Chapter 186. Knock, and if you knock……
We waited long enough for the ruins’ tremor to subside, then started moving again.
Of course, only after we’d finished the bare minimum of checking things.
“Alright, let’s move. Madlin says there doesn’t seem to be any major abnormality.”
It felt like an ominous kind of vibration, but…… well, if Senior Myseolne says it’s fine, then it’s fine. That’s all there was to it.
Anyway, how long did we keep going like that?
It didn’t take long for us to realize there was a serious problem with this expedition.
In other words……
“……How long have we been walking?”
“If you’re asking about time…… exactly three hours and ten minutes.”
“Three hours and ten minutes……”
Honestly, three hours wasn’t that long for exploring ruins.
I’ve never actually gone exploring ancient ruins myself, but usually when one gets discovered, they spend days and nights on it as a baseline—and if it’s bad enough, they keep excavating for years.
But here’s what the problem was.
“……”
I sat down on an appropriate stone atop the fragments of a collapsed golem—meaning, the remains of the fourth group of golems we’d encountered—and let my eyes take in the dim corridor.
A corridor stretching on and on.
Beyond the reach of the glowing stones’ light, pitch-black darkness had settled in.
Which meant—
‘The path…… doesn’t end?’
That’s right.
We’d already been walking for three hours, and the path still wasn’t ending.
I stared hard into the darkness, then threw a glance at Senior Myseolne.
“Madlin is……?”
“I sent her to check a moment ago…… wait a bit.”
“Yes, then.”
We decided to take a short rest while we waited for Madlin.
Something was definitely off.
A ruin where the corridor doesn’t end even after three hours of walking? Well…… sure, it could exist.
The world is wide, and there are plenty of lunatics in it.
There’s no rule saying there can’t be some lunatic out there who built a ruin so enormous it’s insane.
But that was still only “there’s no rule saying it can’t,” and no matter how I looked at it, this was something that just didn’t make sense as common sense.
‘Could we be trapped inside a barrier……?’
Just in case, I searched with my sensory perception, but that wasn’t it either.
Of course, it could be some higher-dimensional barrier I can’t detect…… but going that far would be an excessive leap.
While I was mulling over various other possibilities, it wasn’t long before Senior Myseolne’s voice rang in my ears.
“……Madlin’s back.”
“What did she say?”
Senior Myseolne narrowed his eyes, drew in a long breath, then let out a sigh.
You could tell at a glance something wasn’t sitting right—and as expected, it wasn’t.
“It’s making me wonder how we failed to notice this…… but Madlin says that after following the path all the way, we’re going around in the same place.”
“The same place, meaning…….”
“That this corridor is circular.”
“……”
Alright. Let’s pause here for a second.
Let’s organize the situation.
“So when you say the corridor is circular…… you mean we’ve been going around and around like a rat running on a wheel, right?”
“……That’s right. It makes me wonder how we didn’t realize it, but apparently that’s what’s happening.”
Then there was something strange.
“Then what about the golems?”
We’d run into golems a total of four times.
But if we’d been circling the same place the whole time, did that make any sense?
Even if golems can pop out from anywhere, at least once we should’ve run into the wreckage of a golem we’d smashed earlier.
Just as I reached that thought, Senior Myseolne spoke.
“I don’t know where they’re coming from, but it seems they can erase traces easily enough. ……Madlin? If you would.”
At the same time—
Ggrrk—.
The floor vibrated faintly.
Soon, the scattered golem wreckage sank into the ground, as if it were being swallowed by a swamp.
And when the change ended—
“……It’s clean.”
“Yes. Clean.”
Just as Senior Myseolne said, the golem remains had been cleared so neatly you couldn’t find a trace.
Which led to my second question.
“Alright—say the golems sank into the floor, and say they can clean up traces like this. Then what about the entrance?”
“The entrance…… that, I don’t know. And Madlin says she doesn’t know either. There’s nothing beyond the walls, either.”
“Th-this is…… what…….”
It was enough to make ghosts wail.
We’d definitely walked in a straight line, but it turns out we were actually walking a circular corridor?
And even now—look.
Even if you open your eyes wide and inspect everything, the corridor looks straight. No matter where you look, there isn’t a hint of “circle” anywhere……
Just as I was thinking that—
There was one person who raised a hand slightly, asking for the floor.
“Master, I have a question.”
“……Mm. Alright. Ask.”
“Then are we trapped?”
The one who answered was Chenbi.
“Demian, we’ve been trapped for a long time. We’re just trapped more seriously now, that’s all.”
As expected of unshakable Chenbi.
Even in a situation like this, he doesn’t lose his composure and keeps a cold, clear yardstick.
But Demian’s questions didn’t end there.
“Then— we came to save the spirits, right? Right?”
“Not ‘we.’ I got dragged here. I’d really like the spirits to save me, actually. Anyway—so?”
“Then isn’t it weird? Why are the spirits treating us like this?”
“Demian, why did you do that to me?”
“That’s not the question I asked.”
“Then I won’t answer either.”
Demian and Chenbi’s conversation ended by hurtling straight into disaster.
Ah—just to repeat, Chenbi was still unshakable. He merely expressed his doubt calmly. He wasn’t angry at all……
…Right?
Anyway, their conversation derailed completely, but listening to it, I found myself getting curious too.
“Yeah… why would they?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like Demian said—if something like this is possible, who else could it be besides the spirits? It’s not like the ruins themselves have a will and can move around on their own.”
Of course, I’d heard there are cases where ruins move like this—mysteriously—on their own.
Long ago, they said, they respond to intruders according to some pre-input manual?
But that was still, ultimately, a relic imbued with the power of “magic.” I’d heard it was the remnants of an ancient ultra-advanced magical civilization.
But this place—no matter how many times you looked—was ordinary to the point you could hardly find even the first syllable of “magic.”
If something like this was possible here, it would have to be the spirits.
So then why were the spirits doing this?
“That…… isn’t that a bit of a hasty conclusion?”
“Hasty?”
“……Yes. The spirits want salvation. Even if I don’t know the details, it has to be a wish they’ve longed for—without ceasing—for thousands of years. So why would they hinder us?”
That…… I didn’t know.
No matter how I thought about it, there was no reason for the spirits to get in our way.
If we were unexpected uninvited guests, maybe—but didn’t Senior Myseolne say he heard them clearly?
They pointed at me and called me a savior.
So there shouldn’t be any reason for them to treat us badly.
‘No—right now, that’s not what matters.’
Like always, what matters in situations like this isn’t “why,” it’s “how.”
How do we break through this obstacle? How do we find the way? And…… how do we save the spirits?
Once I reached that point, I opened my mouth to the party.
“If we start chasing questions, there’s no bottom and no end, so I’m going to list the parts we should just accept and move past.”
“Mm. Right.”
First.
“We don’t know the cause, but our sense of direction—our senses—have been interfered with. What’s certain is that this isn’t ‘magical interference.’”
“Agreed.”
“We can think about the reason later. Next—whatever it is, we’re trapped in a ruin with no entrance and no exit. Up until the loud noise stopped, we could still see the entrance, right?”
“I remember clearly.”
Yes. Up until then, it was there.
We never left the front of the entrance while we waited for the roar and trembling to stop.
“Then we can infer one thing. Structural changes don’t come with any warning signs.”
“Mm. That’s true.”
I also pointed out a few other small things and moved past them.
But why did stuff like this matter?
It was to accept reality—and at the same time, tighten our vigilance.
To be honest, even I found it hard to believe.
‘……They fooled my senses?’
It was unimaginable.
Maybe that was why my mind was running endless investigation into what the cause and mechanism could be—so wrapping it up like this felt much cleaner even to me.
So what did we need to watch out for?
As I said, the roar wasn’t a precursor to structural change.
‘So I need to keep in mind that structural changes come with no warning signs.’
Even our senses are being strangely disrupted.
In other words, even if the paths get rearranged and swapped around without us noticing, we might not realize it.
Anyway, while I was organizing all those cautions—
“Aster, I organized what you just said based on that.”
Twisted, netherworld Chenbi pulled out a notebook and showed me a summary of what I’d just said.
“Is it right?”
“It is.”
“Then I’ll copy it and hand it out.”
Saying that, Chenbi used copying magic to transfer the writing into other notebooks.
He handed one copy each to me, Senior Myseolne, and Demian, then shifted his gaze back to me.
“I understand what you said. Then what do we do now?”
He was looking at me, but it wasn’t a question only for me. It was also being handed to Senior Myseolne.
When I sent my eyes to Senior Myseolne, he spoke first.
“For now, I’d like to hear Aster’s idea first. I do have a method in mind…… but I can’t say I want to recommend it.”
“Then…….”
I gave Senior Myseolne a small nod, then raised one finger.
“I have two methods. The first one is…… honestly, I don’t recommend it much either, but it’s the most realistic, so I’ll say it.”
Maybe the method Senior Myseolne had in mind was the same as mine? Well—if not, then not.
Anyway, what was the first method?
“We split into two teams and head in opposite directions along the path. Any questions?”
“Me!”
“You…… fine. Go ahead.”
Demian asked with an innocent grin.
“Why do we have to do that? We already know the structure.”
“Good question. There are two reasons. The first is to grasp the structure more firmly. Madlin did investigate the path, but……”
“Hm. You mean you’re considering the possibility that even a spirit’s senses might have been disrupted?”
“Yes. That’s it. The possibility is slim, but Madlin herself didn’t realize it was circular until she checked the corridor all the way through.”
“That’s fair. You spotted that well. Then what’s the other reason?”
“That is…… whether this was done by spirits or not, it’s to guess their intent. If they have bad intentions, then when we split up, they’ll take the opening to try something.”
Well, to be honest, I wasn’t sure we even needed to figure out their intent. After all, once they’d already twisted the path, the intent was obvious.
But it wasn’t just about guessing intent—depending on how the other side responds, there are countless pieces of information you can learn.
Still, the reason I hesitated was……
My gaze flicked to Demian and Chenbi.
Yeah. Those two were the reason.
If it were just me and Senior Myseolne, we probably would’ve done it without a second word, but those two were—somehow—worrying.
Anyway.
“The method you were thinking of is probably similar to mine, right?”
“……Mm. Yes. Roughly similar.”
As expected.
“Then what’s the other method?”
“The other method is……”
I scratched my head as I organized my thoughts.
Honestly, it felt a little awkward to even call it a “method.” And to be blunt……
…it wasn’t a method I particularly liked.
But what could I do? We didn’t have options.
After I finished arranging my thoughts, I opened my mouth carefully.
“Do you happen to know the saying, ‘Knock. And if you knock, it shall be opened’?”
“I’ve heard it before, yes.”
“We knock on the spirits’ hearts with sincerity. I’m not certain it was the spirits who did this, but if it was them, they’ll see our sincerity and open their hearts.”
“Hoh…… you really are something.”
Senior Myseolne let out an admiring exclamation, as if moved. But only for a moment—curiosity surfaced in his eyes.
“But how do you knock on the spirits’ hearts?”
“If my thinking is right, the spirits are watching this place. Otherwise, they couldn’t change the structure so quietly, without anyone noticing.”
“And?”
“We show them. How sincere we are.”
“……How?”
Senior Myseolne’s eyes wavered with a vague unease.
I told him the obvious.
“When you knock on a door, what do you knock with?”
“……Your hand?”
“No. Not just your hand.”
“……Your fist?”
“You got it.”
Yes. That was the correct answer.
When people knock on a door, they clench their fist and knock.
It would be the same when knocking on the spirits’ hearts.
“I’m going to knock with this fist.”
“What does that even—”
Seeing his reaction, I decided it would be faster to show him than to keep talking.
“Senior. If the corridor is circular, which side is toward the circle’s center?”
“……This way.”
Ah. From my perspective, that meant the right side.
Without hesitation, I stood and moved in front of the right wall. At the same time, Senior Myseolne’s voice sounded behind me.
“H-hey. What are you trying to do?”
“I’m going to show you. My sincerity.”
No more explanations.
In life, seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.
A short, deep breath. I stepped forward with my left foot as my base, naturally drawing my right shoulder back, letting the flow carry my arm behind me. And then—
“Hup!”
A short, clipped exhale.
KWA-AANG―――――!
As the thunderous sound rang out, I spat out the rest of my breath.
Are you watching, spirits?
This is my sincerity.
This is my heart.
