kscans

Chapter 156 - There's Nothing Here

Having climbed down the ladder, I looked around.

"It really is a little brighter..."

As I surveyed my surroundings, I understood the reason. The direction of the cavern where the building stood was brighter than when I last came. The SDF probably found the light source switch during their investigation yesterday.

Since it was a little brighter, I looked up at the ladder. I could see the other four carefully climbing down one after another.

That rabbit must be Nanapon... So easy to spot. And with this much light, my robe's contents would be visible if they looked up from below.

I watched as everyone descended, and soon all four had safely landed from the ladder.

"It's brighter than last time."

Yoshino-san murmured as she looked around.

"Yeah, we found the switch during yesterday's investigation. But there was no switch in this cave. That's why this cave is still dark."

Yanagi-san explained.

Hmm... Well, I guess we can see to some extent with the light from that cavern, so it should be fine?

"I see. So this place is like a shelter."

Yoshino-san said with a nod.

"What do you mean by that?"

Nanapon, who didn't quite understand, asked Yoshino-san.

"This is a place where royalty and such would take refuge in times of crisis, like during a war. It's hidden, so there are no lights in this cave. If it were bright here, it would be visible from above."

"Why royalty?"

"The scale of the building. It's too small for residents to evacuate, but too large for a single family to take shelter in."

And also because there are gold bars.

"I see."

I have a feeling that's the case too. At first, I thought it was a religious facility, but for that, there's no altar-like idol. It's more like a mansion than a facility.

"Actually, we also believe that might be the case. We haven't investigated the second floor yet, so we can't say for sure, but we're speculating that there might be another entrance or exit."

It seems the SDF shares Yoshino-san's thinking.

"If there is one, it's either on the second floor or in the basement."

There's probably another path leading to the surface in one of those places. I doubt they would build something of this scale and let themselves be trapped like rats in a bag.

"I think so. And I want you to be careful about this, but we don't know if the other side of that escape route is within the area permitted by Frontier. We're having you go ahead to create a map, but please don't proceed too casually. If you're not careful, we might end up breaking a treaty."

"It should be fine, right? Frontier said we could do as we please with the underground ruins, didn't they?"

That's what I heard.

"Well, yes, but just in case."

I guess being cautious is just right...

"Understood. Well then, let's start investigating the second floor."

With that, I took Nanapon and started walking towards the now-brightened end of the cave. The other three followed behind me and Nanapon.

As I walked on, my vision gradually brightened, and finally, I emerged from the cave into the large cavern where the building was located.

"It's so bright. Like daytime."

The day before yesterday when I came, only the lights set up by the SDF were on, so it was only partially bright, but now the entire cavern and building were clearly visible.

"Bright, isn't it? Just like inside that building, the entire wall here is glowing. Look at this."

Yanagi-san said, pointing to a certain part of the stone wall. A small portion of the stone wall was chipped away as if it had been broken with something.

"Did you break it with a hammer or something?"

"That's right. We couldn't very well break the building's walls. So we tried breaking this stone wall."

"Hmm, it's not glowing."

The surrounding unbroken stone walls were glowing, but the hole in the broken part was not.

"I think some kind of paint has been applied. That's what's glowing."

So it's not the wall itself that's glowing, but something like fluorescent paint...

"Did you investigate it?"

"We're looking into it now. We might not find out anything, though."

"Hmm..."

I stared at the glowing wall and used Appraisal on it.

【Sparkling Paint】

Literally, a sparkling name... No, sparkling... Tch! The raw material is Sparkling Grass.

The glowing component is probably something extracted from Sparkling Grass. Or it's made with Alchemy.

Will I be able to make it eventually? Or... hmm, I don't know. But there's one thing I do know.

If Sparkling Grass is related to this paint, Appraisal will reveal it. This means the SDF, or rather, the country, will eventually reach the same conclusion.

This is bad... The price of Sparkling Grass could skyrocket. Sparkling Grass is an ingredient for Buff Potion (Strength). I don't want the price to go up, and I don't want it to become difficult to gather.

When I get back, should I ask Kaede-chan to put out a collection request, no matter the cost... I can probably have it gathered without the price inflating too much right now.

"Eleanor, is something wrong?"

Yoshino-san, likely finding it strange that I was staring silently at the wall, asked me.

"It's nothing... Yanagi-san, you chipped this off yesterday, right?"

"That's right. We chipped it off and collected a sample when we were investigating this area yesterday."

Haven't they appraised it yet? No, they probably have... The SDF and the government are slow to act, so I doubt they'll move to buy it all up immediately. It might be faster for me to act. In the worst-case scenario, I could ask Claire. I don't know if Sparkling Grass grows in the area America is borrowing, but there might be another route.

"Understood. Never mind. Let's go."

I ignored the four people who were likely finding me suspicious and headed towards the building. When I reached the building, I opened the door and went inside.

The inside of the building was already bright.

"Oh? It's bright."

I thought we turned it off when we left last time.

"They were investigating the walls until morning. They probably investigated the building's walls too. Though they couldn't chip them, of course."

Hmm... An investigation, huh...

"I see. Well then, let's go up to the second floor."

I was a little concerned, but since Nanapon didn't react in any particular way, I decided to put it on hold.

When we went up to the second floor, we found that there were passages directly above the left and right passages on the first floor.

"Is it the same structure as the first floor?"

"Who knows? Let's go and see."

Urged on by Nanapon, I first went to the right passage. The passage was only about ten meters long, with just a single door.

"Oh, is this it?"

"Looks like it."

If Nanapon says so, then there's really only one room.

I continued down the passage and opened the door. The room inside was not the usual ten-mat size, but more than twice that, a large room. But as usual, there was nothing but white walls.

"There's nothing here."

"If Yoshino-san's prediction from earlier was correct, could this be the king's room?"

That might be it. It's spacious.

"That's a possibility. But there's nothing here. How boring."

"Well then, shall we try the other side... Heh."

Nanapon laughed self-deprecatingly.

So it's the same on the other side... Well, she would have told me beforehand if there was anything.

"Alright, now for the other side."

I left the room and headed towards the left passage. The left passage, like the right one, was only about ten meters long with a single door. And when I entered the room, this one was also spacious, but there was nothing there.

"The second floor is underwhelming. The escape route doesn't seem to be here either."

I said, looking around the room.

"It seems so. What should we do? The investigation of the second floor ended sooner than expected."

Hmm, what should I do?

"Yanagi-san, what's the plan? Should we have an early lunch? Or should we go to the basement?"

I decided to check with Yanagi-san.

"We don't know if there's light in the basement, so let's have an early lunch... Let's go outside the building for now. Skeletons appear here."

Lunch outside... It would be a pain if a Skeleton appeared while we were eating, so that's a good idea.

"Got it. Let's go outside for a bit."

We decided to have an early lunch and, after descending to the first floor, we left the building.