Chapter 27

It seemed that Michael had gone underground after all.

…How on earth had “that” awakened? Judging by the circumstances, Michael must have been caught up in it.

“Will His Highness be all right?”  

Renoah muttered as he nudged at the cracks on the floor with the tip of his foot.  

“…For now, he should be fine.”  

“That” didn’t kill humans easily.  

It enjoyed watching them slowly wither away in agony.  

Since it had been a long time since encountering humans, it would likely take its time.  

“Miss Kanna, just to confirm, the dungeon is directly beneath us, isn’t it…”  

Crrrack.  

Kanna stopped her train of thought at the ominous sound and raised her head.  

“You…”  

The floor beneath Renoah began to crack.  

He quickly shook his head.  

“Don’t come closer! It’s dangerous! The floor is collapsing—”  

Renoah couldn’t finish his sentence.  

The floor gave way, and he plummeted straight down.  

“Oh, you’re so much trouble.”  

Kanna clicked her tongue and, without hesitation, jumped after him.  

She grabbed hold of his sleeve mid-air as he flailed.  

As Renoah screamed and clung to her, Kanna’s eyes glowed blue.  

Their falling speed slowed instantly, and the two landed softly on a bush before rolling onto the ground.  

“Oh, I barely survived.”  

Renoah hastily got to his feet.  

“Miss Kanna, are you all right?”  

“What kind of mage are you…”  

Kanna pushed against Renoah’s chest to free herself from his grip, catching her breath.  

She had almost suffocated.  

“Did we really fall into the dungeon?”  

“Yes.”  

“…Well, we’ll figure something out. By now, they must’ve found a way to enter the Mage Tower, right? If I got in, surely they can too.”  

Kanna didn’t bother explaining that Renoah had only managed to enter because he had grabbed her pant leg and fallen with her.  

“But are dungeons usually like this?”  

Renoah looked around.  

The massive bush that had cushioned their fall now seemed like a wall.  

Endless vine-covered walls stretched in every direction, and even craning his neck, all he could see were vines and a faintly glowing ceiling far above.  

“This place feels…”  

“It’s a maze.”  

“A dungeon that’s also a maze?”  

“That’s right.”  

“So, it’s a maze dungeon.”  

“Is there a problem?”  

“There could be… many problems.”  

At that moment, a chilling wind swept through the maze corridor, brushing past them.  

The rustling of the vines was accompanied by another sound layered over it.  

「……. ……. ……!」  

As soon as Renoah realized it was the “voice” of a monster he had heard before, he grabbed Kanna under the arms and hoisted her up.  

Then, he ran in the opposite direction of the wind, turning a corner to hide.  

If they kept running aimlessly through the maze, they would undoubtedly lose their way.  

Renoah, his mind racing with what to do, whispered his frustrations under his breath.  

“They taught us that the dungeon was completely destroyed by the Master of the Mage Tower three hundred years ago!”  

“It’s true. Everything except this was destroyed. And this place was cleared of all monsters except for one boss-level creature.”  

“Then why didn’t they destroy it completely?”  

“…It’s unfortunate.”  

After finishing his short internal dialogue with the one involved, Renoah took a deep breath to calm himself.  

“A dungeon even the Master of the Mage Tower couldn’t destroy… At this rate, we’ll die before we find His Highness…”  

When Renoah met Kanna’s gaze, he quickly changed his words.  

“Uh, I mean, it’ll become very troublesome for us.”  

Kanna sighed and extended her hand.  

“Don’t worry. No one’s dying today.”  

“…That’s reassuring.”  

Renoah chuckled and clasped her hand with his, which was three times larger than hers.  

“Miss Kanna, you don’t need to worry either…”  

Just then, footsteps echoed.  

Both Renoah and Kanna turned their heads simultaneously.  

Someone was approaching.  

The distorted whispers grew louder with the footsteps.  

The moment when they could clearly understand what the whispers were saying filled them with tension.  

Everyone had a shadow of darkness in their heart.  

Monsters always stirred that darkness, especially those classified as mental-type monsters.  

The knight who had fully heard the whispers of this monster was still unconscious.  

If only Renoah could buy enough time for Miss Kanna to escape…  

But Kanna was no longer where she should have been.  

Realizing he had lost sight of her while lost in thought, Renoah frantically searched around.  

When he found her, she was already standing in the middle of the corridor.  

“Miss Kanna!”  

But when Renoah saw who she was facing, he couldn’t close his mouth in shock.  

The person wore the same outfit he had last seen him in.  

A navy-blue uniform, a black cloak, and a thin sword at his waist.  

His pale cheeks were lifted as he looked their way, his expression dreamlike and monotonous.  

Michael.  

A black mist, faintly enveloping him, whispered.  

「……. …….」  

Without taking her eyes off Michael, Kanna muttered.  

“He’s possessed.”  

“By a monster… Do you mean he’s become its host?”  

“They’ve taken his body and trapped his mind in an illusion.”  

As Kanna answered, she approached Michael.  

The black mist began to grow and slowly enveloped her as well.  

“Miss Kanna! It’s dangerous!”  

Kanna gently held Michael’s fingertips and spoke words he probably couldn’t hear.  

“I’m sorry in advance.”  

His fingertips were cold, almost icy.  

“It seems I’ll have to see your darkness. I know you don’t want anyone to see it…”  

“…”  

“But you’re in there.”  

As Renoah ran toward her, Kanna turned and shook her head.  

“It’s fine. Stay there.”  

“That’s ridiculous!”  

“Do you think I came to the Mage Tower without a plan? Think about who my mother is. Do you have any other solutions?”  

“But…”  

For the first time, Kanna smiled faintly.  

“I can’t stay a child forever.”  

“…What are you talking about?”  

“You need to return to your bunny-like wife.”  

Renoah hesitated for a moment.  

But soon, he clenched his fists, shut his eyes tightly, and charged toward Kanna like a bull.  

“Hey, hey, wait, don’t come—”  

“A child is still a child, no matter what!”  

“Hey!”  

“You’re not doing anything dangerous!”  

Renoah wedged himself between Kanna and Michael.  

And then, there was darkness.  

***

Renoah’s eyes snapped open.

It was strange—he didn’t recall losing consciousness.

Rain was pouring down from the sky in torrents.

What had I been doing just moments ago?

I had been about to cast a spell… Something was about to come for us…

Something?

Why had I been trying to cast a spell?

Rumble. Thunder roared.

Renoah decided he needed to find shelter from the rain. A downpour in the middle of the night—what dreadful weather.

As he raised his hand above his head to run, his cloak was tugged as if caught on something.

When he turned his head, a child with an utterly exasperated expression was gripping his cloak.

“Are you not going to get a grip?”

Renoah stood there dumbfounded before clamping his hand over his mouth.

He had almost failed to recognize Kanna!

That was when everything came rushing back to him.

“Miss Kanna! We’re not dead, are we?”

“Haah…”

Kanna bit her lip in frustration, an expression rarely seen on her face.

Renoah didn’t say it out loud, but in this state, she looked even more like a child.

Regardless, Kanna grabbed her own head and began pacing in circles.

Something had gone wrong.

They weren’t supposed to be “here.”

Something gone awry when Renoah charged in like a raging bull.

But there was no doubt—the monster had possessed Michael.

There had been no signs of it transferring to Kanna, and she wouldn’t have allowed it anyway.

So did that mean Michael was truly somewhere “here”?

That… That couldn’t be.

Although Renoah hadn’t spent much time with Kanna, he knew she wasn’t the type to lose her composure easily.

If something had gone wrong, it had gone terribly wrong.

Kanna stopped pacing and dropped to her knees on the ground.

Her hair and face were soaked by the pouring rain as she buried them in her hands, letting out a long groan.

“Miss Kanna, everything will be fine. I’ll help you, so—”

“…I don’t want to.”

“Pardon? Could you speak a little louder—”

“I don’t want to show it!”

Her voice echoed all around, carried by the rain.

Renoah shielded Kanna’s head from the downpour with his hand and asked, 

“…What is it you don’t want to show?”

After a long pause, Kanna murmured in a resolute tone, 

“At this point, the only option is to find him quickly and send him back.”

She stood up and began walking aimlessly.

“Wait, Miss Kanna, do you even know where you’re going?”

Suddenly, Kanna stopped. Renoah, who had been following closely, lost his balance and stumbled, barely managing to grab onto something to steady himself.

“What is it this time?” 

Kanna was staring straight ahead, her lips pressed tightly together.