Published: March 21, 2026
Then we examined the five collapsed passages.
One of them was completely caved in, not even leaving a gap big enough for a person to pass, so Ms. Yoru shrank down to check it out. She came back with only a single journal that had survived the collapse.
A yellowed, frayed notebook that suggested a long passage of time.
The only color still visible was red, barely.
Mr. Crow tilted his head, as if he didn't recognize it, but we didn't have time to read it then, so I put it in my pack along with the other Demon Stones.
"Alright, how many more places?"
Ms. Yoru looked up at Mr. Crow, who was walking ahead.
He seemed gloomier than before, and he lazily looked down at her.
"The rest is the place we used as our base. That's where we made tools using the Demon Stones from the passages. There might be something useful."
We hurried to catch up as Mr. Crow started walking again.
Seeing it with my own eyes made it clear how amazing the previous Heroes really were.
All the passages that led toward the Demon Clan territory—how long did it take to build every one of them?
Unlike us, who have no choice but to go to the demon king, they probably had families and a place to return to.
What would we have done in their position?
Surely, when they were here, Mr. Noah wouldn't have been around, nor would there have been a veteran like Mr. Crow.
If we had been in the same position, could we have done the same things?
No, I certainly couldn't have.
I forced a wry smile and kept pace with Ms. Yoru and Mr. Crow.
We reached the place Mr. Crow had mentioned quickly.
Of course it was nearby—the place that opened the passages.
"Here it is."
Hidden among the trees in a spot that was almost perfectly concealed.
The building was clearly a ruin, looking worn and a little tired.
It had that secret-base feeling that made me itch with curiosity.
Ms. Yoru snorted when she saw the place.
"Huh, not bad finding a place like this."
"Yeah, right," Mr. Crow murmured. He sounded nostalgic.
What sort of response should I have had to the tone filled with all those emotions?
"Wow!!"
The moment we entered a further hidden entrance inside the concealed building, Ms. Ria, who had been walking ahead, cried out in delight.
You couldn't tell from the outside, but the interior had a clean feeling, unified in bright colors.
"Hmm..."
Ms. Yoru widened her eyes as she took in the lighting high up and some dust-covered, unidentifiable tools.
"Don't touch anything recklessly. You might lose a limb," Mr. Crow warned, half-joking, half-serious.
Hearing his admonition, I quickly withdrew my hand from whatever I had been about to touch.
I couldn't even tell what the dust-covered thing was.
That only made me want to touch it more.
"We didn't leave many dangerous things in this room, but time may have altered some items. Be careful."
Mr. Crow said that, squinting as if remembering.
The previous hero party apparently consisted of one person from each continent except the Demon Clan territory, plus the four-member hero group.
Only Mr. Crow and the Hero survived from that group.
The previous hero is no longer alive either, so Mr. Crow is the only one still living now.
Living in a time different from everyone else, he must have parted with many friends through death.
What would that feel like?
Perhaps because I was thinking about that, I didn't notice Mr. Crow coming up from ahead.
When I hurried to move out of the way, my foot caught on something and I nearly fell.
I reached out to catch myself on whatever was nearby.
"Ah."
It was the very thing Mr. Crow had warned me about touching earlier.
Because I'd been so curious about what it was, staying nearby to ask later had come back to bite me.
Frozen in place, with Mr. Crow's hand still clutching my arm in surprise, I felt a faint drain of magical power from that dusty, rough object.
"Idiot! Let go now!!"
Mr. Crow grabbed my numb hand in a panic.
At that instant, a light emitted from the object in my hand and filled the room.
Mr. Crow and I, seeing the light up close, shut our eyes against its glare.