Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Opion Fortress
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[Chapter 118 - Armory]
After finally wrapping up all their preparations, Arsen, Eloise, and Maroon stepped deeper into the ruins.
The three mages stayed behind to look after the villagers.
Inside the cave, the source of the sweltering heat was obvious: a single ornate door at the very back.
When Arsen touched it—the one place in the cave untouched by looters—a familiar voice spoke to him.
-Welcome to Adra's Armory, visitor. This facility is currently offline due to insufficient mana supply. Please keep this in mind when using it.-
With those words, the door slid open.
Arsen's first thought upon peering inside was factory.
In the dim light, conveyor belts stretched out, lined with metal lumps spaced at regular intervals.
Off to one side stood what must have once been a furnace, where molten metal would have poured out.
But the space that should have held the glowing metal was empty, spewing only hot air instead. That heat was warming not just the armory but the entire outer cave.
It wasn't hard to guess the facility's purpose.
Given the name "armory," it was probably some kind of industrial forge for mass-producing weapons.
The machine tools visible between the conveyor belts lent credence to the idea.
*Impressive.*
Arsen couldn't help but admire it inwardly.
Even in this magical age, relics unearthed were usually just cold weapons from a medieval level at best. But this place evoked the factories of the Industrial Revolution.
If it had been fully operational, it could have churned out arms for hundreds or thousands in the blink of an eye.
His admiration was short-lived. Arsen scanned the surroundings and issued orders. It was time to accomplish their goal here.
"Let's take a look around first."
The three split up, patrolling the silent armory.
Truth be told, there wasn't much worth taking.
The Byulburmi explorers who had visited before had cleared out all the weapons stored there.
A few remained, but they were relics deemed unworthy of carrying off, so their quality wasn't impressive.
What they sought was something else.
"Found it yet?"
"Nope, nothing here."
"Hmm."
The armory was vast, so even after dividing it into sections, it took them quite a while.
Eventually, Eloise called Arsen aside via her earring.
[Sen, come here.]
[What's up?]
[A relic. And it's still working.]
They had spotted a few relic-like items while circling the armory earlier, but each time, Eloise had cast an inspection spell and shaken her head. The power had faded due to age.
Maroon had explained that this armory, unlike many ruins, lacked the spells that preserved items against the flow of time—or those spells had degraded.
*Because there's no mana?*
It might be connected to the door's earlier message about insufficient mana supply causing shutdown.
But if so, how was the door even speaking? Another question bubbled up.
Either way, it was a puzzle too complex for a non-mage like him to unravel—especially ancient magic.
The key point was that a relic still held its power.
Suppressing his rising excitement, Arsen hurried to Eloise.
"What is it?"
"Here, this."
Eloise pointed to a smooth metal sphere a bit larger than a human head.
It hung from chains over the conveyor belt, positioned to smash down on the metal lumps passing below.
The magic within aided that function.
"It gets heavier when you infuse it with mana."
"How heavy?"
"Not sure exactly..."
As Eloise hesitated, Arsen swung his axe to sever the rusted chains and caught the falling sphere.
It wasn't heavy—at least not by knight standards. A normal person would have found it quite hefty.
That was par for the course with a lump of metal the size of a head.
Arsen gripped the sphere firmly in both hands and channeled a small amount of mana through his palms.
In an instant, it grew dizzyingly heavy.
"Urk!"
Arsen had to brace himself to keep from dropping it.
Fortunately, designed for hammering metal, the sphere's durability was excellent; it didn't crumple under his grip.
After struggling to hold it for a few seconds, Arsen withdrew the mana.
The sphere instantly returned to its original weight.
"Better take it."
"Yeah? It just gets heavy."
"We'll figure out uses once we have it."
He already had one idea in mind but swallowed the words. No point testing it here.
Soon after, Arsen called Maroon over from his search area and claimed the relic for personal use.
This was a joint expedition with Byulburmi, after all, so loot distribution had to be fair.
Maroon looked puzzled for a moment but nodded easily.
To him, a sphere that just got heavy didn't seem all that useful.
Dropping it from above wouldn't work either—once it left your hand, you couldn't infuse mana, and it'd lighten right up.
The previous Byulburmi explorers had likely thought the same and left it behind.
As Arsen pocketed it with satisfaction, Maroon sighed.
"You checked everywhere?"
"Yes."
"Guess... the slab isn't here after all."
What they sought was the stone slab—the one left by Byulburmi's former leader that could summon the library. They'd hoped for one here, but no luck.
If the door hadn't been sealed, maybe looters had found and smashed it. But that wasn't possible.
They searched the ruins top to bottom just in case, but still no slab.
"Damn, a total bust."
Grumbling that the trip had been pointless, Maroon led them out, full of regret.
Arsen could at least temper his disappointment by thinking of the relic he'd gained. He hadn't left empty-handed.
* * *
The return trip went smoothly enough.
It would have been smoother without Maroon whining that he absolutely couldn't climb the rope and would rather find another exit alone, but oh well.
Transporting the three comatose villagers—who had ingested Sheep Horn Wolf solution—required a few extra trips, but that was no great hardship.
"So, where are those folks from?"
"Ophion Fortress, apparently. Northwest of the estate, but like most fortress folk..."
The mage trailed off, but the implication was clear.
Civilization levels varied wildly by territory—best case medieval, often worse.
Fortress dwellers, born and dying there, were especially ignorant; most didn't even know exactly where they lived.
Arsen himself had once thought Belluan Estate was some distant, vague place as a kid. He'd never even heard of other fortresses.
"West is the right direction anyway, so we'll drop them off. Ideal if we can get them home, but any fortress will do if not. Better than abandoning them in the wild."
Their ruins happened to be north of Eden territory, so with luck, they might pass right by.
Sadly, they lacked detailed maps of local fortresses, so they'd have to hope one appeared along the way.
Fortunately, luck was on their side.
* * *
By sheer fortune, they reached Ophion Fortress that very evening as the sun set.
Choosing a path that showed some foot traffic helped—it wasn't pure chance—but it was still a stroke of luck.
For Arsen's group and the villagers alike.
"We are truly grateful!"
The speaker—a knight who looked about thirty—bowed deeply to Arsen. He was Ophion's castle lord.
Newly appointed and brimming with zeal, he was furious that raiders had sneaked in and kidnapped villagers right after his arrival.
Naturally, he was thankful to Arsen for the rescue.
"We scoured the area but couldn't find their base. We were half ready to give up."
The three rescued villagers were surrounded by locals, receiving tearful welcomes.
Arsen spotted the woman who had desperately cried out earlier, now clutching a small child.
The child wailed as if the world were ending, burrowing into his mother's arms.
If Maroon had killed them or Arsen had ignored her pleas and struck, the child would have lost his mother.
As he watched, Eloise spoke up beside him.
"Really glad. He found his mom."
"Yeah, it worked out."
Overcome with emotion, Eloise wiped her eyes discreetly.
He knew she yearned for maternal affection—lacking a mother herself—and was sensitive to such scenes.
When he replied evenly, Eloise asked,
"This place seems really nice."
"Does it?"
"Yeah."
Arsen nodded at her words.
A place where everyone mourned a kidnapping and rejoiced at a safe return.
Nothing like the Crata Fortress where he'd grown up.
For a moment, Arsen imagined himself kidnapped as a child and returned.
At best, they'd gripe about another mouth to feed. At worst, guys like Philus might claim he'd been turned raider by their water and snap his neck on the spot...
*No, is that too much victim mentality?*
He reconsidered, but kept coming to the same conclusion.
Shaking off the unease, the castle lord thanked him again and invited them to stay the night.
With dusk falling, Arsen saw no reason to refuse.
* * *
The fortress folk lent their finest homes to the heroes who saved their neighbors. Soldiers and mages stayed there.
Arsen, Eloise, and the knights enjoyed the luxury of empty rooms in the castle lord's residence.
Spending the night in this ancient building—still functional with magical showers and toilets—was a balm for body and soul.
After washing up and changing into fresh clothes, Arsen headed to Eloise's room.
Thanks to prior notice, she was ready to receive him.
"Been a while since a place like this."
"Yeah. Facilities here are top-notch. Almost fell asleep in the bath."
Eloise beamed.
For a moment, Arsen saw the girl from long ago—not the weathered wanderer, but the sheltered young lady from the estate manor.
Her black hair, unbound and flowing freely instead of her usual ponytail, showed no dampness from the bath. Magic-dried, no doubt.
The bath had washed away her fatigue; even her blue eyes, dulled by the journey, sparkled clear.
His reverie broke as Eloise's smile turned serious.
"So, you want to modify the relic?"
"Yeah."
What Arsen wanted from Eloise was to turn the relic into a weapon upgrade.
Specifically, reforging the black star iron mace he'd made back in Belluan—currently shelved on Jin's weapon rack due to its awkward utility—by integrating the new relic.
Namely, remove the head and replace it with the sphere, engineered to channel mana.
"Can you do it?"
"I'll know once I try, but probably? Combining relics with other materials for use is tough on the road. If we want it ready soon, better start tonight."
As she said, travel allowed only basic repairs; crafting or handling new relics was tricky.
Arsen couldn't experience it himself, but outside purification zones, precisely manipulating mana was problematic.
Eloise pouted slightly and glanced outside.
Arsen followed her gaze. A massive bonfire blazed, surrounded by revelers dancing and shouting excitedly.
A small festival to celebrate the return of the "dead" villagers.
The crowd mixed locals, fortress soldiers, and even Arsen's troops—of course, with his prior permission.
They couldn't drink since they left at dawn, but they seemed caught up in the festivities anyway.
Unusually tall knights... Bazkal and Anun were there, along with Maroon and three masked, robed figures who looked like mages.
The masks and robes let them blend in while keeping distance.
"Everyone else is partying, and here I am. What gives?"
Eloise sighed.
Fair point—who'd be thrilled working alone while others relaxed in safety?
Feeling guilty, Arsen smiled wryly.
"Sorry, I owe you. Anything you need, just say. I'll help with whatever."
"Deal. Then you stay and make it with me—no festival for you."
Eloise grinned, clearly pleased.
Her face lit up with genuine fun now, leaving Arsen with a somewhat awkward smile of his own.
