The Last Great Sage, Diplan Groundel Gabrielius. The man who created the barrier that to this day continued to protect the city from the Witch's curse, and who opened the dimensional door to the labyrinth to solve the kingdom's resource scarcity problem. He was the greatest adventurer in history and the savior of the city.
It can be said that most of the achievements recorded in the Stone of Honor can be attributed to that old man. He left an incredible mark on the labyrinth during his early days; so incredible, in fact, that people still call his secrets and mysteries Gabrielius Achievements directly in honor of the man.
[The Last Great Sage, Diplan Groundel Gabrielius, and his companions defeated all the monsters in the Crystal Cave and opened a hidden area of the labyrinth].
Since he was so famous that his name was the first one children learned when studying history, it was only natural that his classmates were also well known.
«...Did he just speak our language?».
«Yes... Yes, h-a long time ago...»
«No, but most importantly... Do you know... about Rafdonia?»
My companions, who were listening to my conversation with Chief Bruingrid, fell into a state of confusion. They were reacting just like those monsters when I first spoke the ancient language. Their expressions seemed to scream: «How does that monster speak? Honestly, I probably had the exact same expression on my face.
But...
«(I am the head of this village, Bruingrid.)»
«(I'm glad to see you, really. And I assume you are an adventurer from Rafdonia.)»
«(So how much time has he spent in the outside world?)»
As the person in charge of guiding these people, I vigorously composed myself and tried to make sense of all this.
What exactly is - or who exactly is - this monster...?
To be honest, a few theories came to mind without even having to think about them.
«The Dragon Knight, Cornelius Bruingrid».
As soon as the name came out of my mouth, the village chief nodded and broke his silence. «Correct».
Damn, really? Why was he here? And why did he look like a monster?
«Dragon Knight Bruingrid...!»
«...I find it hard to believe.»
«Maybe he's lying? That man is supposed to have lived thousands of years ago... It is ridiculous to think that he is still alive today. And just look at it...»
My companions argued frantically among themselves, but the village chief ignored their whispers. He just stared at me and repeated his previous question. «So could you tell me? How long have you spent away?».
Something in Chief Bruingrid's calm voice pulled me, urging me to respond. However, before that, I had a question of my own.
«I'll ask you this before I answer: could I use this?». It would be difficult to trust anything I said right off the bat considering it was our first meeting, so I got Confidence Wrong.
«I haven't seen that thing in a while...».
«So what is your answer?»
«You can use it. In fact, I wish you would».
Okay, so you and I are on the same page...
My trust in him really grew at his casual acceptance, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to keep activating him.
Clic.
With his consent, I turned it on.
But what was this?
«I'll check if it works well. Could you tell me your name?»
«Cornelius Bruingrid».
I paused. The object did not activate, and not because it was telling the truth. The needle on the record simply stopped moving every time he spoke, just like when I spoke.
«...What's going on?»
"No lo se."
As we stood there confused, Versyl came over and whispered in my ear: «Maybe... is it because the target is a monster?».
It was a plausible theory. Even I hadn't tried to use this item on a monster. If it only worked with people, then that would explain why it didn't work now.
Or maybe it could be a similar case to mine.
Just in case, I asked Versyl to cast check magic, but it didn't work either.
«I guess we'll have to talk without her», I said, sighing.
What waste.
«So could you answer my question now?».
«I have one more question before».
«Go on.»
«If you really are one of the companions of the Great Sage, why is someone like you here looking like that?».
«Well...» The boss hesitated and then said: «I don't know either».
«…¿Eh?»
«It was a day like any other. It was inside the maze and when the time came, it closed as usual. However, when I opened my eyes, what greeted me was not the city, but this place. This horrendous new look of mine was just a bonus».
"...¿Which?"
«Even then, I had no idea why I opened my eyes here, why I suddenly looked like this, where I was, or why I didn't die. I've been asking myself those questions for a long time, but I can only think of one answer: I don't know why any of this happened».
I perceived no anger or despair in Chief Bruingrid's voice. Had his emotions become completely insensitive over the years?
«I understand that my answer does not satisfy you at all, but is it enough for now?».
«For now.» Now that he had answered me, I answered his question in the same way. «...Currently, it is the 157th New World year.»
«New World...?»
«That means it is the year 157 since the Immortal King died and a new king took his place. Thousands of years have passed since the Witch's curse first covered the world.»
«Thousands of years... I see.»
Unexpectedly, the boss's reaction was quite muffled. It was like a balloon already deflated, there was no threat of it bursting. He didn't even seem to be losing air.
Anyway, I guess it's my turn now.
Although we didn't make any rules, no one had ever complained about my turn-based approach.
Let's ask this one.
There were no guarantees that he would let me ask as many questions as I wanted, so I chose the next one carefully. «Who are those monsters that look like you?».
This was the first question that came to mind after hearing the village chief's story. If he suddenly opened his eyes and one day found himself here, who were those monsters that looked like him? Where had they come from?
«These are people who lived on this island before I arrived. You could call them the natives. I couldn't tell you why, but once I woke up here, I discovered that they immediately accepted me as one of their own».
As soon as he said that, Versyl shuddered. «Mr. Yandel...», she said, lowering her voice, «is he perhaps his equivalent of an evil man...?».
«Versyl.» I interrupted her quickly.
«Ah...»
Yes, there was no need to give him extra information for free when we still didn't know if we could trust him or not. Versyl closed her mouth, apparently realizing she had screwed up, and I turned to the village chief.
An evil spirit.
That was what Versyl had been about to let go. It was possible that Bruingrid's body had not suddenly transformed into that of a monster, but, in essence, had possessed the body of a monster that already lived here.
How did it happen? I couldn't answer that now. This maze had too many mysteries to solve.
«So?» I asked.
«If I had to guess, I think they might be people who are in a similar situation to me. However, unlike me, their personalities did not remain intact. They are intelligent, but at first they didn't know anything. In fact, at first, most would have seen them as wild beasts».
«But now they call themselves humans».
«Yeah. Unlike them, I do not age or die. That alone was enough for them to see me as some kind of divine being, so I became the head of their village and imparted my knowledge to them. This island is too hard to survive alone. You'll soon see for yourself».
«But why did you teach them the ancient language?»
«In this form, the ancient language is much easier to learn and adapts much better to our vocal cords».
Well, I didn't know enough to discuss that. Still, calling their race «humans» seemed in bad taste to me.
«So can I ask you a question?»
«Clear. I passed the baton to the boss, studying his face with renewed attention. It was for a simple reason.
Let's see if he underestimates me because I'm a barbarian.
If you were going to lie, you had to do everything you could to avoid getting caught.
Cornelius Bruingrid... I had no way of knowing for sure if this guy here was really one of the ancient heroes he was written about in the Stone of Honor.
«(I don't know why all this happened.)»
I didn't know why either. He could be telling me the truth, or he could be lying. I was only sure of one thing.
«(Thousands of years... I see.)»
The thought of him not knowing how much time he had spent outside was bullshit. He had already captured other adventurers and taken them to his village, meaning he would have already known this if he had asked him.
Since Rafdonian can speak, he probably had a conversation with them.
However, the guy had left his village just to come meet me. Why did he do it? The information we had could be obtained from other sources. He didn't need us to get those answers.
Now that he thought about it, the way the warriors reacted before he appeared was also strange.
«Monster, how can you speak our language?»
The monsters had come here to save the boy, and yet they tried to invite me to their village as soon as I spoke.
Is there any clue... in the ancient language?
My train of thought only got there before the village chief spoke again. «Do you know any way to get out of this place?»
«No.
«So how did you get here?»
«There was a passage in the Stone of Honor that said that a hidden area of the labyrinth had opened. We were exploring the area when the entrance was discovered, so we went down from the first floor». Since we were both very curious about each other, I made sure to immediately answer the boss's questions to speed up our exchange. «Why did you kill the adventurers who found this place?».
«That was out of my reach. It was the village warriors who found them. There's nothing scarier than a strange intruder, and it seems like they felt like they didn't have time to send for me and needed to make a quick decision.»
«I see. It's your turn».
«What's outside this island?»
«. ...No lo sabes?»
«The trees here don't float in the water.»
Oh really? That was new information.
«If that answers your question, could you answer mine?», the boss asked again. «What is beyond this ocean?»
«We don't know much either, since we arrived not long ago. We started on a stone island and visited another island about five hours from this one».
«I see... Thanks for telling me. Now it's your turn».
The ball was back in my court. I was worried that the next question might piss him off, but I decided to ask it anyway. «Why have you looked for me instead of asking the adventurers you already have captive in your village?».
«That's because the rainy season is going to start in three days».
«...Rainy season?» Now that he thought about it, the monster boy also said something about the rain. «What does that have to do with this?»
«We cannot spend our limited resources on other things when we have a rainy season to prepare for. We were planning to have a leisurely conversation with the captives after all our preparations were finished.»
Simply put, they didn't have time now. Honestly, it seemed like an excuse to me. If anything, it made it look bleaker.
«So you're saying you used your limited time to come meet me here when you couldn't spend a second talking to those captured adventurers?». I asked, making my suspicions known.
The boss blinked. «You're being... pretty aggressive».
«Any adventurer would react the same».
«Certainly, but you would do well to be a little more polite to the person who saved your life. The only reason I came here before finishing my preparations is because I was worried that your people would die a senseless death otherwise.»
«What?» I asked, wondering if I had heard him wrong. «Have you saved my life?
The boss continued with the same calm and uniform tone. «You won't believe me now, no matter what I tell you. Let's meet here again in three days and talk one more time».
«In three days...?» I asked, waiting for clarification, but the boss did not please me.
«I have a feeling you'd have a hard time trusting me if I invited you to the village right now».
That was true, but I didn't see how meeting in three days was going to change anything...
«Try not to leave the island. Actually, try to stay as close to this area as possible. At a certain point, we will have no choice but to close the village gates. But the doors will remain open until then, so don't hesitate to come in if you change your mind».
I blinked in confusion.
The boss didn't seem to notice. «You can stay with Marupichichi until then».
After that, the chief called the warriors and took them away, disappearing under the roots of the trees. I watched him leave, unable to say anything to stop him.
«He's gone...»
«Yandel, what are you going to do?»
No lo sé.
What I wanted most was to throw a tantrum, but it was only for a brief moment. I quickly recomposed myself and reviewed my priority list.
The main priority was quite obvious, the truth.
«Marupichichi. Tell me about the rainy season».
First, I had the monster boy tell me everything he could about the rainy season on this island. Once we had that information under our belt, we stayed near the center of the island to hunt monsters.
And so time passed: one day, two days...
Tic heel.
The hour hand moved, marking the beginning of the long-awaited third day.
[00:00]
As if nothing had happened, it started to rain.
Noises!
However, the rain consisted entirely of...
¡Krk, crrk, crrk!
¡Grrr...!
¡Graah!
...monsters I've never seen before.