Chapter 83: Arc Lab ⑤

Bid-san frowned and muttered:

“Hey, that platform in front of the door… it’s got a bunch of keyholes. Couldn’t we open it with this key ring?”

On the black plate of the pedestal in front, there were keyholes.
Not just one—eight in total. The key ring had ten keys, and we had already used two.

The keys had numbers engraved on them. Two of them didn’t. I see.
But the keyholes had no markings at all. Haiyaan peered over my shoulder.

“Hmm. This looks like the type where you insert the keys in a predetermined order.”

“I understand the keys part, but…”

Inserting them wasn’t the problem—if a key didn’t match, it simply wouldn’t fit.
So with some trial, we could figure out where each one went.

For now, I inserted the keys into all eight holes.
The problem started here: the plate itself gave no clues.

“Don’t tell me it’s something dumb like ‘just turn them in order from one.’”
“If it were that, it’d be way too stupid.”
“Right?”

Exactly—the order to turn the keys was unknown.
We had no idea what the correct sequence was.

“Mmm… perplexing…”
“I’m a little worried about what’ll happen if we get it wrong.”
“Wouldn’t breaking down the door be faster?”
“Like hell we could do that!?”
“Mmm… for Liv… that’s… impossible.”
“Same here, no way.”
“Even I wouldn’t be able to manage this.”
“Nor I, for that matter.”
“Then why did you even suggest it?”
“Exploring all possibilities.”
“…You little—”
“Ahaha, I can’t do it either.”

Maybe Vanish could work? …No, probably not.
I had no idea how a vault door was built, after all.

If I destroyed the wrong part, it’d be game over.
And realistically, breaking open a vault door was… yeah, no.

“Then, it is time for my turn.”

With that, Haiyaan hopped down from my shoulder onto the pedestal.
All of us, myself included, stared coldly, wondering what the hell he was about to pull this time.

But he didn’t care in the slightest—he kept glancing back and forth between the keys and the surrounding area.

“…Hmm. I understand now.”
“Wait, you figured something out?”
“My friends, of course. I have discerned… everything.”

Then he began turning each key one by one, clearly following some kind of pattern.
He didn’t pause, didn’t hesitate. Had he really figured it out?

“A-are you sure this is safe?”
“Mmm… pray to the gods…”
“H-hey, is this okay?”
“I should be blessed with good fortune, so…”

None of us trusted him, nor did we like him, so naturally we were anxious.
But Haiyaan declared proudly:

“I told you, didn’t I? Look—it’s opening.”

Once all the keys were turned, the black diamond-shaped section shifted into a square.
Then it split open from the middle like double doors.

When it fully opened, there was a black room inside.
Glass cases displaying art pieces, paintings hanging on the walls.
And yet, oddly out of place in the back, a plain scroll rack and an office desk.

“Well, now…”

Leold ignored the glass cases and paintings entirely, walking straight to the scroll rack.
He pulled out several scrolls, set them on the desk, and began reading.

Munieka-san was also looking at the scrolls.
The rest of us wandered around, glancing at the art and paintings.

“So… is this treasure?”
“Mmm… no clue…”

Most of the things in the glass cases were green, though there were a few yellow ones. The scrolls, however, had blue as well.
I wasn’t interested—my gut told me they were trouble.

Leold and Munieka were deeply focused on the scrolls.
These two… I was starting to think they weren’t just Coon hunt explorers.

I doubt I was the only one—Liv and Bid seemed to feel the same.

They selected a few scrolls, and we all left the vault.

We left the DragonFang Row hideout and were taken to Leold’s hideout.
There, he explained to us—using documents—what they’d learned, who the mastermind was, and the full truth.

At the end, we received our reward.
We accepted it gratefully and left without lingering.

And so, DragonFang Row was destroyed.

As we walked away from the slums, our mood was nothing but gloomy.
What Leold had told us was just that awful.

The mastermind was the son of a certain high noble family.
A useless, lecherous man—in short, a horny idiot.

This idiot wanted to possess Torquetum, a party famous even in the royal capital for its rare collection of beautiful girls.

Not just their beauty—he wanted their strength, their bodies, everything.

At this point, Liv’s face froze into an expressionless mask of disgust.

He also wanted some female explorers who suited his tastes. The fact that he “wouldn’t mind” a witch too was laughable.

When the topic of lust came up, the women all gave Haiyaan sharp, sidelong glares—but that couldn’t be helped.

Back to the story: the idiot set his sights on the Tasan family’s support for female explorers.

The high noble family and the Tasans were bitter enemies—practically mortal foes.
So in exchange for sabotaging the Tasans’ efforts, the idiot secured funding from his family.

The noble family seemed to think, “If it means getting Torquetum, why not?”

By this point, you could say they were accomplices.

The idiot used that money to form a clan, gather explorers, and set his plan in motion.

But then, an unexpected obstacle appeared—
Me.

Apparently, I was a massive thorn in their side.

He thought removing me would be easy.

But things didn’t go their way—
and on top of that, five of their own affiliated explorers vanished without a trace.

…These guys. Did they not bother to find out I’m a witch’s apprentice?
Can you even call this a “plan”?

Though, to be fair, there was a point where things nearly got dangerous.

After repeated failures, the horny idiot decided he was short on manpower.
He was about to bring in a First-Class Explorer in service to the high noble house—or someone of equivalent skill.

Torquetum isn’t strong enough to handle that.
They’d almost certainly lose.

Still, even if he did bring them in, that wouldn’t mean he could get his hands on Torquetum.

Why?
Because what they were trying to do was kidnapping.
A clear-cut crime—and a serious one.

What’s more, in this country slavery is banned.
Even nobles face the death penalty for it.

The idiot didn’t realize it, but he was being watched.
So it would have been exposed immediately.

Incidentally, that horny idiot was that dreadlocked man with the wolf tattoo—
the boss of “DragonFang Row,” and wielder of the Relic [Explosion].

Hard to believe that was the son of a high noble.

Oh, and that vault room?
It was the high noble family’s database—top secret.
In fact, it was the very heart of their dark dealings, containing records of all the crimes they’d committed or conspired to commit.

Scary stuff.
The horny idiot had apparently been using it without permission.

For the record, we handed the key ring to Leold, and Haiyaan told him the order of the keys.

Was it really okay to go that far for Leold?
I thought so, but honestly—I didn’t want to get involved.

They probably didn’t want me involved either.
That’s why they gave us hush money.

“Nn… feeling kind of listless.”

“I’m in a mood I can’t even describe, honestly.”

“…”

Even I, a man, felt sick about it.
But I didn’t know what to say to the two of them.

“The world has always been unfair. That’s precisely why you must grow stronger.”

Haiyaan suddenly spoke to them from his perch on my shoulder.
Liv and Bid looked at him, stayed quiet for a moment, and then gave a faint smile.

“…I already… know that.”

“Becoming strong is a given.”

“…”

“What is it, Wof?”

“Didn’t know you could say something sensible.”

“What? I’m always sensible. H-hey, what’s with those looks, everyone? That’s rude.”

“…Kind of hard to take you seriously while you’re staring at Liv’s chest.”

“A-and, could you stop glancing at my butt every now and then, please?”

“…You…”

Haiyaan turned away and whistled innocently.
This rabbit…

And with that, we parted ways.

As usual, I stopped by the butcher on the way home, bought some groceries, and headed back.
I decided to ask Haiyaan—who was grinning like a fool over a busty, gentle-looking elf—something that had been bothering me.

What exactly was he doing sitting on people’s heads, anyway?

“How did you know the order of the keys?”

The plate had no numbers, and the eight keys had to be turned in the correct sequence.
There was no hint nearby. So how did he figure it out?

“There was a hint.”

“There was? Where?”

“Wof, take this as advice for next time. People forget things. Even if they carry notes, they forget. So you put it somewhere obvious—like on a crest, for example.”

“That crest had a hint?”

“Indeed. The order of the keys was recorded on that crest. If you looked closely, it had dots and ancient numerals marked on it. Nobles who fancy themselves rulers often hide important things in plain sight. If you connect the sequence in order, it forms that crest.”

“…I didn’t see it at all.”

…Is this rabbit actually amazing?

Then Haiyaan’s long ears twitched and he suddenly raised his voice.

“O-oh! Look, Wof—those breasts! Bikini armor truly is a timeless treasure! Don’t you agree, Wof?”

“…”

I silently set Haiyaan down on the nearest hero statue.

“Wof? Wof? Hey, Wof-kun!?”

When I got home, I figured I’d cook and eat dinner.

“Wooof-kuuuuuun!!”

Minea-san would probably be back by now.

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