Vampire Ruins Gate (6)

"Ku, kgh!?"

At Ian's sudden appearance, Johnson bit down hard on his own tongue.

Something warm and wet seeped from his mouth, and when he wiped it with his hand, it was blood.

"U-Urgh...!"

His tongue stung, as if it had been crushed.

"Ugh! Y-you scared me, you little bastard!"

Johnson screamed at Ian as he turned around.

He was so creeped out that goosebumps prickled all over his back, but he was putting on an angry act to hide his trembling.

'Ugh! That freak! H-he didn't overhear what we were saying, did he?'

They had been talking nonstop until now about ambushing and attacking the other party, waiting for an opportunity.

They had said nothing that would sound strange even if the other side started swinging their swords any second now.

"You came at just the right time."

Fortunately or not, the boy showed no sign of hostility.

"We were just needing more people."

"M-more people?"

At Ian's words, Johnson gulped down the bloody saliva.

Up until now, the two of them had been overturning the ruins just fine by themselves.

And now, they suddenly needed more people?

Was there actually something in this gate capable of stopping those two?

What on earth was ahead?

"To open the way, we have to solve a puzzle that requires five people."

"Oh, a puzzle."

If it's blocked by a puzzle, it makes sense that they'd have trouble progressing.

Puzzles required not only simple combat prowess but also intelligence for problem-solving, and, depending on the situation, as now, even a certain number of people.

But still.

Just what kind of puzzle is it that you need as many as five people to solve it?

"You'll understand faster if you see for yourself. Follow me."

Ian gestured and took the lead.

"W-what should we do, Johnson?"

The party members turned questioning eyes to Johnson.

Their stares clearly asked, 'Are we going to follow him?'

Meeting their gazes, Johnson let out a sigh and nodded.

"We have no choice but to go along for now."

If they acted out and a fight broke out, they'd be in serious trouble.

Having already been caught by this boy, there was no other option but to comply.

Hadn't they seen enough on the way here?

Monsters butchered so mercilessly that their corpses looked like rags.

If a fight broke out, they'd end up in the same shape as those bodies.

"Follow quietly. And don't provoke them for no reason."

"Tsk."

"We have no choice."

"Got it."

Johnson and his party trailed about five paces behind Ian.

― Thud, thud.

Their footsteps echoed along the ruin's deep, dark corridors.

"Haa..."

Following Ian, Johnson was struck by a delayed sense of regret.

'I shouldn't have gotten caught like this.'

He should have run straight back to camp the moment he confirmed that the boy and girl were alive.

'Looks like my chance to steal that expensive sword is gone.'

That top-grade longsword the girl had was still tempting, but unless they ambushed them, there was no way to deal with those kids.

He had no hope of winning in a head-on fight.

'I was hoping they'd just end up dead from the monsters.'

If so, he could just quietly swipe the expensive sword and equipment from their corpses – things would've been much easier.

Honestly, he'd come down here clinging to that slim possibility.

But the boy and girl were both alive and kicking.

If he'd known they'd survive, he would've returned to camp the moment he saw those monster corpses.

His greed had been excessive, and now he had wound up with a noose around his neck.

'So what happens now?'

Will he end up teaming up with them to take down the boss after all?

Do they bear any hard feelings about the earlier fight when they entered the gate?

Or are they secretly planning some sort of revenge?

'I can't read this kid—makes me nervous...'

Various thoughts ran through his head, but in the end, all Johnson and his party could do was follow Ian's lead.

"Young master. Shall we go in now?"

As they passed near the campfire, Sophia called out to Ian.

"Yeah. We'll go right in as soon as the door's open, so pack up in advance."

"Yup."

'Young master?'

Hearing Sophia's title for Ian, one of Johnson's eyebrows rose.

'So that boy has a higher status than the girl.'

Almost unconsciously, Johnson glanced over at Sophia.

She paid no attention to Johnson's party and was shoveling roasted marshmallows into her mouth as if she didn't care about them at all.

Even though the people they'd had a big fight with were walking right past, she showed neither agitation nor fear.

'She must be that confident in her skills.'

The brown-haired girl was probably a knight who came along to guard the boy.

'If she came as his bodyguard, then the girl's probably even stronger than the boy.'

Johnson was glad he hadn't tried to take them by surprise.

Though the situation wasn't good for him now, at least he hadn't provoked the girl, so he'd avoided the worst.

"Young master! Make sure to call me as soon as the door opens! Don't go in alone!"

"Don't worry."

"And you lot!"

Sophia glared at Johnson's party, eyes blazing.

"If you try any funny business with the young master, I'll run you through on the spot. So behave."

"U-Urgh...!"

Hearing that, Johnson's throat bobbed.

He had barely escaped death at the hands of the boy—it was obvious that if the girl stepped in as well, he might end up crippled for good.

At least before, mercy had let them get a potion during the fight with the boy, but a second time, there'd be no such luck.

"Guh...!"

"U-Uhh..."

His party members' faces turned pale, as if they felt the same.

"W-we came to help too!"

"Yeah! O-our first meeting wasn't great, but we're all on the same team, right?"

"That's right! Why are you being so hostile?"

At that pitiful spectacle, Ian shook his head with a faint smile.

"If you came to help, great. Follow me, I have something for you to do right now."

Ian kept leading Johnson and his party.

The third-rate adventurers nervously followed Ian.

Past the campfire, over a stone bridge spanning a deep chasm, a gigantic gateway appeared before them.

"T-this is...!"

The boss room.

"Why the face?"

Ian looked at Johnson, who was staring in shock.

"Ah, n-nothing!"

Johnson forced himself to act calm.

'No way—the puzzle we're supposed to solve is for the boss room door!?'

If they solve the puzzle, what happens next?

Do they all go in to fight the boss together?

If so, then within a few hours, they'd be out of the gate.

'... Yeah. That's probably for the best.'

He had seen and felt far too much on the way here.

The option of fighting those two was gone a long time ago.

'The fact that I can walk out alive after confronting them is basically a miracle.'

Money and reputation were important for adventurers, but those could never come before a person's life.

In the end, everyone just wanted to stay alive.

"So after solving the puzzle, we just fight the boss together, right?"

"Hm? No?"

Ian looked at Johnson as if asking what nonsense he was spouting.

"You guys just have to open the door, that's all."

"What? What about the boss fight?"

"That's nothing for you to worry about. Look over there."

Ian pointed ahead with his finger.

As they followed his hand, they saw three small pedestals in front of the massive gate.

"Pedestals?"

On each pedestal, a hand-shaped indentation was carved.

Apparently, you were supposed to place your palm on it.

"So it was just a puzzle that needed enough people."

Three people were needed to cover all the pedestal handprints.

Those kids must have been stuck because there were only two of them.

"Hm?"

Looking closer, there was a blade rising in the center of each handprint.

It seemed to be a device that opened with human blood.

"Tsk. This'll sting a bit."

"We need three people for those pedestals, and there are two more behind them."

Ian pointed a little higher.

"Hm?"

Following his finger, they noticed two large stone-face statues attached to the gateway.

Enormous sculpted faces modeled after ghouls.

The faces had their mouths wide open, and inside was space for a person to fit.

"This feels... really ominous—don't tell me..."

"Come on, I'll show you up close."

― Thud. Thud.

"Ugh!"

Johnson peered inside the mouth of one of the face statues and cursed.

"Damn it! Fuck!"

Even at a glance, this was no simple device that just drew blood.

The ominous spikes embedded in the roof of the mouth were proof enough.

"T-this is...!"

Anyone going in here would definitely die.

"Shit! Just my luck!"

This was a type of puzzle that only showed up when you were really unlucky.

A door that only opened with a sacrifice.

"W-wait! We'll go get some porters to go in for us!"

"Porters? What the hell are you talking about?"

Ian grabbed Johnson by the scruff as he tried to run.

"U-Urgh!?"

"The sacrificial lamb has to be one of you."

"W-what!?"

At Ian's words, Johnson and his party all gasped in horror.

"W-what are you saying!?"

"You want us to go in there!?"

"Wh-why! Why us!?"

"You're just saying we should die!"

The third-rate adventurers protested like they were having seizures.

Of course, this was to be expected.

No adventurer would just calmly give up their life in a situation like this.

But Ian wasn't negotiating.

"If not you, who else should go in? You want me to do it?"

He was just informing them how it was going to be.

"N-no!"

Johnson and his party wailed.

"We could use porters instead! We'd be useful in the boss fight!"

"T-that's right! You're just a kid, so maybe you don't know, but it's customary for porters to take on these risks!"

"Yeah! That's what porters sign up for—taking these kinds of risks!"

Ian gave the third-raters a cold, contemptuous stare.

"Looks like I was right to choose you for the sacrifice."

Not only had these bastards been after Sophia's sword since before entering the gate, now they were trying to sacrifice innocent porters without a second thought.

Rotten to the core.

Even if they survived, they'd be nothing but a blight on others for the rest of their lives.

For people like these, dying now was a contribution to the world.

Ian never considered himself a good person, but looking at fools this openly trashy filled him with murderous intent.

"If you can't go in on your own, I'll throw you in myself."

― Whoosh!

― Chk!

Ian pointed Vladiark at Johnson's party.

A stance like he would run them through at any moment.

Faced with that hair-trigger tension, Johnson and his party froze, unable to swallow.

'Shit, fuck...'

With that gigantic sword, still crusted with the blood and flesh of monsters, leveled at them, his whole body went rigid and his mind went blank.

At that moment—

"Wh-why are you doing this to us! Is it because we fought when we first entered the gate!?"

Linda, the 2nd-circle mage, burst out in a last-ditch protest.

"Johnson's the only one who fought you! Why punish all of us!?"

"Wh-what?"

Johnson looked at Linda with a face twisted by betrayal.

"Y-you—!"

But that sort of appeal had no effect on Ian.

"Bullshit."

To Ian, all of them were just the same trash.

"You're all the same. You were all after my companion's sword even before entering the gate."

"... What?"

"... Huh?"

― Thud!

The hearts of Johnson's party dropped to the floor.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

The misunderstanding that Sophia was stronger than Ian.

It made me giggle.

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】