Tiramii was closest to the door. He sprung at it, but he was too late.

The exit was sealed off by a

thick rock wall. “We’re trapped, mii!”
“What the hell!” Seiya fumed. “We’ve lost our way out!”
“Well, it’s a common trope in horror and adventure movies, ron. Though I hope this is the latter
and not the former...”
“Mm. If it’s a horror movie, we’ll be dropping like flies, fumo.”
“You sound awfully calm about all this,” Seiya noted. “...Hey, Tiramii! Can you get that door
open?!”
Tiramii searched for another hidden switch, but it seemed he couldn’t find one this time.
“Hmm. No can do, mii. It must be a one-way thing.”
“Grrr...” I should have left one of them waiting outside, Seiya thought. Now, they couldn’t call
for help. If they weren’t careful, they would end up just like Dornell’s party.
“Well, it appears we don’t have a choice. Let’s proceed,” Isuzu said, pulling out her usual
musket. Seiya would have liked to ask why it was mounted with a Picatinny rail running a
tactical light parallel to the barrel, but since it was hardly the time for him to comment on his
companions’ personal belongings, he just followed along without a word.
After proceeding for a time through the dark passageway, they came to a large hall: it was
about the size of a school classroom, with a ceiling two stories up.
“A dead end?” Seiya wondered.
“No, look closer. There’s a large door there, fumo.”
He hadn’t noticed it in the dark, but there was indeed a large stone door ahead. It was
decorated with sinister motifs and unfamiliar writing, and at the center was an engraving of a
face reminiscent of an oni or a devil.
“I’ve never seen this style before...” Seiya commented.
“It resembles ruins I’ve seen in the Schubert Empire,” Isuzu replied. “I believe the engraving in
the center is one of their gods.”
The Schubert Empire was one of the magical realms, different from the one that Isuzu and
Moffle called home. Seiya had heard it was the parent entity of Cosmic Studios in Osaka.
“Schubert... I recognize the name, at least,” he said. “Are they evil, or something?” With a name
like that, it was hard not to imagine them as some kind of isekai novel dictatorship.
“Nah, they’re just like anyone. They’ve got an over-the-top design sensibility, but that’s all,
fumo. Their main industries are forestry and farming, and they make a mean maitake
mushroom tempura.”
“...They call themselves an empire, and that’s what they’re best known for?” Seiya objected
incredulously. “They might as well be the Yuzawa Hot Springs.”
“We won’t be able to proceed until we open this door,” Isuzu observed. “There must be a
hidden switch somewhere...”
Isuzu had just taken a few steps forward, when suddenly, laughter began to echo throughout
the hall. It was a muffled, ominous sound that seemed to reverberate upwards from the ground
—a mocking laugh that could chill the blood of anyone who heard it.
“Wh-What the...?!”
“I’m scared, mii! I’m scared, mii!”
“I’m terrified, ron... it’s almost like... almost like an Alien Baltan!”
“Enough,”Seiya said.
Before the terrified group, the fierce eyes of the demonic door flashed with white light. 《I am
the Guardian of the Door!》 the door boomed, its voice rich with gravitas. 《I now address the
adventurers who, foolishly, challenge our labyrinth! Peril awaits you beyond this door! If you
fear not my wrath, nor a catastrophic end... then stand you before these stone coffins!》
Just then, sections of the flagstone began to pull back, and seven stone coffins rose up in front
of the door.
“Frikkin’ sweet, mii! Listen to that rumble!”
“Retractable, eh? That’s stylish presentation, fumo.”
“I want a rig like that, ron.”
“How can you all be so calm about all this?” Seiya demanded.
Each of the coffins had a different symbol engraved on it, representing, from right to left: “Fire,”
“Wind,” “Metal,” “Earth,” “Flowers,” “Water,” and “Lightning.”
《Make these a mirror of yourselves! Follow your hearts to the coffins of your choice, and
receive in turn a weapon that shall slay the monsters ahead!》
The group stood for a moment, taken aback.
“Huh? Hold on... are you saying we each choose a coffin, and we get some kind of weapon from
it, mii?”
“That would be the face-value interpretation...” Seiya said thoughtfully.
“Fire, wind, metal, earth, flowers, water, and lightning... interesting selection, fumo. Don’t
these things usually use the five elements?”
“This is more like Ninja Captor.”
“Another ancient reference...”
《Follow your hearts to the coffins of your choice!》 the door cried again. They got the
impression that he was trying to prod them along, so hesitantly, they each took their place in
front of one of the coffins.
Seiya ended up in front of the central “Earth” coffin, while Isuzu ended up at “Water.”
Moffle took “Lightning” at the far end, while Macaron chose “Metal”... and, despite being the
Fairy of Flowers, Tiramii’s own choice was “Fire.”
That left “Flowers” and “Wind” untaken, but with only five of them present, there were bound
to be two left out.
《Now, take in hand your weapons of destiny!》 the door instructed.
The covers of the coffins slid off with a rumble. Inside of each was a weapon: Moffle’s
“Lightning” produced a stun gun; Macaron’s “Metal” was a metal bat, and Tiramii’s “Fire”
apparently represented Molotov cocktails.
“100,000 volts, eh? Quite a kick, fumo.”
“You can kill a man pretty easily with a metal bat, ron.”
“A Molotov cocktail can take out a whole squad of riot police, mii!”
They all seemed surprisingly pleased with their weapons.
“With all that buildup, I thought we’d be getting magic swords or something... Why do I feel like
you’re about to be arrested for armed unlawful assembly?” Seiya thought out loud. It felt
unsettling, like he was dealing with a crowd of delinquents.
“Fine words from a man holding a shovel, fumo.”
“Because I chose ‘Earth,’ I guess...” Seiya lamented. “Maybe I should have given it a little more
thought.”
“Isuzu-chan! What’s your weapon, mii?”
“Well...” Isuzu, who had chosen “Water,” held up a palm-sized bottle with a scowl. “There
seems to be some kind of fluid inside... there’s a label, too. ‘KY’? Is it some kind of potion,
perhaps?”
“......” The mascots fell into sudden, hushed silence.
“Why did you go quiet?” Isuzu demanded to know. “Do you know what it is?”
“Um, er...”
“I don’t really get it, ron. I don’t know how that could be a weapon...”
“It could be a kind of weapon, depending on how you use it, mii...”
They commented evasively to each other.