Forgotten Juliet

“Haa!”

Among the Black Mane Guild members, a sound of astonishment began to break out.

“I expected a lot from the Marigold’s summoner, but tsk.”

“Ah, just wasted time.”

“Indeed. What can such a woman know?”

Disappointed guild members grumbled and walked away.

However, Juliet didn’t care. That was exactly the reaction she wanted.

Juliet, who patted her shoulder satisfactorily and looked back, felt slightly upset.

Eshel was looking at her with a grin.

“…That’s quite an impressive ability.”

Even at his mocking words, Juliet remained unfazed.

When she looked to the side, Magda was looking after the children.

“Magda.”

Magda was protecting her daughter Deyna and the village children. Perhaps because Deyna had seen Juliet’s butterfly a while ago, she spoke proudly.

“My mom is a sculptor!”

“So?”

Juliet responded without any particular emotion, but Eshelrid showed interest.

“A sculptor? From Canabel?”

“No, she originally went to art school in Carcassonne. She hasn’t been in Canabel for long. Canabel’s marble is very famous.”

Juliet, feeling curious, asked.

“Do you still work on sculptures these days?”

“Yes, but it’s still incomplete.”

“What kind of sculpture?”

“It’s a statue of the Sorrowful Saintess…”

“The Sorrowful Saintess?”

Juliet, who had no interest in theology, thought, ‘I see’, but surprisingly it was Eshelrid who perked up.

“Are you sculpting it for this year’s breeding festival?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Is that a big deal?”

“A big deal? It’s huge! It’s an honor given only to thirteen sculptors across the continent!”

“Well, it’s not that great. More than anything, it’s still incomplete.”

Magda blushed, seeming embarrassed. When Eshel looked at her as if she said something strange, Juliet glanced at him.

There could be a lack of interest in religion, why is he being so peculiar?

“Eshel, you’re a magician, right? Do magicians also believe in religion?”

“Why can’t we?”

“Weren’t the Mage Tower and the temple on bad terms?”

Eshel shrugged his shoulders instead of answering. Magda sighed and said.

“I might end up with a Faceless Saintess. I’m not sure what face to depict.”

In essence, that was the story.

She had to sculpt the most beautiful face in the world, but people’s standards of beauty are all slightly different. Especially since the client is the temple, it’s very difficult to satisfy that strict aesthetic standard.

“Actually, it’s much easier to sculpt a real person.”

“You don’t have to draw a sketch separately, right?”

“Yes. And if you carve it a little more handsome than the original, you always get a hefty bonus.”

Magda said that with a smile.

Deyna also seemed to relax, and laughed.

“Hey, look. Doesn’t that look like a door?”

Just then, one of the Black Mane Guild members who was slowly getting hungry made a strange remark.

Juliet and Eshelrid also saw what they were pointing at.

Indeed, the color of one side of the cliff looked a bit different.

“Does it look like a door?”

“I’m not sure. But even if it looks like a door, what would change…?”

“That’s true.”

However, the thoughts of the Black Mane Guild members seemed to be different.

They had found hope after three days, and they were all excited.

“This is it!”

“If we break through here, we’ll be able to get out!”

Filled with hope, the Black Mane Guild members shouted.

“Dig quickly!”

Well.

Juliet was a bit skeptical.

The structure of the habitat was the same as the old story. Usually, the more you go inside, the more precious treasures appear, and stronger monsters live.

That means this place was exposed due to the collapse of the ground, but it’s an old habitat.

If they’re lucky, they may find a passage to the ground, but if not…

On top of that, their crude tools were also shoddy.

What if they dig more and the cliff collapses?

But she didn’t have the strength to stop them either.

‘They’ll give up anyway..’

Juliet decided to ignore it because she was bothered.

She didn’t even know how much time had passed.

Juliet stared blankly up, but her sense of time had been vague for a long time since falling down the cliff. Juliet thought it had been about a day since she fell here.

‘The sun hasn’t set yet…’

In fact, it was a narrow cliff where light didn’t penetrate well, and it was also in the mountains, so it was difficult to even recognize the sunrise and sunset.

“Um.”

“Yes.”

“That’s magic.”

Eshel looked up following Juliet.

They hadn’t eaten anything on the second day, so they had no energy to fight anymore. The last thing they ate was cold milk with honey. It was quite a luxurious meal for the last meal.

“That’s it. That’s the barrier.”

Eshel understood what she meant.

If they could break that, they might be able to get out.

At least they could shout for help.

But how?

It was impossible to climb up there, but even if they could touch that ceiling, breaking the barrier was a separate problem.

‘It doesn’t seem like it will break if we knock.’

Of course, magic is weak to physical force, so if they apply a huge shock, they could break it.

As if thinking the same thing, Eshelrid opened his mouth.

“If we use that butterflies-“

“We can’t do that.”

Juliet said firmly.

Disappointed by her words, Eshel looked a bit downcast.

“I see.”

“You’re a magician, Eshel. Don’t you have something you can do?”

At that, Eshel looked flabbergasted.

“Do you think magicians are omnipotent? We need something to cast a spell.”

Eshel glanced at the guild members, then whispered quietly.

“…It’s not easy here.”

He didn’t explain in detail, but Juliet understood the hidden meaning of his words.

It meant that if they tried to get out here and the guild members turned against them, it would be difficult to kill them.

Right now, they were too scared of the titles of Marigold Guild and magician Eshelid to dare attack them…

Juliet quietly counted the guild members.

They were still working hard to break the cliff wall with their pickaxes.

“We can’t dig any more…”

“Let’s take turns, take turns!”

Twelve in total.

On the other hand, this side had a magician with limited power, one spirit summoner.

The rest were five children and Magda. Frankly, it would be a relief if Magda and the kids weren’t taken hostage. As Juliet was lost in thought, Eshel casually interjected.

“It would have been nice if Teo were here.”

At his words, which seemed to read her thoughts, Juliet glanced at him and frowned slightly.

Eshel, unconcerned, explained with a smile.

“He’s actually pretty good with a sword. Hard to believe, right?”

“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t seen him.”

As they were having this conversation, there was suddenly a loud noise from behind.

Clang!

The startled pair instinctively turned around.

“We’ve broken through!”

The Black Mane Guild members were rejoicing. They were right.

There was a crack in one side of the cliff.

But Juliet frowned, stood up from her seat. She had a bad feeling.

‘Did a pickaxe break through that hard rock wall?’

“Just a little more…”

It was then.

Rumble.

“Did anyone else just feel that?”

The ground began to shake.

“Oh no…”

Juliet regretted letting those unauthorized guild members carry out their foolish actions for the sake of convenience.

Why can’t bad premonitions be wrong?

In every habitat, there is a monster that is the master of the place. Of course, in such a deep and large habitat, there would be a giant monster.

Boom!

“Aaaah!”

A few guild members near the cliff were thrown back by the strong shock.

“Be careful!”

Eshel jumped towards Magda and the children.

“!”

Not just the cracked wall, but the mossy, soft floor where they had been standing was also shaking.

And then,

Kiaaaa!

Juliet let out a bitter laugh.

The place where they had been standing was on the body of a giant snake monster.”