Chapter 75: Theory Without Bread
It was lunchtime and we returned to Professor Tia’s research building once.
It’s not because exploration became a bother. It was actually annoying but there’s another reason.
It was lunch, of course.
It was hard for me, as a recluse, to eat deep underground because it feels like camping. It’s the best way to enjoy a pizza delivered in a small room with the light from the monitor screen (A/N: which I ordered, and my parents received) and the curtains closed.
However, this was a different world. I didn’t want to get my hopes high.
So, we were surrounded by a pot. It’s a yose-nabe with white fish and chicken tsukune as the main dish.
“Wow! That’s the one you see a lot in anime!”
Char’s eyes sparkled.
“How can you cook such a hot stew in summer?” Iris wondered.
“Don’t worry. Lisa will cool the room down.”
He had brought Lisa, who had returned to the castle in the frontier county territory on some business. A chilly cold air filled the room.
”Now if only we could have a ‘kotatsu’, it would be perfect…”
“Kotatsu…?”
“It’s a heating device in one country, where you put a blanket over the table to keep the inside warm. It’s like a dream come true. You can put a tabletop on which you can eat and still keep your feet warm.”
“No, so now that it’s almost summer… it’s all right.”
It seems like Iris was giving up a lot. That’s a good trend.
“Speaking of which, Professor Tia, why can’t Porcos-san come?”
“He’s busy with classes and menial jobs. I don’t think he’ll come today.”
‘You seemed to have a lot of time in your hands’, I swallowed the words. It’s a way to show kindness.
“Well then, I guess we can do a lot of things here.”
To be honest, I’m tired of exploring the ruins. I didn’t need to go all the way to investigate.
With steam rising from the pot, countless plate-like wards appeared in the void. Each was connected to another plate-shaped ward that was scattered throughout the ruins. This allowed me to explore all over the place.
“They’re doing amazing things again…”
Iris’ tweak was weak. Good, there would be a day that you would be a member of Camelot and whatnot.
By the way, there was another kid here who didn’t know about my barrier magic.
“Is she okay?”
A girl was lying on the couch with a blanket draped under her neck. Her brown skin and white hair were rare in this country.
“She suddenly collapsed as if she gave up. Well, she didn’t have a fever and her breathing is calm. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
Was she confused by the bad memories? I wonder who was doing what on earth in those ruins?
Well, the highlights were gone from my red eyes now. I’m a child, so I could fake it anyway I want.
So, I observed over a hundred screens while grabbing a pot.
The goal was to find one of the “Supreme Seven Sacred Armor” that was believed to be in this ruin.
“Professor Tia, there’s one thing that’s been bugging me.”
“Huh? What is it?”
The professor responded by huffing and puffing on the chicken tsukune.
This was the thing that’s bothering me all along.
It’s a rather important and rather fundamental issue, that was–
“Is there really a holy armor in these ruins?”
How can you say that something that was generally unknown in terms of its shape “exists”? Who saw it? If you found it in the first place, you’d take it home with you.
“I wonder?”
Right… Even if you nod your head in such a cute way.
Professor Tia mumbled and then began to explain.
“The evidence is from old documents. It’s a record of an adventurer’s exploration of the deepest part of the ruins a long time ago.”
“Hee, there used to be some great people.”
“His name is Granfield”.
I think I’ve heard that name before. I wonder where?
“It’s just too old and the literature is full of bugs. Some of the pages are torn and missing. Even though it says ‘we found one of the holy weapons,’ we couldn’t confirm what it was.”
“He took it home with him, didn’t he?”
“Not likely. Because if he took it home with him, it would be kept in the right place and in the right hands.”
“No,—”
”To explain to you, Haruto, whose name doesn’t quite ring a bell, it’s Grand Sage Granfield, alright? All of the holy weapons that are known to exist are the ones he found and brought back. Princess Senko’s ‘Light Bladed Sacred Sword’ is one of them.”
“No, but—”
“Oh, you mean the ‘someone’ that’s misbehaving in the ruins of Olympus this time? From the circumstances, it’s quite possible that he disappeared from the ruins last night. In addition, it’s not inconceivable that he took the holy armor away with him.”
”But,” said Professor Tia confidently,
“If the holy armor existed, there must be proof of it in the ruins. If you can find that, the problem is solved. I’m sure the academy’s director wouldn’t go so far as to say, ‘Someone else took it with them’.”
Ah, right.
“So it’s something like this, for example?”
One of the plate-like wards was quickly flown in front of Professor Tia.
“Fumu. I see a golem-type demon is walking around. Deepest part?”
“I’m behind him.”
N~? Professor Tia squinted behind her glasses.
“There’s an unnatural indentation in the wall, and there’s something there. Is it a pedestal? It’s so badly rotten it’s hard to tell… hmm? Why is this place the only one that’s rotting?”
The interior of the ruins is warded to prevent deterioration over time. That’s why it was strange that only this part was weathered.
“So, if you zoom in on this part of the ruins…”
There were what looks like faint letters on the base.
“It’s an ancient script. It’s faint and hard to read, but it’s—”
For some reason, Iris continued Professor Tia’s words.
“It says, ‘It is the one that pierces the devastated earth. It is the one that pierces the demon’s walls.’ There seems to be more written, but as expected, there’s not enough left to read.”
She could read the ancient script?
“What kind of giant stake? So that means—”
This time Char shouts excitedly.
”It’s a roman weapon?!”
”…Well, I guess you could say that it’s a representation of the characteristics of a holy weapon. In other words.”
Professor Tia grinned and I told her with a smile on my face.
“I guess that clears the assignment.”
Well, it was easier than I thought. At that moment, I was thinking about the bright future.
The golem that had been wandering around so quietly and quietly stopped moving. It’s a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you’re going to do with it.
”Hey–!”
Didn’t Professor Tia break the pedestal before she was surprised?
“What are you doing?”
“No, but even if I tell you.”
I’m sure something bad happened to her. I think she got rid of that resentment. It’s really annoying, though.
“What are you going to do?!”
I can’t help but think seriously about this.
But the evidence that there was a holy armor over there and that someone had taken it away has already been shattered.
If that’s the case–
”If you don’t have the holy armor, why don’t you just make one!”
I tried to put into words a bad idea I’ve been thinking about since rather early on–
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢