The mayor led me to the back of the hospital where there was a stairway that descended down. I thought we’d end up in a basement, but instead, there was a strange underground path that seemed to lead away from the village. The mayor didn’t say anything. I remained cautious. There was always the possibility he was leading us into a trap. However, I wasn’t so easy to contain. I had five seasoned warriors as well as my Blue Mage abilities. I had confidence there wasn’t anything this guy could pull that would be able to hurt us. Besides that, I didn’t feel any malice or danger.

Our group reached the end of the hallway, coming into an underground structure. The walls changed from rock to brick hallways, and there seemed to be glow rocks keeping the area lit. There wasn’t any specific thing called a glow rock, but basically, any magical item that could glow for an extended period was called a glow rock. Most people didn’t have my orbs, so they used candles and torches, but richer people found a source of glow rocks.

For a village as small as this, finding glow rocks here would be surprising. Most of the buildings were made of wood and thatch, so the brick already stood out. The corridor let out into a massive room. It appeared to be some kind of reception room, not unlike what you might find in an adventuring guild. The mayor came to an abrupt stop before turning back to us.

“This is as far as I’ll go.” He announced.

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I raised an eyebrow. “You said that you had something to show me.”

“It’s down there.” He pointed to the stairway. “The answers you seek are at the bottom of this place.”

“And I can’t convince you to lead the way?” I hadn’t put Alysia away, and I stroked her intimidatingly as I glared at him.

He turned rigid, his mouth tightening. “This place… is a cursed place. I won’t walk down into those depths.”

He seemed pretty firm. It looked like threatening would only go so far. I sighed and dropped my blade, turning back to the Wolf Pack.

“Stay here and watch him. I’ll continue.”

If Miki really was involved in all of this, then there might be some things I didn’t want the others to see. I decided it was best to continue. Plus, I wanted someone to watch the mayor, as I wasn’t completely trusting of him. The wolf pack leader silently nodded, and I walked past the mayor and continued down the stairway.

“M-master… you should warn me before you touch me like that.” Alysia cried.

“Ah!” I coughed. “S-sorry…”

I had been intimidating the mayor, but apparently, I had ended up stimulating Alysia and making things difficult for her. I repented immediately, allowing her to return to her blessing. I could make her appear nearly instantly, so there was no point in having her out. I had only done it to keep up with the intimidation.

“What does he mean by this place being cursed?” Alysia wondered out loud as we reached the 2nd floor.

“You haven’t noticed?” I asked.

“Hmm? What’s that?”

“The miasma down here is rather thick. This place also looks strange. Too even… too organized.” I explained. “This place was a dungeon?”