“—I’ve got no clue.”

As soon as they brought the remaining four over, the first words Dewey spoke were, if anything, the most fitting way to describe the scene before them. At the very least, Ziel had nearly the same impression when he laid eyes on this sight.

Beyond the passageway leading from the water tank room lay an unimaginably vast, dome-shaped space.

It might have been the largest artificial structure he had ever seen. The open space extended both upwards and downwards, spanning at least thirty floors. Yet, the edges of the dome were obscured by haze, making it difficult to discern their full extent. Corridors, like vines crawling along the walls, encircled each level, lined with doors of unfamiliar design. Even from this vantage point, he could see three, four hundred rooms—perhaps even more than a thousand if those further inside were included.

Once the initial shock of the sight wore off, a natural question surfaced in his mind.

“Where the hell was this space hiding? You couldn’t see it from outside, right? Or did we somehow end up way underground without realizing it?”

Dewey, still catching his breath from the climb, clung to Ziel’s shoulder as he spoke. Ziel, in turn, gave an honest answer.

“I don’t know.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“It does seem that part of it extends underground, but I believe the majority of this structure is above ground. If I had to guess, the passageway just above us aligns with the first floor of the research facility…”

It was Klaha who answered in his stead.

Ziel thought to himself how fortunate he was. As Dewey clapped, Ziel joined in, acknowledging Klaha’s impressive ability to orient herself. Flustered, she quickly waved off the praise, but then added,

“That said, it still doesn’t explain why a structure this massive was never discovered.”

“Maybe it’s like the other ruins?” Ney suggested, finally snapping out of her daze. “Hidden by the tall trees of the jungle, so no one could see it?”

It was a plausible theory, but—

“No, that seems unlikely,” Roylen interjected. “If Klaha’s assessment is correct, there’s no way the trees of the jungle could conceal something this tall. Even if it were somehow buried over time, it’s hard to believe it remained undiscovered for thousands of years.”

A brief silence followed.

Then, with a sharp clap of her hands, Wilae broke it.

“In any case, standing here and talking won’t get us anywhere. Eunice, you called us here to investigate this place, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I figured it would be too much for just the four of us…”

Looking up at the massive dome, Eunice trailed off, and Dewey finished the thought for him.

“Even with eight people, it’s like throwing a cup of water on a bonfire. No way we’re gonna search all of this. By the time we’re done, we’ll be old men and our youth will be gone.”

“With eight, we can divide up the search to some extent, but if we just wander around aimlessly, we’ll either find too much or nothing useful at all.”

Roylen turned to Wilae. “We need some kind of—”

“A guiding principle,” she finished, raising a finger.

Then, with an air of certainty that made her words feel closer to fact than theory, she continued,

“Before conducting a full-scale investigation, we need to grasp the overall structure of this building. If my assumption is correct—”

She paused for a moment, but her confidence remained unshaken.

“There should be at least one door here that is ‘unlocked’ or ‘not sealed with magic.’ Everyone, find it.”

It was exhilarating—almost to the point of making Klaha lightheaded.

Of course it was. She had ventured deep into the southern jungle, discovered an enormous ruin likely untouched since history restarted, and become one of the first people to set foot inside.

The walls, the floors, the staircases, the railings—every single thing in her sight shone with a captivating allure that left her at a loss for words.

Would the doors here, similar in design to the ones below, move up and down like a pulley system? That seemed plausible. A structure this tall would need some means of transportation. Most of the mechanisms here had long since lost their magic and lay dormant. If they were infused with magic, would they come to life once more? No, that was something to consider only after ensuring safety. Not now. But the more she looked, the more it drew her in, her attention captured entirely—

“Oh, Klaha. Did you find something?”

“—Wha—Yes! I mean, yes!!”

The voice had come from behind.

She turned around to see a familiar face. They had split into teams to search, each group covering their assigned floors. Ziel had volunteered to move freely between them, hopping up and down like a spring, saying, “I can’t sense magic well, so I’ll just follow up on everyone else.”

Now, here he was, standing before her. Seeing her startled reaction, he raised both hands slightly in a gesture of apology.

“…Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No, I’m sorry! I should have been more aware.”

“Well, I was trying not to get in the way, so I kept my presence low.”

Please don’t do that, she thought, resisting the urge to say it out loud.

But as her heart rate gradually settled, she realized this was a good opportunity. Her gaze had been wandering too much. There were no visible threats—no magic beasts, no sign of those dolls. But that didn’t mean she could afford to be careless.

Thinking of it as a chance to reset and try again, Klaha braced herself.

Just as she placed her hand on the next door—

"Ah."

"Oh."

"This... might not be a magic-locked door."

The sensation under her fingers was different from before.

"Ohh," Ziel let out an honest sound of admiration.

"Out of all these doors, you might be the first to find one. Think you can open it?"

"It looks difficult. I can handle simple locks, but this one is beyond me."

If she were alone, she would have stubbornly persisted. After all, the mystery of what lay beyond this door gnawed at her curiosity.

But with seven others present, stubbornness and pride were pointless. She admitted honestly, and Ziel nodded in response.

"Wait here a second."

With a light jump, he took off again.

Sometimes Klaha wondered if gravity worked differently around him. But she barely had time to ponder the question before Ziel was back.

"Brought him."

"Yo."

Slung over his shoulder was Dewey, hanging like a rag.

He raised a hand in greeting, and Klaha did the same in return. "You could win a gold medal with that jump," Dewey muttered as he slid off Ziel’s shoulder.

"So? What do we got here?"

Rolling up his sleeves, Dewey crouched in front of the door with a toolbox in hand.

"Huh. This one’s different from the small room or the aquarium doors."

"Is that so?"

"Look at it. That little box thing ain't here."

"Oh, you’re right," Ziel noted. Klaha had noticed too. There was no control panel, no turn-handle.

Dewey, still focused on the keyhole, inserted a tool and shone a light inside.

"It’s kinda like modern locks. Or rather, modern locks took inspiration from this. I can open it."

"Pass me that tool."

Without looking up, he called for something. "Which one?" Ziel asked, but Klaha handed it over instead.

The work continued.

"Still, it's strange," Ziel murmured.

"What is?"

"Why are there different types of locks? Wouldn’t a unified system be easier? This way, intruders like us might find a door we can open."

Dewey’s hands stopped.

"Ohh. So that's what Wilae meant."

"What do you mean?"

"Now I get what she was saying. ‘There will always be a door that can be opened.’"

Dewey seemed satisfied, but Ziel was still puzzled. When the conversation didn't continue, Ziel glanced at Klaha.

"Um," she hesitated, thinking of the simplest way to explain.

"Let’s say you live in a really dangerous place. You’d want your front door to have the strongest lock possible, right?"

She tried to sound confident but worried she might come across as arrogant.

"Yeah, makes sense," Ziel nodded.

"You? You sleep sprawled out anywhere," Dewey snorted.

"Lately, not so much... Oh, sorry, go on."

"Now, say that lock takes five minutes to open. Would you put that same lock on your kitchen, bedroom, or desk drawers?"

Ziel pondered for three seconds, then slowly nodded.

"I see. It’s about balancing security and convenience."

His quick understanding surprised Klaha.

"Exactly," Dewey muttered without turning around.

"No point putting a vault-grade lock on something trivial. Plus, in taller buildings, magic locks prevent falls, but—"

"No need for that in lower levels."

"Bingo."

"So that means," Ziel concluded, "these doors we can open lead to unimportant places?"

"Well, not exactly," Dewey replied. "Because—"

His words cut off.

A clicking sound followed.

"Already done. Sorry for being a genius."

"Truly genius," Ziel smirked.

"Less than five minutes. Impressive skill," Klaha added.

"You two should start charging for your compliments."

With an exaggerated "Alrighty then!" Dewey stood, picking up his toolbox and stepping back.

"Since I'm the genius who got it open, I'll pass on being the first in. Too scary for my heart."

Of course, the job beyond this point was theirs.

Klaha and Ziel moved to shield him.

"This pulls open?"

"Looks like it."

"Got it. Klaha, you pull. Use the door as a shield."

"I’ll take point," Ziel adjusted his stance. He wished he could take the dangerous role, but he wasn’t strong enough yet. He stored this frustration as motivation for later.

Deep breath.

Three times.

"Opening. One, two—"

And then, she—

"Three!!"

With a bang, the door swung open.

It was a swarm of dolls.

"—!"

"Whoa."

"...This is kind of creepy."

They were not moving. They were still.

And yet, seeing the dolls that had been around the aquarium now neatly lined up, densely covering the floor, it was impossible not to break into a cold sweat.

Covering her mouth as some dust was kicked up, Klaha paused for a moment to observe if there was any danger inside.

“Does it look safe?”

“Yes. At least from what I can see.”

“Got it,” Ziel replied, stepping in first, prompting Klaha to follow.

Once she stepped inside, it wasn't as frightening as she had initially thought.

“Is this… a storage room?”

“It looks that way. At first, I thought, like when you encountered them earlier, that the dolls were placed here for security, but…”

There were simply too many.

No matter how necessary they were for security, there was no reason to cram this many dolls into a space of this size. Moreover, there was no sign that they were reacting to their presence.

“This must be a place to store these dolls. If they were meant to guard this entire building, there would be too few of them, so maybe there are several rooms like this.”

“Hey! What’s the deal? Think it’s safe for me to come in?”

Just as Klaha continued her speculation, Dewey, who was still observing from outside the room, called out. She turned around. When she replied that it seemed safe, he hunched his shoulders and cautiously stepped inside, looking around.

“Is there, like, a lever or a switch or something?”

“Huh?”

Half-hiding behind Ziel, Dewey muttered.

“If my—well, more like Wilae the Great’s—guess is right, there should be one somewhere.”

“That makes sense. Though it might not necessarily be in this room.”

Agreeing, Klaha also began searching.

However, the dolls were in the way. Even accounting for her own height, these dolls were taller than Ziel. With them crammed in like this, they obstructed the view completely.

So, she moved her feet and ventured deeper inside, but…

“Doesn’t look like there’s anything.”

Even after weaving through them, there was nothing. Reaching the far end of the wall, the scenery remained unchanged. Just rows of dolls, with nothing else worth noting. That was all they had confirmed.

“Guess this place was a bust.”

“It seems so. We may have to search again and ask you to pick another lock, Dewey.”

“No problem. Just call me anytime.”

He gave Ziel a light tap on the shoulder. Seeing Ziel respond with an "Ah," Klaha remembered something.

“Our conversation from earlier got cut off, didn’t it?”

“Oh?” Ziel turned to her with interest. Klaha considered having Dewey explain, thinking it might be less presumptuous that way, but Ziel continued first.

“Let’s talk after we leave the room. With all these dolls lined up, I’m scared of bumping into one and knocking them over.”

Oh?

That comment triggered a thought in her mind.

“I mean, their footing isn’t exactly unstable, but it’s not like they’re completely immovable either. It’d be a pain if we accidentally broke one.”

“Look down, will you?”

“Huh? …Oh. So they’re fixed in place.”

“Looks like the floor holes and the soles of their feet are designed to fit together perfectly. That way, just bumping into them won’t do anything. Walk around without worry.”

The two of them peered down.

There were evenly spaced holes in the floor. The soles of the dolls’ feet seemed to have some mechanism that locked them into place. Despite standing on two legs, as Dewey said, they were snugly fitted into the floor and stable.

And then—

“They don’t lay them down for storage?”

“Probably a space issue. If they stacked them and the weight warped the frames, that’d be useless.”

“But storing them upright means there’s less surface area supporting the weight, so wouldn’t that actually make them more likely to warp in a single spot?”

“Wow, you sure know a lot about humanoid forms.”

“I’m a swordsman, after all.”

“That said, since they’re not actually warping much, there’s probably some trick to strengthening vertical structures. I’m curious. Super curious. I wanna take one apart and check.”

Listening to their back-and-forth, Klaha resisted the urge to join in and instead continued scanning the surroundings.

“Um,”

She found something.

“That hole over there… doesn’t have a doll in it.”

“Huh?”

“Oh?”

Since she only needed to look at the ground, she didn’t have to move around much. Lowering her gaze was enough to find it.

A hole meant to secure a doll.

Just one of them was empty.

“Could it be the one from the aquarium?”

“Maybe. If only one is missing…”

“Wait a sec.”

Dewey suddenly noticed something odd.

Klaha, already walking toward it, had the same thought.

If one was missing, it shouldn’t be just one. Ziel had fought four in the aquarium room. Even if one had returned, there should still be three open spots.

Could it be that there are other storage rooms, so only one is missing here? That seemed like a reasonable conclusion. However, a strange detail kept Klaha from accepting it.

Kneeling down, she saw it.

In this dusty room, around that hole, there were no footprints of any dolls.

The two openings seemed to be the perfect size for someone to insert their hands.

Of course, Klaha wasn’t about to stick her hands in directly. Instead, she used tools from her bag and magic to handle it indirectly.

Indirectly—

“—It’s opening.”

With a loud clank.

It lifted.