Chapter 72

I dont know what the Arrow of G.o.d is, but we cant let Ebelheid run wild .

Mea and Maizen followed after me .

I stopped and turned around .

Mea should stay here . Its probably not safe .

Maizen is working out, so hell be able to move reasonably well, but I dont think we can expect that from Mea .

I dont know whats ahead .

Weve seen the inside of the ruins all over, and I dont think its likely that a magic beast will appear again, or anything like that .

Its safer to stay here .

But Im anxious and . . If Abel is going to go, then Mea too . .

Mea winces and lets her head drop .

Its okay . Ill be right back .

I, its true, isnt it? Mea, Ill go after you on the count of five hundred, okay?

Well, its going to take twice that long .

Is Ebelheid a cup of noodles or something .

I suddenly thought about riding the golem to get around but beyond this place where the golem is lined up . There was a narrow pa.s.sage ahead .

If you have your back bent, you might be able to get over it somehow, but Im not going to let that golem move that fine .

If you lean your center of gravity forward, youll struggle to balance . If youre careful about tipping over, youll waste a lot of time .

I only know how to handle it for free, and I only half know how to handle it .

Ill give up on using the golem .

The wall at the entrance of the pa.s.sage has portraits of fire, elves, and chimera, and it has a very unusual atmosphere .

Its a strange picture, and thats why its so flavorful .

Ahead, is where Ebelheid is .

If we take too long, there is a chance that Ebelheid will have the Arrow of G.o.d or something like that in his hands .

We must hurry .

I rushed ahead with Maizen .

Im afraid youve messed with the wrong thing . You wont listen to me, even though I tell you to back off, so I have no choice . Im the leader for now after all . Helping my subordinate and cleaning up his messes is just part of the job description . I will do what I can to help as a leader Huh, Abel? Dont we need to run faster, or it will be bad?

After a short run into the aisle, I stopped .

Maizen followed me to a halt .

sorry, Im out of energy .

I said, breathing hard and putting my hands on my knees .

Eh

It was a good start .

Even if it was just a combination of fatigue from the a.n.a.lysis of the ruins, and the special potion was out .

I knew that this would happen if I ran with a strange sense of caution .

Um I really feel bad but Ill be waiting here for you . So do something to stop Ebelheid .

We cant leave Ebelheid alone .

We have to stop him from doing it here at all costs .

Wait, wait a minute!? Isnt that the end of the line!? Theres no way I could stop that thing!?

No, but we cant overlook it . You see, a leader has to clean up his subordinates messes and .

Surely I said it, and I apologize for it so can I take it back!? Eh, youre kidding, right? You dont really mean it when you come up here, do you?

Maizen grabs me by both shoulders and shakes me .

I cant blame him for saying that, because its impossible to do something like that .

I gently look away .

Abellll!?

No, no, look at my feet . Im feeling really flat, you know . You can touch them if you want . Id rather have you admire me for running this far .

I say, touching my foot myself .

Until here look back . Youll see Mea still watching over you with concern .

I glanced back .

Id say its about fifty meters or less .

Come to think of it, since I was born, Ive never made a full-on dash for that long a distance before .

But as expected of Maizen, he has been training .

He hadnt even caught his breath after such a long run .

As expected, shall we just go home? Its too much for us

Thats right! Maizen, take me on your back and go after Ebelheid!

Eh, Ehhh Ah, Ahhh, yeah, I get it, but Sure, that might work, but . .

I got on Maizens back .

Maizen kept a straight face while we ran down the aisle .

Im honestly embarra.s.sed too, but you cant replace your back .

Im sure Ebelheid didnt expect that well chase him in a piggybacked state, either .

When I pa.s.sed through the aisle, I found myself in a large s.p.a.ce .

At the corners of the four corners, there are huge pillars carved with intricate technical formulas .

They must have had some kind of role when the fortress was in motion .

There was a flamboyantly decorated door at the back .

Perhaps the Arrow of G.o.d was just beyond that .

In the middle of the room, there was a beast-shaped golem that was nearly four meters tall .

The motif was probably around a dog or a wolf .

Somehow the ears and tail features seem to resemble a hound .

Goooooooooooh!

The golem got up and turned its head .

It had magic stones embedded throughout its body, giving it a rugged impression .

Obviously, the number of magic stones is more than the other golems .

There must also be some that are a.s.sembled inside . It must mean its a higher rank than the others .

Looks like Ebelheid has activated it

It may have been set up to protect the depths of the fortress .

This is the last difficulty .

Ebelheid himself should be able to be neutralized without that much trouble .

Hiiiiii! What are you gonna do, Abel? You cant even bring a golem over here! Can we turn back? Can we turn back now!?

Meizen shouts as he looks back at me .

That maybe if we turn back, theyll follow us back .

Hes taller than the other golems, but due to his crawling posture from the start, hes going to be able to get through the pa.s.sage .

That-, Thats right! Cant you just reconfigure that thing, hey!?

I dont think so . Most golems like that are designed to deploy wards while theyre activated to prevent such things . A sensitive interference type will be played first .

Isnt that a dead end? H-, hey? Hey, Abel?

Maizen calls out to me uneasily .

Dont worry . This place is wide, so it wont be a problem if I shoot my magic at it rather hard .

N-no, you cant do that! Thats a different story! Its a full-blown weapon! Im sure you think youre strong, but you dont have enough sense of danger!

No, but the basics are probably the same as before, and with that one, as long as you can cut down its mobility, you can do whatever you want

Gooooooooooooh!

The beast-shaped golem howled, then rushed towards us .

D-d.a.m.n it!

Maizen shakes me off .

Im slammed to the ground according to gravity .

Wha-, what, whats wrong?

Did he give up on me?

Oh no no, but the golem is more important than that right now .

Wands, where are my wand . If I dont pick it up quickly, I will fall prey to the golem .

I crawl on the ground, looking for the wand I dropped .

There, The wand touches my hand . I look back at the golem as I hug my wand .

What are you doing! You must run like h.e.l.l! Ill distract it! Ill make buy you some time for thirty seconds!

Maizen was running around the golem and into the depths of the ruins .

Perhaps the golem was under orders to protect the depths of the fortress .

The golems eyes were locking on to Maizen as it seemed to have stepped on Maizens higher priority .

W-wait! You dont need to put your life on hold! Maizen! Come back here!

Dont be stupid, you run! Im the leader, you know!

When I can get that far away from them, my options are limited to making a clean kill with a single blow .

I dont know the strength of the golem that accurately, either .

This is about as much as I can handle .

Come back here! If you get close enough to me, I can do it!

Id love to die protecting people! When an adventurer saved me when I was little, I decided to use this life to help others! If Its determination, Im already determined long ago!

Maizen flees from the golem with tears in his eyes .

However, the gap between them is closing in . Its like a cheetah and a rabbit chasing each other .

Your voice is trembling, dont push it! Really, please, please come back!

I, I, Im not shaking! Look, youre gonna let me go down as a hero . So get yourself back home safe and sound!! Quickly, youre leaving me to die for nothing!

No, hes saying some nice lines .

Its impossible to convince Maizen at this last-minute now .

its such a wide area, so it wont collapse even if I put some effort into it .

These ruins are not that weak either . This is a fortress that has existed for two thousand years .

It wont break down with a little effort, probably .

Anything else would cost Maizen his life .

Refine

I point my wand into the air .

If you combine airborne components, spirits, and magical power, a metal called Hydeem Magi-Metal will be created .

This metal has the property of being strongly affected by the magic power of its creator .

However, it cannot be used as a material for anything because its magic power breaks down and disperses quickly .

A silvery-white metal floats in the air . One after another, the metal sticks to it as if it were clinging to it .

In the blink of an eye, a metal ball the size of a golems head is created .

If its this big and dense, theres no way it would be unharmed .

There!

I waved my wand and a chunk of Hydeem Magi-Metal shot straight out .

Goooooooooooh!

The golem stopped and looked back at me .

A chunk of metal bounced off its left shoulder .

A blinding sound rang out from the golem and it blew away like a puppy and stuck to the wall .

Kuhn .

Whether it was a squeal or a stop, I cant tell .

Okay, somehow Ah

The metal ball that had flown to the opposite side of the hall had gouged one of the pillars in the corner of the hall .

The fallen metal ball shook the area wide open . It had dug into the floor and made a crack .

thank you, Abel . I see youve been saved .

Maizen was staring at the golem stuck to the wall with an expression that didnt seem to add up .

Its limbs were still twitching and moving . However, it wouldnt be of any use anymore .

Ah, ahhh, yes .

Somehow, its awkward .

maybe I was a burden?

T-thanks for jumping out . Look, err, I was happy too, so

I now have a question that I can answer with a yes or no

But Ive loudly destroyed the ruins .

No, maybe its okay now but this might become the lords property later, right?

If I had damaged it so much, wouldnt I be charged for something?

Even in j.a.pan, if we carved Abel surrender on the pillar of the ruins, it would be picked up by the news and it would be a big deal .

And then a metal ball, goes boom, boom, and waves it around .

I just hope is someone you can talk to Im sorry for saying this, but I cant trust him from the point that I discovered Wegener,

Cant we somehow blame it on Ebelheid?

that, At least that much is ok, right?

Well, I should say Im glad it was only this much . If the ruins had collapsed, wed all be buried alive

I grumbled to myself, and at the same time the ruins began to shake violently .

Rubble began to fall from the top of the collapsed pillars .

Couldnt it be that it was starting to collapse around there?

H, hey Abel, is this okay? Isnt that kind of bad?

that pillar, it could have been a bad one to collapse .

I dont know what its role was, but there was some kind of complex formula carved into it .

It might have been something related to the maintenance of the fortress .

I didnt expect the ruins to collapse

Wai-, wait! Now take me on your back and go to that back door .

Y-, youre going in the back? Wouldnt it be better to run away this time!?

No, if we dont, Ebelheid will .

Maizen raises an eyebrow .

Leave that thing alone! He had it coming! Sorry to say it, but you should be glad you didnt have to fight! Did you think of bringing him back alive!

B-, but

Even though hes a person like that, weve talked to each other about magic and respected each other during our investigations .

Ebelheid may have seen me as nothing more than a tool .

But when I rejected his invitation, he seemed a little sad . Thats how I feel .

Maybe thats just how I like to think of it .

If Ebelheid hadnt been trapped in the blood of his ancestors, there wouldnt have been any confrontation .

If we had met somewhere, for example, in a magic tool shop in the city, Im sure

. . The people from the investigation team are still unconscious . Its going to take a long time to even get them out of here . Are you just going to let them die? And even if Ebelheid made it out alive, he wouldnt escape the death penalty if the case came to light now .

I look at the back door .

If youre going to die with the ruins, holding the treasure youve been seeking all along, there may be some relief rather than being executed in the city .