第１４１６堀：戦いの爪痕 (Part1)
Chapter 1416: Scars of Battle
Side: Deryu
There is little to say about the search of the second floor.
The reason is simple: the second floor consists primarily of guest rooms and a reception hall for high-ranking visitors.
In other words, there were no valuable supplies to be found, nor any strategic points worth defending.
Unlike the first floor, the only traces of combat were along the route of the staircase.
Every guest room was stripped bare—beds and chairs had been dragged out to serve as barricades—and with the doors left wide open, there was no sense of anything lingering within.
The monsters that stormed this place must have sensed the same thing.
That their true objective lay on the third floor.
“...There was nothing here, was there?”
“Aye. It seems this place didn’t become a battlefield.”
“Just guest rooms and reception halls, stripped of all furniture.”
Samantha, Sasari, and Kuko seemed to share the same opinion.
It simply felt like a ruin where the inhabitants had long since vanished. The lack of any sign of life was profoundly melancholic.
As I was lost in such thoughts...
“Oh, Deryu.”
At the sound of my name, I turned to see Ria and the others ascending the stairs.
“Ah, I see. They must have staged their interception here.”
“Indeed. Being able to fire down upon the surroundings like this makes it a convenient spot for an attack.”
“It’s logical, but...”
“They were overwhelmed, weren’t they?”
Such sentiments echoed from those around me.
This lord’s mansion featured an atrium spanning from the first to the third floor, and it was clear that they had launched their attacks from here and the third floor.
Furthermore, the path of the advance was littered with the remnants of barricades dragged out from the guest rooms.
“...Samantha, what about everyone else?”
I realized Cleena and the others had reached our side, tilting their heads in confusion.
Since there was nothing to hide, I decided to tell them plainly.
“Well, I realized something after returning here. I thought the second floor was just a hollow shell with nothing in it, but... look.”
When I directed their gaze and told them to look, they peered down into the atrium...
“...I see. They fought here.”
“Looks like it. It’s a perfect sniping point, after all.”
“Deryu... what about survivors or bodies?”
“None. I told you it was like a ruin, didn’t I? It seems everyone on the second floor gathered here to intercept the enemy.”
“Yes. Aside from this atrium, there was nothing.”
“...I see. Everyone did their best here.”
A somber mood settled over us all.
The traces of their desperate struggle to survive were etched into the very floor.
Bows with snapped strings, broken arrows.
And bloodstains.
“...Well, let’s stop dwelling on this and head to the third floor.”
There is no point in mourning the dead here.
Our duty is to investigate properly, determine the cause, and ensure such a tragedy never happens again.
Just as I was about to head for the third floor...
『This is the underground team, Agil. We have discovered survivors in the hidden basement with the guidance of Eina-dono. We are beginning the escort now. Investigation team on the upper floors, continue your work. Medical team, prepare yourselves.』
『Understood.』
『Yes. We’ll be waiting.』
『Leave it to us!』
Hmph. Everything is going according to plan, then.
“Right. The lord’s office is on the third floor. There’s no need to take anything, but we must record the data.”
As I spoke, everyone nodded.
We stepped over the destroyed barricades and made our way to the third floor, where even more extensive bloodstains spread out before us...
“...Bones.”
“Yeah.”
Ria responded briefly to my words as we both stared at the scene.
Scattered there were multiple skulls and what appeared to be pulverized bone.
Some of the skulls themselves were partially shattered.
And there were the remnants of armor and weapons they had worn.
It was, quite literally, a testament to their loyalty and duty—a sacrifice of body and soul until the very end.
Yuki has told us that no matter what happens, we must live and return home.
Even if it means abandoning those around us.
While we have been entrusted with self-destruct devices, we will likely never use them.
After all, the very idea of us falling into enemy hands is unacceptable.
It is more important to live and return than to burn this body to ash just to take down an enemy.
I know, if only through theory, of the existence of weapons capable of scorching this entire planet.
I understand well why Yuki says that if he dies, he wants his body left as nothing but ash.
If our remains were used to replicate such a weapon, it would truly be the end of the world.
“But isn’t it strange for them to be skeletonized? It should take much longer than this, right?”
“Ah, now that you mention it, that’s true. Even if I wouldn’t call it ‘clean,’ it shouldn’t have been enough time for them to weather down to the bone like this...”
“It’s not that mysterious, is it? Looking at the state of this place, they were literally pulverized. If that happens, the flesh scatters. Weathering happens faster.”
“Indeed, as Kuko says, when the remains are scattered, weathering accelerates.”
We were discussing something that seemed problematic, but in the end, it didn’t seem all that strange.
“Well, let’s not dwell on that. It would be best to have Rurua or Lilishe-sama examine them later. No one surpasses them when it comes to the human body.”
Everyone nodded at my words.
If it were Rurua and Lilishe-sama, they would surely understand the state of these remains—these bodies—far better than we ever could.
“Right then, let’s pull ourselves together and investigate the third floor. Though...”
The space ahead was not as wide as the second floor, with only three doors leading into rooms.
The door at the end of the central corridor was likely the office.
Like the floor below, there were signs of barricades having been constructed here, and blood and bone lay scattered about.
Perhaps even the Lich hesitated to reuse these remains, given how badly damaged they were.
“The hallway was a fierce battleground as well. Well, assuming the main objective is in there, let’s check the rooms on either side first.”
With that, we checked the room to the left of the main entrance...
“A reception room, perhaps?”
Ria was the first to speak upon entering.
None of us could answer her.
Because...
“More like a warehouse?”
“No, it looks like a warehouse, but the tables and shelves are quite ornate.”
“True. Maybe they gathered supplies here in an emergency?”
“That seems likely. There are bundles of unused arrows, weapons, and even potions.”
At Kuko and Sasari’s observation, I noticed the supplies as well.
However...
“They didn’t take these things. I heard the enemy had been gathering supplies, but...”
“Maybe they couldn’t be perfect about it? I mean, there were goblins and such involved, right? If it were Yuki-san’s subordinates, that’s one thing, but...”