Chapter 88
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 88
Evening was settling in.
We were at the abandoned school building near the Eredor territory’s warehouse, the former site of the Alchemy Club. As I waited with Ciel at the entrance, a small light in the distant darkness slowly drew closer.
A moment later, a female student emerged into the beam of a flashlight. Carrying a large backpack and with a camera for recording hanging around her neck, it was Chloe from the Journalism Club. Though she was currently working as a part-time reporter, she was originally a student in the Dilettante Academy’s Archaeology Department. She would be of some help in today’s ruin exploration.
Walking nervously through the overgrown grass, she let out a sigh of relief only when she finally spotted us.
“Seriously, why did you want to meet in a creepy place like this after sunset? This place is haunted, you know. Haven’t you heard the rumors?” Chloe asked, shining her flashlight around the dilapidated building.
The structure was so decayed that its inner steel frame was exposed. The windows had been shattered long ago, and cobwebs and weeds had claimed the interior. It would have been eerie even in broad daylight, but the encroaching darkness made the atmosphere even more oppressive.
The place we were to explore today was Eredor’s old school building—the origin of the ‘Abandoned School Building Ghost Story,’ one of the Academy's 7 Great Mysteries. To be precise, we were after the ruin—and the dungeon—located beneath it.
I offered a casual greeting to ease Chloe's tension.
“Glad you found your way here. I’ve been reading your recent articles. Have sales gone up at all?”
“I made a decent profit thanks to that tip about the minimum grade threshold being adjusted to five percent,” Chloe nodded, though her expression remained reluctant.
Lately, Chloe’s stock within the Journalism Club had been rising steadily. Her article on the territory war had been a massive hit, and her supportive tone toward Verdandi in the piece about the practical exam had made her a hot topic for various reasons. Now, thanks to the information I’d tipped her off about, her sales had increased, and she’d even received a handsome bonus. The amount of donations coming into the Union Daily was said to have increased significantly as well.
“I saw you wrote an article about the 7 Great Mysteries before coming here.”
“Yes, just as you said, it got a great reaction. I thought it was just some dusty old tale that was past its prime.”
“Things don’t become bestsellers for no reason. There’s always a logic behind why something sells.”
Mysterious phenomena occurring within Union Academy and ancient ruins rumored to exist somewhere—this was more than enough to capture the interest of students our age, who are naturally impressionable and curious. And when you attach a number to it, organizing it systematically, the effect is even greater. It’s the same principle as the Seven Wonders of the World.
Of course, the problem was that these were usually one-off topics; once the full story of a mystery was revealed, interest tended to plummet…
‘In any case, many seniors graduate and leave Union every year, and new blood arrives to fill the void.’
Each time that happened, these 7 Great Mysteries would be discussed again, drawing a fresh wave of interest.
“If you write an article about today’s events, the reaction should be even better.”
“Yes, I’ve already announced it as a series,” Chloe replied.
In her article, Chloe had given an intriguing overview of the Union’s 7 Great Mysteries, then mentioned at the end that she would be personally investigating the [Abandoned School Building Ghost Story] to uncover the truth. Apart from her photography skills, Chloe’s writing had a certain flair, and it seemed many students were hooked. According to a recent survey, everyone was eagerly awaiting the follow-up report on her investigation.
Chloe looked at the abandoned building and spoke. “But is there really a path leading underground here?”
“There is.”
“According to the past investigation records of my seniors, they couldn’t find anything of the sort.”
In truth, the Union’s 7 Great Mysteries had a long history of being investigated by the Archaeology Department. As such, it was a worn-out topic; the current department didn’t even treat it as a subject of interest, let alone assign any meaning to it.
‘They’ve already sized it up and concluded there’s nothing there.’
This was why Chloe had initially been against turning it into an article.
“In the first place, given Union’s structure, a large ruin can’t exist underground. Union’s water and sewage systems are located just below the surface, and beneath that is the massive underground city known as the Underworld.”
“You’re right. Half-right, anyway. Let’s get moving.”
Instead of explaining further, I started walking into the building. As I took the lead, Ciel followed silently behind me. Chloe, looking hesitant, glanced around nervously before hastily following.
“Explain a little more! And if we’re going to explore, why not do it on a weekend? Why a weeknight? Don’t you have classes tomorrow?”
“I’ve already asked my professor for permission.”
My morning class tomorrow happened to be Zimmer’s basic swordsmanship lecture. Since he and I were in a cooperative relationship, he let me skip class for what I called a 'field trip.'
“What? Then what about you?” A surprised Chloe turned to Ciel, who answered calmly.
“I have also taken a leave of absence.”
At Ciel’s answer, Chloe clutched her head with both hands in despair.
“Hey, you should have told me that beforehand! I have an archaeology class first thing tomorrow morning!”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“…”
“But don’t worry. If you submit the records of this exploration to your professor, a measly attendance score will be the last of your concerns. Am I wrong?”
As an academy for adventurers, Dilettante’s principles were very free-spirited. Attendance scores made up only a small percentage of the total grade, while extra points from explorations and research reports were worth far more.
“Fine, fine! I’ll go, alright?! But you’d better be ready if there’s nothing here!”
*
Relying on the light of our mana flashlights, we ventured deep into the abandoned school.
Rustle—.
The chirping of insects and the sound of small creatures scurrying by filled the air. They were likely small animals like snakes, rats, or cats that had made their home in the ruins. The Dark Rats we had exterminated before were also found near this area.
Screech—.
Every time she heard a sound, Chloe would jump in fright and chatter noisily.
“Ugh, damn it! That stupid rat.”
“…”
With a grumbling Chloe in tow, we arrived at the center of the building. It seemed to have once served as the central hall of the massive structure.
Step—.
Confirming we had reached our destination, I stopped and looked up. Through a gaping hole in the ceiling, the brilliant night sky was visible. The center of the four-story building looked as if it had been pierced by a pillar of light, leaving a massive void from the ground floor all the way to the roof.
Through that hole, the starlight and moonlight poured down, pooling across the floor. It had a mystical feeling, like a spotlight on a stage.
Looking at the hole that punched straight through every floor, Chloe said, “My seniors’ investigation reports also had records of this area. They said there were clear signs of artificial destruction. They thought there might be a clue if we searched the vicinity carefully…”
“Ciel, destroy this floor here.”
“Yes.”
I stepped out of the moonlight. Ciel silently approached and struck the spot with her fist.
KRAAANG—!
With Ciel’s strike, a vibration that seemed to shake the very earth erupted, and a cloud of white dust billowed upward.
“Aargh! What are you doing, suddenly smashing things?! I thought we were looking for a ruin!” Chloe’s scream, which was more of a shriek, was an added bonus.
The basics of archaeological exploration involved preserving the site, so her reaction was understandable given that I’d ordered it to be smashed without warning. A moment later, as the dust settled, the signs of destruction came into view.
As if a meteor had struck, the spot where I had been standing was literally obliterated. I knew Ciel’s physical strength was immense, but I hadn’t expected it to be this much. Looking at the aftermath, I felt a slight sense of fear.
“…That seemed a little personal.”
“It must be your imagination. Probably.” Ciel blew on her hand to dust off the stone powder, then stood demurely by my side.
Chloe ran over and shouted, “Hey, what do you think you’re doing, smashing it just like that! There might have been undiscovered clues left—”
“Quiet down and look below.”
I cut Chloe off and pointed at my feet. Beneath the thick concrete floor that Ciel had crushed, a dark steel door was visible. It was the entrance to the dungeon, forged from [Millennium Cold Iron].
As if boasting a sturdiness befitting its grand name, Ciel’s blow—which had crushed concrete like tofu—hadn’t left so much as a single scratch on the iron door.
“Huh, I can’t believe something like this was under the floor…” Chloe was so surprised she couldn’t close her mouth, but she quickly recovered, taking out her camera and snapping a picture.
Click—.
The broken floor and the dark iron door revealed beneath it. Ciel and I, standing on top of it. Chloe recorded the scene, the flash going off several times.
Ignoring her photography, I kicked away the concrete fragments on the iron door with the toe of my shoe. Then, I knelt on one knee and brushed away the remaining dust. As the surface cleared, a grid-like pattern engraved on the iron door was revealed.
It was a grid composed of a larger square made up of nine smaller boxes, arranged in three rows and three columns. Some of the boxes had numbers engraved in them.
‘It’s a Sudoku puzzle.’
It was a simple number puzzle where each vertical and horizontal line must contain the numbers 1 through 9, and each three-by-three box must also contain the numbers 1 through 9 without repetition. Normally, it wouldn’t be a very difficult problem, but...
‘The catch is that only ten numbers were initially engraved on this door.’
This meant the puzzle didn’t have a single unique solution, creating countless variables. Furthermore, this mana Sudoku required ‘mana’ to input the numbers; trying to solve it by brute force would lead to fainting from mana exhaustion.
Seeing the puzzle, Chloe frowned. “This… is going to take some time to solve.”
“Oh? You know what this is?”
“Hey. Of course I do. I’m in the Archaeology Department, you know.”
“How long do you think it will take?”
“Hmm, if it’s a standard Sudoku, about a week? It’d be faster if we brought some people with massive mana pools. I’m an expert at this, so I can solve it quickly. To estimate its production period, it’s from around 400 years ago, during the era of Emperor Cornelio…”
“Enough. I don’t need the history lesson.” I cut her off before she could launch into a lecture.
“Tch, so we’re heading back for now, right? We don’t have a way to solve it at the moment,” Chloe said, a sliver of hope in her voice.
But I shook my head firmly and checked my watch. “No.”
Then I raised my head, timing the full moon as it hung brightly in the night sky.
Tick-tock—.
I precisely calculated the moment the full moon would pass directly over the iron door.
Vwooom—.
I reached out and infused the door with my mana. Blue mana pooled on the surface, unable to be absorbed. The Millennium Cold Iron repelled my mana instead of accepting it. And then, the ripples of mana on the surface reacted to the grid, revealing several more numbers that had been invisible.
Fwoosh—.
“Huh, the numbers…!”
New numbers emerged on the puzzle, glowing with a blue light. This brought the total number of hint digits to 17. The minimum number required for a unique solution had been met.
I removed my hand from the door. “You can solve it quickly now, right, Chloe?”
This was the very reason I had insisted on coming to the abandoned school on a weeknight, at a specific time. To solve this puzzle quickly, the moonlight imbued with the magic of the ‘full moon’ was necessary. I needed to obtain the Carbonated Water Maker blueprint and start the manufacturing process before the Athletic Festival began, so tonight was my only window.
“Ye—Yes! Just leave it to me.”
Putting down her large backpack, Chloe put on a pair of glasses and focused on the puzzle with bated breath. Not long after:
“I—I got it!”
FWOOSH—.
With Chloe’s shout, a bright light erupted from the iron door, and a vibration ran through the floor.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—.
With a tremor that once again shook the ground, the iron door slowly began to open. I watched the scene with a faint smile.
‘…The blueprint for the Carbonated Water Maker should be in this dungeon.’
On top of that, it would be even better if an artifact or trait suited for me was waiting as a clear reward.
“Let’s go in.”