Chapter 221: Trap

Night had fallen.

This meant it was time for Louis’s nightly stroll.

As usual, he left Shiba in charge of the dormitory before departing. Soaring high above the academy, Louis clutched a single sheet of paper in his hand.

It was the same drawing he’d shown Shiba earlier - a tangled mess of lines that he’d claimed was a treasure map.

Little did anyone know that this crude sketch by Louis actually represented a map of Transcendence Academy’s underground cave system.

The reason behind Louis creating this map was simple. He’d noticed that William was searching for something related to Victor. This realization prompted a shift in his thinking.

Instead of focusing on what William is looking for, why not find where it might be hidden?

While Louis didn’t know the exact nature of the object William sought, he was certain it must be concealed somewhere.

Even if such thoughts were wrong, it wouldn’t hurt to try.

I’ll search every corner of Transcendence Academy. Then I’m sure to find something.

Who was Louis? A Top Tier mystic with spatial attribute. No matter how vast Transcendence Academy was, analyzing space itself to find hidden spaces would only require a bit of effort. If he could truly find a secret space, he might be able to get the item William was after without even needing clues.

Having made up his mind, Louis began his investigation in the ‘cave’ of Transcendence Academy for the first time.

When it comes to secret spaces… it must be underground, right?

His first attempt started with one-dimensional thinking. Yet in this very first attempt, Louis discovered something completely unexpected - a hidden secret passage buried beneath Transcendence Academy.

It wasn’t just one, but multiple secret passages, tangled like a maze.

What is this? An ant colony?

At first, Louis was astonished by the vast labyrinth beneath Transcendence Academy, but his curiosity soon took over.

So secret spaces really do have to be underground!

From that day on, Louis devoted himself to mapping the secret passages beneath Transcendence Academy.

And then…

“I’m done!”

Today marked the completion of his map. Even Louis himself would need days to fully comprehend this complex and expansive underground labyrinth.

As he gazed at the finished map, Louis smiled with interest.

“It’s like a maze puzzle.”

The kind of game often found in newspapers or magazines for readers to solve. A simple game where you start from one side and find your way out of the maze.

The completed map resembled the structure it represented. Yet, the differences were strikingly clear.

“A massive central chamber with six escape routes…”

All paths on the map converged at the very center—a hub.

If I reverse my thinking, this means there are six exits leading outward from the central hub.

Each of these six passages extended beyond the Transcendence Academy’s boundaries.

What lies at the end of these passages?

Perhaps what William had been desperately seeking all along could be found here.

“Then… shall we begin our exploration?”

The entrance to this underground space remained unknown. Likely hidden away to deter ordinary visitors, it would be concealed somewhere.

But when had Louis ever failed to locate such entrances?

If Louis had the precise coordinates, there was no place he couldn’t reach.

Whoosh!

Louis’s divine form vanished from the sky above.

Whoosh!

The space rippled, and Louis’s figure materialized in the darkness.

At the same time, three spheres floated out from his pocket and suddenly began emitting light.

An incredible amount of light.

Thanks to this, the surroundings were brightly illuminated.

The place where Louis appeared was the hub of the underground labyrinth.

He had guessed it, but the hub of the underground labyrinth was quite large.

Moreover, the outer wall was divided into three floors, and there were dozens of holes bored through each floor.

Seeing this, Louis stuck out his tongue.

”…There are so many?”

He had expected it to some extent due to the complex structure of the underground labyrinth, but seeing the holes bored through everywhere like an ant colony, he couldn’t help but sigh.

Those who entered carelessly would find themselves lost, their bones buried here without escape.

Of course, Louis was the exception.

“Let’s see… where’s the exit…”

Louis strolled casually until he stood before one of the passages leading outside the Transcendence Academy.

Here it is.

He stepped in without hesitation.

Scanning the passage walls as he moved, Louis began advancing swiftly.

No traps here.

Even if there were, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Instead, he encountered multiple branching paths. Having memorized the map, Louis chose his direction without pause. He navigated the labyrinth faster than a galloping horse.

At some point, the fork in the path disappeared.

A glint flashed in Louis’s eyes.

From here on, we’re beyond the Transcendence Academy.

The underground passage that lay beyond the academy stretched straight ahead in a single, unbroken line.

This direction…?

Despite having twisted and turned through the subterranean labyrinth, Louis’s exceptional sense of direction informed him exactly where he was heading.

…This leads to Syron’s city center?

How much time had passed? Louis’s relentless movement came to an abrupt halt - he’d reached the end of the corridor.

“Huh…?”

A massive Iron Door blocked his path. As he prepared to step through the space beyond, something stopped him - the lily emblem etched on the door and the lengthy inscription carved into its surface.

The giant destined to change the world was first born from the hands of a peculiar yet wise human.

Later, the one-legged wolf gave it two legs to stride across the earth.

The one-armed dwarf bestowed upon it two arms to support the world.

The blind child of the forest granted it two eyes to gaze upon the world with clarity.

The wind’s friend, unable to fly, provided it with a pair of wings to conquer the skies.

Yet the giant remained trapped in a deep slumber.

Then, when a [ ] heart was bestowed upon the sleeping giant,

The giant, now cradling the source of life, awoke and roared at the world.

The moment Louis saw the sentence, he understood immediately.

The eccentric yet wise human was Dexter.

The one-legged wolf was Victor.

The one-armed dwarf was Douglas.

The blind child of the forest was Floria.

The wind’s friend who couldn’t fly was Erica.

And then…

The empty space…

The existence of the empty space, which had been given a heart to the sleeping giant, represented the dynamo that created himself.

Louis approached the Iron Door.

Then he touched the empty part.

A mana sensing device.

He probably needed to complete the writing in this empty space with mana for the door to open.

Only the exact right words would form the pattern to open the door.

And those who made this door were likely disciples of the Tower of Wishes.

That piqued Louis’s curiosity.

“I wonder… what they thought of me?”

With that thought, Louis wrote his name ‘Louis’ in the empty space.

Tsk tsk tsk.

The mana-infused characters seeped into the Iron Door, but there was no visible change.

“I knew it…” Louis shook his head, as if he’d already anticipated this outcome. They wouldn’t have left such a riddle to be solved by mere names. What if someone in the Tower of Wishes knew his true name?

If that’s the case…

The secret only four others know.

There was only one such secret.

I’m a dragon.

With this realization, Louis channeled mana into his finger and wrote again:

The dragon grants a heart to the sleeping giant…

The word “dragon” Louis had written didn’t vanish like the previous characters. But that was all. The Iron Door remained closed.

Louis rubbed his chin.

“It’s definitely a dragon… but does it need a modifier?”

A peculiar yet wise modifier - one-legged, one-armed, blind, flightless, and so on.

Louis added a modifier to the glowing “dragon” with a smile.

Great Dragon

Certain he had found the answer, Louis smiled in satisfaction.

But the door remained unchanged.

Worse still, the word “Great” before “Dragon” had vanished.

Frowning at the remaining “Dragon” word, Louis muttered:

“This isn’t it…?”

He quickly tried another modifier.

Handsome Dragon

But this wasn’t the answer either.

Louis continued trying various modifiers: cute, beautiful, merciful, magnificent…

None of them worked.

Louis struggled for quite some time in front of the door.

”…What the hell is the right answer?”

What the hell were these bastards thinking about me?

Louis, who had been racking his brain, suddenly snorted and reached out.

“No way… Could it be…”

With a doubtful expression, Louis added more characters.

Fearful Dragon

This time, the inscribed text didn’t vanish. That meant he was at least partially correct. However, the door remained closed, indicating the answer wasn’t complete.

”…There’s more?”

Louis, still in disbelief, moved his finger again. The characters formed smoothly without interruption.

Angry and Fearful Dragon

As the sentence was completed, it dissolved into the Iron Door.

And then…

Click… Grind…

The Iron Door moved, revealing the space beyond.

At this, Louis muttered:

“These bastards…”

He now knew exactly what they thought of him.

It seemed he’d need to give them a proper tongue-lashing.

Gritting his teeth, he stepped into the revealed space.

He had solved the problem with great difficulty to open the door, so he entered the secret space full of expectations. But Louis was soon disappointed.

”…Why is there nothing here?”

Compared to the massive Iron Door, the secret space wasn’t very large.

There was only one shelf.

Even that shelf was completely empty.

“What… a hidden camera?”

The words slipped out involuntarily, born of such profound emptiness.

He scanned his surroundings intently afterward, but found nothing more.

It had been a complete waste of time.

I need to explore other areas first.

There were five additional passages leading outside beyond this one.

From now on, he wouldn’t need to inspect each passage individually.

Having roughly grasped their layout, he could simply follow the paths leading outward.

This approach would allow him to map the entire area quickly.

With this resolve, Louis’s figure vanished.

Whoosh!

Twenty minutes later.

Louis had checked three more passages beyond the first one.

Of the three passages, one led outside Syron Castle, while the other two contained iron doors similar to the first one.

The same inscription was engraved on each iron door.

However, the symbols on the doors differed:

The first bore a lily emblem.

The second featured a hammer symbol.

The third displayed wings.

Behind all three iron doors Louis had discovered so far lay identical empty shelves.

Though he’d struck out three times in a row, this repetition had revealed the meaning behind the symbols.

Lily must represent Floria, hammer for Douglas, and wings for Erica.

Therefore, one of the remaining two passages must lead to Victor’s location.

Louis quickly checked the remaining passages. Fortunately, he immediately found an Iron Door with a wolf head engraved on it in the very next corridor.

Bingo!

He skipped the empty space-filling step and went straight through the Iron Door. Unlike the previous three secret spaces, this shelf held a single small box.

Louis immediately recognized what it was.

A pocket dimension box.

The golden writing above it read:

Left for the three friends who will be tormented by the Tower Lord. I’m leaving this bribe to appease his wrath as promised, so use it wisely. I’ll be going first, so good luck.

The handwriting was familiar to Louis.

…Victor.

Louis touched the engraved words with his finger before pulling out items from his pocket dimension box. Soon, many objects began accumulating in the secret space.

First, there were boxes containing gold and jewels. Then various research books that appeared to have been written by Victor over a long period of time. And then…

Click.

A metallic prosthetic leg came into Louis’s hand. The prosthetic, clearly showing signs of use, made it obvious whose it was without needing to think deeply.

Victor’s leg…

And Louis immediately recognized the value of this leg.

“Huh… This brat, he’s quite something, isn’t he?”

Victor’s prosthetic leg. It could be said to be the essence of Victor’s lifelong research.

Moreover, it was over-technology that transcended the framework of the Transcendent Era’s structure.

Louis marveled at the various rituals embedded in Victor’s leg. Among them were concepts he’d never encountered before.

As Louis examined Victor’s prosthetic limb, he became lost in thought.

Three empty rooms… and the message on the box Victor left behind.

Anyone could see this pocket dimension box was Victor’s legacy after his death.

And those three empty secret rooms…

Their meaning was simple.

“The others are still alive.”

They must have made a pact. If any of them died first, they’d leave this legacy as a bribe.

And the first legacy’s main character was none other than Victor.

”…That’s a relief.”

If they were alive, he would eventually be able to meet them again. Though he couldn’t see Victor, Louis smiled at the fact that the other three were still in good shape. He then began sweeping Victor’s Legacy into his pocket dimension.

Seeing the completely empty secret space, Louis stroked his chin.

“Looks like that William bastard is aiming for this place?”

There was a 99.99% chance this was the correct location. As Louis considered this, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

“If that’s the case…”

With a sly smile, Louis sprang into action. He was preparing the perfect trap for the single thief who would someday come to this room.