The following morning——the group checks out of the inn at six o’clock and is walking through the center of the Tamur Desert.
Wrapped in the sun-shielding robes purchased the day before, they endure the blazing heat and press forward through dry sand.
“Phew……it really is hot.”
Owl wipes the sweat from his brow——
“We should be near the ‘point’ by now……”
Raios narrows his eyes, map in hand——
“W-water……”
Curse already looks like he’s about to shrivel up.
In the midst of all this——Owl, walking at the front, glances back over his shoulder at Luna.
“Are you holding up alright, Silver? That armor in this heat must be quite tough.”
“Thank you for the concern. I’ve been cooling it with magic, so it’s actually quite comfortable inside.”
“Hm, that’s enviable.”
“Running out of magical energy is……no, a foolish question.”
“Oh come on, that’s so unfair……”
As Owl, Raios, and Curse each respond in their own way——Luna raises a question she has been wondering about.
“Come to think of it, Owl-san——the Leonard Theocracy is deep beneath the desert, isn’t it? How exactly are we supposed to infiltrate a place like that?”
“Oh, there’s actually a ‘secret entrance’ to the Theocracy——and speak of the devil, looks like we’re here.”
Owl, standing at the crest of a dune, looks down below.
And there, spread across the view as far as the eye can see——a vast expanse of enormous antlion pits, each one fifteen meters across.
A rough count puts the number easily above thirty.
“Th-this is……quite a sight……”
The mass of spiraling vortexes drawn across the golden sand carried a sudden breathtaking menace.
“This is the danger zone of the Tamur Desert, commonly known as ‘The Pit of Pits.’ At the center of each vortex lives a magic beast called the Black Lacewing——it swallows whole any prey caught in the quicksand. Normally no one would come anywhere near here, it’s a natural hazard——but it turns out there’s one among them, artificially constructed, a ‘hit’ mixed in with the rest. That’s the ‘secret entrance’ leading to the Theocracy.”
“I see, quite a clever mechanism.”
Luna nods, seemingly impressed.
“Alright——Curse, found it yet?”
“Yep, the fourth one from the right, furthest back——that pit’s the fake one. It’s the only one with an unnatural space beneath it.”
Concentrating magical energy into both eyes, he points to a particular antlion pit.
“Oh, Curse-san uses detection-type magic?”
At Luna’s murmur, Owl and Raios nod simultaneously.
“Curse has essentially no combat ability, but he’s adept at detection magic. His skill as a scout is ‘top tier.'”
“This one is astoundingly weak, but that very weakness makes his senses abnormally sharp. Detection and scouting are his specialties.”
“You two are really not capable of being straightforward, are you! You could just say something nice for once!”
Curse, rarely on the receiving end of praise, is visibly pleased.
“Alright, is everyone ready?”
“Yes, no problem.”
“Let’s get this done quickly and go home.”
The three exchange glances, and without hesitation leap into the antlion pit.
(Oh wow……we’re going in there……)
Luna feels a mild resistance to getting covered in sand, but steps reluctantly into the pit.
(Oh, oh……it’s less like being sucked into the sand and more like the grit rising up around you, it’s a strange feeling……)
She stops resisting and lets herself be swallowed by the quicksand——then, after a moment, a strange sensation of weightlessness arrives, and her vision suddenly opens up.
“——There we go.”
She lands on solid ground.
Looking around, a vast underground space stretches out in every direction.
(Incredible, that really was the secret entrance……!)
Luna is a little moved.
“Everyone safe? Alright——Curse, sorry to ask right away, but I need a wide-range detection.”
“Sure, just a moment——<Celestial Plate>.”
In the next instant, a large detection circle of a hundred meters’ radius spreads outward from him.
<Celestial Plate> is a mid-tier detection magic that unfurls a transparent circle across a wide area and analyzes information within the range.
“Hmmmm……right, so. They’ve obviously gone on high alert since our agent was caught. Traps and magic beasts, plenty of both……hm?”
“What is it?”
“Ugh, what is this awful magical energy……. Further down from here, quite deep, there are four evil presences. These are probably the infamous ‘Four Knights of Leonard’——they’re seriously strong……”
Curse delivers this report with a grim expression.
“……The Four Knights of Leonard?”
Luna tilts her head slightly, and Raios next to her begins to explain.
“Four evil demons who guard the Leonard Theocracy. Apparently they have a contract with the founder Leonard, and carry out various wicked deeds on his orders. According to our agents’ reports, these are the ones who carried out the kidnappings of kingdom citizens.”
“I see……”
As the two of them are talking——Curse’s face goes pale.
“……This is bad……”
“What is it, what happened?”
“There’s a ‘monster’ in the deepest level……”
“A monster, you say. Compared to my own magical energy capacity, which one’s higher?”
“……I’m sorry. In terms of raw magical energy, theirs is greater.”
“Oh, how exciting.”
Owl says this with a belligerent smile.
“——Curse, the wide-range detection is enough. From here on just handle close-range scouting.”
“Phew, got it.”
He releases the magic and stretches out with an “I’m exhausted.”
Looking more closely, large beads of sweat are visible on his brow.
<Celestial Plate> demands precise, delicate magical control, which puts an enormous drain on the mind.
Owl gives a small cough and draws everyone’s attention.
“For now——let’s aim for the deepest level while carrying out the investigation. The ‘top priority’ is locating the ‘secret laboratory’ said to be somewhere in this underground. If their research proves to be of an evil nature, I intend to deal with it on the spot. ……This will likely turn rough, so be mentally prepared.”
Having quickly established their course of action, Owl moves on to deciding formation.
“I’ll take point, Raios second, Curse behind him, and the most dangerous position, rear guard——Silver, can I leave that to you?”
“Yes, no problem.”
“Thank you. ——Alright, we’re in the belly of the beast now. No carelessness whatsoever. Move carefully.”
And so Luna and the others begin making their way through the underground passages of the Leonard Theocracy.
About three minutes into moving——
“——Five or so goblins ahead, ten meters.”
With Curse reporting in advance——
“There we go.”
“Ha!“
Owl and Raios are able to eliminate the goblin cluster swiftly, without any difficulty.
After that, when they turn right at a three-way fork——
“——Stop.”
“What is it, Raios?”
“The joint in that rock there is unnatural. Someone has tampered with it.”
“This is……a poisoned crossbow trap. Considerately concealed with <Detection Interference> magic.”
Raios sees through the trap with his knowledge.
And descending a stone staircase extending deeper underground——
“——Groooarnn!”
An invisible wraith that does not register on detection magic launches a surprise attack.
But——
“——Sorry, the first hit never lands on me.”
Using his divine gift [First Strike Dodge], Owl evades the wraith’s slash with ease——and cuts it down on the backswing.
Owl handles everything, Raios handles knowledge, Curse handles scouting——each fulfills their own role properly.
Moreover, their coordination is smooth, and they are functioning solidly as a party.
And so Luna and the others proceed steadily downward, deeper and deeper into the Theocracy’s underground.
“Honestly, this is quite the maze……. The fact that anyone built something like this beneath a desert is remarkable.”
Owl mutters in exasperation——
“But how did they do it, really? If they had used large-scale magic, it would have set off the kingdom’s detection network……. Slowly dug through by hand? ……No, surely not.”
Raios thinks with a serious expression——
“……Hm, Silver-san?”
It is Curse, with his sharp senses, who notices first.
That Luna is no longer behind them.
“Wh——where did Silver go!?”
“Damn, when did this happen!? A teleportation trap!?”
“……Oh no. That person doesn’t register on <Celestial Plate>……. The armor probably has <Magic Detection Immunity> on it……”
Loss of their most powerful combatant.
In principle, this is the point at which withdrawal should be chosen——but.
(Silver is the only person in the world who can make contact with the Saint……. Abandoning him and leaving could lead to a rift with the kingdom……)
(Conflict with Silver means conflict with the Saint itself——that absolutely cannot be allowed to happen!)
(Oh no……the two of them both have that look of ‘we’re going to search for them no matter what’……. Come on, let’s just go home. That person is monstrously strong, they’ll be fine on their own.)
Each of their thoughts crosses the other’s——
“——Let’s find Silver. We cannot afford to lose him here.”
“Yes, I agree.”
“Ugghh, of course it comes to this……”
They decide to press into the deep levels in order to find Silver.
Meanwhile, at that very moment, our beloved Saint is——
“Ugh, to think that I would fall for a ‘pit trap’……”
——having fallen to the deep levels via a classic trap.
Rewinding about one minute——Luna, holding down the rear of the formation, spots something in the corner of her vision: a treasure chest.
(Oh, treasure!)
Despite appearances, the Saint has a weakness for treasure chests in dungeons.
She is basically low on material desires and doesn’t particularly want anything in particular——but.
The ‘thrill’ of opening a treasure chest, that feeling——she loved it more than she could say.
(Owl-san and the others are concentrating so hard……I’d be disturbing them.)
Concluding this, Luna jogs over to the treasure chest, deciding to retrieve it quickly.
(Hehe, I wonder what’s inside……?)
The moment she touches the treasure chest, the floor opens up beneath her feet.
“……Huh……?”
Not even understanding what has happened, she falls straight down——and snaps a large quantity of bamboo spikes embedded at the bottom with her resilient back.
“Ugh, got me……”
Luna slowly gets up, climbs out of the deep hole, and moves to safe flat ground.
“Really……a pit trap, such a primitive thing. Nobody falls for those anymore.”
This profound wisdom comes from the Saint herself, who had just fallen for it thoroughly, like a wild animal.
“Still, I fell from quite high up……”
Luna gazes at the ceiling far overhead and sighs.
“This place is really quite the maze……. At this rate it might actually be faster to level it——”
Just as she gets that far, a ‘certain conversation’ from three hundred years ago flashes through her mind.
During a Saint’s party venture into an underground labyrinth inhabited by an evil demon——when Luna, in her entirely predictable fashion, got lost, exhausted all other options, and blew up the entire dungeon.
[……Saint-sama, please refrain from drastic actions underground. The rest of us cannot take it.]
[Are you trying to bury us alive……!?]
[Luna-san, are you familiar with the concept of ‘intelligence’?]
[I-I’m sorry……]
The bittersweet memory of being scolded by the party members resurfaces——
“……Yeah, let’s not.”
The plan to level the Theocracy is shelved immediately.
(I seem to be thinking about everyone a lot today……)
‘Infiltrating the Theocracy as a party’ inevitably overlaps with past experience, and fond memories of those days come rising naturally to mind.
“Well……what now.”
Currently, alone in enemy territory.
She needs to come up with some kind of plan.
“Phew, nothing for it……. Time to try that thing I haven’t used in a while.”
She focuses her mind and activates a certain spell.
“——<Celestial Plate>.”
In the next instant, an enormous detection circle spreads outward, comfortably exceeding a radius of three hundred kilometers.
“Hmm hmm……oh ho, I see……”
Luna presses a finger to her brow, runs her proud Saint-brain at full power, and analyzes the information around her.
Three minutes later——
“……It’s no good, I have no idea……”
She sinks to her knees on the ground, crushed by helplessness.
She had tried desperately to pick out Owl and the others’ magical energy——but not a thing came of it.
And for good reason. Luna has so absurdly much magical energy of her own that she cannot distinguish anyone else’s at all.
To her, ‘sword saint Owl Rastia’s magical energy’ and ‘an ordinary pillbug’s magical energy’ are not significantly different——they are practically equivalent.
Which means that even using <Celestial Plate> to detect magical energy, she cannot tell whether what she is sensing is Owl’s or a pillbug’s.
(Ugh, this is a problem……)
With her trump card detection magic also failing to produce results, the Saint, completely out of options——
“Well……if I just follow the corridors, I’ll catch up with everyone eventually, right?”
——and retaining the inexplicable confidence characteristic of those with no sense of direction, she sets off walking at a light-footed pace.
She has no scouting ability whatsoever, so poisoned bolts, falling rocks, crushing ceilings and more——
The Theocracy’s dangerous traps bare their fangs one after another.
But the simple unreasonableness of being ‘tough and strong’ leisurely tramples through kill-or-be-killed traps like they are theme park attractions.
(Heh, this is kind of like a theme park ride, maybe even a little fun……!)
Making her way freely down the path, a severe black-painted door comes into view.
“……’Third Forbidden Spell Laboratory’……? Could this be the ‘top priority’——”
The instant Luna grips the doorknob, a click sounds and a trap triggers, setting off a tremendous explosion.
Brilliant white light floods her vision, and scorching flames trample through the world——
“O-oh my goodness……!”
She blinks several times——and walks into the room as if nothing happened.
The Third Forbidden Spell Laboratory is extremely large, with enormous quantities of books and documents strewn about in every direction.
At the far end of the cluttered room——four demons lurking in the darkness, evil smiles on their faces.
“Heh, I’m surprised. To think you’d make it down this deep.”
“Hihih, how shall I play with this intruder……?”
“Hmhm, you are welcome here, armored one.”
“Bwahaha, welcome to hell!”
The demons clad in jet-black robes are all, for some reason, laughing.
“Um, you all are……?”
“We are the proud ‘Four Knights of Leonard’! We bear you no personal grudge——but now that you have seen this laboratory, we cannot allow you to live! We shall have you die here!”
“The Four Knights of Leonard……(Raios-san mentioned them as evil demons, I believe? Guarding a place this important, they must be holding a lot of information. If at all possible I’d like to capture them alive and hear what they have to say.)”
Just as Luna is thinking this——a red-haired demon bolts forward at tremendous speed.
“My name is Kien of the Raging Flames! With the supreme untamed fire in all the world, I will burn you to——bwugh!?”
As a result of Luna swinging her right hand with complete indifference——Kien of the Raging Flames slams violently into the ceiling, upper body embedded, and stops moving entirely.
“Hm, Kien is down……. But he was the weakest of the Four Knights……. Next is I, Fuga of the Killing Gale——bblugh!?”
Fuga of the Killing Gale, grabbed by the head, is immediately embedded full-body into the floor and silenced.
“Hm, you’ve defeated Kien and Fuga, that’s no small feat. Then I, Seiryu of the Celestial Waters, shall——gblp!?”
Seiryu of the Celestial Waters, hit by a light punch, detonates like a firework.
“……Huh……?”
The Four Knights of Leonard are instantly destroyed before each can finish their proclamation——leaving only one, ‘Raizaf of the Raging Thunder.’
“So, you’re the last one. (This is bad, this is bad……. I need to capture at least this demon alive……!)”
Having destroyed three valuable information sources, the Saint is breaking into a cold sweat on the inside——
But knowing none of this, Raizaf drops to both knees on the spot and bows his head deeply.
“I-I apologize deeply for the arrogant words I spoke earlier……. I will tell you anything. Please, just spare my life……!”
“Hmm……very well.”
“Th-thank you so much……!”
Having successfully secured an information source, Luna breathes a quiet sigh of relief on the inside——while feeling a small unease.
(I’m very glad they surrendered quietly, but……. I’m not good at interrogation.“)
She was too kind-hearted by nature to corner anyone harshly.
On top of that, her innately guileless personality means she tends to immediately believe whatever anyone tells her.
Her aptitude as an interrogator is, in the most literal sense, ‘zero.’
(There’s no point in showing weakness. Let’s do our best with what we can……!)
Luna gives a small cough and decides to try a mild threat.
“Ahem……. I have just now placed a terrible magic on you.”
“A-a terrible magic……?”
“Yes, a very terrible magic. If you lie in answer to my questions——”
“If I lie……”
“Various parts of you will explode, and you will die.”
“V-various parts……!?”
Raizaf trembles with terror.
(Wh-what a terrifying human……!)
Not a quick explosion death——exploding various parts of you——and then killing you.
This is a clear message. Lie even once, and ‘I will not give you an easy death.’ A cruel message.
(There is no doubt. This armor is a ‘sadistic homicidal maniac.’ The cruelty and viciousness, evil wearing a human face……! Far more frightening than any demon……!)
Raizaf trembles like a small animal and quietly awaits Luna’s questions.
“Right, let’s move to the questions. First, where is the founder Leonard——”
“——In the deepest level, the ‘Chamber of Unification’!”
Dominated by terror, Raizaf answers before the question is even fully out.
“I-I see……. Next question. I’ve been told there is a Sacred Relic in the Leonard Theocracy——is that true?”
“Yes. I’ve heard rumors that Leonard keeps it on his person at all times.”
“I see……. Is it just that one Sacred Relic here?”
“That should be the case, yes.”
“Out of curiosity, what form does it take? For example——is it something like a notebook?”
“I-I do apologize……. I don’t know that much……”
He answers every question honestly, without a single lie.
“——I see, that was helpful.”
“Th-then……!”
“Yes. As promised, I will spare your life.”
Luna says this and extends her right hand.
“Wait, no, hol——bwigh!?”
Raizaf, on the receiving end of a gentle finger-flick, goes sailing backwards——slams his entire body against the laboratory wall and immediately loses consciousness.
She promised not to take his life, but said nothing about letting him go.
Releasing a combat-hungry demon like this into the world would surely result in someone, somewhere, someday being hurt and made miserable.
And so Luna secures Raizaf’s person, intending to hand him over to Owl and the others.
“For now, into <Dimensional Storage>……hm?”
She pinches the unconscious Raizaf between two fingers, tosses him into subspace——and notices a certain ‘anomaly.’
“Wh-what is this……!?”
Caught by the aftershock of the earlier battle, part of the laboratory wall has crumbled away——and behind it, there are stairs leading further underground.
(There’s no question……a ‘hidden staircase’! Heh, quite a charming construction……!)
The villainess novels she loves so much are full of this sort of mechanism.
In the ‘established conventions’ of story worlds, descending these stairs leads to a secret small room, where the ‘darkness’ that royalty and nobility want hidden——the ‘top-secret information’ that must never reach the outside world——lies sleeping.
(Really now, you do know how to get the heart racing……!)
Luna, visibly in high spirits, descends the spiraling stone staircase——and exactly as anticipated, a small hidden room is found.
A desk, a chair, a shelf——a sparse workspace with only the bare minimum of furnishings.
“Hmm hmm……the suspicious item is, as expected, this.”
She pulls two or three folders at random from the large number lined up on the shelf and skims through the contents.
“……’Plan for the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Elgia’……’Soul Reincarnation Experiments Using Necromantic Magic and Clay Dolls’……’Contract with Zel, the Great Swordsman of the Saint’s Party’……?”
The information now in Luna’s hands was the Leonard Theocracy’s ‘most classified secrets.’