Chapter 25 : “Don’t leaaave meeeee behind…!”

The inside of the abandoned mine was pitch dark.

It was expected, given that no one managed this place anymore.

On top of that, it was late at night. Tripping over rocks in the winding tunnels was practically inevitable.

…Which meant that Usher had to get used to Rubena shrieking constantly.

“Kyahhhhh!!!”

“Hyahhhh!!!”

“Mommmmyyyy!!!”

“…”

“…”

Usher’s suspicions turned into absolute certainty.

Yes, Rubena Pradeiri—the woman everyone called a tyrant—was actually a bottomless coward.

Especially now, when the darkness seemed to amplify her tendencies.

She screamed every time she tripped on a rock, and she jumped and clung to him whenever she heard water dripping.

By now, she was completely out of strength. Clinging tightly to Usher’s waist, she was sniffing and sobbing pitifully.

The prideful woman who pretended not to be scared was nowhere to be found.

Usher stiffened at the sensation of something pressing against his back.

His head spun. It was almost a relief that they were in a dark tunnel.

Still, he tried to maintain his composure, thinking at least one of them had to keep their wits about them.

“Uh, Rubena. Maybe you should—”

“Don’t leeeave meee…!”

Rubena’s voice trembled.

At that moment, Bersia spoke up.

“Lady Rubena, wouldn’t it be better for you to stay by Lord Heisenberg’s side? It might be smoother if you were carried.”

Her voice was tinged with unmistakable annoyance.

Usher felt a sense of crisis.

After all, Saintesses were a group known for not getting along with each other.

And Bersia wasn’t exactly a tolerant person.

She might say something like “Just leave her here,” further crushing Rubena’s spirit.

That’s when it happened.

“If darkness is the issue, Lady Saintess, may I be of assistance?”

“I don’t careee…!!!”

Saturn spoke up, and Rubena responded in her usual wailing tone.

But Saturn seemed to interpret it as consent.

And then something unexpected occurred.

Saaaaa—

“Huh?”

“Will this amount of light suffice?”

A light appeared.

More specifically, Saturn Heisenberg’s scalp began to emit a faint glow.

Usher gaped at the bizarre sight, mouth agape.

Rubena, too, froze and stared dumbfoundedly at Saturn’s glowing head.

A person’s head shining like a lightbulb—it was beyond absurd.

Even Usher, who knew about Saturn’s abilities, thought this was an outrageous use of them.

Meanwhile, Rubena muttered in a dazed voice.

“You… you…”

“Yes, Lady Saintess?”

“You could do that this whole time… and you didn’t?!”

“…”

Saturn fell silent.

His lack of expression made it nearly impossible to read his emotions.

Then he finally spoke.

“You told me not to light up my scalp because it was blinding.”

Depending on how you heard it, it could either sound earnest or like subtle complaining.

Rubena’s expression shifted rapidly.

First, she looked blank. Then, utterly defeated. Slowly, her face scrunched up, veins bulging on her forehead—pure rage.

“You insane idiot!!!”

Rubena, now angrier than she had been when she was crying earlier, screamed and kicked at Saturn.

Of course, her fragile body couldn’t harm Saturn’s solid frame.

“Ow!”

“Are you alright, Lady Saintess?”

“Aghhh! Aaaghhhh!!!”

Rubena clutched her ankle and screamed in pain.

Usher chuckled dryly, watching the comedic spectacle.

Meanwhile, Bersia subtly sidled closer to Usher, slipping into his space, and whispered:

“Well, at least now we can move forward.”

“Excuse me?”

“I was scared too, you know. But I couldn’t stick close to you because of her.”

Usher glanced at Bersia.

Her face didn’t show even a hint of fear.

It was clear she was spouting nonsense, and her expression made it obvious.

Bersia chuckled softly.

“Just kidding. I just didn’t like her clinging to you.”

“Haha… You two really don’t get along, do you?”

“Not entirely.”

Bersia’s expression turned strangely meaningful.

Usher narrowed his eyes.

“…Don’t get any weird ideas.”

“I wasn’t thinking anything.”

Sure you weren’t. Left alone, she would’ve said something outrageous.

Their silent standoff deepened.

“…Here we go again.”

Rubena muttered.

When Usher turned, he saw that she had finally stopped fussing and was looking at him and Bersia with an exasperated expression.

Usher flinched belatedly.

Thankfully, it seemed she hadn’t overheard their conversation.

“It’s not like that,” he added quickly, trying to clear up any misunderstanding.

But who knew how Rubena interpreted his expression?

Though a brief commotion, it ended relatively well in the end.

Usher and the group continued to delve deeper into the tunnels.

Fortunately, they hadn’t lost their way yet.

Following the map, they reached the farthest marked area.

“I heard this is where the disappearances began,” Usher said, gazing at the three branching paths ahead.

The marked spot on the map matched this location. According to Daren, it was a remnant of the distant past when they mined these tunnels without properly organizing the sections.

“They say the tunnels are so convoluted that drawing a map is almost pointless. Unless you’re as experienced as the original team of miners, no one even dares to venture here.”

“It’s understandable why they’d think it’s best to avoid this place.”

“It smells suspicious, doesn’t it?”

However, the distinct, sticky, and unpleasant mana signature typical of heretics was absent.

This oddity made Usher furrow his brows. Was it just him who couldn’t sense it? As he looked around, it seemed the others were in the same boat.

Bersia shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t feel anything unusual.”

“M-Me neither… uh, ahem,” added Rubena, trailing off.

Could it really be ghosts instead of heretics?

As Usher was contemplating this possibility, Saturn spoke up.

“They may simply be concealing it.”

“Heretics are secretive. Even before forming large-scale organizations, they mastered various arts to hide their presence. I recall the incident involving the Unidentifiables in Kutan.”

“Ah, when twenty Unidentifiables appeared simultaneously…”

“Yes. I remember it because I was deployed as part of the extermination team.”

That sounded about right.

Usher had never experienced it firsthand, but he had heard about such arts.

After a moment of silence, Saturn added a remark.

“Sir Therbion wouldn’t know of such things. He specializes more in tearing through the front lines of battle than in covert operations.”

Usher felt a mix of awkwardness and admiration. Saturn must have said that to spare Usher from appearing incompetent. What a cool senior he was.

If only his glowing scalp didn’t make him look so peculiar, the words would have been even more moving.

In any case, the conclusion was clear—they needed to press forward.

Their destination was the leftmost of the three branching paths.

Bersia spoke up.

“Left-hand rule, is it?”

“It’s easier to check the outer paths first.”

“I’ll mark the path with holy power as we go. Let’s proceed.”

She was considerate of the fact that Usher couldn’t use holy power recklessly.

With that, they set off again. The path grew narrower and more treacherous.

The terrain, marked by the disorganized mining practices of the early days, felt increasingly unstable.

Was this truly the right direction?

Usher occasionally had his doubts but soon found something that erased them entirely.

“…Blood.”

“W-What? Is there really something here?”

“Yes. It’s not old.”

While running his hand along the wall, he noticed dried blood wedged between the rocks.

It wasn’t the blackened, ancient kind—it was fresh enough to recognize.

Had it been older, he wouldn’t have identified it as blood at all.

“Lord Heisenberg.”

“Yes.”

Saturn pressed his glowing scalp against the wall.

The bloodstains became more visible.

Usher’s voice hardened.

“Someone was dragged. Judging by the marks, they probably clung to the wall, struggling.”

The blood trails split into five lines that ran straight down the wall—a sign of someone’s fingertips being torn as they resisted.

It was clear now.

Whatever was inside had a tangible presence, and there was a high probability it was a heretic.

This added a new urgency to the investigation.

“There might still be missing persons alive.”

Disappearances had been a consistent occurrence, even until recently.

If this was the work of heretics, they likely kept some captives alive for their purposes.

There was no time to waste.

“We can’t afford to leave and call for reinforcements.”

Saving even one more person was a responsibility they couldn’t shirk, as both servants of the temple and swords of the main deity.

Usher looked at his companions.

Saturn wore his usual composed expression. Bersia looked troubled. Rubena’s face had gone pale.

It seemed they all understood the necessity of pressing on.

“…We need to move more discreetly. Understanding the layout inside is the priority,” Bersia said.

Usher nodded, and Saturn extinguished his light.

They moved cautiously, feeling their way along the walls and holding their breaths.

Rubena’s fear was a concern, but it seemed her terror had reached such an extreme that she clung to Saturn silently, not daring to utter a word.

How far had they delved into the tunnels?

How many twists and turns had they taken?

It became hard to keep track.

At some point, they reached a place so indistinguishable that the paths blended together.

Then, finally, they encountered something.

“…Who’s there?”

A cracked, dry, metallic voice.

It was barely recognizable as human speech, drained of all energy and life.

The missing persons.

They found them, deep within the tunnels.