......" Almark!"

As soon as they leave the room, an excitable Morgen grabs Almark by the shoulders.

'The legendary basement is real!"

" "Legendary?"

Almark looks at Mogen with a blank expression as he plays with the key in his hand.

" It''s the torture room of Maia-san, isn't it?"

"No, no, Maia-san's secret basement."

The two of them go outside the dormitory and follow the directions, walking in a circle along the wall and around behind the plants.

　There, halfway into the wall, was a crude metal door.

«It's a pretty neat door to a legend, but did you know ...... there was such a door?"

Armark looks back at Mogen.

"No, I didn't know that at all. If there were nothing to see behind these plantings, I wouldn't come here at all."

　Mogen shook his head.

"I know, right ......?"

If Morgen didn't know, it was no wonder that Armark didn't know either.

"I'll open it then."

Almark put the key into the distorted keyhole of the door.

　It was terribly hard.

　After a few rough turns, the door finally opened.

"Wow. ......."

Morgen, looking in over Almark's shoulder, shouted pitifully.

　A crude stone staircase, barely wide enough for a single person to pass, extended down to the basement immediately after opening the door.

　The stone staircase turned gently and disappeared into the darkness of the basement.

'Oh, Almark ...... sorry, I can't do this.'"

Morgen backed away, his energy from a moment ago nowhere to be seen.

“I'm not a big fan of dark and cramped places. They' re two of my least favorite things. ......"

"I thought basements were supposed to be dark and cramped."

“I can't take this anymore......"

　Morgen shook his head with a pale face.

"That's fine, Mogen. I'll get the sign and the lumber out anyway. I'll go get them."

Almark said.

'Wait right here for me i will pick it up.

'Sorry, Almark."

'I'm not usually much use to you. During the work I'll be working today."

The basement, however, looked quite dark.

Almark, who could not use any light magic, would have a hard time without a lamp.

After returning to get the lamp, Almark raised it and started to go down the stairs.

"I'm off then."

"Watch your step,"

Morgen said anxiously.

" I'll be fine. ......"

　Armark carefully descended the stairs.

　The staircase turns gently in the middle, blocking the light coming in from outside.

　As he descended the stone steps, the sounds from outside also faded away, until the only sound was the hard thumping of Almark's shoes on the stone steps.

After descending for a while, there was another rough wooden door, and the staircase ended there.

　Almark pushed, and the door slowly opened with a creaking sound.

　The room was dark, as expected.

When he put a lamp over the door, he could see that it was a surprisingly large room.

Various things seemed to be laid out in a messy manner.

He found a sconce on the wall, moved to it to avoid tripping over it, and lit the light of the lamp.

In the brightly lighted room, Almark mutters to himself,

'Which one is it ......?'

Among the various items placed in random order, there are a number of wooden boxes.

He didn't expect to find a sign in one of these boxes.

　As Almark sighed, he felt something move for a moment, blocking the light.

“!"

　Almark immediately braced himself.

　He groped for signs of something that had moved, trying to catch his breath.

In the basement, lit by the candelabrum and lamp, there was nothing moving except Almark.

　)Had an insect or something flown by?)

　Almark still did not let his guard down and waited for a while.

Then, finally convinced that there was absolutely no sign of life in the room, he let his guard down.

"Now ......."

Among these many things, he had to find the wooden box containing the sign or whatever it was.

Almark opened the wooden box nearest at hand.

　It was stuffed with some kind of musty cloth. No, it was different.

He opened two other boxes at random, but they contained something completely different.

　"That reminds me ," Almark remembers.

Maia had said, "The wooden box in the back."

Almark went to the back of the room.

It was not so large as to be called the back of the room.

　He soon came up against a wall.

　And on that wall, buried in the stuff, he noticed a small wooden door.

　"...... No way, the back is this back?"

But he moved the things around and pushed the door just to be sure.

　He was going to stop if it didn't open, but the door made a cheesy sound and opened easily.

　Almark had no choice but to walk through the door and hold up the lamp, then he was terribly puzzled.

　"What is this place?"

This is a strange place.

Unlike the simple rectangular basement of the earlier room, this room was nicely circular in shape .

　The floor, too, was made of a fine stone of a material that was clearly different from the stone used in the previous room, although he did not know the name of it.

　Looking up, one could see that the ceiling was also constructed in the shape of a dome.

It was similar to the ancient nobleman's tomb that he had seen during his travels, which had been stolen.

　The size of the room is one size smaller than the previous one, but it feels terribly spacious due to the fact that there is nothing in this space.

　There's nothing here, not even a ...... box.

After all, this was not the spot.

The wooden door closed noisily at about the same time Almark turned around to go back to the room he had been in.

Almark saw something crouching in front of the closed door.

(When had it happened?)

　)There had certainly been nothing there a moment ago.)

　But now, something was definitely crouched there.

　It slowly raised its body.

　Almark gasped.

DeLugan."

　The abominable name came out of his mouth.

"Why is it here?"

　It looked like a gray wolf. But its fur stood up like a blade.

　Almark had met it before.

　He had fought it.

Recalling the memory of this encounter, his palms still feel clammy with cold sweat.

In the dark of night, when the magic whistle of the forest sounds, a dark household appears from the depths of the forest.

The one in front of him now looks slightly smaller than the one Almark saw in the northern forest.

However, the shape is unmistakably that abominable dark beast, the DeLugan.

'This is the ...... dormitory, isn't it?'

　Almark muttered.