Eleanor chose not to look for something to eat and promptly entered the room that the man gave her. This one was rather cramped, with just a simple bed of dry grass and a tiny slit that hardly functioned as a window to the side. The door itself didn’t have any locks, as this whole fort was seemingly made from simple Earth Magic and just as simple craftsmanship, but since she knew magic herself, she created a small lock from rock that would keep the door from being opened.
After that, she walked over to the simple bed and sat down, looking down at the cup that the man gave her. “Say… Kyun… Is this really a good idea?”
I jumped over to sit next to her. I couldn’t answer her with words, so the best I could do was to just listen. She knew that as well, so after glancing my way, she turned her eyes on the drink, which had some strange red liquid.
“Caleb claimed that there was no way out… That only demons know the way out because of their God… But is that true?” she asked, knowing full well I couldn’t answer her.
However… If I were to answer her, I would say that it isn’t true. Not because I knew the way out, but because there is no pact with any God that the demons have made. It was nothing more than the superstition that the non-demon humanoids used to excuse the many things that they did to the demons.
“It also seems like he’s not His Highness either…” Eleanor sighed and turned to look at me with a soft smile. “Well, at least you’re still with me. I’m happy to know that.”
“Kyun,” I answered. It didn’t mean anything, but if she could understand that as a ‘you’re welcome’ then it would be fine.
“Should I go out there and ask for food, though?” she asked, looking at the door. “There might be something for you as well.”
While I didn’t feel hunger nor a desire for food, if they had something similar to that minotaur meat, I might be willing to taste it. So, I jumped down and made my way to the door. Eleanor softly smiled and also walked closer.
“I didn’t want to go out there, but I guess we need food, and the sooner the better.”
* * *
“Ohhhhh I miss her so much—hic…!” loudly said the man sitting next to Eleanor with a flushed face and a red nose. This was the same short and gruff man from the fort’s gate. “If I—hic—if I ever get out of here… Lemme tell ya’, she would be—hic—she would be glazed like a—like a—like a royal pastry for a few days.”
Eleanor looked with a wry smile at the loud man sitting next to her, who picked up his cup and drank deep from it. Across from her was the same tall man that had been at the walls with the short man. He wasn’t drunk and looked at the drunk man with an annoyed glare.
“What kind of language is that to be having next to a noble lady, Dom?” he asked, stabbing a piece of meat with a knife.
“Hic—” the man replied, turning his narrowed sights over to Eleanor, who was trying her best not to look at him. “W-well, she is a—hic—a good looking gal, but—but—but she ain’t no… no Brunhilda.”
“Hmph! I’ve seen your ‘Brunhilda’. She doesn’t come anywhere near to our new friend here.” the other man replied, raising an eyebrow in a mocking manner.
“Huh!?” the short, drunk man exclaimed, leaning forward and slamming a fist on the table, causing things to jump on top of it. “Say that again! I’ll—hic—I’ll put you in your place!”
“Hah! And how is a drunk like you going to do that?” the man mocked, stabbing his knife into the table this time.
The drunk man, instead of getting heated, smiled confidently. “I would stop—hic—stop producing drinks.”
Once he said that, every other man in the table stopped moving and turned to look at both men arguing. There was silence in the hall, and the man that had been mocking the drunk one simply glared and sat back down. “Okay fine. Sorry about that. But… If it wasn’t for that skill of yours, you’d be out in the woods already.”
“Hahahaha!” loudly laughed the drunk man, after which every other man in the hall continued eating and talking. “I’d be just fine out there. I ain’t need no degenerates like ya!”
“Degenerates?” asked the man, glaring once more to the drunk. “I’m not the one completely drunk right now. This is why you’ll never leave the walls.”
“This is way better than—than the disgusting things you guys do. I much prefer be—hic—be a d-drunk on the wall than—than…” he trailed off, swaying from side to side, before slamming his head on the desk.
“H-hey, Sir Knight…?” Eleanor exclaimed, leaning over to have a better look, but stopping when loud snoring came out of the drunk.
“Don’t bother with him,” said the man across from them. “He’s no Knight. He’s just a loser that was stuck with us ever since we stepped into this place.”
“What do you mean…?” Eleanor asked, sitting back down to look at the man. “How did you end up in here?”
The man shook his head, looked around the hall, and then back to Eleanor. “It was a rather stupid thing. You see, our boss used to be a pretty strong adventurer, so much so that he managed to create his own mercenary group, where he took on the hardest jobs people could find, and we’d help him accomplish them to great wealth and success. But after a certain point, he decided that it wasn’t enough, and that the greatest power was contained within the World Dungeons, in particular within…”
“The Void Dungeons,” said the elf from before, Tyrr, as he sat down next to the other man, who nodded in response.
“We were so infatuated with the boss back then, that we were certain of our success in this Void Dungeon exploration, not realizing the real dangers in this place…” the man continued, shaking his head.
“How long ago was that?” Eleanor asked.
“It must’ve been…” the man trailed off, looking at the ceiling as he tried to recall. “About two years already?”
“Eh?!” Eleanor exclaimed; her eyes wide as she looked at the man. “S-so long!?”
The elf sighed and nodded. “Yes. At first, traversing the previous zones wasn’t a big deal. There were a lot of us that died during that time, but thanks to the boss, we still made it. It was this wide, green zone that for some reason has turned out to be impossible to figure out.”
“But don’t you just have to find one of those black gates to get to the next place?” Eleanor asked, tilting her head slightly.
“We haven’t been able to find it,” the tall man answered, “At least, from the few of us that still remain, none of us know where it is.”
Eleanor thoughtfully considered their words for a moment, before looking at the elf. “What about the demons…?”
“Ah, that’s just a guess. They might know where to go because this place was created by their evil God, but…”
“We don’t really know,” finished the tall man.
Eleanor lowered her face and considered their words. She clenched her hands over her lap and appeared to shake her head slightly. It was obvious that she didn’t want to stay here, and I certainly wasn’t just going to sit here either.
Regardless, while she considered their words, I turned to the pieces of meat that she placed in front of me. I had been sitting to her right the whole time, looking at the food. It wasn’t anything special, and I just ate a handful of pieces of what she gave me, but no more than that. For a mortal, it would be good enough, but for someone like me… well, it was no God’s Ambrosia.
“Curious little pet you have there,” said the elf and I immediately glared at him. However, it seemed like he couldn’t understand the meaning of my gaze as he simply chuckled.
“Oh, he’s not my pet,” Eleanor corrected, and I nodded. “He’s just a friend that’s been with me the whole time.”
“A friend…? From this place?” asked the tall man. “Nothing that comes from this place is a friend. If I were you, I would get rid of it as soon as possible.”
“I-is that so…?” she asked, tilting her head to look at me. “But he saved my life a few times.”
“I wouldn't trust it,” continued the tall man. “Consider getting rid of it.”
Eleanor refused to say anything in response as she simply wryly smiled at the man. The snoring continued on her left, which is when she decided to stand up, and I followed. “I guess I’ll go rest now.”
“Go on then. May the Goddess give you sweet dreams,” said the tall man with a nod, and the elf followed with a small wave and a smile.
She calmly made her way out of the hall, but it was when she was just about to step outside, that someone wrapped an arm around her shoulders, causing her to tense up and stop walking.
