Chapter 131: CH 134

Chapter 134 – Underground Ruins

“It’s not outside?” (Bouchi)

“It wouldn’t be in such a conspicuous location. What do you think they’re hiding in this building for?” (Rajie)

“….! There’s an entrance to the underground passageway in this building?” (Bouchi)

Rajie laughed in his idiosyncratic ‘hohoho’ manner and passed through the door, followed by me and then D’esta.

I suppose D’esta is planning to immediately kill me if anything happens. Scary, scary.

On the other side of the door, there was a narrow passage, with a door to each side, but we didn’t enter either one, proceeding directly to the end of the hallway. There was only a wall there, but removing the blue carpet from the floor revealed a hidden trapdoor.

D’esta opened it, and there was a ladder leading underground. Rajie went down first, followed by me, and lastly D’esta, just as before.

We descended the long, long ladder, and when we finally reached the ground, we found ourselves in a scene that looked like a ruin. Not only was the earth dug up, but there were also paths and pillars made of stone.

“I didn’t think that such a place would be under the imperial capital. It’s built like a city, too.” (Bouchi)

Although the ruins were quite weathered by time, I could recognize several of the ruins as buildings from afar.

“These are the underground ruins of Lagunia. Long before the imperial capital was founded, there was a city called Lagunia. However, it was destroyed in a great catastrophe, and the imperial city was said to have been built on top of it.” (Rajie)

“Wow, so they built a city on top of a city, huh?” (Bouchi)

Normally, the land should have been cleared if they wanted to build a new city. Why would they go through the trouble of leaving the city as ruins and building the capital, the symbol of the Empire, right on top of it?

Was this ruin of such great importance? No, then it wouldn’t be in such dilapidated circumstances.

Instead of going out of their way to protect the ruins with stone walls, floors, and ceilings, they could have just kept them outside as well.

After all, if the ceiling wasn’t strong enough to hold the weight of the capital, the entire thing could have collapsed. It was as if the imperial capital had been built on top of it to conceal its existence.

“The treasure vault is this way.” (Rajie)

On the walls, luminous jewels were placed at regular intervals to illuminate the surroundings. The glow it gave off was rather faint, but it was enough for us to make out the surroundings, much like how the moon dimly illuminated the Earth’s surface at night.

“There are traps in these ruins. Don’t carelessly touch anything.” (Rajie)

Oh come on, it’s that dangerous of a place? It’s kinda like a dungeon, isn’t it…?

“Are there monsters?” (Bouchi)

“What, you can turn back if you’re scared, you know?” (D’esta)

The plainly provocative words came from behind me.

“Apologies, but I’m not the kind of merchant who runs away when treasure is right before his eyes.” (Bouchi)

“…So in the end, all you are is a money-grubbing snob.” (D’esta)

“Hey, that’s going too far, D’esta. At one point in time, I was once a merchant who also only worked for profit.” (Rajie)

“…I misspoke.” (D’esta)

This maid didn’t seem to like merchants very much. Perhaps merchants had done something to her in the past. Even if there was, I wished she wouldn’t take it out on the other merchants of the world.

“Regarding your earlier question, Bouchi.” (Rajie)

“Hm? Ah.” (Bouchi)

“There are certainly monsters in these ruins. Just not the usual ones.” (Rajie)

“Not usual?” (Bouchi)

“Yes… Ah, look. Speak of the devil.” (Rajie)

“…A robot?” (Bouchi)

“Huh? What’s a ‘ro-bot’?” (Rajie)

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“Eh? Ahh… it’s kind of like a moving machine.” (Bouchi)

I wasn’t exactly sure how to define a robot, but the explanation shouldn’t be that far off. Either way, it seemed that the otherworlders didn’t know what robots were.

“In this world, it’s called a ‘robot’ then? We call it an ‘automan’.” (Rajie)

‘Automata’ would have been a better name though. Rajie proceeded to explain that there were spider, human, and beast-type automans.

I used the skill to search for the word ‘automans’ and found that there were many other various shapes and sizes, not just the ones previously described.

Apparently, after they recognized a target as an enemy, they would continue to attack until the target was eliminated. If I placed them on Joysprout Island, I could further bolster the defenses.

“Mm? What are you doing, moving your hands in such a strange manner?” (D’esta)

Ah, shit. I forgot she was behind me.

“It’s a bit of a habit. When I get nervous, my hands move on their own.” (Bouchi)

“…….” (D’esta)

D’esta stared at me as if she was trying to ascertain whether that was true or not. Rajie might know that I was lying, but he probably wasn’t saying anything because he understood that I didn’t want to say anything about it.

“Hey old man, do you think they’ll attack us if they find us?” (Bouchi)

“Don’t worry. I have an understanding of where they’re located.” (Rajie)

“That means they will attack if they see us, right?” (Bouchi)

I lamented to myself, thinking it would be horrible if every otherworldly maid was this violent.

But now, at least I knew that D’esta was strong. After a quick check earlier, the description said that the spider automan had power equivalent to D-Rank.

The fact that D’esta could handle them even while escorting Rajie meant that she had to be at least C-Rank in terms of strength. And if push came to shove, I had Shiki, so a D-Rank monster was nothing I needed to worry about.

“But what would such a strange monster be doing in a place like this?” (Bouchi)

“Probably to protect these ruins. No, it would be more precise to say that they were guarding it back when it was still a city.” (Rajie)

It’s been that long…? I thought to myself, but I suppose it might be possible for a machine. But if that was the case, it made me kind of sorry for them, continuing to move and protect an already collapsed city… without even knowing that they had already lost what they were supposed to be protecting.

Either way, since they weren’t on our side, I didn’t want to go near them willingly.

“There, it’s just up ahead.” (Rajie)

After a short walk, we found a set of stairs, leading even further underground. Upon slowly making our way down, we arrived at an open area, with what looked to be a wall at the very end of the space.

It seemed like there was nothing here, but upon closer inspection, there were paintings on the wall. It looked similar to an Egyptian mural, peeling and flaking in places as a sign of the ages that had gone by.

A demon-like being holding one black and one white sphere in either hand was depicted. Opposite it was a human, or rather, a huron, followed by a large force of monsters.

“What is this mural?” (Bouchi)

“‘Dunno. But what we do know is that it is a representation of some event that happened a long time ago.” (Rajie)

“Then it seems that the people of the world were fighting together to defeat the Curseweaver. But only one human—or rather, huron, is safe, and the rest seem like monsters.”

“So it seems. Well, let’s not worry about the meaning of the mural now, shall we?” (Rajie)

“Come to think of it, what are we doing here? It looks like a dead end.” (Bouchi)

“Stand back a little.” (Rajie)

Rajie ran a probing hand along the wall, and with the click of a switch, a part of the wall sank deeper. A cut appeared in the center of the mural, and the indented part opened up, swinging inward like a pair of double doors with a rumbling ‘gogogogogo’ sound.

When I saw the sight within, I couldn’t help letting out a sigh of wonder.

After all, the place before my eyes was filled with a breathtaking array of gold, jewels, treasure chests, and weapons. It was literally overflowing with treasure, leaving me completely bedazzled.

I rubbed my eyes, wondering to myself if this was perhaps a dream or an illusion.

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