Chapter 276: 【Adventurer Mitran】Investigating the Upper Levels of the 'Ahate River Upstream Ruins'

Chapter 276: 【Adventurer Mitran】Investigating the Upper Levels of the 'Ahate River Upstream Ruins' 【Adventurer Mitran】Investigating the Upper Levels of the ‘Ahate River Upstream Ruins’

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“Oh! So this is the tentatively named ‘Ahate River Upstream Ruins’! The currently ‘hottest’ unknown ruins on the Golden Continent!!”

About an hour’s journey from the town of Nebo along the Ahate River towards the mountains.

The day after I met Leseida-san, the two of us had arrived at the forest where the entrance to the mysterious ancient ruins, which were the talk of the town, was located!

The path from the town to these ruins had been frequently traveled by adventurers, so a proper road had been made and it was very easy to walk on.

There were no attacks by monsters, the weather was good, the spring sunshine was warm, and it was truly a journey that felt like taking a stroll.

“Wow, now that the undergrowth has been cleared, it’s a bit easier to see, but... I’m amazed they found ruins like this.”

The entrance to the ‘Ahate River Upstream Ruins’ was so integrated with the surrounding forest that I unintentionally muttered those words.

These ruins were constructed by stacking yellowish stones, but probably because they were built a long time ago, giant trees with trunks so thick that even three adults holding hands couldn’t wrap around them were growing right next to the ruins, making them inconspicuous.

The only part above ground was a really small entrance just large enough for one person to pass through, and there were many mossy areas. If I had come here alone, I think I would have overlooked the existence of these ruins even now.

“Apparently, they were discovered while searching for the nest of the monsters that had been troubling the town and hunting in the mountains. It seems to be a place where people don’t usually approach in the first place, and if it weren’t for that incident, even the local residents wouldn’t have noticed the existence of these ruins. In other words, it’s no exaggeration to say that these ruins were discovered thanks to the monsters! My, my, what a contribution from the monsters! If that’s the case, I wish monsters would come out near human settlements more and more!”

Leseida-san... is probably getting excited.

While stroking the stone walls of the ruins that were exposed on the surface, lightly tapping them, and observing them with a magnifying glass, Leseida-san said something quite irreverent.V/\IssịT n0(v)eL/b(i)(n).co/m for the b/est novel reading experi/en/ce

“Now, Mitran-kun! The unknown is calling out to us! Let’s intrude into the interior of the ruins right away!”

“Ah, wait a minute, Leseida-san! Calm down! As your bodyguard, don’t leave me behind and go ahead!”

“Hahaha! I am calm! Of course, I’m calm!”

Leseida-san steadily entered the dimly lit ruins.

I also hurriedly followed.

* * *

Well, as you can probably tell from the exchange at the beginning, I decided to accept the escort request from the archaeologist I met in the town of Nebo, Leseida-san.

The reason is simple. I wanted to build up a track record of escort requests.

I’ve been granted cheat-like combat abilities by the gods, but my appearance makes me look weak.

It’s difficult for me to get escort requests.

However, having a track record of escort requests is sometimes a requirement for raising your adventurer rank, so I was a bit troubled.

My current goal for now is to increase my adventurer rank!

Leseida-san’s request was a godsend for me.

And I’m also interested in exploring these ‘Ahate River Upstream Ruins’ themselves.

Because according to Leseida-san, these ruins are a place that ‘could possibly be’ the ruins of an ancient magic civilization!

An ancient magic civilization!

An ancient magic civilization, you say!?

Isn’t that super intriguing!

Leseida-san taught me that an ancient magic civilization was a civilization that flourished in this world a long time ago, boasting a level of technology that is incomparable to today and reaching the heights of prosperity!

It is said to be a civilization that blossomed after a country called the “Bamapama World Empire” unified the world, and its prosperity apparently continued for nearly 7,000 years.

Despite that, it is also famous for suddenly vanishing one day, and since it was a “world empire,” the events of that day are sung about in legends all over the world.

As the “Day of Ruin.”

Anyway, it is known that a lot of people died, but the cause is still unknown.

“Hmm, take a look, Mitran-kun. I had heard about it, but it’s a truly fascinating sight.”

“Whoa!?”

As we descended the stairs leading underground from the entrance of the ruins, we reached a room on the first underground floor, where Leseida-san suddenly stopped and looked up at the ceiling, saying such a thing.

“Don’t suddenly stop! I bumped my nose against your bag, Leseida-san!”

“That doesn’t matter at all! Look up.”

“Up?... Wow?”

What entered my view as I looked up at the ceiling at Leseida-san’s words was... a majestic mural covering the entire ceiling...!

...Not.

“Um... are those magic lamps?”

“Hmm, that’s right. Those are indeed magic lamps.”

Embedded straight into the rock of the ceiling, emitting a faint light... were magic lamps.

“Hmm, hmm, indeed, this stone material is exactly the same as the one used in the ruins of the Western Ahate Dark Empire era. In other words, in terms of age... hm!? What is it? Did you call me, Mitran-kun!? Is it lunchtime already!?”

“What are you saying... here! This stone wall... seems to have a strange depression.”

“What did you say?”

Hearing my words, Leseida-san, who had been lying down and examining the floor of the ruins, jumped up and approached me.

And just like me, Leseida-san started touching the wall of the ruins.

“Hmm, hmm, hmm... could this be...”

Muttering that, Leseida-san took out a paper and pencil from a bag, pressed the paper against the stone wall, and started rubbing it vigorously with the pencil.

Then...!

“This is... a pattern? No, letters...!?”

On that paper, symbols that clearly had regularity resembling letters began to appear!

“Oh! Well done, Mitran-kun!”

Leseida-san held it up towards the ceiling and rejoiced by hopping up and down!

“That’s right, these are letters! It is said that the blessing of the language gods also widely covered the world even in the ancient magic civilization, which means that the language used there was also the same Bamapama language as ours, but for some reason, it has become clear that completely different shapes of characters were used for writing! Unlike spoken language, there is an unnatural discontinuity in the written language before and after the fall of the ancient magic civilization! We call this...”

“Stop! Calm down, Leseida-san! In summary, the main points are?”

“...Ahem. In other words, Mitran-kun. These are characters used during the era of the ancient magic civilization. They may have become less noticeable due to weathering.”

Leseida-san, who calmed down at my words, coughed while blushing and said that.

“Hey, can you read those characters, Leseida-san!?”

“Hahaha, of course! The ancient magic civilization is the most popular theme in the archaeological community, you know? If you dig up valuable out-of-place artifacts like magic airships, you can build a fortune... anyway, if there’s an archaeologist who can’t read the ancient magic characters, you can declare that person to be a fake. Of course, I can read them. Simple dictionaries have even been published, after all.”

Ah, geez, this person’s explanations are always so long!

“What does it say?”

“Hmm, this is...”

And then.

Leseida-san, who had taken off their monocles and was staring intently at the characters that appeared on the paper... for some reason fell silent for a moment and furrowed an eyebrow.

“W-What’s wrong?”

“Hmm... no, but why? Indeed, the age of the stone materials and the time period when the legends originated match. But why would they use these characters during that period...?”

Leseida-san made a grim face, stroked their chin, and started pondering while muttering something.

Geez, I’m being left behind again.

This person has a refreshing appearance of a well-dressed handsome guy, but has too many quirks.

Well, I came along as a bodyguard, so it’s fine even if I’m ignored.

“Haa...”

I unintentionally let out a big sigh.

And right at that moment!

BOOM!!

Rumble rumble rumble...!

The ruins started shaking intermittently, making a sound like something heavy moving!

“W-What the!?”

Even Leseida-san interrupted those thoughts and became flustered at this.

“The sound... is coming from quite close to this room... probably originating from a room a few ahead.”

One of the cheat abilities granted to me by the old man Adventure God, 【Super Senses】, tells me that.

“You... can tell that?”

Leseida-san let out a surprised voice at my overly sharp hearing.

But I didn’t respond with the playful attitude I had earlier.

Because.

【Super Senses】 conveyed some information to me that I couldn’t overlook... in the form of smell.

“Leseida-san, if you want to ensure your safety, it might be better to leave the ruins for now.”

“What do you mean?”

I unsheathed the sword at my waist, and while being on guard of the surroundings, I said,

“I smell blood.”