Volume 16 - CH 22

We're walking through a field in the Forbidden Zone.

「The terrain is changing.」

From the desolate horizon, it now turns into a jungle of intricate stone pillars, spreading out in front of us.

「This place is marked as a lung area.」

Cherry-sensei says as he unfolds the map, "Lungs?

Well, don't think too much about it.

Thinking about unnecessary things in the middle of battle can be fatal.

I switch to the thoughts of an adventurer.

「Ah! Alec, look, look! There's a shrine over there!」

Marilyn was the first one to notice it, but this guy's got good eyesight.

「What are we going to do? Alec.」

Serina asked, but normally we would have gone to check if there were any items lying around.

But this is not a normal dungeon.

It's a place where forbidden spells are sealed, so....

「It's better to stay away from it. Our destination is Eudores(?), the deepest part.」

I say the name of the destination on the map.

「You're right, even if you do find it, it's probably an item you can't take out....」

「Ahem, you're not allowed to take anything out, but the headmaster has asked me to check the items and perform a few rituals. I'm sorry, but we'll have to stop by.」

Cherry-sensei cleared his throat and starts to say that he was sent here for that purpose.

「How long does it take?」

「Not that long. Three minutes should be enough.」

「Ah, I want to eat some cup noodles.」

Kaede suddenly says, but it's only three minutes.

Unfortunately, we can't have the nostalgic taste of Japanese cup noodles here in the other world.

「When you get home, go eat some real ramen.」

I say, but ramen itself is widespread in this world, and the taste is quite good.

「Alec doesn't understand. Instant ramen and fresh ramen are two different things.」

Kaede continues to complain, but I want to eat it too, so bear with it.

「Come to think of it, there is such a thing, isn't there? But I think regular ramen is better.」

「That's why it's different――wait!」

Kaede signaled with her hand and got down.

We quickly hide behind a stone pillar and ask in a whisper.

「What's wrong?」

「I just saw a figure on the other side of the stone pillar. I just want to make sure we're the only ones in this Forbidden Zone, right?」

「That's right. If there's anyone else in there, the Headmaster would have told us. What do you think, Luna?」

I tried calling out the Headmaster's name, but there was no response. We're still in the Inner Ear area, does she can't hear us?

「It's not Jouga and the others, is it?」

Serina confirmed.

「No, it is not. It was wearing robes and a different color.」

That can't be――.

「What color is it robe?」

「Black.」

Kaede saw a black-robed Magician here, huh?

My hunch was right, but it's not a very interesting situation.

Sure, we're after her.

But not here, not now.

「Damn, what a pain in the ass. ...... That Black Magician is」

「It seems she's the one who's been sabotaging the admissions process, but who is she?」

Kaede asks me.

「If I knew that, I wouldn't have any trouble. Anyway, be careful of her. In the Lodar Wetlands, she summons the Black Bird and kills a lot of villagers. She's has bounty on her head. A million gold.」

I don't want anyone else to take it, since the prize money is paid by the Black Cat of the Wind, but I also want information.

「A million gold!? That sounds like a very big deal. ......」

Nicole was surprised, but it seems that 300,000 gold is the market price in this world for a normal big fish. I was excited to do it.

「Black Bird? What does it look like?」

Marilyn asked.

「The one we saw was white, and although we didn't see it directly, it was big enough to kill several lizardman warriors. I'd say it was about twenty meters long. The white one... do you know what a seahorse is?」

「Yes, I know what it is. It's delicious.」

Did you eat it?

「It had a head like that.」

「The thing is, magic doesn't work on them.」

Serina added an important explanation.

「Does that mean that flames and certain attributes are useless?」

Although Cherry-sensei will confirm it.

「No, all of them. The white bird only tested by ice and light attributes, but the black slug from the entrance exam was ineffective against all four elements. There's no doubt that she summoned both of them.」

「I see, I've heard of it, but, ....... It's a little hard to believe. It's said that high-ranking dragons and the like have a powerful magic resistance that completely nullifies elementary magic, but even so, attacks that exceed magic defense, such as advanced magic, can still do damage. A fire monster can be damaged by water or ice, if it's an ice monster, it's fire, and that's the natural order of things.」

Cherry mentioned his knowledge of magic in this world, but it's impossible for any of it to be nullified.

So there's no Metal Slime here. That's a shame. (TLN: reference dragon quest?)

「Do you mean there's a black magician here who can summon those troublesome monster? Hey, if she summon those monster here, Isn't it bad?」

Kaede said.

Everyone was silent, but it was true that now that the party was organized to specialize in magic, it would be very bad when someone magic doesn't work.

「Don't worry, my【Starlight Attack】will work on them. It's a skill, though.」

Serina says with a smile, ...... Well, it would be better to keep the information out of here.

「In that case, I'll just go out and spy on her.」

Saki said, and running between the pillars.

「I'll go with you.」

Meena followed suit.

「The opponent is a high-level Magician. It won't just be summoning magic, so you two better be careful.」

I'll call out to the two of them towards their backs.

「Well, then, it looks like this neighborhood is safe now. I think I'll finish the ritual while I'm here, if that's okay with you? Alec-kun.」

Cherry asks, are you on an errand for the headmaster?

「If you don't want to make a scene, go ahead.」

「I won't. I'll leave this place to you.」

As Cherry is heading to the shrine, so I'll leave this place to Serina, and me, Letty, and Lumina will be Cherry's guards.

Lumina didn't like it, shaking her head, but she's a talented person. I picked her up and forced her to come. I'll buy her something later to keep her in a good mood. She's the princess of the Kingdom of Soltaire, after all.

「I'll go this way too, right? Come on, Nicole and Kaede, come on. It's going to be fun.」

Marilyn came along, but I think it's okay to at least look around.

「Ehh? Are you sure?」

「I'm pass~. What so interesting about that you would go out of your way to approach such dangerous things like forbidden spells and artifacts?」

Kaede waved her hand and said no, but Nicole seemed interested and came over.

I reminded them not to make any noise, but allowed them to accompany me to the shrine.

Surrounded by stone pillars that looked like a thicket of trees, the shrine had an open ground with a radius of about five meters, and in the center was a white stone pedestal that looked like an upside-down pyramid.

The problem is that the large object sitting in front of the shrine ...... is also a stone?

It has a beautiful spherical shape, but there is nothing else unusual about it.

It is gray in color.

「This is the forbidden spell ......? Is it?」

When Nicole asked confidently, Cherry-sensei shook his head.

「No, this is not a spell.」

Cherry-sensei approached the stone unprotected and began to mumble some incantations at it.

「Yeah, I'm sure this is it. One of the lost artifacts of the gods, An ancient stone ball from Kos-Turica」　(TLN: コス＝トューリカ)

「Hee~.」

「Hmーph, it looks like it's just a piece of stone.」

Marilyn peered at it closely, but it was a large stone ball, about a meter in diameter.

There are no patterns or carvings on its surface, and it's smooth.

「But it is indestructible by any force, not even a scratch. How such a stone could be processed is a mystery that successive generations of renowned Magicians and connoisseurs have attempted to solve, but..........they have been unable to find even a clue to analysis. It's a godsend.」

Cherry-sensei explained.

「Hee~, touryaahh!」

Marilyn hit it suddenly with her gloved hand, but the stone didn't falter.

Of course, there were no scratches on the surface. Instead, Marilyn seemed to be in pain and cowered, holding her own hand.

「Owowowo ......! Hey, Alec, don't just look at me, try it with your sword.」

「Come again?」

「They say it won't scratch... I wonder if that's true. I thought.」

「Then, I'll do it. ――The small stone pierces the large stone, the fast stone pierces the immobile stone, the will crushes the stone, Stone Bullet!」

Letty also cast a spell, but the small magic stone that hit the stone ball shattered.

You guys are a little crazy, suddenly trying to destroy the carefully stored heritage of the gods.

I looked at Cherry-sensei to make sure, but instead of getting angry, he nodded with a relaxed look on his face.

「Then I'll give it a try. Hmph! 【Zantetsuken】!」

I also used my skills on the stone to slash it.

*creaaaaak* I heard a creak sound and a pop, and sure enough, the sword I was holding was broken clean in half.

I had a hunch about that, didn't I?

Damn, it was a pretty expensive sword. Oh well, I have a spare.

「Haha, it's been recorded that a number of powerful people have tried and failed. That's about as good as it's going to get.」

Cherry says with a wry smile.

「By the way, Cherry-sensei, how much do you sell this for?」

Letty holds a large bag in her hands and asks that, Are you trying to be funny? It's just a joke, right?

「It's not for sale. It's a unique item, the only one of its kind in the world. Put the bag away. It's not funny at all, Letty-sensei.」

As expected, even Cherry looked sour, as if to say, "That's inappropriate".

「But this looks so delicious.」

Marilyn bit into it, but it made a pretty good crunching sound.　

「Ugh!」

「O-Oi, are you okay? Marilyn-kun. Let me see your teeth.」

「Yeah, my teeth are fine. Look. But...... *crunch crunch*, this is not delicious」

「Eehhh!? T-that can't be.」

When I looked at the stone, I saw that the shape of the tooth was clearly attached and only that part was gouged.

「N-No way! There are no other artifacts in the world!　......Hafuuh」

The distracted Cherry-sensei seemed to feel dizzy and almost fell down, so Nicole hurriedly supported his body.

「Che-Cherry-sensei! Stay-stay with me!」

I told you not to make a fuss, you guys.