"Who are you?"
When Osian reacted by standing up, the Plague Doctor Mask raised his hands to indicate that he had no intention of fighting.
"I wish you wouldn't glare at me like that, for I am not your enemy."
"How can I believe that?"
"Because if I were, I would have ambushed you, and I wouldn't have come out in front of you like this."
Orlea hid behind Osian's back, her hands clutching the hem of his coat.
The Plague Doctor's shoulders sagged at the sight.
"Oops. I must have unintentionally scared you, hmmm. How about this, then: I'll give you directions so you can get out of here safely."
"What do you mean?"
"The underground waterways of Tirna are like a maze. It's not just two-dimensional, it's more like a three-dimensional maze, with space extending upward and downward. There are traps, there are cliffs, and there are terrifying monsters that live in the sewers. And if you cross the 'boundary' unintentionally, the people down below get very upset. If I'm your guide, you won't find yourself in that situation.""And who are you to say?"
"Pardon the delay in introducing myself, I am called the Underground Keeper."
"Underground Keeper, that's an unusual name."
Underground Keeper laughed softly at Orlea's comment.
"Haha. You're funny. Of course, it's not my real name. It's just the title of my role."
"......."
Orlea's face flushed red with embarrassment.
"In case you haven't noticed, Tirna's underground is huge. Like I said, there are residents."
"Residents?"
"The Cesspool Society, the Wastewater Treatment Corps, the Scavengers and quite a few others. It has its own society, and it's bigger than you might think. I'm in charge of the underground. I'm the one who spots intruders from the outside and prevents them from becoming a threat, or I'm the one who guides the lost."
As he spoke, he placed one hand on her shoulder, the other behind him, and bowed respectfully.
"It is an honor to meet you, Princess Orlea, and the famous Osian."
"I see you are well acquainted with me."
"The Underground has a keen ear for news. We need to be more sensitive than most to news from above, so it's safe to say we're on top of things."
He gestured to the ground.
"Of course, I'm also aware of the events that are happening up here."
"And you're going to help us knowing that?"
Orlea shot back, her voice tinged with wariness.
It was a natural reaction, as Orlea was in no position to trust anyone right now.
"I understand. Your Royal Highness life is currently in danger. You don't know who to trust around you, except for Mr. Osian, so you have every right to be suspicious of me. But on the other hand, I have no reason to kill you."
"Why?"
"Well, in the first place, Tirna's surface and underground are strictly separated, so whatever happens on the surface doesn't affect the underground, so we're always in a position of strict 'neutrality'."
"But if you're neutral, you don't have to be nice to us."
Orlea's point was sharp.
The Underground Keeper let out a low chuckle in response.
Only, Osian realized that in that moment, his gaze was not on Orlea, but on him.
Whatever had happened to the lenses of the plague doctor's mask, he couldn't see the pupils, but he could feel the gaze.
‘What is it?’
Osian felt a strange sensation from that gaze.
His gaze was not hostile at all, in fact, there was even a hint of fondness.
"Would you do me the honor of letting me show you the way?"
Osian and Orlea exchanged glances.
Orlea looked like she wasn't sure if she could really trust Underground Keeper and Osian hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Lead the way."
The Underground Keeper smiled wryly, as if pleased by the words.
He couldn't show it through his mask, but Osian could feel it.
The Underground Keeper bowed respectfully.
"Thank you for your faith."
Orlea didn't say anything.
She was still suspicious of the Underground Keeper, but since Osian seemed to be okay with it, she decided to go along with it.
Osian and Orlea followed behind Underground Keeper, who led the way.
The underground tunnels were so convoluted that it was hard to tell where they were, but the Underground Keeper moved about as if this was his home.
Every now and then, as they walked, the screams of the people in the distance echoed in their ears.
-Aaaah!
-Aaaahhh!
Orlea shuddered at the eerie, echoing sound.
Osian narrowed his eyes, realizing it was no ordinary scream.
"It's noisy around here. Is it normal here?"
"Haha, no, it's usually pretty quiet down here in the underground. It's just that we seem to have an unusually large number of uninvited guests today."
"Guests. I wonder if they're here to get us."
"That's what happens when you wander into the tunnels uninvited, which is why it's so important to have a guide."
The screams, which seemed to stop soon, lasted for quite a while.
It didn't stop there, as the sounds of gunfire and bombs exploding began to mix.
It was clear that they weren't taking it lying down and were fighting back.
"Don't worry too much. They'll never make it to where we are, that's the kind of place we're in. Oh, and while we're at it, can we talk?"
"Talk about what?"
"About the current situation. They seem to be looking hard for you two up there. What are you going to do about it?"
"The way you put it, I assume you have something good to say?"
"Oh, no. That's a lot of credit for a guy like me."
"You're too modest."
At Osian's point, the Underground Keeper stroked the lower part of his mask with his hand.
"If you want to hear my opinion, I'll try to squeeze a little wisdom out of me somehow."
The Underground Keeper, who had been walking ahead, raised a finger.
"First of all, you need to double-check the current state of affairs. The forces that are currently after Princess Orlea are the Kingdom and the military. The military wants a war to expand its budget, and the kingdom wants to trade with the military for weapons information."
"That's quite a lot to know for an opinion."
"I hear a lot in my position. People worry about being overheard, but they don't consider what's beneath the ground."
Said Ji Underground Keeper, laughing low.
"There are enemies on all sides but it's not all bad for you, my lady, for the military's opinion is not the opinion of Tirna as a whole, and the mayor of the district where the current incident took place is leading the men."
One side is in favor of protecting Orlea and one to kill her.
"Perhaps the other members of the military who have been watching the situation will also make a choice. Having failed to assassinate the princess, they'll want to cut off their own tails. If they join in, the assassins will be quickly suppressed."
So the answer was simple.
All they had to do was buy time until the situation outside was over.
"I'll escort you to a safe house, which has several safe zones in the basement to shelter you from outside attacks."
The underground keeper even offered to provide a safe house.
As Orlea glared at his back with even more wariness, Osian said bluntly.
"You're being too kind to us."
"Yes. I say that with a calculating mind that actually wants to buy favors."
"But it's not honest."
That made the underground keeper pause for a moment, but he continued casually.
"My desire to help you is genuine. There's no trap or anything like that."
"I know."
Osian replied quickly.
It was such an emphatic response that the underground keeper was slightly embarrassed that he'd said it at all, even though he had no reason to suspect it was a trap.
‘It doesn't set off any alarms in the first place.’
Osian trusted his ability to sense danger visually.
‘Just now, as we passed through the tunnels, I noticed that some of them were reddish in color.’
The color was very similar to that of the bullet that had been aimed at Orlea.
In other words, he had developed a kind of intuition that could sense danger and there was nothing red about the underground keeper.
Whether it was something that only showed itself to hostile parties, or whether it was something that could not be detected by hiding one's emotions, was unknown but even if it was a trap, Osian judged that it was 'not dangerous'.
"......Hmmmm. So I think it's better to stay in the safe house until the situation outside is over."
Underground keeper was right.
The enemies would take care of themselves if they stalled, there was no point in risking it.
But
"No."
Osian spoke the words of refusal.
He said it so firmly that the words came as a surprise.
Orlea's eyes widened and she looked up at Osian.
The keeper stopped in his tracks and looked back at Osian.
"Of course, my opinion is merely a consideration but I'd like to ask why."
"Because spending time in a safe house won't solve the underlying cause."
"If the underlying cause is......."
"Let's say she does get out of here safely, where does she go?"
"That's right......."
Underground keeper and Orlea realized what Osian was trying to say.
"She'll go back to the kingdom, and since she's been threatened with assassination, she'll feel trapped inside the palace."
"You mean I'll still be at risk from assassins?"
“Do you think the assassins who failed to kill you would leave you alone just because you returned home?”
Osian was sure they would not.
If anything, they'd try harder to kill her.
"Either that, or she'll stay in Tirna, because the threat of assassination has worn her down mentally and physically."
"That's just stalling for time, too. One day she will recover, and the kingdom will use that as leverage to demand the princess's safety. If not, then......."
"And they'll use that as leverage."
"Yes."
Osian nodded.
"In the end, it's just a band-aid to cover up the problem, so we have to make another choice."
"That certainly puts us in a bit of a bind."
"I have an idea."
At that, Orlea asked.
"By ideas, do you mean you have a plan?"
"Of course. But it's a very dangerous one. It could cost you your life if you do it wrong. Even if you survive, things might not go as well as you think."
Orlea swallowed hard at the mention of losing her life.
Something uncertain, with a high probability of failure, a risky situation that could lead to a futile death.
"The choice is yours. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Osian asked.
After all, she held the key.
For someone fleeing death, to walk the path of death again and for him to ask a young girl to make the decision was a harsh thing to do.
Orlea's eyes trembled.
The near-death experience was still fresh in her mind.
Just thinking about it made her blood run cold and her legs tremble.
"As long as you're with me."
If she’s not alone.
If she had someone by her side.
She will.
Orlea replied.
At that, Ossian smiled softly.
It was a smile that didn't match his cold demeanor, a smile that seemed to blossom around him.
"If it is the princess's wish, as a knight, I am willing."