544 Going Through The Tunnels

We were back in the Rejmar trade outpost again, this time all of us armed to the teeth and looking like we were ready for war.

Balin was there and he raised an eyebrow when he saw us.

"Oh, hello there… Err… Did someone do something to you guys?" He asked, looking visibly worried.

Sebastian answered him with a wry smile, "Worry not, sir Balin. We are merely headed to the Dungeon in the tunnels."

"Oh… Oh good. Because I don't think… Ah… I guess I shouldn't say anything more than that. G… Good day to you all then."

"Of course. Please keep up the good work."

The Rejmar simply nodded in response and went back to watching the gate, probably to see if any other of our maids who were on break comes along to serve as their guide.

I wonder what happened before to make him have that kind of reaction?

Sebastian remained in the lead and led us towards the Meeting Hall, the Head Butler giving the receptionist a nod in greeting before moving straight to the tunnels.

The guard there did not even stop him and even pretended not to see him, allowing all of us to pass through unmolested.

I wonder if this was a frequent enough occurrence for them to react like this?

Something tells me that it probably was.

Continuing into the tunnels, Sebastian stopped unexpectedly before pulling out a map from within his suit jacket and handing it to me.

"You are now the navigator, Aster. Guide us to the Dungeon."

Err… Ok?

I opened up the map and quickly inspected it.

It was a crude drawing of the tunnels and was most definitely not drawn to scale. There were a few markings here and there about notable landmarks like "Carving of a Rejmar pissing himself", "Some loose rock shaped like a face" and "Dead Spider stuck to the wall".

I could see that the Dungeon lay at the very bottom of the page while the trade outpost was at the very top.

No, there's no straight path down there so I probably will have to decide the best path based on the crude drawings of this map that I was given.

The others tried to approach me to look at the map but Sebastian stopped them, "No, this responsibility is Aster's alone. No one is to see the map at all except for Aster. Aster, you are also not allowed to ask the others for advice or opinions. You will lead them to where you think is the right path based on your own decisions."

The others backed away from me, albeit unwillingly.

It's ok girls, I know how to read a map. Even if the map looks like some kind of kids' drawing.

I traced my finger along the paths and tried to find the most optimal path one can take to reach the Dungeon from here.

There were a few other interesting markings that served as a warning for me so I knew that those areas should be avoided for less problems. Even as crude as it was, it was still well drawn enough to be understood.

I then noted that once I factor in those warnings, the route was pretty straight forward and it was just a matter of being able to reach there without getting lost.

With the route set, I pointed in one direction of the cave and spoke to my companions, "Follow me everyone! Let's go!"

None of them questioned me and simply followed behind me just as I asked.

Ok… Let's see… First thing is to turn right at the intersection up ahead! And judging by the drawing, it should be an intersection with three diverging paths.

When I reached an intersection after walking for a while, however. It was to a T-junction with a path going straight and another turning to the right.

Wait… That's strange… The map showed that there would be four diverging paths and it should have been a cross junction, not a T-junction…

Let's just continue forward a little while and see if there's another path up ahead that turned left so that I could justify why the map was drawn like this.

We walked for about a minute and still we saw no path that led to the left and I started to grow suspicious.

Was this map actually legit? Or did something happen that made that other road disappear?

I wasn't really told how old this map was so it might have been drawn years ago when there had been four intersections but now that is no longer the case.

I turned around and gestured towards the back, "We need to go back…"

My party gave me a look of concern but they still obeyed nevertheless., all of them stepping aside so that I could walk in between them to get to the other side.

I brought them back to the intersection and stopped again, looking around the path critically.

Why would one draw four paths here when there's clearly only three?

Wait… Could it be that one of the walls was fake?

I looked at the wall where I had thought the other way to be and gave it a few solid knocks along its length, expecting it to change into a doorway behind an illusion or something else.

Unfortunately for me, it seems like this entire part was made of solid ro--

I didn't even get to finish my thought before I found my hand passing through empty air and I lost my footing, which ended up causing me to stumble forward a few steps to catch myself from falling.

Once I had my footing again, I looked behind me and found a solid wall behind me, only to have Odeta, Lisa, Delmare and Katsuki all trying to squeeze in at the same time.

"Mistress!"

"Aster!"

"Sister Aster!"

"Aster, my beloved!"

""""Are you alright?!""""

They are so cute.

"I'm fine," I assured them. "Seems like that wall is an illusion."

All of them turned back to glare at the wall, as though it had just done something unforgivable.

Sebastian then stuck his head through, "Mmm… I am designating Katsuki as temporary leader. You must now decide whether the party should head down this path because of this anomaly. You are not allowed to ask anyone for opinions or advice, but you are allowed to consult Aster in regards to the map."

Katsuki immediately turned to me, "Mistress, is there anything up the path ahead?"

I checked the map, "Hmmm… The map shows that it's a dead end ahead with nothing remarkable about it…"

"Then we're not going there," Katsuki said with finality.

Sebastian maintained a neutral face, "May I know why?"

Katsuki gestured at the wall, "Clearly some unsavoury sort had created that illusion to hide something, especially since we aren't in a Dungeon right now. Right now our priority is to get to the Dungeon and my Mistress is here as well. I will not put Mistress in any danger unnecessarily."

Sebastian nodded, "Very well. Then let's return back on track. Aster, if you would?"

I looked down the path that curved at the end, wondering what lay there that made someone try to hide it with an illusionary wall?

"Should we tell someone about this?" I asked, pointing at the wall. "This is quite close to the trade outpost after all."

Sebastian smiled at me, "I will handle that, Aster, you do not need to worry."

Ah, then there's really nothing for me to worry about in that case.

We stepped out from the wall to return to the intersection where Tiara and the others were waiting for us.

They immediately crowded around me when they saw me emerge from the wall, all of them asking me if I was alright.

I had to assure them that I was fine again before I was allowed to lead the way again.

Once more, I consulted the map and went to the tunnel that I had predetermined was the right path.

But not even ten steps later, we heard a rumbling sound coming from behind us.

All of us turned back and we saw, from behind the illusory wall, a thing came walking out of it.

It was… A… Robot?

Or I guess, more specifically, an automaton?

Unless it was one of those mechanical races in this World, then they should be called Autos.

"Drat! Failed again! I guess that was a little too much…" The robot cursed, only to stop when it saw us.

It didn't have a face so I don't know how it was feeling at the moment, but I'm guessing from the angry clicking sounds that was coming from its body, it was probably not happy.

"What are you looking at? Never seen an Auto trying to fix itself before? Shoo! Shoo!"

A few of the maids stepped forward but Sebastian raised a hand to stop them, "Remember what you are here for, ladies."

That made them return to their positions quickly.

Sebastian turned back and inclined his head at the Auto, "Apologies for disturbing you, we shall be on our way."

"No, no, no. You pissed me off now, I'm going to take my anger out on you!"

…

No offence dude but… Really?