Arc-7 Ch-59

How much time had passed since I parted ways with Father and Ariel and started making my way down the dark passageways of the ruins?

It felt as though less than an hour had passed, and yet, at the same time, it seemed as though I’d already been wandering for several days.

If I asked the Lost Item floating lightly above my head and illuminating the darkness, it would probably give me the exact amount of time that had passed.

Yet somehow, I was afraid to ask. After all, someone as thoroughly timid and rather shy as I was had no business traveling alongside such an incomprehensible being in the first place.

Father, with whom it had a long history, or the fearless Ariel would no doubt have hurled insults at it while relentlessly prying every scrap of information they could out of it.

Another fresh wave of self-loathing over my own cowardice made my steps feel heavier.

I had received military training in the Bartfort territory and participated in drills at the Royal Academy, yet today was my first real battle.

The fact that I’d fought monsters countless times on the way to the central part of the ruins without suffering any serious injuries was nothing short of a miracle.

Even though Father was highly skilled as a soilder, a complete novice like me, or Ariel, should have been little more than dead weight.

If Ariel hadn’t suddenly awakened to her magic, we never would’ve made it this far.

I stopped that line of thought there. From this point onward, comparing Father, my twin younger sister, and my own useless self would only send me spiraling deeper into endless self-loathing.

“Hey… you.”

『What is it?』

“Ah… no, um…”

The clumsy words that slipped from my mouth only dragged my spirits down further. I shouldn’t have said anything.

I still couldn’t get used to the Lost Item’s inorganic responses.

After all, it looked like a large mechanical eyeball floating in midair, its red core projecting a faint light that illuminated the passageway ahead.

It had been less than three days since I’d learned that technology like this even existed in our world.

I wanted to scream that there was no way I could possibly escape this labyrinthine ruin, still crawling with monsters, while accompanied by a mechanical eyeball I could barely even hold a conversation with.

“How much longer do you think it’ll be before we can get outside?”

What came out of my mouth was simply a question about how long the escape might take.

There were probably other things I should’ve asked the Lost Item as well.

Yet in my nervousness, the question I ended up asking was this passive one about how much longer this hellish silence was likely to continue.

Regret washed over me the moment the words left my mouth, but even a Saintess-sama couldn’t turn back time.

Why was it that I always failed to deal with things properly?

『Based on the information downloaded from the ruins, a route of escape has been selected. Taking your current course of action and physical data into consideration, it is estimated that you will reach the surface in under one thousand seconds.』

“I-I see.”

『That is, of course, under the premise that the data is accurate and that you do not engage in combat even once.』

“…Sorry. Maybe I should’ve just avoided the monsters and made my way out after all?”

After Father ordered me to escape the ruins, I had discussed the best course of action with the Lost Item.

The policy I ultimately chose was to take the route that appeared to be as safe as possible, while avoiding combat whenever I could.

To put it bluntly, my combat ability was overwhelmingly inferior to Father’s, and since Ariel had awakened to her magical power during the fighting in the ruins, I was the weakest of the three.

Well, even during the feudal army’s training, I’d almost never managed to beat Ariel anyway.

In any case, for someone like me to race through ruins that still seemed to be teeming with monsters, all by myself, was nothing short of an act of suicide.

I had already used up a considerable number of the highly lethal magic bullets on our way to the central part of the ruins, while Father and Ariel had resolved to fight the Magical Armored Beasts in order to buy me enough time to escape to the surface.

The only act of filial piety left to me as I fled was to hand over every remaining magic bullet to Father.

If I encountered monsters with the equipment I had left, there was no question that I’d be the one to die, so the only solution was to choose a route that avoided them as much as possible.

Guided by the light the Lost Item cast along the passageway, I proceeded cautiously, and whenever it seemed that I might encounter a monster, I held my breath and hid in the shadows.

At times, I even had to retrace my steps, and it was only by doing so that I had finally made it this far. Honestly, both my heart and my body were already in tatters.

“If it were Father, he would’ve slipped past the monsters along the way far more skillfully, and if it were Ariel, she could’ve driven them away with her magical flames, I think.”

『An operational policy that avoids unnecessary combat and minimizes expenditure is a quality befitting an excellent officer.』

“I’m just a coward, pure and simple. I’m sure Father would’ve wiped those monsters out without any trouble.”

Having watched Father’s fighting style up close today, I genuinely believed that from the bottom of my heart.

While calmly dealing with the monsters that attacked us as he led a pair of virtual rookies, he had nearly subdued the elves with his bare hands.

All I’d been able to do was provide pure support, covering Father and Ariel without pause. No matter how I looked at it, I didn’t resemble the heir who would one day inherit the territory and army of the Earl of Bartfort.

Moreover, when Father had devised the plan to lure the Magical Armored Beasts away and have someone escape the ruins, I had insisted on staying behind.

No, more than insisted, I had objected to Father’s plan and nearly turned it into an argument.

That had been the wrong thing to do at such a critical moment. Clearly, the excitement of the battle had affected my state of mind, and I’d done something foolish that I normally never would have.

I really had been out of my mind. It must have been because my twin younger sister, Ariel, had awakened to her magical power.

Looking back, ever since we were children, Ariel had been able to handle all sorts of things with ease, while I could manage only what was ordinary.

“That’s not true,” everyone living in the Bartfort territory would surely say.

It was true that I had been at the top of my class at the local academy, and that I’d scored well enough on the Royal Academy entrance examination to be placed in the advanced class.

But the high marks I achieved were largely thanks to the influence of Mother, a former duke’s daughter who possessed the highest level of education in the Holfort Kingdom.

With a mother who possessed the finest knowledge in the country, and by relentlessly working through past entrance questions while making certain I never repeated the same mistakes, anyone’s chances of stumbling over the exam questions would naturally decrease.

Rather, I had always thought that Ariel, who normally hated studying yet passed the entrance examination with almost no special preparation, was the one who excelled at quick judgment and adaptability.

Father was Earl Leon Fou Bartfort, who had been granted his title and territory through martial valor.

Mother was Countess Angelica Fou Bartfort, a former duke’s daughter who possessed impeccable knowledge and etiquette.

The children born to such parents had, from a young age, excelled in all sorts of talents.

Except for the still-young Dylan and mediocre me.

“If it were Ariel, she would’ve taken down the attacking monsters with fire magic. And she would’ve already taken the shortest route and escaped the ruins long ago.”

『And the two of you who remained in the ruins, Leon Fou Bartfort and yourself, would, in all likelihood, have been defeated by the abominable, hideous, and repulsive monsters produced by this ruin, existences that defile the world merely by continuing to exist.』

“…That’s a rather harsh way of putting it.”

『Are you referring to my attitude toward you New Humans? Or toward that monster who should be erased from this foolish ruin and from every conceivable form of memory storage?』

“You know exactly what I'm saying, you’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you? Well, I’ll openly admit that my abilities are only average.”

『You resemble Leon Fou Bartfort.』

“Me, resembling Father? Stop with the jokes that aren’t funny. Where exactly do I look like Father?”

『Your strong sense of inferiority and your tendency to constantly compare yourself with others and sink into depression are also personality traits of Leon Fou Bartfort.』

“Huh?”

Father, a man with a strong sense of inferiority?

That couldn’t be right.

At the age I was now, Father had left home, entered the kingdom’s army, and, while still young, distinguished himself in the war against the former Fanoss Principality and been granted a title.

How many youths in the Holfort Kingdom could have accomplished something like that in their teens?

It would’ve been absolutely impossible for me, and probably for Ariel as well.

The only ones who might have managed it were Saint Olivia-sama and the five heroes.

While I took pride in having such a father, being chosen as the heir to the Earl of Bartfort family was an enormous source of pressure.

How could I avoid disappointing Father and Mother? What could I do to reduce the number of mistakes I made?

Living in a constant state of anxiety, desperately studying and training while playing the part of an excellent heir, was terribly troublesome and exhausting.

Yet I’d managed to keep going because I respected Father and Mother from the bottom of my heart.

“Father is a man of abundant strategy, yet bold courage. Looking at the way he fought today, how can you possibly have reached that conclusion?”

『Forgive my impertinence, but how old are you?』

“Fifteen.”

『I first encountered Leon Fou Bartfort after you were born, yet the amount of time I have spent conducting operations alongside him overwhelmingly exceeds the time you have spent with him.』

“So you’re saying you know Father better than I do?”

『Yes. When Leon Fou Bartfort and I first met, we fought with the mutual intention of killing one another. Thereafter, we entered into a cooperative relationship for the sake of mutual benefit.』

“You’re small enough that even I could probably shoot you down.”

『I am merely one terminal. The main body is a space battleship left behind by the Old Humans.』

“…Sorry. My head refuses to make sense of that topic.”

Incomprehensible terms flew back and forth, far beyond the limits of my clumsy imagination.

If I tried to think about it any further, I could feel a headache coming on, and that would only interfere with my ability to continue the operation.

I had to change the subject somehow. Otherwise, I felt as though I might stumble into some unknown world, and the thought frightened me. Though, considering that I was currently wandering through these ancient ruins, that argument didn't have much persuasive power.

『Leon Fou Bartfort tends to avoid unnecessary combat. Even when conducting operations with me that involve gathering information or seizing items, he acts with the avoidance of combat firmly in mind.』

“…I get the feeling you just slipped something extremely dangerous into that explanation, but would you mind continuing for now?”

『He complains a great deal during operations, and whenever the opportunity arises, he voices his dissatisfaction with the current situation and directs harsh words at me.』

“Could you maybe overlook something like that? Father originally comes from the lower nobility, so he grew up without learning the manners expected of the high nobility and has had a difficult time because of it.”

『Regarding the alleviation of his stress toward aristocratic society, I propose that his dependency upon Angelica Fou Bartfort is extremely high.』

“No, that’s something I find difficult to say myself. It’s true that Father and Mother get along a little too well, but…”

『During operations conducted alongside me, the number of times Leon Fou Bartfort muttered the name of Angelica Fou Bartfort ranged from a minimum of seven to a maximum of twenty-three.』

“That many?”

『If you doubt it, I can play back the recorded audio data of his voice.』

“Absolutely not.”

My tone grew sharper before I could stop myself.

I couldn’t help reacting that way. There was no way I ever wanted to hear Father’s voice muttering Mother’s name over and over again.

Even without that, the two of them would start flirting right there in the mansion, completely disregarding the fact that their children were present.

No matter how affectionate their marriage was, I wasn’t saintly enough to keep watching that forever.

『Continuing to listen to Leon Fou Bartfort’s complaints, which contain little of informational value, is an act that wastes my recording capacity, so I have attempted on numerous occasions to advise him to stop. Yet he still shows no sign of heeding me.』

“It seems Father has caused you quite a bit of trouble, but I don’t think he meant any harm by it. …Probably. Surely. Most likely.”

『As his increasingly frequent complaints began to consume my memory capacity, I determined that retaining them was inefficient. I therefore analyzed their content and examined his personality traits and psychological tendencies.』

“And what did you find?”

『He does not possess particularly high resistance to stress. He would, in fact, prefer to abandon his position as lord at the earliest opportunity.』

“…It never seemed that way to me.”

『Putting on a front in front of his own children is one of his psychological characteristics.』

I had enough evidence to believe that what the Lost Item was saying was true.

Father always looked far happier when he was tilling the fields at the secondary residence or spending his time fishing and hunting than when he had to conduct himself with the dignity expected of a feudal lord.

Whenever he was required to attend social functions among the nobility or take up an official post in the capital, he frequently wore an expression of profound distaste.

And if he’d also had to deal with a Lost Item like this one, the strain on Father’s mind must have been immeasurable.

It was only natural that he’d occasionally let his complaints slip out.

『His abnormally frequent physical contact with Angelica Fou Bartfort is another manifestation of this. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Leon Fou Bartfort is dependent upon her.』

“Dependent… I’d rather you didn’t put it that way.”

『Yet it is a fact. His psychological state is extremely precarious, and it is certain that there would be nothing unusual about him developing physical or mental abnormalities as a result of excessive stress.』

“Well, I have a pretty good idea of what you mean, so it’s difficult to deny.”

『On the other hand, Angelica Fou Bartfort also considers being relied upon by Leon Fou Bartfort to be the height of happiness. Her abilities are recognized by her husband, she serves as the de facto ruler of the territory’s administration, and she acts as an intermediary with various parties. Without his wife, Leon Fou Bartfort would be incapable of functioning as a lord.』

“That’s enough. If you say anything more, I really will get angry.”

I could sense that there was some truth to what it was saying.

Even from the perspective of someone educated as the heir to the Earl of Bartfort family, Father was neither particularly outstanding nor particularly inadequate as a lord.

In the roughly twenty years since Father had become a titled noble, the fact that the Bartfort territory had achieved a reasonable degree of development was due in large part to the support of Mother’s natal house, the Redgrave ducal family.

The superior political ability of Mother, who had received an elite education as the daughter of a duke, was another major factor.

But I didn’t want their joint governance of the territory, working hand in hand, to be reduced to nothing more than an alignment of interests or mutual dependence.

The two of them truly and deeply loved one another. Otherwise, there was no way he would have disregarded his own lives and deliberately ventured into dungeons or ruins crawling with monsters in order to restore Mother.

Perhaps this Lost Item made such claims simply because it was incapable of understanding human affection.

To be honest, I wanted to keep my contact with this sharp-tongued Lost Item to the absolute minimum necessary.

Yet escaping the ruins was impossible without the cooperation of this spherical Lost Item, which illuminated the dark passageways and guided me through them.

Ah, why did the world have to be so full of absurdity?

『…Please halt.』

“Is another monster approaching?”

『We have arrived at the destination.』

At those words, I looked around and noticed that only one section of the wall was unnaturally discolored and sunken inward.

From a distance, its shape might even have been mistaken for a warped door. The reason I hadn’t recognized it at a glance was probably because the ruins were filled with nothing but the ordinary signs of age, from rust and cracks to countless other forms of deterioration.

Relief and anxiety surged through me at the same time. From any angle, there wasn’t the slightest indication that a safe escape route lay beyond it.

“…You’re telling me to escape from here?”

『Horizontal escape routes would require a considerable amount of time to traverse and carry the possibility of encountering hostile creatures along the way. However, this emergency exit allows you to reach the surface through a route that is almost entirely vertical.』

“Look, you did say this was the fastest escape route. But it’s clearly on the verge of collapsing, isn’t it?”

『Under the present circumstances, this route is the shortest. Of course, that assumes the data provided by the ruins is reliable and that no collapses have occurred with the passage of time.』

“That’s an awful lot of wishful thinking…”

『If you so desire, I can calculate an escape route via a different path starting now.』

“All right, I’ll give it a try for now. If it doesn’t work, we can find another way out.”

『Understood.』

Resigned to my fate, I hooked my hands into the wall and tried pushing it forward, pulling it back, and shifting it from side to side in succession.

It felt like trying to force open a poorly fitted door. Every time I put my weight into shaking the wall, the sound of metal scraping against metal rang out, while dust mixed with flakes of rusted metal rained down around me, making me feel even more miserable.

After continuing like that for a while, the wall suddenly toppled inward with a deafening crash.

Beyond the cloud of dust that billowed up, the space revealed itself to be surprisingly shallow. It was so narrow that only a few dozen steps would carry me to the opposite wall.

Standing in the center of that cramped room was a metal spiral staircase.

When I approached it and touched the handrail, I found that the corrosion was far worse than I’d expected. It felt so fragile that gripping it with any real force seemed liable to make it crumble apart in my hand.

『It appears the information downloaded from the ruins was correct. However, it seems the calculations did not account for the deterioration of areas within the facility that had ceased functioning.』

“…Am I really supposed to climb this?”

『This is the shortest escape route.』

“It looks like it could collapse at any moment.”

『The fact that the ruins remain operational at all is something of a miracle. I advise considering the mere absence of a collapse or cave-in to be a fortunate circumstance.』

“…Just to be sure, can’t you fly me to the exit while carrying me on your back?”

『This terminal’s output is insufficient. Transporting a human or cargo is impossible, I believe.』

“I still can’t quite decide whether you’re useful or not.”

『I previously received a similar assessment from Leon Fou Bartfort.』

I was beginning to dislike the spherical object floating in front of me, if only because it was so exceptionally good at saying exactly the things I didn’t want to hear.

Father must have gone through exchanges like this with this Lost Item countless times.

Realizing that my thoughts had wandered that far, I shook my head from side to side, forcing those unnecessary thoughts out of my mind.

What mattered was escaping the ruins while Father and Ariel held back the Magical Armored Beasts, allowing us to prepare for the worst.

Steeling myself, I placed one foot on the first step and slowly shifted my weight onto it.

Creak…

The sound of straining metal echoed through the narrow room. For the moment, at least, it seemed to be holding.

『It appears to be capable of bearing your weight for now.』

“Don’t tell me you were testing whether it would break under my weight?”

『Empirical data is indispensable.』

“I really don’t think I’m ever going to get along with you.”

『However, I cannot declare it absolutely safe. There are damaged steps along the way, as well as areas where the components have rusted. Furthermore, I cannot guarantee that Magical Armored Beasts or other artificial life-forms will not pursue us.』

“I know.”

The monsters that had attacked us had sometimes crawled along the ceiling before striking.

If they pursued us into this narrow room, or if the already weakened staircase collapsed beneath us, death would be certain.

I had no choice but to move as quickly as possible while taking care not to destroy the stairs myself, and reach the exit before any of that could happen.

“I’m going to keep going, so tell me whenever there’s a dangerous spot.”

『Understood.』

The unpleasant sensation of cold sweat soaking through my back made my skin crawl.

If the stairs gave way halfway up, I’d plunge straight down and die for certain. Trembling at the thought, I carefully moved one foot after another.

With every step, the creaking metal grated against my nerves. I wanted to grab the handrail for support, but touching it carelessly seemed likely to put additional strain on the staircase itself, so I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

The ruins and dungeon had a two-layer structure, but the ceiling was so high that the vertical distance was equivalent to more than four stories of an ordinary building.

There were probably more than a hundred steps. Praying that there wasn’t a single broken one hidden among them, I continued upward.

Whenever I came across a step that had already decayed, I avoided it. Whenever I reached a point where I thought I couldn’t proceed, I relied on the Lost Item’s assistance. At last, after what felt like an eternity, I reached the topmost step.

『Well done. This concludes the staircase.』

“F-finally… we’re here…”

『However, you took far too much time. Compared with reaching the surface by another route, there is no significant difference.』

“As long as we can avoid combat, that’s fine. Let’s hurry ahead.”

『Beyond this point, there is only the exit. Of course, we must also consider the possibility that the exit is buried, or that the door itself will not open.』

“Do you have to say something unpleasant every single time? Can’t you just let me have a moment to rest?!”

A short distance ahead stood a thick metal door. Rust had spread across its surface in patches, and the circular handle looked as though it might snap off the moment I touched it.

Apparently, turning the handle was enough to unlock it. Taking care not to apply so much force that it might break or detach, I slowly began to turn it.

At first, the handle seemed to spin freely. Then the resistance gradually changed, as though something inside had finally caught. Exercising the utmost caution, I continued turning until the handle reached its limit.

The moment it did, a loud noise and a violent vibration ran through my entire body.

Creeeak…

Through the narrow gap that opened, I could see a mass of plants tangled around the other side of the door.

It seemed that the exit itself wasn’t buried underground, but the dense growth surrounding it prevented the door from opening properly.

I gripped the knife I’d taken from my rucksack, thrust the tip of the blade into the gap, and worked it back and forth again and again.

Fortunately, what had become tangled around the door was nothing more than overgrown vines and plant trunks. If an actual great tree had grown across it, there was no way a mere knife would’ve been enough to cut through.

Once I confirmed that I’d created a gap wide enough for a single person to pass through, I forced my body through the doorway.

I stumbled out through the door, tumbled forward, and collapsed onto the ground. For the first time in my life, I thought the scent of earth and grass was wonderful.

Between the trees, I could see the blue sky and drifting clouds. The sun continued to pour its warm light all the way down to the surface without restraint.

It felt as though I’d spent dozens of days trapped inside those dark ruins.

Before I knew it, my cheeks were wet.

They weren’t droplets falling from the trees.

They were tears, overflowing from both of my eyes.

Apparently, returning to the surface had made me happier than even I could comprehend.

The tears continued to fall, one after another, and I couldn’t do anything to hold back the emotions surging through me.

『Lionel Fou Bartfort. Please begin acting at once.』

“I know. Can you tell me how much time has passed since we entered the ruins?”

『Approximately six hours. There are not even three hours remaining until sunset.』

“I see. Then what should I do from here?”

Should I rendezvous with Mother and the others at the elf settlement?

But considering how long it would take the Magical Armored Beasts to reach the surface, heading for the airfield might be the wiser choice.

Ah, but the airfield where the airship belonging to the Bartfort family was moored was under blockade, wasn’t it?

So many possibilities came to mind that I had no idea which one was actually the right choice. If only Father were here with me at a time like this.

Zuuuuun

Suddenly, the densely packed trees surrounding me began to shake violently.

A thunderous roar and a violent vibration that seemed to well up from the depths of the earth made me lose my balance and collapse onto all fours.

In this world, where people lived upon floating islands, earthquakes were almost unheard of.

If a major tremor did occur, it was generally regarded as a harbinger of something tremendously ominous.

Something was happening.

And whatever it was, it was far worse than anything I could have imagined.

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Authors Note

┻━⁠━━━━⁠━━⁠━━━⁠┻

Currently writing while reading Volume 6 of That World and the Republic arc comic adaptation. (Greeting)

In the original work, Leon becomes the hero who saves the nation and eventually the first king of the new kingdom. In this world, however, he’s regarded as a talented individual, though not one who stands on the same level as the protagonist Olivia or the Five Idiots.

When a parent is an exceptional figure, their children often develop complexes of their own, and Lionel is struggling beneath that overwhelming pressure.

Dispelling his sense of inferiority will also be one of the themes of this story.

Addendum: At the request from the client, illustrations were drawn by Osuwani-sama, Doi-sama, GoonSSO-sama, and Ie-sama.

Thank you very much indeed.

Osuwani-sama　Pixiv (Note: adult content)

Doi-sama　Pixiv

GoonSSO-sama　Pixiv

Ie-sama　Pixiv (Note: adult content)

I’d be grateful for any opinions or impressions, as they’ll serve as encouragement for the future.