Chapter 375 - Chapter 14: Ruins Investigation at the Hot Springs
Since Wilson-san made Beatrix's bowl into an ultra-high-speed specification, we arrived in the blink of an eye. It only lasts half the usual time, but this time that was enough to achieve our goal.
"It's surprisingly fun when you're operating it yourself."
Until we arrived at the inn, Beatrix, who had been disguised as a barrel along with Wilson-san and Will using Camouflage, was satisfied. She seems to have opened some new door.
"Just because it's fun doesn't mean you should fly around aimlessly!"
"Sorry, sorry, I forgot you were bad with it. It was fun, so I just, you know, asked Wilson-san."
She stuck out her tongue.
What do you mean, "just, you know"? Until recently, you were bad with it too.
"If it's for a short time, once you become an ultra-high-level mage, you'll be able to do it by yourself."
"That's nice. I'll try my best."
She's not listening at all!
Honestly, think about the person riding.
When we went near the pond from some time ago, Lewis-san was there.
"Oh? Was Jeanne supposed to come here at this timing?"
Even Lewis-san said it.
"Well, it's that. Eleanor-sama. The timing is a bit early, but the task is the same."
"I see, understood."
Wilson-san is Wilson-san, but Lewis-san is Lewis-san. Just by mentioning Eleanor-sama's name, the message got through.
"Is this all the combat power?"
Lewis-san asked.
Currently, in front of Lewis-san were Wilson-san, Beatrix, Will, and myself. In Nakanohara, the Headmistress was there. On the mountain, there were four heroes, including former ones.
"That's how it is. However, likely in a week, Henry-sama and Eleanor-sama will join. Until then, we need to find the wall that cannot be deactivated except by Jeanne's Light."
The leader this time would be Wilson-san.
"Will there be combat?"
"According to that King Griffith's notes, until the wall, centipedes seem to be the most difficult foe."
"Hmm. So it's bug extermination."
"Probably. We should be able to do it ourselves."
"Understood."
It was decided easily.
I called Beatrix, who I had fought with in Nakanohara, for a private talk.
"Hey, will it be okay?"
"It'll be fine. We've become stronger too, right?"
That was true, but since Wilson-san was there, Light was limited and [Over Flow] couldn't be used. This time, mages would be at the center... oh, wait, there was an unofficial strongest mage here. Then it should be fine.
After taking a break at the secret base, once we placed one half of the Simple Teleportation Magic Circle, we departed. We already knew the destination. We arrived easily.
After nearly two months, grass had grown considerably, and the entrance to the cave leading to the Salamander's abode was completely covered in green.
This time, we were apparently keeping it a secret from the Medioland scouts too; it was just us.
Facing the stone statue of the Goddess, we all made a Vow of Silence. This vow is officially recognized since I became a Bishop.
"Jeanne. Call the Salamander."
"Yes."
Actually, I had received a fire spirit stone from the Salamander. The Salamander had made one necklace for us to use when calling him this time.
The password was: "Salamander-san, let's have a banquet."
"Yo! You're earlier than I thought."
"We got some good wine, you see."
Wilson-san showed the casks he had carried in the bowl. There were four in total. They were a gift from the Finis Royal Family. Apparently, they were top-quality items offered to the Royal Family.
"Of course, the portion we promised the other day will arrive by a separate delivery. This is just a small token of our feelings."
"You're quite thoughtful."
"No, no, it's because you are here. Besides, we were the ones who called you saying 'let's have a banquet.' We must have at least this much."
As expected of the son of a former great merchant. It was a clever bribe using the Salamander's password as a reason. It was casually skillful.
"I'll return this to you."
I took off the necklace. I had borrowed it on the condition that it was only for this time. By the way, Gwyn-sama has the same one. It's because he needs a translator when practicing the Fire Dragon's spear.
"You can keep it. That stubborn, human-hating Fire Dragon took a liking to you. It's a reward for that."
"Are the hot springs okay?"
"They're fine. I have the Fire Dragon Stone."
Apparently, if you imbue that Fire Dragon Stone with magic, you can boil the hot springs to a constant temperature.
"It's fine that the wealthy man gives offerings, but there's too much wine. It's quite high-class, but for me, you know, I want something that, like, makes me burn."
He must mean the Finis wine. Is this what they call adding oil to the fire?
"So, look, right? Once a month or so is fine."
Yes, yes, I get it, I get it. We just have to have it ready at the banquet, right?
Finis wine is not handled by the Class of 175. We'll have to have it sent from what we bought at the third shop. Fortunately, the profit from the Hydra subjugation came to a hundred and fifty gold coins. Since we got many heads, the profit increased. If we use that portion, it should last for a while.
I looked at the pendant stone I received again.
It was a beautiful stone with a transparent light red base and a dark red vortex swirling in the middle. Although it was limited to banquets, I had obtained the protection of the fire spirit. It's the third of the pinnacle spirits, whether it's four or five. There's a bit of distance from Dune, but in exchange, I'll have the Salamander drink with the bandits.
With the talk settled, we immediately began the exploration.
The Salamander jumped onto my right shoulder and decided to guide us.
Since the entrance was blocked, we entered the ruins through a crack in the rock, and at the innermost part where we made steam last time, we had the Salamander deactivate the barrier. Since the entrance became visible, we dove in and reached a room surrounded by red-painted walls, which was the Salamander's abode.
"Can we go to that altar from here?"
When Wilson-san asked, the Salamander on my right shoulder replied, "It's a bit different."
"To be precise, we move to the water vein that becomes the source for the hot spring town. This place is connected to several sources. Among them, we'll go to the largest one, and from there, we'll follow the water vein to the destination. That place was a spot where hot springs gushed out in old times, but now it's dried up. That dried-up source is connected to the entrance of the ruins where the altar is; that's the trick."
I see—wait, what! We're going through an underground water vein? Won't we drown and die?
"You guys can use Wind Barrier, right? Make a sphere and stay inside; I'll carry you. I can see that Wilson is a mage who can master several ultra-high-level magics, not just Eleanor-san."
The Salamander flicked his long tongue. As expected of a pinnacle spirit, he's completely seen through us. He probably sees through the fact that he's a Revenant too.
When we all climbed onto the plate Beatrix made, the edge of the plate rose up as if to envelop us, becoming a sphere with a hole the size of one head. The five of us and the Salamander were tucked neatly inside. Furthermore, Wilson-san's Wind Barrier covered the outside. It was for waterproofing and propulsion. Since Wilson-san was there, we couldn't use all-directional Light. With Wilson-san in the middle and the others positioned in four directions, we decided to illuminate only the outside with four Fireflies. If we held them at our stomachs, they wouldn't hit Wilson-san directly.
"Alright! We're going to the subterranean depths!"
With the Salamander's shout, the sphere slowly sank. The floor stone was falling.
Looking up, the red ceiling gradually moved away. I don't know how the mechanism works, but we were descending a vertical hole. The surroundings were earth walls. Horizontal stripes of brown, black, and gray continued. In time, we seemed to enter rock, and it became only gray stripes.
When the red wall above became small, the Salamander muttered something and breathed a small flame from his mouth.
For a moment, the vision blurred and became pitch black. Teleport. We moved.
With a jolt, it shook, and then it continued to sway like a ship.
"We've arrived. This is the inside of the water vein. Amazing, right? We've come to quite a deep place. You guys are the first humans to come this far."
The Salamander said boastfully, but nothing could be seen.
No, to be precise, since we were in water, we could probably see the water illuminated by the Fireflies, but sadly, hot spring water is not much different from ordinary water. I knew it wasn't ordinary water because it was fizzy and bubbles stuck to my skin when I soaked in the hot spring, but so far there was no dramatic change in appearance. Of course, there would be no living things. Moreover, since there was no scenery, nothing could be seen by human eyes even if we looked around. Since we were using Fireflies, we couldn't use Sight either. We could only see small bubble-like things flickering around the bowl.
"I can't see anything."
The mage, who had no reservations, complained. When I asked Wilson-san or Fiona, the same reaction came back.
"The fact that nothing can be seen is what's amazing. A lake of this size is spreading underground."
That was certainly true, but it didn't feel real.
"How big is it?"
Beatrix asked. We wouldn't know unless we asked.
"The place we departed from was in the mountains, right? From there to the hot spring town, it's like this. Moreover, that's only about a quarter of the whole thing."
Seriously? Isn't it wider than Nakanohara Lake? That's certainly amazing.
"Right? You finally understand."
He was puffing out his chest on my shoulder.
The inside of the crater was amazing too, but the subterranean depths might be deep in various ways, literally.
As the bowl, which was releasing air from the deactivated part, went through the water vein with a glug-glug, by the time nearly an hour had passed, it clearly began to ascend. It seemed we were arriving soon.
"Even though it's a dried-up source, it hasn't stopped coming out completely. A little is coming out, and priests come to fetch it before sunset. Apparently, the high-ranking officials of the church drink about one bowl's worth at dinner. It's still before noon now, so the timing is off, but once you go outside, look for a place to hide quickly."
The Salamander gave us advice, but we wouldn't know until we went and saw.
"If it comes to it, we'll just have them trip and faint."
Lewis-san said matter-of-factly.
The place where the Salamander flew with the bowl was inside a cave.
Since we were told beforehand, Wilson-san operated the bowl well and landed it.
We deactivated it and everyone went outside.
The place where we landed was the same as the place where we made steam to meet the Salamander; it was a wide circular place with a block of stone in the middle, and the surroundings were lower.
The block seemed to be a stone statue, with the figures of several people carved on it. They might be the gods worshipped by the Engrio Royal Family.
There was a hole in the pedestal of the stone statue, and water was gushing out from there with a glug-glug. The overflowing water was temporarily caught in a stone-made cistern in front of the block, and beyond that, it flowed out of the room through one of two passages via a groove.
"This is the dried-up source. Because the water vein changed, this is all that's gushing from here. It can't possibly sustain the town, so it's not treated as a source now."
It was as the Salamander said; the water gushing out was just fist-sized clumps of water coming out intermittently with a glug, glug. It seemed it would take time to fill even the bathtub of the public bath in Nakanohara. If it were the source for a hot spring town, it wouldn't be strange if it were gushing out more vigorously.
"It's the same shape as the place where we made steam to meet you, Salamander-san."
"That's right. In the old days, everyone entered the hot springs here. Starting to make large baths with water drawn in like now is relatively new. It's after the town grew large."
He said that, went to where the hot spring was gushing out, and licked the hot water with his long tongue.
"Yeah. The spring quality itself isn't bad."
"Is that so?" Beatrix said, and licked the hot water after putting her finger in. She didn't seem to understand well, so she scooped some with her right hand and took a sip.
"Ah! It's fizzy!"
"Right? Amazing, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's amazing. It's like cider."
"Yay!" They were high-fiving.
It was certainly true; since I had soaked in the hot spring when I came last time, I also took a sip. It was hot water with a somewhat pungent, fizzy feeling.
"Is the temperature around body heat? A bit lower?"
"That's right. I use my transcendent skills to make it an exquisite temperature."
"Isn't it hard? Sorry, I didn't realize at all until now. As expected, the pinnacle of spirits is amazing."
"You don't have to apologize. As long as you understand."
"Oh? Aren't you kind?"
For some reason, they were hitting it off. Beatrix is good at fire magic. To be precise, her favorite system of magic is fire. There might be something they feel in common. Come to think of it, the atmosphere of Mary, who is particular about water magic, resembles Dune. Also the scariness when she snaps. There might be some commonality in the strengths and weaknesses of magic. Wilson-san can do anything, but he seems to have the most applications for Wind Barrier. He's also on good terms with Mel. Once this is over, we'll be meeting the earth spirit. Lyudmila likes earth magic. If it's for a short period, we could ask for her help.
Since the Salamander went back to boil the hot water, we began the exploration. There were two passages. When we went through the one without the groove where the hot spring flows, we came out into a room with an altar. Wilson-san moved the pattern on the altar, and when he and Lewis-san pushed it, an underground passage appeared.
They must clean it when the priests come to offer offerings. The altar was quite clean. If the information is correct, in the evening, a priest from the heterodox church comes to fetch the hot water. At that time, they apparently make an offering at the altar. If the altar is moved at that time, it will surely be discovered. By then, we must return it to its original state.
"Since there's no one who uses Teleport, we'll settle this with speed!"
Wilson-san was full of spirit. He undoubtedly intended to settle it with ultra-high-level magic.
"Beatrix. Watch closely; I'll teach you how to fight with advanced magic."
This was encouraging. Beatrix also nodded with a serious face.
When we descended the altar, there was a passage and a black, soot-stained iron door. When I activated the newly learned Sense Living, there was a reaction beyond the door. As an image, it was somehow red. It was the same as when I practiced with mice. It's probably a monster. Moreover, in terms of location, it might be a slug. When I had Fiona look, it was indeed a slug. It was an opponent that even Wilson-san's magic wouldn't work on.
"It's simple. Jeanne, do you have soap? Wilson-san, please produce water."
"A-Ah. Understood."
Suddenly, Beatrix was taking charge.
After making soapy water with the large amount of water Wilson-san produced, and after Beatrix manipulated it with Clump Water to make the slugs shrivel, it was Wilson-san's show.
That said, it wasn't monster extermination. Various places were blocked by cave-ins. He dug holes in them with Clump Sand and piled them up into blocks so they wouldn't collapse. As for the direction to proceed, I searched for the location of the bugs with Sense Living, and we dug toward them. At the end, there were bug-type monsters, but there's no way there's a bug that can stand against an ultra-high-level mage who can use all the attribute magics. He proceeded while crushing the monsters by hitting them with the blocks, bokan bokan.
The highlight was the final centipede extermination. When he made two blade-like things with the Wind Barriers on his left and right hands, he easily cut off the head as if sandwiching it and sliced the torso into pieces. It was like he had embodied Wind Cutter.
"You can use it like that..."
Beatrix was standing there, looking at the centipede that had been broken into pieces. Thinking about it now, I can't believe we faced him on the mountain. At that time, if Wilson-san had been serious against us, we surely would have been killed easily.
"Likely, the most versatile advanced attribute magic is Wind Barrier. You can change its shape freely, and unlike other magic, its activation time is long. It can be used for both offense and defense, and if it comes to it, you can even deactivate it urgently to cause a gust of wind. Since it's originally air, you don't need anything."
That was certainly true. It was originally defensive magic, but I didn't think it would exhibit this much power when converted to offense. Above all, the fact that it only requires one activation within the two-hour activation limit of magic is significant. Of course, magic control is correspondingly necessary, and if you add movement, the mass becomes smaller, but if it becomes a day-long operation, endurance is called into question. It's fine to fire low-level or mid-level magic repeatedly to prevent exhaustion, but using one magic for a long time is also effective.
"Beatrix, you learned Camouflage the other day and became a user of four advanced magics, right? Your magic control itself shouldn't be that different from a user of one ultra-high-level magic. It won't hurt to research applied uses, including the step up to ultra-high-level."
"Yeah. Thank you."
At Wilson-san's words, Beatrix nodded honestly.