kscans

Chapter 147 - Investigation

Having begun our investigation inside the underground ruins, we were walking down a corridor on the first floor. It felt like an ordinary mansion, but the corridor was long and had no windows or decorations.

"It’s so plain, it feels suffocating."

"I don’t like the lack of windows. I suppose they’d be meaningless underground, though."

The view from the window would just be a stone wall, after all.

As we continued walking, a door-like object came into view on the left.

"Just to confirm, you want me to map the inside of rooms like that too, right?"

I asked Yanagi-san, who was behind me.

"It would be helpful if you could."

"Well then, let’s have a look."

I glanced at Nanapon out of the corner of my eye as I walked towards the door. Seeing her walking without giving any signal, it seemed the stairs to the basement were not in this room. There didn’t appear to be any monsters either.

When I reached the door, knowing it was empty, I carelessly turned the doorknob and opened it.

"Not just the corridor, this room is bright too…"

That switch must have been for the entire building.

"There’s nothing here…"

Upon entering the room, Nanapon murmured as she looked around.

As Nanapon said, there was nothing in this room. It was about ten tatami mats in size, but there were no desks or shelves, only white walls.

"Maybe they took everything when they abandoned this place."

"That’s possible…"

Yoshino-san agreed with a disappointed tone.

"If there’s nothing here, it can’t be helped. Let’s move on to the next one."

It’s not that there’s nothing here, though. There are gold bars, at least. But did they not take the gold bars with them when they abandoned the place?

Deciding it didn’t matter, I left the room and, with Nanapon, took the lead to proceed further down the corridor. Along the way, we found several rooms, but they were all just white walls with nothing inside.

"There’s really nothing here…"

Coming out of a room, Yoshino-san looked dejected.

"What were you expecting?"

I asked the disheartened Yoshino-san.

"I wasn’t expecting treasure, but I thought there might be some kind of documents. They’d probably sell."

So it’s still about money…

"Can that kind of thing really be sold?"

"The Frontier is a mystery. Whether it’s the government or private entities, they’ll buy."

Huh. If it sells, maybe I should look for some. But it would be funny if I found some adult magazines.

"If it sells, let’s look for it and collect it."

"Yeah. But so far, we’ve found nothing…"

Not just items, we haven’t even seen any monsters………… or so I thought, but Nanapon tugged on my sleeve. This was the signal for a skeleton.

Receiving the signal from Nanapon, I looked down the corridor. At first glance, it seemed empty, but upon closer inspection, I thought I saw something move in the distance. Nanapon’s Clairvoyance not only lets her see through things but also slightly enhances her vision, so she could probably see it clearly.

"A skeleton has appeared. If you would."

I called out to Yanagi-san and Maede-san, who were still inside the room. They rushed out of the room in a hurry.

"Which way!?"

Yanagi-san asked, looking left and right.

"That way. It’s still at a distance, so there’s no need to panic."

Besides, it’s just a skeleton. No need to rush.

Yanagi-san and Maede-san moved ahead of us, drew their swords, and took a stance.

"Are you both going to fight it? That’s a bit much for a mere skeleton."

"Unless it’s absolutely necessary, the SDF doesn’t fight alone. Unlike you, we can’t just brush things off as our own responsibility."

I see. That might be how it is.

I left the fighting to the two of them and, in the meantime, decided to use my smartphone’s memo function to confirm the location of the gold bars with Nanapon.

‘Are the gold bars underground?’

I took out my smartphone, typed this message, and showed it to Nanapon. Nanapon looked at my screen, then took out her own smartphone and began to type. Yoshino-san, meanwhile, was peeking at the phone from between me and Nanapon.

‘Yes. There’s a hidden staircase in the room at the end. We can get to the basement from there.’

Nanapon showed me her phone.

A hidden staircase, huh. How cliché………… And Yoshino-san, you’re too close. You’re way too interested in those gold bars.

‘Understood. Let’s head there first.’

As I was typing this message, Yoshino-san, who was peering at my screen, nodded in agreement.

This person is so annoying…

Feeling a little irritated with Yoshino-san, I showed the screen to Nanapon. Nanapon looked at the screen, nodded, and put her phone away.

Having finished our confirmation, we turned our attention forward and watched Yanagi-san and Maede-san hunt the skeleton. However, the skeleton was already gone, and the two of them were looking at us.

"What are you doing?"

Yanagi-san asked, holding the skeleton’s sword.

"Just discussing our plan from here on out."

"On your smartphones?"

"We didn’t want to disturb you. It seemed like a certain someone might get distracted."

As I said that, Maede-san subtly averted her gaze.

"Oh well. So, what’s the plan?"

Yanagi-san asked as he and Maede-san returned to us, handing over the skeleton’s sword.

"For now, we’ll continue moving forward with the investigation. In other words, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing."

"Well, I suppose so. Understood. Then, let’s resume."

We started walking again and resumed our investigation.

After walking a little further, a door came into view at the end of the corridor. Nanapon then pointed at the door with her hand hidden behind her back. It seemed the stairs to the basement were there.

I proceeded down the corridor and, upon reaching the door at the end, I glanced at Nanapon before opening it. Since Nanapon didn’t react, I knew there were no monsters inside.

After confirming, I opened the door and went inside.

The room was about ten tatami mats in size, like the others, but it might have originally been a library, as it was lined with empty bookshelves.

"It seems this corridor ends here."

Yanagi-san said as he entered the room after me, looking around.

"Maybe so…"

I replied to Yanagi-san while glancing at Nanapon. She then pointed at the left bookshelf, hidden from the others.

Confirming this, I went to the left bookshelf, placed my hands on it, and pulled. The bookshelf was made of wood and had no books, so I was able to pull it without much effort.

"Oh! There’s something there!"

As I pulled the bookshelf, Yoshino-san let out a happy voice. I moved the displaced bookshelf to the side and looked at the spot where it had been.

The wall behind the bookshelf was covered with many wooden planks.

"What is this?"

"They’ve blocked something off with planks. Did they repair it?"

Yanagi-san and Maede-san approached and placed their hands on the planks.

"Wind? There’s something beyond this…"

Yanagi-san seemed to have felt a draft with his hand.

"Move aside."

I said to the two who were examining the planks. They obediently moved away from the wall.

I approached the wall and touched the planks once.

"Just ordinary planks…"

"What are you going to do?"

Yoshino-san asked.

"This is a pain, so I’ll just break through."

"Excuse me?"

I took a half-step back, raised my right leg, and kicked through the planks with a fighting kick.

"Hey!"

Yoshino-san let out a surprised voice, but I ignored her and continued to kick the planks, creating a space large enough for a person to pass through.

"It’s hard to kick in a robe…"

The skirt-like fabric kept getting caught on my leg.

"What a barbaric witch."

Yoshino-san said, exasperated.

"It’s not like you have a hammer, do you?"

"Well, no."

I continued to kick after that and broke through all the planks. The wall where the planks had been now had a hole about a meter wide, and it was dark inside.

"There are stairs…"

"So these ruins have a basement…"

Yanagi-san and Maede-san took out flashlights and peered into the hole, illuminating the inside.

"Are you planning to go in there?"

Yanagi-san asked as he put away his flashlight.

"Of course."

"Well, I’d like you to map what’s below, but…"

He trailed off.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, it’s just that we didn’t anticipate this. I need to report this to my superiors first."

"What? You can’t go in here without permission?"

"It means that as a mere squad member, I can’t make that judgment."

Well, reporting and consulting are important.

"So we’ll postpone this for now?"

"That’s right. Let’s put this on hold for the time being. Let’s go back and head to the opposite corridor."

I guess it can’t be helped… But it would be the worst if they told us we can’t go into the basement after all.

As I was feeling frustrated, Yoshino-san tapped my shoulder.

"What?"

"Don’t worry. This is within expectations."

Yoshino-san gave me a thumbs-up with a brilliant smile. I didn’t quite understand, but she might have already negotiated for something like this.

"Hmph. Well then, let’s head back…"

We gave up on the stairs to the basement and decided to retrace our steps down the corridor we had just walked.