A New Stratum
I’ve been continuing my business as usual in the Clearflow Lake stratum, but demand has been going down lately.
Nevertheless, I’m still turning a profit. The eateries are the bulk of my orders, and I sell them ingredients periodically. I still provide contraceptives to Shirley, too, so I’m making enough money.
If I was after more profits, I could move to another stratum and do business there, but it’s nice here, so I wouldn’t mind settling here permanently.
Of course, I can’t move by myself, so any emigration would depend on Lammis.
“Boxxo! Captain Kerioyl says he has a request. Let’s go together.”
As I was lost in thought, Lammis came and spoke to me.
The captain has summoned us, has he? I heard they’ve been doing some investigation, so our next expedition destination may be locked in. If we’re going to be fighting a stratum lord, I’ll need to save up a lot of points. Both for food provisions and Force Field activations. That’s my given duty, after all.
“Oh, great, you’re here. Take a seat.”
Lammis, Hulemy, and I, the invitees to the Menagerie of Fools’s tent, sit down in front of the captain.
I haven’t been in here since Shui brought me here to brag. Inside the large tent are several wooden boxes with reinforced metal frames, and some of the Fools have them open and are rummaging through them. They must keep their personal possessions inside.
“Like I said before. We’ve decided which stratum lord to beat next. We plan to take down the King of Souls in the Dead’s Lament stratum. I’d like the three of you to participate.”
Just the name of the stratum sounds disturbing. It’s got to be the kind of place with all sorts of undead roaming around. And the King of Souls, is it? I imagine a skeleton mage wearing an expensive-looking robe, but I wonder what he’s actually like.
“Dead’s Lament, huh? If I recall, that one’s filled to the brim with gross stuff like corpse fiends and skeleton fiends. Speaking of which…Lammis?”
Hulemy seems to have remembered something, and she peers at Lammis’s downcast face; she hasn’t said a single word. I follow her gaze… Is she trembling?
“Are we…really…g-going there?”
Why is she stammering while she’s talking?
“Yeah, that’s the plan. Is it inconvenient for you, Lammis?”
“Huh?! No, it’s not, not really, but could we maybe…not do that?”
She’s being unusually negative about this. Her voice is quiet. Could Lammis be…bad with horror-type stuff? She’s clearly terrified.
“She’s always hated scary stories,” says Hulemy. “She’s probably just scared.”
“I—I am not! And I’m not a kid anymore, either, so I’ll be fine!”
No matter how you look at it, Lammis is pretending to be tough. I see—so she’s weak to this kind of stuff. It depends on just how horror-esque this stratum is, but it really can be too much for people who are bad at handling that kind of thing.
A long time ago, I had a friend who loved horror stuff. He showed me a lot of movies and made me go visiting haunted houses with him. My bitter experiences have allowed me to build up a bit of a resistance, so I think I’ll be fine.
“Ah, you don’t like scary stuff. The only enemies there are walking corpses and skeletons and maybe some ghosts—that’s all. It’ll be fine; I’m telling you. Hugehog fiends are way more disgusting.”
“Captain, normal people are scared of these things. Not everyone can be as boldly insensitive as you.”
Chided by the vice captain, Filmina, Kerioyl shrugs.
“I only know what I’ve heard,” says Hulemy. “What sort of place is the Dead’s Lament stratum?”
“Well, the sky is covered in thick clouds both day and night, with thunder and lightning flashing all the time; it’s chilly; and there are gravestones everywhere that look like they’re about to crumble apart.”
After hearing Filmina’s explanation, Lammis is now completely spooked, and she hugs me tightly. I can vaguely feel her trembling from our points of contact. She must really be scared.
At this rate, Lammis might not be able to come with us to the Dead’s Lament stratum.
“Lammis, are you seriously that scared?”
“C-C-Captain! N-n-no, n-not at all. O-only little kids would be scared of gh-gh-ghosts.”
“Don’t force it,” says Hulemy. “When you were little, you wouldn’t even be able to go to the bathroom at night if you heard a scary story.”
“Hulemy! You don’t have to tell them about stuff that happened a long time ago!”
She’s obviously embarrassed by it. At this rate, not only will she not be fighting, but she might not even be able to stick with us.
“Well, that’s a problem,” says the captain. “If Lammis can’t go, then we have to think about who will carry Boxxo. We don’t have anyone with her Might here.”
“You’re right,” agrees Filmina. “There is nobody here who can easily carry Mr. Boxxo. However, if Boxxo is unable to come, we will be unable to go on an extended expedition due to food concerns.”
“The King of Souls doesn’t stay in a specific place, so it’ll be a lot of work to find him. We can’t be without Boxxo if we want to settle down and really search.”
The captain and vice captain fold their arms and groan in thought. Even in a world where monsters roam about, ghosts and horror stories are frightening in a different way. I definitely understand not liking it, but without a means of movement, I’ll turn into simple luggage.
“W-wait, everyone. It looks like you’re deciding not to take me, but I’ll be fine, okay? Actually, I’m great with scary things!”
She’s obviously straining herself. She’s different than she usually is, judging by her tone of voice.
Sometimes you can’t say much without actually going there first, but… However I look at it, Lammis doesn’t seem ready to handle this.
“In that case, let’s visit the Dead’s Lament stratum once as a test,” suggests Hulemy. “Captain, there’s a settlement there, too, right?”
“Yeah, there is. It’s not as big as this one, but it’s fine in its own right. The stratum’s pretty popular among people with certain unique hobbies. I think regular people visit quite a bit, too, don’t they, Vice Captain?”
“Well, most just want to see how scary it is. It goes to show there is a demand for it. Ghosts and supernatural phenomena occur on a daily basis there, after all.”
It’s treated as a famous horror locale, then. People who are into that sort of thing must find it irresistible. I imagine bored rich people and youngsters looking for a good time would go there.
“Let’s try out Hulemy’s plan,” says the captain. “First, we’ll spend some time in the settlement and try to get her used to the atmosphere there. If she really doesn’t look like she can do it, we’ll think of something else. Sound good?”
Nobody has any arguments, so we’ll be moving to the Dead’s Lament stratum as a test. I’m worried about Lammis—the blood has completely drained from her face—but we’ll need to know how much it affects her ahead of time. It could be lifesaving.
The Dead’s Lament stratum, which we traveled to by way of the transfer circle, is a place beyond my expectations.
It’s even darker here than on the Origin stratum, and in the distance, I see frequent bolts of lightning and hear cries of thunder. The buildings constructed in the settlement are all moderately old and, for some reason, western styled.
Streetlights are set up at every turn, so walking isn’t an inconvenience. The residents seem to like black and dark blue; their clothing and buildings alike are in the same plain colors.
They clearly all got together and planned this. The only conclusion I can draw is that they’re purposely acting this way in order to up the fear factor.
There seem to be quite a few hunters here as well, and they wear normal hunting gear, like armor and robes.
“Well, I give ’em credit for setting the tone,” remarks Kerioyl. “How are you doing, Lammis?”
“Eek. I-I’m fine. Normal, I guess, really.”
She’s on pins and needles. She’s clearly suspicious of any and every thing around her. We get it, you’re scared, so calm down a little more. The residents here are giving Lammis strange looks as she trembles while carrying a vending machine on her back.
“Let’s go to the inn for now, I suppose…” Captain Kerioyl gives a weary smile. He seems to have given up. To be honest, I don’t think this is going to work, either.
Getting her used to this stratum is our goal, so today, our group is composed of the captain, Lammis, and Hulemy. We’re just going to be spending a few days in the settlement, but I’m not even sure she’ll last until tomorrow.
She jumps whenever anything makes a noise, which is shaking my view around a lot. I wonder if the carbonated drinks inside me are doing all right.
We arrive at the inn we plan on staying at for several days, but even the inn has the same spooky atmosphere.
For a building, it’s not very old, and on the outside, it looks fine. But for some reason, there’s ivy crawling up the walls. Even the light coming from the lantern placed in front of the entryway is just the right amount to set the tone.
It’s two stories tall, but one of the windows on the second-floor corner is boarded up. I wonder why. Wait, I think I saw a woman peeking out of the gaps between the boards… It must be my eyes playing tricks on me. Yeah.
Wouldn’t be strange at all for ghosts to show up in an inn like this. If this were a horror game, it would certainly get passing marks for its outer appearance.
“A-a-a-a-a-are we staying here?”
She’s so flustered she’s turning into an actual chicken. If she’s this scared, I’d love to send her back home, but she seems to want to tough it out.
“Yeah. And you know, if you can’t do this, tell us at any time. We’ll go back to the Clearflow Lake stratum.”
“Wh-wha-wha-what’re you going on about? I’m just peachy, mm-hmm, yes, sirree.”
Oh boy, she’s incoherent. Her accent is running rampant, too.
Hulemy sighs. “Captain, I’m with her, so we’ll be fine. If things get bad, I’ll bring her home right away.”
“R-right. Thanks for that. I’ll come up with some other way to carry around Boxxo.”
I think that would be wise. But humans are adaptable creatures, so there’s still a possibility, however slim, that Lammis might grow resistant to this after a little while here.
I won’t get my hopes up, but I will give my all to protecting her.
Captain Kerioyl, at the front of our group, puts a hand on the entrance door and pushes. It opens with a sharp creak. Even that adds to the horror theme.
Past the door is a hall, but why is it darker inside than it is outside? Adding to that, the interior design is all done in black. It’s easy to see what kind of mood the owner was going for.
There are also portraits hung up high on the wall, which I wouldn’t think an inn needs. They look creepy, how they’re all faintly smiling, but it’s probably just the rest of the place having an effect on me.
It all exudes a spine-chilling atmosphere. Lammis… I understand that you’re afraid, but if you put your arms around me on your back and grab me that strongly—
[1 damage. Durability decreased by 1.]
Your fingers are digging into me, I tell you! Can’t you hear those awful cracking noises?
“Welcome… The Menagerie of Fools, correct? We’ve…been expecting you.”
A woman with black hair appeared in front of us, moving smoothly without a sound. The black dress is something you’d find on a French doll, and it fits her far too well.
Her hair is so long it might stick to the floor, and you can’t see much of her face, since her bangs are grown out, but her lips are so red it’s like she used blood as lipstick. The corners of her mouth are turned up meaningfully into a grin.
“Heeeee…”
Oh, Lammis hit her limit. She completely froze up and then fell straight back.
