"I couldn't protect them! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! Please forgive me!"
Tarran's cry echoed as he kneeled in front of the pedestals showcasing Maddock's and Luan's belongings.
Maddock had the picture of his wife and daughter. The 2-star looked like a typical pale-skinned man from Tsatu Empire.
But his wife and daughter had darker skin closer to Tarran's tone. Their dresses were also native to the people of the Tsahanam Sultanate in the Great Desert.
While Luan had an opal necklace. A family heirloom passed down to the eldest daughter ever since her great-great-grandmother, whom once was the youngest daughter of a minor baron whose house had fallen many years ago.
It was common occurrence for a noble house to collapse into nonexistence either by tragic accident or through political wars.
Since the two 2-stars had fallen in the trial, their most precious belongings were now displayed on few of the dozens of pedestals arrayed inside the large hall called the checkroom.
Burning incense and torches made the whole place seemed like a mausoleum.
It was indeed a mausoleum in a way. A place to remind us of the fallen heroes.
So far it was only the belongings of those who fell in the Quintal Trial that occupied the checkroom pedestals.
Right beside Maddock's and Luan's were two pedestals laid with the belongings of the heroes who fell on the fifth floor, our first Quintal Trial. Gerson's and Cecily's.
Gerson had a bracelet made of pearls, gold, diamond and other colorful gemstones he claimed was crafted by the mythical Tsamudran people.
He said the accessory was a family heirloom passed down from his grandfather who used to be a sailor for a notorious pirate ship.
Though I never told him, I inclined to believe the story to be true. Since I recognized the bracelet's patterns from a book I read once of the Tsamudra Empire.
On the other hand, Cecily's was a scarf which was said to be made of a werewolf's fur. She said her great-grandfather managed to kill one and stripped its hide to make the scarf.
I did not entirely believe this one since I had heard rumors of a single lycanthrope decimating an entire army battalion of the Farista Household, which was renowned for their military might.
Nonetheless, the two of my fallen comrades knew how special their belongings were that they never brought them to the trial. Which was why those were now displayed in the checkroom instead of vanishing in the trial upon their deaths.
Zecht and Norn were still comforting Tarran whom was still sobbing in front of his comrades' graves.
The two 3-stars were also struck pretty hard by the deaths of Maddock and Luan. But they managed to conceal their grief inside.
Party 2 members were quite close with one another. They worked well together and had spent a lot of time uniting themselves as a team.
Losing two of their number made the rest felt as if they lost part of themselves. Certainly Tarran was feeling that way.
I was not certain how I would react if someone in Party 1 died on the tenth floor.
Darius, Trudy, Shanny, or Jonah.
Even before coming here I was used to the wrenching sufferings of losing comrades in battle. Especially after I lost my family.
But it was certainly not an experience I would be eager to undergo again.
While Party 1 survived the tenth floor and Party 2 suffered some losses, Party 3 did not even make it at all.
I turned my gaze to the pedestals displaying the belongings of Party 3 members.
Jyrgil's was a long dark crimson rag which could serve as either a headband or an armband. There was a symbol of an axe crossed by a lightning bolt painted on it.
Just as I thought, Jyrgil was a member of the Guntur warriors which hailed from the Ptir Archipelago north of Dunia.
The axe-lightning symbol was the insignia stamped on the banners of Guntur invaders hundreds of years ago.
Yuriana Bromstead and her allies of the Kutub Tribes worked together to fight them off the continent.
Fool man.
Had Jyrgil stuck with the plan, some members of Party 3 would probably survive the tenth floor despite what happened.
What a way to shift the blame.
Most of them would definitely returned if we never investigated the temple.
I turned my gaze to the others.
Tamo's was a chip of a bird's claw the size of a thumb. He found it when he was a boy and believed it to be a claw of the fabled Garuda folk.
It was not true, of course.
A Garuda folk's talon was at least twice as long as what Tamo's used to be and could claw through steel as if it was butter. It would never get chipped like Tamo's.
The shape was all wrong too based on the description I remembered from an air fleet officer in the imperial army.
Anyway, he purported the claw as an amulet. Why he did not bring it with him to the trial I did not know.
Kori's was a silk handkerchief embroidered with floral patterns iconic to the far east designs. It was passed down from her deceased mother, which previously passed down from her grandmother.
She said a wandering warrior from one of Tchakra's provinces found her grandmother to be so beautiful he gifted his most precious silk to her.
I believed the act was the equivalent of proposing in the Land of the Golden Dawn.
Rhyss's was a collar ornament of a silver serpent. It was given only to the knights who served as the imperial guard which protects the imperial family.
He said his great-great-great grandfather was one and that either he, or his son, or his grandson, or his great grandson, or great-great grandson, or great-great-great grandson will return to the station once more.
Finally, Ashta's was a ring with a deep crimson gemstone. She said her grandfather once helped a wounded dwarf warrior.
The dwarf then gifted the ring to the grandfather as a form of gratitude. The ring had become a family heirloom ever since.
Another story I believed since I recognized the craftsmanship from my own collection of dwarven products back home.
Since nobody of their own party was left to mourn the dead, Party 1 decided to offer ourselves to do the mourning.
"Such a loss. They could become a great party given enough time."
Trudy said while looking at Party 3's belongings on display.
"We almost failed the trial. If Lady Ashta did not kill that goblin before it reaches the statue, we all would probably be dead right now."
Darius said, recounting the end of the tenth floor trial.
"Each of them contributed to the success of the mission. We shall honor their sacrifices. Even Jyrgil, I suppose."
Jonah said with high regard of Party 3.
We all stayed in the checkroom for a while longer till all the reminiscence and the tears were poured out.
As soon as Tarran stopped crying, once we were done mourning for our losses in the second Quintal Trial, we began stepping out of the checkroom one by one.
Right when my comrades in Party 1 and 2 left the 'mausoleum,' I turned my gaze to the only other person who remained.
"I need to speak to you."
Shanny said to me.
She actually did not speak at all earlier. Neither did I.
Nothing I said would bring the dead back after all.
"I'm listening."
I replied.
The swordswoman gestured to the pedestals beside us. The occupied pedestals.
"Those people did not have to die. They would not die if we had not visited the temple."
"Don't worry, Shanny. I'm perfectly aware that it was all my fau--"
"Let me finish, Serafina."
She interrupted.
Her face was cold and serious while her voice was firm.
But oddly I could not detect anger within her.
"I had spent the night thinking it over. I decided it was not right to blame you for their deaths. There was no way you could have known what was going to happen back then. At the very least, you expected it would be our party who would pay the price. Not them."
Shanny's words silenced me. I did not know what to say back to her.
Thankfully, she was not done yet. She went on.
"But it is a fact that seven people died because we were trying to get that book and the crystal."
Shanny walked closer to me and reached for my hands. Her eyes were pleading. Not demanding.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, please make sure those 'rewards' at least worth those lives we lost."
The woman left me alone while those words were still resounding within my mind.
Shanny might had forgiven me, or rather, decided not to blame me. But I would not.
I would keep carrying the guilt of causing those deaths. I would carry the guilt of making two members of Party 2 did not return with us and even decimating all of Party 3.
I doubted I could ever make that go away.
But Shanny was also right.
Those rewards from the subquest had better be worth all the troubles and sacrifices.
They would be worth it!