Arc Epilogue – Encounter with the Unknown
When Abel came to, he found himself in a narrow cave.
The Silhouette Base was a secret base within a mountain range, but Abel didn’t think it would even have a network of caves underneath it.
It seemed that somebody had saved him.
When he looked around and squinted his eyes, he saw–
「A hedgehog?」
Was it a Familiar?
A hedgehog was staring back at him.
There were even rations and water in a transparent water bottle placed near him.
「Thank you, friend. Can you speak?」
The hedgehog sadly shook its head.
「But you do understand my words, correct? Then that makes you my benefactor, my friend. Fantastic!」
The hedgehog nodded happily. It was undoubtedly his friend, Abel inwardly affirmed.
It was said that many earlier models of Familiars were unable to speak. Was the hedgehog an earlier model then?
「These rations…… do look edible.」
The rations were something Abel had never seen before, but he was able to consume them without any problems.
Abel then gradually proceeded further and further inside the dark cave under the guidance of the hedgehog.
He had no method of telling the time, so he had no idea just how long he had already spent within the cave network.
He slept and woke up regularly, and the hedgehog would always bring him water and rations.
Abel actually wanted to hug the little guy in gratitude, but its spines looked like they would hurt, so he refrained from doing so in the end.
「Thank you, as always. By the way, just where are you going to take me, little one?」
The hedgehog looked up at Abel’s face and tilted its head to the side.
It started walking ahead again and beckoned for Abel to follow.
「To think I’d be lured in by a hedgehog and not a white rabbit…… Now then, will the Queen of Hearts appear later, or will it be the Jabberwock instead?」
Abel compared himself to Alice being led to Wonderland and continued to follow after his little guide.
Before long, they had reached a large door.
It looked majestic and wouldn’t be out of place in an ancient ruin.
The relief of a beautiful girl was sitting in the center of the door. She was depicted holding a container that was neither a jar or a box. There were three goddesses who wore laurel wreaths on their heads surrounding her.
「There are words carved on it. Greek? Pand-r- Wait! Pandora!?」
What this signified was clear. It was a reference to the legend about a box that contained disasters.
「It’s probably a seal of some sort. In other words, it’s a door that should never be opened. –Let’s go ahead and open it then!」
An excited Abel opened the door without an ounce of hesitation.
「Hope (Elpis) is actually as fleeting as dandelion fluffs. I’m truly looking forward to finding out what exactly is inside this place.」
Abel actually felt excitement at the prospect of finding a possible source of calamity.
「Come to think of it, there was a theory that the Lustful Philotes and Ruinous Ate actually flew out from Pandora’s Box as well. The original creator of the Murder versions was Astraea. And according to mythology, Prometheus was the one who caused the creation of Pandora…… Haha, perhaps I’m overthinking things.」
Abel proceeded inside while muttering uneasily.
「Kyuu–」
The hedgehog cried out.
「I suppose I have no choice but to proceed huh? Uwaaah. Fantastic!」
Abel couldn’t contain his excitement as he explored further.
Eventually, he found something resembling an altar, and there were two metallic laurel hair wreaths placed around it. There seemed to be an empty spot where another wreath was supposed to be.
「Hmm? What’s happening with those hair wreaths?」
The laurel wreaths seemed to have reacted to Abel’s presence. They floated up in the air, shone brightly, and eventually combined. Them seemed to have simply joined together, but the exhausted Abel saw them as something different.
「Oooh…… Is this the divine guidance of panjandrum……?」
「Kyu–?! (It’s not!)」
The little hedgehog’s protests failed to reach Abel.
Abel absentmindedly moved forward.
Before he knew it, the cave transitioned into a completely manmade hallway, but it continued on in a straight line.
Before long, Abel had found himself in another huge underground cavity.
Within it was a very mysterious-looking underground lake.
There was a beautiful woman standing at the center of the lake. However, she appeared quite gigantic compared to a normal human’s height. Perhaps she was simply a projection of some sort.
Her long, fiery strawberry-blonde hair reached all the way to her waist.
Her beautiful pupils were the same color as her hair.
Abel instinctively got down on his knees and offered a prayer.
「This divine form is unmistakably the Goddess of Panjandrums!」
Abel rejoiced as he continued to worship the beautiful figure in front of him.
「No, I’m not.」
The goddess-like projection immediately denied Abel’s words.
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