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Chapter 276: 【Adventurer Mitran】Investigating the Upper Levels of the \'Ahate River Upstream Ruins\'

1. 【Adventurer Mitran】Investigating the Upper Levels of the ‘Ahate River Upstream Ruins’

About an hour’s journey from the town of Nebo along the Ahate River towards the mountains.

The day after I met Leseida-san, the two of us had arrived at the forest where the entrance to the mysterious ancient ruins, which were the talk of the town, was located!

The path from the town to these ruins had been frequently traveled by adventurers, so a proper road had been made and it was very easy to walk on.

There were no attacks by monsters, the weather was good, the spring sunshine was warm, and it was truly a journey that felt like taking a stroll.

“Wow, now that the undergrowth has been cleared, it’s a bit easier to see, but… I’m amazed they found ruins like this.”

The entrance to the ‘Ahate River Upstream Ruins’ was so integrated with the surrounding forest that I unintentionally muttered those words.

These ruins were constructed by stacking yellowish stones, but probably because they were built a long time ago, giant trees with trunks so thick that even three adults holding hands couldn’t wrap around them were growing right next to the ruins, making them inconspicuous.

The only part above ground was a really small entrance just large enough for one person to pass through, and there were many mossy areas. If I had come here alone, I think I would have overlooked the existence of these ruins even now.

“Apparently, they were discovered while searching for the nest of the monsters that had been troubling the town and hunting in the mountains. It seems to be a place where people don’t usually approach in the first place, and if it weren’t for that incident, even the local residents wouldn’t have noticed the existence of these ruins. In other words, it’s no exaggeration to say that these ruins were discovered thanks to the monsters! My, my, what a contribution from the monsters! If that’s the case, I wish monsters would come out near human settlements more and more!”

Leseida-san… is probably getting excited.

While stroking the stone walls of the ruins that were exposed on the surface, lightly tapping them, and observing them with a magnifying glass, Leseida-san said something quite irreverent.

“Now, Mitran-kun! The unknown is calling out to us! Let’s intrude into the interior of the ruins right away!”

“Ah, wait a minute, Leseida-san! Calm down! As your bodyguard, don’t leave me behind and go ahead!”

“Hahaha! I am calm! Of course, I’m calm!”

Leseida-san steadily entered the dimly lit ruins.

I also hurriedly followed.

Well, as you can probably tell from the exchange at the beginning, I decided to accept the escort request from the archaeologist I met in the town of Nebo, Leseida-san.

The reason is simple. I wanted to build up a track record of escort requests.

I’ve been granted cheat-like combat abilities by the gods, but my appearance makes me look weak.

It’s difficult for me to get escort requests.

However, having a track record of escort requests is sometimes a requirement for raising your adventurer rank, so I was a bit troubled.

My current goal for now is to increase my adventurer rank!

Leseida-san’s request was a godsend for me.

And I’m also interested in exploring these ‘Ahate River Upstream Ruins’ themselves.

Because according to Leseida-san, these ruins are a place that ‘could possibly be’ the ruins of an ancient magic civilization!

An ancient magic civilization!

An ancient magic civilization, you say!?

Isn’t that super intriguing!

Leseida-san taught me that an ancient magic civilization was a civilization that flourished in this world a long time ago, boasting a level of technology that is incomparable to today and reaching the heights of prosperity!

It is said to be a civilization that blossomed after a country called the “Bamapama World Empire” unified the world, and its prosperity apparently continued for nearly 7,000 years.

Despite that, it is also famous for suddenly vanishing one day, and since it was a “world empire,” the events of that day are sung about in legends all over the world.

As the “Day of Ruin.”

Anyway, it is known that a lot of people died, but the cause is still unknown.

“Hmm, take a look, Mitran-kun. I had heard about it, but it’s a truly fascinating sight.”

“Whoa!?”

As we descended the stairs leading underground from the entrance of the ruins, we reached a room on the first underground floor, where Leseida-san suddenly stopped and looked up at the ceiling, saying such a thing.

“Don’t suddenly stop! I bumped my nose against your bag, Leseida-san!”

“That doesn’t matter at all! Look up.”

“Up?… Wow?”

What entered my view as I looked up at the ceiling at Leseida-san’s words was… a majestic mural covering the entire ceiling…!

…Not.

“Um… are those magic lamps?”

“Hmm, that’s right. Those are indeed magic lamps.”

Embedded straight into the rock of the ceiling, emitting a faint light… were magic lamps.

Facilities like those used as street lamps in town… were installed in these ruins.

“Um… did some adventurer install them without permission?”

“It’s such a modern sight that you might think so, but… that’s not the case. Those magic lamps are ancient magical relics… in other words, out-of-place artifacts.”

“What!?”

Hearing that, I hurriedly tried to focus my eyes, but… it’s no use. I can’t tell the difference from ordinary magic lamps.

“According to the report of the adventurers who investigated these ruins ahead of us, those magic lamps apparently continue to function without a power source. It seems they slowly absorb the magical power of the surrounding earth to operate, which is a technology that is said to be impossible to replicate in modern times. And the era when such magic lamp facilities were developed was during the time of the ancient magic civilization. By the way, they are also set up to activate when sensing the approach of people, which is also an eye-opening technology.”

Leseida-san continued the explanation while slowly looking around.

Hearing that, I couldn’t suppress the excitement in my chest!

“T-Then! If such magic lamps are being used, does that mean! These ruins are… really the ruins of an ancient magic civilization!?”

“If that’s the case… it would be a huge discovery. Hmm…”

Unlike me, whose face was flushed with excitement, Leseida-san was stroking a chin and making a troubled face while still restlessly looking around.

“As I thought, it’s inconsistent… just like in the report I read.”

“Inconsistent?”

I unintentionally tilted my head.

“As I mentioned earlier, the magic lamps are indeed created using the technology of the ancient magic civilization. However… in contrast, the quality of the stone materials used to construct these ruins is poor. The ruins of the ancient magic civilization are basically composed of seamless white stone walls. They’re called Bamapama stones, you know? But when it comes to these ruins, ordinary stone walls are used. The way these stones are arranged is commonly seen in ruins built in this region approximately 5,000 to 4,500 years ago, after the fall of the ancient magic civilization.”

“Um, in other words?”

“In other words, these ruins are…!”

“These ruins are…!?”

Leseida-san looked at my face with a serious expression.

I unintentionally swallowed my saliva at that!

“Well, you see, they’re just ruins that aren’t well understood.”

“What is that supposed to mean!?”

I unintentionally lost strength and slumped my shoulders at the silver-haired guy in front of me who was laughing heartily.

“But that’s precisely why it’s worth investigating. That’s why these ruins are currently very ‘hot’! The pursuit of the unknown is the true duty of a researcher, after all!”

Saying that, Leseida-san took out a monocle-like magic tool from a pocket and put it on, then started crawling around the room to investigate with sparkling eyes.

I don’t know what can be learned, but Leseida-san is eagerly observing the gaps between the stones on the floor and walls while muttering something.

I see, if you can concentrate this much, it would be a disaster if monsters or ruffians attacked you when you let your guard down.

The Adventurer’s Guild has reported that these ruins are ‘safe, at least up to the middle levels that have been investigated, with no monsters inhabiting them.’

I was wondering why an escort was necessary despite that, but… seeing this, I can understand.

If you become this defenseless, an escort is absolutely necessary.

…That being said.

This is the first underground floor of the ruins where adventurers have already come and gone many times.

It’s a small rectangular room about 6 tatami mats in size, surrounded by yellow stone walls.

There are no gaps where something dangerous could be lurking, and there have been no reports to the Adventurer’s Guild about traps either.

In other words.

Right now, I’m.

…Bored.

For now, I just leaned against the stone wall while yawning, keeping a slight watch on the two entrances: the stairs leading up to the surface that we just came down, and another set of stairs leading to the second underground floor.

“…Hm?”

Then, I felt… a slight sense of discomfort in the texture of the stone wall that the back of my head touched.

When I was reincarnated into this world, I received various cheat abilities from the old man who is the Adventure God.

One of them is 【Super Intuition】!

It’s a very protagonist-like and convenient cheat ability that heightens your attentiveness at crucial moments and allows you to intuitively find clues to solve problems!

That 【Super Intuition】… suddenly activated.

“What the…?”

I turned around to face the stone wall and touched it.

Um… what is this…?

“Hey… hey! Leseida-san!”

“Hmm, hmm, indeed, this stone material is exactly the same as the one used in the ruins of the Western Ahate Dark Empire era. In other words, in terms of age… hm!? What is it? Did you call me, Mitran-kun!? Is it lunchtime already!?”

“What are you saying… here! This stone wall… seems to have a strange depression.”

“What did you say?”

Hearing my words, Leseida-san, who had been lying down and examining the floor of the ruins, jumped up and approached me.

And just like me, Leseida-san started touching the wall of the ruins.

“Hmm, hmm, hmm… could this be…”

Muttering that, Leseida-san took out a paper and pencil from a bag, pressed the paper against the stone wall, and started rubbing it vigorously with the pencil.

Then…!

“This is… a pattern? No, letters…!?”

On that paper, symbols that clearly had regularity resembling letters began to appear!

“Oh! Well done, Mitran-kun!”

Leseida-san held it up towards the ceiling and rejoiced by hopping up and down!

“That’s right, these are letters! It is said that the blessing of the language gods also widely covered the world even in the ancient magic civilization, which means that the language used there was also the same Bamapama language as ours, but for some reason, it has become clear that completely different shapes of characters were used for writing! Unlike spoken language, there is an unnatural discontinuity in the written language before and after the fall of the ancient magic civilization! We call this…”

“Stop! Calm down, Leseida-san! In summary, the main points are?”

“…Ahem. In other words, Mitran-kun. These are characters used during the era of the ancient magic civilization. They may have become less noticeable due to weathering.”

Leseida-san, who calmed down at my words, coughed while blushing and said that.

“Hey, can you read those characters, Leseida-san!?”

“Hahaha, of course! The ancient magic civilization is the most popular theme in the archaeological community, you know? If you dig up valuable out-of-place artifacts like magic airships, you can build a fortune… anyway, if there’s an archaeologist who can’t read the ancient magic characters, you can declare that person to be a fake. Of course, I can read them. Simple dictionaries have even been published, after all.”

Ah, geez, this person’s explanations are always so long!

“What does it say?”

“Hmm, this is…”

And then.

Leseida-san, who had taken off their monocles and was staring intently at the characters that appeared on the paper… for some reason fell silent for a moment and furrowed an eyebrow.

“W-What’s wrong?”

“Hmm… no, but why? Indeed, the age of the stone materials and the time period when the legends originated match. But why would they use these characters during that period…?”

Leseida-san made a grim face, stroked their chin, and started pondering while muttering something.

Geez, I’m being left behind again.

This person has a refreshing appearance of a well-dressed handsome guy, but has too many quirks.

Well, I came along as a bodyguard, so it’s fine even if I’m ignored.

“Haa…”

I unintentionally let out a big sigh.

And right at that moment!

BOOM!!

Rumble rumble rumble…!

The ruins started shaking intermittently, making a sound like something heavy moving!

“W-What the!?”

Even Leseida-san interrupted those thoughts and became flustered at this.

“The sound… is coming from quite close to this room… probably originating from a room a few ahead.”

One of the cheat abilities granted to me by the old man Adventure God, 【Super Senses】, tells me that.

“You… can tell that?”

Leseida-san let out a surprised voice at my overly sharp hearing.

But I didn’t respond with the playful attitude I had earlier.

Because.

【Super Senses】 conveyed some information to me that I couldn’t overlook… in the form of smell.

“Leseida-san, if you want to ensure your safety, it might be better to leave the ruins for now.”

“What do you mean?”

I unsheathed the sword at my waist, and while being on guard of the surroundings, I said,

“I smell blood.”