In the basement, I discovered the crystals containing the trapped spirits.
Karubene threw the crystal, which looked like a light bulb, towards the enemy. The enemy’s feet stopped for a moment as the crystal fell at his feet.
“Don’t think such a trick will work.”
But he quickly got past it and came towards me. Yellow light leaked from the broken crystal, making crackling sounds. Countless shining stars began to float around as if they had a will of their own. Looking closely, they were not stars but insects.
Could these firefly-like spirits belong to the boy who was part of the night watch? But it looked different from what I saw before. When I saw them before, their bottoms were vaguely glowing and beautiful. But now they were sparking intensely, as if electricity were flowing through them.
As expected, the enemy seemed to notice their brightness and turned back, putting his hand to his forehead.
“What is this light?”
Electricity was flowing between the fireflies. it looked like they were enhancing each other’s power.
“Isn’t this dangerous? Let’s get out of here quickly.”
“Hey, wait, where are you going?”
The next moment, a tremendous sound and light enveloped the enemy from behind. The man convulsed violently, turned into a burnt crisp, and fell to the ground. The unpleasant smell of burning cloth hit my nose.
The fireflies, releasing their anger, disappeared somewhere to return to their master.
“See? Now’s our chance.”
“I know. Phew, it’s good we didn’t make enemies of them.”
We finally reached the door at the very back. I tried pulling the handle, but of course, it wouldn’t open. I remembered the commander saying he had it. Damn, do I need to find him?
“Brother, brother, over there.”
When Karubene poked my shoulder and I turned around, I saw a firefly stopped on the man who had been electrocuted earlier. Could this be him? I quickly went back and searched his clothes. Then, a bunch of keys appeared from his pocket.
“Nice, thanks.”
The last firefly, having fulfilled its role, flew off to its companions. Alright, now I can save Ryoku. Suppressing my eagerness, I inserted each key into the locks one by one.
“Alright, it’s open. Ryoku, are you in there?!”
The room was completely dark, with only the light coming from the hallway serving as a light source. Faintly, I could see piles of iron boxes. I couldn’t hear any voices. Was it just a storage room? No, that couldn’t be it; Ryoku had to be in one of these.
“Hurry and find him.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s too dark. I wish those glowing bugs from before would come.”
“Stop complaining and search.”
All of them were empty inside. The cages were made of thick iron, making it impossible to escape easily. They were probably meant for keeping particularly dangerous individuals.
“Ah, I found him.”
It seems Cowardly Ear found him. It was in the corner of the room, covered with a sheet from above. I quickly pulled off the sheet. He was sitting still inside a small iron box, unable to stand or lie down.
I tapped on the iron bars and called his name. Ryoku was like a hollow shell, unmoving, not even blinking. Was he really alive? I stuck my finger through the gap and touched his leg. He had no body heat, like an exquisitely crafted ornament.
“Ryoku, it’s me, I’ve come to help. Hey, snap out of it, I’ll get you out soon.”
I tried inserting the keys into the padlock haphazardly. But none of the keys fit.
“Brother, what are you doing?”
“I’m telling you, none of them fit.”
Could it be that Nigpyura has the key to this cage? It’s possible, Ryoku’s existence is the biggest obstacle for him. And he’s also the power he wants most.
“Ryoku, stay conscious. You’re the only one who can save this forest.”
He didn’t move at all. They had deliberately locked him in an iron cage so he couldn’t communicate with the forest spirits. Ryoku was now in a world of complete silence. He couldn’t hear the voices of the forest that he had always heard, and he was placed in darkness where he could see nothing. Because of this, his spirit had collapsed.
“What do we do? We’ve come this far.”
“We’ll take it with us.”
“Are you serious? This thing is quite heavy. Ugh, I can’t lift it at all.”
We absolutely had to defeat Nigpyura and get the key. But before that, we had to take him back to the forest spirits.
“We’ll carry it together.”
“You’re kidding me, right? We can’t fight like this.”
Despite their grumbling, Karubene helped me carry the iron box. But it was heavier than I thought. It was all we could do to lift it together.
“Seriously? Are you really going to go like this?”
“Of course. Hurry up and walk!”
When we went out into the hallway, the remains of the Dark Elf, ravaged by the tiger earlier, were scattered around. The sickeningly bloody smell made me want to cover my nose.
“Ugh, I’m sorry!”
Cowardly Ear trembled as he walked over them. The red tiger’s paw prints continued to dot the path outside.
“Let’s go, before reinforcements arrive.”
“Hey! You big guy!!”
I almost dropped the box in surprise. Looking in the direction of the voice, I saw a large man trapped in a cell far down the hallway. Next to him was the tiger spirit that had been rampaging.
“Get me out of here!!!”
It was definitely more than five meters away, yet my eardrums felt like they would burst. Cowardly Ear had already fled.
“Uh, I can’t right now.”
“What?! Get me out of here——!”
I figured he wouldn’t be able to hear me. It would be troublesome if he kept screaming like this, so I grudgingly decided to let him out.
