Chapter 364 - Chapter 7: The Barrier of Flame
The next morning, for the second investigation, we went to the depression that serves as the entrance to the cave and met again with the Medioland scout.
When we conveyed our view, he bowed low, saying, "I am very sorry."
He's a scout sent to another country. Surely his status is low. If he achieves something, he might be ordained as a knight and be able to lead a somewhat better life. And yet, he had made royalty from another country... and famous people at that, come up empty-handed. He was completely terrified.
"These ruins aren't something to be discarded either. We just can't grasp it, but there must be some kind of utility value. Besides, there's no doubt that the ruins we're looking for are in this area. Please look for them with us."
He was bowing deeply at Eleanor-sama's words, but it's a problem if he stays depressed forever. We immediately began searching the cave and the surroundings. We searched for half a day, but couldn't find anything like it, and just as we were preparing a pot for lunch, the Engrio scout said he'd look once more and went down into the cave alone.
"This time might be a miss."
"Hmm, well, it can't be helped. Let's just give our thanks to James-dono."
The old couple also became quiet.
And no wonder. It's too different from before.
The points are: ruins slightly newer than the ruins with the Black Stones. And ruins related to flame or heat. And a place surrounded by mist.
Wait? Hold on a second.
Water is at the bottom of the lake, wind is at the top of the mountain, and flame is... the sacred fire of the shrine!
"Henry-sama. Eleanor-sama. Can I have a moment?"
"What is it?"
"Did something happen?"
These two should understand.
"Um, there was a time when we looked for things related to the Four Great Spirits in the royal palace garden, right?"
"That was when we and Jeanne's group first met."
"That's right. Do you remember what in the royal palace represented the four elements back then?"
Water, wind, flame, and finally earth—we followed the arrows left by the first King from Dune's fingertip.
"Flame was... the sacred fire in the shrine."
Eleanor-sama remembered.
"At the bottom of the pond where Dune's bronze statue stands, there was a strange pattern. That surely represents ruins. And wind is the rock at the top of the mountain. Flame is the sacred fire inside the shrine."
"Then, is it the depression in the stone in front of the Goddess statue in these ruins?"
"I don't know. But if there's a shrine that offers flame in this area, I think it's worth investigating."
"Hmm," the two of them said, crossing their arms.
If we're going to look for the sacred fire of a shrine, we'll need local information.
"Then, let's call that scout back."
Lewis-san, sensing this, stood up and headed toward the crack in the rock.
"I heard there was some kind of clue."
He had been making a quite serious expression, but his expression has brightened at least a little.
"Now, now, first have a drink."
Eleanor-sama offered the canteen with wine.
He accepted it as if holding something precious and took just one sip.
When I told him what I had thought of, he groaned and began to think.
"I think there are countless altars that offer sacred fire, or rather flame, themselves. That's probably the same in any country if it's about the scale of this town. However, if it was made in an ancient era..."
That's true. The altar we're looking for has characteristics, but you wouldn't know unless you've actually seen it. That said, we who are infiltrating can't go around looking for it.
"Um, is there a place where thick mist always appears? A place where normally people can't enter..."
If there's a spirit, there should be a barrier.
"Thick mist... is it? There are places where thick steam is rising. The current source area is like that. Come to think of it, commoners can't enter the source area."
Isn't that because it's hot? A normal human would die...
Wait? Hold on a second?
"Did you just say steam?"
"E-eh. Since this is a hot spring resort, steam stands out more than mist."
This is it!
"Eleanor-sama! Steam!"
"Steam... What about steam... I see! Steam!"
"Yes. Steam!"
If you think about it, there shouldn't be any difference between mist and steam except for whether it's cool or hot. I might be wrong, but it's worth a try. Come to think of it, the shape of the ruins also seems suitable.
We immediately explained what we had thought of to everyone, and decided to experiment after the sun went down.
We reassembled at night and entered the ruins. Just in case, we left the camouflage of the entrance open. It's what it is. Based on Eleanor-sama's judgment that it's better to ensure no interference, we decided to have the Medioland scout act as a lookout. We handed him a teleportation magic circle for sending letters and had him hide in the depression.
First, the preparations. We go to the innermost circular room and illuminate the entire room with three Fireflies.
We block the gutters connected to the side of the passage with stones and soil.
The three of us—Eleanor-sama, Wilson-san, and I—set six magic circles drawn on boards into the depression in the center of the floor.
Eleanor-sama produced water with Shower and pooled water in the lowered area.
"Flame!"
After Eleanor-sama sufficiently heated the walls and ceiling with Flame, she applied fire to the pooled water. Once it was warmed to a certain extent, preparations were complete.
"First flame! Raise a pillar of fire in the water!"
When the magic imbued in the magic circle was activated, the Fire Storm of the magic circle was triggered. With a roaring sound, flames erupted from within the water. It's to boil the water and produce steam. There are six magic circles in total. If it fails, Eleanor-sama and Wilson-san are supposed to fire off consecutive Fire Balls.
The temperature of the pooled water rose, and steam began to rise.
I knew the whole room would become a steam bath, so I cast Resist on everyone. With this, it's not hot, but even so, I don't want to be drenched in sweat. We went out to the passage and had Wilson-san cover it with a Wind Barrier. Just in case, the top part is open, so the voice activating the second and subsequent magic circles will reach.
We waited for a while for the hot water to boil and the room to fill with steam.
Along with the surface of the water bubbling, thick steam rose up.
Once the flames went out, we activated the second and subsequent ones in order to maintain the overheating.
Because there are gutters, the water level is known. Eleanor-sama added the amount that decreased with Shower.
Since we're illuminating with Fireflies, the state of the steam rising is known.
At first, the far wall was visible, but gradually visibility became poor, and finally, it became invisible. The place where the flames were rising was barely stained a reddish-orange color. That color gradually became smaller, and finally, it almost disappeared.
There was still one Fire Storm magic circle left, but we decided to test at that stage.
I'm sorry to Wilson-san and Lewis-san, but we decided to ask them to wait in case something happened to us and they needed to rescue us. Especially Wilson-san, he takes damage from Light and might be repelled by spirits.
Eleanor-sama prepared the bowl, and Henry-sama and Will got in with her. Since we're using Fireflies, Fiona has already taken refuge inside the crystal.
At the same time as the Wind Barrier lid was knocked down, steam containing heat came flooding out.
We entered inside with the bowl and put the lid back. When we moved the bowl slowly toward the center of the room, we became drenched in sweat, or rather, humidity.
Since we have Resist on, it's nothing, but it must be quite hot.
When we kept moving through the steam, we just passed through and went to the other side.
Wait? It failed.
"Jeanne. Where do we use Light?"
Eleanor-sama asked, but that's not it.
"Um, we shouldn't be able to pass through. We have to either return to the original spot or stop..."
We tried once more, but the result was the same.
Something is lacking...
"Is it not here after all?"
"No, shall we try once more?"
Henry-sama and Eleanor-sama said, and we did the second attempt, but it was the same.
Um, how did the hand-holding song go again?
If I recall correctly, at the southern gate, you're roasted...
I have a very bad feeling, but it can't be helped.
"Please activate the magic circle. Most likely, there isn't enough flame."
"Flame?"
"Yes. At the southern gate, you must be roasted."
I could see everyone twitch. Will swallowed hard. And no wonder. Normally, you'd die.
"I'll cast Resist once more. Please brace yourselves."
The Headmistress should have said that if you double-cast it, you can even withstand the flames of a Wyrm during the training before the Demon Lord subjugation. The Headmistress is an ultra-advanced magic user, but I want to believe I'll be okay too.
"I understand. Let's do it. Sixth flame! Show the way!"
As expected of Eleanor-sama. Starting from the first, "Raise a pillar of fire," the second through fifth were "Boil the water" or "Produce steam," which were somewhat lacking, but she brought out the atmosphere at the critical moment.
When I glanced at her face, she winked at me.
"Please plunge in. I mean, please be roasted!"
We rose to the very limit and went directly above the flames. Even though we were protected by a Wind Barrier and double Resist, it wasn't a good feeling.
"We've been caught by something."
We stopped above the flames. We can move up and down, but we can't escape from above the flames. Apparently, it's a hit. Since we're floating near the ceiling, we're not being directly put into the fire, but it's not a good feeling.
I illuminated the entire surroundings with Light at full power with both hands.
"It's a window! Look for a window!"
I looked around, but could only see steam.
In other words, as expected, it's below...
When I looked at the flames at our feet, I saw something like ruins stained red. It must be the place where the fire spirit is.
Surely we won't suddenly burn to death.
"B-Below. There's a window there..."
I pointed and told everyone.
"That's another place that looks like it's called hell. It's a spectacular sight worth seeing."
I can't believe Will, who's saying it as if she's sightseeing.
"Beyond this, I don't know if we'll live or die. Let's plunge in."
"Then, please huddle together. I'll make the bowl smaller."
We huddled together like a scrum to shrink the diameter of the bowl. She even covered us over our heads as if we were completely inside a sphere.
"Here we go."
We descended just like that, but stopped halfway.
As expected. Unless you're roasted, you can't go to the other side of the window.
"I'll remove the bottom of the bowl. If we die, we die together. Let's meet again at the foot of the Goddess."
Immediately after Eleanor-sama said that, the bottom fell out, and we fell down together in a huddle while being roasted by the flames.
Suddenly I realized that the four of us who had been in the bowl were surrounded by stone walls stained completely red, in a state where we were in a circle with our arms around each other's shoulders. It wasn't that wide, and the height wasn't that much either. About the size of a mountain hut.
Fortunately, there were no flames. Since we have double Resist on, I don't know if it's hot or not, but for now, there seems to be no abnormality in our bodies.
"Did we come to the other side?"
Eleanor-sama asked, but I don't know well.
"I think so, but there's no spirit."
I looked around the surroundings again; we were just surrounded by red-colored walls... no, there was a depression at chest height in one place. When I approached, it was a space as if it had been cut out in a square, and there was a round depression at the bottom.
"It's probably an altar. I think fire magic will probably be enough."
"I understand. Let's try."
It was when Eleanor-sama produced a Fire Ball and placed it in the depression.
"Ho ho. You figured it out well."
A voice echoed from somewhere.
I looked around the surroundings, but no one was there.
"Is it the fire spirit?"
Eleanor-sama called out. Since the location wasn't known, she was looking all around.
"Here. Here. Where are you looking?"
The voice was reflecting off the walls, so the direction couldn't be specified, but this is a cliché of fairy tales. When I looked at the fire, a pattern like a face was faintly floating up.
"You are the fire spirit, aren't you?"
When I asked toward the fire, it said yes.
"There's something I want to ask you."
"For someone who wants to be taught something, aren't you going to offer even a single sacrifice? Surely you didn't come empty-handed."
What a greedy fellow.
We just need to know the location of the altar. If you won't tell us, shall we just put out the fire?
"Wait, wait, wait. Why are humans so impatient? You visit someone without permission, and what's with that attitude? Don't you even have a single bottle of wine as a souvenir?"
Come to think of it, that's true. I take out Highway Cookies from my item bag.
"What is that? Let me eat a bit."
It opened its mouth wide.
Good! It bit!
When I offered it, it swallowed it whole.
"It's sweet. A bit more, like..."
As expected, it complained, so this time I threw in a piece of dried meat.
Taking the past reflections into account, I brought Highway Cookies, dried meat, and honey—a whole set. If it's a drinker, it must be dried meat.
"D-Delicious! What is this? Boar? Is this kind of thing circulating lately?"
It was highly praised.
"It's special smoked boar meat. There's still more."
I threw in another piece.
"Yes. Yes. Delicious! This fat and spiciness, it's the best snack!"
When it comes to this, it's easy to talk.
When I looked at Eleanor-sama, she nodded.
"Now, how about one?"
Eleanor-sama took out wine and poured it into its mouth.
"Oh! You understand!"
Whoosh! The flames became larger.
"Then, how about this?"
This time, Henry-sama poured in another alcoholic beverage.
"Ooh! It's a drink so strong that power wells up! Good!"
The flames became larger all at once. We hurriedly backed away.
It must be a top-grade alcoholic beverage from Finis.
"I've never drunk such a strong drink before! You've brought something good!"
It's satisfied. Now it's overflowing from the depression and burning brightly. It's dangerous to approach.
"How about it, Spirit-dono? Why don't you come out and have a banquet? I'll even give you this whole bottle."
When Henry-sama shook the bottle to make a slosh-slosh sound, part of the flame became the shape of a hand, then a face, then a torso, then a tail, and a lizard covered in flames crawled out of the depression.
The fire lizard was about the size that could be held in both palms, and it was on all fours, raising its face toward us.
Since the gap was large, we all sat down as if surrounding the lizard.
"Are you the famous Salamander-dono?"
"Indeed."
"Now, have a drink."
When Henry-sama held the bottle with both hands, it raised its face and opened its mouth.
It's like feeding a pet, but I guess it's fine.
When it received the dripping alcohol in its mouth, it made a whoosh sound and became one size larger. I accidentally recoiled.
"Ah, don't worry. It's not hot unless I intend to burn you. Why don't you try touching me?"
Saying so, it put out its right hand.
In that case, I'll cancel Resist. Even though there's fire in front of me, it's not hot.
When I reached out my hand, I was told to wait a bit.
"You, you have the protection of wind and water, don't you?"
"Ah, yes. We're friends."
"Wind is one thing, but water is..."
Come to think of it, water and fire have bad compatibility, right?
"No, rather than compatibility, this is inside my barrier. Water loses its power. If fire wins, water evaporates and disappears. The reverse is also true. If I touch you now, that water ring might shatter."
That's not good. I hurriedly pulled back my hand.
"Then, I will."
"Me too."
"I'd love to as well."
The three of them shook hands in order, and I was the only one left out. That said, I can't take off the ring I got from Dune.
"Hmm. You're quite loyal. No wonder many spirits liked you."
"No, not that much."
"How about it? Will you go outside? If you have that ring and bracelet, you can call water and wind, right? It's okay to call them if it's outside the barrier."
So, we decided to go outside and have the spirits meet each other.