And so, as instructed, I solemnly presented the "carpet."
There was no other choice. My heart hammered with tension.
The tall fox-masked figure, the carpet rolled up in one hand, spoke down to me with my head lowered.
"Consider it received. Hopefully this teaches you never to wander in here again."
"It wasn't... my choice. You ran us over..."
At my words from the bottom of my heart, the fox-masked figure shrugged, looking unconvinced.
"Same thing."
Their fairness wasn't fairness from our perspective. No matter what they said, these were simply the rules of the Treasure Hall. Not rules that applied to us, but rules by which they operated.
If I'd had the power, I could have forced my way through them, avoided surrendering anything precious, and escaped unharmed. But there was nothing to be done about it.
There were no farewell words. My vision shifted without warning, and the fox-masked figure vanished.
As if everything had been an illusion — before me lay the place we'd been before: the familiar corridor of the airship.
Beyond the window stretched a cloudless blue sky. We'd made it out of the Treasure Hall.
I confirmed this and let out a long breath. We'd weathered a disaster with virtually no survivors, with minimal casualties. The carpet had been a worthy sacrifice.
Where would the Wanderer's Lodge go from here... I had no idea, but if it kept drifting through the sky, we'd never encounter it again. That was something I could only pray for.
Klyus suddenly grabbed the back of my shoulders as I gazed out the window with a distant look (probably looking quite melancholy, I'd imagine).
Color had returned to his previously pale face. It seemed the nausea was gone too. Perhaps his constitution had actually grown.
"H-Hey! Weakling, what are you thinking about, huh?!"
I'd done Klyus wrong. But in that moment, Klyus was supposed to be the person I valued most.
And yet it turned out to be a carpet I hadn't even been thinking about... That fox-masked figure's mind-reading was awfully accurate.
" W-Well, calm down. It must've been their scheme to drive a wedge between us!"
"Weakling, do you think I'm an idiot, huh?! Seriously, cut it out already!"
Not at all... but I really was sorry this time.
I owed Klyus for so many things. I intended to do whatever I could to make it up to him. But I put on a serious face and said to Klyus: "But Klyus, now's not the time to argue. We need to check on His Majesty. The fox-masked figure's words seem trustworthy, but how do we know he isn't a top-class Hunter?"
"...Keep it up and I'll punch you, I swear."
When we'd been swallowed by the Treasure Hall, its structure had overwritten everything, but it seemed that being released had restored everything to normal. That must have been their version of fairness.
Following my memory, I headed for the hall where we'd gathered just before being swallowed.
People lay collapsed throughout the corridors — knights, civil officials, servants, mages. They were probably not victims of the Phantoms, but of Termu.
Klyus rushed to one of them, checked their pulse, examined their pupils, listened to their heartbeat, and said in disbelief: "They're alive... they're still alive. I don't understand."
Termu's skills had been unquestionably first-rate. People struck down by a mage like that, with no treatment whatsoever while we'd been floundering around inside the Treasure Hall — it seemed impossible they could have survived.
After checking on the others, Klyus murmured: "I see... the power of Mana Material."
Ah... that made sense.
Absorbed Mana Material strengthened the human body. For those who sought magical power, it granted magical power; for those who sought strength, it granted strength; for those who sought stamina, it granted stamina; for those who sought protective power, it granted protective power. If the person was on the brink of death, what would be enhanced was their vitality.
Normally, the speed at which Mana Material reshaped the human body was gradual, but the Wanderer's Lodge's Mana Material had been extraordinarily concentrated. Nothing would have surprised me.
If even ordinary people were being reinforced, what was going on with me, the one who wasn't...?
Or perhaps the fox-masked figure had done something. They'd promised to return all my companions safely. If someone who'd entered the Treasure Hall alive ended up dying on the way out, that could hardly be called safe. Well, there was no way to verify that now, but either way, it could be called a blessing in disguise.
Full treatment would have to wait until everyone's safety was confirmed. For now, we knew their lives weren't in immediate danger, so we headed for the hall.
The hall was exactly as it had been when we'd left.
"You're back, Thousand Transformations... From what I can see outside, it seems you've resolved things."
That was the first thing the Emperor said upon seeing me. While everyone else wore expressions like they were about to die, he still maintained his dignity — as expected of the leader of a great nation.
Franz didn't have the energy to glare at me either. He'd pulled himself upright and stood swaying with a ghostly expression.
I quickly scanned the room and — spotting the unruly carpet hiding behind the Emperor — let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness... not a single person was missing. Klyus was trembling as he leaned in and hissed in my ear: "I'm telling you, cut it out for real. What were you planning to do if it didn't work, huh?"
Well, all he'd said was "carpet"...
Thank goodness... I was really glad I'd bought that carpet for my lover.
Still, humans truly were incomprehensible. Especially that one with absolutely no sense of danger.
The Wanderer's Lodge's number two. The fox-masked figure who directed operations in place of the Great Mother Fox tossed aside the blue carpet he'd been holding. One of his subordinates quickly picked it up and carried it off to storage.
What a person valued most differed from one to the next. Some cherished possessions, others cherished life. And some, no doubt, cherished memories. But for someone who should have had many companions, who should have obtained the powerful Mother Fox's tail, to come back with "carpet" as the answer — that was genuinely beyond understanding.
Visitors to the Wanderer's Lodge were rare. No one had come since that human's last visit, so this was the first time they'd collected a treasured possession.
But the "treasured possession" read from the Spiritfolk at his side had been something even the fox-masked figure could understand — something perfectly reasonable. So that senseless human's sensibilities really were abnormal.
Perhaps it had been someone's keepsake... Compared to what they should have been collecting, it was considerably inferior, and hardly seemed valuable, but the tall fox-masked figure didn't mind.
What was needed was compensation. Value, from the fox-masked figure's perspective, was irrelevant. No object or person held much worth to the Wanderer's Lodge. Retrieving the tail would have been ideal, but even if they offered to return it, the Mother Fox wouldn't accept.
But countermeasures were necessary. Encountering the Wanderer's Lodge twice in such a short span was anything but normal.
Were they extraordinarily unlucky, or did someone possess power that surpassed the Wanderer's Lodge's concealment abilities... Yet they'd been completely defenseless. Continuing through the sky like this was far from ideal. Every time a tail was taken, the Wanderer's Lodge was significantly weakened.
But heading to a secluded realm where humans never ventured wasn't good either. This time, the youngest brother's rampage and death had happened precisely because he wasn't accustomed to humans. It was a tricky situation.
Still, this had been a match they could have won. Even if they couldn't win, they should have been able to force a draw. The rules were absolute, but the fox-masked figures weren't without vulnerabilities.
The fox-masked figure let out a small sigh and headed deeper — toward what humans would call the boss room. Inside, "Mother" was curled up looking sulky.
"Mother, you lost, didn't you? Even though I went out of my way to guide them here."
An encounter meant meeting by chance. It was splitting hairs, perhaps, but if it wasn't by chance, it couldn't be considered a violation of the rules. And if that was the case, at the very least, they wouldn't be bound by the words they'd thrown out last time.
At the fox-masked figure's words, the Mother Fox — the phantom of "the fox once called God" — narrowed her eyes and raised her head. Of the thirteen tails that once existed, two had been taken, leaving only eleven. But even so, her power was absolute. Every gesture she made carried enough force to kill a human a thousand times over.
The Mother Fox trembled, narrowed her eyes, and spoke: "That man, in his pitiful state, dare to show me mercy... Unbearable."
Her voice contained a deep fury. At her words, the tall fox-masked figure understood.
It hadn't been a battle of wits. It hadn't even been a contest.
To be shown mercy and handed a victory by a being immeasurably beneath her — for a god, that would be more humiliating than admitting defeat.
As expected, that person with no sense of danger was — a sharp one. His total lack of awareness actually made him a poor match for them. An ordinary person would never have voluntarily thrown away such an overwhelmingly advantageous position.
And yet, to conquer a Treasure Hall as wildly unconventional as this one required a completely different kind of ability from raw power.
"We've released Mr. Danger Sense and the others in accordance with the agreement. We may need to change our course."
The Mother Fox said nothing. She simply watched the fox-masked figure with gleaming eyes.
The fox-masked figure shrugged and continued: "The agreement has been fulfilled. Beyond that, I have no interest. They're — going to fall. It was an intriguing vessel, but its propulsion system was already destroyed. The only reason it hadn't fallen until now was that it was caught on us."
"...I have no intention of interfering."
Her mother's tail had been taken. There was no grudge, but it wasn't as though she felt nothing.
The humans were interesting, perhaps, but she had no obligation to help them.
Phantoms born within the Wanderer's Lodge were perfectly fair. The fox-masked figure smiled.
"Well then, I'll go collect compensation from the remaining two. Mother, you should rest for a while."
The change was sudden. The airship lurched violently and tilted.
Franz tumbled across the now-sloped floor. I was the only one still comfortable.
"?! We're falling! We're actually falling!"
"Weren't we supposed to be safely released?! But Klyus was right.
When we'd actually been flying, I hadn't questioned why we were airborne, but once you started falling, falling was a serious problem.
The crew hadn't even been treated yet. We'd confirmed everyone was alive, but very few were mobile. (Incidentally, Termu and his group were nowhere to be found. They might have fled.)
"Klyus, can't you do something with magic?"
"Magic isn't that omnipotent!"
"That's... unexpected."
Since making a fuss wouldn't help, I planted myself firmly on the rattling floor.
So we really were going to fall... I had a flying carpet and the Barrier Ring, so I wasn't worried about dying from the fall, but the others were in trouble. Humans reinforced by Mana Material were tough, but falling from this height would kill just about anyone who wasn't an Anthem.
Some of them probably had their own means of survival. I didn't think everyone would die, but there were noncombatants aboard this ship.
"Are you and your people the kind who'd survive a fall?"
"As if we would be!"
Even Franz's comeback lacked its usual bite. Just then, one of Franz's subordinates returned.
"It's no good — all the parachutes have been destroyed!"
That Termu sure was efficient... I wanted to go back in time and redo the whole member-selection process from scratch.
For starters, if I used the unruly carpet, I could probably save the Emperor and the Princess... probably. Kilnight... I'd leave to Klyus. I could lend a few people Barrier Rings. But even doing all that would save only a handful.
"If we jump for our lives at the moment of impact, would that work?"
I'd said it half-seriously, but the knights turned pale. Franz, crawling toward me, spoke: "Thousand Transformations — you do something about His Majesty!"
"...Franz, you're actually a good person despite your face, aren't you."
"?! I'll kill you!"
"Calm down, there's still time. My magic might awaken, or we might land in water."
"This is already a desert!"
"...Right! There were beds, right? We could tie sheets to our hands and feet and glide like flying squirrels..."
"W-Weakling, are you being serious right now?!"
"...At least try to survive the landing."
"Don't compare me to a Level 8!"
My brilliant ideas were being shot down one after another. If only my Mourning Specter teammates were here — they'd have gone along with them.
I stood up and peered out the window. The ground was already clearly visible. A desert. Just as Franz had said — a desert. I had no idea how many minutes until impact.
"...Desert sand does look kind of soft, doesn't it."
"H-Hey! Don't tell me you've got nothing?"
"...You all rely on me too much. You should think for yourselves a little. I told you we might fall, and yet..."
Meanwhile, I'd been desperately trying to use magic to turn the airship into a flock of birds this whole time...
Sure, being a Level 8 probably made it understandable that they'd lean on me, but it was their own lives — they should fight to protect them...
For now, I'd save the Emperor and the Princess with the carpet. No, wait. The Emperor could use the Barrier Ring, so I should give the ring to the Emperor and put Franz on the carpet instead. Klyus was tough enough — he'd manage somehow.
As for the other members... jumping at the moment of landing, I supposed. The airship's upper portion was a balloon, so — with absolutely zero basis for this and I was sorry about that — depending on where they jumped from, it seemed like survival wasn't impossible. Or was it impossible?
I felt an immense pressure. Everyone seemed to be waiting for me to come up with a brilliant plan. I made a mental note that from now on, airship passengers should be limited to crew who could survive a crash.
And that's when my eyes went wide.
Outside the window — sheet ghosts were flying. Figures draped in tattered sheets rode enormous kites that looked like something out of a joke. It was a ludicrous sight.
They'd apparently avoided being caught up in the Treasure Hall. I flashed a hardboiled grin and snapped my fingers.
"I guess I've got no choice. I'll handle this."
Gazing at the sheet ghosts, I desperately sent them my thoughts.
Lucia! Use magic to keep this airship aloft! Lucia, I know you can do it! An airship is just a big balloon! This is my one lifelong plea — please, just make it fly! Luciaaaa!