Chapter 75: Ruins Exploration – Day 2 (Part 2)

As a precaution, Marcela, the female knight, peeks inside from the outside of the entrance to confirm safety. Today, Marcela was participating in the exploration in exchange for Liddell.

No sunlight penetrates like on the outside, and it’s almost pitch dark. However, there is no apparent sign of anything moving.

“It doesn’t feel like there are any living creatures. Since it’s dark, I’ll use a lantern to illuminate and check a bit more.”

Turning back once, she lights a magic lantern and reconfirms the inside.

It seems to be a room with a square shape, about 10 meters on each side. The ceiling is reasonably high.

Without noticeable obstacles, the room is empty.

“I don’t see anything dangerous, so I think it’s safe to enter.”

Marcela checks the four corners and the ceiling of the room for a while, then reports that it’s safe.

“Thank you. Then, let’s examine it with Marcela at the forefront, and I, Isamu-san, Eto, and Anne. Everyone, use your lanterns.”

Nicolette says so and activates her magical lantern.

Following suit, Isamu and the others light their lanterns and enter the room.

The room gives Isamu the impression of being barren.

As it is dark, he can’t see the whole room, but there are no objects blocking the light from the lantern, and the back wall is illuminated by the lantern light.

Thinking there’s nothing, Yuu advances towards the back, illuminating the floor. In the center of the room, he notices something shaped like a mound.

“Eto-san, look…”

He calls out to Eto, who is walking beside him, and points his finger.

“Hmm, there’s something piled up… it looks like a stack of boards.”

Eto, a gnome with better night vision than humans, squints his eyes.

The other three also notice and head towards the center of the room.

There, several boards of similar size are stacked, forming a mound.

“What kind of boards are these?”

Isamu picks up the top one and illuminates it with his lantern. It’s a square slightly larger than 20 centimeters, and the thickness is about 5 millimeters. It’s quite lightweight.

And when he illuminated the back side, he gasped.

“Wow!!! These are magical arrays!”

“What in the world!?”

In a hurry at Isamu’s voice, everyone picks up the boards and examines them. They were indeed magic arrays.

Meanwhile, Isamu quickly scans the magical arrays.

“It’s dark and hard to see, but I can probably read this!”

“”””What!?””””

The voices of the other four, except for Isamu, overlap.

“Well, they all look like similar magic arrays… It’s probably readable, but… it’s impossible to bring all of them back, right?”

“It’s a bit too much quantity. Besides, if we come back carrying stacks of magic arrays like a mountain, the guards will notice immediately, and it will become troublesome if the Count hears about it, right?”

In response to Isamu’s question, Nicolette answers, shaking her head.

“That’s true… Then, can we take them outside for a rough selection? I just want to confirm if they are the same or not.”

“That’s not a problem. Let’s leave one person outside and carry them together.”

The magic arrays that have become a mountain are divided among everyone, and they shuttle between the inside and outside of the room.

About halfway through carrying it out, I realized that there were two types of circuit boards mixed in. From beneath the first board I found, a small board only about 1/4 the size emerged.

Also, it became clear that there were scorch marks covering the walls, floor, and probably the ceiling as well.

After about 10 minutes of carrying, Isamu starts the confirmation work.

Upon a quick look, it becomes clear that there are two types of large magic arrays. Both seem to use light magic stones. There are also two types of small magic arrays, but unfortunately, neither of them can be read.

The smaller ones seem to be boards that are cracked, chipped, or rubbed magic arrays.

“We’ll check the content slowly when we get back. Since there are two types of large and small magic arrays, can we bring back about 10 of each that look clean?”

“That should be fine. They won’t stand out in the bag, so it’s totally okay.”

“Thank you!”

Once approval is obtained, they start packing the clean ones into their bags. While packing, Isamu looks at Eto next to him. Eto is staring at the smaller magic arrays with his arms crossed, tilting his head.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Eto-san? You look puzzled.”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I feel like I’ve seen these smaller magic arrays somewhere…”

“Really? If Eto-san says so, it must be true. Your experience is different from mine.”

 Isamu’s ability skill just happened to include the ability to read magic circles, but there was no way he could compete with Eto, who had been working with magic tools for a long time despite being unable to read them.

“If you bring back a few, Eto-san, we can slowly verify them together.”

“True. Let’s do that. Also, it would make Willem-san happy if we gave him some as a souvenir.”

Saying such things, the two of them happily pack the bags together, and the remaining items are returned to the room.

After confirming that the door is closed, they collect the magic arrays used for magic power supply and camouflage again with Rock Fist Camouflage.

The group that left the room earlier continues to advance a bit deeper since there’s still time.

After skillfully defeating sporadic monster attacks, they find stairs leading down after about two hours.

Since the road continued ahead, they temporarily put it on hold, but within 10 minutes, they reach a dead end and quickly return.

“Well, I’d like to go down to the basement level, but we don’t have enough time. It’s a shame, but let’s call it a day here.”

As the light entering from the outside begins to tilt west and turn orange, Nicolette decides to return.

“Even so, reading two more readable magic arrays in just two days is a big harvest.”

“Yes. I’m glad that the magic tools in that room are still functional. It was also fortunate that the password was something simple.”

While talking about that, they return on the same path they came, concluding the exploration of the second day with satisfactory loot.

The exploration report to Selfers is left to Nicolette. Isamu and Eto lock themselves in the Zambrotta Company’s workshop again to verify the loot.

Anne-Marie, who seemed to have sulked yesterday due to not being able to participate, also comes to the workshop, and along with Willem, the four of them enthusiastically start the verification.

Watching that scene, Isamu squints his eyes with nostalgia. “It feels like right before the school festival,” he thought.

“I see, these seem to be functional arrays used for magic devices that produce light.”

“Amazing, you managed to decipher both of them!?”

Isamu, who had been deciphering for about two hours, stopped and began talking while rubbing his eyes.

“Yes. One of them is quite simple, just for illuminating. The other one is probably a type that can adjust brightness.”

“Hmm, just for simple illumination… like a magic lantern, huh? Oh!! A magic lantern!”

Eto, who had been listening to Isamu’s explanation, suddenly shouted as if he realized something.

Then, he leisurely began disassembling the magic lantern he brought for today’s exploration.

“E-Eto-san, what’s going on suddenly?”

“I mentioned I had seen it somewhere today, right? I remembered what it was!! Ah, here it is. Let’s see…”

He laid out the disassembled functional arrays and the unreadable functional arrays brought back from the ruins.

“They are the same after all! No wonder I felt like I had seen them before. The size difference was a blind spot…”

As Eto said, the functional arrays discovered in the ruins were about two sizes smaller, but the magic circles drawn on them were identical.

“Amazing! As expected, Eto-san, you noticed well.”

“I’ve been making them for many years, so it’s not for nothing. But now that it’s like this, I want to try operating this thing…”

Whether it’s really the same or not, the quickest way to find out is to try operating it. However, the magic arrays brought back, even though they were carefully chosen, were all damaged in some way.

“Shall we try copying them? Fortunately, even though there are cracks, I can read the magic arrays properly. I will adjust the size of the activation arrays.”

“Got it. Leave the functional arrays to me.”

While dividing the tasks, they proceed efficiently.

As a veteran, Eto, of course, and Isamu, who has been making quite a number of magic tools over the past few months, have become accustomed, so the speed of drawing magic circles has increased.

Within less than 30 minutes, the replication of the magic arrays is complete.

“They’re the same up to the position of the magic stones…”

As they set the magic stones into the completed magic arrays, Willem speaks.

“That’s right. It’s really just smaller; otherwise, it’s identical.”

Anne-Marie also looks fascinated, nodding while gazing at them.

“Preparations are done.”

“All right, shall we try operating it?”

When the assembled substrate is activated, just like the magic lantern, the functional arrays emit light.

For verification, the disassembled magic lantern taken out from the casing is also illuminated, but there doesn’t seem to be any difference in brightness.

“Even though it’s smaller, the brightness is the same…”

“That’s right. It feels strange, but maybe it’s because we’re using the same magic stones…”

While comparing the two intently, Isamu and Eto express their impressions.

“Is the readable one here also shining like the magic lantern?”

Anne-Marie remembers what Isamu said a while ago.

“Yes. Oh, how about we try operating this one too and compare the brightness? It might be related since they were placed together.”

As the readable magic arrays are not particularly damaged, the magic stones are set as they are, and the activation arrays, the same as the magic lantern, are connected to start them.

“Huh!?”

“What’s wrong? Hurry up and activate it.”

“No, I’m activating it, but the functional arrays aren’t coming up… Why is that? Look, the activation arrays are lighting up, but is the magic power not transferring to the functional arrays?”

As Yuu said, for some reason, the circuit of the functional arrays is not responding at all.

“Hmm, huh? Could this be plain fake silver without any mixed magic stone powder? It’s subtly lighter in color, isn’t it?”

Willem notices this subtle difference.

“Indeed! You truly are a specialist in magic arrays. I only noticed because you pointed it out…”

“Hahaha, occasionally. But something is a bit strange. Even if you write with fake silver liquid alone, it doesn’t settle so neatly. To create a flawless magic circuit like this, you need to mix it with magic stone powder and write, setting it with magic power.”

The magic ink used for drawing magic arrays is made by mixing magic stone powder into a solution of melted fake silver. Fake silver solidifies at room temperature, but adding magic stone powder keeps it in a liquid state. Another feature is that when magic power is applied to the magic ink, it neatly sets. However, if it’s just melted fake silver, it will harden as it cools, causing unevenness. However, what is before them is neatly settling like something written with magic ink. It was so much like Isamu was about to move, and there was no difference compared to a regular magic array.

“For now, let’s make a copy of this as well. If it works, it means there’s no problem with the content of the magic array.”

To eliminate doubts one by one, they decide to investigate whether the functionality of this readable functional array is the same as that of the magic lantern. After swiftly finishing the writing in about 15 minutes, they promptly activate it.

“…It lit up.”

“…It lit up, yes.”

“…It lit up, which means there is probably no problem with the content of the magic array. And the brightness is probably exactly the same, right?”

Isamu compares the three illuminated magic lanterns lined up, the unreadable functional array brought back from the ruins, and the replicated functional array that can be read. Then, he points out that the magic circle that initially seemed like it could move but didn’t catch his eye.

Then, they turn their attention to the magical array that seemed like it could move but didn’t.

“Suppose, hypothetically. After writing the magical array with magic ink and setting it, what if you could extract only the magic stone powder? Wouldn’t it end up like this?”

Isamu asks Willem while touching his chin.

“…I haven’t done it, so I can’t say for sure, but it’s likely to end up like this.”

After a moment of contemplation, Willem answers.

“For some reason, magic arrays with missing magic stone powder. And completely identical in effect, smaller damaged unreadable magic arrays. Those were placed in one place in large quantities.”

Isamu lists the situations he has seen or understood, raising one finger at a time.

“Sloppy security. A room with nothing. Burnt floor and walls…”

He adds further conditions and closes his eyes.

“That room… was it a disposal site for unwanted things, a garbage dump, and an incinerator for burning them?”

Then, he arrives at one conclusion.

“Also, although I don’t know how they are doing it, could they be processing readable magic arrays to create unreadable magic arrays? For example, because the magic stone powder stores the content of the magic array, it can be transferred to another substrate…?”

“””!!!”””

The three gasp at Isamu’s hypothesis.

“If that’s the case, it all makes sense. If that place used to be where magic tools were made, then magic arrays that no longer function and cracked magic arrays that are unsuitable as products are just garbage. It wouldn’t be surprising for them to be thrown away like that. And the password… Certainly, it’s often left as it is out of laziness, but if it was something from the garbage disposal, it wouldn’t be strange to be nervous about it.”

While clenching the raised finger, Isamu explains his hypothesis.

“I see. Also, that room was spacious, but there were no furnishings like furniture, and the floor and walls were burnt… It makes sense if you think they were accumulating garbage and disposing of it in one go. Since the walls were quite thick, it seemed safe even if they used old fire magic.”

Anne-Marie reflects on the scene, gradually accepting the hypothesis.

“Yes. Well, even if we understand what that room was, it might not change anything…”

Isamu smiles wryly while laying out various hypotheses.

“It might not be so limited? If we know the nature of the place, it could provide hints for future exploration.”

“That’s right. For example, if it was a large-scale magic tool workshop as Isamu suggested, there’s a high chance there are no artifacts on the floor with the garbage dump. If we can anticipate that, it saves us from unnecessary searches.”

Eto and Willem support Isamu’s hypothesis, seeing the merit in it.

“Certainly, that perspective makes sense… So, shall we share this hypothesis tomorrow and explore the ruins based on that premise?”

“Sounds good.”

“Agreed.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

In response to Isamu’s proposal, all three nod in agreement.

“Oh, right. For the sake of hypothesis verification, let’s activate the other magic array as well.”

“Oh, I forgot we had another set. This one should also exhibit the same behavior.”

“Yes. Besides, this magical array might have an innovative function. If that’s the case, the value of non-attributed magic stones could skyrocket.”

Isamu talks about the possibility with a smirk.

“R-really!?”

Anne-Marie’s voice involuntarily rises at those words.

“Yes. It seems this has a mechanism to externally interfere and adjust magic power for the magic tool after activation. And to add that function, non-attributed magic stones are needed.”

Saying that, Isamu grins again, lifting the corner of his mouth.

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