“Cheating?”
“Rules say you have to clear it fair and square!”
And what the heck is Anne?
“What are the rules?”
“Rules are rules! Solve the riddle fairly to go down to the next floor!”
“If there are rules, at least tell me what they are.”
Why should I care? I’m stuck in a seemingly endless passage out of nowhere. Sighing, I gazed at the rambling head. What exactly is this thing? The dungeon manager? Or an NPC? Is it stuck to the wall? Or does it just have a head?
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be fun! You have to figure it out yourself!”
“…Can I ask again?”
“Waaah! Don’t do that! I finally have someone to talk to!”
The head exclaimed and then started to whimper. At this point, I felt like I was bullying the poor thing. Sighing deeply, I looked at Renny and Karina. Renny shrugged her shoulders when our eyes met.
I guess that means they want me to handle it.
Karina was fiddling with her hands, staring at the head. Her lips were quivering like she wanted to Purify it right away. I mean, seeing a talking head might trigger some visceral discomfort, especially considering she’s a saint who serves the God of Light. It’s understandable to feel that way about a dark, blob-like creature.
“So, what are the rules?”
“Don’t break the dungeon! Do you know how hard it is to recover it? And solve the problems fairly! I worked hard on it!”
“But if I break it fairly, what’s the difference?”
I confirmed it was already breaking, so why should I even consider the head’s words? I glared at the babbling head while resting the shovel on my shoulder. The angry head glared back at me, but then it seemed to realize how futile that was and mumbled in a gloomy tone.
“If that guy finds out, I’ll really be stuck at the bottom…”
“That guy?”
“Ah, I didn’t say anything!”
…What a loser.
I sighed as I began to understand this head’s nature. I was ready to shove my shovel into its face just in case, but seeing its demeanor, it seemed unnecessary. It doesn’t look like it’s doing this by choice.
“Anyway, solve the riddle! I’ll recover the walls!”
“Wait.”
Before the head could vanish, I thrust the shovel above it. Startled, it tried to escape, but before it could, I lifted the shovel like a lever, preventing the head from fleeing…
Thud. Rumble…
“Something feels off; it really is just a head.”
“H-head’s talking by itself… Purify! It shouldn’t exist in this world…”
“Calm down, Karina!”
What a mess.
Seeing Renny and Karina caught in this chaotic whirlpool gave me a headache. How did things get so out of hand? First, I should catch that head stuck in the wall. I rushed to grab the rolling head, which was quickly distancing itself from me.
“Let go!”
“No can do.”
Why would I let go of a clue I worked so hard to find?
I turned back, head in hand, ready to reunite with the others.
Ah, damn.
“I’m going crazy.”
I must have fallen too far while trying to pick up the head. But it can’t be helped. This head is the only clue, and I can’t just let it escape. I hoped Renny and Karina hadn’t drifted too far away. I can manage on my own, but not them.
“Put me back! Put me back, you pervert!”
“Why do you call me a pervert?”
“Don’t you know?”
The head glared at me with wide eyes. I ignored it and started to turn the head left and right, looking for anything unusual. But no such traces appeared. Is it because I’m not familiar with magic, or is it that there’s nothing there to begin with? I expected there to be something, considering a normal head wouldn’t be alive.
The neck’s cross-section is open. If I put food in its mouth, will it come out its throat?
“Where are you looking?!”
“The throat’s open.”
“Anyone with a block?”
Why does this absurd situation make me want to hit it? With great restraint, I stopped before my fist could move, realizing that it would be my loss if it didn’t share any useful info.
“Not a person.”
“I am! Hundreds of years ago!”
“We decided to not call that a person.”
“That’s just mean!”
Watching its face change wildly in real time is kind of amusing.
…Thinking about it, it is a talking head.
“Wilson…”
“My name is NOT Wilson!”
The head, not Wilson, shouted loud enough to shake the cave. It clearly doesn’t like the name Wilson. But it looks like a Wilson to me. A talking volleyball…I mean, head really lacks the sensibility of a deserted island. This is why you should read more books.
“Fine, I’ll call you Wilson.”
“I have a name, Millia! Ah, I shouldn’t have said that!”
“Well then, Millia.”
“If that guy finds out, he’ll torment me saying I’m a useless idiot…”
Well, what a straightforward head. Watching Millia fall right into my trap made me think that it might not be too hard to get information needed for exploring the dungeon by throwing bait.
Unaware of my thoughts, Millia kept mumbling about how that guy would be mad and how she’d get buried in the wall again, while her eyes cast downward. I raised her head high to make eye contact with her. When she met my gaze, she looked away, flustered.
“Don’t look at me like that…”
“Who the heck is this guy?”
“I…I can’t say! If I do, who knows what he’ll do to me!”
“If I kill him, won’t that solve the problem?”
“No! Don’t kill him! Absolutely don’t kill him!”
What do you want me to do? You don’t hate him, yet you don’t want him dead? Is it that if he dies, you will too, tied as a soul? It’s hard to make guesses when I don’t know jack. And if I outright ask, I doubt I’ll get a coherent response since she’s so obsessed with that guy. For now, let’s focus on finding a way through this passage.
“What’s the secret to this passage?”
“I’m absolutely not telling you!”
“Is that so.”
In that moment, I saw Millia’s gaze drift upwards. The hint seems to be on the ceiling. And if it’s on the ceiling…
“Is that lighting the secret?”
“How did you know?!”
If you’re so blatant about it, I’d have to be a fool not to realize. I grabbed Millia with both hands, ready to take my shot.
Posture okay. Position good. Angle solid.
“What are you doing? I d-don’t think that’s allowed—Eeeek!”
Ooh, nailed it. Looks like my childhood skills of throwing haven’t died yet. I stared at the space that darkened after the light shattered. From this point of view, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything special. Should I break all of it?
Just when I was seriously contemplating busting every last light.
“…Sir! Johann!”
“Guess that means I was right.”
So, those lights create some sort of illusion?
“This is humiliating…”
Since only its voice is still audible, does that mean I can still break more? I picked up Millia’s head, which had been rolling on the ground while sniffling. It was just the right size to fit in one hand.
“Let’s, for a moment, solve this through civilized discussion.”
“Sure! Let’s discuss—But first, break all of those lights!”
“Help! I don’t want to be thrown! I feel like I’m going to throw up!”
I smashed the second light.
I continued breaking the lights. The first one reacted violently, but now Millia seems to understand my intentions, only muttering, “Stop…” in response.
“My stomach feels weird…”
“Is there anything in it?”
You don’t have a body! How can a head throw up? Millia did pretend to gag, but all that came out was some saliva. Yeah, there’s some drool.
“Johann!”
“Karina! I’m over here!”
A light sparkled in the darkened passage. It was the lamp Renny was holding. I walked over to the lamp to reunite with the two. They approached me with relieved expressions upon seeing me.
“Is everything okay? And what about… Did you solve the secret of this passage?”
“Yeah. It seems like the lights were just for creating illusions.”
“Pretty simple issue, actually.”
“It hurts…”
All eyes turned to Millia at the sound of her gloomy voice. Regardless, she continued to moan with a dejected expression like a tragic heroine. Renny looked away from Millia and made eye contact with me.
“Why is she like that?”
“I used her to smash the lights.”
“Oh…”
Renny looked at Millia with sympathetic eyes.
“Now that the secret of this passage seems to be solved, shall we take a look around?”
We walked through the passage, now devoid of illusions. The truth revealed by breaking the lights was that this corridor was actually donut-shaped. The illusions had obscured the path to the next floor located at the entrance and the central pillar, making the twisting path appear straight.
What’s with this ambiguous difficulty?
As I looked down the path to the next floor, I turned to the others and said,
“Let’s head back to camp for now. There’s something I need to check.”
“Outside? Can we go outside?”
Millia looked like she could explode with joy at the thought of being outside after being trapped for hundreds of years.
“If you take us on a tour outside, would you help us solve this dungeon’s riddles?”
“Oh, um… that’s a little…”
“Then we’ll just leave you here.”
“Wait! Okay, okay! Please let me out! I want to see the sun too!”
Well, if that’s the case.
I casually strapped Millia around my waist.
Thus, our party gained a new member, or rather, a head.
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