"······."
We had been moving through the Lobotomy Corporation branch in silence for quite some time, under a heavy atmosphere.
It wasn't like that the whole way.
Someone had clearly tried to break that awkward silence here and there, but...
"Boss, no matter how I look at it, that lever seems ominous, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be better to just leave it alone and—"
Click.
Ah.
"Wait, the room?!"
The moment the lever was pulled, the ceiling of the empty room split open, and tens of thousands of nails began raining down onto the floor.
"Everybody, run outside!"
"Damn it, boss! I told you not to press it!"
...Looking at it now, maybe he really had just brought it up because he was uneasy?
Anyway, thanks to Mr. Dante's foolish move, the Sinners who got pelted by nails finally went quiet.
Most of the missions we'd shared had been full of landmines whenever someone tried to lighten the mood.
And if one of the Sinners without a language filter that could dodge all of them opened their mouth, they'd inevitably step on one of those landmines.
Then the mood would naturally sink again, and when someone got uncomfortable enough to start talking about the past again... yes, the start of an endless vicious cycle.
If only we had a fight at times like this, maybe the atmosphere would clear up somehow...
We'd been walking for quite a while, yet no enemies were in sight. Where had all those Inquisitors gone?
Looks like every Inquisitor in the area had already come rushing in when they swarmed us earlier.
"······."
Just as the awkwardness was starting to make my mouth itch, a massive gate came into view in the distance.
That gate, built from sharp iron bars and stacked stone, gave off a strange air.
It looked like the only way through this section was over there.
Hmm... There are a lot of Inquisitors guarding it, so if we just try to walk through, that'll be a problem. Did they have some sort of trick up their sleeve?
"Hmm..."
Mr. Dante seemed to be thinking, hand to his chin, as if he couldn't come up with a proper solution.
Is there... no decent plan?
"How about we ambush them from behind? Leave it to this Otis, and I'll handle it quickly."
Ms. Otis proposed a pretty solid plan.
Given her past, entrusting that operation to her would honestly be a pretty good choice.
"I'll make a racket and draw their attention! I've got a perfect plan, one that even accounts for our return!"
Our chaos generator, the Sinner who proudly held first place as the loudest of us all, Ms. Don Quixote, offered up a pretty decent plan.
But that plan... didn't it seem like there was another Sinner who'd fit it too?
"Mr. Gregor, you seem like you'd fit. Why don't you step up?"
"Pfft!"
"Hey, no I don't! I'm not stepping up!"
Tch, I already knew the answer in my head, but I still wanted to ask.
Teasing Mr. Gregor over his usual behavior always got a good reaction, too.
While we were snickering and chatting among ourselves, Mr. Dante seemed to have made a decision and returned his hand to its original position before speaking.
"Let's make a commotion. Don Quixote, can you do it?"
"Leave it to me, Manager!"
...Hmm, our Ms. Don Quixote really was an expert when it came to making a scene.
Ms. Don Quixote moved a little farther away, then carefully, and annoyingly, provoked them.
"Th-that..."
"Hey, move over there."
The Inquisitors in front of the gate had clearly had their attention stolen by Ms. Don Quixote, because a surprisingly large number of them began moving toward her.
And after luring them far away, Ms. Don Quixote used her trademark speed to isolate them and return alone.
"I'm back! Did I not say so? A perfect plan, one that even accounted for our return!"
Honestly, I hadn't exactly trusted Ms. Don Quixote's operation, but... the effect was better than expected.
That plan had cleared away a third of the Inquisitors guarding the gate in an instant. I couldn't help but admire it.
If she hadn't pulled that stunt at the checkpoint, I would've looked at her much more favorably.
Well, good is good, I suppose.
Brushing the thought aside, I gripped my spear and moved to cut them down.
There were only about five of them, so we should be able to finish this quickly and move on.
*
After passing through the first gate without much trouble, we stood at a three-way fork, wondering where to go.
In front of us was a training ground for elite troops, and on both sides were passages that might or might not lead somewhere.
The right side seemed to have no airflow, so it looked like a dead end.
"Where should we go?"
"Still, wouldn't it be better to go through the middle, where something's actually marked?"
"You don't know what you're talking about. Since it says elite troop training ground, there's a high chance the enemies ahead are stronger than usual. In cases like this, taking the side path and striking at the enemy's blind spot is also a good method."
The Sinners' opinions seemed to be narrowing toward the middle somehow... but something still felt off.
"...Let's go right. To the right."
"Is there any need to go somewhere blocked off? It feels like a waste of time."
"That may be true, but..."
Hmm, I couldn't really argue with Ms. Ishmael's point.
There was definitely some vague feeling nagging at me, but still... if we didn't go right, I felt like I'd regret it later.
"...Do you have a reason for wanting to go right specifically?"
"Huh? I mean... just a feeling. The Wings aren't such sloppy companies that they'd leave useless space in a branch."
It was a spur-of-the-moment answer, but it wasn't exactly wrong.
The 26 Wings, the true rulers of the City, put a great deal of effort into turning a profit.
This kind of small-scale waste of space might not be a huge loss, but at the same time, the Wings weren't sloppy enough to make something like this for no reason.
And after hearing me out, Mr. Dante fell back into thought once more.
After a bit of time passed, the place he chose was—
"Let's go right. I don't think it'd hurt to check."
"If that's the Manager's choice, then this Otis will follow."
Everyone else wore a faintly uneasy look—well, to be exact, even Ms. Otis looked unconvinced—but I wasn't too worried.
My instincts were telling me there was really something in there.
So far, those instincts had never been wrong.
...Though that included the ominous ones, too.
I really wished that kind of intuition would be wrong for once.
And so we started down the right-hand passage. And then...
"This is... a door."
Before long, we found a massive steel door, sealed tight.
"If they've locked it up this thoroughly, there's probably something incredible behind it."
Ms. Rodion's eyes gleamed at the suspicious-looking door.
It really was a suspicious door that looked like it might hide something.
If we opened it, there might be some enormous reward on the other side.
Apparently we weren't the only ones thinking that, because Mr. Dante also seemed eager to open it.
"Hmm... then should we open it?"
As expected, Mr. Dante voiced the answer, and several Sinners stepped forward first—either to open the door or to show off their abilities.
"I'm confident when it comes to physical work!"
Mr. Heathcliff said that and barged forward on his own, yanking hard on one side of the door.
Yes, yanked...
Creak.
"Grrrrrgh...!"
Yank...
Screeeech.
"Kh, ha..."
Well, unfortunately, the door didn't move much at all.
For someone who'd stepped up so confidently, that had to be pretty embarrassing.
"······."
Mr. Dante stared at him with a look of utter disbelief.
Since Mr. Heathcliff, who was among the strongest of us physically, had failed to open it, maybe he'd decided brute force was a dead end. Mr. Dante's gaze shifted to the Sinners who handled the thinking.
The line of sight passed over Ms. Ishmael, me, and Mr. Yi Sang before stopping at Ms. Faust.
"Faust, could I ask you for help?"
At Mr. Dante's words, Ms. Faust quietly approached the area around the door and ran her hand over something beside it... a brick? Anyway, she brushed it lightly.
"Hmph!"
Then, as if something had caught, she made a strained sound.
Kreeeeeeeeak!!!
"What the hell?!"
Apparently it hadn't been maintained for a long time, because the door slowly opened with a huge groan.
"There was a protruding piece among the bricks. I estimate the door opens when it is returned to its original position."
Ms. Faust reported calmly to Mr. Dante before quietly returning to her place.
We just stared blankly at her.
"A secret... passage?"
A secret passage?
Ah, come to think of it, we hadn't checked behind the door yet.
Maybe I'd spaced out for a moment because the person who'd caused that absurd situation was acting like nothing had happened.
Swish
And when I looked behind the door after hearing Ms. Ishmael's words, there it was: a passage that hadn't existed before, sitting there as if it were only natural.
Embarrassment over the absurd situation, instinctive fear of the unknown space, and even suspicion toward Ms. Faust.
With all those emotions swirling together and leaving everyone confused, no one stepped forward to go in.
But soon enough, the commotion died down, and a distracted mood settled among the Sinners.
"...Shall we go?"
At Mr. Dante's brief cue, we began moving into the abandoned passage.
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