Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 188 (Part 2):

Crack! Again, a sound of the earth splitting was heard.

The place where the four metals had been now glowed a deeper red.

The light became bright enough to obscure the view. Something slowly rose from the spot where the numbers had been swallowed by a whirl.

Like a lump on the head of the cliff. A large door, much bigger than Helmut, finally revealed itself.

A secret door, marked with all manner of ancient symbols, appeared mystical, like an entrance to another world.

‘This phenomenon is…’

Helmut stared intently at the door. It resembled the way to the residence of Archmage Antiol.

From now on, the place they were heading to was a space distinct from the outside world, where Alea had needed Helmut.

“Let’s go in.”

Now that it was alright to speak, Alea, standing by the door, initiated the conversation. The distance between the two narrowed.

Alea placed her hand, infused with magic, on the circular metal plate in the middle of the door.

A faint red light engraved Alea’s magic. As a challenger of the dungeon, and one who encounters this opportunity only once a year.

Clunk! The entrance to the dungeon began to open. Alea stepped in without hesitation, with Helmut closely following.

After they entered, the door automatically closed behind them, sealing off the space from the outside.

Now, the dungeon would not accept any more people.

Inside was a long corridor. It felt like walking through the hallway of an old, buried relic.

There was an end to the long corridor, with a giant door at its end. Helmut read the inscription on the door.

“Whoever answers all questions, will reach the end of the path.”

Below that, a number appeared. It was 360:00. As soon as they opened the first door and entered, the time would begin to decrease.

“6 hours… that’s it.”

And below that, in smaller letters, another inscription was written. Helmut cocked his head.

“One puzzle, three opportunities. The end is not written.”

“Right. We can’t know how far the end is. Each room gives only three chances. If you get it wrong more than three times, you can’t proceed further. I haven’t gotten a question wrong yet… but I gave up and walked out the way I came in, fearing the distortion of teleportation magic.”

The harsh mages wanted to eliminate intruders into the dungeon.

The purpose of establishing the dungeon was different, but giving three chances and allowing escape on foot even after failure was a great mercy from Lampione’s perspective.

After all, to conquer the dungeon, mistakes must be minimized.

“Let’s go straight.”

They entered the first room. As the door closed behind them, a question appeared on the wall in glowing letters.

Below the question, four protruding metal plates were positioned.

It was an incredibly complex mathematical problem.

Helmut knew basic math, but this seemed beyond academy level. The problem was frustrating enough to make one want to break the wall.

Calmly, Alea pulled out a pen and paper from her robe.

“It’s not your turn yet. The question is similar to the previous ones… but not the same.”

It took Alea just a minute to solve the problem.

“238… 0238.”

Having nothing else to do, Helmut turned the metal plate to match the answer.

Five seconds later, one side of the wall slid open. It was the door to the next room.

They continued to advance. The problems in the rooms were not limited to mathematical questions.

Riddles and nonsensical quizzes that threw multiple clues and required combining them to find answers were plentiful.

Alea took care of the math questions, but in other cases, Helmut could also try solving them alongside her.

In one room, an array of numbers appeared on the wall.

[2 5 17

3 13 131

7 51 ????

9 83 6851

… … …]

“So, we need to find the number that fits the question mark?”

“Yes, there’s a pattern. What do you think the answer is? I’ll give you three minutes.”

Apparently, they had solved the previous questions easily enough to have time to spare. This seemed like an encouragement to try solving it.

Staring intently at the numbers, Helmut eventually said,

“2569, maybe?”

“You got it right. Well done.”

Alea said, looking at Helmut with what seemed like approval.

It was unclear whether she had been ignoring him before or acknowledging him now.

Helmut turned the metal plate to the correct answer. The door to the next room silently opened.

In the next room, a sentence was written in purple letters on the wall. Alea read it aloud.

“I am where the wind catches. I do not fall under lightning but sometimes crumble under the stream of water. I am sometimes dirtied but also beautiful, and when I stay on the ground for a long time, people gain what they desire.”

Alea murmured,

“Touches the ground? But catches the wind? To catch the wind, it must be protruding.”

Helmut immediately blurted out,

“…a hill?”

Alea raised her eyebrows.

“Why would it be a hill?”

“I thought of a butt… behind.”

Alea’s expression subtly changed.

“A butt as a hill… I see. A buttock is sometimes metaphorically referred to as a hillock. That makes sense.”

Helmut wasn’t aware of such a metaphor, but he instinctively realized it. Alea then quickly read the next sentence, written in yellow.

“I am countless yet twinkle like a candle. If my light were meager, it would not have caught your eye. Everyone harbors one of me in their hearts.”

This time, Alea found the answer immediately.

“Is this… a star? There are two more below.”

Alea quickly read the next sentence, written in green.

“A crown rests upon my head, and I often look down upon others from above. Luck and wealth accompany me, and I am always a welcomed presence. People praise my beautiful eyes and slender body. I am strong but sometimes fall, bleeding onto the metal.”

“A crown. It sounds too simple to just say a king. Besides, isn’t the answer supposed to be a number?”

Helmut pointed out the four metal plates. If the answer had been a word, these wouldn’t have been present. A board to write the answer on would have been provided instead.

“Four sentences, so this must mean four numbers. What do you think the answer is?”

At Alea’s question, Helmut pondered. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him.

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