Vol 3 Chapter 31 – Subspace—It’s Not Scary If We All Go Together【Vol 3 – The First Knight Commander is a Dark Elf Half-Succubus Who Hates Men】

Once Yuna-san had calmed down, we entered the temple and began our search.

“That’s right. The Gargoyles are dealt with, so shall I call everyone from the First Knight Order?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Just us should be sufficient.”

“Really?”

Well, I suppose it would be bad to get in the way of their magical beast subjugation. Just as I was accepting this, for some reason Shion was nodding along with a profound look.

“Nice judgment. I am proud as your Senior Disciple.”

“Shion, what does that mean?”

“Naturally, it means that for Yuna-san, having fewer people allows her to monopoli—”

“S-Senior Disciple!? What are you suddenly saying!”

Sandwiching that incomprehensible exchange, we thoroughly investigated the temple, deciphering inscriptions written in ancient runes and magic circles painted across the floor. By the way, I left the deciphering entirely to Shion and Yuna-san; I wasn’t useful for a single thing. I was impressed; as expected, Shion is the princess of a nation with a long history, and Yuna-san is of the Dark Elf lineage that lives through eternal time. I had enough time to rot in subspace, but I couldn’t do any academic study. I didn’t have any materials, after all. And the conclusion they derived was:

“…It seems the center of this magic circle connects to subspace, Master.”

“For what purpose?”

“That is what we don’t understand at all…”

“Hmm.”

Neither of them are experts, so it can’t be helped. In that case, let’s show that I can be at least somewhat useful.

“If that’s the case, I’ll go take a look.”

“”Eeeeh!?””

“I was sealed in subspace until recently, so I’m used to it.”

Rather, it’s no exaggeration to say that subspace is my second home. I don’t know if the subspace connected to this lies is the same as the one I was in, but I’m confident I can manage somehow. I didn’t spend a subjective one hundred trillion years there for nothing. However.

“N-N-N-No! Absolutely not!!”

“But that’s the quickest way, and I’ll understand it in detail, you know? Besides, even if something happens, I can just punch a hole in subspace and escape.”

“In that case, I will go with you! —I will never let you go to subspace alone again, Master! Absolutely!!”

“Eeeeh…”

Shion’s eyes as she declared this were completely unhinged. It’s probably that. Being sealed in subspace along with the evil god has become a trauma for her. It would be impossible for me to persuade Shion now that she’s like this. So, I made eye contact with Yuna-san to have her persuade Shion. Yuna-san nodded deeply, as if she understood perfectly.

“Of course, I shall go too.”

“What are even you saying, Yuna-san!?”

“Subspace—it’s not scary if we go together. That is how it is. Besides, surely you would feel safe if Master is with us?”

“But it is subspace… We do not know what might happen…”

“Exactly. ‘Not knowing what might happen’ is one of the reasons. —Shion, you are helpless against Master in terms of martial prowess, but surely you can assist Master with your archaeological and magical knowledge?”

“Muu.”

When told that, she’s weak. It’s that thing. To put it simply, if an amateur like me were to conduct an excavation survey, I wouldn’t know what was what, and a situation might occur where I throw away the discovery of the century… or something like that. On that point, Shion and Yuna-san have academic knowledge.

“…Got it. Then let’s go with the three of us.”

“Yes, Master!”

“But promise me one thing. If you think it’s dangerous, run from inside the subspace immediately.”

After confirming Shion and Yuna-san’s nods, I patted the magic circle to check it.

“Umm, the center of the magic circle… here? There’s definitely a dimensional hole opening to subspace. Actually, isn’t this hole kind of loose?”

“Does it look like we can go, Master?”

“Well, it’s big enough for a tiger or a bear to enter. Okay, I’m going.”

“Then I shall go next… M-Master!? Please pull me!”

…And so, despite the accident of Shion and Yuna-san’s exceptionally bountiful chests getting stuck in the dimensional hole, we managed to enter subspace.

　＊＊＊＊

Subspace is a mysterious place. The three of us were floating lightly in complete darkness where no light reached. Yet, the three of us could visually recognize each other. I don’t know what principle allowed us to see despite the lack of light, or if we were even truly seeing with our vision in the first place.

“M-Master… This is… subspace…?”

“It is pitch black, yet I can clearly see Master’s figure…? There is nothing underfoot, yet I feel the sensation of the ground…? What on earth does this mean…?”

“Hmm, honestly, I don’t really know either.”

I watched the two of them, bewildered by their first time in subspace, with the smug look of a Master standing in the back with his arms crossed. Without thinking at all about what would happen next.

—Thinking back on it later, there were plenty of hints.

Why did the now-extinct ancient civilization go so far as to draw a massive magic circle in a temple to create an entrance to subspace? Why was that temple located deep within a magical beast habitat? The reason they went so far as to deploy Gargoyles to refuse the entry of outsiders. The meaning behind the looseness of the hole connecting to subspace. And. What we tried to do to the Demon King using subspace a long time ago.

If I thought about it later, it was a very simple story. In short, there was only one reason a temple was built in a place like that.

They had sealed a horde of monsters that could not be dealt with in the real world into subspace.

By the time I finally realized that. We were already long since surrounded by countless monsters—