Making Gold (5)
Making Gold (5)
Our steps as we climbed the dungeon were incomparably lighter than before.
For one, the biggest factor was that we had escaped from the Ruler of the 30th Floor. There were no creatures on this floor that threatened our lives, and we even gained the confidence that we could gradually grow stronger.
Additionally, thanks to the dungeon authority I possessed, even the baggage needed for our comings and goings was light.
"Here we go."
Since I couldn't show this to others, inside the elevator going up to the 10th floor, I opened a passage leading directly to the 30th floor. The elevator doors opened, and we had arrived on the 30th floor.
"......Really, no matter how many times I see it, I just can't believe it."
Raize, who had seen the space-moving technique, said that with a nonchalant expression. She's this composed now, but when I first showed her the authority, she went crazy, her eyes sparkling as she practically lost her mind.
'That was a bit tough back then.'
The price for piquing a mage's curiosity was high. I had to meticulously reveal the secrets of my authority to her, and even that wasn't enough—I had to help her with various experiments to satisfy her curiosity.
When she realized that this ability, the dungeon authority, was an authority of unknown origin and something related to the dungeon that no one had ever deciphered until now, she practically flipped her eyes back and went berserk.
"Come to think of it, how's the research on that going well?"
"Huh?"
"You took something from me, remember."
"Ah...... Yeah. In my own way."
Hearing that it was an authority no one had ever deciphered, I suddenly remembered that she had taken memories related to a god from me and asked Raize about the research progress.
However, she seemed reluctant to speak, wearing an awkward expression. Like when I stood before my father in my childhood, having failed to finish my homework.
She was refusing to even speak.
"......Don't tell me you didn't research it?"
"No, it's not that...... It's, um, that your memories themselves weren't very useful......"
"......What?"
"Memories are ultimately based on what you see and feel, right?"
"That's right."
Memories are ultimately the collective term for sensations recorded by the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.
You can't remember something you felt without the five senses. How could you remember something you didn't see, hear, smell, taste, or feel?
"Dojin, your memories are like that."
And my memories of meeting the god were also like that. Although they were directly imprinted on my soul, they weren't the kind of memories that would remain directly in the brain.
After listening to Raize's explanation, I shook my head regretfully.
"What a shame."
"To be honest, it would be nice to have them, but it's not a big problem if we don't."
"Really?"
Raize said that and pointed with a tap-tap at the dungeon floor we were standing on.
"Right now, we have this dungeon, which exists for sure, don't we? We can just research this."
"......True."
Come to think of it, with my help, researching the dungeon probably wouldn't be that difficult. Who knows, maybe she could be the first to create a spatial movement magic that no one has ever made before.
"If you need my help, just say so anytime."
"Your help?"
Raize tilted her head and looked at me. Then she let out a hollow laugh.
"If I need help from someone like you who isn't even a mage, I might as well just tear off my mage badge."
"Uh...... Really?"
"If you want to be useful to me, why don't you at least learn some basic magic? Then I'll take you on as my assistant."
Hearing that, I felt an itch all over my body. Telling me to learn magic... With the necklace hanging around my neck right now, I could probably use almost all the magic she can use identically....
However, no matter how much she is my comrade and someone close to me, I hesitated to reveal this. Isn't she also a mage? I didn't know what choice she, who had lived her whole life as a mage, would make.
"I guess I should learn someday if the opportunity arises."
"Hmph, with that kind of attitude, you won't even be able to light a simple fire your whole life."
Raize said that and walked ahead. Following behind her, I let out a soft chuckle.
Little by little, I was becoming able to control my emotions. That meant I was getting accustomed to controlling my abilities.
'The more emotional turmoil there is... the easier it is to control.'
As I progressed through the dungeon, I felt the need to interact with the children more. Because I realized that the way to break an unwavering statue of Buddha is to shake it even more.
Dojin intended not to reveal his artifact to the mage. However, the world is quite harsh, and there are plenty of cases where things don't go as planned.
"Dojin!"
At Eunha's shout, he looked up. A werewolf jumped down from the ceiling. Since his attention was focused elsewhere, he noticed it late.
But Dojin swung his sword without any worry. Even if he noticed it a bit late, with his exceptional reflexes and physical abilities, it wasn't enough to be a threat.
'A little faster.'
And stronger.
The artifact clinging tightly to Dojin's body stole the bioelectric signals from his muscles and materialized that will.
Haste.
Strength.
Swish—!
"......Huh?"
Dojin let out a slight exclamation of surprise at his body, which had accelerated momentarily. His body moved more than 1.5 times faster than he had anticipated.
But there was no time to be bewildered. At 1.5 times the speed, Dojin hunted the monster even faster, beheaded the last werewolf, and returned to the party.
"Dojin, are you okay?"
"Leader, are you alright?"
While Eunha and Orion were worried because Dojin had almost missed the monster, Raize stared at him with sharp eyes.
Unconsciously, Dojin turned his head away, hiding the necklace.
"......You, that thing just now."
"Huh? What? What thing?"
"How did you do that?"
"Raize? Why are you suddenly—"
"Don't you two see it? He used magic! Just now!"
At those words, Eunha and Orion also looked at Dojin. Used magic? His movements were indeed fast enough to make one think that.
But he was a pure swordsman who didn't even know the first thing about magic, and that was something the party knew best.
Especially Eunha, who came from the same world as him, knew very well how absurd that was.
"Dojin used magic...? That can't be."
"You saw it and still don't know?"
"A scroll... maybe? But come to think of it... Dojin didn't know how to use anything like magic until a few months ago."
"......What?"
The most surprised by that statement was Raize. As a current mage, she knew well how arduous learning magic is.
Considering that she, who had devoted her whole life to magic, is only now a mid-level mage, and recalling that even so, she is treated as something of a genius.
It was truly an unbelievable thing.
"......You, explain. What on earth is going on?"
"I used a scroll."
"You think an excuse like that will work in front of me, a mage? I didn't even see you tear a scroll."
"......Actually, I've been learning magic for a few months now. I only practiced these two."
"Wow, that's really amazing. To learn magic to the point of omitting incantations in just a few months. Who on earth taught you? If there's a mage who teaches that well, I should quit learning from my master and learn from them instead."
However, no matter what method he used, he couldn't evade the suspicion of Raize, a current mage. Dojin let out a slight sigh and finally took out his necklace.
"......Raize, you're my comrade. Right?"
"What are you suddenly— If you think you can get away with that kind of talk—"
"Light."
Dojin held up his necklace and called out like that.
Let there be light.
And there was light.
"What is this......"
Perhaps like a religious person who witnessed God creating the world.
The shock Raize received upon seeing the necklace exhibit magic on its own was similar to that.
A shock as if the world was reborn and then collapsed.
Whether a strong mage or not, it was an unbearable shock.
In the end, Raize, unable to believe what she had seen, collapsed on the spot.
"Raize!?"
Seeing Raize collapse, Dojin took her and left the dungeon.
At dawn, when nocturnal animals open their eyes and fill the silent night with their cries, Raize slowly opened her eyes.
'......Where is this?'
Looking around, she realized she was at Dojin's mansion. Of course, there wouldn't have been a suitable place to take her after she suddenly collapsed in the dungeon.
'Did I sprawl out and sleep all day?'
Seeing the moon rising outside the window, Raize let out a hollow sigh. Yes, it was true that she had been sleep-deprived lately due to various matters and research.
Thanks to that, her condition was now the best it could be. If she just lay in bed like this and woke up in the morning, her condition would be perfect enough for everything to normalize...... but Raize stubbornly got up.
'I have to ask.'
What that thing she saw in the dungeon earlier was, whether it was indeed the 'kind of tool' she thought it was.
As a mage, she had a duty to know. And if it was indeed the tool she thought it was......
'......I'll have to destroy it.'
It can't be hidden forever anyway. It was already discovered by me, wasn't it? If a senior mage of the Magic Tower saw it, they would notice immediately.
And if the senior figures of the Magic Tower saw such an item, they would try to kill not only Dojin but also whoever made it.
Dojin wouldn't be able to stop the Magic Tower, the established authority of this world.
Raize thought it was better for a piece of new history to disappear than for Dojin to die. Even if distant future descendants recorded her as the villain who set back the development of magic by a thousand years. She intended to protect Dojin.
"Dojin......"
Coming out of her room, Raize encountered a person walking towards her from down the hallway with a clack-clack sound. It was an unfamiliar face. A newly hired maid, perhaps?
But the attire seemed too casual for that. Besides, this wasn't even the mansion where the maids slept.
"Huh? Who......"
"And who might you be......"
Noah tilted her head upon encountering Raize. A child, she wondered if Dojin had reached out to yet another new woman.
But believing firmly that he wouldn't go so far as to reach out to such a young child, Noah cleared her throat a few times and began introducing herself.
"Um, I'm Noah, an alchemist hired by Mr. Dojin."
"......An alchemist?"
"Yes. And you are...... who might you be?"
"An alchemist, you said."
An alchemist. A profession not very friendly with mages. They were the audacious ones trying to replicate sacred magic with alchemy.
Word had it that alchemists devote their whole lives to turning lead into gold, so she thought the woman before her was that type.
'......Gold?'
And the necklace Dojin had appeared in Raize's mind.
That was unmistakably solid gold.