Chapter 129: External Field Trip (2)

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Carl chose the Wiblem Temple as the first search site.

Since it was the largest ruin in the Territory of Tohochu, he thought it best to invest time here first.

“Bayern cadet, verified.”

“Thank you.”

Because it was such a large ruin, the Empire directly managed it and used it as a tourist attraction, so they charged an entrance fee.

However, the cadets had already received a free pass from Bayern, so they did not have to pay separately.

Tap.

As soon as he stepped into the temple, the sound echoed deep inside.

The scale of the structure was on a whole different level from the undiscovered ruin’s temple they had visited before.

“Wow!”

The ceiling opened up high above, and the ground stretched so far that the end could not be seen.

At the overwhelming scale, Laysis let out an exclamation.

“It’s really big. Even this place alone seems bigger than my palace.”

“They say it’s the biggest temple in the Empire. Still, I didn’t expect it to be this huge.”

Carl looked around.

Aside from themselves, there were also some people who looked like Bayern cadets.

It seemed they had chosen this place as their starting point since it was the largest ruin.

“Even just exploring this place will be a lot of work. It’s so vast that I don’t know where to begin…”

“To prepare for that!”

Laysis, walking ahead, cut Carl’s words short and spun around.

Then she pulled a small box from her bosom and showed it to him.

“What is this?”

When Carl showed interest, Laysis answered with a slightly triumphant expression as she opened the lid.

“I contacted the kingdom and had it urgently delivered last night.”

“An artifact?”

“Yes. It’s an artifact called Requin’s Glasses. It detects hidden ruins or devices.”

“I’ve heard of similar artifacts before. But it’s my first time seeing one in person.”

Carl let out a light exclamation.

Artifacts related to ruin exploration were hard to acquire and very expensive.

Carl had even tried to purchase some through NOX several times, but since no items were available, all his attempts had ended in failure.

‘They say it’s not easy to make even with modern technology.’

Even if modern technology could make one, it was said they could only detect ruins that had been created fairly recently.

It had to contain mana imbued from that era, which was why Requin’s Glasses itself was considered a precious artifact treated as a relic.

“Now, if you do this…”

Click.

When Laysis applied a bit of force, Requin’s Glasses split in half.

No, it separated.

With familiar hand movements, she turned one half into a monocle by attaching a decoration, then gestured for Carl to come closer.

“Could you bring your face a little closer?”

“Understood.”

Carl obediently followed Laysis’s instruction.

She then reached out her hand and fixed the monocle by his eye.

A single-lens, monocle-style piece.

Laysis nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Good. It suits you well.”

“Even separated like this, it still functions?”

“Yes. They said this is the standard way of using it. Apparently, ordinary people find it difficult to use both lenses at once. Try checking it out.”

“…Oh.”

Carl quickly understood what Laysis meant.

When he looked at the ruins through Requin’s Glasses, a bright blue light shimmered around their outlines.

As though guiding him, the light glowed faintly and made the ruins look even more exquisite.

“Blue light shows ruins, green marks hidden spaces, yellow means storage, and red signals traps.”

“I see. Since this is a ruin site, everything appears blue. Ah, over there is yellow.”

“It says that was a storage for food. They must have already investigated it, but when you use an artifact, you never know, right? Let’s look around slowly.”

Carl nodded.

He hadn’t expected her to prepare an artifact as well, and he felt thankful.

If she weren’t a princess, he wouldn’t have received such help.

‘This raises the chances even more.’

To be honest, Carl hadn’t expected much from the Wiblem Temple since it was such a well-known ruin.

But with the help of an artifact, things could turn out differently.

After that, Carl and Laysis diligently explored.

Along the way, they bought snacks from stalls and greeted acquaintances when they ran into them.

Two hours passed like that.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing indeed.”

Carl gave a bitter smile.

Still, perhaps the silver lining was that he enjoyed himself as they explored.

After spending two hours circling the temple, nothing particularly special turned up.

The underground section was also vast, and he wanted to check it out, but there were so many people that it seemed difficult to enter.

“Well, that makes sense. It must have been studied inside and out for decades, so finding anything new would be even harder.”

Laysis shrugged as she leaned against the terrace railing with a good view of the outside.

“I had some hope, but it’s disappointing.”

“I think the other ruins will be similar. Still, the search itself has meaning. Do you already have the next site in mind?”

“I do.”

“Where is it?”

“However, it’s not a generally known ruin.”

“…So that’s where the real game begins.”

Laysis lifted her head with a meaningful look.

Carl discreetly glanced around.

It was still early in the day.

Since the field trip was a free schedule, they could explore as much as they wanted and return to Bayern afterward.

If they dragged things out, they could even stay until the next lecture without issue.

“There’s a mountain up there called Rehlam. On its mid-slope stands the Gargoyle Spire, and that’s our next target.”

“A gargoyle spire on a mountainside… I’ve never heard of it.”

“It doesn’t seem to be widely known. It’s more of a ruin familiar to the locals here. It looks like no proper investigation has been conducted. That could mean the chances are high.”

Of course, the Empire must have examined the Gargoyle Spire as well.

But the fact that it still stood neglected like that suggested they hadn’t discovered anything special.

“Alright, let’s go check it out.”

“We’ll leave right away.”

Leaving the Wiblem Temple behind, the two soon began climbing the mountain.

Carl checked the map that Ninth Lord had prepared for him and strode forward without hesitation.

The entryway was a light walking path, bustling with many people going to and fro.

But as soon as they strayed a little from the regular course, a steep mountain slope and thick vegetation appeared before them.

“It looks like monsters might come out.”

“Fortunately, that’s not the case. Wild beasts perhaps, but not monsters.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

Perhaps it was because sunlight did not shine well here.

Still, the atmosphere felt eerie.

“I think it’s around here.”

“Ah, there it is.”

Laysis soon spotted the Gargoyle Spire.

Just as its name implied, a gargoyle statue stood on top of a sharply pointed spire.

“…This is the spire?”

“It does seem rather embarrassing to call this a spire.”

However, its height was very low.

Even up close, one only needed to tilt their head slightly to look up at it.

‘The surrounding land is completely dead.’

Unlike the mountainside, which was full of vegetation, not even a blade of grass grew around the Gargoyle Spire.

Looking through Requin’s Glasses, he confirmed that a blue glow was rising from the gargoyle’s surface.

“It is a ruin. Let’s investigate the area then.”

“Yes.”

Swish.

At the same time as her reply, Laysis stretched her hand into the air.

Then, a long shovel unfolded and appeared in her grasp.

“Is that also an artifact?”

“Yes. It allows us to dig easily even in hard ground.”

At her confident reply, Carl burst into laughter.

Somehow, she seemed even more prepared than he was.

Thud.

Carl also began digging the ground near the spire with the tools he had brought.

Of course, others must have investigated the area around the spire as well.

But unlike them, he had Requin’s Glasses.

He was confident he wouldn’t miss even the smallest clue, so he dug without hesitation.

Thud.

An hour later.

“Phew.”

Laysis straightened her back as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

With their superhuman bodies and strength, they had tirelessly dug through all the surrounding ground.

But no fragments of ruins or traces of them appeared.

“There’s nothing. I really thought something would turn up this time.”

“So did I.”

Tap, tap.

Carl brushed the dirt off his hands with a disappointed look.

“Should we ask others for help? By now they’ve probably finished touring here and there, so the field trip should be wrapping up.”

“There’s really no need for that.”

Carl shook his head.

He had already expected there was a high chance of coming up empty-handed.

Still, if he wrote his report based on this experience, he would at least get some credit.

It was just a bit disappointing, not a loss, so Carl decided to end the investigation here.

“I think we should stop here. It’s almost time for our dinner reservation.”

“Dinner?”

“Yes. As thanks for your effort, I’ve reserved us dinner.”

Laysis’s eyes widened.

Since she hadn’t expected it, the corners of her lips lifted naturally into a smile.

“Before we go, we should stop somewhere to freshen up. Wipe off the sweat, change clothes. Should we match the dress code too?”

“There should be a suitable inn nearby…”

As Carl nodded, his eyes met the gargoyle that had been standing silently since the beginning.

“…”

It bothered him.

Up until now, they had only investigated the area around the gargoyle, never the statue itself.

Tap.

Carl reached out and brushed the gargoyle statue.

And then, he realized something.

“Laysis.”

“Yes?”

Clench.

Carl tightened his fist.

After taking a deep breath, he punched the gargoyle statue.

Boom!

With a heavy shock, the gargoyle’s upper body flew off.

It shattered into pieces and scattered across the ground.

The remaining statue was badly broken and swayed as if about to collapse.

“C-Carl…”

At the sudden development, Laysis widened her eyes.

But Carl narrowed his gaze and pointed at the gargoyle statue.

“The term ‘spire’ was suspicious… and it was indeed foreshadowing.”

“…Huh?”

Laysis quickly stepped closer to Carl.

Then, she saw it—a dark hole opening inside the broken gargoyle statue.

“A spire, a tower, a pillar! It’s a passage leading somewhere!”

“Yes. It was cleverly concealed. If we had only checked around the gargoyle, we wouldn’t have noticed.”

Carl had felt it the moment his hand touched the gargoyle statue.

Part of the inside was hollow.

‘Did the previous investigators not realize this?’

Carl bent down and picked up one of the broken pieces.

When he lightly infused it with internal energy, it scattered instead of holding together.

“…So that was why.”

“What do you mean?”

“The statue repels mana. Since the investigation team must have used artifacts like us, they couldn’t detect it properly.”

“Well, yes. They wouldn’t have thought to break the ruin itself.”

Thunk, thunk.

Carl slipped his hand into the hole and tapped inside.

Judging by the echo, the passage downward was quite deep.

Slowly, he raised his head and looked at Laysis beside him.

“It seems dinner will have to wait a little longer.”

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