t was currently turning midnight.
A week has passed since they all left the crosswalk. During this time, they'd mostly just rest up in order to conserve energy. However, seeing as the destination was already near, the adventurer saw no reason to do so. He still had energy to spare.
Pulling the carriage closer and closer into the wilderness, he could feel his luggage begin to lighten up. When he checked, it was because Poppy and Sylvie decided to come down from the crates.
"No need to do that, you know," he said.
"It's fine if we walk from here," Poppy said. "We're already near the location."
Sylvie was sound asleep behind her, seeing her in her clingy form.
He's been pulling the crates last week as well as the old man's carriage. This time, it was only the crates that was being pulled. Now that the carriage has been excluded from the luggage, it felt strangely light. And now that the both of them were down, it was feeling incredibly lighter than usual.
Nevertheless, he kept pulling.
The one leading the party is Poppy, with her currently in front of the adventurer. While that's the case, the only thing that the adventurer could see was Sylvie's back.
"Don't you feel kind of heavy?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Sylvie always seems to cling onto you; I was just wondering if that was causing you any burden at all."
Sylvie's body is almost the same size as Poppy's—that would mean that Poppy is carrying her own body weight. Poppy isn't that heavy for the adventurer, but if it was Poppy herself carrying her own, then that would be different.
Poppy doesn't have much muscles and has only managed to pull her luggage the distance of a hair's width. If she tried lifting something her own weight, she wouldn't last long.
"There's no need to worry," Poppy responded. "Sylvie can change her density to be easily carried or hardly lifted. It's quite useful."
"Huh, that's interesting."
There were a lot of things that the adventurer didn't understand about slimes. He decided to not ask about how Sylvie's does her density thing because he probably wouldn't understand much of it.
No more than an hour later, they reached their destination.
It was some sort of stone building; at least, that's what the exterior looked like. There were vines growing all over it and the trees were covering the top, barely giving it any sunlight. It seems like this place was left for quite some time now.
"Is this the place you were talking about?" the adventurer asked.
Poppy nodded.
She went ahead and entered the cave-like entrance. The adventurer followed after her, the ropes with the crates still in hand. The entrance was huge enough to fit the luggage they were carrying.
After casting a spell to light up their path, the party pushed forward.
The walls were narrow but wide enough to fit the crates. Unlike the unkept exterior, the inside seems to be more stable despite anyone not manning it. The only things that made the place appear as though no one's been here for a long time were the cobwebs, occasional drops of water, and a few cracks here and there.
Not only were lights not present, there weren't any signals indicating that any monsters nor people were living here. Some spiders crawled through the ceiling and walls, a few bugs flew around and about, but other than that, there was almost no presence of life around.
After walking for more than five minutes, they managed to reach the end of the long hallway. They were met with a wider room that had more stuff around. Poppy increased the output of her light spell up to the point it lit up most of the room.
There were a few stuffs inside that seemed out of place for an old, abandoned-looking building. A few glass shards were shattered about here and there, ready to be stepped on at any moment. The tables were full of dust with the said glass shards. A few metal and plastic hunks seemed to look as if they were meant to be pieced apart.
"What is this place?" the adventurer asked.
He's been led around everywhere without so much as a clue as to where they were going. He knew that this place was at least between the border of Cogitatio and Salis, but he didn't expect her to use such a specific place.
And by specific place, he wondered what exactly this place was supposed to be.
"It's an abandoned lab," she explained.
"An abandoned lab?"
"Yes. If my observation is accurate, this place seems to have been left alone for more than a thousand years now."
"…For real?"
"The trees have blocked the way for plants to eat the sunlight and vines have almost engulfed the outside on a tremendous scale. I suppose that's where I got my bases from."
At least she had some proof for it, he thought. "But still, a thousand years? Then how did you know that this place existed?"
"It's from a classified source."
"Even though you're a former Royal Scientist?"
She just nodded her head. It seemed as though Poppy was really just keeping it a secret instead of it being classified, but the adventurer didn't push on.
He's just an adventurer, and he's got no authority over her employer; it's the other way around.
Without doing anything, the crates that were floating in the air dropped with a large thump. After looking at it, the adventurer knew what was now happening.
"I'm guessing my work is done now?" he asked.
The quest was to just bring the luggage to the designated location. Now that the quest has been done, there's nothing else for the adventurer to do.
"Not quite," Poppy said. "There's still one last job I'd like you to do."
She pointed her finger towards a door.
"There's a basement that is connected with this lab. Considering this place has been left for a long time, I wouldn't be surprised if monsters decided to emerge from there."
"So it's a cleanup job now, huh."
Poppy casted a spell to the sleeping Sylvie, which made her glow bright. While doing so, the slime also woke up from the light. It was as if the light was her progress of waking up.
"Take Poppy with you. It'll be hard to go about without a shred of light."
"Eh, I'm still tired…," Poppy complained.
"Just cling onto him, will you?"
Please don't, the adventurer thought.
It's not like he could voice his thoughts because he was just an adventurer. The employer's words are the only things you're supposed to do.
Without much of a choice, Sylvie got down from Poppy, wobbled towards the adventurer (quite literally), and then climbed on his back. Unlike how she clung onto Poppy, the adventurer was taller so he was just more or less giving Sylvie a piggyback ride. It still gave off a good light though, and just like Poppy said, Sylvie was light.
"Well, good luck on your journey down there," Poppy said, opening up one of the crates. "If you see anything unusual that isn't a monster, report it to me."
Without much of a choice, the adventurer headed down the presumed basement of the presumed abandoned lab with Sylvie on his back to light the way.
The light was actually quite impressive. Not only was it able to light up pretty much the whole lab, it can actually extend quite a bit in the cave-like basement.
There weren't much noteworthy things around. Aside from the occasional droplets and the sounds of their footsteps, there weren't much noise to be heard from.
In the end, he managed to reach the end of the basement without seeing anything.
"What're we doing here…?" Sylvie asked, yawning.
"In a basement."
"Where's Master…?"
"She's upstairs."
After those short series of questions, Sylvie went back to sleep. Sure, it was nighttime, but it was still a little too early to be hitting the hay. Even Poppy, an early sleeper, was still awake at this time.
There was something that struck the adventurer odd. The basement was a little too big to be filled with just nothing.
There were unlit torches all around the walls of the basement, and it seemed to extend pretty far away from any nearby doors, which was just the one that led upstairs. Anything else was completely just void.
That's not the only odd part about it. Despite it being called a basement, it looked more and more like a cave than anything. The rough stone walls, the occasional sounds of droplets, and the abundance of rocks and stones all around.
There was also the case of the droplets; where were they coming from? Sure, there were groundwater underground, but the basement wasn't as deep as it implies it to be. There might be rivers up above, sure, but water wouldn't be able to go through something this deep, much less even a droplet.
The adventurer, normally calm, suddenly started having these questions pop out one after another. It felt to him like the trigger of it all was this basement; like something else was with them besides themselves.
"Hey," the adventurer spoke.
"Hm…?"
"Do you notice anything strange in this basement?"
Once he asked that, Sylvie just looked at him with sleepy and confused eyes. It was obvious she was still half-asleep, just forcing herself to mostly stay awake. She started scanning her surroundings, looking left and right and up and down. Not a single crevice was missed.
There was something strange about other monsters. Although not from their species, they can sense the presence of other monsters through the flow of their magic. It's been reported like this by people that have monsters for familiars, but only familiars. Whenever some go out hunting for wild monsters, they don't seem to notice anyone; it only applies for monsters that are familiars.
There were a few ways to counter this. The first was to just keep the flow of magic to yourself, which in and of itself is already quite tedious. There's also a few more ways, but going into detail of them will take too much time.
For now, the simplest yet tedious one is the one aforementioned.
After a few minutes of walking around the basement, going in a loop every once in a while, Poppy stopped her scanning.
"Anything?" he asked.
"Nothin' really unusual…," she said, still half-asleep. "Besides from the weird flow of magic in that wall, there's not much to say…"
She pointed her fingers droopily towards a random wall that had a torch in it.
It was just a really random wall; it was in the middle of the basement. The unlit torch seemed to suggest that there actually might be something, but seeing as these series of torches were repeated a lot, it wasn't that noteworthy.
But his instincts tell him different. He's been adventuring for a long time now, and he can tell just from a glance whether something was unusual about a place or not. In cases like those, it either means hidden treasure or deadly trap. Since the state of the basement looked as though it's been kept alone for a long time, he wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.
Checking the wall again, he noticed that the unlit torch wasn't exactly an unlit lamp; only a disguise. What was supposed to be a candle inside was instead replaced by a button. Now that the adventurer knew the button was hidden, he was certain that there was hidden treasure.
The question was what the treasure was. If it was something like copper or silver coins, he didn't need it. After all, he'll be receiving a much higher sum of payment.
After bracing himself (and also preparing to protect Sylvie), he clicked the button. The wall slid down like a curtain falling down, and it revealed a set of stairs that led downstairs.
Another set of stairs? the adventurer thought. An abandoned laboratory and a secret room… Just what is this place?
Just when he was about to press the button again, trying not to stoop into the business of his employer, a droplet was heard again; with it, a sound.
It was inaudible at first. Maybe it was just some random bug that got here, that's what the adventurer thought. But he knew that it was something much different.
The sound was definitely breathing; there was no doubt about it. But the problem was what was making that sound.
Monsters tend to have a hoarse breathing, and humans are just normal. Demons have either inaudible breathing or they copy either the monster or the human's breathing. This is the part where the adventurer got stuck.
The demon's breathing is so accurate, no one can tell just from an audible viewpoint that it was a human. Even with the most sensitive ears, they can still fool even the cleverest of listeners.
But despite all that, he descended down the stairs. He didn't want to risk the chance that a human was down there—that a life was down there.
As he descended, the walls behind him also began to close off.
Carrying the bright Sylvie, he continued his descendance. Unlike the basement which had a cave-like presence, the walls in the stairs were actually quite narrow. You could say that it was the proper walls that led to an actual basement.
The walls were made of bricks, as opposed to the previous room. His footsteps echoed more loudly than before, showing just how narrow it was on the way down.
It wasn't only his footsteps that were being echoed. The droplets became louder and louder as he went down, and the breathing became more and more audible. The more he descended, the more the sounds became louder.
After a few seconds of just descending the stairs, he was met with a wooden door. After bracing himself like last time, he grabbed the handle and pushed it open.
The first thing he noticed was a room. After the light brightened it up, he could see the inside much more clearly now.
Unlike the unkept conditions of the previous locations, this one was more on the proper side. There was a bed on the corner of the room, a table just beside it with a lamp on top, and a chair. It was like the inn that he slept in back in Fortio, except it's much more lacking than before.
He entered the room. When he did that, the presence got even stronger than before. He was already nearing someone.
Other than the door to this unusual room, there was also another door just beside a table. It was more beaten up than the rest of the room, and it was the most noticeable one at that.
He stepped closer. Little by little, more and more, slowly but surely.
The more he got closer, the more the presence became stronger. Every time he took a step, a droplet fell down from the other side of that door. Each distance he closed, the more the breathing became audible.
He grabbed the doorknob. He hesitantly twisted it, and then slowly pushed it open. At first, it was just a crack, but now that crack became wider and wider.
And when Sylvie's light engulfed that one entire room, he saw something completely out of the ordinary.
Wh-What the…?
There was a girl laying down on the rough floor, seemingly either asleep or unconscious. The breathing that he heard came from her, and the occasional droplet of water was coming from a faucet on a corner of the cave-like room. Rather than how the faucet got there, it was more proper to ask who the girl was.
The adventurer stayed calm and assessed the current situation.
Faint breathing could still be heard from the girl. Judging from how thin she looked; it seemed like she hasn't eaten for days.
She was wearing ragged clothes that looked extremely unbefitting for a person to wear. Her black hair spread through the ground like some sort of running water. Assuming from the length, it could reach the girl' hips at most.
While those are some very worrying observations, the fact that she's at least alive and breathing was a relief.
After he set down Sylvie, the adventurer cautiously approached the girl.
When he crouched down, he smelled a faint scent of blood on her. It was incredibly faint, and after just a few seconds the smell was gone.
He grabbed the shoulders of the girl and then shook her awake.
"Hey, are you alright?" he asked.
But the girl didn't respond.
Her eyes were still closed and her breathing was still the same as before. She didn't notice someone nudging her, someone waking her up.
Who is this girl? the adventurer wondered. Seriously, what the hell is going on with this place?
His original objective was to clean up any monsters around the basement. Instead, he discovered an unconscious girl in a dark and random room with what looks to be a faucet that is her only source of hydration.
"What the heck am I even doing now…?"
After he said those words, he felt a twitch. Afterwards, the girl slowly opened her eyes. This made the adventurer somewhat relieved to see her awake.
"Are you alright?"
The girl didn't respond. Instead, she just looked at the adventurer's face with her eyes looking half-awake. It's like she wasn't even paying attention to him.
"Hello? I'm asking if you're alright."
This time, the girl reacted to his words. While that was the case, she still didn't seem to respond to him.
The girl raised her hand. The adventurer, still overly cautious, prepared himself in case the girl was to ever do anything to him.
However, due to how slow she was raising her hand, it didn't look to him as her being dangerous. Sure, she was a stranger who was stuck here for who knows how long, but she was also in quite a battered state to be identified as a threat.
After a few seconds, the girl had her hand on the adventurer's face. Still, the adventurer didn't see this as a dangerous action.
Her hand felt cold. Now that he realized it, her shoulders were also cold. Seeing as she didn't react to any of his actions, the adventurer decided to place his palm on her forehead. Just as expected, it was also really cold.
The body temperature of this girl was unnaturally low. He knew that people did have low body temperatures, but it didn't extend to the coldness of this girl; hers reached the coldness of a cold summer night.
The girl smiled when the adventurer touched her forehead.
"Itsuki…," she muttered.
After she said those words, a tear came flowing down her eyes and into the cold floor. When they met, it synchronized with the sound of the dripping water from the faucet. And then something strange started happening.
The adventure was feeling tired. And by tired, he felt incredibly exhausted. He was exhausted to the point of even getting his eyes to close completely.
What…the…? Am I… tired…?
His body felt extremely heavy; much heavier than the luggage he was pulling earlier. He couldn't support it due to how tired he felt, which resulted in him falling to the ground on top of the girl. He was taller than her, so his eyes could only see the head of the girl.
What is…happening…?
There wasn't an answer to this question of his, and soon he lost the energy to even think about what was happening.
Before everything went dark, he felt a sharp pain in his neck and then went to sleep completely.
There was a sudden burst of light, and then extreme darkness. The following minute passed in this extreme darkness until a light could be seen from a far distance.
It was a small, faint light. It was moving ever so slightly due to how small it appeared. It was as if the light wasn't moving at all.
And then it grew in size. The movement became more and more apparent as the light grew larger and larger. Then a realization soon came; it wasn't growing in size; it was just getting closer and closer.
A cold breeze passed. The light stopped moving completely, and then went down. This time it was just staying completely still.
And then that light disappeared.
It felt cold. Each movement that he did, even the slightest of movements, was enough for him to feel the cold each time the air brushed through his skin. It was only natural, though.
After all, he was laying down on the floor, in a cave of some sort.
"…Huh…?"
When the adventurer opened his eyes, a bright light slowly attacked his vision. The moment he opened them completely, he was met with a young girl who was glowing bright quite literally. It was Sylvie, still asleep.
She's still asleep…?
He realized fast that he fell asleep; that much was obvious. He felt incredibly tired the moment he was touched by that girl, so he felt asleep. While there are other better questions, the main one to ask was how long he's been asleep for.
Sylvie was the only person who can indicate how long it exactly was.
And judging from her very carefree position—the position she's been holding ever since she was set down by the adventurer—and the light that was coming out of her, he knew that he's been asleep for just a few minutes.
It felt to him that he's been asleep for more than half a day, though.
Now that he knew the answer to that, it was time to ask the better questions; why did he fall asleep?
Although faint, he can still remember the face of the last person he saw before he fell into slumber. That person was the girl that was unconscious.
He looked around the cave to find that girl. Of course, seeing as the cave wasn't exactly that wide, he found her pretty quickly.
Instead of unconsciously down on the ground, she was now sitting down, leaning on a wall while hugging her knees. This time, she was awake. Even though that's the case, it didn't look to him like it was that way; her eyes looked different. It was now lifeless compared to the first time he saw it.
But that's just scratching the surface of the weirdness that was happening.
Her body looked thin and her skin looked old and ragged, just like that of an old person. However, when he took another close look at it, he noticed that her body was now that of a normal girl and her skin looked silky smooth.
Her breathing, which sounded kind of hoarse and forced before, was now sounding like the proper pace of a normal person.
…This is strange.
Everything was getting strange. From the moment he stepped inside this room and fell asleep all the way to when he woke up, the girl that he was currently staring at had been nothing but strange.
And that's not all. From the looks of it, despite already been made to fall asleep earlier, the adventurer still couldn't sense any danger coming from the girl. She had a small body that looked fragile when held, but her previous actions said otherwise.
And what is this weird feeling in my neck?
A sort of throbbing pain could be felt on the righthand side of his neck. It was the same pain he felt before he fell asleep.
When he tried to feel it with his finger, the throbbing pain got stronger. On the other hand, he felt another thing that felt weird aside from the pain. The feeling was both warm and cold, and it was wet.
When he checked his fingers, he saw red. That indication was more than enough to prove that the wet sensation he was feeling was blood. Although unintentionally, he smelled the faint scent that he smelled in the girl when he picked her up earlier.
"…What did you do to me?" the adventurer asked.
The girl didn't respond. She kept looking down at the girl.
"Hey, I'm asking you a question."
Still no response. At this point, the adventurer was getting pissed off.
He stood up, his energy somehow already restored, and then approached the girl without even the slightest bit of caution unlike the first time he met her. Just when he was about to get near the girl, someone suddenly snatched his hand and stopped him.
When he turned to look, it was a blob of slime. Of course, the only person who was a slime in their party was Sylvie. However, that didn't seem to be the case.
Sylvie was still laying down on the ground, sleeping while glowing. This slime in particular did look like Sylvie all the way to her body structure, but her colors seemed to have disappeared and instead replaced by the default color of light green like other slimes had. There was a thick string connecting both this slime and Sylvie.
Strangely enough, despite just seeing this slime for the first time, the adventurer didn't register her as a threat like the girl.
"Don't come any closer to her," the slime said, almost mimicking Sylvie's voice while being drowned out by what sounds like water.
"Huh?"
"The moment you try to touch that girl, Sylvie will die."
"What are you saying? Who the hell even are you?"
Before he managed to get a response, the slime suddenly got sucked by Sylvie's body and merged with her.
Sylvie will die?
What was that? It was a slime. But the real question is who that person was.
He looked at Sylvie, who had a really peaceful sleeping face. It only looked better paired with the light magic Poppy casted onto her. That's when the adventurer remembered his duty in here.
He went down here because Poppy requested him to; his final task was going to rid the place of monsters or anything that seemed like a threat. Now that's he's basically explored every single nook and cranny of the place, not even finding a monster, he found this place.
And now this girl.
From the looks of it—or at least from earlier—the girl seemed to have been stuck here for a long time due to how thin she looked. While that's the case, she had a sudden change when he woke up; she looks like a regular girl now albeit the ragged clothes she was wearing.
She at least didn't seem like a dangerous person. The adventurer took a deep breath and then calmed down. He was about to lash out at the girl earlier if that slime hadn't stopped him.
"…Who are you?" he tried asking one more time, this time in a calm tone.
But despite already doing that, she still wasn't responding to him. It didn't seem like she'll be talking to him anytime soon. Knowing that, he decided to pursuing any further would just lead to nowhere.
And besides, he needed to report back to Poppy soon before she gets worried. Who knows how long they've been in this weird room.
While that is the plan, there's something that's been bothering him ever since he fell asleep. No that he still felt blood in his neck, but the words the girl uttered earlier.
"Itsuki…"
Although faint, this was the last words that he heard the moment he fell asleep.
It was recorded in the history books that a guy named Itsuki got summoned here just like any other heroes. The only thing different about him was that he was the first hero to have ever been summoned into this world, and that he stopped the first war that started well over a thousand years ago.
He was a legend in the books. You couldn't find any schools that didn't taught the history of this first hero that appeared and saved the world for the first time, giving it hope and salvation.
It was also said that Itsuki was the most powerful hero, maybe even the most powerful being, that has ever stepped foot into this world.
His powers matched that of all the Royals Knights and all of the six generations of the royal demon family combined. It went to the point that even people started concocting statues of him all around the world. Even Cogitatio, a place that had been hidden away in the world for so long, knew about this legendary hero.
So of course, that felt to him as strange that the girl said these words to him, who was not the legendary Itsuki in any sort of way.
"…Who's Itsuki?" the adventurer asked once more.
This time, the girl gave a response. She looked at the adventurer with threatening eyes as if trying to convey to him to not speak of this any further.
This time, he could now feel the danger rapidly approaching him. It was unlike any he had ever felt before. The feeling was like brushing with death itself, waiting and waiting for him to come closer and closer to meet his demise.
"I'm askin' a question here."
But nonetheless, he pursued. He didn't stop despite already knowing what might happen next, which made him nervous. He was so nervous about this that he even started speaking like the old man.
More and more, the girl started to get pissed off about the whole questioning of the adventurer. Just one look in her eyes, and you could tell that she was about to blow a fuse. Even the adventurer's instinct as an adventurer said so.
Which is why he couldn't stop himself from asking things. She was getting angry from the fact that the legendary hero's name was getting mentioned.
"What relationship did you have with the first hero that saved the world a thousand years ago?"
That was the trigger.
The moment he asked another question to him, he was met with a sound so loud it made his ears ring.
A large bell that rang right next to him, a horn that was blown into his ear, a large animal that was screaming into his ears; that's the extent of how loud the sound he was currently hearing.
But when he looked at the girl, albeit struggling a little, she didn't seem to be doing anything. She just looked at him with a reproachful glare, still feeling irritated by the adventurer's question. The loud sound that the adventurer was hearing wasn't getting registered by the girl, from the looks of it.
Thankfully, that sound didn't persist for long. After five seconds of waiting, the sound disappeared. Even still, the girl kept looking at the adventurer with eyes that showed irritation. He knew that if he tried speaking of the legendary hero again, he'll be getting the same treatment.
Just say so, and I'll stop, geez…
Without a warning, the glow that was keeping the entire cave open slowly dimmed out, turning the cave darker and darker.
"Hngg…," Sylvie groaned, slowly losing her light. "Master…"
She was trying to stand up, struggling. Still squeezing his ears, the adventurer approached Sylvie.
"Hey, are you okay?" he said after kneeling down, holding Sylvie in her shoulders. He took a closer at Sylvie's face, it looked to him like she was sweating.
Actually, from the moment he grabbed her from her shoulder, it just looked and felt to him as if she was all just liquid. Which was pretty natural for a slime, but it didn't feel like this to him before.
But thankfully, her body was going back to its solidified state. It now looked and felt to the adventurer as a normal human being; a normal girl. Her glow still stayed as the same low dim, though.
"Master…," she muttered. "We need to get to her!"
She suddenly stood up, running to the door and outside the cave.
"Wait!" he tried catching up, trying to not lose the faint light that was keeping this place lit up.
He ran towards the door and into the normal-looking room, and then out of the room and into the series of stairs. While running, he noticed that the floor was getting left with small puddles. It wasn't there before, and he didn't know the reason why.
He didn't want to worry about that right now, though.
Soon, the light that he was chasing down was getting brighter and brighter. Although it wasn't bright enough to actually light up their surroundings like before, it was still fortunately glowing.
When he reached Sylvie, she saw him slamming at a wall. It was the end of the stairs that led upwards, which was also where he entered this place.
"Open up!" Sylvie shouted, punching the wall that blocked off the entrance to the cave-like basement.
Each time Sylvie punched the walls, water came splashing around it. It must be coming from Sylvie's fist, as she was a slime. And that was a problem.
Sylvie was built to function just like a normal human being, so if water was coming out of her fist, that must mean that it's her blood; after all, she's a slime.
And if she was punching that hard to the point water was splashing everywhere, then she must've been really desperate to get out of there. Which also meant that something must've actually happened to Poppy.
"Calm down!" the adventurer shouted, grabbing onto her hands.
"Let go!" she shouted, still trying to punch the wall. "I need to get to Master!"
Her normally cheerful attitude suddenly dissipated. Her worry for Poppy was overpowering it. He was getting confused.
"Just calm down for a sec!" he shouted again, this time grabbing onto her body and stopping her completely. "Can you tell me what's happening?"
She calmed down this time, her clenched fist spreading out.
"Master… I can't feel her…," she said. "Something bad must've happened… I've always felt her up to the point I can tell where she is, but right now's different…"
Familiars have deep bonds with their masters. In those bonds, they form some sort of connection. Most of the cases, the connection is through magic, but Sylvie was made using Poppy's mind. This means that their connected through their minds.
It's not like they can communicate telepathically, though.
"Does this mean something bad happened to her?" the adventurer said.
"I don't know… But I'm scared…"
Her hands were trembling. It was mostly because she had been punching the wall repeatedly earlier, but there was fear and worry mixed into it.
"We need to get through this wall, then," he said.
"B-But how?"
Seeing as they were able to get in with a button, it should make sense that they can also come out with a button. The problem is where that button is supposed to be.
While trying to find it was an option, the adventurer didn't want to waste this time on that. It may well have also been hidden well just like the button to get in here.
"This might as well be crazy, but… Stand back for me."
Sylvie hesitantly trudged her way behind the adventurer.
With no other options, he pulled his hand, balled it up into a fist, and then tried to punch the wall just like what Sylvie had been doing.
And when he did, the whole wall smashed, debris flying everywhere into the basement. It surprised both the adventurer and Sylvie.
He's never tried punching a wall before, but he knew that if he kept punching at, it would eventually collapse. But he didn't expect that it would only take one hit, not to mention destroying the whole wall at that.
But there was no time to be surprised.
"Hurry up and get to her," the adventurer said.
"…R-Right!"
Sylvie, still taken aback by the adventurer's display of strength, ran out of the stairs and into the cave-like basement. As for the adventurer…
He was taken aback the most. He looked at his hands, utterly shocked by what he had just done. It just like the many first times he's experienced in the last five months of adventuring with Poppy, but this was something else entirely.
This was something he'd never done before. Sure, he's defeated a handful of monsters in his life—some even more powerful than him—but punching a wall was something he'd never done before. Even if he did manage to pull a heavy luggage that was tied to a carriage, that type of strength wasn't comparable to what he had done.
What's more, it didn't even feel to him like it hurt or anything. Sylvie was punching with all her strength, up to the point she made herself bleed (at least that's what it looked), but there was no scratch to be found on his knuckles.
Was fighting monsters normal? Yes, it certainly is for an adventurer. Was destroying wall up to the point it became debris with just a single punch normal? No, it wasn't, even for an adventurer. They'd have to do multiple punches in order to do that, but it would still take a pretty long time nonetheless.
While still taken aback, he started walking out of the basement and into the abandoned laboratory. There was no time to worry about that, but the adventurer couldn't help but feel confused by it.
As he walked farther and farther into the debris that he caused, the throbbing pain in his pain that appeared earlier suddenly started acting up. It was more bearable earlier, but each step he took felt as if he was walking on nails.
The throbbing became stronger and stronger, and he didn't know why. When he touched it, the wet sensation was gone; it seemed like his wound had closed up. However, it still hurt a lot with each step he took, and he didn't know why.
But still, he kept trying to bear the pain. He needed to see what made Sylvie so worried about Poppy, so he needed to put this pain aside. If something were to happen with his employer, then he wouldn't be getting any rewards from her.
He soon reached the stairs that was connecting the basement and the lab. Thankfully, the dim light of Sylvie was still on, so he was able to see the door clearly. He went upstairs and into the lab, still trying to bear the pain.
The room, which was previously really dirty with shard glasses all over the place and the tables incredibly dusty, was now sparkling clean.
The crates were also nowhere to be found. The tables had a lot of random stuff that scientist used, all of which the adventurer didn't know. The only thing he could deduct was that it was the contents of one of the crates, at least.
It was still dark though.
"Master!" Sylvie shouted.
When he went to look at where the sound came from, he saw Sylvie holding Poppy in her shoulders, shaking her quite vigorously.
"Master, Master! Wake up! You're not dead, right?"
The adventurer saw Sylvie in tears as she shook Poppy's body.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the adventurer said, approaching them.
"B-But Master won't wake up! I can't sense her despite her being here!"
He didn't know what she meant by that, but he didn't pursue.
"Let's make sure she's fine first, okay?"
The adventurer knelt down to see the state of Poppy.
Her face looked normal, like she had been sleeping for quite some time now. Her chest was bobbing up and down, indicating that she was still at least breathing. When the adventurer touched her palm, he could feel a steady pulse coming from within.
"Don't worry," the adventurer said. "She's just unconscious at the moment."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah, maybe she pushed herself a bit too far when we were nearing this place. She doesn't look like she's that much of a walker, after all."
"B-But even so, I still can't feel her!"
"What do you mean?"
"I can touch her and see her and smell her, but I can't even tell if she's even here or not… This hasn't happened before…"
Despite her being physically in the room right now, Sylvie was saying that she couldn't feel Poppy's presence anywhere.
"…She'll be fine."
"R-Really…?"
"Scientists don't abandon their work until they breathe their last breath. If she really had given up, then she would've casted me aside the moment we entered this place. That's why there's no need to worry."
…For now, he thought, letting it go voiceless.
Unless they were doctors, they wouldn't be able to tell what's wrong with her.