Chapter 99

Chapter 99. Entering the Ruin (1)

We arrived at ruins that seemed as though they had once been a magnificent castle long ago.

They were ruins that had collapsed entirely and had long since lost their original appearance, covered in trees and vines.

They gave off a feeling similar to the ruin near our territory. The same ruin where I had even died.

Of course, the ruins near the territory had not been covered in trees or vines, so they had not been this difficult to recognize.

In front of the ruin, the exploration party ended up fighting another large battle.

That was because monsters had built a nest in the ruin.

It was probably a coincidence, but the monsters that had built the nest were the same type as the lizard monsters that had been at the place where Ride had found the pouch.

Perhaps because they were monsters too, they resembled lizards while having feathers on their tails. Unlike that time, however, the feathers were blue.

When I had found the pouch, it had seemed like a monsters’ nest far too difficult to deal with, but this time was different from back then.

The monsters sprayed torrents of water from their mouths instead of fireballs, but each time, those torrents were blocked by the knights’ shields and stopped by the barrier deployed by a noble officer.

Katrine also created an enormous shield with her ability and protected the students.

After blocking the monsters’ water streams, which looked as though they could pierce armor, the exploration party steadily brought down the monsters that swarmed toward us.

The royal knight order and noble officers, who had rested sufficiently along the way, displayed ability no different from the beginning, and the academy students who had experienced real combat handled the monsters far more skillfully than at first.

After defeating the monsters like that, and finally bringing down the largest monster, we were able to occupy the monsters’ nest.

Unfortunately, there was nothing useful inside the nest except for broken eggs.

We had not come to hunt monsters either, so all the monster corpses were burned away with abilities.

After cleaning out the nest entirely like that, we settled in front of the entrance leading underground.

Count Chaifri stood before the entrance leading underground and was lost in thought for a long time.

As a third party, I could not know whether he was moved because he had found so easily the ruin that had been his house’s long-cherished wish for hundreds of years, or whether he regretted handing the ruin over to someone else.

‘But we came far too easily compared to what I expected.’

Of course, crossing the continent and coming all the way here without the academy’s teleportation magic circle seemed extremely difficult.

On top of that, crossing the sealed grounds would also have been difficult without royal power such as the royal knight order.

However, even knowing the rough location of the ruin, it was still difficult to understand why they had not tried again after the accident fifty years ago.

‘Is that how important the map is?’

The front side was a map for finding the ruin, but since the ruin had already been found, it likely no longer had much meaning.

However, the back side of the map, the map of the ruin’s interior, had many parts erased and did not seem very meaningful because the structure was not especially complex.

Once things were somewhat organized, the senior knight of the royal knight order called the students over.

When the exhausted students gathered around, he shouted loudly.

“Everyone, attention!”

“I sincerely thank the students of Carlos Royal Academy for following us all the way here without falling behind. The royal knight order and the kingdom army officer corps will remember the names of everyone who participated here.”

The noble officer standing beside the senior knight nodded greatly at the knight’s words.

It meant they would give bonus points or priority for entry into the knight order or officer enlistment after graduation.

“The underground ruin we will be entering from now on is an extremely dangerous place. Students, please maintain the camp here, prevent monsters from entering, and support those who enter the ruin.”

At the words that followed, the students let out sighs.

In truth, everyone had expected it to some extent.

Since they had agreed to remember our names, we had achieved our desired goal, and although we would not enter the ruin, we could still boast that we had participated in the ruin exploration. Therefore, not many people were dissatisfied.

“Only the dead are pitiful.”

On top of that, Valea was about the only one who could say that out loud.

That day, the exploration party camped once again in front of the ruin.

The headmaster opened the box again and created a safe zone, and we had a plentiful meal with the food that poured out of the relic bag and subspace.

Unfortunately, the rest ended there.

Though the sun had set, unlike yesterday, people moved busily.

The royal knight order and noble officers prepared for the ruin exploration with Count Chaifri.

The students ended up doing hard labor.

And we heard the reason through the headmaster.

After gathering the students, he pointed to the box from which light was soaring.

“This relic that prevents monsters from approaching is an extremely remarkable object, but that does not mean it has no flaws.”

Well, I had been watching it all along, but it was so remarkable that I had thought it could not possibly have no weaknesses.

“As you know, this relic cannot be used while moving.”

That was easy to understand. If it could be used while moving, there was no way we would have suffered so much to come here.

“And it cannot be used continuously beyond a certain amount of time. One might say it needs time to recharge.”

Was that the reason we had been unable to stay until night during field training, and why we had only used it when sleeping at night?

“If it is used at night, it cannot be used during the day. In that case, we must face the monsters ourselves.”

That had to be the reason they were telling the students to guard the entrance.

They had said they were leaving us behind for the students’ sake, but as it turned out, we were a shield while they explored the ruin.

The expressions of the students and professors worsened even more than before, but there was no other way.

We began gathering stones, wood, and vines from the ruins and building a defensive wall centered around the entrance leading underground.

Since ability users with bodies several times stronger than ordinary people had gathered here, the work proceeded quickly.

The wall rose high, and traps and obstacles were rapidly made.

The area around the ruin entrance gradually became something that could be called a makeshift fortress.

After working like that for quite some time, I heard a loud voice from behind.

“What does that mean?”

It was Katrine’s voice.

When I turned around in surprise, Katrine was shouting at the senior officer.

There, aside from Katrine, the princess, and the senior officer, Count Chaifri and the noble officer with the highest rank were also present.

Perhaps they immediately set up a sound-blocking wall, because I could no longer hear her voice, but her angry face was clearly visible even in the darkness.

A short while later, perhaps because the conversation had ended, Katrine and the princess returned to the students’ camp.

Katrine called me over while I was working.

I threw aside the stone I had been carrying and went to the princess and Katrine.

When I approached, Katrine spoke with a serious expression.

“There is a problem.”

“Is the princess included among the people going down below?”

At my answer, Katrine and the princess looked at me in surprise.

“How did you know that?”

It was not particularly difficult.

“If you were getting angry with the princess beside you, Katrine, I thought it could only be that.”

“That is true.”

At my words, the princess and Katrine blankly accepted it.

But could they arbitrarily make the princess participate in the ruin exploration?

“Can you not refuse?”

At my words, the princess shook her head.

“I cannot. They used the reason that royalty must inspect a royal event. Since the royal knight order moved under the Crown Prince’s order, it fits precedent, and because it is something the Crown Prince ordered, it is difficult to refuse.”

“It is a precedent that ignores the princess’s gender and age entirely.”

The Crown Prince’s order and royal precedent.

I had not thought I would see the royal family’s power struggle with my own eyes this soon.

Surely they had not targeted the princess from the beginning?

“Do you think there is some scheme?”

“I do not think so. If my eldest brother did this, he is probably only trying to make things difficult for me.”

At my words, the princess shook her head.

However, this time, it was not easy to believe the princess’s words.

“When a dragon shoots a fireball, beasts burn to death. The Crown Prince may call it mere hardship, but we cannot know whether it will end as only hardship for us.”

Katrine felt the same way.

“I got angry, but there was no way around it. Instead, two people will go with her.”

There was no way I would not know who those two people were.

“You and I, Katrine.”

“Yes. Please.”

“Please help me.”

The princess placed her hand on her chest and bowed her head deeply.

A sincere greeting that royalty could not easily offer because of appearances. No matter how I looked at it, it was not a greeting a ten-year-old princess should give.

In any case, there were already rumors that I belonged to the princess’s faction, and while I attended the academy, I had to protect the princess, so I had intended to go with her from the beginning.

On top of that, seeing the princess ask like this made me genuinely want to help her.

Looking at the princess, I realized it once again.

If I had not remembered my previous life and had not repeated my life, I would have become a knight who sincerely followed the princess.

‘If the two princes know the princess well, they must fear her that much.’

The next morning.

Most of the students and teachers, along with part of the royal knight order, remained at the exploration party’s forward base at the ruin entrance.

The students who remained looked at me with great envy as I went down into the underground ruin.

“Those are not envious eyes. They are eyes full of anger and jealousy.”

Valea, who was seeing me off, told me the truth.

There was no need to strike me with facts like that.

I also spoke to her.

“Be careful, and if something happens, hide as much as possible. Of course, I am sure you will do well even if I do not say it.”

Judging from how things were going, neither the side entering nor the side remaining seemed particularly safe.

“This is the first time. To think you are worrying about me. I will survive well, just as you said, Young Master Alex.”

No, rather than being worried about her safety, I wanted her to survive as much as possible and tell me the circumstances if something happened. However, I decided to keep that thought only in my heart.

“We are departing immediately.”

After greeting Valea, Bria, and a few students, and waving to Manuel, who was watching from a distance, I headed toward the underground ruin together with the princess and Katrine.

About thirty people, including more than ten members of the royal knight order, more than ten noble officers, Count Chaifri, and our party, began descending underground together.

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The wide passage, broad enough for four or five people to walk side by side, sloped diagonally downward.

The deeper we descended, the weaker the light from the entrance became, but it was not much of a problem.

Everyone here was an ability user who could see ahead in reasonably dark places, and several light-related ability users had floated light sources above the group.

After descending for quite some time, the sloping passage had returned to level ground.

“From here onward, we have no information.”

After checking the skeleton leaning against the wall, Count Chaifri stepped back.

Perhaps it had been discussed in advance, because the royal knight order stepped forward.

Fortunately, we, who were at the very back, did not have to change positions.

The group departed again.

Seeing the royal knight order step forward, the princess asked quietly,

“I heard there are adventurers and mercenaries who find ruins. Should such people not take the lead?”

“That skeleton over there is one of those mercenaries.”

Katrine pointed to the skeleton leaning against the wall.

“Finding where a ruin is located is something even unawakened mercenaries or adventurers can do. But exploring the inside of a ruin is close to impossible for ordinary people who do not know mana and have no abilities.”

Katrine pointed to the corpse left behind and told her, “That is the result.”