mountains of food.]

[I thought so… Little bastard, you’re late. We already know everything and stuffed ourselves silly. You and the prince can keep stuffing your faces.]

The woman’s scolding made Wolf’s cheeks turn red. Black Weasel was already rolling his shoulders, seemingly full. Silver snickered as he downed his drink. Just when he thought he was finally going straight, he goes round in circles again. That’s a skill too.

The warriors around them bellowed. Silver listened in. Most were the ones who’d waited until the last moment to open chest number two. Here and there, he spotted warriors drinking alone. The sort who’d sacrificed their comrades to the finger monster and crawled out alive themselves. Regardless, they were all stuffing their faces. They knew well. The next task awaiting them was dog training. No dog would survive.

Yet they all prepared for battle. Unable to abandon hope. ‘You never know, right?’

Silver scrunched up his nose. The woman beside him suddenly tapped his leg with her crutch. He looked at his side and saw her mouth move silently. ‘Knife.’

Silver didn’t hesitate. In an instant, a dagger was in the woman’s hand. She slung her arm around Silver’s shoulder and whispered.

“Good job, kid.”

It felt like black water was filling his chest. Silver drained his glass and slammed it down on the table.

〔Did you enjoy your meal?〕

The voice suddenly rang out. Wolf flinched and looked up. The room instantly fell silent, like an execution ground after the spectators had left.

〔I’ll tell you the exit. Head left from the entrance.〕

The warriors headed toward the entrance without hesitation. The drinking cups they had held moments before were now replaced by axes. The orderly sound of footsteps echoed through the cavern.

Black Weasel also stood up.

[Let’s go. Everyone follows this captain.]

‘Captain’……?

Silver flipped his middle finger at Black Weasel’s back. The woman following him also looked displeased. She’d figured it out during the chest task. He might look like a pirate captain, but in reality, he was just a pufferfish, a regular at crashing into ships and tearing nets.

By now, the prince and his servant must have understood Silver called Black Weasel ‘Bingapsu’. Black Weasel’s habitual phrase passed through Silver’s mind.

‘Perseverance? Patience? Willpower? Why would you need that? That’s just a weapon for weaklings.’

Hmm, I came up with a fitting nickname.

They kept walking left from the restaurant entrance. The continuous rock wall suddenly bent. A door appeared. And a fairy.

〔Just go through that door. Your reward will be presented outside. Congratulations to all! Everyone, can you hear this?〕

The sound of enthusiastic clapping filled the air.

But there were no cheers.

No laughter either.

***

They were so stunned they lost their words. At least Silver was. Others probably weren’t much different.

Light. There was no visible light source. But they could see.

A cube? A rectangle? Anyway, a big, smooth box spread out. Its height was similar to the cavern.

The problem was its width. It was wide. So wide that the end couldn’t be seen.

The door was visible. Very far away. Roughly a half-day’s ride on horseback?

Realistically, at that distance, even the largest stone statue shouldn’t be visible. Yet it was.

Silver stifled a chuckle. Wolf had guessed right. The skeleton had its own order, its own rules. And…

Hey, this is going too far! There was no need to distort it this much!

“…Wow. What a sick sense of humor.”

Silver looked down at his own hands. They were as flat as a paper sailboat floating on the river under the full moon. Compared to this state, Black Weasel’s face, passed out after emptying the last bottle, looked like a pretty cat.

“S-Silver?”

Black Weasel stuttered as he turned around.

“Silver… You too?”

The illustration spoke. The voice was the same as before. Only the voice, at least.

Silver touched his own cheek. He could feel his fingers. Along with his voice, his sense of touch was intact. How his face appeared to Bingapsu’s eyes… it was probably better not to know to the end.

“Fuck, fuck, my body’s turned into a rug… “

The woman’s illustration wrapped both arms around herself. Red Eagle’s illustration shed rolling tears. Wolf’s illustration… clenched its fists so tightly it looked like the paper might tear. He looked furious, but that just made him look like a snot-nosed kid’s first attempt at doodling.

The warriors’ illustrations also looked stunned. Their expressions alone made them resemble farmers watching their fields being overrun by a locust swarm. Several warrior’s illustrations dropped their axes in succession. Clang, clang, clang, the sounds echoed. Their crumpled faces all bore the same question: ‘Why did we suddenly turn into paintings?’

[Everyone, don’t panic.]

Wolf’s illustration whispered. Silver stopped touching his nose and looked up.

[This is a space without shadows. If you don’t understand what I mean, look at your toes.]

Suddenly, as if their pants had fallen down, they all looked down and gasped. The shadows that had always clung to their feet were nowhere to be seen.

[Our bodies are fine. It’s just that our eyes see us like illustrations in a storybook. Shadows are created when objects block light, but here, that relationship is distorted.]

[…Shit.]

Black Weasel frowned as he cursed.

[I thought we turned into paper. In this state, going outside means either getting incinerated or living out our days as circus clowns until we die. But hey, you?]

Black Weasel jabbed Silver’s shoulder. Silver looked down at his shoulder in surprise and froze. A mantis fairy was sitting there. Big eyes peered up from beneath the bonnet, staring at him. What the hell? Even this cute little thing was turned into an illustration?

[Send it away quickly. Hurry.]

Wolf spoke in a small voice as he gestured. But Silver, with the deftness of a twenty-year veteran pickpocket, quickly snatched the fairy and shoved it into his belt pouch. It was an instinctive action.

[Silver, is that okay…?]

Wolf’s eyes widened like a full moon. Silver shrugged.

[It followed me this far. That means it wants to be kidnapped, right? Look, it’s quiet even trapped in my pouch.]

[But, Silver. If you just steal it like that…]

[What’s the problem? There are hundreds of fairies here!]

Silver grinned and pointed his chin toward the sky.

〔Go home! Your family is waiting!〕

〔The little ones are waiting for Mom and Dad!〕

Countless fairies swarmed around the male and female warriors like a swarm of moths. This time, the fairies were white fox cubs, fluttering their butterfly wings. They had big, transparent tails. A pink ribbon hung from their necks.

Silver swallowed dryly. If he’d had a backpack, he might have stolen a fox fairy too while he was at it. Maybe the skeleton… had a thing for cute things.