Chapter 521 - 464. Sometime, Somewhere
"How about this?"
"Yes. Mana charge rate for the Emergency Magic Crystal Stone is 100%. Operation is now possible for 30 days from the present."
According to Hitomi-san, not only the manager but multiple people could infuse Mana, so the three of us—me, Bell, and Seth—were able to fill it to full capacity.
Naturally, my MP was quite depleted, so,
"Woof~"
"Thanks. Just a little more."
I received [Mana Aid] from Lupi, who was keeping watch over the stairs leading down.
The guard golems were already set not to perceive us as enemies, and there probably wouldn't be any sudden monster appearances.
"I have a question for Hitomi-san. Is it possible for the manager to change?"
"Yes. There are legitimate and non-legitimate procedures for changing managers."
The legitimate procedure involved transferring the 'Azure Star Ring' that Bell wore, following Hitomi-san's instructions.
The non-legitimate one was when the facility entered Preservation State, and someone else became the manager, which essentially meant a reset upon restart.
"So, for the time being, there will be no problem as long as we do not neglect Mana replenishment, I suppose."
"Yes. Also, I'd like to restrict who can enter this Control Room..."
""Ah-oh.""
Azure-san and I involuntarily chimed in unison.
If this Southern Island were eventually opened to the public, the Ancient Ruins would naturally be discovered, and considering that eventuality...
"Hitomi-san. Can you restrict who comes to this Control Room?"
"No. It cannot be completely restricted, but it can be set as much as possible."
'As much as possible,' what does that mean? Apparently, the Transfer Elevator already requires the 'Azure Moon Ring's highest authority to reach this floor. So, direct access is impossible without me.
And to come from the floor below, one would need the 'Azure Star Ring's higher authority, but it seems it can be set for the golems to guard against anyone other than us.
"Hmm. That will suffice for now."
"Yes. Could you please apply that setting?"
"Yes. Setting... Complete."
By the way, there are Magic Iron Golems on the floor below, apparently.
Golems made of Magic Steel? That sounds pretty dangerous...
"Alright, let's go see the lower floor right away!"
Azure-san, excited, probably just wanted to see those Magic Iron Golems...
...
...
...
We descended the stairs from the top floor (10th floor) to the 9th floor below.
There was a door at the bottom, which Bell's 'Azure Star Ring' with its higher authority could open.
Beyond that, in a rather spacious room, about two classrooms' worth, stood three Magic Iron Golems in the center.
[Magic Iron Golem]
A golem made of Magic Steel. It possesses hardness superior to Iron Golems and high resistance to magic.
"If we had come normally, we would have had to fight and defeat these..."
"Even if one ignored them and ran up the stairs, Polymo Golems would be waiting above."
Fighting those while Magic Iron Golems chased us, that would be a complete end.
"Hitomi-san. These guys will eliminate them for us, right?"
"Yes."
So, that's incredibly reassuring. If I were to wish for more, I'd want the Polymo Golems revived too... but that might depend on Azure-san.
The innermost part of the room seemed to be where the most important person resided, with a large, luxurious-looking desk and an unusually grand chair set up.
"Hitomi-san. Could you please describe this room?"
"Yes. The 9th floor above ground consists of the manager's office and the facility's record archives."
This is apparently the office. It feels unnecessarily spacious, though...
"How was it used?"
"Records from before the Preservation State have been discarded, so I cannot answer."
"Ah-oh, same as Nina, then..."
"Considering it entered Preservation State due to the calamity, it may have been like this even before then."
Even our island almost ran out of Mana, so this island probably did too. In that case, are there undead here too? No, but they'd be eliminated by golems, right?
"Shou-kun. Come over here for a bit~"
"Ah, yes."
While we were talking to Hitomi-san, Azure-san seemed to have been rummaging through the desk.
He apparently found something, and calling me meant it was either for a 'Blessed One' or 'highest authority' access.
"Can this be opened?"
"This is... a document box, I presume."
"Indeed. I've seen similar ones in Viscount Amiera's mansion."
According to Seth, it's called a Magic Confidential Box, a locked box designed to prevent documents from deteriorating.
The difference from my storage box, which I use as a refrigerator, is that if you try to force it open, the contents are incinerated...
"Oh, wow. That's amazing. So, it probably contains some pretty important documents, huh?"
I couldn't help but wonder if it was okay for me to open it, but the owner is probably gone anyway.
"Alright, I'll try it."
As I gently placed my hand on it,
[Access by Blessed One confirmed. Highest Administrator Authority confirmed. Unlock?]
"Yes."
When I answered, there was a click, and the closed lid felt lighter.
As Azure-san, Bell, and Seth watched with bated breath, I slowly opened it...
"They look like documents, but what are they?"
Figuring it would be faster to split the work, I divided the stack of documents into four and handed them to everyone.
I glanced at my portion...
"An appointment letter? It says, 'Appointed as Director of the Southern Ocean Seabed Resource Mining Facility.' The name is Theo Macdil... Wait?"
"What's wrong, Brother?"
"No, I feel like I've heard that somewhere before..."
At times like this, if Mion were here, she'd probably remember.
Well, never mind. I'll ask her later.
"This one looks like meeting minutes."
"Mine too, it seems."
"Mine appears to be a contract. It's like producing and delivering specified products, I suppose."
However, what the specified products were remained unknown. Or rather, they were referred to by model numbers like 'PD-30476,' which made no sense at all.
Even Azure-san apparently didn't know.
"What should we do with these?"
"For now, Brother should keep the box. Publicizing content only viewable by administrators is..."
"Yes. I feel it's too early for that now."
"I agree. We might find out more if we properly investigate other areas."
Seth and Bell were implicitly referring to 'something in a future update.' And Azure-san, 'no jumping ahead,' I guess?
"Understood. I'll review them with Mion later, especially since that name came up."
"Okay~. Well, there are still places we haven't seen, so let's move on."
We only went down one floor and looked at one room, after all.
There are still the remaining rooms on this floor, and more floors below, so we need to move quickly, or we'll never finish this...