Chapter 363 - Chapter 6: The Ruins of Engrio
When I woke up, I was inside a hole.
I could hear the crackling sound of a bonfire. A man was sitting on a log rolled in front of the bonfire, silently staring at the flames.
For a moment, I thought I had been kidnapped again, but then I remembered. That wasn't it.
"Jeanne. You're awake. You should rest a bit more."
The one who spoke was Wilson-san, who had been staring at the flames.
It must be an owl; I could hear a hoo-hoo-hoo sound from outside the hole.
Wilson-san raised the lid of the hole's entrance and hooted hoo-hoo, ho-hoo.
It's a code.
As proof, a man entered the hole from the entrance.
"There is no one around. No traps. It's safe."
The man who came from outside said quietly.
"Good work."
Sitting in front of the bonfire, he drank the wine from the canteen Wilson-san offered.
"Jeanne. Were you awake?"
"No, I just woke up."
The man spoke to me. It was Lewis-san.
I glanced toward where the two delinquent old people and Will were sleeping, wrapped in Green Marble for tents.
"Here, drink this for a nightcap."
"Yes. Thank you."
Lewis-san handed me a canteen with wine. I took two sips and lay down by the bonfire.
The next morning, I woke up to the chirping of small birds.
Since we arrived during the night, I couldn't see the surroundings at all, but looking in the sunlight, it was a rather nice place with many beautiful flowers blooming.
Beside a mossy rock, two or three fallen trees that looked like they had been struck by lightning were overlapping, and new shoots were coming out. Because there were no trees, a patch of blue sky could be seen.
The place we came out of was a hole dug under a mossy rock, with the lid of the entrance covered in weeds among the gaps of the fallen trees. Looking at it, you would never think there was a secret base.
Beyond the trees, there was also a small pond. Yellow daffodils were blooming. I could see what looked like honeybees flying around the pond.
"Where is this?"
"It's a good place, isn't it? It's a forest near the hot spring resort. It's Church territory."
Wilson-san told me.
"Church territory?"
"Yes. Churches in other countries usually own forests like this. This is a corner of one. I found the pond before, so I knocked down the trees with lightning magic. It's far from human habitation, so there's no problem."
It seems they couldn't quite make a secret mountain hut inside Engrio.
Serena and Renata will be angry. Surely they aren't doing things like this all over the place.
"Only within Engrio territory."
"About how many places are there?"
"It's a secret."
Lewis-san said with a laugh, shaking his head left and right.
Henry-sama's group must be doing whatever they want in various places, taking advantage of being invisible. What outrageous people.
During the one-week stay, the plan for the first day was to reach the target ruins and confirm the safety of the surroundings. Before long, we joined up with a scout dispatched from Medioland.
"I had heard the story from the Royal Capital, but I didn't think Henry-sama and Eleanor-sama would really come."
"How could royalty not participate in a joint operation with the Medioland scout team that we're always... I mean, that we're truly indebted to?"
"I am humbled by your words."
Seeing the Medioland scout laughing, they must have shown their faces in various places. The fact that the Medioland scout arrived easily at the secret resting place is proof of that. The scouts move in groups of three, and one of them apparently stays in contact with information providers, including the Church.
According to that Medioland scout, there's no movement on the Engrio side.
"However, it's certain that information is leaking. Therefore, I believe we must leave proof of Jeanne-dono's existence in various places."
"That point is fine. Please rest assured."
The Medioland scout made a puzzled face. And no wonder. Trans-Form scrolls are not in circulation. The users themselves are extremely rare, and in Sertoria, it's only Jennifer-sensei. Moreover, the fact that Jennifer-sensei can use Trans-Form magic is a secret among secrets. Those who know are only the royalty, the Headmistress, and a very few others, but this time, the Marcelo Company and the residents of the Ghost Mansion have been added to that group. It's a trump card in a sense.
I was amazed when I found out that the gentle-looking, round-faced Jennifer-sensei was a beauty who made me think, "This is what Gladys-sama's class would look like when they get older." If she had shown her true self, she would have surely been the undisputed number one in the Madonna selection. If that had happened, I wouldn't have had the curse of eighth place after my first appearance at ninth place.
It was agreed that when I come to Engrio, Bonnie, disguised as me, would wander around the town of Nakanohara. Of course, the usage fee will be donated by the royal family to the orphanage. However, since it only lasts for two hours, after doing some rat extermination with Lyudmila before dawn, she'll quickly go to the Flatlands and pretend to go boar hunting with Paul-san. Publicly, Bonnie is supposed to have gone to the Royal Capital for scout training. Since she usually wears Green Marble and a hood, Bonnie won't wear priest's robes. In other words, even if she's caught by any chance, she won't be held liable. The ring is, of course, a fake, but since she doesn't usually show it off, it should be fine. Even if she's caught, she's a scout, so she won't be excommunicated. Impersonating a priest by a commoner is punishable by imprisonment, but according to the bandits, it's something that adds prestige for a scout.
Anyway, we have to go to the destination. With the Medioland scout as a guide, we set off in the hidden bowl. As a result of speeding up, we arrived in less than half an hour.
"It's that cliff. Can't you see a crack?"
The Medioland scout pointed from the air.
"There certainly is one. Can you enter from there?"
To me, it only looked like a fold, but Eleanor-sama seemed to be able to see it.
"Yes. For some reason, it's connected to the middle of an underground passage. According to the priest researching the hot spring facilities who was in charge of the search, the rock collapsed due to an earthquake or something that caused the hot spring water vein to change, exposing this cross-section, and as a result, it became like this."
There was a large rock where he pointed. Since trees were growing in places and it had become part of the terrain, the collapse of the large rock must have happened a long time ago.
It seems even the Ancient Priestess couldn't win against an earthquake strong enough to collapse rocks.
"Hot spring water vein?"
Eleanor-sama asked. Of course, no one from Sertoria knew.
"Yes. According to that priest, the source of the hot spring at the foot of the mountain is a bit closer to the town, but it used to be around here. There's a slightly recessed spot just beyond that rock, and that was the original location of the source. The hot spring water vein moved."
I didn't know that hot springs move. According to that priest, such things happen very rarely. The cause is usually an earthquake.
"Did you go inside?"
"Yes. I went in. I told the priest it was dangerous and had him refrain."
"How was it?"
Apparently, when you enter from the crack in the cliff, there's a vertical hole, and when you go down that hole, there was a long stone passage. It was a gentle slope leading down toward the mountainside, and since centipedes were swarming, he hurriedly came out.
"I think there was an entrance at the end of the slope."
"In other words, the original entrance was beyond this?"
"Most likely. Maybe it was near the source."
We flew the bowl to actually go see the situation.
As the scout said, beyond the rock, there was a decent-sized depression. It was surrounded by slopes on three sides, with the remaining side connected to a valley. Weeds were growing around it. They'll probably grow more and more toward summer. No trees were growing in the depression. That's because it was like a wetland. Instead, trees were growing around it, making the area around the depression look like it was hollowed out.
If a landslide toward the depression had occurred due to the force of the rock above collapsing, the original entrance must be buried. Eleanor-sama, who had been looking around the depression, seemed convinced.
"Your guess seems to be correct. And there must be some kind of ruins left at the end of the passage. It's a wonderful discovery. You did well to find it."
"I am honored by your praise."
Now the situation is understood. All that's left is exploration.
The crack in the rock was easy, but the vertical hole beyond it was tough. The lead was the Medioland scout; he hung a rope, dropped a torch, and then slid down easily. Next, Wilson-san, Will, and even Eleanor-sama went down similarly. In comparison, the moment I put my foot on the edge while holding the rope, I slipped and hit my stomach hard. Henry-sama, unable to watch, wrapped the rope around my body and lowered me down. After that, Henry-sama came down.
Inside, perhaps because rainwater had entered through the gaps, the floor was wet in places.
When I produced one Firefly, I saw the passage that had become a gentle slope leading down toward the depression, as I had heard beforehand. The passage was very gently sloped from the middle toward the edges, and there were gutters on both sides. It was roughly square, and the passage was wide enough for three people to stand side-by-side, and high enough that a tall person could touch the ceiling by stretching their hand.
To build a facility of this scale. As expected, the Ancient Priestess must be involved.
After confirming that the depression side was blocked, we climbed up this time.
The only monsters were centipedes clinging to the walls and ceiling. Eleanor-sama burned them with Flame.
As we kept climbing, for some reason, the humidity increased. It felt strange since the underground caves until now had mostly been dry.
The passage was straight and finally came out into a wide circular room. Apparently, this is the end. I also understood the reason why it was so humid. Water droplets were falling from the ceiling, which looked like it had been carved from rock, and water was trickling down the stone walls.
The room was about the size and height of a small village church. A passage connected to the entrance circled the walls, and the inside of that was lower. It was exactly the same height as the gutters beside the passage. There were puddles here and there on the floor below.
There was a depression in the middle, which was filled with soil.
There were centipedes on the walls and ceiling too, but after Eleanor-sama gathered them in one place with Favorable Wind, she set them on fire with Flame and burned them.
According to the information gathered so far, there should be a secret book like a chronicle here. In other words, there's a wall where a dwarf is acting as a gatekeeper.
I handed out one Firefly per person and had them illuminate everywhere at full power. Just in case, I rode on the Wind Barrier plate and illuminated all the way to the ceiling.
However, there was no change. This is a bit troublesome.
We changed the lights to torches and called out the trump card, Fiona. I had her look for a place where she could pass through walls, but in the end, it turned out there was nothing. However, she said there were many gaps or thin holes, and that might be why water was entering inside.
We decided to go up once more and climbed again. We came to a place where soil had flowed in and water was pooled.
"Let's dig it up."
Eleanor-sama hardened the dug-up soil into blocks with earth magic. The blocks were stacked on both sides of the passage in preparation for a cave-in. Originally, there was enough width for three people to stand side-by-side without difficulty. Since they were stacked to the extent that two people could still stand side-by-side even with them on both sides, they were sufficiently useful as a passage. As we kept digging, it started to collapse from the end of the digging, and finally, it broke through.
When we came out of the hole, we could see the depression surrounded by rocks. It must be the original source mentioned in the story. Apparently, as expected, the entrance to the facility was beside the source.
But now the entrance is completely visible.
"Let's camouflage it. That's enough for today."
Saying so, she dug a hole on the other side of the depression and moved a forest tree, replanting it with its roots. She moved some of the blocks, leaving a hole large enough for one person to crawl into. She covered it with soil and planted grass on top. For the finishing touch, she poured plenty of water, and it was done. Once the grass roots take hold, it will look the same as the surrounding landscape. From now on, the temperature will rise. It will surely be completely covered in grass.
After promising to meet again tomorrow with the Medioland scout, we returned to the original base.
On the way, we hunted one boar for dinner.
While gnawing on the boar meat, I looked back on today's exploration results.
"Was it a miss?"
"It's too early to decide. There might be some kind of trick, so let's reorganize the information. First, the differences. What's different about the place we entered this time compared to the places we've explored so far?"
Eleanor-sama asked.
There is a clear difference.
"Until now, there were altars, but this time it's just a square stone."
This is what feels most out of place. In places related to the Black Stones, there were stone statues of the Goddess. The exception was King Griffith's tomb, but even that had a stone statue of the Goddess in the ruins on the remote island of Uminohara where the Black Stone was originally kept. In the place where the secret book was, there was an altar. That altar served as the entrance, so to speak.
"In other words, it's not those ruins?"
"But I somehow feel like there's something here too..."
Eleanor-sama asked me, but I couldn't answer well.
"Jeanne. Doesn't this place resemble the mountain?"
Wilson-san, who had been thinking until now, asked. Wilson-san lived in the ruins on the mountain for a hundred years. Some kind of intuition should be working.
"Yes. I think so. Do you think so too, Wilson-san?"
Wilson-san's gaze drifted into the air as if remembering something, but then he said, "That's right."
"It's difficult to explain, but the atmosphere is similar."
"Similar?"
Eleanor-sama tilted her head at Wilson-san's words.
"Yes. I think the ruins on the mountain are newer compared to the ruins in Uminohara and Primordia. As you know, I spent a long time in the ruins on the mountain. Compared to that time, the atmosphere of the ruins in Uminohara is somehow different."
Wilson-san says the way the stones are assembled and the degree of weathering are different.
"Even for the same stone buildings, the era shows in the way the stones are assembled. Also, those that have passed through more time should be more weathered. I feel that the parts of the ruins where the Goddess statues were found, especially those exposed outdoors, are more weathered and have a roughness on the surface."
That's true. When I saw the ruins that are handed down as having been made by the Priestess of Primordia, I remembered the ruins protected by the Water Dragon of Finis. I don't know the details, but the construction, or rather the atmosphere, was certainly different.
I had been feeling it somehow until now, but listening to Wilson-san's story made it clear. In Primordia, it was interpreted that the Priestess made Nakanohara Lake and the ruins on the mountain. However, they were certainly different from the ruins protected by the Water Dragon and the ruins in Primordia. Surely the person who made them, in other words, the era, is different.
"In that sense, this ruin has an atmosphere similar to the ruins on the mountain. Isn't there something there?"
"I understand. Including the surroundings, let's investigate again tomorrow."
At Eleanor-sama's words, Wilson-san and I nodded.