16 Episode 16 "Bat Extermination and the Secret of the Mansion".txt

The House of the Wizard stands on a mountainside, about a two-hour walk from Metekal.

It is a two-story building made of stone, with walls clinging to ivy.

There are two windows with holes in them.

Bats must have come and gone through them.

The front door may have rotted out a long time ago, but now it's a wooden plank in place.

"And there's a dozen big bats living inside.

Just to be sure, I've looked up the information on the demon.

'Great bats.

An omnivorous demon that lives in the forests and caves of the continent.

They look the same as the bats in my world.

They're about the size of a small dog.

They are basically nocturnal, active from dusk to night, and stay in the dark during the day.

Whether or not they were emitting ultrasonic waves - we couldn't tell from the data from this world.

However, they do not seem to have completely degenerate eyes because they see food from domestic animals and humans.

It seems that even low-level adventurers can defeat it if you prepare a flying tool and challenge it to a fight.''

So.

All right, Cecil, do what you have to do. Rita, go over there and stand by under the broken window.

I will. Nagi and Cecil, take care of yourself.

Ducking her blonde hair, Rita heads to the side of the mansion as planned.

Me and Cecil are from the front.

I check the floor plan of the mansion that the guild gave me.

The mansion is made to look like a rich man's mansion. When you open the front door, there's a large entrance, and then a large staircase that leads to the second floor. If you enter from the front, you can get to all the rooms in the shortest distance.

I'm told that the doors that separate the rooms are all rotten because they've been discarded for a long time.

So, let's make this quick, shall we?

Cecil, are you ready to go?

......

In response to my question, Cecil nods with a nervous face and a chuckle.

It looks like I'm ready.

...... Seeno.

I raised my fist in the air.

''Building hard-hitting LV1!''

bang

A big hole was made in the board that blocked the entrance to the house.

At the same time, there was a squeal, gee-ya, gee-ya.

Cecil!　You can shoot!

"I summon the elements of the sun wheel right here, right now!　Light!

A fist-sized ball of light jumps indoors from the hole that the "architectural strike" made.

And.

The wizard's house, which had swallowed the Ancient Language Magic Light, emitted a great deal of light from within.

Dusty windows. The gaps in the outer walls.

A great deal of light poured out from everywhere.

The sound of a beast crying out in the ruins.

The sound of wings flapping. The sound of something hitting something in a panic.

And a black shadow jumps out of the broken window

"Rita!　What the hell was going on there?　Please!

'Yes, master!　Leave it to me!

Unlike me, Rita has no resistance to Cecil's magic.

So I close my eyes and use my signature 'airborne detection' ability to catch the enemy's position, kicking the tree and jumping triangularly.

He knocks a hand sword off the back of a large bat that was trying to escape.

'Zakkaku'

The bat's body was split in half.

This is the power of Rita's UR skill, Divine Power Grip.

It allows you to concentrate the sacred power in your body to any part of your body and increase its strength.

It seems that the tegatana is now as sharp as a famous sword because it's concentrated in the hands.

''Nagi!　Another one?

I'm fine!　There was only one animal that came out.

The light fades away. At the same time, the inside of the ruin goes quiet.

There are still more than ten bats left.

After counting for a good fifteen seconds, we decide to rush into the building.

As it turns out, all the big bats were lying on their backs on the floor.

...... They're nocturnal, you know.

Was "Ancient Language Magic Light" too much of a shock?

A few of them are twitching their wings and limbs.

A few of them are completely dead, perhaps because they couldn't withstand the light.

Cecil's "Ancient Language Chanting Light" makes a giant ball of light, you know.

The guy hiding in the shadows must have been swallowed up with them.

I feel like I'm doing something bad.

But, well, it's work.

Huh.

acquaintance

I stabbed him in the heart with my shortsword.

I'm turning off the "gifted swordsmanship". It's a quick death, so it doesn't matter.

All that's left is to annihilate the large bats that can't move.

After about twenty minutes of killing bats, it was time to explore.

The three of us got together and went through the rooms one by one, just in case something happened.

The ruined mansion is covered with dust, bat residue and feces.

There is not a single piece of furniture that still retains its original shape, and the mirrors on the sinks and the dishes and plates in the kitchen are gone. There was a built-in bookshelf, but there were no books in it.

It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

"Did Cecil and Rita find anything?

'There's nothing to ...... about it. I mean, I want to take a bath: ......

Rita blurted out, shaking her dusty hair.

The abandoned air must be hard on Rita, who was sensitive to smells.

'When we get back to Metekal, let's all go to the communal bathhouse.

'Nagi-sama,'

Suddenly, clutching the hem of my clothes, Cecil said.

''I can feel ...... faintly magical ......''

Something ...... caught Cecil's 'magic detection' skill?

'Yes. It feels tingly. Like I'm being clawed out of my reach.

I see.

Me and Rita both gasped for breath to get out of Cecil's way.

Cecil opens his arms as if to welcome something and slowly lets out a breath.

''Magic detection.''

Once again, I activate my skills.

Her thin arm is giving me goosebumps.

It's like she's trying to grab a piece of magic with her skin sensation.

It's like a magician's magic is moving.

Cecil opened his eyes and looked at me as if he noticed something.

'Where?'

This way.

Cecil grabbed my hand.

My smooth palm trembles faintly.

This ruin has been searched out long ago.

That's why it's the target of a quest for beginners like us.

If Cecil can sense the magic of ...... then someone else has gotten in.

Or maybe something old has started to operate .......

'Maybe it's here. Nagi-sama.

A staircase in the entrance of the first floor.

Cecil stopped in front of the stone wall at the bottom of it.

Even my 'architectural battering' can't break the stone wall.

But Cecil can feel the magic from behind it .......

''In a game or something, if you push it, it moves.

It doesn't budge.

If it works by pushing it, someone must have found a hidden room or something long ago.

For example, if you set up a hidden room, what do you usually do?

Do you want it to respond to items?

In this case, the key is 'no one has found it before'.

''Is 'magic detection' a skill that can only be used by Cecil?'''

No. Most wizarding types can use it.

...... still means no one has ever found it before, right?

What is it that we have that other people don't?

The "visitor" - that is, he responded to me.

...... Isn't this one?

And I don't understand the reaction of magic power to begin with.

If Cecil wasn't there, I wouldn't have noticed it .......

The magic power ...... lived here was a wizard that no one had ever seen the face of ...... and that only Cecil could have ...... seen.

'Cecil. Can I ask you something?

I have nothing to hide from you, Nagi.

''It's not such a big deal, and I don't mean to get all red-faced and defensive, but is the 'ancient language' that Cecil uses, can it be spoken by human wizards?''

...... is impossible, I guess. It's the demon race's own magic language.

A scholar of ancient languages.

Even the demons stopped using 'ancient language' a long time ago. My 'ancient language chanting' was probably pulled out of my memory of the lore. I don't think it's possible for an ordinary human to do it.

'One more thing. Cecil can only chant magic in ancient languages?　Or can you converse in 'ancient languages'?

...... eh?

Cecil nodded his head a little then, as if searching his own head.

'Conversation seems to be a bit, well, impossible. I can manage simple sentences and words.

Okay, say something you know.

'I love Nagi-sama's hands because they're so warm and big and nice.'

...... I don't know what it means, but I don't know why my eyes are feverish.

As soon as Cecil's voice echoed in the ruins - there was a reaction.

The wall at the bottom of the stairs glowed pale and white for a moment.

It's drawing some kind of figure. Is this a magic circle?

You responded to ...... ancient language.

What do you mean, Nagi?

Rita tapped on the glowing wall, knocking on it.

'This mansion was sealed in such a way that no human could find it.

In a game, it's a door that can only be opened by having a certain character join you.

If you don't have an item or a key word that the character has, you can't enter the place. Well, it's usually sprinkled with hints, but in this case, no hints.

Or rather, it's too good to be a coincidence.

The residual thoughts of the demon race──If Ashtarteh was there, I might have figured it out, but.

He knew that I could draw out Cecil's potential, and he brought them together.

...... No, no way.

If you can read that far ahead, it's a god or some such realm of existence.

''There was a seal in this mansion that responded to the ancient language.

At my words, Cecil's eyes widened.

The seal reacted to Cecil's 'Ancient Language Light'.

The seal woke up in response to the old magic of its own kind.

''Cecil, why don't you tell me a few things in the Ancient Language and see if this wall can be opened?''

The quest is over.

The rest is extra. A treasure hunt for Cecil.

The ancient language is a magical language used by the demon tribe.

If they responded to it, the wizard who lived in this mansion could be a 'demon' - a member of Cecil's clan.