Lashutku Ruins (4)
Step, step.
Since entering the Lashutku Ruins, we had been wandering freely through the ancient empire.
With every step we took, dust that had accumulated over thousands of years billowed up.
It wasn't so thick that it made breathing difficult. Rather, it felt like it added a fittingly mysterious atmosphere.
It was as if the echoes of the past were faintly drifting in the air.
'By the way, it's exactly the same as the game...'
We continued our exploration all day, but all we encountered were empty buildings.
Traces of the once-prosperous empire remained everywhere, but naturally, the energy of life that must have filled them was nowhere to be felt.
"It is strange," Pean murmured softly.
"As I mentioned when we were climbing the stairs, I cannot detect any living creatures at all."
"..."
"Not even a common flying insect. And yet..."
Pean shifted his gaze, and we turned our heads to follow his look.
Far in the distance, a massive imperial palace revealed itself amidst the various buildings.
It boasted an overwhelming grandeur that was on a completely different level from the other structures.
"What faint movements I can sense are all concentrated there."
"..."
"..."
Indeed. The area we were currently wandering around was merely a comfortable farming spot. All the "danger elements" of Lashutku were gathered in the imperial palace.
'Of course, the rewards are on a different level too.'
High risk, high return. As I've said many times, Lost Elder was a world where the rewards strictly matched the player's suffering.
In other words, the treasures inside the imperial palace were incomparable to the things we were picking up now.
The items we were gathering now were literally just bonuses; the real core rewards were all sleeping deep within the palace.
Anyway, our group went in and out of countless buildings, packing away items to our hearts' content.
In a place presumed to have once been a mages' laboratory, we obtained various skill books, and in what looked like an alchemists' guild, we acquired precious research materials.
"T-this is...!"
Creaaak.
Even the safes of luxurious mansions poured out all kinds of treasures.
Of course, there was too much to take everything, but our pockets still grew quite heavy.
"Whoa..."
Among us, the Koshat siblings were by far the most excited. Marcus, in particular, had completely lost his mind.
To him, every piece of old furniture and every single decoration hanging on the wall seemed like living, breathing historical records.
He even treated the pebbles rolling on the street as relics worthy of research, which said it all.
"T-this too... I feel like we absolutely have to take this one as well..."
"Get a grip! We still have so many places left to look, and you've already filled half of your subdimensional backpack! I told you to throw away the useless stuff!"
"...Tsk."
Drag, drag.
Still, it was a relief that Natalia acted as a restraint. Whenever Marcus lost his head, she would firmly grab his collar and drag her brother along.
"It looks like the exploration is finally nearing its end."
"We really walked around the city without a single break. Now only that place is left, right?"
We explored the ruins like that for three days. The imperial palace, which had seemed so far away, was now right in front of us.
Having swept an enormous amount of rewards into our respective subdimensional backpacks, our party set up our final camp before entering the imperial palace.
There were three days left until the auction began. We still had plenty of time.
Whoosh!
Selena reached out and lit a fire.
Gathering firewood from various places to make a campfire, spreading out sleeping bags, and preparing a simple dinner. All these chores were the responsibility of the slave... no, the graduate student, Isaac Berylof.
'And in the midst of this, he doesn't even complain about why his fellow graduate student, Strawberry Latte, isn't doing any work.'
Seeing how he didn't even think to complain, Isaac Berylof was indeed a graduate student to his very bones.
"Give it here. That's not how you do it."
"...Ah."
Once Natalia, an explorer with abundant camping experience, lent a hand, the preparations were finished in no time. We sat in a circle around the campfire.
"Sir Gaon, if you don't mind..." Marcus adjusted his glasses and spoke cautiously.
Believing me to be an "ancient being," he seemed determined to clear up all his curiosities this time.
"Could you verify if the research we've done so far is correct? I don't think we'll ever get another chance to hear directly from someone who actually lived in that era."
"..."
Since I had no particular reason to refuse, I began to pull out the lore of Lost Elder that I had memorized.
"The staple food of the ancient era was 'Ether Grain.' Unlike ordinary crops, it contained magical power, so just eating it naturally improved mana circulation."
"...!"
Marcus's eyes widened.
"Was it really? We actually analyzed the remains of a granary we excavated and detected a trace amount of magical reaction! So we had formulated a similar hypothesis!"
In truth, information about the "ancient era" and the Lashutku Ruins wasn't very detailed even in the game. Details like lifestyle were mostly areas that players had to deduce themselves.
Still, I drew upon the knowledge I had gained from meeting the ruins investigation team over my 200 playthroughs and answered tactfully. As a result, my testimony and the ruins investigation team's research were bound to align.
"Aaaah."
...Of course, Marcus, who didn't know that, was on the verge of dying from pure happiness.
"D-did you hear that, Natalia? Our efforts weren't in vain! The ruins investigation team's research was truly meaningful!"
"Brother, calm down. You're too excited right now."
Chuckle.
I let out a soft chuckle.
At that moment, Pean looked at me with a somewhat meaningful expression... but since there was no reason to care, I just ignored it and moved on. If he had something to say, he would start the conversation himself.
After that, the topic of conversation drifted back and forth. Having talked about the Lashutku Ruins to death over the past three days, the topic naturally shifted to the auction in Dawnguard.
"What! You guys are after the brain core too?"
Biorf jumped up and shouted, to which Selena replied with an exasperated expression.
"Professor, why are you so shocked by something so obvious? Isn't it a given that everyone covets the brain core?"
"I-is that so...?"
"When else would we get a chance to study the heart of a Divine Beast that has lived for thousands of years? Besides, it's a mysterious organ that allows one to freely control thunder and lightning."
Biorf scratched his head, and Marcus slowly nodded.
"That's right. Of course, other parts are desirable too, but there is no organ as important as the brain core."
"..."
"If we can analyze how the Heavenly Dragon Bird generated and controlled thunder, it will be an immense research resource for the ruins investigation team."
Biorf scowled, clearly displeased, and grumbled, "Does the ruins investigation team even study things like that?"
"Yes, well... after all, the Divine Beast is also a creature that has existed since the ancient era."
"Impressive! But we can't back down either! The ruins investigation team merely chases the traces of the past, but Wintersield can use that knowledge to evolve lightning magic to the 'next stage'!"
Swish.
Biorf suddenly turned his gaze to Strawberry Latte and chuckled.
"Isn't that right, Targon? Why don't you tell them about your excellent research? Bwahaha!"
Biorf burst into loud laughter, wrapping his arm around Strawberry Latte's shoulder.
"Haha, hahaha..."
Strawberry Latte could only laugh awkwardly. He seemed burdened by suddenly becoming the center of attention.
"..."
Crackle, crackle.
Meanwhile, the number one graduate student, Isaac Berylof, was miserably roasting marshmallows in the corner. Adelia was staring blankly at him from the side.
Flinch.
Startled by the sudden gaze, Isaac asked, "W-what is it?"
"...It is nothing."
Adelia turned her gaze away with a somewhat disappointed expression.
"By the way," Biorf, who had been staring at the campfire, spoke up.
"Since the ownership of the Heavenly Dragon Bird's corpse belongs to Sir Gaon, you can ultimately sell it to whoever you want, can't you? It doesn't necessarily have to go to the highest bidder."
I replied with a faint smile, "Well. Won't it go to the person who offers the most money?"
"Bwahaha! In that case, our Wintersield will be at a considerable advantage!"
Biorf laughed, puffing out his chest confidently.
"We brought an enormous amount of money this time! A whopping twenty-five percent of the academy's budget!"
"...Our investigation team is the same, you know?"
Natalia shot back, refusing to back down.
"Headquarters allocated a special budget just for this auction. In terms of the amount, it won't fall short of Wintersield's."
"Wh-what?!"
A strange war of nerves flowed between Biorf and Natalia.
"Sigh."
Watching them, Selena let out a sigh and shook her head.
"Whether it's the ruins investigation team or Wintersield, obtaining the brain core will surely lead to meaningful research achievements in their respective fields. It would have been nice if there were two brain cores instead."
And...
Grin.
...Hearing those words, Strawberry Latte and I exchanged a meaningful smile when no one was looking.
Zzz, zzz.
In the night when everyone was fast asleep, I volunteered to stand watch with Pean.
It was because he had seemed to have something to say for the past few days.
As the campfire crackled and burned, Pean spoke cautiously.
"You carry something terrifying in your breast pocket."
"..."
At those words, I immediately realized that Pean had sensed Jacques's Trial.
It made sense. Jacques's Trial was a literal 'mass of disaster' where the energy of the evil god itself was condensed.
No matter how deeply I had hidden it, it would have been difficult to deceive Pean's Super Sensory.
'I was planning to organize my new abilities and challenge the trial after this auction ended...'
Of course, I could jump into the trial right now. However, it was much safer to first acquire the abilities that could be obtained from the Lashutku Ruins and the Dawnguard auction.
When it came to a trial related to an evil god, no amount of preparation was excessive.
"Well, putting that aside..."
Pean did not pry further about Jacques's Trial. Seeing how he immediately moved on to another topic, it seemed what he was truly curious about lay elsewhere.
Swish.
Sure enough, he began to stare at Mokgwe, the sheath hanging at my waist.
"It seems you pulled off something interesting at the Forge of the Single Fire?"
"..."
The reason he stared so intently at Mokgwe was none other than this. He clearly knew that I had engraved Residual Super Sensory through the resonance of the True Name.
"Are you displeased that I borrowed your authority without permission?"
"Not at all."
Pean shook his head.
"I won't ask the reason or purpose either. After all, all your actions are to prevent the end of the world."
Pean paused for a moment before quietly adding, "It's just... I'm only worried about whether you can properly use a 'sense' that took even me hundreds of years to adapt to."
I didn't answer. Instead, I turned my gaze to look at the imperial palace visible in the distance.
"We'll find out soon enough."
Leaving behind that short remark, I turned my head back toward the campfire.
Creeeeak, thud!
The next day. As soon as we set foot in the imperial palace, the massive gates slammed shut with a bang.
Soon after, a low, heavy voice echoed throughout the entire palace.
"Bear the trial corresponding to the weight of the treasures you have taken. Prove your worthiness in proportion to the size of your greed."
"..."
"..."
"..."
A brief but chilly silence fell.
Marcus, whose pupils were shaking wildly, suddenly hiccuped. His subdimensional backpack was already on the verge of overflowing.
Looking at me, he muttered in a trembling voice, "Should I throw some away now, Sir Gaon?"
No. There's no need for that.
Because...
'...I was planning to raise the trial's difficulty to the absolute maximum from the very beginning.'