Volume 10 Chapter 7 Ancient Ruins Exploration Part Iii
"What is this? It's so big!"
When Al showed the giant crab he brought back to Patricia and Joanna, they both looked surprised, as it was their first time seeing a crab. Patricia poked at the crab's claws cautiously. When Al explained it was a crab, she said she had eaten the meat after it was cooked, but she didn't know it looked like this.
"Let's eat it for dinner. From the looks of it, you don't know how to cook it, right? Hmm, what should I do?"
The river crab Al had eaten before was only about 20cm (≈ 7.87 in) long, including the legs. This crab was too big for the pot he had. He scratched his head, wondering what to do.
"Anyway, I finished cleaning it. Now we just have to wait for it to dry."
Patricia said cheerfully. Looking around, the back room and the corridor in front of it were clean for setting up the tent. They weren't going to stay here forever, so as long as they were okay with it, that was enough.
"Ms. Joanna, Patricia, I'm going to cast the 'Sensory Boost' and 'Magic Sense' spells on you, so can you keep watch for me?"
If they used the spells to enhance their vision during the day, they would definitely notice if anyone approached. Al wanted to ask them to keep watch while he continued his underwater investigation of the ancient ruins. He hoped to think of a good way to recover any magic tools that might still be underwater...
"Of course, that's fine. But what if they come?"
Joanna put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Maybe it was unconscious, but she might be thinking that she wants to fight back somehow. Patricia also looked tense, her face serious.
"If it's just a magician, we can lure them here. It'll be like our last plan. If they move to the room at the very back that we cleaned up, it's more than 30m (98.4ft) from the entrance. I'll hide near the entrance and aim for a surprise attack. If they come with a lot of people, it depends on the situation. Still, unless there are a huge number of them, I don't think we'll be easily defeated."
Patricia and Joanna nodded at Al's explanation. Al said, "Good luck," and the two headed toward the entrance.
* * *
As evening approached and the sun began to set, Al arrived at the entrance of the ruins where the two were keeping watch. His hair was wet, as if he had been in the water.
"What happened? You've been investigating a lot, right? Did you find anything?"
At Joanna's question, Al thought for a moment but then nodded with a happy face, showing them what looked like a map of the ruins drawn on parchment.
"Yeah, this is definitely the third floor. The north entrance is buried in mud, separate from the south side where we came in. It's impossible to get in or out from here. There's also an entrance on the first floor we could reach by diving, but it's blocked by fallen rocks, so no one can pass through. Small gaps let fish and sea snakes in and out.
I found two light magic tools on the floor here. The room is filled with shelves, desks, and chairs, and it seems unexplored. I picked up something with 'Magic Sense' in two places: the first is in the northeast room on the first floor, probably a spellbook. The second is in a weapons storage room on the second floor, where I sensed two swords."
"Hmm, so as long as we keep an eye on the south balcony, we can relax for now."
Joanna was worried about the entrance routes to this ruin. Aside from the long, snake-like creatures, the only route humans should be cautious about is the south side where Al and the others came in.
"Yeah, probably. But since we found those magic swords and spellbooks, I really hope we can somehow recover them."
"Isn't there a chance they got rusty in the water? Or was there air in the room?" Patricia asked.
Al shook his head.
"Nope, there's no air at all. But spellbooks found in ancient ruins are often protected by 'Packing' spells. So, they're fine even underwater. Also, I've heard that good swords are protected by some kind of magic to prevent rust, so I think those 2 left behind are definitely special swords."
Special sword... Joanna murmured, looking a bit curious.
"If it's Sir Al, he can definitely retrieve it."
"Hmm, I tried a lot of things, but you know, in the water..."
At Patricia's words, Al ran his hand through his wet hair. He had tried many things, but none of them worked well. The first idea Al had was to change the 'Carrier' disk into a huge air-filled bubble that he could fit into. When he actually tried it, he couldn't make it too big, but he managed to create something about 2m (≈ 6.56 feet) in diameter. It floated safely on the water, but the bubble only stayed on the surface and couldn't go underwater at all. He tried using the 'Fly' spell inside it, but while he could move above the water, the buoyancy kept him from going underwater.
As he explained this, Patricia and Joanna looked a bit exasperated. Al thought he was getting close to a solution, and he had even made a fine mesh spherical cage that even sea snakes couldn't get into, but no matter how hard he swam, he couldn't move forward, and he realized that the 'Fly' spell wouldn't let him move underwater either. He also explained other ideas using the 'Conceal' spell and 'Animal Transformation' approach.
"I understand. That must have been tough."
Patricia nodded vigorously, as she always did, but Joanna's response felt a bit distant. Maybe he had gone a bit overboard.
"I think you don't have to force it. It's okay if you don't retrieve it right away. You can come back here when you find a better method, right?"
Al could only nod at Patricia's comforting suggestion.
"Yeah, I guess we can wrap up the investigation for now. I'll take over the watch. But since there hasn't been any movement until now, do you think we're safe for today?"
Moving around the border area at night is really dangerous. If they were heading to a safe place like a town or village, it would be different, but for a search operation, it's probably time to end it.
"Yeah, I guess that's how it is."
Patricia and Joanna looked worried. They didn't know how scary the border was at night. But we can't let our guard down.
"Just in case, I'll keep the 'Floating Eye' spell up on the roof."
The 'Floating Eye' spell can give Al a headache if he keeps it active for too long, but if he just leave it in one spot, it should be fine.
"Mr. Al, don't push yourself too hard. You can't stay awake forever. I'll take a shift too."
Al thought for a moment about Joanna's suggestion. He could take a nap after the sun comes up. But if the enemy is going to move, it's more likely to happen during the day. It might be better for everyone to stay awake during that time. Al accepted Joanna's suggestion and decided to take turns watching.
"Okay, let's have dinner for now."
"We caught crabs during the day. I'm looking forward to it!~♪."
Patricia looked really happy. Come to think of it, the crabs were too big to fit in the pot.
"Right. I need to make a pot..."
Al started searching in his magic bag for iron or copper tools that could be used to make a pot. Spare weapons might also work as materials.
"What are you going to do with that?"
Patricia asked.
"The crab is so big. The pot is too small to boil it, so I was thinking of making a bigger pot..."
Al's answer made Joanna and Patricia tilt their heads. They looked confused, so Al took out a short staff about 30cm (≈ 11.8 in) long from his backpack and showed it to them.
"I have this staff. It can use the 'Soften Stone' spell and the 'Soften Metal' spell."
It was a stick he got from Malachi. The 'Soften Stone' spell works on stone, and the 'Soften Metal' spell works on metal. But both spells can make things soft like clay, allowing them to change shape freely. Making a pot is easy. If he thought about it, heating it could be done with the 'Thermos' spell directly on the water, so he might not have needed to focus on metal. There are plenty of stones around.
As he thought about this, Al froze a little.
"Hey, if I just go down to the second floor, I can use this to break through the floor..."
Patricia and Joanna said the same thing Al just thought of.
"That's it!"
Al nodded with a slightly brighter face.
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