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Ch. 7: The Truth of the Map

 

We were able to safely bring down the Dream Eaters that had appeared in the cave.

 

Rosso: "…I thought meetin' OO today had been lucky. But then I end up runnin' into Douglas, and we keep fightin' off Dream

Eaters…what the hell!?"'

 

Orion: "And I wonder how I had the misfortune of getting wrapped up in this with you."

 

Rosso: "Then why did you say you'd come along!?!"

 

Orion: "Ugh, shut up."

 

Rosso: "You bastard…-!"

 

Douglas: "Oh, I can see a light."

 

OO: "! You're right! That must be the way out."

 

I started to see light from the direction Douglas was pointing.

 

Everyone had come to a halt, then all at once hurriedly moved forward.

 

Rosso: "If we get out of the cave, is that where the treasure is?"

 

Douglas: "Who knows?"

 

Rosso: "That's awful vague."

 

Douglas: "What do you expect me to say? I'm just the one holding the map."

 

Orion: "Typically it would be inside the cave…"

 

Douglas: "Hey…if you've got a complaint, tell it to the map."

 

As he spoke, we emerged from the cave and…-

 

Huh, this is…

 

OO: "Is this the opposite side of the island…?"

 

Rosso: "Seems so…hey, Douglas. Where's the treasure? You didn't just have us comin' out of a regular cave did ya?"

 

Douglas: "That's what I'd like to know."

 

Orion: "…"

 

Douglas: "Orion?"

 

Orion said nothing as he snatched the map from Douglas' hands.

 

For a moment, I wondered if Orion was just going to stare at the treasure map but…

 

Orion: "This…is a map to a shelter for the merfolk."

 

Douglas: "Eh?"

 

Rosso: "Haa…?"

 

For a brief moment, everyone froze.

 

So basically they were wrong to think it was a treasure map…?

 

Orion: "At any rate, I don't know how you got your hands on this, but you've been holding onto a terrible fake map."

 

Douglas: "…"

 

Rosso: "Bastard! You tried to trick us!"

 

Douglas: "Haha! Is that so? Well I guess when you look at it logically, that's how it appears to be doesn't it."

 

Not seeming at all dispirited, Douglas gave out a hearty laugh.

 

However…-

 

Rosso: "You wasted my valuable time!"

 

Douglas: "But it was pretty fun wasn't it?"

 

Rosso: "You wanna have a go!?"

 

Douglas: "Yeah, that's exactly what I want."

 

OO: "…!"

 

Once more, the two of them drew their swords and pistols and faced off.

 

Orion: "*sigh*…again?"

 

OO: "Um! This is dangerous, so stop fighting…-"

 

Rosso: "It's dangerous, so you get back OO!"

 

Douglas: "If you think it's so dangerous, why don't you give up Rosso?"

 

Rosso: "What'd you say…?"

 

Orion: "It's impossible to stop them. Just stand back and wait and see."

 

As Orion had said, I moved to step back.

 

OO: "…!"

 

I tripped on a rock and lost my balance.

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