Chapter 82
Chapter 82
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: The Seventh Floor Guardian
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Allen's team grew more accustomed to the ruins with each passing day.
Unlike the second day, when they spent most of the day just getting through the first floor, their times began to shorten as the days went by.
On the third day, they not only reached the second floor but also cleared about thirty percent of it.
On the fourth day, they managed to traverse nearly the entire second floor.
Had William not collapsed from exhaustion after several days of forced marching, they might have even made it to the third floor.
They rested on the fourth and fifth days to recover from their accumulated fatigue.
On the sixth day, fully recovered, the party entered the ruins, passed through the second floor with ease, and descended to the third.
On the third floor, not only the living dead but also golems began to appear.
The party tried to break through the third floor as quickly as they had the second, but the surprisingly strong golems and more subtle traps forced them to spend time adapting in the initial areas.
Thus, after fully adapting to the third floor on the seventh day, it wasn't until the eighth day—halfway through the practical training period—that they finally succeeded in reaching the fourth floor.
The morning after they returned from their arduous overnight journey.
Ariel opened her mouth, her expression serious.
“This isn't working.”
“What do you mean? Aren't we doing well?”
Evan replied with a puzzled look, adjusting the campfire.
A savory aroma wafted from the pot fixed over the fire. Unlike the first day of bland soup, Evan had grown skilled enough to make a decent meal.
Well, that was mostly thanks to the salt he'd gotten from a merchant.
“Absolutely not. Evan, how long did it take us to get to the fourth floor?”
“...Hmm, excluding the days we rested, six days?”
“Exactly! Six days! We've already used up half of the training period just to reach the fourth floor!”
Despite her passionate speech, Evan looked indifferent.
“But there are only three floors left to the seventh. Considering the time we have left, it seems perfectly possible, doesn't it?”
“The difficulty increases the deeper we go! Even if we do our best for the remaining six days, I predict the fifth floor will be our limit. The physical distance is just too great.”
“Isn't that good enough?”
Ariel thumped her chest, frustrated by his attitude.
“No, haven't you heard? Maria's team has already completed the map of the second floor and entered the third!”
Her appearance had changed.
Minimal, light makeup and simple leather gear over her academy uniform.
The haughty young lady who had entered the academy was nowhere to be seen; in her place stood an archer, thinking of how to get ahead.
“...What? Didn't we give up on a full clear because it was too difficult? But they finished clearing the second floor and went down to the third?”
“Yes. And even the team we dismissed as incompetent....”
She trailed off, glancing at Allen's expression before continuing.
“The team made up of remedial students is apparently finding numerous artifacts in every room they discover. The points for each are low, but with such a high number of artifacts, they're expected to at least rank high.”
She wasn't the only one who had changed.
Evan, in his time traversing the ruins, had shed some of his unnecessary etiquette, pretension, and arrogance.
“We're not the only ones pulling ahead.”
“...That's a problem.”
“Th-Then what should we do? Should we change our goal from the fastest descent to a full clear...?”
William, having finished a bowl of soup, spoke cautiously, but Ariel shook her head as if to say that wasn't the answer.
“It's too late for that. Trying to map everything out now would just take too long.”
“...Then.”
“We'll have to adjust our goal.”
The only one who hadn't changed since the beginning was Allen.
“I have an idea, but... what about you, Allen? If you've thought of something, tell us.”
If not for the faint traces of dignity in their every move, they would have looked for all the world like young mercenaries or adventurers.
Or perhaps, like ordinary comrades, or exactly what they appeared to be: students.
As if he were no different from them...
“Allen?”
“Ah.”
Ariel's questioning gaze brought Allen back to his senses. The direct stares of his teammates pierced him.
“Is something wrong?”
“If you're hurt, I can heal....”
“As Ariel said, I was thinking about what we should do next.”
“So you have a plan...?”
Facing their gazes, which were tinged with subtle expectation, Allen voiced the answer he had prepared.
“I wouldn't call it a plan. It's merely a countermeasure I've managed to squeeze out.”
“Just tell us already.”
Urged on by his teammates, who insisted it was fine, Allen answered briefly.
“The superstition about disappearances, and the seventh floor guardian.”
“Oh!”
As Evan let out an exclamation of understanding, Ariel's gaze snapped toward him. He turned away with an embarrassed look.
“Ahem, I was just expressing my admiration.”
“...Sigh.”
Ariel looked at him with an expression that screamed 'pathetic'.
“If you don't know, just stay quiet like William, Evan!”
“...Ah, alright. But isn't William always quiet...?”
“Try to be at least half like him.”
“I-I'm not that quiet...”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
As Evan quietly deflated and even William looked crestfallen, Allen continued his explanation.
“Our original plan was to reach the seventh floor as quickly as possible... but with the limits of physical distance, the best we can do in a single day is the fifth floor.”
“If a single day is the problem, then even if we have to force a march...”
“Then, do you think you could pass through the sixth floor, which is even deeper than the fifth, without a day's rest? No, even if you did, you wouldn't be able to defeat the final guardian, who we expect to be even stronger.”
Evan couldn't respond to Allen's logical explanation.
“And we don't have the stamina for it.”
This time, William's expression darkened.
“Of course, if we're satisfied with a decent score, it doesn't matter... but if we're going to aim for something, shouldn't we aim for first place?”
“...That's true.”
“Th-That's right.”
Evan and William quickly nodded in agreement.
“I originally thought we could aim for first place simply by reaching the seventh floor the fastest, but now that others are closing the gap with different methods, we need a surefire way.”
“Then the other method you're talking about, surely it's not....”
Ariel, seeming to understand the meaning behind Allen's words about the superstition and the guardian, muttered that he was crazy before finally asking directly.
“Allen, I hate to say this, but... are you actually insane?”
「See? I'm not the only one who thinks so.」
Allen tapped the blade of his sword, as if to tell the snickering Vestla to be quiet.
“Still....”
She raised the corners of her lips into a smile unthinkable from their first meeting.
“I like it. A lot.”
William and Evan stared blankly at each other, not understanding the conversation. Only Vestla burst into laughter at the words "I like it."
* * *
In the colossal ruin—no, in any ruin—many superstitions exist.
That a companion following you vanishes when you turn around, that the spirits of ancient people wander in their sleep, or that the ruins are actually preparations for an unimaginable apocalypse.
Most of these numerous superstitions are unprovable falsehoods... but sometimes, there's a grain of truth.
The reality behind the story of a companion vanishing when you look away is close at hand.
They are transported by magic, swallowed whole by a giant plant, or erased in an instant by some unknown machine.
It's a common trap, and regardless of the type of ruin, teleportation traps are one of the easiest to find.
The methods varied from ruin to ruin, but the result—a companion disappearing the moment you look away—was the same.
As it was such a common trap, one that made companions vanish in an instant certainly existed in this colossal ruin as well.
Though Allen's team had yet to experience it.
‘I'll have to use this.’
「…….」
‘Everyone is so motivated.’ Currently, the other team members were scattered.
William had gone to speak with a commoner he knew, while Evan and Ariel approached other nobles.
Alexius and Miled, who had arrived late, also went off, saying they would ask other upperclassmen and guides.
‘Vestla.’
「…….」
‘...Vestla?’
「Ah, ah, yes. What is it?」
She made a dazed sound, as if she had only just heard him.
‘Is something wrong? You've been unusually quiet lately.’
「No, I was just lost in thought for a moment. Sorry.」
Perhaps because Allen hadn't been using his sword, she had grown quieter since they entered the ruins.
「You're talking about what you discussed during the meal, right?」
‘Yes.’
「Aside from the danger, I think it's fine. And since the artifacts make it safe, there's practically no risk.」
‘Right. Among the various traps, if we use one that transports us to a lower floor, we should be able to skip levels.’ After that, if they defeat the guardian of the seventh floor, no one else would be able to close the gap, no matter what they did.
「How clever of you. Ahh. I hope a situation where you need to use the sword comes soon.」
Vestla grumbled in a deliberately exaggerated tone.
‘It might... come soon.’
「Really? You really mean it?」
‘Yes.’
「Yahoo!」
Allen's gaze shifted toward the entrance of the ruins, where a commotion had erupted as if some incident had occurred.
“What's with all the sudden noise?”
“Hey, haven't you heard? There's chaos. They're saying the escape artifacts we were given aren't working.”
“What? Is that for real? No, surely not...”
Piecing together the rumors, it seemed a team exploring the second floor had found unconscious students collapsed on the first floor on their way back.
The escape artifacts were supposed to forcibly extract a student upon detecting danger to the bearer.
Fainting or falling unconscious was no exception.
If consciousness was lost, the artifact should have activated for any reason.
But none of the collapsed students had been extracted?
“Attention all students not currently inside the ruins! Due to an incident, we will be temporarily suspending the schedule. I repeat...”
“Wait, Professor. What does that mean...?”
It meant that something within the ruins had finally begun to move.
Unlike the second floor, the entrances to the third and fourth floors lacked any information that seemed directly related to things like the black or white books, which was disappointing.
So, for Allen, this incident was a stroke of luck.
‘...Should I look into the ancient mythological era?’
Allen recalled the text written at the entrances leading down to the third and fourth floors.
The sacred tree has not yet sprouted.
Suri, destined for the peak of ashes, lost a dear friend.
Only the mocker carrying the corpse hid alone in the burrow.
Great king, father of the wise, as the evil hand screams.
I have secretly hidden a precious treasure.
Whoever finds it shall gain the greatest companion to share a lifetime with.
* * *
The seventh floor's depths, a place where neither the advance party nor any of the students had ever set foot.
A hall on the lowest level of the ruins.
A place only the academy's investigation team had confirmed in the early stages before departing.
In such a place, a single doll was moving busily.
The hill-sized golem guarding the core stood its ground, seemingly unaware of its presence.
Its task was simple.
*Tap— Tap— Tap—*
“Erase this... leave this one.”
Erasing the murals and sentences that needed to be removed, leaving only what was meant to remain.
“What a relief to finish before the comet falls.”
Brown hair and green eyes.
The middle-aged man with a protruding belly finished his work, a smile never leaving his face.
“If only I'd come a little earlier, I could have finished the upper floors too....”
His expression clouded with regret before he pulled a small mirror from his coat.
Then, with a reverent expression, he knelt and spoke.
“Lady Kasha, I have completed the task.”
“Well done.”
A beautiful voice emanated from the mirror.
He flinched for a moment, then bowed his head even lower.
“N-Not at all. It is all thanks to His providence!”
“Yes, your efforts will all be rewarded....”
The mirror's surface began to turn black.
“Paern.”
“Aah....”
The blackened mirror briefly emitted a white light, which instantly expanded and swallowed the man.
*Vwoom—*
The golem belatedly checked the spot, but there was nothing to be found, as if no one had ever been there.
The space fell silent once more.