Chương 28: 27. The Key from the Past

Every monster sphere had a different reaction when consumed. What remained the same was the cutting sensation when it went down. Keeping my mind from wandering, I tossed it into my mouth and swallowed. Liquid fire went down, creating the worst case of heartburn imaginable. Apparently, now that my throat and upper esophagus had somewhat gotten accustomed to the experience, it was the turn of my stomach to display the pain. Beside me, Cathy choked.

"Hold it in!" I put my hand over her mouth.

"You won't get many chances." The glare in her eyes undoubtedly showed that she didn't believe me. The woman tried to move my hand off, but I remained firm. Even after a single trial, my training and bonuses had made me vastly surpass her.

"The pain's already there," I said.

"Just force it to pass through." I removed my hand. From here on, it all depended on her. Either she'd endure it and prove she was worth having as a companion, or I'd know how to proceed from the next trial on. Fists clenched, the woman stepped away. Good choice, I thought. It was just as I had suspected. For over a minute, we endured the waves of pain. Gradually they decreased to an annoyance, then disappeared altogether.

"Is… is it like this each time?" Cathy asked, her face covered in sweat.

"Depends, but yeah," I said.

"Different colors give different things. They're all good, so snatch everything you see." I looked in both directions of the corridor. No new minions had shown up, which was somewhat concerning.

"Participants," Harlequin's voice boomed again.

"The Blade Serpent has broken out of its confinement. From today onwards, the serpent will roam throughout the ship until killed." A scene from the past flashed before my eyes. The trial back then wasn't on a boat, but in an abandoned mountain factory. The rules, however, were the same down to the very words.

"This change will require a few modifications to the rules," I whispered along with Harlequin.

"Everyone devoured by the serpent will return to the preparation hall without any possessions gained during this trial and will gain a curse card instead." Cathy stared at me, seeming more terrified of my whispers than the rule changes themselves.

"Even so, in their benevolence, the deities have granted you a way out. Each day there will be one room in which the serpent cannot enter. The room will change every dawn." Both me and Harlequin stopped.

"What's going on?" Cathy asked.

"It's too soon," I muttered. This wasn't supposed to be part of the initial five trials. I always knew that the standard rules would change, but not this fast. The cursed cards wouldn't be introduced until the fifth trial, and even then, they would be presented as "prizes." As for the hunting aspect… that wasn't a thing until my second year.

"What's too soon?" Cathy raised her voice.

"This shouldn't have happened until tomorrow," I caught myself.

"According to my dream, the serpent was supposed to wake up on the third day. That's why I was rushing to finish off the other monsters until then." It was a blatant lie, but thanks to my new card it seemed somewhat plausible. Cathy nodded silently, though I got the distinct impression that she had her doubts. If the past run was an indication, her deity was probably in the process of providing any advice that was allowed. I retrieved the swords from my inventory once more.

They were tugging down with such force that I had no doubt who they were targeting. The greedy gems had set their sights on the Blade Serpent and didn't care that I had no chance of harming it. For the moment I had satiated their hunger, but that couldn't be said about tomorrow.

"What do we do?" the woman asked.

"Good question," I pretended to be more in the dark than she was. Realistically, there were only three things that could be done: get enough cards for the day to leave the trial, kill the blade serpent, or slaughter all other participants in the hopes that Harlequin would be forced to intervene. The first was practically impossible. Even if we managed to gather five times as many cards as we had now.

Sebastian, or whoever stood behind him, could easily force everyone to give them their cards and be declared the winner. The second option was also absurd. While the group I had been with didn't possess as many cards, their gear and basic abilities were far superior. After all the trouble I had taking down a mere siren, I wasn't looking forward to facing a Grand Arcana holder.

"We go back to the pool," I said.

"It'll be safer than roaming the corridors." Just in case, I kept holding my blades. There were still minions scattered throughout; besides, if I got a chance to face another leader-type monster, I was going to take it without a second thought. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I was just about to add a few words of encouragement when I saw a fresh bloodstain form on Cathy's blouse.

"You're bleeding," I noted. That definitely hadn't been there before.

"It's fine," she turned around, hiding the growing stain.

"I probably got healed less since I didn't take part in the fight." That was an obvious lie.

"Let me see. I can—""I'm fine!" she stepped further back.

"Anyway, you said we need to get moving." She went down the corridor. Another price had been paid. The question was what her deity had provided in return. Remaining quiet, I followed the woman through the decks. She was trying to create the impression that she had no idea where we were going, driven purely by fear of the announcement. Yet as long as one knew what to look for, the signs were obvious.

Cathy never hesitated when she should have, not changing her mind when I suggested a new direction, and more often than not entered rooms that had hidden cards. The rewards were poultry: only ones with the occasional two. Still, a card was a card. Her deity probably wanted to ensure that she left the trial without having to fight the serpent. I couldn't blame her. In fact, that was the best option. In her state, it would take a while for her to get back to her peak performance.

Also, I didn't want to use up my favor just yet.

"Are you sure?" She looked at me as if I had lost a pet.

"There are enough for—""You keep them," I replied.

"I've got something in mind." SPONSORSHIP REQUEST! A deity wants you to remain in a room for one hour to win an undisclosed reward. The offer appeared in front of my face. The lack of reaction from Cathy suggested that she couldn't see it. One hour? There was no indication what the reward might be, and the risk wasn't insignificant, yet I was getting the impression that some deity in particular was toying with me. Strictly speaking, nothing bad happened if I failed a request.

True, the deity would be pissed, but deities had the tendency to forgive the skilled even if they weren't fully obedient.

"How about we take a rest?" I suggested.

"We're not at the pool yet."

"You don't have to stay," I made the choice easy for her.

"I prefer some time to think before going back there. And I'll know if the snake gets near." Just go, I thought.

"I'll rest with you," Cathy said, to my surprise.

"I don't want to go down there either." The nearest cabin turned out to be one of those second-class things that most tourists on vacation got. It wasn't terribly bad, but cheapness screamed from everything: the sheets, the small wall TV, even the fake wooden chairs. The bathroom contained the bare minimum, which also included a toilet. I closed the door and took advantage. With nothing else to do, I checked the list of cards I had obtained so far. Three Major Arcana and eight Minor.

Normally, it would take ten trials to reach this far. If the number of cards were linked to the difficulty, it made sense that we'd face a Grand Arcana monster. Could it be that in my desire to make up for lost opportunities from my last run, I had pushed things further than I had to? It definitely wasn't something that had occurred during the first five trials, at least in my initial group.

From what the few deities I had been in conversations with, I knew that the "good" participants got sent to do more challenging trials, while the bottom of the barrel, like myself, were left with the low-risk-low-reward alternatives. Is that the way you want it, Harlequin? I thought, knowing that he was listening to every word. Bring it on! Ten years of regret were enough. Maybe I had started out pathetic in my previous run, but I had managed to survive.

If there was one thing I had learned, it was that recklessness killed, but complacency killed five times faster. After I flushed, I stepped into the bathroom to take a shower.

"I could do with a new set of clothes," I said out loud.

"What's that?" Vathy asked from outside the room.

"Nothing." My comment was meant for the deities, not for her.

"Just thinking out loud." Slipping into one of the provided bathrobes, I returned to the cabin.

"You can go if you want," I said, rubbing my hair with a towel.

"Pressure's good."

"I'll pass," she said. It was normal. People remained conscious of the old norms for a few months at least.

"I'll just use the bathroom." While she was gone, I checked if the television was functional. Other than a few standard infomercials about the cruise ship itself, there didn't seem to be any hints. So much for the free info. Of course, there always was a way to get things moving. While I had spent my gold, I still had a bit of silver remaining. Popping open a silver tube from my inventory, I took a silver coin and pressed it into the TV screen. The coin vanished.

"Show me all gold locations," I said. The figure nine appeared on the screen. Always the greedy one, I sighed. Each coin I fed to the screen reduced a number by one until, in the end, a schematic of the ship emerged. From what I could see, there were nineteen locations holding gold caches. Given how far they were spread out, there was a good chance that they were untouched. For my plan to work, I needed to collect as much of it as possible.

With the merchant gone, gold wouldn't provide an immediate benefit, but it was invaluable for the time between trials. There was also one other thing it could be used for. The flushing from the bathroom made me quickly turn off the TV. Returning the remote to its place, I lay back on the bed. Time dragged on. The first half of the hour was spent with me pretending to sleep. The second—in keeping guard since Cathy had actually dozed off.

She had done a good job trying to hide the wounds she had gotten due to her divine pact. Someone else might not have even noticed. As the end of the hour approached, I went back to the bathroom. Conveniently, a pile of folded clothes appeared on the floor next to me. Apparently, wishes could come true. From what I could make out, there was nothing special about the clothes. Other than being new, they seemed ordinary in every single way. Going through the pockets of the trousers, I came across two things.

One was a silver necklace. I could tell what exactly its function was, but thanks to my magic vision, I could see several threads of aether running throughout it. The other thing was a folded piece of paper. Glancing at the door out of habit, I unfolded it to reveal an image of a key drawn in black charcoal. This was something I hadn't seen before, even in my previous run. What the hell are you? I turned the piece of paper over. The person who betrayed you has that key.