As my appearance eased the atmosphere a little, the group finally rose from their seats.
But the tension still lingered.
“Where do you intend to go, Your Highness?”
Yeniel asked the Crown Prince politely.
“For now, we’ll head to the first floor. If we can get out of the mansion, there’s a chance we might escape this Otherworld. And besides, staying on the same level as those monsters we saw on the fifth floor is dangerous.”
No one voiced the unsettling thought that whatever appeared on the first floor might be even more dangerous.
The Crown Prince organized the situation.
“The central staircase is the closest, so most of the survivors likely headed there. Lady Debnoa went east as she declared. Well, we’ll probably run into them on the way down, or at the first-floor exit. Let’s proceed carefully, watching our surroundings, and head for the exit.”
The group slowly descended from the fifth floor to the fourth.
The staircase was vast—almost monumental.
In silence, everyone remained alert as they stepped downward.
‘This place didn’t seem to have monsters… but I can’t be sure.’
Not a trace of living presence could be felt. The atmosphere was eerily desolate.
Thud. Thud.
Their footsteps echoed unnaturally loud through the empty staircase, reverberating like something ominous.
“…This mansion is enormous. Far larger than the imperial palace.”
The Crown Prince’s voice rang through the stairwell. It sounded ominous, but he didn’t seem particularly disturbed—either he was unfazed, or simply good at hiding it.
The strategist Sian replied gravely.
“The Otherworld is warped according to the dark mage’s mana and intent. This mansion has likely been twisted and expanded beyond its original size. It’s a massive device designed to kill us.”
The Crown Prince’s attendant beside him shivered and looked around nervously.
They arrived at what should have been the fourth floor.
There was a door leading inside, but there was no need to explore the floor. They passed it.
And continued downward. Slowly. Steadily.
A floor that should have been the third—another door leading inside. Again, they did not enter.
The next floor. A door.
The next. A door.
The next…
Every floor they reached had the exact same door waiting for them.
After a few repetitions, Yeniel and Sian stopped and exchanged looks.
“…Aren’t we just passing the same floor over and over?”
“It appears we are continuously descending into the fourth floor. I would prefer that not to be the case.”
Sian took a handkerchief from his robes and placed it on the ground.
“Let’s go down once more.”
They descended again. And the moment they felt they had gone down one floor, the handkerchief Sian had left behind appeared beneath their feet again.
“Eek…”
The Crown Prince’s attendant—Max—who had been silent until now, gasped.
It was the fourth floor again.
Everyone turned to look at the Crown Prince.
“Nothing for it. It seems we are being told to enter this door. We will go inside the fourth floor.”
“Your Highness!”
Max cried out in panic.
From within the fourth-floor door, a distinctly unpleasant killing intent seeped out. It felt as though something ominous would leap out the moment they opened it.
“Our only options are to go back up to the fifth floor, or enter here. But we cannot return to the banquet hall. That monster is still lurking there. Do you have any other suggestions?”
“…None…”
Max fell silent.
Sian opened the fourth-floor door.
“Due to the mansion’s mana field, spirits and magic are weakened, but I should still be able to protect you. I’ll take the lead.”
A dark, endless corridor stretched before them.
The light was faint, and a strange, fishy stench lingered in the air.
Naturally, everyone became less talkative. Even speaking felt like it might attract something lurking in the darkness.
“Cotia.”
At Sian’s low call, a faint glow appeared. It seemed to be either magic or a spirit.
Guided by the dim light, they moved forward.
Doors lined the right wall, while the left wall was empty.
But when the Crown Prince tried to open one of the doors on the right—
—it vanished.
“…What.”
It was like a mirage.
After a few more steps, doors appeared on the left instead, while the right wall became empty.
When they turned back, the corridor they had come through was gone.
Only darkness remained.
“What are you looking at, Lady April?”
Yeniel, walking beside me, gently tugged my sleeve, checking whether I was following properly. As expected of a heroine, she was attentive to others.
“The darkness.”
I answered innocently, befitting a foolish noble lady.
“That’s not good. We’re wandering inside the dark.”
Yeniel’s expression stiffened slightly.
The deeper they went, the thicker the darkness became.
Sian’s spirit-light was already almost completely swallowed.
As they proceeded further, the space itself began to widen.
Soon, a damp humidity and the stench of blood filled the air unpleasantly.
“…What is this…”
Yeniel swallowed a groan.
A faint misty rain drifted down onto their shoulders.
Ah. Now I remembered where this was. It just took a moment to match the game map in my memory with reality.
“Outside?”
Sian froze in shock.
What unfolded beneath their feet was the entrance of a city dyed in ash-gray.
In the distance, rows of two- and three-story houses stretched out. The abandoned city was filled with eerie silence, as if no living soul remained.
The sky was ominous, the atmosphere chilling.
“Are we in the right place? There was only one path… we might need to go back.”
The Crown Prince turned around—but the corridor they had entered from was gone.
Only mountains and forest remained.
“…The corridor is gone.”
Max turned pale.
A vast space that should not exist on the fourth floor of a mansion stretched endlessly before them. It felt as if they had been dropped into an entirely different world.
The dungeon entrance opened its jaws, inviting them in.
“Where is this?”
“A dungeon, Your Highness.”
Yeniel replied.
“That city below appears to be an old capital from before its relocation. Some buildings match life from a thousand years ago. That means… this is a space based on the Great Mage’s memories. We have been dropped into a dungeon formed from a thousand-year-old memory.”
As expected of the heroine, she quickly identified the situation and explained it clearly, keeping the pace of the story sharp.
The Crown Prince groaned.
“Then… we must enter? But it feels like we were guided here deliberately. It’s unsettling.”
“I cannot say for certain. But it seems we have two choices.”
Yeniel continued calmly.
“Judging by the layout, if we follow the forest to our left and behind us, we may be able to descend the mountain and reach the city below. If we do not wish to enter the dungeon, we can head there instead. However, I cannot guarantee that avoiding the dungeon will lead to a better outcome.”
Two choices.
▷ Enter the dungeon
▷ Pass through the forest and descend into the city
Everyone fell into thought.