Chapter 319: Ruins of the Forest of Enchantment
“I don’t know.”
“Is that so?”
In this town, the only familiar faces I could think of were the members of Kokushi Musou and that flirtatious female Adventurer who had approached us. Were there any others? According to El, she had been trying to force open the gate at the entrance of the premises. Of course, it was locked, and realizing it wouldn’t budge, she had attempted to break it down with her weapon. The gate was made from the Shell of the Sea Emperor Turtle, so it wouldn’t break easily, but the constant banging was annoying enough that I decided to step outside and politely ask her to leave. In hindsight, the wall was probably more fragile than the gate, but that was a different matter.
“Hmm. I wonder what she was after.”
“Maybe she was planning to steal something while the S Rank Adventurer was away?”
“That’s a possibility.”
Ivan shrugged as he said this, and Rio let out a sigh. El herself had the potential to match an S Rank Adventurer based solely on her status. Just because this town attracted strong Adventurers didn’t mean everyone was a match for her.
“Next time, don’t hold back.”
“Understood.”
“I’m hungry…”
Phonia, unable to contain her impatience after sensing the conversation had ended, murmured while rubbing her stomach.
“I’m hungry too. Let’s grab something to eat!”
“Yeah!”
Thus, we gathered around for dinner, sharing stories about the day and engaging in light-hearted banter.
“What’s that over there?”
The next day, while continuing our investigation of the mid-layers of the Forest of Enchantment, I spotted something unusual.
“Huh? …Is that it?”
It seemed Rio had noticed it too. Up ahead to the left, a clearing opened up among the trees, roughly fifty meters in radius. Though it wasn’t visible yet, my Map Skill indicated the presence of some kind of ruins.
“…Ruins?”
“Looks like it.”
As we approached, we could see white columns rising before us. Several pillars of varying heights stood, all appearing quite ancient and worn, some looking as if they might crumble at any moment.
“Let’s check it out.”
Nodding in agreement with Rio, we descended into the center of the clearing. The ground was covered with a crumbling cobblestone path, exuding an unmistakable aura of ancient ruins. There were two structures; one was merely walls and columns, lacking a roof, while the other still had its roof intact, though parts of the walls had collapsed, leaving the interior almost completely exposed.
“Shall we go in from that side?”
I pointed toward the roofed structure, and we exchanged nods before heading in that direction. We entered through what must have once been a door. Everything appeared weathered, and there was nothing lying around. It seemed there were more rooms deeper inside, as a rectangular hole without a door gaped in the wall.
“There’s nothing here…”
Excited about the ruins, I stepped into the inner room, but truly, there was nothing at all. No furniture or anything of interest, just the rough stone floor and walls.
“Seriously, there’s nothing…”
After a quick search, it was clear there was nothing of value. We couldn’t afford to waste time on unexpected detours, so we decided to head to the other set of ruins.
“This one only has pillars and no walls.”
“Yeah, but it looks like there’s a staircase leading underground.”
I pointed toward the direction I had noticed while exploring the terrain, and together with Rio, we moved toward it.
“It’s bigger than I expected.”
The staircase we found was about five meters wide, quite spacious. We nodded at each other and descended side by side. As it grew darker, I conjured some light magic, and after a while, we arrived at the underground level.
“Wow.”
It was a reasonably large space. The light hadn’t reached the corners, so I increased the illumination to brighten the entire room.
“Still nothing here.”
“Yeah. I was hoping for something interesting…”
There were a few bones scattered about, but that was all. Further inside, we found another staircase leading down, but it only led to another empty room, similar to the one we had just explored.
“Could it have been explored already?”
“That seems likely.”
With so little left, it was possible that whatever treasures had been here had already been taken. Even in the mid-layers of the Forest of Enchantment, B Rank or A Rank Adventurers could have reached this place. Once again, we spotted another staircase leading deeper, but it was in an obvious location, suggesting it too would likely lead to nothing.
“Let’s save any further exploration for after the designated request…”
Feeling disheartened by our lack of findings, I decided to retrace our steps.
“Huh? I’ve never heard of ruins in the Forest of Enchantment.”
“Really?”
“Is that so?”
Upon returning to the Guild and reporting to the Guild Master in his office as usual, I received that response.
“While it’s certainly a blessing, your investigation area is absurdly vast.”
The Guild Master spread out a map of the Forest of Enchantment and pointed to where we had found the ruins. It was about three hundred kilometers northeast of the town in a straight line.
“Typically, the shallows refer to the area about fifty kilometers into the forest. Even A Rank Adventurers usually find the deepest parts of the Forest of Enchantment to be around a hundred kilometers from the town. Beyond that, it’s an uncharted territory.”
As he traced a semicircle around the area within a hundred kilometers from the town with his finger, the Guild Master appeared somewhat irritated.
I was baffled.