Taming The Villainesses

(EP-102.1) Eyes #3

102 – Piercing Eyes #3

Mirna explained as follows.

Back to a time before the Demon King, there was a young and intelligent prince – Solomon.

He had studied abroad in Gracia’s Ark Academy and lived in this very same mansion.

Didn’t that mean this mansion was one of my inheritances? My grandfather, whom I had never known before, owned a villa!

The idea that the Draco Family was occupying ‘our’ property made me agitated for some reason. But regardless of what I thought, Mirna continued.

“It is said that Archmage Solomon built dungeons that could hone his skills. This is one of them.”

As Mirna explained, I felt the giant iron door. It was heavy and solid, and seemed impossible to even budge.

I wasn’t sure if it was to prevent people from going in, or what was inside from getting out.

It could even be both…

“So the Demon King himself created this space? Is this, perhaps, related to his legacy?”

I asked with half expectation and half curiosity.

Maybe the Demon King left some secret magic or something? Like a grandfather handing down his possession to his descendants.

Unfortunately, Mirna shook her head.

“No. When the Draco Family took over the property 30 years ago, we had already searched every nook and cranny. However, there wasn’t any sign of anything present.”

“I see…”

That was a little disappointing.

“Then what’s inside?”

“Huhu-.”

But instead of answering my question, Mirna simply illuminated the door with her torch.

“Why don’t you check it out yourself?”

What was with the secrecy?

“Is it dangerous?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. The Draco Family has thoroughly inspected and controlled all the variables, it’s perfect.”

‘Perfect…’

I wondered if a mortal should be allowed to use such an arrogant word.

Well, I couldn’t keep standing at the entrance, so I asked Mirna to let me in.

“Then please open the door.”

“You can do it yourself.”

“……?”

I thought I misheard for a moment. Was she really telling me to open this huge lump of metal?

Although there were no locking mechanisms on the door, it was as secure as it could be just by itself.

To reiterate its scale, the door was about 10 meters high and 20 meters wide. It was like a fortress gate.

To add salt to injury, it wasn’t even a swing type door, but the kind that needed to be pulled up by pushing from the bottom-up using a pulley or something.

Wouldn’t I need to bring a siege weapon for this?

How could I open this door by myself!?

As a test, I slipped my hand at the bottom of the door and pulled up with all the strength I could muster.

“Heueueup-!”

Of course, all I achieved was feeling the cold metal and the overwhelming weight of the door.

“… How do you open this?”

There should be a special way of opening this, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. So I asked Mirna for a hint.

Mirna chuckled, as if finding my struggle amusing.

“This door is called the Mage’s Door. Also named by Solomon himself as the “Ranking Door”.”

“Ranking Door?”

Instead of answering my question directly, Mirna flashed the torch to the wall on both sides of the door. Wall marks that were previously hidden in the darkness, finally became visible.

Apparently, this was some kind of measuring instrument.

Mark I was from the floor to my shin, at 15 to 30 cm. Mark II was from the shin to knee. And Mark III was from the knee to the thigh.

Then Mirna said.

“Try using magic at the door.”

“Are you telling me to attack it with magic?”

“That’s right. You can use that strange wind magic.”

So I held my tail wand, while keeping a distance of about 2-3 meters from the door, just in case something happened.

I was nervous about what would occur.

After aiming the tip of the tail, I softly chanted.

—Pai-.

I then felt the sensation of mana flowing from the center of my body to my arm, then fingertips, and finally the wand.

─mon-!!!

Paaang-!

With what felt like the recoil of a gun, an invisible bullet of air was shot. Its size and shape was like that of a dodgeball… ball.

However, the power was incomparable. After all, this was powerful enough to shock a defenseless person’s body and even break their bones.

The air bullet soon hit the iron door.

Paaaang-!

It sounded like a ball popping. But such a sound soon got drowned out by the following loud noises.

Gooooooo-.

The iron door, which had not moved an inch until now, began to rise from the bottom-up, creating a space underneath.

The door stopped just slightly above my thigh. Seeing this, my Calm Thinking immediately kicked in.

“Aha. Is this why it’s the Mage’s Door?”

“Yes, it detects magical power and operates in response. Which means, Theo Gospel, yours is somewhere between the 3rd and 4th Rank.”

There was enough space for one person to pass through at a time.

“It wouldn’t suddenly close in on me as I enter, would it?” f𝐫ℯe𝘸𝙚𝑏n𝑜ѵ𝒆l. 𝐜𝚘𝓶

“It won’t, you have 5 minutes, which is plenty.”

‘5 minutes?’

‘That’s more than enough!’

“Now then, let’s go in before it gets too late.”

At Mirna’s urging, I crawled under the door with some discomfort. Mirna followed soon after.

I originally wondered how Mirna would get in, but she just crawled.

I found it funny that such a prideful woman wasi crawling on the floor like a tortoise, but held it back because she’d get angry if I did.

“You dare look down on me, commoner? Turn your head away!”

“I’m sorry.”

Tak, taktak-.

Mirna Draco brushed the dust off her body and then shone her torch around.

“It’s more preserved than I expected. It’s been almost a year since the last time I’ve been here.”

“Is that so?”

Kuuung-.

As the door closed behind me, I slowly scanned the area.

Everywhere I look, it was just hard stone walls, corridors, scattered torches and maze-like structures.

Was this really a dungeon?

Were there any monsters?

━Grrrrr-.

━Groooooan-.

Listening carefully, I could hear noises from a source other than us coming from within the depths. There should be something like a monster of sort living here.

I slightly tensed and gripped the tail wand tighter. Just then, Mirna said.

“Let’s proceed forward. Also, I’m letting you know right now that I’m not going to help you. You’ll have to handle all the problems and obstacles on your own.”