140 – audience room

A needlessly large and opulent door with dazzling gold decorations sticking to it.

It was around the time that I, who had been staring at the crystallization of the waste of money for a while, was about to reach down to the doorknob as if possessed by something.

”Well, wait a minute! Rowville!”

I heard someone’s urgent voice from behind.

My body flinched at the unexpected commotion, and my gaze naturally twisted in the direction the voice came from.

”Downa…?”

Even at a glance, the identity was Downa, who showed signs of concern.

Shortness of breath and a few drops of sweat on my forehead.

The exhausted aspects, which were not like her usual, which were separated from active actions, were enough to clearly illuminate my consciousness, which was not perfect due to successive tribulations.

”What’s wrong with Downa here…”

”I’ll explain later! Get out of there as soon as possible! hurry!”

She put her cane on the back of my neck and pulled me roughly.

Perhaps thanks to her own consideration, misfortunes such as being strangled or getting hit on the buttocks didn’t happen, but that didn’t ease the bewilderment in her thoughts.

”Downa… I’m sure you weren’t in a bad mood yesterday, so you didn’t say you’d take medicine and get some sleep after a long time…?”

”That, that’s it!”

As if hit the right spot, Dauna hurriedly looked away.

Whether it was because of her natural constitution or because of her extraordinary passion for learning, she always suffers from chronic lack of sleep, so she could stay awake five days a week, but if she made up her mind to go to sleep, she would fall asleep all day.

So it didn’t make sense that Downa, who declared sleep only last night, was already awake at such an early hour.

”ha·····. Look, mana, you messed with magic tools until they leaked into me again…? Because it’s sure to be poisonous to health. How many times have I told you to fix that bad habit…”

”Sir, that’s noisy! Are you going to be my mother? Besides, how can you say such stupid things when you don’t even know who kept me awake all night!’

”Oops! No, what else am I!”

Concerned about her health, what came back was nervous highs and ruthless violence.

It’s a pity to see that your eyes are more than twice as bloodshot as usual. What.

The attack of the wooden staff aimed precisely at the head was quite fierce, but since it was Downa’s beating, which was the only one in the party with almost no difference in power between me and me, honestly, it didn’t hurt that much.

Because Downa herself is mindful of that, she’ll play pranks like this on me.

”Downa. Am I too busy right now? So, let’s stop kidding around here and get out of the way…”

”What a joke! Stop talking nonsense!”

After confirming my declaration of surrender by raising both hands, I deftly tried to grab the doorknob of the audience room again, but Dauna, who flung her body like a flying squirrel, resolutely blocked my path.

”I’ll never pass here until my eyes get dirt! Rowville! you! How dangerous is this place? Do you know that!?”

”Yes·····?”

It wasn’t her words or actions that stopped me, but her expression and eyes.

That will, which was filled with sincerity in black eyes, which is rare in this system, was shining too bright to be dismissed as a mere joke.

”Whoa… I get it… It would be difficult for me to accept that I am blindly convinced by the conclusion lacking such an introduction. this is my mistake It seems that the usual bad habit has come out again. Then—!”

”Dauna, Downa! What now!”

Douna, who had fumbled with her index finger for a long time at her own crooked brow, suddenly turned around and swung her staff at the door of the audience room.

For a fleeting moment, just by seeing that pose, I was able to guess what Downa was about to do.

Matan.

Among the thousands of magic that Dauna has acquired, it is the simplest, but boasts the fastest speed.

Until I saw Apis’ arrow, it was remembered as the fastest projectile in my life.

Quaang! Kwajik!

A terrifying crash echoed through the hallway before my earlier shouts.

However, the direction the sound came from was not from the door of the audience room, but right next to Dauna who used the magic.

It was coming from the wall visible through the blood that ran through her long dark hair.

Bass.

From the very moment when the crumbled grains of the wall fell to the floor, the surrounding time, which had been stopped for a while, began to move slowly.

”What the hell is this…”

”It’s a miracle of reflection. It is said that only the first saint, Honorel, was able to slash all the ungodly beings that came towards him. I remember seeing it in torture the other day, but I never thought it was a technique that existed in the real world and not a legend…”

Even if it was out of position just a little bit, it would have blown a hole in my head.

Dauna, carelessly tidying up her burnt hair, looked very calm.

”Listening to the servants, they say that you’ve been in this state ever since you fell asleep. It is said to be stubbornly rejecting all beings approaching the door without a single exception. Moreover, if you try to open the door forcibly like before, it will even launch a counterattack like this. I heard that priests with high positions are still discussing countermeasures against this.”

Immediately after hearing Dauna’s explanation, I tore off a button on my neck and threw it toward the door of the audience room.

Fain!

Then, a button with a force that was different from the one that came from my hand passed by my ear like a bullet.

”·····her.”

I was speechless at the unexpected incident.

If a serious incident of this level had occurred, there might have been at least a word of contact from me, who is an exclusive.

Why the hell was there no news until now?

Such legitimate doubts came to his mind, but only for a moment.

That question was resolved at once by Downa, who read my intentions just by looking at her expression.

”I tried several times to seek advice from you, but I couldn’t afford it because of the hero… As you well know, when a hero sleeps, Rowville considers everything around him as an enemy and takes care of it. What’s more, today, the range has expanded to a strange extent, and whenever someone tries to approach the room, the hero spews out murderous air…”

”That’s enough. Thanks for the explanation. Downa…”

After giving her a hint of thanks with one hand, he held his head with the other hand and fell into thought for a moment.

It was not uncommon for the saintess to have accidents like this, but most of her motives were to meet me or to attract my attention.

However, I couldn’t even guess the motive of the saintess’s action now.

It’s like you’re so stubbornly rejecting everything that tries to come to you.

If so, it’s like…

”It’s as if you’re watching someone who’s about to die…”

My thoughts that I couldn’t bring myself to speak were recited instead by Downa.

”What is Sister doing now…”

”Ah, if you’re talking about that big-breasted nun, she went to call for you, got hit by a warrior’s flesh through the door, and fainted right there. It was good for the general public. At least I’m not incontinent.”

”·····”

A series of uncomfortable and unpleasant news. Despondency to the point of wanting to inadvertently sit on the floor and throw it away was pressing down on my body.

”Whoa…”

chuck.

It was then.

Dauna, who had been staring blankly at me standing in front of the audience room door, suddenly grabbed my arm.

”No way.”

”What.”

”Are we forgetting how long we’ve known each other? I can understand your intentions just by looking at your eyes.”

”What is that…”

”You’re thinking about entering this place right now?”

It was a straight line.

It was an orthodoxy and a theory that I did not even think to catch.

He had raised his hand awkwardly to hide his expression, but it seemed that he couldn’t fool the eyes of an old acquaintance with such a trivial action.

”Downa. I am·····.”

”I’ll tell you in advance. If you’re thinking of persuading me, you’d better get away with it. No matter how much I experiment, I’m not crazy enough to put the life of an old friend on the balance.”

I couldn’t find the light atmosphere I always saw in that heavy tone.

The fact that Downa, who would normally have stopped my actions with magic, was holding me with her arms and legs like this meant that she was in an indescribably serious state right now.

”Moreover, I don’t like this space itself… Rowville, who came in and out of this place calmly, to the extent that I feel respected for him… Even when I came here before, I felt a bit awkward… It’s not like that right now…”

The trembling that came from Downa’s arm holding my wrist. There was no doubt about the emotions contained in that frivolous vibration.

”The saint’s throne room. After hearing the famous name of the place where the eyes of the gods reach, my curiosity as a scholar who wanted to see it in real life evaporated completely… This terrifying dark aura is more like a god… Yes… For example…”

suspicion. astonished frightened

and fear.

”Isn’t it like a dungeon…”

more fear.