Volume 6 Chapter 38 Troublesome Setting, Skim Reading is Fine
"Should we just go in for now?" Randy said as he led the way, followed by the 3 men entering the cave, leaving Julius behind.
While light streamed in from the entrance, the deeper part of the cave was dark and nearly impossible to see.
"Is there nothing here? And also──"
Frowning, Randy was feeling around in the darkness, echoing his own voice.
"Yeah, it's not very deep either."
Luke, also exploring the interior by the sounds of his voice and footsteps, heard Leon chuckle and say, "I can't tell anything at all-ssu."
"Luke, can you light something up?"
Beside Randy, who was scanning the area, Luke lit a small flame at his fingertip and said, "Here you go."
The light from Luke's flame revealed the empty cave interior.
Just as Randy and the others had said, there was a path leading deeper, but it certainly didn't feel like a place called the [Cave of Saint].
Even so, as Randy took a step forward, he tilted his head and said, "Huh?"
"This..."
"There's definitely something."
Just as the two murmured, at the end of the twisted path ahead stood a dead end and a stone gate.
The small gate was just big enough for one person to pass through, but even when Randy peered in, all he saw was the rocky cave wall on the other side.
The 3 of them tried various things like peeking through the gate and looking back from behind...
"I can't figure it out."
"What's the chance that this is the real entrance to the [Cave of Saint]?"
"Is it like, you can enter when the Saintly Lady approaches or something?"
Ultimately, they arrived at the conclusion that this might indeed be the true entrance, so they decided to leave the cave for now and regroup with the female members.
"How was it?"
Liz greeted them with a head tilt, and as Randy recounted what they had found, Catherine nodded in fascination, saying "Oh, really."
"'Oh, really?' You already knew, didn't you?"
Randy raised an eyebrow as if to say it was from a game, and Catherine admitted she knew about the cave itself, but insisted that the entrance was clearly visible right behind Randy.
"Huh? That short cave?"
Catherine sighed, telling Randy, "What are you talking about?"
"I said it's called the [Cave of Saint]. Only saints can enter."
Catherine stepped confidently into the cave, and the entrance shimmered with a marble pattern, swallowing her up.
"Seriously, that's the entrance..."
"Wait, did she really go in alone?"
"Saintly Lady, what are you doing──"
Leon hurried toward the entrance, but it was just a matter of going in and coming back out.
When everyone exchanged bewildered glances, wondering what had happened to Catherine, the entrance sparkled again and she literally tumbled back out.
"Oh, that was close! Scary! I thought I'd never make it back."
Everyone shot her an exasperated look, saying, "Come on, are you serious?"
Catherine must have realized the foolishness of her reckless act under their combined gaze. Blushing with embarrassment, she cleared her throat and stood up.
"Well, as you can see, I, the Saint, can get through."
Catherine struck a triumphant pose for some reason, but Randy was beyond concerned.
Caught off guard by what Catherine had just said and the accompanying phenomena, he couldn't help but look down at his ridiculous outfit.
He stared at his bare legs for a moment, but then thought,
──You guys could totally dress up and come with me.
The words from yesterday echoed in his mind, and he raised his head with a creepy grin.
"Yukie..."
With his fingers cracking as he stretched, Catherine, confused, asked, "What the heck? What kind of face is that?"
"Hey, you knew we wouldn't be able to get in no matter what, and yet you suggested we dress up? What were you thinking?"
With a smile still plastered on his face, Randy's gaze turned cold and threatening.
Catherine panicked and stammered, "Wait, no, that was a joke!" but Randy wouldn't halt.
"Sir Randolph, this isn't good."
"Exactly."
Cecilia and Luke tried to intervene, but Randy merely smiled at them.
"Don't worry. I'm just going to cool her head a bit... with seawater."
Randy's expression twisted into a fierce scowl, and this time Leon intervened with a "No way!" while Julius also tried to calm Randy down.
"The Saintly Lady said it too, but it's only for the Saintly Lady to enter."
"That's right, Randolph. Without her, we can't get what we need."
"Y-yeah, exactly! Just think of my value──"
"Don't worry. We've got the original Saint backing us."
Randy grinned and turned around to see Liz, who was giving a wry smile... or rather, Ellie who was nestled inside her.
"So this fool can indulge in an off-season beach trip without any worries."
At Randy's grin, Catherine flustered, exclaimed, "W-wait──" as she looked at Liz in panic.
"P-please stop! It won't work without you guys. Seriously, I'm going to be forced to go swimming!"
Seeing Catherine on the verge of tears, Liz sighed softly and called out to Randy.
"Randy, Lady Catherine isn't trying to pull one over on you."
Randy turned back at Liz's words, looking puzzled.
After all, they were forcing her to dress up even though they couldn't actually enter.
"Lady Catherine, please tell the truth properly."
Catherine took a deep breath and bowed her head at Liz's exasperated expression.
"It's a lie that only Saints can enter."
Pouting, she continued to explain that women close to Saints could enter the cave.
This might be why she thought dressing up could work...
"Apparently even the dungeon was like, 'Who does that guy think he is?'"
"Really knows how to go too far, doesn't he?"
Randy's cheeks twitched for a moment, but he just sighed and brushed off Catherine's comment.
"Why did you tell such a lie?"
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