041-060 · 050-ch44

Chapter 44: Discovery

After several hours of continued exploration.

Ever since defeating those zombie soldiers, neither that black mass nor any new zombie soldiers had appeared, making for comfortable progress.

When we finished exploring the second floor without any particular issues and entered the third floor, the surroundings changed considerably.

"Furnishings and decorations are getting more luxurious. The second floor felt sturdy, but this one's definitely giving off a luxurious vibe."

>>Can you be a bit more specific, like

>>I get what you're saying. First floor had some dirty areas, second floor was sturdy but simple, third floor feels luxurious

>>What's a Western-style castle like? Any experts?

>>I'm no expert, but from what I can see, the second floor was probably the lord and his family's sleeping quarters, and the third floor is likely for welcoming guests and holding banquets

>>Castles vary too much by region to say for sure, but this seems like a pretty solid one. The fortifications are too serious for a provincial castle.

Though I suppose there were also castles in the Middle Ages that enclosed entire towns, so can't say for certain.

"Hmm, so they might've hoarded some treasure, huh."

That thought just naturally came to mind.

>>First thought is that?

>>Money-grubber much?

>>Can't even say thank you to the expert?

>>Thanks, expert-san

>>You're slower to show gratitude than the viewers

Getting torn apart like this.

"Sorry about that. Expert-san, you've always been a big help, thanks. Rather than treasure, I'm hoping there might be magic tools mixed in—that's what I want. I got mine through similar circumstances."

Saying that, I continued exploring and reached a corner of the third floor.

When I reached out to push open what appeared to be a large chapel door, I noticed something.

"It's cold here."

This might finally be the real deal.

Thinking that as I opened the door, there it was at the back of the chapel, near the altar.

"Found her."

For some reason, unlike the frozen city outside, this was the only thing in this castle that was encased in ice—no, a woman frozen in ice, suspended vertically from the ground with her eyes closed as if in sleep.

"This must be the Princess or the Queen or something. If not, I've got no idea."

From the occasional readable scraps of paper I'd picked up, and the people and voices that appeared momentarily like remnants of memories.

The words "Princess" or "Her Majesty the Queen" had appeared countless times among them.

Thinking this would be the key to unraveling this city's mysteries, I'd kept searching until I found her.

If she turned out to be completely unrelated, well, that would be interesting in its own way, but it'd mean starting my analysis from scratch.

>>It's been a long journey to get here

>>Started with creepy stuff and fighting zombie soldiers

>>Getting frustrated because you couldn't read any books in the library

>>Freaking out because the food in the dining hall wasn't rotting at all

>>Cute maid ghost appearing

>>Most of it wasn't that scary, right?

>>Actually, the cute maid ghost might've been enviable

"Shut up."

Complain about the comment section saying whatever they want while contemplating how to get her out of the ice. I gazed at her frozen form.

She wore a tiara with a massive jewel embedded in it, and beneath it, lustrous silver hair extended down to around her waist.

Her face was extremely refined, combining cuteness and beauty, with a slender, beautiful figure.

Her clothing was a dress based on blue tones with a design similar to medieval Earth dresses, but not gaudy, and unlike medieval Earth dresses, it didn't flare out at the hem.

If anything, it was closer to a modern-style dress.

Now then, how to get her out of the ice.

Plan one: Melt the ice with fire magic to extract her.

Problem: Whether this magical ice would melt with ordinary fire.

For example, if this was a sealing magic that merely took the form of ice, that wouldn't work.

Plan two: Cut through the ice with a magic-infused sword to extract her.

This was somewhat of a brute-force method, but even if it was sealed with magic, I could break the seal with magic too, so it had a higher chance of success than plan one.

Problem: Fear of the backlash from forcibly breaking the seal.

Plan three: Use dispel magic against the magic used here.

Problem: I still can't read this world's language, so I don't understand the contents of the books in the library, meaning I can't identify the dispelling method.

I've managed to learn magic through trial and error or deduction many times before, but testing magic blindly would take several days.

Perhaps because I'd been staring at her while thinking such things.

>>John, are you mesmerized?

>>She's seriously beautiful

>>Alone in the depths of a dungeon, just the two of you—oh (realization

>>Must be pent up.

>>Hey, do you take care of business by yourself?

>>Girlfriend-wise, you don't have one, right?

>>Normal people don't have one

For some reason, somewhat crude conversations were unfolding in the comment section.

"Shut up. Also, I'm still a virgin. I was just thinking about how to save her."

Answering that, I stepped forward to somehow touch the ice before me.

Then, as I was about to step forward, I noticed what looked like an unfinished magic circle at my feet.

"What's this?"

Crouching down to look at it, I finally realized.

The woman and the ice block had such a strong presence in this chapel that I hadn't noticed, but I felt a faint, very slight unpleasant presence emanating from this magic circle.

It was the same presence emitted by that black mass that disappeared into the mysterious space earlier.

"Was that thing trying to complete this?"

I tried to read it, but it didn't seem to be any category of magic I knew.

For now, as long as the magic circle wasn't completed it would be fine, so I swung my sword to thinly shave off that section of floorboards and pulverize them into dust.

>>Ooh

>>Couldn't see it at all

>>Theory: When John gets serious, no one can see it

>>Well, there must be people with decent eyesight who've come here

>>Skilled explorers don't have that kind of free time

>>Other streamers wouldn't come watch a casual stream like this

>>There are highlight videos and stuff later anyway

As the viewers said, my stream had reached several million concurrent viewers at one point (probably including people overseas), but now it's settled to around a thousand constant viewers.

Still, it seems I'm getting enough attention to have a thousand people watching.

Well, many of them are probably connected for information gathering.

"You guys need to be able to see at least that much, or I'll be in trouble. Well, it's fine if we're just talking about what you call the Deep Layer level. From the fifth layer on, opponents start getting more fantasy-like."

>>Really?

>>Well, at the Deep Layer level, there are still just big tough tigers and Orc Kings, no monsters shooting magic yet

>>Mostly feels like oversized, powerful Earth creatures

>>What kind appear on the fifth layer?

"Don't really remember. Ah, but I do remember a boar with tusks that flew at me like missiles. I remember it well because it was so surreal."

>>Tusks like missiles, that's hilarious

>>Depending on the speed, that's no joke though

>>So far, the only long-range fighters we've seen are archer wooden puppets

>>And rock-throwing gorillas

Setting aside such casual conversation for now.

I touched my palm to the ice covering her once more.

Then.

The moment I touched the ice, it began melting all at once, releasing white steam-like substance with a hissing sound from where I'd touched.

Before my eyes, the ice that had filled the back of the wide chapel grew smaller and smaller.

From the hissing sound and white color it looked like steam, but this wasn't steam—it was all magic power.

An tremendous amount of magic power was blowing out from the ice, and in exchange, the ice was melting.

"I see..."

Had it been designed to melt upon human contact?

>>Did John do something?

>>He just touched it, right?

>>Magic power or something?

>>Maybe that spot was the key after all.

"I literally just touched it. I do have magic power in my body, so you could say I touched it with that."

The ice covering the city outside and the ice covering this woman here were completely different things.

While I was thinking such things, all the ice covering the woman had melted and disappeared, and eventually even the ice supporting the queen in mid-air dissolved into air and magic power, and the woman's body was about to collapse onto the floor.

I couldn't bear to watch an unconscious woman fall to the ground, so I caught her, holding her in my arms.

The ice had apparently all turned to steam and magic power, so the floor wasn't wet at all.

Same for me and the woman—our clothes showed no signs of dampness.

>>John, the ice outside the window is melting

>>Looks like the ice covering the city is disappearing too

>>We can see it on the drone

"No way."

Holding the woman in what's called a princess carry, I approached the window where sunlight streamed in and looked outside, and sure enough, the city's ice was melting with white steam rising, just like the ice around the woman earlier.

When I expanded my senses, I could tell it properly contained moisture, but at the same time, it contained a large amount of magic power.

Then, as I was doing that, the woman in my hands began to stir.

And right before my eyes, she blinked several times and opened her eyes.