Rest had ended up getting lectured over the Sabnock incident, but... while coaxing Primula along, he made his way through the museum following the planned route.
"We'll be at the exit soon..."
Primula, who had been explaining the exhibits, furrowed her brows with a look of disappointment.
This trip had made it abundantly clear that Primula was a total geek when it came to magic items.
Her face had been beaming the entire time they were viewing the displays, but now that the end was in sight, she looked visibly deflated.
"Ah, that was fun."
"Yes, it was a lot of fun."
"If there's another event like this, let's come together again."
"Yes...!"
When he suggested the next visit, Primula's cloudy expression brightened up considerably.
Good — Rest let out a sigh of relief.
"Well then, we still have time, so how about we grab a bite to eat..."
Rest was about to make that proposal when something displayed off in a corner caught his eye.
"That's..."
"What is it?"
"Ah..."
Primula seemed curious too, and she grabbed Rest's hand and walked over toward the exhibit.
Sitting in a corner of the museum was something that resembled a stone monument.
Carved into the stone slab was the grotesque figure of a monstrous creature, along with the name of its creator.
"Could this be... the 'Cursed Sculpture of Austria'!?"
Primula let out a gasp of surprise.
Her eyes were wide open, and her face had gone pale.
"You know about it, Primula?"
"Yes... It's a stone tablet said to have been carved by Austria Zamas, who was hailed as a genius artist. I'd heard the royal family kept it under lock and key as a cursed magic item... but I can't believe something like this is on public display."
"A cursed magic item..."
"Yes. Austria Zamas created countless paintings and sculptures and was one of our nation's most celebrated artists... but in his later years, he was tormented by nightmares and produced nothing but eerie works. This stone tablet is one of them — it's said that anyone who possesses it is driven mad by horrible dreams..."
"Wow..."
Why would something so sinister be put on display?
Shouldn't it be locked away somewhere where no one would ever find it?
"Okay, it's definitely creepy... It looks like the kind of thing that would show up in a nightmare..."
Carved into the stone tablet was a deformed monstrosity.
It resembled both a dragon and a lizard, but either way, its form was grotesque and blasphemous.
Just looking at it was enough to fill you with unease, yet for some reason, you couldn't tear your eyes away... That was the kind of tablet it was.
"Lord Rest, shall we leave...?"
"Y-Yeah..."
Primula tugged at his arm, and only then was he finally able to look away.
Rest linked arms with Primula and turned to leave the area.
"Huh...?"
"Wait...?"
But... what awaited them when they turned around was not the museum.
For some reason, a vast swamp had spread out behind them.
Blanketed in thick layers of algae, the stagnant water was so murky that nothing could be seen beneath the surface.
"What the...? How did we end up here...?"
"R-Rest...?"
Primula clung to him, her face twisted in terror.
Rest pulled her close so as not to alarm her further, and tried to make sense of the situation.
"We were in the museum... Were we teleported with magic?"
Teleportation magic was an extraordinarily advanced technique, usable only by mages of the sage class.
Not even Rest—nor Albert, his adoptive father and chief court mage—could probably pull it off.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Kyaa!"
A deep, rumbling sound reverberated as if rising from the depths of the earth.
Ripples spread across the swamp before them, and before long those ripples swelled into enormous waves.
"Primula! Get back!"
"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The moment Rest shouted, the swamp water burst apart.
Muck-like water sprayed in every direction, and from the murky depths, a colossal monstrosity revealed itself.
"This is...!"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Rest gasped, and Primula screamed.
What had emerged was the very monstrosity that had been carved into the stone tablet from before.
Only the upper half of its body was visible above the swamp, yet it still measured over ten meters in length.
Its entire surface was covered in pale blue scales, and countless reflections of Rest could be seen in its compound, insect-like eyes.
"GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Screeching, the monstrosity wrenched its gaping maw open to its absolute limit and lunged at Rest and Primula.
Rest hastily gathered his mana and met the wicked, blasphemous monstrosity head-on.