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Eren, who had faith in the Saintess’ Church, puffed out her cheeks in displeasure, and I could only stare at Coppelia’s face, confused and trying to grasp her true intentions. But then, something crossed my mind, and I had to ask.

“In the legends, it has been said that the Evil God in this land was sealed by the Shrine Maiden Clara. Is that not true?”

From Coppelia’s explanation, it seemed the one who performed the sealing wasn’t my mother, Clara, but Saintess Snow herself. I couldn’t help but question this discrepancy with the information I had beforehand.

“Perhaps that story is a distortion of the truth about my master, who gained power beyond that of a human and became immortal. Or maybe the Saintess exaggerated the story to enhance her own reputation…” Coppelia said with a faint look of disdain. “In any case, the one who sealed my master was that false saint, Snow. Lady Clara discovered the seal in this land, learned the truth, and offered to cooperate with another man—Lord Simon, to create inversion rituals and weaken the seal in various locations under the guise of periodic rituals.”

So, the original seal was placed by the Saintess, but my mother and a collaborator named Simon entered the picture and made it seem like they were the ones who put the seal in place, while in reality, they were working to destroy it. I could almost hear the sound of my illusions about my mother shattering.

“But wait, you were badmouthing the Saintess so much earlier. You must have some solid evidence for that, right!?”

Before I could even respond, Eren, already outraged by Coppelia’s claims, lashed out. She was clearly furious, calling Coppelia ‘you’ now without the usual politeness.

Coppelia, however, remained composed—almost amused by Eren’s reaction, as if watching an ignorant child, and she calmly spread her arms and pointed to the ceiling.

“Of course I have proof. This laboratory is sealed with a Dungeon constructed right above it to steer humans away from it. There’s even a Nue, a creature capable of leveling an entire nation overnight, placed here to safeguard it. Someone capable of such outrageous actions could hardly be called a Saintess.”
“Ugh… but that’s not enough proof that the Saintess herself created this place…”
“Then, you’ll just have to see the seal binding my master for yourself. It might not be obvious to an amateur, but Lady Clara, you should be able to tell from the quality of the magic.”

Eren looked at me, her face full of doubt. “Lady Jill…”

“Understood… At this point, we might as well see it through to the end.” Although I’d prefer to go home and sort out all this information. After coming this far, I couldn’t turn back now. “Besides, we don’t even know how to get back.”

Naturally, the one who responded to my muttering was Coppelia, who currently manages this laboratory.

“Huh? Did you come here without knowing? This place is at the bottom of Lake Quartz.”
““WHAAAT!?!””
“It used to be on a plain far from any town, but that rotten Saintess sank the entire building into the ground and turned the area into a lake. Well, I don’t know if it’s for maintenance or monitoring, but she seems to leave a passage connected from a small island on the lake. Around the time of the full moon, when the tide is high, it’s relatively easy to enter and exit, so sometimes adventurers wander in.”

Her words made me instinctively glance around.

“So, beyond these walls is the lake?”
“Exactly. I thought for sure you arrived here by boat.”
“We were forcibly transferred from the St. Campbell Church…”

Coppelia tilted her head, unfamiliar with the name of the church.

“I don’t know where that is, but Lady Clara mentioned that she once found abandoned teleportation circles meant for transferring here in several locations. Maybe one of those malfunctioned and brought you here this time?”

Coppelia laughed, “to think you would accidentally step on one after everything you’ve said about how scary old and abandoned Teleporters are, Lady Clara sure can be klutzy.”

This is no laughing matter to me.

“So, that means we can’t leave here through teleportation?”
“Of course not. If it were that easy to leave, the seal would be meaningless.”
“So, we have no choice but to walk out from this lowest level?”
“Exactly. Plus, I think the high tide period has already passed, so the earliest you can leave is tomorrow morning. If you miss that, you’ll have to wait another month.”

She says this casually, but I can only imagine how worried the academy staff, Luke, and everyone must be, realizing we’ve disappeared… I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Are you alright, Lady Jill?”
“Yes, I’m fine, Eren. Regardless, we have time until tomorrow morning, so let’s make sure we fully understand the situation.”

This concerns me—rather, my birth mother, Clara, so I can’t afford to deal with this half-heartedly.

Be that as it may…

If I had known that we were surrounded by water, I would have talked to the undines instead of the gnomes! That way, I could have understood the situation more easily and asked them to guide us to the closest point to the water’s surface!

Thinking that, I reflect on my own lack of foresight.

Author’s Note:

Regarding Coppelia’s comment:

Saintess Snow: “Well, she isn’t exactly wrong, but I did my heal-and-walk journey mainly to waste time, so it’s not like I had any particular motive behind it. Professor Victor? Who’s that?”

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