ATP 24

Chapter 24

“Aah, it’s been so long since I’ve tasted a soul! Now then, shall I have a little taste?”

Little by little, the souls seeped out of the children who had just turned into dolls. Rodrigo gathered them into the wine glass he was holding and savored the aroma.

“It’s sweet. My master will be pleased.”

“H-hiiiick!”

“……”

“……”

The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward in the middle of everything.

“I-I was on my way to the dining hall.”

“Mm, yeah. It’s just a natural bodily function, nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“…Then why are you making that face—”

The souls continued to be extracted.

“Now! With this, the first game, ‘Random Death Easter Egg,’ has ended. Congratulations to the children who survived!”

“Aaaah! A-a demon! It’s a demon!”

“Th-then, th-this place… is a dungeon…?!”

“It saddens me when you look at me with such frightened eyes. Do you know how much I like children? Let’s have fun together. Okay?”

“W-we have to run…!”

“Over there! A door!”

The children rushed toward the front door leading outside from the reception hall.

But the door did not budge.

Rodrigo spun a ring of keys around his index finger and grinned.

“Access to this mansion is under my control as the butler. The entrance has long been closed, and trying to find an exit is pointless. Count Orshu’s mansion is different from other dungeons.”

What? A dungeon where entrance and exit gates don’t appear even without encountering the boss?

Is that true or not? It’s hard to trust the words of a demon.

[‘The Words That Build the World’ say it is true.]

[‘The Secret-Leak Inspector’ flinches and quickly pulls out a yellow card.]

Unlike before, the inspector reacted strongly.

‘Thank you, Words.’

If the entrance and exit gates don’t open, it cuts off hope from both inside and outside.

Not only is it impossible to escape from within, but reinforcements also can’t enter from outside.

In this case, the only way to leave the dungeon is to defeat the boss, Count Orshu.

“Th-then we can’t get out? Are we all going to die?”

“M-mom… waaah!”

As the children fell into despair and started crying loudly, Rodrigo shouted excitedly.

“Then let’s start the second game right away! The next game is… ta-da! Death hide-and-seek!”

Plop, plop, plop—small clown dolls appeared in the air.

“All you have to do is run and hide well while avoiding these friends… What? No one’s listening to me. This is why noisy crying brats are so—ah! That slipped out. I love it! I love children! Delicious!”

“Waaah! He said delicious! I don’t want to be eaten!”

“Mom! Dad!”

“Help meee!”

As the children cried even louder, the noise became overwhelming. Rodrigo covered his ears and stepped back.

“Alright, alright! I’ll give you one way to return home. So stop crying!”

“R-really?”

“Yes, yes. You just need to ask my merciful master. So stop crying and play enthusiastically.”

Rodrigo drew a mark of contract.

For demons, contracts are absolute. According to the rules of this world, it began to take binding force.

To me, it appeared in the form of a quest.

[<System> A quest has arrived.]

[<Quest> ‘The Grace of Count Orshu (Difficulty: S)’
A merciful mansion master, unlike other demons—Count Orshu! He has opened another way to escape the dungeon besides defeating the boss, so bow your head and give thanks!

Condition: Become the only survivor in this dungeon

Reward: Survival

Failure Penalty: Death]

[<System> The quest has been forcibly accepted.]

…The only survivor.

“I’ll let the last one remaining leave! So don’t give up hope!”

Right. This was how young Tesilid managed to survive alone in an S-rank dungeon.

“Then I’ll count to twenty and start. One, two, twenty!”

“Aaaah!”

“Th-that’s not how you count!”

Countless clown dolls approached the children, swinging their stubby arms.

Slow movements, slow attacks.

But in that moment, bloodshed erupted.

[<System> Violence violation detected during tutorial period. Reducing mental shock.]

Thanks to that, I came to my senses. Otherwise, I might have used Divine Descent.

“Waaah! No!”

“M-mom… hic…”

Some children ran into the corridors, others grabbed anything they could use as weapons, while some froze in terror.

“Hic!”

Thud!

“Get a grip and run or fight back!”

A clown attacking a girl staggered after being hit by the gift box I threw.

Only then did the girl hurriedly run out of the reception hall.

“You listen to her, but ignore everything I say.”

Tesilid muttered bitterly, holding a toy wand as a weapon. It seemed he had saved a few children and returned.

It was reassuring that someone useful came to my side on his own.

As expected of the future Holy Knight, who would be called the First Sword of the Holy Empire.

Swallowing my emotion, I picked up a heavy gift box and said,

“Don’t be discouraged. Do you think they can even hear anyone right now? They’re just running on instinct.”

“I’m not discouraged. More importantly, do you know this?”

“What?”

“You’re the only one not being attacked.”

“…Huh? You’re right?”

The clowns were subtly avoiding me, unlike how they chased the other children relentlessly.

Even Tesilid, who was radiating holy power, wasn’t exempt—yet I was.

‘They must be undead.’

It was clearly because of my passive skill, ‘Infamy Echoing Through the World of the Undead.’

For a moment, the clown’s white face overlapped with a skull, and when it attacked, a terrifying scythe appeared in its hand like an afterimage.

Mid-level undead—Grim Reapers. That was the true identity of the clown dolls.

That was actually good.

At this point in time, the protagonist had only just awakened holy power, and undead were especially weak to it.

Then a thought crossed my mind.

‘Wait… did Tesilid stick close to me to use me as a shield?’

My emotion shattered instantly.

Meanwhile, Tesilid narrowed his eyes at me.

“Staying next to you reduces the attacks. Could it be… they’re not attacking you because you’re on the same side as them?”

That was a dangerous misunderstanding.

I immediately protested my innocence.

“Hey, I’m on your side.”

“……”

Tesilid’s sea-colored eyes widened.

“On my side…?”

I raised my right hand like taking an oath.

“Yeah. Your side. Really. I swear.”

“…Fine. I’ll assume that for now.”

With an uneasy reply, Tesilid looked away.

After that, I fell into thought.

What now?

Sadly, I couldn’t save everyone like a hero.

Divine Descent was a last-resort skill meant for the boss fight.

Attacking the demon butler recklessly wouldn’t help either. The dungeon’s master only appeared in the boss room.

So sticking close to Tesilid was the best option.

By now, most of the children had fled into the corridors.

The clowns would keep chasing them, but it was better than staying in the reception hall, their spawn point.

“Oh dear! The west annex where you are seems to be in the worst condition. Is it because there’s only one stigmata bearer? Or maybe… the weakest one?!”

Tesilid simply wasn’t suited for this kind of one-versus-many situation.

“There must be multiple hide-and-seek areas. I need to join my friends, but the number of clowns isn’t decreasing.”

“Are you using holy power?”

“No. Since they’re object-type monsters, I’m saving it.”

“Use it. They’re disguised with illusions, but they’re actually mid-level undead. You can’t see it, but they’re holding scythes—be careful.”

“How do you even know that…? The more I see, the less I understand you. I’ll trust you for now.”

Tesilid threw away the toy wand.

“Hm? What is this?”

Rodrigo noticed something unusual and focused on him.

White light gathered in both of Tesilid’s hands. It was clearly a powerful holy skill.

Since holy power and magic require incantation, I soon heard the skill name.

“Baptism of Judgment.”

Crack—

The clown doll’s head in his grasp turned to dust.

The destructive baptism continued one after another.

“Ohhh! Now you’re finally showing some skill! But it’s useless! I can create as many clowns as I want!”

Tesilid silently destroyed the endlessly spawning clowns.

“They’ll keep you busy until you’re exhausted. Now then, something interesting has come up in the south annex, so I’ll be going!”

Soon, only Tesilid and I remained in the reception hall.

I spoke to his back.

“I think we bought enough time for the kids to escape.”

“Why didn’t you run?”

“Well, I’m kind of your shield right now— Tesilid, behind you!”

A clown’s scythe slashed toward the back of Tesilid’s head as he turned to look at me.

At this rate, his head was about to be smashed like a soft potato!