Chapter 50: Scarlets' Research 4 (1)

The interior of the ruins was a network of complex passages. There were countless bends and forks, and sometimes you had to climb up and down. And of course, there were strong foes obstructing the way.

"Damn it! What the hell is this? My blade can’t get through!"

The leader of the Four-headed Dragon cursed as a grating sensation was transmitted to his hand. With the spear on one hand and the silver gleam that covered all its body, it appeared to be a fully-plated soldier. However, judging from the distorted figure — a head directly from its torso without a neck and its unusually thick limbs — it was clearly not a human. It looked like a child-made clay doll.

"It's a golem! And it’s made of metal!"

One of the members of Ars Longa shouted in excitement.

Golem. A golem is a type of familiar that a mage can create by granting a temporary life to a material. The strength of the familiar depends on both the skill of its creator and the quality of the material. In the case of metal, such golems would present a hindrance. It was because metal is both durable and strong.

"And this colour means...... Mithril! It's a mithril golem!"

"Mithril, huh?"

"Wait, isn't that a super high-grade magical alloy! This golem is made out of that?"

Ninon stiffened. Her eyes, hidden behind by her bangs, must have been wide-opened. The analysis made by Ars Longa was that disturbing.

Mithril is also known as magic’s silver, or true silver. It is a light yet strong silver alloy that could seldom be found from magic enriched veins, and can possess a variety of magical properties depending on how it is processed. It was a material used for the highest quality of armours, and it was said that the equipment of the heroes from the old was often made of mithril. It was a rare metal that was synonymous with legendary weapons.

And to their demise, it made up the entire body of the golem.

"............!"

The golem, or perhaps it should be called walking ingot, moved with an agility that betrayed its appearance. It was targeting the leader of the Four-headed Dragon. The swordsman who was preoccupied with snatching whatever treasure lay ahead was attacked by the spear of the golem.

"Don’t you dare look down on me, puppet!!"

But he was a B-ranked adventurer. In fact as the unchanging member, despite the frequent substitution of members in his party, and also as the leader, the one thing he had was tenacity. Rather than being thrust to his death, he hit the hilt of the spear and avoided the blow without suffering any wounds.

But the price to pay was high.

With a sharp noise, the sword broke in the middle.

"Damn it! My god-damned expensive foreign made Wootz steel sword!? How could it break?"

It was a rare steel material from another continent that was touted as being resistant to rusting, breaking, or bending. But it was insufficient against mithril. After all, since the whole body of the golem was made in mithril, the spear was surely made from the same thing.

Gerald took position to cover him.

"Get back. I'll handle it."

He readied his scimitar as he said.

He took a deep breath as the golem closed in on him. As if responding to the golem advance, the mysterious glow that was always around the blade grew in intensity.

"......Hah!"

A slash.

A straight line of sparks ran vertically towards the top of the golem's head, creating the noise of objects chafing against each other.

The next moment, the golem and its spear was cut completely in half and fell onto the floor.

"A-a single stroke......."

"Wow, amazing! As expected of the good name of the Red Lion! If mithril is considered a legendary alloy, then this strike must also be a legend!"

The leader of the Four-headed Dragon murmured, while the boisterous Ars Logan members cheered.

This scimitar, which could cut through even a mithril golem, was actually not made of metal. It was a weapon made from the parts of living things.

It was the fang of a dragon.

In the past, a vicious dragon attacked the west and destroyed several B-ranked parties. After a fierce battle, the Scarlet Shield finally put it down, and to commemorate their achievement, they made their own equipment from its parts.

Gerald’s scimitar was a dragon fang sword.

Cedric's shield of scales was a dragon scale shield.

Gotsch's sharpened daggers were made from two dragon claws.

Ninon's robe was made with the beard of the dragon.

There were 4 different equipment made in total. All of them were first-rate equipment suitable for the A rank, the pinnacle for adventurers.

They were both rare and powerful, and not at all inferior to mithril.

The other adventurers around them looked on with envy.

The members of the Scarlet Shield were instead looking at Gerald with concern.

"...... You've poured a lot into that strike, didn't you?"

"Yeah. It was an opponent that required it."

"No. But I could have—"

"No. Even so, in the end, Gerald or I would have to be the one to exert ourselves. This guy is just too tough..."

Ninon worried for their leader, Cedric grinded on his teeth in regret, and Gotsch let out a sigh. Gerald’s was drenched in cold sweat, though he pretended to be unconcerned about it.

These four types of armour made of dragon material also had a special function.

That is, in exchange for a temporary boost to its performance, it takes an equivalent amount of strength of its owner.

By literally breathing life into them, the dragon's claws and fangs could be restored to their former sharpness, and the scales and beard could be made stronger. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, but this was not something that could be used more than once in a short period of time. In fact, during the noon battle against the cyclops, with the magical firepower of the Apostles of the Dawn, they managed to preserve this trump card. Until then, the burden was great.

Now that they were in a situation without the mages, they had no choice but to use their trump card. No, even if the Apostles of the Dawn were still alive, it might not be effective against a magic resistant mithril. They would have to use it anyway.

"Hey, what are you guys mumbling about?"

"No, it's nothing."

They brushed off the Four-headed Dragon leader. Equipment strengthening was a double-edged sword and was thus a secret. It was not something that could easily be revealed to outsiders. In particular, the Four-headed Dragon leader, with his insatiable greed, he wasn’t somebody they could be careless around. If the weakness in their trump card was discovered, it could be capitalised on to assassinate them.

After all, the disadvantage of fights between adventurers was that dead adventurers cannot provide testimony.

How could the adventurers’ guild make a rule to allow such fights? The members of Scarlet Shield showed equal disdain against the deplorable state of affairs between adventurers.

On the other hand, for the members of Ars Longa…

"Hmmm, so it isn’t just the use of mithril, but also the excellent build quality."

"As you say. These must be the legacy of the ancient civilisation who built these ruins. They must have been very advanced."

"And yet, the design was so simple, wasn't it? If it was such an expensive golem, I think the design should have been more elaborate."

"Yes. If it was left behind as a guardian of these ruins, symbolism should have held importance."

And so on and so forth, as they surrounded and inspected what was left of the golem.

They showed no caution despite being deep in enemy territory.

"...... You guys need to be a little more careful."

"Huh? Oh, yes. ...... But we have an A-ranked thief over there, right? Then our vigilance is unnecessary, wouldn’t it?"

"Is that how it is?"

"Yes, it is. Rest assured, we have already disarmed the traps around us."

And that’s how the conversation went. Indeed, if they chose to rely on Gotsch's ability, then their lack of vigilance was acceptable. But how could they have such dependency on other parties? The stubbornness of the Four-headed Dragon and the Apostles of Dawn was one problem, but they were, though different in nature, a separate problem. It's like being forced to babysit, to say the least, if these adventurers delegated away these basic responsibilities to them.

Ninon tried to avoid the awkwardness by asking.

"So, how about it? Did you find anything out by examining the golem?"

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked!"

The member of Ars Longa shone with a look of anticipation on his face.

Sensing that this was going to be a long explanation, they inadvertently braced themselves. The survivors of the Apostles of the Dawn were probably being tortured, yet these inquisitive people paid no heed to it.