Chapter 325 - 325. [Special Chapter] The Muu Tribe's Oath 2 (Friendship Fraying Apart)
This is the second episode of the special chapter.
As she entered the room, a foul stench struck Fam's nose. It was a mixture of leftover food, likely from the night before, and the stagnant air unique to a room that hadn't been ventilated for a long time. The windows were bolted shut, and the spacious interior was dimly lit despite being midday. The air hung so cold it felt bone-chilling. The delicate, once-luxurious furnishings lay toppled as if trampled by someone, their former dignity betrayed only by the slivers of light leaking through the tiny gaps in the curtains. Fam stepped carefully, avoiding the trash on the floor, and followed Mami's retreating back. Bringing up the rear, Samueim mimicked Fam's movements, tiptoeing along. Distracted by that slight motion, Fam failed to notice Mami stopping and collided nose-first into her back with a solid thud.
"Ouch..."
As Fam instinctively clutched her nose, Samueim crashed into her from behind. Mami, pushed in a human domino effect, lost her balance and grabbed the edge of a nearby table for support. In the commotion, the only intact water pitcher was unceremoniously knocked over. The harsh clatter of the fall echoed loudly through the vast room. As if in response to that sound, the pile of blankets heaped in the center of the bed began to move. The three of them instinctively held their breath and tensed. It was an uncanny silhouette, round and plump like a bear just waking from hibernation. Fam and Samueim hid behind Mami, using her as a shield against the shadow. The figure rubbed its eyes and slowly raised its upper body, but its focus wasn't quite there yet; it hadn't registered their presence. Still, sensing a dissonance, it darted its gaze back and forth. With a slow, wobbling motion of shifting flesh, it left the bed and shuffled toward the window. As if to vent its irritation, it grabbed the hem of the curtain and yanked it open with all its might. The fabric screamed in protest before tearing free and dropping to the floor. Blinding sunlight flooded the room. Exposed to that light was the figure of a man so buried in flesh that the line between his neck and torso was indistinguishable. His greasy skin was pale, and his eyes, nearly crushed by heavy eyelids, finally focused on the intruders, widening imperceptibly.
"You three... no, you..."
At the man's hoarse voice, Mami took a quiet step forward. She bowed her head slightly and lifted the hem of her dress just a fraction.
"...It has been a while, Your Highness. I am Mami Mume Mo, the eldest daughter of the Starunion House of Migul."
"And you are...?"
Julius's gaze shifted to Fam and the others.
"...These two members of the Dog-Eared Race are my traveling companions, Fam and Samueim."
"A... ah, I see..."
Julius responded weakly. He then scanned the trashed room and scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat ashamed.
"About the commotion at the banquet last night...?"
"...We were just informed of it."
"Then why...?"
Julius muttered words that were either a soliloquy or something else, stopping his hand from scratching his head. The moment his gaze shifted from Mami to Fam and Samueim waiting in the background, his fleshy face twisted.
"So, Lady Mami, what brings you here?"
"...If Your Highness does not currently have a promised fiancée or lover..."
Before Mami could finish her sentence, Fam clamped a hand over her mouth from behind.
"Please, just give us a little more time!"
Fam shouted, grabbed Mami from behind in a headlock, and dragged her backward toward the corner of the room. Once released, Mami straightened her disheveled silver hair and retorted without expression.
"...What are you doing?"
"What were you thinking, Mo?"
Startled by the volume of her own voice, Fam shrank back, yet she pressed on, crowding Mami.
"...Introduce Sam to Julius, just as Fam wished."
"That gentleman is not to Sam's taste."
Fam replied in a hushed but firm voice.
"...Taste is for Sam to decide. How would Fam know?"
"I know that much. Sam prefers someone more cheerful and boyish!"
"...I don't think the opinion of someone whose type is like Mash would be much of a reference."
"Because Master is cool!"
Fam blurted it out before catching herself, clapping both hands over her mouth and shrinking back as if checking the perimeter.
"...Then, as I thought, Fam's opinion isn't much of a reference."
"H-How can you say Master isn't cool?"
Mami placed a finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling. There, in the gap of the peeling wallpaper, something dry and unidentifiable—perhaps old food—was stuck in a creepy manner.
"...I don't really get it. But I don't think he's uncool."
"..."
The two stared at each other in silence for a moment. It was Julius's heavy, phlegmatic cough that broke the icy silence.
"What are you two whispering about this whole time?"
Julius glared at the two of them. His massive frame, silhouetted against the window light, loomed over them like a black shadow, his expression unreadable, which only added to the eerie oppression.
"Whatever..."
Samueim, who had been staring blankly, trembled at being addressed, looking as if she were about to burst into tears.
"Do not bring that girl into my sight. It is unpleasant."
Samueim trembled, and Fam and Mami gaped in surprise at the unexpected rejection from the other party.
"Why is that so?"
Fam asked timidly.
"Just like the woman from last night, she is unclean. I cannot bear to look."
"Huh?"
Fam and Mami simultaneously scanned the trashed room. No matter how they looked at it, the very embodiment of filth was this room and the Prince himself, who sat at its center.
"...Actually, we brought this Dog-Eared girl along thinking she might make a suitable marriage match for Your Highness."
"W-Wait a minute!"
Ignoring the social cues, Mami had just broached the main topic, prompting both Fam and Samueim to lunge forward to cover her mouth. However, Mami pushed them back with a strength unimaginable for her slight frame.
"...Your Highness, Sam is my dearest friend. Do you dislike other races?"
"It is not that. I... I simply do not like that girl. I physically cannot stand her."
A light glinted in the depths of Julius's eyes, which were nothing more than thin lines buried in flesh. Fam set her jaw and stepped forward to shield the trembling Samueim. Seeing this, Mami also took a step forward.
"...I see. That is because Your Highness is cursed."
"H-Huh?"
At Mami's sudden declaration, everyone present raised their voices in unison.
"Mo, everyone has different tastes in the opposite sex! Just because Your Highness didn't like Sam doesn't mean you're cursed!"
"Exactly. I have my own preferences in women."
At Fam's protest, Julius nodded, looking as if he had finally found someone who understood.
"...Then, what kind of women do you prefer?"
When asked, Julius raised a greasy finger, pointing in turn at Mami and then Fam.
"I like women like you three."
"H-Hey!"
Fam gasped at Julius's words. However, Mami didn't bat an eye.
"...Hmm. As I thought, Your Highness is cursed."
"It's just a matter of taste! Mo, please don't take it to such extremes. That would mean even Your Highness is cursed!"
Fam struggled to argue, but Mami blinked once, sharply, and shook her head.
"...One could say Mash is also cursed. But this isn't that kind of situation."
Mami slowly pulled a wand from her robe and raised it, pointing it accusingly at Julius.
"W-Wait a minute!"
Fam dashed forward as if shot from a catapult, inserting herself between Mami and Julius.
"Are you saying that Your Highness is under a curse?"
"...Which is exactly what I've been saying this whole time."
Still holding the wand at the ready, Mami gave a small, matter-of-fact nod.
"It's just a matter of taste! Jumping to the conclusion of a curse is a huge leap! Please explain yourself properly."
In response to Fam's plea, Mami relaxed her shoulders slightly and lowered the wand. Behind her, thinking the crisis was averted, Julius let out a long, relieved sigh, his excess flesh rippling with the movement.
"...There is a stagnation of magic power."
"Is that the same phenomenon that happened to my body?"
In answer to Fam's question, Mami gave a short, affirmative nod.
"W-What does that mean?"
Julius whispered in a hoarse voice, his eyes darting nervously around the room before locking onto Mami once more.
"...Your Highness. The magic power flowing through your body has an unnatural stagnation. Three months ago, when I last visited, there was not a single sign of this."
Fam and Samueim stared unblinkingly at Mami's lips, as if afraid to miss a single word. Noticing their gaze, Mami subconsciously wiped her own mouth to check for dirt, but her pale knuckles came away clean.
"...What?"
"No, I was just thinking, Mo could speak properly and politely if she really wanted to..."
"Ugh, now is not the time. Don't interrupt the flow of the conversation."
Mami puffed out her cheeks in mild protest before turning her sharp gaze back to Julius.
"...There should be a high-ranking priest serving His Majesty King Heilong. Let us have him investigate this emergency."
Accepting Mami's proposal, Julius let his gaze fall to the floor, accompanied by a heavy silence. A curtain of eerie quiet descended upon the stagnant air. As if to shake it off, Fam shivered.
"...So you suspect something? Could it be that your body is also...?"
In response to Fam's question, Julius grabbed the folds of his own flabby midsection and shook it roughly. The ripples of flesh spread across his entire body, continuing to quiver. The bizarre scene seemed to warp the very space of the room, and Fam, unable to suppress the rising wave of disgust, averted her gaze.
"You impertinent brat. This body was always like this. But... about three days ago. Just looking at a woman's face made me feel an uncontrollable surge of boiling anger..."
"What exactly is going on...?"
Furrowing her brow deeply, Fam struggled to follow the disjointed flow of the conversation. Showing no attempt to hide his irritation, Julius pointed a finger at a corner of the floor. There, a pile of rags, presumably his clothes, lay heaped carelessly. In a room already in such disarray, this particular pile emitted a distinct aura of filth, and Fam instinctively pinched her nose.
"Did you fire all your attendants?"
"Yes. Just like the girl behind you, they were all unclean. And so was my so-called fiancée... an irredeemably unclean woman."
Samueim shuddered and hid behind Fam's back.
"What do you mean by 'unclean'! How am I different? In what way am I unclean?"
"Don't you get it, you two? You two behind me! Exposing such vulgar chests, and yet you have the nerve to live on like this!"
"H-Hey?"
Receiving Julius's enraged shout, Fam turned to Mami with a look of utter confusion.
"Mo, I don't understand what's happening, but this is serious. We must call the priest..."
"Which is why I said it's useless..."
As if to cut off Julius's words, Mami began to walk briskly around the room. Pinching her nose, she skillfully began to part the scattered pile of clothes with the tip of her wand. Overcoat, undergarments... With each layer of fabric removed, a faint yet piercing light began to leak through the gaps.
"I-Is something there?"
Ignoring Fam's anxious voice, Mami used the tip of her wand to flick away the final layer of underwear. At that instant, a massive crystal the size of her head was revealed.
"...This is... the Crystal Core!"
Just as Mami shouted this, the scenery of the room twisted violently, as if crushed by a giant's hand. A torrent of light erupted from the Core, instantly whitewashing the dim room into a world of blinding white.
"Mo! Sam!"
Fam instantly and tightly gripped the hands of Mami, who was by her side, and Samueim, who was behind her. A moment later, the three of them were swallowed whole by the raging vortex of light.
"This place is..."
Fam cautiously opened her eyelids. What met her vision were walls that were blackish-red, rotting, and slick with a sticky, viscous slime. This was a grotesque corridor that bore no resemblance to the room in the Royal Castle they had just left, resembling the interior of a giant, living organism. The surface, covered in a mucus-like substance similar to amphibian skin, writhed like a vein-like tube, leading deeper into the darkness. It gave the illusion of peering down the gullet of a giant monster's open maw. While there was no overpowering smell, the repulsive texture assaulting the senses evoked a visceral revulsion, as if it were about to stick to one's skin. Fam fought down a wave of nausea rising from the depths of her chest.
"...A dungeon constructed by a run-away Crystal Core..."
Mami whispered beside her, gripping Fam's hand tightly. The cold touch of her fingers grounded Fam in reality, and she shook her head to dispel the creeping terror. With her other hand, she firmly grasped Samueim's hand.
"What about Your Highness?"
"...He's not here. It's just us three."
Whether he had managed to avoid the teleportation or had been transported to another part of this labyrinth was unclear. Following Mami's gaze, Fam looked back to find a dead end. There was nowhere to go but forward. Fam confirmed the hilt of the knife at her waist, steeling her resolve. Mami, in turn, clutched her beloved wand tightly against her chest.
"Is that Crystal Core the cause of this dungeon and the curse on Your Highness?"
An image flashed through Fam's mind: the Hero from another world, the Men in Black, whom they had fought in the past. That man had used a special skill to control the Crystal Core, setting a time-bomb trap to spawn a dungeon. However, the timing of this dungeon's activation was so far off that it seemed unrelated.
"...The dungeon is probably it. I'm not sure about the curse yet."
"But can there really be a curse that makes one hate women's chests?"
Mami said nothing, simply shaking her head silently.
"Your Highness's words revealed a deep distrust of the priest. Perhaps the King is not happy about the Prince's engagement and is pulling strings from the shadows..."
"...I don't think so. Sabotaging an arranged marriage would ruin the face of the Royal Family. His Majesty King Heilong would not be spared the fallout."
"If that's the case, why would the priest have put Your Highness under such a biased... that is, such a 'girly' curse?"
"...I am not a girl."
"M-Me neither!"
The two of them puffed out their thin chests and glared at each other.
"Anyway, let's focus on escaping this creepy dungeon. Your Highness might be somewhere in here. We can't just leave him behind."
Though no monsters were in sight, given their past experiences with dungeons, it was inconceivable that none were present. It was hard to believe that with such a sluggish physique, one could hold their own against the monsters infesting this bizarre space. Fam turned her gaze to Samueim, who was hugging her own shoulder and standing in a daze behind her.
"Sam, do you have a weapon...?"
In response to the question, Samueim shook her head weakly. Dressed in the frilly, delicate attire of a town girl, she had gained no experience as an adventurer since parting ways with Fam and the others in the streets of Migul.
"Mami and I will hold off the monsters. Sam, please keep this for self-defense."
As Fam offered a kunai, a dark shadow passed over Samueim's eyes.
"I don't need it. I'll stay behind."
"W-Why...?"
"Because there is no one left in this world waiting for me."
Hearing Samueim's strained words, Fam couldn't help but raise her voice.
"Are you hurt because Your Highness rejected you?"
"Don't be ridiculous!"
"Then why are you so angry?"
Stung by Fam's words, Samueim shot a piercing glare straight at her.
"Fam, you forgave the Crimson Brigade, right? You forgot about the village, right? You even want to forget about Nick, right?"
Samueim, who had averted her gaze as if shot, snatched the kunai from Fam's hand as if snatching it away. Then, pushing past the stunned Fam, she marched on with heavy, uneven steps. Ignoring both Fam and Mami, she stepped resolutely into the depths of the dungeon.
Thank you for reading. Your likes, bookmarks, and reviews are a great encouragement. Thank you also for reporting typos; it has been a tremendous help.