Chapter 166: Another Room

“Oh right. Also, it seems it was a remote-control type magic giant golem after all.”

Mostly drafts of magic circles for weight reduction were found, but mixed among them was a part of a magic circle that seemed to convert received magic into movement.

“Considering it was for weight reduction magic circles, remote control, and it seemed to involve downsizing as well, I think they were trying to make it move with smaller magic power.”

“With small magic power?”

“Yes. It’s different if it’s to shrink to the size of a person, for example. When making magic cars, I realized that moving heavy things requires quite a lot of magic…”

“Indeed.”

“Even with simple movements, magic carts require a lot, so I think it would have a greater impact if it were a magic giant golem performing complex movements.”

“But originally, it moved with that heavy, large thing, right?”

“Yes. So either the upper limit of usable power for movement decreased, the absolute amount of usable magic decreased, or they wanted to make it possible to operate for longer… In any case, there must have been inconvenient reasons to keep it heavy.”

“I see… So, because they were able to solve that to some extent, Abalush was able to create a powerful army?”

“That might be true. …Or perhaps they tried to solve it but couldn’t in time and fled.”

Even on Earth, there is the ironic fact that war advances technology.

This area was even more of a battlefield than now. It might have once been the forefront of competition for developing magic tools for war.

Even though they felt quite satisfied with this research room alone, there was still one more room remaining.

The group moved to another room on the opposite side across the central aisle.

“Was this room used for material research, maybe?”

Willem murmured as he looked around the room.

“It seems so. There are many items left behind here compared to the other side because they couldn’t be taken out.”

As Isamu said, there were indeed quite a few items left in this room.

There were shelves surrounding the perimeter just like in the previous room, except for a large table in the foreground, everything was filled with shelves.

Various materials were lined up on the shelves. It seemed there were many metallic materials, but there also seemed to be materials from monsters.

Since there were many types, the amount of each individual material wasn’t particularly large, suggesting that research was the main focus, as Willem had assumed.

Rather than being unable to take them out, it was more like they were left behind because they were in small quantities.

“Hmm… There’s not much, but there are quite a few valuable materials here.”

Eto said after quickly looking around the shelves.

“Oh, really?”

Isamu, who didn’t know the quality of the materials, asked.

“Yes. They have various types like magic silver mithril, various kinds of Wootz steel and Azure gold. There are also things you rarely come across.”

Another unfamiliar name came up, but Isamu could only respond with, “Oh, is that so?”

“With this, there seem to be quite a few materials from monsters… Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with that area, so it might be best to take them to the Adventurer’s Guild for appraisal.”

“Understood. It feels good to have straightforward treasures here.”

“Well, the small quantity makes it difficult to find a use for them.”

As they discussed this, Isamu, who was looking around the shelves with interest, heard Orihime’s voice from somewhere in the room.

“Nyaa~~”

There was also a scratching sound, like something was being scratched.

Following the sound, they found Orihime vigorously scratching at a box about the size of a supermarket shopping basket piled on the floor.

“What’s wrong, Hime? Is there something that interests you?”

As he said this, he opened the lid of the topmost box among the three stacked boxes.

Inside were lumps of silver-colored metal-like masses, somewhat irregular in shape.

“What’s this? Some kind of metal…? But I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

Isamu lifted one of them up, changing angles to examine it. Orihime jumped onto the top of the box.

“Nyanyanya~~”

Then she muttered something and golden magic began to faintly swirl around Orihime’s front paw.

“Hime!? What are you doing??”

Isamu was surprised. In response, Orihime stopped the magic without panic, then crossed her front paws several times before lightly poking the metal lump in Isamu’s hand.

“Hmm? What are you trying to tell… Ahhh!! Could it be…”

Isamu tilted his head, but suddenly realized something and exclaimed loudly.

“What is it?”

Members who noticed his voice gathered around Isamu.

Yuu himself had his eyes closed while holding the lump of metal and muttered to himself.

“I thought so!!”

Then he opened his eyes and cried out again.

“Ohhh! Don’t suddenly shout so loudly.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Eto-san. But this is a great harvest, a great harvest!!”

Saying that, he handed the lump to Eto.

“Hmm? Is it some kind of metal? I think I’ve seen this somewhere…”

Eto also tilted her head, as if she had seen it before. Then Isamu placed his hand on the metal lump Eto was holding and closed his eyes.

“What are you… ohhhhh!!”

Eto exclaimed in surprise, and Isamu removed his hand and grinned.

“Could this possibly be Metal Leach!?”

“Yes, exactly. I think all three boxes are probably like this. This is quite a treasure, isn’t it?”

“All three boxes!? One box contains… about five times the amount for one monster! Moreover, they’re in good condition… This truly is a big harvest.”

Eto widened his eyes as he looked inside the box.

At the very end, the group who found physical treasures discovered while staying for another night carried out everything they found several times.

And before leaving the ruins, they decided to block the road again with a clay wall just in case.

“We can’t make walls of the same material that was originally there, but we have security cards to open the research facility door. Well, it should be okay for the time being.”

Unfortunately, since magic circle for the crane was unreadable and is too heavy to carry, they decided to carry it separately and set off for Inotia.

Thus ended the three-night, four-day ruins exploration tour.

“What! Is there still such a thing in the depths of the ruins!?”

The knight who guided them on the way back had come to pick them up again, but he was surprised to see the leg of the magic giant golem sticking out slightly from the cargo bed of the cargo magic vehicle.

The guards guarding the entrance to the ruins were also so amazed yesterday that they were speechless when they took this out.

“Yes, another hidden room was found. Regarding whether to disclose it or not, I leave it to His Excellency Innocenti’s judgment, so please keep it confidential until then.”

The guarding of the ruins, which had been considered a mindless job, had suddenly become an important assignment, and the guards nodded earnestly with serious expressions on their faces, and the knight also nodded solemnly.

“Since the luggage has increased, I’ll ride a horse. Please go ahead.”

Gascoigne, who said so, happily mounted a horse.

Certainly, due to the unexpected big catch and the collection of metal materials, the payload was a bit overloaded.

However, there was no significant impact on the movement itself, even if the speed dropped slightly.

“…He was also pale on the way.”

“Yes. I thought he was talking to that knight over there before entering the ruins… He was preparing a horse.”

While watching Gascoigne, who was happily riding a horse, while scratching his head, Tiramisu and Mizeroi exchanged words.

The demon leader’s horse-drawn carriage and magic car sickness seems to be inborn.

As if teasing Gascoigne like that, Orihime gave him a cat punch on the head while saying “Meow, meow.”

When they returned to Inotia after about four hours, just like the way there, it was well past the afternoon.

However, since fast horses had left when they started carrying their luggage the day before, the group was taken directly to the mansion of Count Innocenti.

“First of all, safe return, it was hard. Well, Isamu and this mercenary with Eleonora-chan should not have anything unusual happen to them.”

Nazario welcomed him with a laugh.

“However, every time Isamu finds something unbelievable… The last time was the arm, and this time it’s the leg. How about it? Do you dive three more times? I think it will be complete when the whole body is together.”

Nazario continued to laugh.

“Well, it’s by chance. I would be happy if I could find it intentionally.”

Isamu scratched his head and replied.

Afterwards, only the fact that the non-attribute magic stone was an all-attribute magic stone was suppressed, and Isamu reported on the fact that it was in the ruins and what was found.

It was reluctant to disclose without consulting Lord Selfers about the discovery of the all-attribute magic stone.

I made that point very firmly clear to Gascoigne and the others.

“But I never thought I’d be able to verify the Abalush story in a place like this.”

Nazario was surprised by many discoveries, such as the proof of the existence of dark magic and the practical use of remote-controlled magic giant golems, but the most impressive was that Abalush did it.

“There are stories about Abalush that half treat it as a hero in this area.”

Nazario’s wife, Fleurier, who was listening to the conversation together, explained.

“There are times when it receives treatment like a war criminal country that has fueled war, but it is said to be a bandit-like country that did not expand its territory even if it won the war and did not lay hands on ordinary people.”

According to Fleurier, it seemed that every time the power of a country seemed to be growing, Abalush would deliver a severe blow to that country.

And there is a tradition that they also used the profits gained from winning the war to support people who fled from such countries.

However, in the end, Abalush was destroyed because it was overwhelmingly outnumbered.

“And later, the countries that were in trouble with Abalush, such as Zun and Kempbach, might have removed such facts from the records and made them villains.”

“I see… There was such a background.”

“Stahlen was not particularly attacked by Abalush, so such stories are also transmitted. It is sung by the minstrels as a tragic hero nation that helped the weak but perished.”

Although now, I don’t know which one is correct, Fleurier concluded the story.

I thought it was strange that the country with a strong army did not grow, but it was satisfied with the fact that it was the reason.

Later, Nazario reported new movements in neighboring countries.

“Just yesterday, a fast horse arrived from Lubinda. It seems that the flow of goods and people from the Plazzo Kingdom has drastically decreased recently.”

“From Plazzo?”

“Yes. While circulation from towns near our country’s border hasn’t stopped, inland circulation has almost ceased…”

The Plazzo Kingdom shares borders with both the Stahlen Kingdom and the Zun Republic.

It has long maintained a good relationship with Stahlen, and Silvio’s Zambrotta Trading Company also has its headquarters in Plazzo.

Although there was a period of war with Zun, it ended about fifty years ago with a peace agreement, and since then, while relations are not excellent, there have been no conflicts.

“According to the merchants who barely reached the towns near Plazzo’s border, they say that swarms of monsters have appeared on the highways. Moreover, the information is too scarce to understand the situation… Along with the increase in monsters along the southern border, Lubinda reports that it might be Zun’s scheme.”

“Zun’s scheme…”

“To verify the truth, reconnaissance units have been deployed, so when they return, we should have a clearer picture. I’ll contact you again once we know more.”

“Understood. Since Zambrotta Trading Company also has its headquarters in Plazzo… I hope nothing serious happens.”

“That’s right. Also, since the story of monsters disturbing the border hasn’t been settled, I’d rather avoid trouble.”

However, their wishes would crumble the next day, in a manner close to the worst possible scenario…

On the next day, which was a complete rest day, Isamu was manipulating the magic circle for entering the password of the locker with the copy brought back from the ruins at the guesthouse with Orihime on his lap, when Pietro, the manager of Nashara Trading Company, rushed in with a changed complexion.

“T-This is urgent, Matsumoto-sama!!”

“What’s wrong!?”

“Just now, a ‘hawk’ has arrived at the magic tool workshop jointly operated with Zambrotta Trading Company! Here’s the letter!”

A ‘hawk’ is the only high-speed information transmission method in this world. It can fly at high altitudes where monsters don’t fly and deliver letters quickly.

Due to its extraordinarily high capture difficulty, it is impossible for individuals to own it, and even if requested from specialized elves, it costs as much as buying a luxury car per letter in Japanese yen terms.

The Zambrotta Trading Company is one of the few companies that owns one ‘hawk’, but its use is almost nonexistent. It must be a very urgent situation.

“Thank you very much!”

After thanking him, Isamu quickly read through the letter.

“What…!”

It was a very short message, but Isamu was speechless when he saw it.

It was written in rough, uncharacteristic handwriting that didn’t seem like Silvio’s usual neat writing.

“An enigmatic squad of magic giant golems has invaded the southern part of Plazzo, and the Zambrotta Trading Company has been caught in the crossfire. Please, we need your assistance.”

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