Ch.251Chapter 251 – What Was Discovered in the Underground Ruins

Regina and Cheonhyeryeong’s interest in the automatic pistol faded surprisingly quickly.

“What’s this? Barriers can block almost all of it?”

“I was curious about a weapon from another world, yet it cannot even penetrate protective spiritual energy…”

It was because the pistol’s bullets couldn’t penetrate Regina’s barrier or the protective spiritual energy surrounding Cheonhyeryeong.

They had been interested because it was a weapon from another world, but when it proved weaker than they expected, their interest quickly disappeared.

I checked the remaining bullets in the magazine and swung the hammer again to replenish the ammunition.

I don’t understand the principle behind how empty magazines refill themselves, but isn’t it nice to be able to use a gun without worrying about ammunition?

Plus, I don’t have to deal with the hassle of importing firearms, which is wonderful.

In the military, after every shooting session, we always had to clean our weapons, and when the bolt assembly got stiff, we had to apply gun oil to make it operate smoothly.

The shooting itself was fun, but the cleanup afterward was so tedious that everyone looked like the world was ending whenever shooting practice was announced.

Well, anyway, this .45 caliber automatic pistol is now mine.

Though I should probably practice shooting more often.

In any case, I explored the ruins with Regina and Cheonhyeryeong to look for similar items.

“Is this what we’re looking for?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

With Regina and Cheonhyeryeong’s help, I was able to find paper boxes containing ammunition for the pistol and several empty magazines.

I used my ability to restore them to new condition and pre-loaded the magazines with bullets.

Whether it’s a bank account or a magazine, having something filled to capacity provides psychological comfort.

Interestingly, empty magazines wouldn’t refill when I used my ability on them, but if I filled them with bullets first, emptied them, and then used my ability, they would be fully loaded again.

It seemed that when completely empty, that state was considered “complete,” but after filling and emptying them, the “full” state became the new “complete” condition.

I wanted to experiment with other objects, but since we were here to survey the external practice area, I had to follow Regina and Cheonhyeryeong to investigate the ruins.

However, it was surprising that we didn’t encounter a single monster while exploring the ruins.

“This ruin seems safer than expected, doesn’t it? There’s not a single monster in sight.”

“Of course not. For my lord’s safety, I have spread my aura widely, so no pathetic creatures dare approach.”

Ah… so that’s why.

I felt like Cheonhyeryeong might be overprotecting me, but I suppose it means she values me greatly.

Anyway, as we explored the ruins without any monster encounters, we descended into the underground section to secure a safe area.

Despite the passage of time, the stairs leading underground showed no signs of damage.

Even the walls, which appeared to be made of stacked stones, fit together so perfectly that not even a blade could find a gap between them.

“What kind of people built this structure?”

“I don’t know either. This ruin was only discovered recently… everyone’s been too busy making a living to properly investigate such remote places.”

I nodded unconsciously at Regina’s explanation that this place received less attention since it wasn’t a ruin of the Magic Empire or something similar.

Even when people struggle to make a living, there are certainly those who research such things.

However, in this world, archaeologists can’t survive just by excavating ruins.

That’s why they have patrons who support them, usually wealthy nobles or merchants.

When I asked Regina why they do this, she explained that if an archaeologist makes a significant discovery at a ruin, the patron also receives honor and glory.

As a result, promising ruins are always filled with archaeologists and the nobles who sponsor them.

The imperial family is also a major patron of archaeologists, which makes sense.

If they discover something remarkable or magical from ancient ruins, it directly contributes to the power of the Gelebrio Empire.

Anyway, the three of us descended underground and found broken wooden doors scattered everywhere.

“Ugh, the smell…”

I don’t know what they had stored here, but a putrid odor assaulted my nose as we went underground.

“Wait a moment. [Clean].”

When Regina saw me wrinkling my face at the terrible smell, she cast a Clean spell to eliminate the source of the odor.

Only then could I finally breathe properly.

Given the putrid smell, it was possible that something stored here had decomposed.

“Was this a storage place for something?”

“It doesn’t seem to be food. That smell just now was the odor of decomposing corpses.”

“Corpses?”

Cheonhyeryeong nodded at my question and continued.

“Not human, but judging by the distinctive scent, it appears to be monster carcasses. They likely came down here and were killed by something.”

Hmm… if monsters came down here, were they trying to make this place their den?

But looking around, I couldn’t find any evidence that monsters had made this their home.

If they had, there should be sleeping areas, but beyond the broken doors, I couldn’t see any bedding made by monsters.

The absence of monster bedding suggested they must have been drawn here by something.

“Hmm?”

As I walked around examining the walls carefully, I discovered a small stone that protruded more than the others.

I called Regina and Cheonhyeryeong, and they quickly came over.

“What is it?”

“Did you find something?”

I showed them what I had discovered.

The protruding small stone wobbled up and down when shaken but didn’t come loose.

Moreover, when I pushed it slightly, it smoothly went inward.

“What’s this about?”

“I think it’s a key to open a hidden space.”

I explained my thoughts to Regina and Cheonhyeryeong.

After hearing me out, they both looked at the small stone I was pointing to.

“Then shall we… push it?”

“We should be careful. If necessary, we might have to destroy this entire underground area to get out.”

Under their watchful eyes, I carefully pushed the stone in.

After feeling some resistance and applying a bit more force, the stone fully recessed into the wall…

—Rumble.

With the sound of mechanical gears turning, the stone wall section next to where the stone had been pushed gradually receded and then split open on both sides, revealing a new space.

“…It really worked?”

“Indeed! As expected of the man who will become my husband, you should have at least this much ability!”

Regina and Cheonhyeryeong couldn’t hide their amazement at discovering the new space thanks to me.

‘Phew… that’s a relief.’

If nothing had happened, it would have been really embarrassing, but fortunately, what appeared to be a secret space revealed itself.

After the secret space was revealed, the three of us entered.

“It’s clean in here?”

“The walls are covered with strange patterns.”

Unlike the stone exterior, this secret space was adorned with sophisticated decorations.

The decorations seemed to be carved directly from the stone, as there were no visible seams between them.

“Hmm? Wait, I sense the scent of magical power ahead.”

As we continued deeper inside, Regina seemed to detect what she called the “scent of magical power.”

We immediately proceeded further into the underground ruins and soon discovered a massive door sealed with a powerful protective barrier.

And on a large stone monument erected near the door, there was writing…

‘I can’t understand any of it.’

I couldn’t read a single character.

However, one word among those inscribed on the monument seemed familiar.

‘Seal?’

…Well, anyone could figure that out!

I tried to decipher other words on the monument by reading slowly, but I couldn’t understand any other meanings.

“What could be sealed in this place?”

“I’m not sure… we’ll need to investigate further. I think we should change the external practice location to somewhere else.”

I nodded at Regina’s words.

It would be a serious problem if accidents occurred because we designated such a dangerous place as a practice area.