Chapter 120 - <9>
"Ugh…"
Franz awoke to a throbbing pain. His shoulders and legs ached. It wasn't unbearable, but since several places hurt at once, the agony was considerable. He wanted to press a hand to the sore spots, but he couldn't tell which one hurt the most, leaving him at a loss.
Letting out a small sigh, he finally noticed that one side of his body was cold. It seemed he was lying down. He reached out a hand toward the hazy white object in front of him and found that it was a pure white wall.
When he touched it, the wall lacked the warmth of a building and was slightly coarse. It had a strange texture, like sand held together with glue. Moreover, though Sara-chan's lamp was nowhere to be seen, the wall was sparkling brightly, as if it were reflecting some kind of light. This was strange, to say the least.
Why was it so bright?
Where had everyone gone, anyway? Ritz, Anna, Edward, Lef? Where was this place, and what was he doing? When had he even come to a place like this? This white space.
…He was supposed to be in a cave made of red earth.
As soon as he thought that, Franz remembered. That's right, he had lost his footing and fallen into a crevice inside the cave. He remembered the moment he fell, but nothing after that. When he woke up, he was here.
Here, enveloped by white walls, a place completely different from the cave he had been in before.
"Did I… die?"
He muttered to himself and looked at his hand. Apparently, you could still recognize your own palm even after death. Just as he thought that, he was nudged lightly from behind.
"You're not dead."
That all-too-familiar, rough tone belonged to Ritz.
"Are you alright, Franz?"
That worried voice was Lef's. Which meant…
Franz slowly sat up. There, looking a bit grimy but leaning against something with his legs sprawled out, sat Ritz in his usual slovenly manner. And next to him, sitting with his legs neatly folded in a very apologetic posture, was Lef. Beside them was Sara-chan's lamp, and Sara-chan herself was screeching "Keee!" and thrashing about, excited that Franz was awake.
"I'm… alive?"
He asked for confirmation, and Ritz sighed with an exasperated look on his face.
"Of course you are. Does a person die from something like that?"
Ritz pointed to a narrow crevice in the ceiling about five or six meters above them. From there, a somewhat steep but manageable slope led down to the ground, connecting to where Franz was now.
"You fell from there."
"Yeah. Slipped and went down spectacularly."
"I see."
If he had hit the ground directly, it would have been a disaster.
"…If it hadn't been a slope… I would have died, wouldn't I?"
As he said it, he felt his skin crawl. Fear comes later. To the terrified Franz, Ritz replied without changing his expression.
"You got lucky."
"…Yeah."
Unconsciously, he had wrapped his arms around his own body. His whole body ached, but the pain was a reminder that he was alive.
Hugging himself, he looked up at the crevice again. It was high. A fall from that height would have been fatal. With no one among the three of them able to use healing magic, a serious injury would have been the end.
He really had been lucky.
"I'm sorry. If only I had noticed sooner that you had taken a different path."
Lef bowed his head, curling his large body into the smallest possible ball out of apology.
"I could smell the bats from that path. I should have said something sooner to stop you."
Lef looked like he was about to cry, which only made Franz feel worse. He was the one who had charged into the bat-infested area without looking after getting worked up in an argument with Ritz. And the cause of that argument had been his own immaturity.
"It's not your fault, Lef."
He said quietly. Lef, still sitting formally, looked at Franz. He had a pathetic expression, like a child being scolded. Though his appearance made him look much older than Franz, he was still only fifteen, so Franz, being slightly older, had to explain things properly.
"It was my fault for getting emotional."
"But I was the guide."
"That's not it. I forgot that I was supposed to act calmly. If I had been calm, I could have followed you, Lef."
"But…"
As Lef still looked at him with a troubled expression, Franz stated firmly.
"It was my fault. You're not to blame, Lef."
Lef looked at Ritz with a troubled expression. Was his explanation still not enough? Franz also looked at Ritz, who was leaning against the wall, and upon receiving their gazes, Ritz slowly peeled his body away from the wall.
"There's no point in competing over who's at fault. If we do that, I'll have to apologize for pointing out your weakness in this situation, Franz."
"That's…"
It was Franz's coddled words that had started it all. He tried to point that out, but Ritz stopped him with a hand gesture.
"You were about to say, 'That's because my words were the cause,' weren't you? Then you'd go on about how you got emotional again… and that would lead to Lef saying it's his fault."
He was right, it was a vicious cycle.
"So, we all share some of the blame, but for now, can we agree to stop arguing in a special situation like a cave?"
At Ritz's typically half-hearted conclusion, a sigh escaped him. Noticing the sigh, Ritz fixed Franz with a defiant grin. Then he opened his mouth.
"Hey everyone, let's stop fighting and work together, okay?"
"!"
"R-Ritz?"
Ritz's slightly cloying voice made his skin crawl. He could tell it was an imitation of Anna. He thought it captured her characteristics well, but it was just so… creepy. At the sight of the two shivering men, Ritz laughed as if nothing had happened.
"…Is that easier to understand?"
"I get it, so please, never do that again."
"You think so? I thought this could be pretty useful."
"Stop it, it's disgusting!"
He had to admit, if Ritz did that to him, he would lose all will to argue or debate. Even if they were in the Royal Capital and he'd said it to Edward, Shasta, Gerald, and the rest of the kingdom's leadership, it would sap all their energy.
That's how devastatingly powerful Ritz's attempt at a cute voice was.
Probably the only pervert who would enjoy hearing that was Anna herself. Anna would likely say something like, "You're so good at that! Do it more!" But he wasn't sure if Ritz would ever perform it in front of her.
"Alright, that's enough playing around. Time to get moving."
Ritz stood up, rising gracefully without a sound. With Lef helping him, Franz also got to his feet. His shoulders and back ached, which he now realized was from hitting them when he fell.
But for the first time, he realized that the throbbing pain in other parts of his body wasn't from the impact. There were several places where his clothes were torn, and bandages peeked through from underneath. And there were faint bloodstains on them. Seeing that, he remembered the terror. He had been torn at by birds.
"Lef… this…"
He asked quietly, and Lef smiled gently.
"I treated it while you were asleep, Franz. It will hurt for a while, but the herbs will start working soon, so please bear with it until then."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. All I did was give you first aid. When we get out of the cave, please have Anna take a look at you."
"Okay."
He nodded, feeling Anna's absence keenly. Until now, whenever he got injured, Anna would heal him right away. But now, the more he got hurt, the less he could move, and the more the pain increased. Normally, getting hurt was just that, but he had even forgotten what that pain felt like.
He had just assumed that if he got hurt, Anna would heal him. Just like in Saradio, where everyone was there to do something for him.
Leaning on Lef's shoulder, Franz took a faltering step, realizing this only now.
"Was I asleep for a long time?"
Shaking his head to dispel his own pathetic feelings, Franz asked.
"Yes. But it hasn't even been an hour."
"I see."
Still, there was no changing the fact that he had wasted precious time meant for Lef's ceremony.
"Franz?"
Lef, who was supporting him, looked at him with concern.
"It's nothing."
"Are you sure? If it's too difficult, I can carry you. As I said before we entered the cave, I can carry four of you, Franz."
"It's alright. Thank you."
He knew it would be easier. But his pride wouldn't let him be carried. Moreover, he felt he shouldn't allow himself such indulgence. He walked on his own, albeit unsteadily.
The place they were in was a mysterious space bathed in a dim twilight.
As his eyes adjusted, he could see that it wasn't pure white, but a faint pink, tinged with the color of red earth. The tips of the occasional stalagmite-like pillars were sharp, as if they had been smashed by some kind of blade.
If he had fallen on one of those pillars, Franz thought, he probably would have been impaled. The pillar he touched was that hard.
Ignoring the slow-moving Lef and Franz, Ritz carried the luggage and the Sara-chan lamp and forged ahead. The dim light made it easy to proceed. When he came to a fork in the road, he would check both sides and choose the path that seemed easier to traverse. It seemed Ritz was used to this kind of situation.
"Lef, you can follow the scent, right?"
After a while, Ritz turned back.
"Our own scent?"
"Yeah. If we get lost, I want to rely on the scent to find another route."
"That won't be a problem. Not at all."
"Good. I'm counting on you."
While Franz was just putting one foot in front of the other, the three of them ventured deeper and deeper into the cave. The further they went, the more the white floor beneath their feet shone with a polished hardness. If he wasn't careful, he might slip and fall. The floor was that shiny.
Once the pain had subsided considerably, Franz was finally able to walk on his own. He thanked Lef and started walking by himself. He hadn't realized it before because he had been leaning on Lef for support, but this floor was just like the polished stone floors of the royal castle.
The stalagmite-like formations with sharp tips were increasing in number, and the walls were no longer coarse, but sparkled, reflecting the light from Sara-chan's flame as if they were studded with large, shattered pieces of glass.
For a while now, the path had been a single one, and Ritz, who had been busy checking various branching paths, had slowed his pace and was now staying close to Franz and the others.
"This is really something, isn't it?"
Ritz, who had been leisurely strolling along at their slower pace, spoke up.
"Yes. I had heard stories, but I never imagined it would be like this."
Lef replied with a smile.
"They call it the source of life for a reason. It's a rare find for those living in the deep mountain valleys."
"Yes. That's why, aside from the ceremony, the chief will occasionally enter this cave and bring this back to the village. My father goes into this cave several times a year without any trouble and brings this back. I've been proud of him for that since I was a child."
"So, in other words, you can't become the next chief unless you're skilled enough to easily bring back this source of life without any hardship."
"That's right."
The two of them were talking in agreement, but Franz couldn't quite follow their conversation.
"Can I ask something?"
"What is it?"
"Is 'the source of life' this?"
Franz pointed to a nearby sharp pillar. Even Franz could tell that the floor, ceiling, and everything else were made of the same material.
"Yeah. That's right."
"What… is this?"
At Franz's question, Ritz and Lef stared at him in surprise. Was it really that surprising? After a moment of silence, Ritz asked with a puzzled look.
"You didn't know?"
"No. I don't."
"You've never seen it before?"
"Never."
Where would one even come across a reddish-white stone like this? In place of the exasperated Ritz, Lef cheerfully led Franz to one of the shining stalagmite pillars.
"Franz, please lick it."
"Huh?"
"You'll understand if you lick it."
Lef said this as he pointed to the faintly pinkish-white stone and smiled. It looked like nothing but rock. Franz hesitated to lick it and slowly asked Lef.
"…This stone?"
"Yes."
Lef's reply was unwavering. Tentatively, Franz approached the rock and gently touched it with the tip of his tongue.
"!"
It had a taste. It was incredibly salty.
"Is this… salt?"
"That's right. This salt is our treasure and our source of life."
He cautiously licked it again. Knowing it was salt, the shock wasn't as great as before, but it was definitely salty. However, it was different from the salt he usually used for cooking. A mellow saltiness, you could say.
"It has a faint sweetness, and it's delicious, right?"
Ritz said this as he used the knife he always carried for cutting food and small items to break off a small piece of the rock, popping a tiny fragment into his mouth like a piece of candy. He winced slightly at the saltiness but rolled it around in his mouth as if savoring it.
"Rock salt. Unlike sea salt, it doesn't have a sharp, biting saltiness. It's delicious when you grill meat with this."
Spoken like the gluttonous Ritz.
"Rock salt…"
Of course, being from the trading city of Saradio, he had seen it before. And rock salt was also available at the spice shops in the Royal Capital. But he had never dreamed that rock salt could be harvested in this form.
Franz was knowledgeable about the price of goods and their value, but when it came to how they were produced, he was a complete amateur.
He had thought that rock salt was found as small lumps buried in the earth or something, and that you had to dig it out. If not that, he had imagined that salt was somehow hardened into a stone-like form.
Ritz picked up a relatively large fragment from the pieces he had just broken off and placed it in Franz's palm. Even in the dim light, he could see that the rock salt had few impurities and was translucent. If it were on display in a high-end food store, it would be a product with a price tag that would make one think twice about using it for an ordinary meal.
"This rock salt is one of the top exports of the Luciana Kingdom Federation. I went into a salt mine once on an investigation with some scholars. But the rock salt there was nearly transparent and, compared to the rock salt here, it was brittle."
Ritz picked up another, larger piece and muttered as he looked at it.
"From what I hear from you, Lef, you don't excavate salt from here, do you?"
"No. This is a sacred place."
Lef smiled gently.
"The place Ritz went to must be closer to a human town, right?"
"Yeah. It was north of the kingdom's central government."
"In that case, I think some of our clan members are working there."
Lef replied with a cheerful smile to Ritz, who was trying to recall. It seemed to be a place he knew well. But in contrast to the happy Lef, Ritz sighed and made a very complicated face.
"Are they mining it?"
"Yes. For about twenty years now."
"I see. So human hands have gotten to it. When I went, it was an undeveloped salt cavern."
Ritz scratched his head with a troubled look.
"If human hands have gotten to it, I guess I can't see that view anymore. What should I do…"
"Is there a problem?"
"Yeah. Deep inside that place, there's an incredibly beautiful spot. The pure white rock face and the pure white ground are beautiful enough, but the fine cracks in the high ceiling create a beautiful pattern like a chandelier, letting in the sunlight. A river flows quietly through there, and the water is a fantastical blue…"
Ritz stroked his chin and murmured this, looking off into the distance as if reminiscing about the past. Then, he slumped his shoulders and sighed.
"And I told Anna about it…"
Those words reminded him. When Anna had insisted on going to the cave, Franz had heard for the first time about some kind of promise between Anna and Ritz. Which meant…
"You promised to take Anna there, didn't you?"
"You got it. I can't believe it's being mined."
Ritz shrugged his shoulders with a wry smile, looking truly troubled. He must have been serious about taking Anna there.
"If it's gone, it's gone."
He said this and put the knife he was holding into the inner pocket of his clothes. He seemed to want to give up but couldn't quite bring himself to.
Franz was more impressed than exasperated. He was surprised that Ritz had intended to take Anna to a place deep within this kingdom, but even more so that Ritz was so down about the possibility of not being able to fulfill that promise.
"It's amazing that you'd make such a troublesome promise."
Franz couldn't make promises with an uncertain future. That's why he would never say something like, "I'll take you there someday." For the most part, he had enough on his plate just dealing with himself, and the idea of making a promise for some unknown time in the future was unthinkable.
Besides, for Franz, a promise was something with an infinitely low probability of being fulfilled. It seemed Ritz realized that Franz's words weren't his usual sarcasm, as a self-deprecating smile touched the corner of his mouth.
"I don't know about promises with other people, but with her, it's different."
"Ritz, what did you say?"
He couldn't quite catch it, so he asked again, but Ritz just gave a wry smile and stuffed the rest of the rock salt into his pocket.
"Alright. Spoils of war."
It seemed he intended to take this high-end product home. He was probably really thinking of grilling some meat with it. Wondering if that was okay, he glanced at Lef, who nodded with a smile. Apparently, it was fine. Franz also put the less-than-five-centimeter-diameter fragment that was in his palm into his pocket.
It might come in handy for something.
"Now, what's further in?"
Muttering this, Ritz turned and walked ahead without looking back. What was that brief moment of darkness he had shown just now? Franz tilted his head as he watched Ritz's back. There was so much he didn't understand about Ritz. But he hesitated to ask him directly.
The two of them silently followed Ritz as he walked ahead. The tall Ritz walked at a fast pace. If he dawdled, he wouldn't be able to keep up with the fast-walking Ritz, so Franz hurried too.
They continued walking through the single-path salt mine without anyone opening their mouths. His eyes had completely adjusted to the dim light, and Franz even had the luxury of enjoying the beauty of the salt mine. This mysterious world was more unusual and beautiful than any sight he had ever seen.
Franz was captivated by the scene. Lef's words that this was a sacred place seeped into his heart, and he could truly, deeply understand.
After a while, Ritz suddenly stopped. Franz, who had been walking without looking ahead while gazing around, slammed face-first into Ritz's back. He hit his nose hard.
"What's with the sudden…"
Rubbing his bruised nose, he looked at Ritz, who silently pointed forward. Following his pointed finger, Franz was at a loss for words.
There, brimming with blue water, was a small subterranean lake.
"Ah…"
An involuntary sound escaped him. The lake at the entrance had also been clear and deep, but the surrounding red earth had given it a somewhat ominous atmosphere.
But this lake was different. He could tell from the frighteningly clear blue that the area around the lake, and probably the inside of the lake itself, was made of white salt. Even without seeing it up close yet, it was frighteningly clear and so deep he couldn't see the bottom.
Feeding the lake with a silent stream was a single, thin trickle of water falling like a thread from the ceiling. This thin stream fell onto a single, graceful salt pillar that rose from the center of the lake to the ceiling, before eventually flowing into the lake.
And from directly above that pillar, a single beam of light shone down like a bundle of golden thread.
The light reflected off the salt, illuminating the surroundings with an unexpected brightness. Seeing this, he could imagine that the dim light from before had also come from a hole somewhere leading to the surface.
"It's amazing. The power of nature."
As he muttered this, Ritz turned back with a puzzled look.
"You can't see it?"
"Huh?"
"That."
Ritz stepped aside and pointed toward the salt pillar in the center of the lake. Not understanding what he meant, he stared intently and noticed that on the other side of the salt pillar, there was a single path leading from the lake's edge to the pillar.
"A bridge?"
"Yeah."
As he said this, Ritz was already walking in that direction. Lef, too, was walking forward as if in a trance. The two of them had much better eyesight than Franz. They might be seeing something.
Franz silently followed behind them. He was aware that his already poor eyesight had worsened from being a bookworm in the Royal Capital.
He was truly amazed that such a place existed, with its beautiful contrast of white and blue, the single stream of water falling without a sound, and the light falling straight down like a golden thread.
Ritz had been worried earlier that he might not be able to fulfill his promise to Anna, but Franz irresponsibly thought that he could just come here once Lef became chief.
"Franz!"
Startled by Ritz's sharp voice, Franz, who had been lost in thought, gasped in surprise. He realized that Ritz and Lef had gone quite a way ahead. They were already crossing the bridge. Taking a small breath, he hurried toward them.
"What?"
After carefully crossing the white bridge, mindful not to slip, Franz asked in a somewhat curt manner, trying not to reveal how startled he had been when called out. But Ritz paid no mind and pointed to a single spot.
The moment he followed Ritz's finger with his eyes, Franz froze.
In the very spot where the thread of light fell, there stood an unmistakably man-made stone monument.
"A stone monument?"
"Yeah."
It was a small monument, only about a meter high. But while blending in with the surrounding salt, it existed there with a quiet yet certain presence. In the face of such a strange sight, he looked up at Ritz, who stood with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed, staring at the monument.
"Why is it there?"
"Who knows. And that's not all, Franz."
"What?"
"Take a closer look."
He slowly approached the monument as told. When he reached the front, he noticed that there were letters carved into it. They were a bit faded and hard to see, but when he touched them, the white substance covering the letters scattered. The monument, too, was covered in a thick layer of salt.
And in the center of that monument, repelling even the salt, was embedded… none other than the mysterious orb that the three of them possessed.
"This…"
Unable to find the words, he just said that and looked back at Ritz, who gave a small nod.
"That's right. One of the ones given to the non-human races, as mentioned in Master Orphe's letter."
"It… really existed."
If it really existed, then he would have to truly believe it. That Orphe was a person who had lived for over 1,500 years, a person who shouldn't exist on this earth.
Ritz, stepping past the stunned Franz, approached the monument, slowly knelt before it, and wiped away the salt crystals that had accumulated on the letters. The revealed letters seemed to be carved directly into the monument, forming indentations.
Tracing the letters with his finger, Ritz read them aloud in a low whisper. His voice echoed in the silent, soundless space.
"'O new guardian of the clan, who has reached this sacred land. Kneel before me, and offer thy prayer to the earth. I am the guardian of the spirits. I shall grant thee the blessing of the earth.' Huh."
With that, Ritz brushed the salt from his knees and stood up smoothly.
"You're the one who should be kneeling here, Lef. I can't be a guardian."
Lef, taking his place, knelt before the monument. He quietly bowed his head and closed his eyes. Then, he slowly placed both hands on the floor and bowed deeply. Lef remained motionless, offering a silent prayer.
The silence was so profound that Franz felt it would be wrong to speak, or even to breathe, so he held his breath and watched the prayer.
After a few moments of meditation, Lef slowly raised his head, gazed at the orb embedded in the monument, and recited his prayer.
"O Earth Spirit King, who protects our clan. I, Lef, son of the chief of the Red Clan, have come to receive your blessing. Please grant our clan the protection of the Spirit King."
The next moment, Ritz and Franz saw the orb, which had been silent until now, give a single, brilliant flash.
After shining as if with a will of its own, it fell silent again. After that, no matter how long they stared, there was no reaction.
It had shone, come to life, for only that single moment. As if it had accepted Lef's prayer and granted its blessing.
Unconsciously, his hand went to his chest.
Franz, whose power was still insufficient to summon the Fire Dragon, needed the power of this orb to focus his mind. Since he never knew when or what might happen, he always wore this orb.
Was it his imagination, or did the orb feel slightly warm?
He noticed that Ritz, too, was touching the inner pocket of his clothes from the outside. Had he also felt some kind of change?
In Ritz's case, it was for a different reason than Franz's, but he also always carried the orb with him. He said there was a possibility it could be mistaken for something valuable and stolen. Indeed, if it were known to be the same as the jewels in the kingdom's treasury, it could be stolen and sold.
For Ritz, this orb was both a mysterious object and a valuable possession. For Ritz, who had entrusted his wallet to Franz, his only valuables were a small amount of pocket money and this orb.
For Anna, this orb was a clue to her parents. She had been left in a basket with it, after all. That's why she kept it in a small pouch tied around her neck, hidden under her clothes.
Perhaps Anna had felt something too.
As he was vaguely thinking about his companions' orbs, Lef, having finished his prayer, slowly stood up. He brushed off the salt powder that had stuck to his entire body from kneeling so deeply.
"The ceremony is now complete. Let's take a large piece of salt and leave the cave."
Lef looked up and announced this to Franz and the others with a cheerful smile.
"Is that it?"
Ritz asked, looking taken aback.
"Yes. Everyone has a hard time finding this salt mine from inside the cave, but luckily, Franz found it for us."
"Huh?"
He let out a stupid sound, and Lef smiled brightly.
"We beastmen wouldn't fall off a cliff. And besides, we would only go into a place that smells of bats after we've searched everywhere else and are out of options."
Now that he mentioned it, he remembered Lef saying something about the smell of bats when he had taken the wrong path. They had good night vision and a good sense of smell.
"That's why the salt mine is said to be very hard to find. A place with bats, at the bottom of a cliff with a hole in it, is as hard to find as it gets."
"I see. A beastman would never panic in a place with bats and fall off a cliff, would they?"
Ritz crossed his arms and nodded deeply, his tone laced with considerable sarcasm. He shot a glare at him, but it was clear that Franz was at a disadvantage. Sure enough, Ritz looked back at the glaring Franz and grinned. It seemed he was just being teased.
"What happens if you can't find it?"
Ignoring Franz, Ritz asked Lef. Lef looked at Ritz with a serious expression.
"There are stories of those who couldn't find it after a day, and after searching for several days, they ended up back on the surface and couldn't become chief."
So, it was originally a very difficult trial.
"So, because I fell down here…"
"Yes. We were able to find the salt mine right away."
"Is there no rule that you have to find it on your own?"
He muttered this, but Lef looked at Franz with a constant smile.
"Luck is also part of one's own strength."
"…I see."
If that was the case, Franz had no other complaints. A hand rested on his shoulder. He knew who it was without looking back, so he deliberately ignored it. But the owner of the hand smiled and peered down at Franz's face from above.
"Good for you, Franz. A blessing in disguise."
"…Not for me."
Sighing quietly, Franz pushed away the big, annoying Ritz with one hand and replied. Franz falling off the cliff was apparently a stroke of good luck for Lef.
"It really was a great help. When you first said you couldn't climb down the cliff, I was worried about whether it was really okay to bring you, but because you came with us, we were saved."
It seemed Lef had been worried without saying it out loud, thinking it would offend Franz to hear it. But now he was so elated that he continued cheerfully, oblivious to Franz's sullen face.
"This must be the guidance of the spirits."
"That it is."
"…I see. I'm happy for you."
With Lef looking so genuinely happy and Ritz playing along with his cheerful mood, it was pointless to resist, so Franz just nodded. In any case, he was just glad to be getting out of this beautiful but somewhat unsettling cave.
Lef picked up a nearby large fragment. It probably weighed over five kilograms. He skillfully wrapped it in a cloth he took from his chest and effortlessly slung it onto his back.
He wondered how much it would sell for in Saradio at retail price, but he quickly shook the vulgar thought from his head. He was not a merchant.
"Well then, let's head back. The entrance to the lake should still be open."
"…Which means we're climbing the cliff."
He couldn't help but grumble with exasperation. For Franz, who had zero athletic ability, it was incredibly depressing. But he couldn't say he wouldn't do it because it was impossible anymore. Just asking for someone to do it for him was no longer an option.
"Two places, the salt cliff and the lake cliff."
As he said this, Ritz turned on his heel to head back the way they came. Lef followed suit.
Normally, he would say to Ritz, "I can't climb a cliff, so you'll figure something out, right?" But now that he was aware of the immaturity behind those words, he couldn't say it. So, Franz took a small, deep breath and called out to Ritz's back.
"Ritz."
"What?"
Ritz turned back, and Franz braced himself and spoke.
"I can't climb the cliff alone… so could you help me?"
It might still sound arrogant, but it was the best he could do to ask for help. Ritz's reply was very short.
"Sure."
But he understood from his tone. Ritz had agreed. He suddenly remembered the day he had met the duo of Ritz and Anna. When he was struggling with not being able to command the spirits, hadn't Anna said this? "Don't command them, ask them."
He never thought he would have a similar struggle in his daily life.
Since no one was watching, he let out a sigh of relief. Human relationships were truly deep and difficult, he realized anew.
When he came back to his senses, the two of them were walking ahead, talking about something without looking back. It seemed they hadn't noticed he wasn't following. Being left behind in a place like this would be no joke.
To catch up to the two walking ahead, Franz broke into a run.
"Wait…"
The moment he said that, he felt the world spin.
He thought it was dizziness, but the next moment, he realized the ground beneath his feet was shaking violently. He had just started running, so he couldn't keep his balance and fell spectacularly.
"What is this?"
Ritz also cried out and looked back, but he had no time to answer.
"An earthquake?"
"I don't know. But it's too severe for an earthquake."
A violent, upward thrusting tremor shook the three of them. The entire cave groaned as if letting out a dull, low-pitched scream.
Franz covered his head, desperately protecting himself from the falling salt fragments. He knew that if he took a hit to the head, it would be over.
But if the cave collapsed and he was buried alive… he wouldn't be saved. The moment he realized that, he was struck with terror. He absolutely did not want to be buried before he died.
But the shaking, which felt like it would go on forever, was gradually subsiding. After shaking for a while, the tremors slowly weakened and eventually stopped. He didn't know if it had been a moment or a long time. It was that terrifying.
After a moment of being stunned, Franz, who had been lying on the ground, slowly got up. He felt a dizzying sensation, as if he were still shaking, and stumbled.
But the two in front of him were completely unfazed. They stood up calmly and looked at each other.
"Did something collapse?"
"That might be it. Let's hurry to the exit."
"I agree."
Franz had no objections.
"Let's go, Franz. Can you walk?"
"Yeah."
As he followed the two who were hurrying ahead, Franz casually glanced back and couldn't help but shout.
"The water!"
The two in front stopped and turned sharply.
"The lake's water is gone!"
"What?"
As the two of them rushed back, Franz pointed.
Where the subterranean lake, which had been brimming with blue water until a moment ago, had been, there was now a deep depression of unknown depth.
"…Did the bottom of the subterranean lake give way in the tremor?"
Ritz muttered with a groan, and he nodded silently. The tremor had been that violent.
"Nature does amazing things."
As Ritz muttered this and peered into the bottom of the lake, Franz, following his lead, also looked in. In that instant, he felt the presence of something unseen drifting up…
"…No."
"What?"
"No, it's not a natural phenomenon."
The presence took a clear form in Franz's mind.
This feeling… this is the power of a spirit. Someone, somewhere, used some kind of spirit. He instinctively looked at the lamp in his hand, and Sara-chan looked up at him and chirped once. Sara-chan seemed to have felt something too.
"Someone used a spirit deep inside here."
"Deep inside where?"
"At the bottom of this lake. They used a spirit… to break the bedrock at the bottom of the lake and drain the water. It's collapsed and sealed again now, but there was still a cave connected to the bottom."
Perhaps this cave went even deeper. And perhaps there was a place in that deeper section that connected to the bottom of this lake.
Someone in that place used some kind of spirit and drained the water from the lake…
His explanation was faltering due to his confusion, but Lef and Ritz seemed to understand, and they fell into a stunned silence. In the terrifying silence, the sound of water trickling in from somewhere into the drained subterranean lake could be heard.
"But Franz. Who, and for what purpose?"
"I don't know."
"To drain the water here and surprise us? Even if the water is gone, this is still the sacred land of the beastmen, and the salt won't disappear. It doesn't seem like anything good or bad could happen from this, right?"
As Ritz crossed his arms and thought out loud, Lef shouted.
"Ah!"
Franz jumped in surprise. Ritz also turned to look at Lef.
"There's a story passed down in the village that the river flowing through the village has several sources, and one of them is this cave. If that's true…"
"If it's true, what happens?"
"Wouldn't all the water from this lake flow into it at once? It goes through the cave, so it wouldn't reach the river immediately, but… but…"
"But what? Speak up, Lef."
Ritz urged on the silent, pale Lef.
"I think this lake had a considerable amount of water. What would happen if all of that flowed at once through a cave connected to a river?"
"Well… the river's water level would rise at once. Anyone in the river would be in danger."
"That would be bad enough, but if the river's water level has already risen, it will cause a flash flood."
"But the rainy season hasn't started yet, right?"
Only a small voice came out, as if stuck in his throat. But at that small voice, Lef's face looked like he was about to cry.
"It's the beginning of the rainy season, so it could start raining any minute. If that happens, my village, which is the furthest downstream… will be swept away."
"What did you say?"
Ritz, who heard this, turned pale. Franz also felt the blood drain from his face.
Of course, Lef's clan was there.
…And Anna and Edward were there.
"Do you know how much time has passed since we entered the cave?"
"I think the sun will be setting soon."
"…So it'll take several hours to get back."
"Yes."
Lef nodded and then glanced at Franz.
"With the three of us, it would take about that much time."
"We don't have time to go back leisurely."
Ritz muttered, his brow furrowed, his face a mixture of regret. His sharp eyes glanced at Franz. He instinctively took a step back, but Ritz paid him no mind and called out to Lef.
"Alright, carry Franz and go."
"Huh…"
"The sooner we get information, the better. This way it won't take hours, right?"
"Yes. It should take less than half the time it took to get here."
"It's decided then."
"W-Wait…"
As he started to open his mouth to complain, Ritz fixed him with a frighteningly serious gaze.
"In the worst-case scenario where this water immediately flows into the river and it starts raining, the only way to prevent damage is to hurry."
"Ugh…"
Without a thought for the flustered Franz, Lef nodded.
"That's right. Franz, excuse me."
In the next moment, Franz was hoisted onto Lef's shoulder. He froze for a moment in tension.
"Wait a minute."
He tried to protest, but it seemed that the ears of the two, who could hear exceptionally well, were currently closed to his complaints. At this point, all he could do was brace himself. In this situation, there was no need to resist.
For Franz, who had to return to the Royal Capital and meet Greig, he had to bring Edward back with him.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
The group, at a speed that was worlds apart from when they arrived, dashed toward the entrance of the cave.