NBAA Vol. 8 Chapter 2 Part 1
CHAPTER 2
“Whoa⁉ Reito and his doppelgangers are coming out of the crack in space, that they are!”
“We already told you that a while ago.”
“This is… the stairs inside of the ruins.”
Hanzo exclaimed in surprise at Reito and his friends emerging from the black vortex, but Shizune ignored her and turned her attention to the stairs leading down.
She felt uneasy at how deep they went. She looked around, feeling even more uncomfortable.
“It’s really cool here. I feel like I’ve entered a resting spot.”
“I was wondering the same thing… but I want you to take a look at the walls here. There are water-elemental magic stones embedded in them, and they seem to be lowering the temperature inside the building.”
“That’s quite an extravagant way to use things!”
“There’s also lighting made from light stones on the ceiling.”
Magic stones were embedded in the walls and ceiling, making the inside of the ruins a comfortable space, just like a resting spot.
“Maybe this is a good place to rest…”
“I can’t sense any monsters here, that I can tell. I wonder how far these stairs go, that I do.”
“It’s really deep. Surely they don’t lead to a lower level?”
“I don’t think they’re that deep… Why don’t we try to go down?”
“Those stairs?! No way! How many steps do you think there are to the bottom!!”
“But there might be treasure down there?”
“Uh… Now that you mention it…”
It was possible that there was still treasure to be discovered. Before that, Reito and the others wanted to investigate the true nature of these ruins, so they decided to go down the stairs.
~
The steps of the staircase were designed to match the stride of Giants.
Everyone except Gonzo had a little trouble going down, but after five minutes of brisk walking, they finally found what appeared to be a door.
“Oh, look, there’s a door over there!”
“I know a door when I see one. But it’s a very strange door.”
“I don’t think I can get in…”
Halfway up the stairs, they discover a wooden door. Gonzo was surprised that the door was so small that he couldn’t fit through it, but Dain approached it with a look of excitement.
“Where does it lead? Maybe it’s a treasure vault…”
“Oh, wait a second.”
“Don’t touch it carelessly.”
“I-I know…”
Dain’s vigilance was restored after hearing the words of his companions, and he carefully poked at the door with the tip of his staff. There was no keyhole, and there was no bolt on the inside, so he could easily push it open.
“Huh? It opened so easily… Huh?!”
“What is it?!”
“It’s a treasure chest! There’s a treasure chest inside!”
“Treasure chest?!”
Everyone looked into the door and saw that there was about three cubic meters of space inside.
In the middle of the room was a large box with a lock.
The ceiling was very high, and a magic stone that emitted light and heat like the sun was hanging inside a lantern.
“Is this a treasure chest? Isn’t it just a box?”
“But it’s locked! That’s definitely a treasure chest!”
“Such a lame…”
“It’s obviously a trap, that it is.”
“But it really could be a treasure chest! Let’s try to open it!”
“Well, I can open a lock, but…”
Dain was excited about the box in the room. If Reito used his “High Speed Shape Change” ability, he could open any lock, but… there was clearly something wrong with this room. He was wary of it, but Dain tried to go in alone, so Reito had no choice but to investigate.
“Is there anything that could be a trap?”
“At first glance there doesn’t seem to be anything…”
“No, wait a moment! If you look closely at the pattern on the floor, you’ll see that it’s a fire-type magic stone, that they are!”
“Really?”
Hanzo’s words made Reito activate his “Observing Eye” to examine the floor.
Although the floor was dirty, there were red gemstones all over it.
Furthermore, on the ceiling there was a magic stone that emitted a glowing heat. Reito realized what kind of trap had been set up.
“That’s a Sunbeam stone.”
“Sunbeam stone?”
“It’s a magic stone that’s rarer than a Light stone, and it emits a continuous high heat. If something like that were to fall on this floor, the fire magic stone on the floor might react and cause a huge explosion.”
“Really?”
“It’s probably a trap to catch anyone who’s been lured in by the treasure chest. Will it be set off the moment you enter the room, or will it be set off the moment you open the chest… Either way, it’s probably best not to go in.”
“Damn… I was totally fooled.”
Dain sighed at Shizune’s deduction. Just as Reito reached out to comfort him, a sound suddenly echoed through the room.
“Clack, clack, clack…”
“Huh? What’s that sound?”
“From inside the room?”
“No, it’s coming from inside that box!”
After Hanzo said that, everyone turned their attention to the treasure chest in the room, and the lid was pushed open from inside the box, and “that thing” slowly appeared from inside.
“Clack?”
“…A…skeleton!”
A voice echoed down the stairs.
Emerging from the treasure chest was a humanoid skeleton.
“Clack, clack, clack…”
“Whoaaaaah! It saw me! It saw me!”
“It’s not like a ghost or anything like that appeared, you’re being too dramatic. It’s just a skeleton.”
“I hate undead monsters!”
“But aren’t you a dark mage?”
“Don’t lump dark mages in with necromancers! H-Hurry up and defeat it!”
Dain seemed to have bad memories of skeletons, so he hid behind Gonzo.
Reito looked at the skeleton that had emerged from the treasure chest. It had been since his battle with the Rotten Dragon that he had seen such a skeleton… but for some reason, he felt that something was wrong.
The enemy was just observing Reito and the others. Most undead monsters would attack immediately, but this one didn’t seem to move at all.
“Clack…”
“…It is scratching its head.”
“Something’s wrong. Is this some kind of trap?”
“It doesn’t look like it…”
The skeleton didn’t seem surprised to see Reito and the others, and held the lid of the treasure chest while peering through the gap in it.
Reito and the others were alarmed by the skeleton’s strange behavior.
Reito remembered the story of Kai, the merchant (a former adventurer who had challenged the Tower’s Great Labyrinth) who had brought them to the Great Labyrinth.
He said, “If you meet a skeleton in the Great Labyrinth, don’t knock him down, because he’s certainly not a bad guy. If you are kind to him, he will be kind to you. Please be sure to tell others about it.”
Reito suspected that the skeleton in front of him, who didn’t harbor any hostility, was the one he was talking about.
And so, Reito made up his mind and released the grip on his weapon. Then he spoke to the skeleton in the room.