Ch.268Finally Arrived at the Secret City

The final clue to finding Technopolis. The center of the equilateral triangle turned out to be right in the middle of a sheer 30-meter cliff.

No matter how much this was a fantasy world, climbing a 30-meter vertical cliff with bare hands was out of the question.

Before embarking on a full-scale climb, we decided to conduct an aerial survey using an automaton.

“…I don’t see anything particularly noteworthy.”

“That’s strange. According to our calculations, it should definitely be up there… Is it too far away or is the image quality too poor to spot it?”

“I’m flying as close to the ground as possible, but there’s nothing conspicuous. It might be cleverly concealed or perhaps only discoverable under specific conditions.”

“So in the end, we have no choice but to investigate the top of the cliff directly… The means is the problem.”

With our equipment and magic, we couldn’t safely climb a 30-meter vertical cliff.

Relying on ropes was out of the question, and even if we made a rope ladder, securing it firmly would be another issue entirely.

“What about having the automaton carry someone up?”

“The automaton can carry at most around 10kg. Even if that weren’t the case, dangling 30 meters up without any safety measures isn’t a good idea.”

Though not as many as where the crystal statue was, there were still a few Cruel Vultures visible in the area.

If we were to hang onto a bird like a heroine from a classic fighting game and get attacked while ascending… well. I don’t want to imagine what would happen next.

“Can’t be helped. Let’s end our investigation here and head back to the city.”

“That was the plan from the beginning anyway…”

In the end, we had no choice but to return to Westend Seventh with the final clue right before our eyes.

But this was merely a 50-step retreat for a 100-step advance.

After purifying the black magical power in Westend Seventh, we purchased a large quantity of iron ingots and returned to the investigation site three days later.

“Good, good! Lift it up!”

“Watch your head! Don’t take off your safety helmet!”

“Hey! Who took the largest hex wrench?!”

On the side of the sheer 30-meter cliff, scaffolding (a structure often seen at apartment construction sites, where steel frames are stacked like jungle gyms with slanted platforms to climb up and down instead of stairs) began to be installed.

“Shouldn’t we help too?”

“It’s safest to leave this kind of work to the professionals. Let’s focus on keeping watch to make sure no monsters attack.”

“I think we’ll be fine since I’ve deployed a repellation field, but still.”

Leading the scaffolding construction was a team of ten dwarves from Grandorn Zwei.

Jessica was in charge of setting up barriers and treating injuries if they occurred.

Seti, Phyllis, and I kept watch for any approaching enemies, while Iris was scouting the surroundings with an automaton from the carriage before starting to prepare meals.

Mina produced perfectly standardized steel frames and platforms with her crafting tablet, loaded them onto pulley shelves to send up, and expedition members who received them continued to extend the scaffolding vertically.

Of course, it was impossible to stably stack a 30-meter steel tower with minimal foundation work, so they drilled holes into the rock face at intervals to secure the scaffolding.

It took about 10 minutes for the steel frames and platforms to rise 2 meters, and 20 minutes to secure them to the rock face every 6 meters. Excluding the time for the pulleys to move up and down, the 30-meter scaffolding tower would be completed in a total of 250 minutes.

“Everyone, please eat lunch~”

Iris came with a basket full of sandwiches when the construction was about two-thirds complete.

Simple dishes like sandwiches could be easily made without a crafting tablet, and they were convenient to eat on the spot by simply loading the entire basket onto the pulley shelf and sending it up.

“Looks like we’ll finish around 2 PM.”

“Thanks to those guys casually tossing around 2-meter steel pipes.”

“If Jessica cast enchantment magic on those pipes, they could probably take down monsters…”

“Simple enchantment magic doesn’t do much damage to monsters. Unless you can channel magical power into it yourself like Seti, or crush them with overwhelming force like the Ancestor.”

“The dwarves are working hard too.”

Humans and elves can defeat monsters with guns and magic, beastkin can imbue weapons with magical power, but dwarves haven’t yet found a perfect solution.

If they could secure an easy way to defeat monsters and utilize their overwhelming technology and craftsmanship across the region, wouldn’t Grantis develop much faster than it is now?

I can’t help but think about that.

After finishing their meal and cleansing their palates with whiskey brought from the city, the dwarves completed the scaffolding installation around 2 PM, just as I had predicted.

Since it wasn’t large enough for the Ancestor or camping carriage to pass through, they waited at the bottom of the cliff.

After confirming the safety of the cliff top once more using the flying automaton, we climbed up, escorting the ten dwarves from front and back.

From the edge of the cliff to the center point of the triangle was over 500 meters.

There were a few small lizards and field mice, but they were within the range of ordinary wildlife, and there was no sign of Cruel Vultures attacking now.

As we quickly moved toward our destination, Seti, who was in the lead, suddenly stopped and tapped the ground.

“Is there something?”

“The feel of the ground seems a bit different.”

“You heard him, friends! Let’s dig around this area!”

“Aye!”

The excited dwarf expedition team began to carefully scrape away the surface of the ground using shovels and pickaxes.

They worked carefully to remove soil and stones without damaging anything that might be buried underneath.

After about 5 minutes of digging, Morgan’s shovel made a “ka-ka-ka-kak” sound as it scraped against a hard surface.

“This is… a metal plate with anti-oxidation coating.”

“Oh! Finally!”

“Should we clear it all at once with a seismic cracker?”

“No, it’s better to dig it out manually. If important components are damaged by the shock waves, we’d be in trouble.”

Mina and the ten dwarves skillfully removed the soil and stones covering the metal plate, and when the work was finished, a circular metal hatch about 5 meters in diameter stood imposingly in place.

“Can this be opened by human strength?”

“It doesn’t seem to be the lift-up type. It looks like you insert metal rods into these four holes and turn counterclockwise.”

“You mean these holes? Wait a moment. I’ll make four that fit perfectly.”

Mina took out her crafting tablet and created four steel handle parts of a comfortable size from iron ingots, then poured lubricant over the entire hatch and began scrubbing it with something like a toilet brush.

This was an essential task to open a metal hatch that might have been abandoned for at least decades, perhaps even a century.

“Alright! Two people per handle, turn on my count! One-two-“

“Heeeeeave~~!!”

With each chorus of the men’s deep tenor voices echoing across the cliff top, the circular hatch rotated little by little with creaking sounds.

Around the 45-degree mark, the central part about 1 meter in diameter began to sink down, and at about 90 degrees, it split in a cross shape.

Finally, when the 180-degree rotation was complete, the circular hatch locked with a click, and four golden rods rose from the recessed section.

“This is…!”

“They appear to match the holes on the bottom of the artificial intelligence structure.”

“It’s my turn to shine! Hahahahaha!!”

The dwarf carrying the drum-shaped AI structure approached with rough snorts, and with the help of his comrades, aligned the holes on the bottom surface with the positions of the golden rods.

And carefully lowering the structure to the ground until it completely connected with the hatch.

[Warning. Warning]

A deep male voice began to flow from the rugged AI structure placed on the ground.

[First-stage connection of the Integrated Management System Structure confirmed. Initiating transfer to the integrated control room in 30 seconds. All personnel on the ground must move at least 2 meters away from the hatch. I repeat. Transfer to the integrated control room in 20 seconds…]

From what I could gather, the AI structure installed on the ground—which the designer of Technopolis called the “Integrated Management System Structure”—was about to be moved underground.

As we backed away from the hatch following the warning, the voice from the structure changed to a countdown.

[10 seconds until hatch opening, 9, 8…]

Not only the dwarf expedition team who had their long-cherished wish before their eyes,

but also Mina, who couldn’t contain her curiosity as a fellow dwarf,

Jessica, who had been searching for the secrets of ancient Grantis even before meeting me,

Seti, Phyllis, and I, who remained vigilant against enemies until the end,

and even Iris, who had been one of our escort subjects.

With everyone’s gaze fixed on the hatch, the countdown finally reached its last number.

[…2…1…0, initiating steam release.]

‘PSSSHHHHHHH-!!’

In an instant, the entire hatch sank with a thud, and white steam gushed out from the gap between it and the ground.

“A steam engine!?”

“So there really was an inventor among the dwarves.”

As the vigorously released steam cleared, the AI structure was already gone, and the outer hatch that had been tightly closed began to vibrate with a thunderous sound.

‘Ku-ku-ku-ku-ku….’

And finally, the hatch began to split into four pieces.

It was the moment when the door to Technopolis, which had been sleeping underground for a long time, opened.