The EXP from the minor dungeon was enough for Crucis to reach just over three-fourth of the way to level 58. He might manage to reach there by the end of today.

  However, for the moment, DeathGang were resting in the empty area near the dungeon. Crucis drew out the book marked [A Charming Fairy Tale] from his inventory, and began to read, curious about why it dropped from the skeleton boss.

  Crucis wasn't entirely sure about the story's professed moral, as it surely depended on which rabbits and how quickly they died off. However, the author's distress about the matter was touching.

  Getting to his feet, Crucis dusted himself off and walked over to DicingDevil, Starfighter and Akshel, who were skimming through a book named [History of the Temple].

  "Hi," DicingDevil said, "It turns out that there's some kind of story to this dungeon."

  "I can guess," Crucis replied. "Fugitives from Ganféan's Kingdom came here to escape the disease and invasions which destroyed his Kingdom."

  "Yes, actually. How did you know?"

  "Oh, this. As you can tell from the name, it's great literature."

  He presented [A Charming Fairy-Tale], then continued speaking.

  "I found this book. It's about a female like the one in the poem from Ganféan's dungeon, except that this time she was dead all along. The enemies here all had names like [Defender of the Faith] and [Faithful], this seems to suggest that the Kingdom's superstitious magic - which ran on a sort of belief or 'faith' - kept on trying to persist in spite of death, just like the séance promised to revive the Queen's dead children and bring a prosperous future Kingdom as the real one crumbled.

  "This temple seemed like a similar attempt to realise a sort of future for the Kingdom in spite of its demise. The people here were probably devotees of this magic, or reliant on it, since by Jack's account it had spread through the Kingdom and things like the Queen's mask were commonly worn."

  "Alice, like the skeleton?" DicingDevil asked, as he and Starfighter scanned the book. "Or Alice in Wonderland, I guess. Or Alice in Chains."

  "All of those, in some way," Crucis laughed. "It seems to explain why the skeleton named 'Alice' was seemingly masculine and bulky, despite the name. She merges with the Prince, then takes some sort of drug that makes her muscular but feels like someone else is controlling her body. This Alice resembles what we know of the Queen, and is even shown marrying a Prince, though she seems to almost lose her sense of identity in the process. It seems to be about the court, and how the Queen's 'dreams' continue to distort the world after the Kingdom's death."

  "Yes," Starfighter said. "There are many stories like this told in the upper villages, a lot of them are based on the area's history. I think that the word 'dream' here isn't exactly the same as in English, which is why she can be commanded to dream easily. In the native language, there's a word - 'bidanbalet' - which is translated as 'dream,' but typically means something like 'dream-like trance,' or 'engrossing daydream.' It basically means that a person goes slightly faint while caught up in the appeal of daydreaming."

  "So with the mask on, she gets caught up in a daydream? But she was dead the whole time, so it was a bit like a dream in the 'sleep of death.'" Crucis said.

  "Yes. The word 'bidanbalet' is sometimes also used to suggest the foiled ambitions and hopes of dead people. There was a text named 'Gilgeh,' where a hero is shocked by visiting his friend's grave and contemplating the friend's 'bidanbalet.' However, he calms down and resolves that, 'Ambition is never sated in life, it only lends a pained air to the grave.' He begins to take on humbler tasks, assisting local peasants with everyday problems rather than joining the King's wars."

  "Do you know the native language well?"

  "I am somewhat familiar with it, I had to read some of it to figure out the maps, books and guides in the Northern forest villages, and the people there spoke in it occasionally."

  "I see. Would you mind looking through some extracts of text that Grisier copied, which are in the native language? We also have a letter from the court," DicingDevil said.

  DicingDevil ushered Grisier over, and presented Starfighter with Jack's letter. Starfighter calmly accepted, and began looking carefully over the letter.