STGB Chapter 717

Episode 717: Prison (4)

There is such a saying in the world.

It is said that if you live as a prisoner for a long time, the prisoners start showing off each other’s shackles.

Whose one is bigger, heavier, and stronger?

How hard is it for you to wear this?

At first glance, you might think, “Ah, he could really brag about something like that,” but in fact, that may be true.

That’s because you aren’t any different.

Good equipment.

station in life.

money.

Skills, experience, etc…

While I feel proud of the results I have achieved through my hard work and the desire to be recognized by others, sometimes a feeling of emptiness sweeps through my body.

What good is it to gain wealth, fame, and power?

Returning to the original world would be a meaningless effort.

Therefore, the man thought.

Good equipment.

station in life.

money.

Skills, experience, etc…

No matter how much you talk about this, it will only end up sounding like bragging to someone.

“Ha, I want to eat a Big Mac.”

Because this world is a prison.

***

There is a man quietly looking into the mirror.

Exciting-

Appearance that is considered quite respectable.

White full body armor draped over it.

Exciting-

The man who looked at himself through the mirror for a long time felt awkward for some reason.

Oh, you don’t know for some reason, do you?

Sigh.

The man smoothed the upper left part of his breastplate.

The area where the index finger touched was empty, with only a subtle trace remaining that could only be seen if you looked closely.

Isn’t that right?

Something like a sticker that is left on for a very long time and then leaves a mark when you remove it.

Tuk.

The man removed his hand that was touching his mark.

He is no longer a paladin belonging to the church.

After officially leaving the church, he became an outsider and could no longer use the name ‘Paradise’.

As proof, the badge attached to the armor was also returned.

It is no longer mandatory to attend early morning prayers, pre-dinner prayers, or late night prayers that used to be held together before going to bed.

but….

Exciting-

Still, the man reflected in the mirror knelt on his carpeted floor, closed his eyes, and offered his prayers, albeit informally.

This was an action he continued every morning even after leaving the church.

“The star that rises at dusk will guide us….”

In fact, the man really hated prayer.

Even when he was at the church, he was secretly dissatisfied, wondering why he prayed so often, and sometimes made excuses to not attend.

However, there is only one reason why I still continue to pray in the morning.

In a way, it was the same reason why all humans pray to God.

“I beg your servant, please do not take your power away from me. Please have mercy. “Please save me from danger.”

That’s because I’m anxious.

I developed a tank character who mainly uses divine power, but if the divine power disappears overnight, he will immediately become an asshole.

In fact, there are quite a few cases where people lose all their sacred power after leaving the church.

Well, to be honest, praying makes me feel at ease.

Even a simple stone would have the desire to lean on something.

Exciting-

The man who was kneeling in silence for a moment raised his body.

And he looked up at the ceiling and said:

“…please do me a favor. Looking at him, it seems like the goddess also cares about the Baron, and I will continue to be by his side and help him well. yes?”

It was a very frivolous way to speak to a god, but it was not that unfamiliar to him.

From the beginning, when he was living in the religious order, he spoke in this way even though he prayed devoutly with his mouth, and despite this, his divine power steadily accumulated.

Maybe the goddess also prefers this kind of comfortable relationship.

…Or not.

dripping.

As I was about to leave, I heard a knock on the car door.

“Parabh, are you inside?”

Waiting in front of her door was a woman with a familiar face.

She has a small body.

Round eyes.

Although she has an overall gentle appearance, she is a woman who somehow seems stubborn and gives off an air of justice.

“Miss Marrone? What’s going on? There must still be time left for the meeting…”

“Just like that. She heard that it was uncomfortable to wear large armor by herself… so she came to see if there was anything she could do to help. “Well, it looks like you’ve already dressed it all by yourself!”

“Ahaha… At first, it was difficult for me too, but eventually I got the hang of it as time went by. Thank you for your concern.”

“Would you like to come with me when it’s over? “It’s almost time to gather.”

“Oh, good.”

So the two left the dorm and headed to the meeting place.

Several people were already gathered in front of him, and the vice-captain could be seen with a serious expression.

Versil Gowland.

Another prisoner in this vast prison with shackles just as proud as himself.

For your information, she recently got another new shackle.

“I didn’t know at first, but these days, I can feel Yandel’s absence a lot. Mr. Gowland must be having a hard time too….”

“Ahaha… I guess so. I guess…”

Parab smiled awkwardly and caught her breath.

Exciting-!

Even though I didn’t do any particularly strenuous exercise, my heart started pounding from the moment I woke up.

Symptoms that began the day I returned to this city.

It’s been a few days already, so I’m probably getting used to it now.

I feel like I’m going to get used to this thing.

Heart pounding, pounding, pounding!

I still feel like I’m going crazy with anxiety, and sometimes I get so panicked that it’s hard to breathe.

Because of that intuition that I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse.

‘Please let me get through this day safely.’

His symptoms suddenly worsened, so he closed his eyes and prayed to the goddess of this world once more.

And that moment.

Pishuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Pishuuuuuuuuuuup!

When a fighter jet takes off, a flying sound hits your eardrums.

At this, all the clan members gathered in the vacant lot looked up at the sky where the sound was heard and were simultaneously mesmerized.

“uh?”

Something is launched into the sky like a rocket and moves towards the center of the city in a parabola.

High up in the sky, at a seemingly slow but very fast speed.

Something shining is shot out, leaving a clear trace in the sky.

and….

Great love! Great love! Great love! Great love-!

Alarm bells on the castle walls begin to ring at once.

Kwahahah ah ah ah ah Ahh

Soon the entire city was shaking.

***

Deddeuddud-!

The 6th floor underground where a slight vibration can be felt.

I looked at Raven and quietly gathered my thoughts.

“They say there is a portal….”

When a barbarian hears nonsense, he says it is absolutely nonsense, and he does not limit his imagination.

Well, the wizard himself seemed like he was going crazy.

“Well… maybe not…! “I just vaguely felt the portal’s unique magic waves coming from beyond…”

These are the words of a wizard who is more sensitive to magical power than anyone else, even if he is not a ‘guide’ who instinctively feels the presence of a portal even from afar.

So there really must be a portal out there.

Besides… I’ve heard a passing story about this before.

Tap tap….

Round Table 20 years ago.

No, a lot of time has passed since then, so I’d say it’s a round table from twenty or several years ago, but anyway.

There, an evil spirit from another world called ‘Kagureas’ spoke.

[There is a portal in the basement of the palace.]

In addition to the dimension plaza, there is a portal somewhere underground in the royal palace.

Maybe that’s right here.

“It’s definitely not a portal connected to the labyrinth…?”

Well, I’ll have to check the details to find out, but it’s highly likely that it’s not connected to the labyrinth.

That’s what ‘Kacureas’ also said.

[I found it by chance, so I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think it’s a portal connected to the labyrinth.]

Well, this was also a word close to ‘kadera’.

Since it was said by the first discoverer, it must have some credibility.

“Is there anything else besides portals?”

“I think we need to take a closer look at that….”

“Try it quickly. “Maybe we’ve made a great discovery.”

Did you like the wording ‘tremendous discovery’?

Raven did not simply comply with my request, but enthusiastically examined the box(?) that was presumed to contain the portal.

He looked around all the time.

I took another lap, looking closely to see if there was a groove. He said he was curious about the top and used floating magic to get up there.

Kwaaang-!

He even gave me instructions to hit the wall with a mace, or to dig underneath if I had a shovel, etc…

After doing everything I could, there was only one thing I could figure out.

There is nothing that can be found out other than the existence of the portal.

Oh, is there one more?

Of course, I didn’t find this out during the investigation.

“uh? Mr. Yandel! Look over there! “The ceiling we fell from has been restored!”

Before we knew it, the floor of the 5th basement floor that had brought us down here had been completely repaired.

As you can see, as a result, even the slight vibration was no longer felt at all.

When this happened, I felt as if I had entered a space completely cut off from the outside world, and I became very anxious.

“Teleportation? “You can use teleportation, right?”

“yes? Ah… now wait a minute!”

Only then did Raven become afraid that she might be trapped in this space and never be able to escape, so she quickly drew a magic circle on the ground and experimented with something.

and….

“That Mr. Yandel…?”

“Go ahead and say it.”

“Well… I have bad news and good news—.”

“Starting with the bad news.”

“I don’t think I can use multi-teleportation magic here… the magic keeps getting scattered…”

Crazy, so you’re really trapped here?

I wondered if this made any sense, but I continued speaking as calmly as possible.

“So what’s the good news?”

“It’s not visible to the naked eye, but a space movement magic circle is buried under the floor here. It seems like my magical power keeps dissipating because of this… But if I activate this—.”

“short.”

“I can escape, but I don’t know where I will end up.”

…So you don’t have to worry about being locked up forever.

Still, I feel relieved.

“You know because you’ve used military magic circles, right? It’s almost the same way. It creates a magic circle at designated coordinates and allows you to easily move back and forth by consuming only magical power…”

“Just the essentials.”

“In the case of this magic circle, there is only one circuit. It’s only possible to go back and forth in both directions. So what are you going to do?”

It was a problem that there was no need to worry about.

“Are you sure there’s nothing more we can find out here?”

“yes. “I don’t know if there are research facilities, but this is the limit with my bare body.”

“I get it. Then activate the magic circle right away.”

“yes.”

Raven must have already known that I was going to make this choice, and started the activation process right away without saying anything.

“It will probably take some time. I wanted to check if there was anything dangerous. “I’ll tell you when I’m done, so take a break.”

After hearing that it would take quite some time, I approached the cubic structure located in the center.

A gray-colored structure that is neither black nor white.

The surface is soft enough to leave marks when you touch it, but it is durable enough not to leave a single scratch even if you hit it dozens of times with a mace.

‘If there really is a portal inside, there must be a way to get in…’

Hmm, does it mean that if you use magic or hold a card key, an entrance will appear?

But if it was magic, I think Raven would have noticed something…

As I continued to think like that, I thought it was a waste of time and thought of another topic.

‘Noark.’

A problem that may be even more important than that mysterious box. Who are these guys joining hands with and what are they trying to achieve?

It is a bit unclear to say that they are just trying to overthrow the royal family.

‘…District 7.’

And is District 7 okay?

Looking at the situation, it seemed like thunder exploded once more just before the collapse…

I hope you’re safe…

“…huh?”