Chapter 137 - Excavation Detour

Excavation Detour

As I looked at it and wondered why it seemed so familiar, Daniela returned from her stroll.

“There really is nothing around here… What, that, that…!”

“Ah, Daniela. Yeah, this. I know I’ve seen it before, but I can’t remember where.”

“That is an ancient elven crest!”

“Re-really?”

I frantically took my bag off and pulled out the ancient elven sword. On close inspection, it really did have the same crest on its handguard. I see. I rarely looked at it and so I had forgotten…

“It’s the same…”

“So this ruin was made by the ancient elves… Asagi, this is quite a discovery!”

“I guess. But if it’s so important, why hasn’t anyone realized it before?”

Supposedly this place had been investigated many times. That seemed very inept on their part.

“Well, people had long assumed that there was some value to this place. They must have been careful not to change too much. I imagine they would not have been turning everything over…”

“So in other words, I was the first person to flip this rock here. And so it was discovered.”

It was a weird coincidence. My job when I worked the night shift was mostly cleaning, and so I liked to keep things tidy. And I suppose that tendency led to this. My days as a part-time worker were not for nothing then.

“But this building is in a lot worse condition than the other one.”

“There would be some kind of preservation magic on the important parts. That means there could be something where we cannot see.”

Now that was something our predecessors should have looked into. But I guess they didn’t turn things over and shovel and sweep as part of investigations in this world. In fact, seventy percent of the building had practically returned to nature.

“Well then. If we investigate this place thoroughly, that could lead to a great discovery…”

“I know that we are not exactly in a hurry, but surely you do not think we are going to set up camp here and dig around forever?”

There was the matter of food as well. Daniela added. It didn’t seem the most convincing coming from Daniela, but it would definitely be a problem. If we stayed here for too long, we wouldn’t have enough food when crossing the mountains.

“We could return to Replant once…”

“You…spent all that time saying goodbye to everyone, and you want to return before a week has passed…?”

I have no shame.

“Ah, but one can’t ignore the possibility of a treasure right in front of him.”

“I understand how you feel, but it will not do. If it is there, then it is hidden. You must start by searching for it. It could be underground or in the sky…”

“The sky? How would you hide something in the sky?”

Surely there isn’t a castle floating up there…

“They say that islands floated in the air during the age of advanced magic, you know? Perhaps remnants of it still remain.”

“Huh… Must have been amazing back then…”

Islands in the sky on a sunny day. I looked up now, but of course, there was nothing there. Maybe it was hidden…

“Huhhh…I guess it’s no use then…”

“I am disappointed about it as well.”

I get it…but I didn’t like it at all…!

“Daniela, you go on ahead.”

“What?”

“I’m a romanticist. I cannot abandon the possibility this lies in front of me!”

I wrung my fists and burned with the passion of an adventurous soul. Would I be a man if I gave up here?

“How will you eat?”

“I’ll go hunting.”

“Are you stupid?”

“Maybe I am!”

She looked at me with exasperation, but it did not change my resolve.

“Huhhh… You can be stubborn at the strangest of times, Asagi. I suppose it is I who must bend…”

“I’m sorry, Daniela. I promise. I’ll finish in two days. Even if I don’t find anything, I’ll come after you once those two days are up.”

“…Very well. Walk straight from our last camp, then you will reach the mountain path. It is an actual path with signs, so you should have no trouble catching up to me with your speed.”

“Got it!”

I handed Daniela the hollow bag.

“I’m used to sleeping outside. You should take everything.”

“Two days. I hope you will not forget it in your fervor?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my promise.”

I knew that I wasn’t making it easy for her. But surely it was fine to do as you want, once in a while…

To crush just a little of my guilt, I picked Daniela up and used Legs of the Forest Wolf to carry her back to our camp. This way, she wouldn’t waste any energy on me.

“Well, see you in two days.”

“Aye. I shall have no expectations.”

“I’ll try to bring back something good.”

You will try. Daniela said with a laugh and waved. I returned to the ruin in a hurry. I would find what so many had failed to find in a limited time frame. I had to hurry.

And so my detour began.

And then the first day ended. I had found nothing. I even looked through the sky, but it was no use.

With the power of Legs of the Forest Wolf, I could run in the air. I could explore where no one else could. No one could search this world inhabited by the birds…I think. Probably.

I ran up directly over the ruins. As there was a danger of me running into an invisible wall, I created several ice shields above me as protection. And like that, I went up as high as my body would allow me. It became cold very quickly, and I couldn’t breathe… Still, I found nothing. Though the view was quite nice. It was so surprsingingly beautiful, in fact, that I wanted to show it to Daniela next time.

This world was certainly round, I thought, as I descended, having depleted quite a lot of magical energy. And so the first day ended.

I was very tired as I searched for a place to sleep. I had given everything to Daniela, so the only thing to do was to make some vine ropes and sleep in a tree. It would be impossible, if there were any blood apes around, but they have never been known to live around here. They stayed in the northern forests of Replant.

Still, I set up some animal traps on the ground before climing the tree. Besides, if something got caught in it, I would have something to eat later… Well, I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high. And with that, I tied the vines around my body so I was secure, and closed my eyes.

The next morning, I woke up without having had any dinner the previous day. I sighed as I looked down to untie the rope around my stomach, when I noticed there was a racoon caught in the trap below me. Oh, so I suppose there would be breakfast after all. I untied the ropes and then launched an ice arrow into the brain of the squirming animal. I landed on the ground and saw that it had died with one hit. After joining my hands in front of it respectfully, I began to gut it. Then I gathered some branches together and used way too much magic to create a fire. I disliked fire magic a lot… I understood it for the most part, but I didn’t have the right attributes, which made it irritating to use. Otherwise, I would be causing explosions with a snap of my fingers… Well, maybe I would just have to settle with freezing things.

Freezing an entire area with a snap… That would be so cool…

The fire went out as such stupid thoughts distracted my mind. I felt very miserable as I wasted even more energy in making the fire again.

I walked around the ruins while stuffing racoon meat in my mouth. If it wasn’t in the sky, then it must be in the ground. After all, things always tend to be buried when it comes to ruins. They were always excavating things on TV. Buried gold or earthenware. All underground. If it was one thousand years ago, it could easily be buried, with trees growing over it.

Of course, that was my view as a modern man, and that wasn’t very useful here. After all, this ruin wasn’t even underground. It didn’t matter if it was a thousand years ago.

Unless they hid it underground from the beginning. They hid it there and built a building on top. Yes. They put a building here to draw all the attention, all the while hiding what is really important. But they still wanted someone to find it, so they left a hint. Otherwise, why leave any kind of marking on the surface?

In that case, what ever is hidden must be incredibly valuable. I told myself this as I spat out the bones from the meat and marked the place that I would dig.

I couldn’t turn the whole place upside down. I would concentrate on one point and cause an explosive wind with Legs of the Forest Wolf. Obviously, it would use a lot of magical energy, so I would not be able to do it many times.

First, the center of the ruins. That is where I would dig. I used Jack of all Trades, Master of None to visualize it. It allowed me to try different methods through simulation, and pick which method would be the most effective. The unique skill was really good for that reason…now if only my techniques could catch up with it.

After a few minutes, I concentrated the green and silver wind around my legs to the underside of my feet as I levitated in the air. It went from my legs to a single point below me. It was like piercing the ground with a needle and allowing the energy to explode from that point. The power of the Forest Wolf caused a great wind directed towards the ground. I was blown up into the air by the force of it, but it was all according to my predictions.

“Hmmm… It must be a success then…”

The dust slowly blows away in the wind. And the hole in the ground shows itseld. It worked. There was now a two meter deep hole there. However, there were no visible traces of anything being hidden. Once the dust had settled completely, I went down and inspected it.

“Hmm…mmm…? What’s this?”

I had tried using Presence Detection, and that’s when I noticed that there was magic flowing inside the ground.

I wondered if maybe I had made a mistake, and so I tried again after getting out of the hole, but everything was normal again. So then I went back in the hole and activated Presence Detection. Same strage feeling. It was like I was inside of a dragon vein.

“Is there some magic at work here…?”

Maybe this was the preservation magic? But I wasn’t strong enough to be able to analyze it. Though, there was definitely something here. I knew that. The ruins were quite broken down, and yet, it was somehow still a vehicle for this magic. It was when I thought this, that something  started to bother me.

“Could it be…that it was made like that from the beginning?”

How…aged it looked. Broken down…that atmosphere. And that ancient elven crest that had been flipped over almost purposefully. What if it acted as some kind of magic circle?

I was afraid to find out. What if I destroyed it and it exploded… No thanks. I didn’t want to meddle with it if it really was what was preserving the place. Someone who knew about these things should look at it. But then again, no such person existed in this world anymore.

“If there is preservation magic, and I can dig up the earth here. That means the ground is not protected…so it only affects manmade things?”

I should dig a little more. This is the place where the crest had been. Maybe I would find something. Treasure Hunter Asagi smirked as he gathered a second wind to his feet.