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Chapter 55
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“…Have you finally come to your senses?”
I spoke as I looked at the three of them.
Each avoided my gaze, either staring off into the distance or hiding their flushed faces.
“What sort of illusions were you seeing that even after breaking free, you’re still like this…”
Even though the illusion magic had been dispelled, the three couldn’t completely pull themselves out of it.
As a result, more time was wasted.
I chose not to say anything further and simply kept my mouth shut.
“Let’s just move quickly. Everyone step back, and Lea, light the way.”
Using Lea’s light to guide my vision, I began dismantling the illusions deeper inside.
Once I got a grasp of the structure, the process became straightforward repetition.
As I cleared the path, I mulled over the nature of these spells.
‘It’s clear. This isn’t the illusion magic I’m familiar with.’
It was definitely magic utilizing the Illusion Attribute.
But its method was entirely different.
Typically, illusion magic is nothing more than “scattered” illusions.
In other words, once you return to reality, you naturally snap out of it and realize, “Oh? That was an illusion.”
When your senses return, you’re forced to recognize that what you saw wasn’t real.
But these spells… “scattered” illusions…
No, that’s not it. They are still scattered illusions.
Yet there was something more.
Something on a slightly higher level that I couldn’t yet comprehend.
This principle made the illusions stronger and harder to dispel.
This was also why I didn’t reprimand my comrades too harshly.
It wasn’t simply because the three of them lacked the mental strength to escape the illusions.
It was because these artifacts were imbued with a special kind of illusion magic.
“So, Your Highness, why were you saying ‘Goshiyah~ Goshiyah~’ like JeBbit?”
“T-That’s…”
From behind, I overheard the three of them talking.
Rikal stammered, claiming he was a fan of JeBbit, that he’d attended a fan meeting with him, and so on.
It sounded like an awkward excuse to me, but the other two, unaware of the truth, seemed to buy it.
“But this is truly a first for me. Was it because we spent so much time in the illusion? Although, in reality, it was only two hours.”
“Even after hours of gaming, I’ve never had this happen.”
It seemed they had spent an extraordinarily long time in their respective illusions.
Not just a few hours, but days, or even decades.
Rikal mentioned spending a few days, but Lea claimed to have experienced over ten years.
Was this determined by individual mental states?
Even that was beyond my understanding for now.
“Sigh… This feels endless.”
After who knows how long of this process, I stopped.
Even repetitive tasks can be exhausting after a while.
My head felt like it was going to burst as I rubbed my forehead and stretched my stiff body.
“I feel bad that you’re the only one working hard, Riot. We came to help, but…”
“It’s fine. At least there’s an illusion mage here to handle this.”
My comrades looked at me with apologetic expressions.
This wasn’t a situation where combat was needed.
No one could have anticipated that the entire hideout would be saturated with illusion magic.
“Here, at least take this to drink.”
Lea handed me some water.
Her attitude had seemed different since earlier.
“Thanks.”
As I guzzled the water, I noticed Rikal glancing around.
“…Still, we must be close.”
“Huh?”
“I can feel a change in the temperature. There’s warmth in the air.”
The three mages, including myself, couldn’t sense anything.
There was a faint change in mana flow, but that was all.
If someone as sensitive as Rikal said so, it must be true.
“Then let’s hurry. I want to get out of here by sunrise.”
Outside, it was likely well past midnight.
We hadn’t prepared for this taking so long.
I was hungry, sleepy, and tired.
Suppressing these sensations with illusion magic, I pressed on to clear the path.
Hours passed.
At the end of the monotonous tunnel, a door appeared.
It was a solitary, old wooden door that seemed out of place.
“Could this be another trap?”
“Doesn’t seem like it. I don’t sense the same illusion magic as before here.”
I answered the spatial mage’s question.
Hearing my reply, the spatial mage moved ahead of me and began spreading mana.
“…There’s quite a large space beyond. It also seems like the ground has risen slightly. That would mean we’ve been walking along a gentle incline this whole time.”
“So, we just have to open it, right?”
“Your Highness. Please, go ahead and open it.”
“…Me?”
The three of us stepped back, leaving Rikal at the forefront.
Lea and the spatial mage cast a few protection spells on Rikal instead.
“There’s no magical threat ahead. At most, it might be a physical attack, which you’d handle better than we could.”
“Sigh… Fine, I got it.”
Rikal sighed and grabbed the doorknob.
As he opened the door, the light flooding in illuminated our vision.
“Ugh…”
“So bright…”
It was natural light.
Judging by the intensity, it was about as bright as sunrise.
But after being in the dark tunnel, it felt overwhelmingly dazzling to us.
“Whoa…”
Then, the scene that unfolded.
A massive space lay beyond the door.
The ceiling seemed to touch the sky—or, no, we were clearly underground, yet the ceiling was so high it looked like the sky itself.
Natural light poured in through a transparent glass ceiling.
And beneath that light was a vast, well-decorated room.
The room felt cozy yet sophisticated.
At the center of the room, basking in the sunlight, was an egg much larger than my body.
It was a dragon egg.
“What about the thief?”
“There, over there.”
On one of the armchairs sat a man engrossed in playing Maple Leaf Story.
It seemed he was the so-called Hetz.
“To think he’s playing a game so carefree, unaware of the chaos he’s caused…”
Hetz looked like an ordinary middle-aged man.
He didn’t seem particularly strong, nor did he appear to be a mage.
But judging by the equipment scattered around him, it was clear he wasn’t just an average person.
We forcefully logged him out of Maple Leaf Story.
“Wh-what?!”
The startled man fell clumsily off his armchair.
When he noticed us, his expression began to change.
He wore a look that said, “How are there people here?”
“Wh-who are you…”
“I’m the one who made that game. Do you know what’s happening in the world because of you?”
“Riot…? Of course I know. People are scrambling to steal this egg without any effort or skill. And more importantly, how did you get here…”
Having regained his composure, he quickly backed away.
As he attempted to arm himself, Rikal intercepted him with a swing of his sword.
“Because of you, an enraged dragon is burning down villages. Do you know how many people have died because of this?”
“Wha…”
Hetz flinched at my words.
Did he at least feel some guilt for the deaths caused?
That also meant he hadn’t considered that his actions could lead to such consequences.
“What were you thinking when you did this?”
“W-what was I thinking? I mean, isn’t it obvious? Everyone else was doing it… And how could I just stand by while amateurs tried to rob a rare treasure? Someone had to show them what true skill is!”
“So why are you stealing someone else’s child?!”
“I-I only stole an egg…”
Hetz’s face showed no awareness of his wrongdoing.
I closed my mouth, deciding not to say more.
Perhaps it was inevitable.
After all, I eat eggs without a second thought myself.
But that’s simply an ingrained human habit, and chickens are much weaker than humans, making them less of a concern.
Yet, this discomfort wasn’t just about that.
It was about the attitude of taking such things for granted.
Beyond the theft itself, he didn’t seem to care much about the damage it caused.
Not just Hetz—this was the same sentiment I’d felt in the previous village.
“…That’s enough. We’re returning this egg to the dragon, so we’ll be taking it.”
“N-no…! Do you know how hard it was for me to steal this egg?!”
Hetz lunged at us, but Rikal kicked him away.
He was far too weak and easily knocked down.
“…Ugh.”
“…By the way, how did you create a space like this? And how did you bring the egg here?”
I questioned Hetz, who was now writhing on the ground.
Perhaps having given up after taking a few hits, he began speaking honestly.
“…I didn’t make it. I found it a long time ago. While investigating a rare treasure near this area, I discovered this place. There’s a hole in the ceiling, but it was hidden with illusion magic. The entrance by the sea cliff was full of strange illusions, so I figured I could use it as a hideout if I sealed the ceiling properly.”
“Then that glass ceiling…”
“From the outside, it probably just looks like regular ground.”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen any glass like this on our way here. That must have been an illusion as well.
We still had no clue who could have created something like this.
“…For now, let’s take this person with us.”
“For what purpose?”
“To show him the consequences of his actions. He needs to understand, so he’ll think before acting in the future.”
I spoke while staring at the massive egg.
Moving this egg on our own seemed impossible.
We’d have to go back and call the dragon here.
While doing so, we’d take Hetz with us and make him witness the damage he’d caused firsthand.
If he realized that he’d destroyed the lives of those children and villagers with his own hands, maybe he’d finally come to his senses.
Moreover, we intended to publicize this incident to warn the world.
“Since it’s impossible for us to move the egg ourselves right now…”
Rumble…
As we were discussing among ourselves, the ground suddenly began to tremble.
At the same time, an immense power, unlike anything we’d ever experienced, began to approach.
“What in the…”
“This… this is stronger than even the Tower Master…”
The source was above us—beyond the sky.
With trembling muscles, we slowly looked up, only to freeze in terror.
Whoosh—
Through the transparent glass ceiling, a massive eye was staring down at us.
The colossal eye, slowly rolling above, was as vast as the sun itself.
Just meeting its gaze was enough to paralyze us with primal fear.
“D-dragon…”
Hetz muttered as he stared at the eye.
The gigantic eye, too large to be fully captured even through that enormous window.
It belonged to a dragon.
Not a half-dragon like Lizzy, but a pure-blooded dragon.
The majesty of a true dragon was utterly unfathomable.
“So there really is a dragon living nearby…”
Rikal murmured, while the rest of us were too stunned to speak.
Moments like this reminded me of how impressive Rikal’s composure could be.
Groo—
The dragon’s eye scanned us and the space around us for a while, its gaze heavy and deliberate.
The glass fogged and cleared repeatedly with the dragon’s breath.
Finally, its gaze stopped moving.
But the dragon’s focus wasn’t on any of the five of us.
It was slightly off, aimed at a spot on the floor near Hetz.
There lay the device Hetz had dropped—his Maple Leaf Story game.
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