Chapter 342 - Episode 6: The Wall That Repels All ④
Basically, it's a straight line to where the golem is. And before that, there's likely a secret path leading to a small room. We proceeded while illuminating with a high-level Firefly that Sianya had pierced through with three Holy Lances.
The passage likely had something like mold growing in it, but perhaps because it was scorched by Prominence, it's strangely clean. The water melted from Glaciate has become like steam. It's like a low-temperature steam bath. Because the temperature of the passage itself has become high due to the heat of Prominence and the Fireflies are emitting heat, I've started to get drenched in sweat.
After about a hundred steps, Bonnie stopped. It seemed she found the secret path.
Changing roles, when illuminated with the Light orb held by Saxburg, there's a gap at our feet just large enough to crawl through. Further down the passage, there's a part where the floor has turned black, perhaps the scorched remains of a golem.
When I brought out a Firefly and handed it to Bonnie, she went right in.
She seemed to have stood up midway. It must be one step higher.
"There's a small room. There's a magic circle on the floor. Something's written on the wall."
Hmm. It seems safe.
The magic circle is likely a Teleport without magic infused into it. You complete it by using Teleport with the scroll that was lying around. This way, until it's completed, it can be preserved for a long time as long as it's not damaged.
Eleanor-sama, who had entrusted the orbs of holy water she was manipulating to Mary after merging them into one, crawled in and investigated. As a result, the characters Bonnie found were indeed ancient characters. I took turns to go and see.
Blessings to the Liberator
That's what was written.
Next was the scorched remains of the golem.
Answering Eleanor-sama's request, when I cleaned it with Clean Up, a magic circle appeared.
"This is it! The legendary secret art, Puppet!"
She joyfully began to copy it down.
"As I thought, it was a combination of Forbidden Magics. Most likely, a combination of Doll and Necromancy. To think there was a magic circle that combines two spells!"
She might be misunderstanding the purpose.
"Somewhere, there must be the Magic Stone that served as the golem's core. Surely a magic circle must be engraved on it."
Uh, wouldn't it have melted from Prominence...
Suddenly, Eleanor-sama's movements stopped. She turned pale. As she illuminated the depths as if snatching the Firefly Bonnie was holding, something glittering could be seen.
"That's it! There's no mistake!"
"Mother-in-law! It's dangerous! The scouting isn't finished yet!"
Magdalena-sama tried to stop Eleanor-sama as she dashed out with the Firefly in hand, but she lightly dodged her.
"Wilhelmina! What are you doing! You restrain Mother-in-law too!"
"Y-yes!"
Since Eleanor-sama had brought the Headmistress's simple barrier, we decided to take a break.
Eleanor-sama, who had started to deviate from the original purpose, successfully secured the Magic Stone. Since a magic circle was engraved on it as imagined, she herself is very satisfied.
"I'm tired."
"Yes..."
Magdalena-sama and Will were out of breath. As expected of a former hero. She slipped through the hands of the two chasing her and reached the Magic Stone.
"I have Jeanne's Firefly. It's fine."
She's showing off the Firefly I made.
Uh, Eleanor-sama, the one you're holding is the un-enhanced one. Unfortunately, you can't defeat Revenants with that.
"Is that so?"
She seemed to have been quite lacking in composure.
"Well, isn't it fine? The Magic Stone was safely obtained. Even if something else was there, it's surely been burnt away by my Prominence."
Honestly, this is why mages are...
Eleanor-sama's wildness aside, from then on she demonstrated her prowess as a former hero.
Against the golems that came out one after another, she devised ways to stop the opponent's movements without using magic as much as possible, and delivered the finishing blow with the silver weapons held by the vanguard, turning them back into earth. Since she also collected the Magic Stones at the same time, it was killing two birds with one stone. Magdalena-sama and Will's hard work went completely unrewarded, but I suppose it couldn't be helped.
"Jeanne's strategy was a hit. With this many, we couldn't have dealt with them using attribute magic."
"No, I just followed what Magdalena-sama said about having female priests conquer it."
"I certainly said such a thing, but Jeanne, who can immediately convert it into tactics, is amazing."
Being praised by a former Queen and the current Queen is a happy thing for a monster exterminator.
After all, there are many golems. Easily over ten. Over ten shots of Prominence would be quite impossible. Every fifty steps there's a corner turning either left or right, and they are always before that corner. They are braced as if to wrestle, approaching slowly, slowly.
Because they have huge bodies, unless we defeat them, we don't even know which way the path turns ahead.
First, we stopped the opponent's advance with the enhanced Firefly. Magic activated in conjunction with a magic circle uses a large amount of magical power, so as a result, the golem's magic defense also seems to become high, and even with an enhanced Firefly, they can't be defeated easily. This one only lasts two hours per use. We can't ignore efficiency.
To the golem raising both arms to protect its face, groaning, and emitting smoke from all over its body, we fired several shots of Overflow stored in the orbs to deal additional damage. Bonnie aimed for the arms and legs with silver arrows to return them to earth. Mary purified the now defenseless head with holy water about the size of a barrel, pulled from the mass of holy water Eleanor-sama was manipulating. Since the mass of holy water is behind everyone, the rear defense is also safe. Once it became just an immobile torso, the vanguard charged and returned everything to earth.
My Firefly is kept on, Eleanor-sama is also kept using Clump Water, and Miana is kept using Favorable Wind, but other than that, no magic is used per golem. Arrows can be recovered and Magic Stones can be picked up.
Before the vanguard's charge, Saxburg fired a Fire Ball as practice, with the added bonus of dealing damage to the golem with a high-speed fireball attack in collaboration with Miana.
However, after resuming the advance, it's almost been two hours. The first expiration of magic is approaching. The mass of holy water has also become small. How many more golems are ahead?
"In my estimation, the situation should change soon."
It's Eleanor-sama. Does she have some idea?
"This shouldn't be a place for killing humans like the Demon Lord's cave. It should be a place to pass on secret treasures to future generations. If so, this battle is, so to speak, like training. Assuming there are no silver weapons, defeating this many golems would be an attack centered on holy magic. And the vanguard, who have no choice but to prioritize defense over offense, would have support magic cast on them."
I see! Magic only lasts about two hours at a time. If we defeat them within that time, we don't have to use a second one.
"That's what it means. If Magdalena's prediction is correct, that is."
Eleanor-sama's prediction was correct, and after defeating the seventeenth golem, there was a stone door ahead. Bonnie investigated, and when Beowulf pushed, it opened easily.
We came out into a room the same size as the place where the demon girl was.
There's a large stone with the Goddess carved into it.
"Saxburg. I'm dispelling the Light. The one in the orb too. So, could you take over the lighting with Fire Ball?"
Everyone looked at me suspiciously, but they did as I said.
"It's okay to come out now."
It was at that moment.
"Good work."
A voice came from behind the stone statue, and the demon girl appeared.
Everyone is surprised. I myself wasn't confident that this girl was here. If I had been wrong, it would have been quite a foolish situation. It was good that I didn't have to be embarrassed.
Most likely, there's a hole in the flat top of the stone with the Goddess carved into it. For one person, it wouldn't be that large. Unless one is quite impious, they wouldn't climb the Goddess statue. Besides, anyone who suddenly climbed it must have been killed by the demon girl.
"Since you dispelled the Light magic, Jeanne, did you know this girl was here?"
"Just a hunch. I thought about the meaning of the 'liberator' written on the wall. I couldn't think of anything other than it referring to the person who releases this girl from her contract."
When I gave the answer to Eleanor-sama, the demon girl jumped at me.
The contract the demon girl made with one of the Ancient Priestesses was not as a gatekeeper, but as a messenger.
"In other words, are you to be the Priestess's messenger?"
"To be precise, my role is to hand this scroll to the person who meets the conditions."
She thrusts out a scroll.
When spread out, something is written in ancient characters, so I read it aloud.
To the one who reaches the innermost room and releases Keira, I bestow the secret treasure that aids in the activation of Repellent. Seek out the stones where the power of the five Priestesses dwells.
That's what was written.
Below that, descriptions regarding men were lined up. Complaining that warriors have muscles for brains, those in the priesthood are greedy, mages are nothing but eccentrics, and despite that, they treat women as tools for childbirth, and so on, a list of insults was lined up. Near the end, it even said 'Never give the secret treasure to a man'.
Come to think of it, before exploring this place, Cadogan-sama was saying something. That in Primordia, only nobles can become priests, and especially the pre-war system had old-fashioned thinking, believing it's best for girls to marry early and devote themselves to child-rearing, and because of that, there are various restrictions in terms of training women who can fight monsters, or something like that. Could it be that it was like that since over five thousand years ago?
The Ancient Priestess was treated as a guardian of the land along with the Water Dragon in Finis. On the other hand, in Primordia, she might have felt quite resentful.
For all the self-importance of the Ancient People's meeting that excludes even their own royalty, they are short-handed, and Sianya, who is of royal origin, is the representative.
They were talking about advancing reforms, so it might be better to say a word to the King or Cadogan-sama.
"Is Keira your name?"
Keira is a word representing something black. Normally one would imagine the Black Stone, but if you don't mistake the meaning of 'liberator', it becomes the demon girl. This word is occasionally given as a name for black-haired girls. She certainly has black hair. Well, before that, her whole body is covered in black fur.
"It's me. The Priestess-sama gave me the name."
When Eleanor-sama asked, the demon girl looked bashful.
"In other words, we just have to release you, right?"
"I wonder? I'm not allowed to say the answer."
"I understand. But what should we do? Ah, no, she's already released..."
"That's right. She's already contracted with Jeanne, who reached this far."
Was that so?
Uh, I invited her to come to the farm...
I see! When I said she could possess rabbits or squirrels and be kept and raised, in return, I guaranteed a place to live and three meals a day. Consideration in exchange for service... that was certainly a contract.
"Then, you're coming to our farm?"
"Yes. I'll be in your care."
"I see, that's good. You're in charge of the rabbits."
"Yeah. Leave it to me!"
A new companion has joined. She's a demon, but she has no relation to the Demon Lord's army. There should be no problem. Eleanor-sama and Magdalena-sama approved.
When I asked about the secret treasure, she told me to follow her.
Following her, we ended up having to climb the stone statue of the Goddess. There's a small hole hidden as if by a protrusion on the ceiling. It's a size that only a slender woman can enter. Incidentally, it was impossible for Beowulf and Will, so I had them stay behind with Magdalena-sama, Miana, Saxburg, and Mary. As we crawled up the hole, there was a place where a magic circle was drawn on the floor. Keira took out a scroll and infused it with magic.
"It's Teleport. The keyword in human language is 'Carry'."
Since everyone couldn't fit due to the size, Sianya and Bonnie stayed behind, and Eleanor-sama and I jumped with the demon girl.
"Where are we?"
When Eleanor-sama asked, the reply was that we jumped quite far to the east.
"There's a steep mountain range to the east, right? Probably around there."
In other words, the base of the dragon's tail I saw at Uminohara... somewhere near the border with Engrio? If so, there should indeed be a Black Stone.
Looking at Eleanor-sama, she seemed to have the same thought. She has a relieved expression.
There's another room next to the magic circle room, and another stone statue of the Goddess.
Which means I can roughly tell the location of the Black Stone. The location is a secret. I'm sorry, but after having the two return, when I illuminated under the stone statue with Light, one small stone under the pedestal disappeared. When I reached in, there was a flat, square Black Stone with rounded corners in a leather pouch. It's the fourth one. With this, the insect repellent magic should become high-level.
I returned by Teleport and showed the Black Stone to everyone.
"Can we prepare a pot? Let's toast to the discovery of the secret treasure and the meeting with a new friend."
Eleanor-sama said, and we all decided to eat a hot pot.
Since Highway Cookies were accepted, a hot pot will definitely work. Moreover, it's a cheese pot made with milk from the cows of Regnentes.
Keira was so happy she was almost in tears.
"Humans are truly amazing. This is a boar, right? To think it could become this delicious!"
"Don't you process ingredients?"
"We don't. Because just roasting it is the easiest, even if the taste drops."
I see. That's logical.
"But when you're normally possessing a rabbit in the forest, you eat leaves, right? You eat oats with the husks on too."
It's Saxburg. Since she's been keeping rabbits lately, she's also familiar with their food.
"When I'm possessing one, I become it. So even leaves are delicious."
She seems to live quite normally as a rabbit. However, it seems animals can tell, and she's never attacked by foxes or wolves.
"Then, do human hunters become the greatest natural enemy?"
It's Will. Her expressions are exaggerated as always.
"Well, yeah. But I can see through traps immediately."
The enemies are apparently magic beasts like foxes and wolves. However, only during the day.
"Come to think of it, sometimes when a hunter comes, there's a very smart one that runs away immediately and never gets caught in traps."
"That's likely an animal possessed by a low-level demon."
According to Bonnie, there are animals like the master of the forest, and hunters don't seem to chase them either.
It's probably correct not to chase. The hunters might instinctively sense that it's an opponent they shouldn't approach.
By the way, there's one problem, or rather, a challenge that must be resolved.
Miana and Sianya. These two haven't participated in the farm's banquets.
Miana, who has played with Dune and Mel, should probably be fine. But Sianya knows nothing.
"Listen, Sianya. I'm friends with various creatures living on this island."
Until now, she had stayed quiet without saying anything. Even with the Goddess's vow, this time it's a demon. It wouldn't be strange if she rebelled.
"Yes. Last night, after being accompanied by Cadogan-sama, I heard from Harris-sama."
"Eh?"
Harris-sama apparently said that I might become friends with someone I met inside the ruins.
Looking at Eleanor-sama, she winked at me.
As expected of a great mage, she saw right through it.
"Since I was told in advance, I was surprised about Keira, but I thought, 'That's just the kind of person she is'."
"That kind of person..."
"I was taught that Priestess Jeanne is someone who practices the Goddess's teaching of coexistence and co-prosperity, and is someone for whom there are no enemies or allies. For example, demons and monsters are called enemies of the Church. But she is someone who can even become friends with those enemies. That's why she inherited the magic of the Ancient Priestess. Harris-sama said so."
She's smiling.
"Is that so?"
When I asked Keira, who had met the Ancient Priestess, she replied that it might be so.
"When I look at Jeanne, it reminds me of the Priestess. The atmosphere is identical."
Wait a minute. I don't badmouth men that much.