Vending Machine - 117 - Location & Confession (Patreon)

Gumihou: So, not much editing thus far (because none is needed~~)

On this chapter, added a touch more ‘yay!’ feeling to Hakkon’s thoughts

A staircase leads down to a secret basement behind a hidden door. The little boy in me found the whole thing super exciting!

An actual secret base! I had always admired things like hidden doors and secret passages. While the Whimsical Fools’ naming sense is questionable, their secret base made up for everything! That is what I think so anyway.

“Oh, you've embedded magical tools in the door. Does it react based on how you knock on it, or is it something that only allows certain people to open and close it?”

“I think it’s a bit of both. If a stranger knocks on it, even with the proper sequence, it won’t open.”

Hyurumi was admiring the entrance as Shui easily answered her questions. Hey, isn’t this kind of thing supposed to be a secret?

When I peered through the opening, there was nothing much to see. Just a set of stairs that curved down into the darkness.

“Right everyone, let's go.”

Shui entered first, followed by Mishael, Ramis, Hyurumi and Hevoy.

Along the way, Shui fiddled with something along the wall and the stairs lit up. The light source appears to be something like a fluorescent lamp attached to the ceiling. Another type of magical tool?

Also, the stairs appear to be going down in a curve. Kind of like a spiral? It was difficult to tell how far it went, but we eventually stopped in front of an iron door with a palm-sized crystal embedded in it, and Shui placed her hand on the crystal.

I had seen this mechanism at Suori’s mansion before. Is this some kind of standard door security magical tool in this world?

Well, it looked like she just pushed at the door and it opened up slowly under her hand. Anyway, once the door was opened we all entered in an orderly manner.

The room was dominated by a large long table, surrounded by comfortable looking chairs. There was also a large fireplace against one wall, giving the room the feeling of a grand hall.

At the head of the seat was Keyroil, Leader of Whimsical Fools. Seated to the left and right of him were Vice-leader Felmina and the Red & White twins.

“Ou, sit wherever you like. Sorry Hakkon, but could you provide us with drinks? Whatever you have is bound to be better than our stock of tea.”

“Welcome”

Since everyone here are my regulars, I know their preferences well. I am very happy to serve everyone as a vending machine.

Once Ramis had finished delivering everyone’s drinks, she sat down next to me with Hyurumi on my other side.

It looked like Mishael wanted to sit next to me too, if the envious looks were anything to go by. Well, you should interact with other people a little more.

“Right, now that everyone’s seated. Welcome to the Whimsical Fools’ hideout. There’s nothing much here, but do sit down and relax. We are here to talk about our main goal.”

I see, so it looks like we’ll be hearing the Leader's wish. I’m interested now, so let’s listen carefully.

“First, let’s recap a few things. You know that once you have conquered a dungeon, you will be granted coins by defeating the floor boss? And that the number of wishes you could obtain depends on the number of coins you received?”

Since this is one of the key points, everyone nodded once to acknowledge this truth.

“Those who conquered the lowest level I shall grant you one wish. So long as you offer me proof that you have defeated the powerful protector of the floor… I think those were the words?”

Hevoy recited the words out loud and Leader Keyroil nodded.

“Ou, that’s exactly it. Though it may sound suspicious, dungeons exist all over the place. In fact, there are parties that made it all the way to the lowest level and, according to the rumours, their wishes were granted.”

Dungeons scattered all over the place? I wonder if they have the same system as this one. It felt kind of concerning.

“However, there is no solid evidence that they actually reached the lowest level.”

“Hevoy is pretty well informed. Then, you should know about the dungeon at the Southwestern country, right?”

“The one that suddenly disappeared about ten years ago?”

“That's the one. It disappeared because they reached the lowest level and had their wish granted. I heard this information directly from one of the party members who participated in the raid.”

If a dungeon disappears once a wish is granted, then…

“Eh? Are you saying that if someone reaches the lowest level and has their wishes granted, the dungeon will disappear? The Clearflow Lake level too?!”

Ramis stood up suddenly, the chair behind her crashing away when she realised the enormity of the information.

Although they did not show such a strong reaction, Hyurumi and Mishael also looked surprised.

If the dungeon were to disappear, what would happen to the people who do their businesses here? No, if the dungeon were to suddenly disappear, what would happen to the people inside?”

“Leader, what happened to the people inside the dungeon when it disappeared?”

Hyurumi raised this critical question with a sharp look in her eyes. She was seated deep in the chair, arms folded.

Since most of us, including myself, also wished to know, we immediately focused our attention on the Leader's mouth.

“It appears they were all forcibly ejected from the dungeon. Don’t worry, nobody disappeared along with the dungeon.”

I was glad to hear that, I don’t want anyone from Clearflow Lake to be caught up in the dungeon conquest business and die just like that. If there was any chance of that happening, I would stop lending my assistance in dungeon conquests.

“Well, that’s a relief at least. Oh, but people’s livelihood would still be troubled if the dungeon disappears, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. However, they should be prepared for that eventuality. The people doing business here are either merchants or hunters who are prepared to risk their lives for money. They can’t complain when the dungeon suddenly disappears on them. Well, I guess as the ones who have our wishes granted, we could give some compensation money to people who were kicked out since we’ll also receive treasures if we manage to conquer the lowest level.”

Most of the people who live in the dungeon have either businesses or are hunters. There are some exceptions like the orphanage, but even the children there are related to hunters who left them. As for the merchants, well, merchants have always been a resilient bunch and would go where there’s money to be made.

On top of that, if the Whimsical Fool’s wishes are granted, Shui’s wish would come true, so there’s no need to worry about the orphanage.

“Money doesn't matter as long as our wishes are granted. When the time comes, let’s empty the party’s savings and use it as compensation.”

For Vice-leader Felmina, who had always been strict about money, to suddenly say this without hesitation showed that the wishes of both Leader and Vice-leader cannot be exchanged with money.

“Well then, I suppose it is time to reveal our wishes now,” said Leader. “Apologies for dodging the topic until now.”

After saying that, Leader stood up and moved towards the fire place set against the wall.

As he ran his hands across the wall while muttering under his breath, a secret entrance was suddenly revealed as a section of the wall slid sideways. So, there’s a hidden entrance here, as well.

“Eh? There's a secret room here?”

Shui appears to be just as surprised as the rest of us. And… are Hevoy’s eyes twitching?

And…? The Red & White twins did not look surprised. Did they know about it already? Hevoy did say these four were the initial party members, so, maybe they were informed earlier?

“Ou, come on over.”

A secret room that was hidden away from its own members. I have high expectations, but was also anxious about what could be inside. Like, like would we see forbidden treasures? A research facility? Would we see suspicious creatures floating inside glass tubes, suspended in mysterious liquids?

While I was occupied with these ridiculous thoughts, I was carried into the secret room by Ramis.

“What the–”

“What is this?”

Ramis had a hand over her mouth and Hyurumi was staring at something with her eyes wide open.

The room was simple and devoid of decorations. There was a single bed with a young boy sleeping in it. He was also suspended inside a giant crystal.

The child was less than ten years old and looked like a [1] well made up corpse. His face was unmoving, but his colour was still good. Somehow, there was an impression about him that made me feel that he was not quite dead.

The boy was wearing crudely made clothes that were basically just holes in a cloth. He had grey hair and a well-structured face. I can’t see his eyes since they were closed, but from a certain angle, it looked like he was sleeping peacefully.

"It’s faint, but I can feel his vitality. He isn’t dead.”

[1] Oh? Looks like I was right. I was just guessing but Mishael could actually feel that the child is not dead?

Leader and Vice-leader stood by the bed and stroked the crystal for a while.

Finally, Leader turned to us and let out a small sigh,“This is a child between myself and Filmina.”

...Hm? Eh? What? What did you say?”

“This is our child.”

Vice-leader Felmina is saying it too. Uhh, I can’t think anymore, so I looked around to check other people’s reaction.

Ramis had frozen in place.

Hyurumi is looking at the boy, then at the Leader, and then back at the boy. She repeated this several times.

Mishael’s expression was more ‘as expected’ than surprised.

Hevoy is… unphased.

The Red and White twins are as usual.

Wait, are Ramis and I the only ones who were surprised? Why isn’t everyone reacting more strongly? Isn’t this the moment where everyone should scream in surprise?!

“EEEEEEEHHHHHH—-!!! Y-you’re married!”

That's exactly it, Ramis. That’s the reaction I was waiting for!

I had thought they were close despite their squabbles, but I never thought they were married and had a child on top of that. Also, that child is sleeping inside a crystal, it’s impossible not to be surprised, right? Right?!

Thanks to Ramis’ screaming, I was able to regain my composure. I am calm now. No matter what other confessions they make, they can’t surprise me anymore.

“Oh, sorry for keeping it on the down low, but it’s been nearly 20 years since our marriage.”

“That's right, dear.”

The way they smile at each other now makes them look like a married couple. They looked good together like this.

“And, the Red and White twins are our children too.”

“What? No way!”

“Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha”

No way! No way! What kind of joke is this?

“Sorry~ White and I are Leader and Vice-leader’s kids~”

“I'm surprised no one noticed, actually~”

The Red & White twins beamed at us with innocent smiles on their faces like a pair of cheeky children who had pulled a successful prank.

“Huh? What? Huh? What?”

Shui’s eyes were spinning violently. Looks like her brain capacity has been exceeded. Ramis was also in a similar state. Hyurumi is pretending to be calm, but I could see the vein on her cheek twitching.

“I see, so that is why Red and White’s presence felt similar to both Leader and Vice-leader,” was Mishael’s calm reply. “It’s a little hard to tell, but it does feel kind of obvious after a while.

“Everyone’s reaction is more or less what we expected, but why isn’t Hevoy more surprised?”

“I was hoping to see you lose your cool~”

[1] The Twins were obviously disappointed by Hevoy’s lukewarm reaction.

“Apologies for not meeting your expectations, but I had a vague feeling about your situation already, so I have been expecting something like this.”

“Really, this guy is really hard to trick…”

He's a pretty reliable person, so long as shoes aren’t involved. He was not at all flustered by the entire situation.

I'll just pretend not to see him stare at the boy’s feet and sigh at the lack of shoes…

“Oh, so... are you two the older brothers?”

“Nah, the eldest is here. We're triplets, you know.”

Ramis froze again for the nth time.

I was too numbed to be properly shocked. Ignoring the fact that the boy’s visibly younger or that the three of them are actually triplets, it’s all so very confusing.

It’s times like this that I’m grateful that vending machines can't express emotions.

[Gumihou: Woah, plot twist!!]

[1] Add detail for clarity