I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman - Chapter 48

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 48: Doll Dungeon (6)

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With Alain’s death, the demonic energy that had blanketed everything through the second floor vanished in an instant.

Just as it had in the Beast Dungeon, the floor had been purified.

The next time we challenged it, we would probably be able to start from the third floor.

Normally, we should have finished off the boss today, but we had gained enough already.

No, more importantly, neither of us was in any condition to continue.

‘Let’s pull out for now.’

Right. We couldn’t just keep thrusting forward.

That was what I thought as I threw open the dungeon entrance.

“Welcome back, you two.”

Waiting for us was Razen, smiling with narrowed eyes, along with around ten Holy Knights standing guard behind him.

He said they were away earlier, didn’t he?

“Thanks to the two of you...”

Creak!

Before Razen could finish speaking, I shut the door and stepped back into the dungeon.

“Are you sure we don’t need to hear what they have to say?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious.”

Cecilia shrugged, as though she had immediately grasped the situation.

The narrow-eyed guy who had claimed the Holy Knights were away had brought them all here to wait at the dungeon entrance.

Nothing good would come from talking to them. We had entered this place knowing they had ulterior motives in the first place.

There was a more solid reason, too.

Neither Cecilia nor I was an idiot.

My senses were not as sharp as Cecilia’s, but perhaps because I had been beaten up and killed so many times, I had learned to feel killing intent directed at me from nearby.

If people radiating that much killing intent were not up to something, that would be stranger.

So I was certain.

They had been waiting to deal with us once we emerged after clearing the dungeon.

Still, something felt off.

They had not reacted this severely during Aren’s run in the original story. Their response was far too extreme.

Was there some reason they had to show their hostility so openly?

‘So what do we do now?’

We had gone back inside, but Alain’s death had also removed the entry restriction.

That meant they could enter the dungeon whenever they wanted.

We did not let down our guard around the entrance.

“...They’re not coming.”

Yet even after more than ten minutes, there was no sign of the door opening.

Right. There was no way people who wielded holy power would not know that the second floor had been purified.

‘Then there must be another reason they can’t enter the dungeon.’

Razen did not look particularly capable in a fight. That meant the Holy Knights would be the ones using force.

Could there be something here they could not let the Holy Knights see?

When I looked up without thinking, I saw a holy mural that did not suit the mansion at all.

Come to think of it, this dungeon had been based on a temple.

If so, there was a good chance this temple contained a clue that could get us out of this shitty situation.

With them stationed at the entrance like that, nothing minor would change the outcome anyway.

Finding that clue was our best option.

‘It would be nice if someone came to help us...’

I could only fiddle with Renee for no reason.

Naturally, this place was outside the calling range.

Who would have thought not telling anyone we were coming here would snowball into this?

The moment we got out, I was going to beat up Elia and make them expand the calling range.

“Cecilia, did you tell anyone we were coming here?”

“What? You told me not to tell anyone.”

Of course.

“Still... my sister might know. She was there when you talked about the Doll Dungeon before. She might not know the date or time, but she probably realized you would come here to clear it someday.”

Then our hope lay with her.

After briefly explaining my guess to Cecilia, we squatted down on a suitable patch of floor and began to rest.

Neither potions nor Lumen could restore our depleted mental strength.

We had fought elite monsters and a mid-boss back-to-back without rest. Even for me, it was a forced march I had never experienced before.

Just as before, Cecilia unpacked a lunchbox.

Now that I thought about it, Alain’s attack had kept me from tasting it during the previous run.

I picked up a piece of diced meat from inside and put it in my mouth.

“Mmm.”

It melted softly on my tongue.

This was definitely good.

The sweet and salty flavor wrapped around my tongue. It somehow reminded me of braised short ribs.

But if meat tasted like braised short ribs in a medieval Western fantasy setting, did that mean the cook was actually good?

“...How is it? Does it suit your taste?”

“It’s good. The cooks in your house must be skilled.”

“......I made it.”

I tilted my head without meaning to.

Hadn’t she said the cooks made it during the first run?

Answer quickly. Which Cecilia was lying, the one from the first run or Cecilia from the current run?

...Well, whatever. It was good.

Once we finished eating, we immediately began searching the second floor.

I remained wary just in case, but as expected, every monster on the second floor had been cleared out with Alain’s death.

At least we did not have to destroy any innocent wax dolls, which made me feel better.

That part was the same as the original story.

Still, no matter how thoroughly we searched the second floor, we found no meaningful clue.

Eventually, we reached the boss room where we should have fought Alain.

In the middle of the empty space stood a lone bookshelf.

There were five books on it.

Every one of them was old and worn from use.

I remembered that bookshelf being an ordinary destructible object in the original story.

You could destroy it or leave it alone. It had no special function or purpose, so players often passed it by during later runs.

But this was reality. In reality, we could read the books.

I approached the shelf and pulled out the first book.

The cover bore the title Temple of Rest Management Log, along with the name Alain.

“Alain’s journal?”

“Who’s Alain?”

Right, Cecilia wouldn’t know.

Without answering, I immediately opened to the first page.

[First Journal]

Glory to the Main Gods. Today, I was finally appointed as a guardian Holy Knight of the Temple of Rest. More than anything, I am delighted that I will be working alongside my childhood friends.

The wax dolls made by the two of them look truly alive. How could they capture the figures of the heroes who fell fighting the Evil God so vividly?

The two of them pray every day as they carve their dolls, seeking to comfort the souls of the heroes. I, too, have been moved by their kind hearts. I swear before the Main Gods that I will protect this sacred place and my precious friends with everything I have.

“This is... a Holy Knight’s prayer.”

The journal began ordinarily enough.

It was a record of Alain’s activities after Alain had been assigned to the temple as a Holy Knight.

Yet something puzzled me.

The childhood friends mentioned here were probably the twin sisters, Rose and Lilian.

‘Was there ever a setting that they and Alain were childhood friends?’

I had not memorized every setting in detail, but childhood friends were far too important to overlook.

There was no way I would have missed it.

No matter how hard I thought, I could not remember. Just like Senia’s name, there had been no mention in the background settings that they were childhood friends.

The next three journals were fairly ordinary as well.

Well, not completely ordinary. Alain appeared to have been in love with both Rose and Lilian.

No, what kind of Holy Knight dated two people at once?

The journals presented it like an innocent love story, but I could not understand liking both twins at the same time.

I would never date two people at once. Twins, at that? Crazy. How could anyone do that?

For some reason, Cecilia’s stare at me felt unsettling, but it was probably my imagination.

Then came the fifth and final book.

It was far more worn than the others, and brownish stains covered its pages.

That was probably blood.

[Fifth Journal, First Half]

It is a lie. Everything was a lie. The Church of the Main Gods, these hypocrites! Heroes? The fight against the Evil God? It was all a blatant lie! Those resting in the Temple of Rest were not heroes. They were sacrifices meant to connect with the Main Gods! The Church of the Main Gods has been offering countless believers as living sacrifices this entire time!

Rose and Lilian learned everything. Their pure prayers, their kind hearts, caused the souls of the dead to dwell within the wax dolls. They said the dolls whispered every night of their wrongful deaths and the Church’s filthy secret.

We have to flee. Yet every time we try to leave the temple, dozens of pairs of eyes watch us from the forest. Rose and Lilian are withering away from nightmares every day. I... I have to protect them...

[Fifth Journal, Final Page]

They found us. They are coming. Rose... Lilian... my precious friends. Please forgive this powerless knight...

This was the truth behind the dungeon.

And the reason those hypocrites outside could not enter.

They could not set foot in the holy ground they had defiled themselves.

The moment I closed the book, confusion rushed over me.

‘...This can’t be right.’

I knew the Church of the Main Gods was trash.

But that did not mean the Main Gods themselves were trash.

In the original game, the Main Gods had been benevolent deities, good gods who purified the evil of the world.

The ending of Academy of the End always concluded with the Evil God’s defeat, and the Main Gods lent Aren their power in the process.

Yet the Church of the Main Gods offered human sacrifices to connect with the Main Gods?

Why? Based on what?

The words “human sacrifice” carried too much weight to dismiss this as simple corruption within the Church of the Main Gods.

Many developments had diverged from the original story so far.

There were even things that had not been written into the original story at all, like Senia.

But this was the first time a core setting that formed the foundation of the game had been twisted.

Either this journal was a lie, or...

At that moment, Cecilia, who had been looking around, ran her hand over an indentation in one wall.

It was exactly the same size as the hammer Alain had carried.

“The knight monster we defeated earlier... that must have been Alain.”

Her eyes filled with anger and sorrow.

“If souls had dwelled in the dolls... then the wax dolls we defeated might have been...”

Just then, as though it had waited for us to finish reading every book, a door that had been sealed shut in one corner of the second floor opened.

It was the staircase to the third floor, which had only opened after defeating Alain in the original story.

We put all five books into our backpacks. Then, without hesitation, we stepped into the passage.

Fine. Let’s assume this was at least why those people outside could not enter.

That still did not change our situation.

We knew that the moment we carried these journals outside, they would try to kill us to destroy the evidence.

More importantly, they could easily claim that these were simply the delusions of a Holy Knight named Alain.

This was not enough.

We still lacked the decisive blow that could turn this situation around.

And if something like that existed, it would probably be higher up.

‘The third floor... was it the choir?’

The moment we passed through the passage and reached the third floor, Cecilia let out a gasp.

“Ah...!”

Before us was a vast auditorium, with a small choir platform within it.

Surrounding it stood countless dolls with their mouths open as though they were singing.

The dolls wore choir robes and took the forms of boys and girls of many different ages.

Alain’s journal flashed through my mind.

That meant every one of them was a sacrifice offered to the Main Gods, a child who had been killed.

A red carpet ran through the middle of the choir. At the end of that path, I could see a passage leading to the rooftop.

If this was the same as the original story, some of them would be monsters, and they would launch indiscriminate attacks the moment they spotted us.

Some would attack from range with sonic attacks through their hymns.

I remembered the choir.

I had failed to remember that the monsters forming that choir looked like children.

“What do we do...?”

Cecilia murmured in a devastated voice.

What else could we do? The method was the same. Like on the first floor, we could wipe out all the dolls.

The third floor had no elite monsters, so it would even be easier.

But that was not what she meant.

Now that we knew the truth, she could not bring herself to do it. Not against dolls bearing the forms of sacrificed children.

And honestly, I felt the same.

It was not like I felt good about this.

Still, someone had to do it.

And if someone had to, it should be me.

‘Whew.’

I sighed inwardly and held out my hand to Cecilia.

“Give me Black Cloud and White Tome.”

“Uh...? Okay.”

Though flustered, she removed Black Cloud and White Tome and handed them to me.

I took them and equipped a total of five Special Shards in my sockets, including Biye, which we had obtained from Alain.

[An ability has been unlocked by equipping Special Shards.]

[Special Shard: Biye]

[Special Ability: Bond Dance]

A new Special Ability had been unlocked, but that was not important right now.

It would not be too late to check it after we broke through the third floor.

Once I felt the Shards’ power sink into my entire body, I walked along the carpet.

Cecilia was horrified.

“Wait! What are you trying to do?!”

‘What do you think? I’m going to do what I do best.’

The moment my foot touched the carpet, a sharp sonic attack burst from the mouth of the girl doll with a bright smile on my right.

‘There you are.’

I lightly twisted my body to avoid the sonic attack, then rushed to the doll and drove my sword into its heart.

The girl doll collapsed limply where it stood.

As though it had fallen into a deep sleep, still bearing the form it had in life.

I did not cut off its head or destroy its body like I had on the first floor.

Instant Kill had activated.

On the first floor, I had deliberately sealed Black Cloud to apply a Defense reduction debuff before fighting the elite monsters, but the third floor was different.

There were no elite monsters here, so I could use Instant Kill as much as I wanted.

I continued along the carpet.

Listening to each voice that rang out from either side, I granted every one of them rest.

This was the only way to let the children’s souls sleep peacefully without damaging them as much as possible.

The attacks intensified.

The sonic attacks erupting from dozens of voices somehow sounded like a song.

I silently walked through that sorrowful chorus.

With every step I took, one song after another fell silent.

How long had it been?

At last, the noisy performance faded away, and I arrived before the passage leading to the rooftop.

When I turned around, the auditorium was still filled with the figures of countless children.

They had not been destroyed. They remained as they were, asleep.