The… most precious thing?
The sheer brazenness of the demand made me furrow my brow without thinking. Last time, no such demand had been made. The tall fox mask wore a thin smile.
Between the phantom of fried tofu and this, it seemed the phantoms of this Treasure Hall were evolving.
I could feel Kryus's racing heartbeat as he clung to me. But thanks to my Treasure Weapon, I was perfectly comfortable.
The most precious thing… well, obviously that would be the lives of Luke and the rest. But they weren't inside this Treasure Hall.
As if reading my thoughts, the fox mask spoke in a calm voice.
"Ah, of course, I mean among the things you can offer right now. Your own life is excluded from this, naturally. This is—a fair trade."
I recalled last time. Back then, I hadn't known this place was the "Wandering Inn." Naturally, I hadn't known the nature of its phantoms either.
We had stumbled in by accident, and the overwhelming presence of the high-concentration Mana Material had left us in a panic—when the fox mask appeared before us.
"You have entered our domain. It has been how many years since a human set foot here—regardless of the circumstances, you are uninvited guests, wanderers. However, if you prostrate yourselves immediately and show your sincerity in apology—we shall grant you forgiveness."
I was the only one who could move.
The absorption capacity, accumulation, and discharge speed of Mana Material varied from person to person.
That capacity could be called a mark of the strong, but it also indicated how greatly one was affected by Mana Material. Having no talent to speak of, I merely felt a slight discomfort from this超高浓度 Mana Material. To put it in terms of a metaphor—I was a sieve.
At the time, it wasn't comfortable, but I did as the phantom said and performed a magnificent prostration without hesitation. I was forgiven.
It was a fleeting moment in which I realized just how useful the Apology skill was. And from around that time, I started to find bowing and scraping a little bit enjoyable. (And then, because I was far too unsightly, Lucia punched me.)
The encounter with the "Wandering Inn" had a tremendous impact on me. Developing a tolerance for fear was also thanks to this Treasure Hall. Well, now that I was comfortable, tolerance didn't really matter anymore.
I couldn't resist. There was no chance of winning. What were they planning to take?
The phantom before me had said its own life was exempt.
Then the next most precious thing—could it be the Emperor? Were they going to take the Emperor's life?
Would a prostration not be enough to earn forgiveness this time? My current prostration skill was incomparable to back then. It had reached the pinnacle of artistry—worthy of being framed on a book cover—yet…
The fox mask closed the distance until it was within arm's reach. Slowly, it raised its arm.
I took a step back without thinking. And at the very instant its fingertip was about to touch me, the fox mask's movements stopped dead.
It then took a step back, as if by reflex.
Thin lips parted. The voice that emerged was badly shaken.
"…???? Ahh… Wait. Could it be that you're… the big brother with no sense of danger?"
"…No."
I certainly had a sense of danger. Well, I was comfortable right now so I felt comfortable, but I was fully aware this was a crisis. Maybe a prostration would work…
The fox mask was, for some reason, in a panic. It checked left and right, brought its unblemished fox mask close, and made gestures as if peering intently at my face. Kryus was gripping my back tightly.
"No no no—wait, what? Why are you here? This place—the sky. It hasn't even been… a hundred years since then."
"…Yeah, yeah, that's right."
"How did you get here?! We're flying through the sky at high speed! I don't…I don't understand the meaning of this."
That's what I wanted to ask. I'd thought so last time too, but it probably wasn't my fault—they were the ones running us over. Like a carriage scattering stones in its path.
But I couldn't complain. The other party was a transcendent being. If necessary, all I could do was prostrate.
It seemed the other party remembered me. If I apologized, they might forgive me. As I clenched my fists tightly, the fox mask clutched its head and let out a pathetic, trembling voice.
"Seriously, how did you sneak in?! Mother said, 'You will never encounter one again in your lifetime!' We took extra precautions—changed the location to a space where humans can't enter…"
…Huh?
§ Gods are omnipotent. That is precisely why they are bound by their own words. Those were Citry's words.
The god of this Treasure Hall was a manifestation through Mana Material, but perhaps that was simply what gods were. Come to think of it, whether it was true or not, the alien god that had once used the Level 10 Treasure Hall—the "Star Temple"—that existed in the old imperial capital as its base had also been bound by its own words, limiting its own power as a result, and was defeated by Ark's ancestor.
Guided by the danger-sense-equipped fox-mask brother, we proceeded to the innermost area. In every corner of the corridor, countless fox-masked figures stared at us intently, but perhaps because we had an escort, they didn't attack.
The "Wandering Inn" was, as always, decorated like a genuine traditional inn. Wooden floors, magnificent wooden pillars. The interior, dominated by vermillion and white, reminded me of a shrine in the eastern capital. Perhaps they hailed from there.
The fox-mask brother—who seemed to be quite high-ranking among the phantoms of this Treasure Hall—spoke in a friendly tone.
"I'll say it again, but we're fascinated by humans. We rarely get visitors. The only one who's come twice is the big brother with no sense of danger. Because of the big brother with no sense of danger, my little sister fell in love with fried tofu. I've decided to stop demanding apologies."
The fried-tofu girl, who trailed behind us as though being escorted, showed no reaction. But it seemed her wounds had already healed.
"We are fair and just. If you don't seek death, you won't die. We won't launch sneak attacks either. The rookie the danger-oblivious one killed—didn't know the rules. They didn't even understand human language very well, did they?"
At this rate, I was starting to lose track of human language myself.
Wait—hold on, it was dead? Could it be that I'd killed a phantom for the first time?
I felt a slight twinge of guilt… but well, it was basically a case of self-destruction, so I hoped they'd go easy on me.
What awaited us at the end of the escort was a massive vermillion door. It seemed the inn's layout had changed since last time.
Kryus, who had been silently following, let out a loud sob and collapsed to the ground. He looked like he could die at any moment.
The danger-sense-equipped fox mask said with exasperation.
"This is what normal looks like. Mr. No-Sense-of-Danger, what's wrong with your head?"
"Even I've… steeled myself enough."
I was comfortable, certainly, but my Treasure Weapon didn't suppress my thoughts. I was always prepared to drop to my knees at a moment's notice.
Also, I wished they'd stop calling me Mr. No-Sense-of-Danger. But my position was too weak to push back.
"Kryus, wait outside. I'll go sort this out."
Powerful phantoms were composed of extraordinarily dense Mana Material. He was on the verge of death just from standing in front of the door—if they actually came face to face, Kryus might completely break down.
I was the only one who was comfortable. I really thought everyone should equip the "Comfortable Vacation" item. It was precious, though.
Kryus looked up at me, barely able to breathe. Was he about to throw up? Tears were pooling in the corners of his eyes.
"Don't worry. I'm just going to have a little talk. It'll work out."
By this point, he had reached a state of resignation. I was the sort of person who could be blown away by a single breath, so all I could do was what I could do.
If I was lacking a sense of danger, then that was because they had stolen it. At this point, I just wanted to laze around right here. Decision made—once I got back alive, I was definitely lazing around.
The fox-mask brother opened the door. I took one deep breath and stepped forward toward the alien god.
§ § § In that instant, Kryus was certain of his own death. What he sensed from beyond that door was a concentration of Mana Material so powerful that certainty was inescapable.
This was far too different from the Treasure Halls they had tackled so far. The despair he had felt the moment the first phantom appeared seemed like a lie.
They said Treasure Halls of Level 8 and above were demonic realms.
Truly—the enemy was a god. The world itself. The rules themselves.
His body refused to move. His instinct had given up on survival. If he let his guard down, he might vomit—he couldn't take a single step.
He understood now. The vessel that was Kryus Argent had been completely filled with Mana Material.
The capacity for Mana Material expanded with one's growth. For Kryus, who had been growing steadily with small, certain steps until now, this situation was entirely unprecedented.
Given enough time, he would grow and his vessel would expand—but even if it did, in a place like this, it would fill up again almost immediately.
And yet, despite all of this, Yowaningen's expression hadn't changed at all.
Yowaningen was weak. Once one was accustomed enough, the Mana Material concealed within a person could be discerned. At the very least, the Mana Material Yowaningen possessed should have been less than Kryus's.
And yet, in practice, Kryus was crouching on the ground while Yowaningen calmly walked toward the door.
How large a vessel would one need for that to be possible? Kryus couldn't even imagine.
But surely this was what Level 8 truly meant—the realm beyond humanity.
Even at Level 8, he couldn't believe they would make it back alive. He couldn't even fathom the kind of monster lurking beyond that door.
And yet, for some reason, Kryus felt a strange conviction.
Yowaningen would—surely come back.
The tall fox mask who remained before the door smiled quietly at Kryus, who struggled to move even a single finger while crouching, and spoke.
"There's no need to worry. The big brother who doesn't sense danger follows the rules with irritating precision. You, the ordinary Spiritfolk—should be more worried about yourself."