CH 207

Then we recovered some of the molted Golden Dragon scales and hairs.

Normally, I should rejoice at the opportunity to touch these legendary materials, but I was in no mood to do so.

The Golden Dragon scales were about the size of a small shield and lighter than I expected. Naturally, Mimi was going to retrieve them. If it were possible, I’d like to secure at least one of them myself, but I guess that’s impossible. I’ll give up.

But what about the Holy Church… what will happen to this?

“Since we are staying in this town today, we’ll do a separate exploration until sunset. Lucille, I had asked you to investigate the golden dragon’s nest and submit a report to the Duke, but now that this has happened, I would like to ask you to investigate this town as well, is it okay?” (Mimi)

“No problem.” (Lucille)

“Then, I look forward to working with you. I am sure you are all aware of this, but if you find any artifacts or other important items in your investigation, you will be required to give them all to the Duke. However, we do not intend to be picky about anything else.” (Mimi)

“Oh? Isn’t that very generous?” (Cyrus)

“Yeah!” (Seam)

Now the adventurers are getting motivated.

Well, this investigation was commissioned by the Duke. If the artifact was a national treasure, there would be an uproar, so it was only natural that he would set such conditions beforehand. So it is quite the reasonable thought to give everything else to the adventurers, considering the morale of the adventurers.

Then, the investigation in the town started. This is what I often expected to happen in the town where the hero arrived for the first time.

“This stone is… probably a magical tool… if so, the era is–” (Lucille)

Lucille was not interested in such a treasure hunt, and she was investigating, making sketches of the materials and patterns of the buildings and cobblestones. Cyrus-san and Seam-san were rummaging around in the ruins at the back of the room.

I was a little curious, so I headed back down the street to the temple.

“Power that guides magic and controls everything. Sacred World Open [Magi Location].”

After confirming that no one was around at the entrance to the temple, I used [Magi Location].

My vision expanded from the spell, and I was able to grasp the surrounding terrain. Then I proceeded through the cave.

When I came here earlier, I’m sure I found something…

“There they are!”

There was another path on the way to the Golden Dragon’s nest.

As I proceeded down this small side path, I saw small rooms on either side of the path.

I knew it was built just like the temple that I had been in the Death Cave before.

I used [Magi Location] to check the safety of the room, and opened the barely remaining wooden door to enter the small room.

Inside, as expected, the room was covered in dust, and most of the objects were decayed and unusable. Even knives that looked like they were made of iron were too rusted to be of any use. However, as I searched through the rooms with my Magi Location, I found copper and silver coins, and I was able to make some spending money, but that was about it.

I went through the rooms one after another, and finally opened the door to the last room at the end of the hall.

“As I thought.”

As I expected, this room was built like a warehouse.

There were wooden shelves lined up, and some supplies were placed on them.

I took a good look from one end to the other, but most of the stuff was dilapidated and unusable. I realized how long this place had been abandoned.

Things like metal pots. Something like armor. Something made of cloth. A mummy that was once dried meat. And then–

[Holy Ray Grimoire]

[Sacred Grimoire]

[Turn Undead Grimoire]

[Sacred Grimoire]

[Divine Shield Grimoire]

[Sacred Grimoire]

There they are! And three of them!

The Grimoires of Sacred Magic should have been around for many years, yet it remained in place, uncorroded.

But…

“The presence of the Grimoire of Sacred Magic in the temple of the Holy Church means that…”

Was the existence of Sacred Magic recognized at least in the Holy Church in this era?

Is that the kind of recognition, still here?

At any rate, I can confirm that there is no one in the vicinity of my [Magi Location] and so I use the three grimoires.

As usual, I proceeded to read the grimoire and repeat the burning process.

“I see…”

I somehow understood that [Holy Ray] seems to be attack magic, and then [Turn Undead] seems to be a magic to defeat undead-type monsters as its name suggests. I was hoping for a stronger attack magic than Light Ball, but I can’t learn Light Arrow yet, and I’m happy because lately all I’ve been doing is using physical attacks.

“[Divine Shield]… what about this one?”

I know it is a Defensive type of spell. But it’s kind of a…

“Why don’t I use it for the time being…”

I tried to activate it, but it didn’t seem to work.

“Well, maybe it’s a pattern of spells that requires a Holy Stone?”

I take out a Holy Stone from my Magic Bag and try to activate the magic.

But it doesn’t work.

“What does that mean? Is one is not enough?”

With that in mind, I take out another Holy Stone and tried to activate it. But it does not work. I continued to add until it reached, three, four, five, and six more, but still no activation. Then, after grabbing 10 Holy Stones and trying to activate them, I felt that I was finally able to use them.

“That’s a little too many to consume, oh well… it’s fine… Sacred Light, be a shield that Rejects All [Divine Shield]”

The moment I activated the Divine Shield magic, the Holy Stone in my hand crumbled, and in exchange for about 20% of my magic power, a shiny round shield about one meter in size appeared.

It emitted a rainbow-colored light shining glaringly inside the warehouse.

“Oh! It’s a little too flashy!”

It’s like a dance club in the nineties… No, I can’t go any further. A bolt from the gods may come shooting from my blasphemy.

As I was thinking, the shining round shield disintegrated and disappeared cleanly.

“Hmm… I think it’s a pretty powerful defensive magic…”

For the time being, it consumes too much magic power. And I can’t use defensive magic if I don’t know how much defensive power it has, because it’s going to be scary if I’m wrong. What if I tried using it for a while, but it couldn’t block the attack, and the attack went through. I could only cry! That would be a tragic story. I think I’ll hold on to using it for the time being.

Attack magic can’t be used here, so I’ll try it next time.

We leave the cave and head back to town.

It seems that everyone is still searching around the town.

I wanted to join in the search, but I didn’t know where the unexplored areas were, so I decided to walk toward the entrance to the town, using MagiLocation to explore the suspicious spaces for now.

Then I heard the sound of something crumbling from the house next to me.

“That’s a valuable historical heritage, don’t destroy it!” (Lucille)

“Sorry, my bad! It was just in the way…” (Cyrus)

Lucille’s voice, which I don’t usually hear, and Cyrus-san’s apologetic voice.

It seems that we have destroyed something that shouldn’t be destroyed.

The value of historic buildings may be difficult to recognize and may be unavoidable unless there is some leeway in people’s lives. A certain historical building in Japan, which became a World Heritage Site, was once sold to a private company, dismantled and was about to be sold as materials, but it was left unsold because it did not meet the standards, it was left unsold because it did not meet the standards, and it remained in the present age and became a World Heritage site. That’s probably the same.

As I walked along, I arrived at the gate where I had first entered.

This area had not been destroyed since. Maybe it was because it was the first place I had gone to, or maybe no one was searching in it.

Then I thought, “Let’s search here,” and looked around.

“Hmm?”

There was a reaction of a round object in [Magi Location].

Right next to the gate. Probably a place used by gatekeepers when this town was still alive.

I entered the building and rummaged around inside.

Passing through the first room, I went to the back of the room next to the first room. Inside a wooden box under the collapsed ceiling.

When I lifted the crumbled ceiling removing most of the debris, the box appeared, and when I opened it, a round ball covered in dust came out from inside.

“What’s this……?”

I grabbed it with my hand to try to lift it up, and the ball began to glow blue.

“Oh!”

I was surprised, and when I hurriedly let go of it, the light slowly subsided.

What is this?

Fearfully, I touched it again with my hand, and it began to glow blue again.

“It’s harmless…?”

I lifted it up and dusted it off with a cloth, and a clear crystal appeared from under the dust.

“What is this……”

“Is that… the Eye of Truth?” (Mimi)

“Oh! You found a good one!” (Gordo)

That’s what Mimi-san and Gordo-san said when I showed them the mysterious crystal ball.

“Eye of Truth?”

“Yes, congratulations. That’s is an artifact.” (Mimi)

“Artifact… Artifact!?”

This is an artifact! I was a little more than impressed…

I’ve always wanted to find an artifact myself someday, but I never thought I’d find one in a place like this…

“I’ve always wanted to explore ancient ruins and find an artifact myself, but to find it in a place like this? You should be more than happy!” (Cyrus)

“Right!”

“Well, we can’t brag about this to anyone.” (Cyrus)

“……right.”

That’s right … I’m very happy, but I can’t tell anyone that there are ancient ruins here. It’s also quite dangerous to brag about it, and since this artifact is going to the Duke in the first place, it wouldn’t remain in my hand. There is nothing left for me to be proud of…

“The duke is going to give you a reward for it. The Eye of Truth is a very valuable artifact, even if there are a good number of them out there.” (Mimi)

“What effect does it have to make it valuable?”

“Well, if you touch it like this–” (Mimi)

When Mimi-san put her hand on the eye of truth, the crystal ball glowed blue, although it was weaker than when I touched it.

“Normally, the crystal ball glows blue. But when a criminal touches it, it glows red.” (Mimi)

“I see.”

Hmmm… So it’s an artifact that can identify criminals. No wonder it is placed in the house next to the gate. But the fact that such an artifact has not been taken out of the town means that the residents of this town may not have been able to escape when this happened…

But what kind of criteria does it use so the artifacts can identify criminals?

Few of us have ever done anything wrong, and if killing a living creature is wrong, then we adventurers are bright red. But it was blue. This crystal ball must have some kind of gauge that makes it light up blue and red, but I can’t see it. Not being able to see how it works is a scary thing. Even if you think you are fine, if you don’t know the standard, it is not safe.

That’s why we finished the investigation of the Golden Dragon’s Nest and headed down the mountain with Borok-san to Arnorn.