Chapter 23
Just as I was staring blankly at Tesilid, wondering if I had misheard—
Grrrrrrr!
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere we had just been building suddenly became awkward.
“I-I was on my way to the dining hall.”
“Mm, yeah. It’s a natural bodily function, nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“……Then why are you looking at me like that?”
Because it’s cute seeing you blush and make excuses.
Suddenly, the poor diet of the Holy Empire came to mind. I immediately rummaged through my satchel bag.
“Here, a gift.”
“What is this……?”
“Food. It’s tasty.”
Tesilid took the tomato pasta–flavored supplement I handed him, still dazed.
“The necklace really is mine, so don’t worry about it. Go eat.”
“R-right. I can just confirm it with Cardinal Cattleya later. My friends are waiting, so I’ll be going……”
At that moment, an odd word stuck in my mind.
“Hm? Friends?”
Tesilid has friends?
It wasn’t that I was criticizing his poor social skills. This was a setting issue.
In the original story, the protagonist’s childhood friends were described as—
“Among the children with stigmata who were caught in the dungeon sync, only I survived. That’s when it started. The Day of Sacrifice began taking something from me every year.”
Friends. Dungeon sync. Day of Sacrifice.
What did these puzzle pieces mean?
“Don’t tell me……”
“What’s wrong?”
The moment his puzzled voice reached my ears—
It happened.
BOOM—!
“……!”
“……!”
A massive, heavy shockwave struck directly at my heart. At the same time, the ground beneath us shook and split apart.
No—this wasn’t the ground. It was space itself tearing apart.
There was no way I wouldn’t recognize this phenomenon.
“Dungeon sync……!”
The puzzle fit perfectly.
The dungeon sync that devastated Tesilid’s childhood—
is happening right here, today!
[“The Word that Builds the World” is flustered, asking why a disaster event is triggering right now.]
[“The Scales that Judge Souls” criticizes the creator for saying such a thing.]
[“The Cynic who Balances” shakes their head, saying S-rank always brings bad luck.]
Now that something had happened, the spectators increased.
The survival difficulty only gets adjusted to F-rank inside the Count’s mansion.
This was the very dungeon that slaughtered people to give Tesilid a tragic childhood setting.
I’d better be prepared for the difficulty.
Meanwhile, it seemed the dungeon sync covered the entire dining hall building. Through the window facing the flower garden, chaos could be seen inside.
“W-what is this?! An earthquake?!”
“Aaaah! The floor—!”
“Waaah! Mom, save me—!”
An irresistible force stretched out from a black subspace and dragged the children’s bodies in.
And mine too.
Grab!
Suddenly, my wrist was firmly caught. It was Tesilid.
“Don’t leave my side.”
“……”
…Okay, that just moved me a little.
With dizziness that made me feel like I would vomit, the distorted darkness swallowed us.
And when the darkness cleared, what unfolded before us was—
Chik-chik, chuk-chuk!
Dududududung—!
Ding… diong…
Ding-diriling, dang-dang, ding-dang, ring-ding-dong…
A toy train running on tracks, toy soldiers beating drums, clown heads popping out of spring boxes, a music box with a spinning carousel, glittering Christmas decorations and lights.
A message appeared in my mind, informing me of this space’s name and rank.
[<System> You have entered the S-Rank Dungeon “Toy Mansion.”]
Hmm. Average difficulty for this world.
Manageable.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. You?”
“Me too.”
After exchanging brief words, Tesilid and I looked around.
We had fallen, along with the other children, into a reception hall filled with a strong Christmas atmosphere.
After some time passed without anything happening, some children began to relax.
“W-where is this?”
“It’s pretty. There are so many toys.”
“They’re moving. That’s amazing.”
“Huh? I wanted that doll!”
Seeing toys their parents hadn’t bought them last Christmas, the children’s eyes lit up.
As a few children began grabbing toys as if they were theirs, the hesitant ones were also tempted and followed along.
Except for me and Tesilid, all the children were busy rummaging through toys and opening gift boxes.
“Don’t touch anything recklessly! This is inside a dungeon!”
Tesilid shouted, but—
“Waaah! This is fun!”
“I think we can take these!”
“Give it to me! I picked this doll first! …Ah, because of you, its arm got torn off!”
If they listened, they wouldn’t be children. And if words worked, Tesilid wouldn’t be who he is.
Trying to save everyone in a situation like this—that’s exactly his flaw.
I stopped him.
“It’s useless. They won’t think this is a dungeon unless monsters appear.”
“I know. I only said it out of duty.”
“……”
Right. Even his good deeds are business-like. Still, he calls it duty every single time.
Tesilid suddenly asked,
“Why aren’t you rushing for the presents like them?”
“My mental age is much higher than I look. You can call me older sister.”
“It’s strange how calm you are after entering a dungeon.”
“This isn’t my first time. You’ve only lived in the Holy Empire, so this is your first dungeon, right? Are you okay?”
“I……”
At that moment, the air in the reception hall distorted, and tension appeared on Tesilid’s face.
What appeared through the opened space was a handsome young man with white hair.
“Welcome, children! Welcome to Count Orshu’s mansion!”
Judging by the tailcoat, he was clearly a butler-type demon.
Not yet.
I had to carefully decide when to use divine descent.
[“The Word that Builds the World” advises that showing power here would only make the butler escape using spatial movement.]
Meaning, this was an opponent that had to be pushed into a closed boss room and dealt with there.
Even for demons, a boss room is a point of no return. Once inside, they cannot leave during battle.
At the appearance of the unfamiliar being, the children stopped playing wildly and focused on him.
“Haha! There’s no need to be so tense. You don’t have to return the dolls and toys either. Because…….”
Boom! Pop!
Fireworks exploded behind the butler demon.
“You are very, very special guests who have been chosen! All the toys, dolls, snacks, and cakes here—everything in this mansion has been prepared just for you!”
“R-really? Really?!”
“Then we can take all this, right?”
The naive children asked eagerly.
“Of course. These were prepared under my master’s orders to treat you with the utmost care. I, Rodrigo, as the butler, will do my utmost to serve our special guests. And with that in mind, I’ve prepared lots of fun games as well. Let’s have fun together!”
“Waaah!”
Cute animal dolls approached and began handing out brightly colored eggs one by one.
“Easter eggs!”
“I’m hungry!”
After Christmas, now it was an Easter imitation. Tasteless—just like demons.
“You’ve all received your eggs, right? Before eating, shall we thank Count Orshu for inviting you to this wonderful mansion? Repeat after me—‘Thank you, Count Orshu!’”
“Thank you, Count Orshu!”
The hungry children quickly cracked open the eggs.
“Don’t eat it!”
Of course, Tesilid’s words—spoken out of duty—were ignored again, and the eggs disappeared into the children’s mouths.
The butler Rodrigo smiled with satisfaction, his eyes curving ominously.
“Count Orshu is truly a wonderful person. He loves kind and pure children like you very much. To be precise… he loves the souls of kind and pure children!”
“C-cough!”
Some of the children who ate the eggs grabbed their throats and collapsed. Their bodies convulsed, foaming at the mouth—
Then pop—they turned into dolls.
“H-hiii?!”
While the children panicked, I checked the debuff in the system status window.
[<Status> “Dollification”
A dark magic debuff created by Rodrigo to preserve and extract human souls in a fresh state. If one’s life is in danger inside Count Orshu’s mansion, they transform into a doll, delaying death. However, until the soul is completely extracted, the body remains neither alive nor dead.
Note: Ever wondered where all these toys and dolls around you came from?]**
