"What the hell is that?" Lucas muttered, his eyes locked on the crimson water below the small boat.
Roya leaned over the wooden edge, peering into the blood-red depths.
A human skull stared back at her.
Roya gasped, recoiling violently. "A-A skeleton?!"
"Look properly," Lucas said, his voice unusually flat. "It's not just one."
Roya forced herself to look again as the boat drifted closer to the shore. Just beneath the surface of the violently red water lay dozens—no, hundreds—of skeletal remains. They were tangled together in the mud, all wearing heavily rusted, decaying metal armor.
"What is wrong with this place?!" Roya screamed, her voice bordering on pure panic. The moment the front of the boat scraped against the pink grass of the bank, she scrambled out, desperate to get as far away from the water as possible.
As she caught her breath, she finally took in the landscape before them. The "garden" stretching out in front of the colossal castle was unlike anything she had ever seen.
Towering walls of thick green hedges, easily twice the height of a grown man, stretched out endlessly. They were densely woven with thick, jagged vines, but completely covered in breathtaking, violently bright red flowers that smelled intoxicatingly sweet.
Standing at the bottom of the small hill, the massive hedge walls completely blocked her line of sight. She could only see the very top spires of the castle looming ominously in the distance.
Lucas finally stepped off the boat, perfectly calm. "Well. Looks like there are a few entrances." He pointed to several gaps in the massive hedge wall. "Let's just go in this middle one here."
"Okay," Roya said nervously, staying close behind his broad back as they stepped into the claustrophobic corridor of greenery.
They walked in silence between the towering walls. The air was thick and sweet, the spiked vines looking sharp enough to tear through armor. After navigating a few twisting turns, the narrow path suddenly opened up into a wide, perfectly circular clearing.
In the dead center of the clearing sat a pristine white marble water fountain. Neatly arranged stone benches and polished wooden swings surrounded it. It looked incredibly surreal, like a quiet, peaceful sanctuary hidden in a nightmare.
"Looks like a great place to relax," Lucas said lazily, stretching his arms.
"There is absolutely nothing relaxing about this," Roya whispered, her eyes darting around the quiet space.
Suddenly, the faint clanking of metal echoed from one of the other hedge corridors.
Lucas's lazy demeanor vanished. "Duck," he ordered sharply.
They both dove behind one of the thick stone benches, keeping their heads down.
"Seems like there are other people here too," Lucas muttered, peering around the edge of the stone.
Heavy, exhausted footsteps and the distinct clatter of armor entered the clearing. Roya held her breath, peeking over the bench.
Five men stumbled into the open space.
They were all wearing shining silver armor, their faces pale and exhausted. The man at the front—clearly the leader—wore a distinctive, polished badge on his chestpiece: a roaring Red Dragon.
They stopped near the fountain, looking completely defeated.
"Aaa! Not again!" one of the younger knights groaned, dropping his helmet onto the grass. "How many times has it been?!"
"Shut up, Sam," the knight next to him snapped.
"What do you mean, shut up?!" Sam fired back, his voice trembling with hysteria. His brown hair was a sweaty mess.
"It's already been two days! Or has it been more?! I don't even know what time it is! The sun is always in the exact same spot, and our pocket clocks have completely stopped working!"
"Quiet down, both of you," a deep, commanding voice echoed.
The leader with the Red Dragon badge stepped forward. His face was scarred, his eyes sharp and dangerous. "There is no point in arguing among ourselves. Besides..." His hand slowly drifted down to the hilt of his sword. "...it looks like we have company."
Sam froze. "Company? You mean there are other people here?"
"Hey. Come out. I know you're hiding behind that bench," the captain barked, his voice echoing in the clearing. "We are knights from Albert, and I am Captain Jigan. If you try anything funny, you are dead."
Lucas let out a heavy, irritated sigh. "Let's see what these idiots have to say."
He stood up casually, dusting off his pants. Roya swallowed hard, forcing her trembling legs to stand up and follow his lead.
The five heavily armed knights immediately tensed, staring at the blue-haired swordsman and the young girl.
Before Captain Jigan could speak, Sam stepped forward, trying to look intimidating. "H-Hey! Who are you two?! My name is Sam! Answer quickly, or else—"
SMACK.
Captain Jigan brutally slapped the back of Sam's head, nearly knocking the young knight to the ground. "You idiot! How many times do I have to teach you not to talk when your Captain is speaking?!"
"I'm sorry, sir! Forgive me, sir!" Sam immediately whimpered, holding his head and bowing frantically.
Roya watched the chaotic display. Her clinical, calculating mind immediately went to work. (Okay, they are on edge, exhausted, and trapped. If I play the innocent, terrified village girl card, I can de-escalate this. I just need to smile, be polite, and—)
"It's none of your business," Lucas spoke up, his voice utterly bored.
The clearing went dead silent.
Roya physically felt her soul detach from her body and float away into the crimson sky. Her face went completely blank, a comical expression of absolute, hollow despair masking her features.
(Why... why the hell did I come with this guy?) she screamed internally.
Captain Jigan's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did you say, brat?"
"Are you deaf, too?" Lucas replied smoothly, crossing his arms. "I said it's none of your business. We don't have to tell you a single thing."
Roya's eye twitched violently. All negotiations were officially dead.
"Let's see how long you can keep running that sharp mouth of yours," Jigan snarled, the metal of his broadsword ringing loudly as he drew it from its scabbard.
Lucas didn't even blink. Slowly, elegantly, his hand drifted to the jeweled hilt of his own sword. The air in the clearing instantly grew heavy with killing intent.
"Wait! Wait! Captain, please, everyone calm down!" Sam shrieked, frantically throwing himself between them with his hands raised.
"We can fight as much as we want after we get out of here! I really don't think it's a good idea for anyone to get injured in a place like this!"
Lucas paused, letting his sword drop back into its sheath with a soft click. "Well, looks like at least one of you dimwits actually has a brain."
Jigan's face turned purple with rage.
He violently swung his broadsword, stopping the razor-sharp edge barely an inch from Sam's neck. Sam froze, trembling in absolute terror.
"This is the last warning I am giving you, Sam," Jigan hissed, his deep voice dripping with venom. "There won't be a next time."
Jigan sheathed his sword aggressively and marched away to the far side of the fountain, his knights trailing nervously behind him.
A hodgepodge, incredibly tense truce settled over the clearing. The exhausted knights collapsed onto the benches on the far side of the fountain, while Lucas and Roya sat on the soft grass on the other side.
After a few minutes, Sam slowly walked over to them, looking over his shoulder nervously to make sure Jigan wasn't watching.
"Hey, guys," Sam whispered awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't mind our Captain. You know how senior knights are under pressure. Anyway... where are you guys from?"
Before Lucas could open his mouth and ruin everything again, Roya stepped forward, her innocent, sweet smile firmly plastered on her face.
"W-We are from Hibi village, sir!" Roya said, her voice shaking just enough to sound authentic. "We just came into the forest to gather some rare herbs, but we ended up getting stuck in this horrible place after chasing a weird red rabbit!"
Sam blinked, his shoulders relaxing. "Oh! Hibi village, right at the edge of the Kira Forest. I know it." He looked at Roya with sympathy, but then his eyes shifted to Lucas. His gaze sharpened slightly.
"But... this gentleman here doesn't seem to be from a farming village. There's no way a commoner could afford armor and a sword of that quality. An adventurer, perhaps?"
Roya held her breath.
"Something like that," Lucas replied lazily, leaning back on his hands.
Sam seemed to accept the answer, letting out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Anyway," Lucas asked, "what information do you actually have on this place?"
"Not much, honestly," Sam admitted, looking back at the massive hedge walls with dread. "We were patrolling deep in the forest and got dragged in here after chasing down a wild red boar.
Once we realized we were trapped, we figured the castle up on the hill is the only place that might have some clues. But this place... it's like a maze.
We have tried countless times, taking every different path, but we always end up coming right back to this exact clearing."
Roya frowned, her mind spinning as she analyzed his words. (A spatial loop? A magical trap designed to keep intruders out of the castle?)
"Let's just rest for now," Lucas declared, abruptly lying flat on his back on the grass and closing his eyes. "We can try to figure it out later."
Sam nodded tiredly. "Yeah. Good idea." He turned and walked back to his squad.
Roya sat beside Lucas, keeping her voice incredibly low. "I think he is telling the truth. What do we do now? If they've been stuck in a loop for two days..."
"No point in worrying about it while you're exhausted," Lucas mumbled, not opening his eyes. "Just rest."
Despite the anxiety gnawing at her stomach, the sheer physical exhaustion of the day finally caught up to Roya. She leaned back against the stone bench and slipped into a deep sleep.
"Hey. You awake?"
Roya blinked, the bright, unchanging afternoon sun temporarily blinding her. She groaned, stretching her stiff arms and yawning widely. "Yeah... I guess."
Lucas was sitting beside her, already fully packed. "Let's get up. No point in sitting here all day."
Roya rubbed her eyes and looked across the fountain. The benches were completely empty.
"Where did the knights go?" she asked, suddenly fully awake.
"They left early while you were asleep," Lucas said smoothly, turning toward a new opening in the massive hedge wall. "Come on."
Roya hoisted her heavy bag onto her shoulder, her mind already racing with theories as she followed him back into the claustrophobic, flower-lined walls of the garden.