CHAPTER 98…………………………………
Confronted with an unexpected situation, I fell into confusion.
‘What is going on?’
Before coming here, I had reviewed the novel’s contents several times using the Imaginary Original.
Up until the meteor fell and high-quality mana stones were discovered in the abandoned mine, everything matched the novel. But a transparent wall suddenly blocking the escape route? That was something I had never heard of.
‘Could it be that because the meteor fell earlier, the situation has changed a lot from the novel?’
At that moment, Terrence stepped forward.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
A dark crimson aura of mana flickered from the sword he drew. Bang! When the blade swiftly slashed at the transparent wall, a dull impact echoed through the mine.
Bang! Bang! Bang! After several more collisions of enormous mana, Terrence shook his head and turned back.
“It won’t work. It’s not that it can’t be damaged, but it restores itself in the blink of an eye.”
Vineta suggested her own method.
“Would it be possible for Lady Idel to escape alone? While His Highness and I cut through the barrier together.”
“That would be difficult. Rather than a thin wall like the kind we normally imagine, it’s closer to a dense mass of mana filling this space.”
Terrence frowned.
“Even if we cleanly cut the front part, the back portion would likely remain intact. It’s an absurd amount of mana.”
“……”
“Even for an exceptional mage, I doubt whether this is possible. And even if it were, it’s an extremely inefficient use of mana.”
His suspicion was completely reasonable. If reality had not entirely diverged from the novel, then the culprit behind this disturbance was not an ordinary human.
A Divine Beast.
In the novel, the being that blocked Riena’s path when she entered the mine was the beast of a god dwelling within the meteor.
It was also the divine beast that transformed ordinary stones into high-grade mana stones.
It was later revealed that the divine beast possessed immense and unique magical power, and that power transformed the surrounding rocks into mana stones.
A phenomenon that could truly be called a miracle.
However, Riena did not obtain that miraculous mana-stone mine for free. Before acknowledging her as the owner of the mine, the divine beast gave her a trial.
That was why, in Riena’s first life, the Wallace Count family—who suddenly became wealthy through unexpected luck—collapsed only a few years later.
Unlike Riena, they discovered the abnormality in the mine long after the meteor had fallen, and by then the divine beast had already left for somewhere else.
Without a being that could continuously produce mana stones, the mine’s supply quickly ran dry.
‘Not that I feel particularly sorry for them. If it were those people, they probably wouldn’t have shared even a fraction of their wealth with their mistreated daughter anyway.’
On the other hand, perfect luck befell Riena, who instinctively realized in advance that something was hidden in this mine.
She came to inspect the mine after hearing that a meteor had fallen—and was even acknowledged by the divine beast.
‘But something’s strange. In Riena’s trial in the novel, there was nothing about being trapped by a transparent wall.’
To begin with, the trial described in the novel wasn’t particularly difficult.
Even Riena’s group, who encountered it by chance, struggled only a little before passing through safely.
At the time, the people who came with Riena were Mathis and Tara. So I had judged that with Terrence and Vineta accompanying me, we would pass the trial without issue.
‘Besides, I even knew what the trial was, so I carefully brought preparation items like artifacts.’
That was why I believed this would be an easy victory—yet such an unexpected situation had occurred.
Naturally, resentment turned toward the goddess who had supposedly given me a “gift” by making the meteor fall earlier.
Looking only at the current situation, the trial’s difficulty had simply increased. I couldn’t see how this was a gift.
But I couldn’t just sit still and blame others. Solving the problem was the priority.
“Your Highness, for now it seems we have no choice but to move forward.”
“Well, the way back is blocked.”
I stepped in front of the two who were in the middle of discussing.
“Everyone, there’s something important I need to tell you about this situation.”
It was no longer the time to hide the truth.
Since the trial’s difficulty had increased, there was no guarantee that the three of us would remain safe. In the worst case, our lives might even be at risk.
“The being we’re going to face from now on is a divine beast. Unless we defeat it, there’s a high chance we’ll be trapped here forever.”
I was the one who had brought Terrence and Vineta into the mine.
Because of me, the two of them were now facing an unknown danger. Even so, I didn’t want to deceive them until the end.
“I know it’s hard to believe when I suddenly say something like this. A divine beast out of nowhere… But it’s true.”
The voice that came from my lips trembled slightly.
I was afraid that the two people I liked would resent me.
“I’ll tell you later how I came to know this. After we get out of here. It’s a very long story, so it’s hard to explain now.”
If I revealed that I was a transmigrator, if I claimed this world was the setting of a novel—
‘Even these two would think I was insane, wouldn’t they?’
But even so, I decided to be honest with them. That was the least courtesy I could show to those placed in danger because of me.
“I’m sorry. I kept quiet even though I knew this information…”
“Idel.”
A large hand rested on my shoulder. Because of that, I was able to lift my head and meet Terrence’s eyes.
“It’s alright. You don’t need to act like a criminal.”
His gaze was serious, yet warm.
“I entered this place by my own choice. As a prince, I accepted Idel’s proposal—that if you became the owner of the mana-stone mine, you would be willing to establish a cooperative relationship with the Asteroth imperial family.”
He looked at Vineta.
“And Vineta came here because of my order to protect you. So you don’t need to feel responsible.”
“That’s not true. I came by my own choice as well. From the moment I chose to hold a sword, I was prepared for the possibility of losing my life anywhere.”
Vineta quickly denied her master’s words.
“Besides, according to Lady Idel, we’re going to fight a divine beast, right? I’m looking forward to it. It’s a being one would normally never have the chance to face.”
Her eyes burned quietly with fighting spirit, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
It was the most emotional reaction Vineta had ever shown me.
Terrence spoke in a pleased voice while looking at me.
“You saw that, didn’t you? You should put aside the thought that this situation is entirely your fault.”
I was speechless.
Even for these two powerful individuals, the situation was far from easy. The escape route was blocked, and we had no choice but to advance.
Toward a being with more magical power than any existing mage.
And yet they were telling me it was okay—for my sake.
Moreover, Terrence’s consideration did not end there.
“And if you don’t wish to tell us how you obtained that information, you don’t have to.”
“……”
“I am curious since it concerns a friend, but I don’t want to hear it if it makes you look like that.”
“Personally, I’m not very curious.”
“…It seems Vineta says so.”
I ended up letting out a small laugh.
Strangely enough, the fear I had felt disappeared.
With these two beside me, it felt like we could defeat anything—even a divine beast.
“Then shall we begin the strategy meeting? I’ll tell you everything I know about the divine beast.”
There wasn’t much time.
The divine beast must have created the transparent wall because it absolutely intended not to let intruders escape.
“If we waste too much time here, we can’t ignore the possibility that the divine beast will come to find us itself.”
Vineta looked around.
“This place is too narrow to fight someone who uses magic. It will be difficult to dodge attack spells, and if we’re not careful, the tunnel could collapse and bury us.”
“If we go a little further, there’s a relatively wide area. If my information is correct, the divine beast should be there.”
“It would be best to move there quickly.”
“But,” Terrence added,
“even if we go, the fact that we’re at a disadvantage won’t change.”
I raised my hand.
“I know its weak point. The divine beast looks like a four-legged creature, and if the geometric pattern on its head is struck properly, it becomes unable to fight.”
“That’s easy to understand.”
“The problem is that getting close is difficult. It constantly fires attack spells. On top of that, it has a mana barrier protecting its body.”
I closed my eyes and used the Imaginary Original.
The book that existed in my mind slowly opened, revealing the scene where Riena’s group fought the divine beast.
“This is the attack pattern of the divine beast that I know.”
Ignoring the fatigue that rushed in as the price for using the Imaginary Original, I explained everything in as much detail as possible. After hearing my explanation, Terrence thought carefully.
“It will become quite a chaotic battle. In that case, while Idel remains somewhere safe, Vineta and I should cooperate to fight the divine beast—”
At that moment, a hypothesis suddenly came to mind.
“Terrence! Do you still have that mana stone?”
“Huh? Ah, yes, here it is.”
The mana stone into which Terrence had infused mana was still shining brilliantly.
“The vibration that shook the mine and the transparent wall appeared right after we discovered this mana stone, right?”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
“Nothing happened before that. Maybe the divine beast noticed the presence of intruders because we touched this mana stone.”
“That’s plausible.”
“If we use this well…”
I checked inside the backpack I had brought.
Besides the artifacts I had distributed to Terrence and Vineta, there were other things I had packed just in case.
Among them, two artifacts in particular caught my eye.
Looking up at the two of them with tension in my voice, I said,
“I have an idea.”
