Ch.325Chapter 325 – Collapse of the Ruins

Crown Prince Takitar of the Gelebrio Empire awoke from his sleep.

The scenery outside the window still showed darkness covering the sky.

An ordinary person might question if they had risen too early, but Takitar simply got out of bed.

Since it was a time when even the servants would be asleep, he washed his face in the simple bathroom and took clothes from the wardrobe to dress himself.

One might think a crown prince would wear elaborate clothes with expensive decorations, but Takitar was, quite fortunately, a person with a “normal” mindset.

He chose clothing worn by those who venture deep into ruins.

He knew well that fancy attire indicating his status as crown prince would be of no help in case of an accident at the ruins.

In his childhood, he too had liked fancy clothes when he knew no better, but after growing older and personally understanding how the world works, he began wearing clothes like those worn by people working in the field.

After all, simply wearing the same clothes creates a sense of camaraderie among people.

After getting dressed, Takitar stood looking at the room where Patos was staying.

Normally, given his personality, he would have awakened his companion to inspect the site together, but Patos was to be the husband of his sister, whom even he found difficult to deal with.

Even now, having ascended to the position of crown prince, he still found Karen intimidating.

“Your Highness, you’re awake.”

As he stepped outside his quarters, members of the ruin exploration team who had been waiting rose to greet him.

“You’re working hard so early in the morning. Let’s all get moving.”

Takitar greeted the exploration team members and began walking toward the ruins with them.

“How far has the excavation of the ruins progressed?”

“We’re currently working on dismantling the final barrier wall located in the deepest layer. The barrier is quite thick and made of sturdy material, so breaking through will take time, but since it’s the barrier of the final layer, we’re prepared for it.”

“The Empire will never forget your hard work, so please continue the exploration with caution for your safety.”

The crown prince conversed with the exploration team members as they entered the ruins.

Although the excavation was nearly complete, they had merely reached the lowest level of the ruins, so there were still many areas to explore.

Of course, the entrance to the ruins, corresponding to underground floors 1-3, had already been explored, so the crown prince was now heading to floors 4-5 of the ruins.

This was the section where groundwater had burst forth and where books were stored.

Pumps were operating day and night without rest to drain the water, keeping floors 4-5 from being submerged.

One might wonder how other floors remained safe if groundwater passed through floors 4-5, but the third floor had two passages: one connecting to floors 4-5 and another large staircase leading directly to the sixth floor.

The crown prince had come down through the passage leading to floors 4-5.

His interest in these ruins had been sparked by the ancient documents discovered on floors 4-5.

The contents written on the covers of books made of paper, not parchment, were more than enough to catch the attention of the crown prince.

Soil improvement methods, alloy casting techniques, magical power generator manufacturing methods—how could he ignore a place filled with all kinds of books that could make the Empire even stronger than it currently was?

Moreover, archaeologists had been subjected to insulting remarks, being called parasites who drained the Empire’s taxes rather than contributing to it, so they were staking everything on this excavation.

The books discovered in these ruins needed restoration work for interpretation, and he had even brought Patos along for this purpose. It was not unreasonable for the crown prince and archaeologists to place great expectations on this excavation.

‘Since my brother-in-law has come all this way, I can’t just let it pass.’

Takitar wanted to leave behind at least one significant achievement for Patos, his future brother-in-law.

Although Patos had already established numerous achievements, he had few that directly contributed to the Empire’s national interests.

That’s why he had involved Patos in this excavation, so he could directly contribute to the Empire’s interests.

‘Although my brother-in-law has many achievements, there are still people who doubt his abilities.’

Takitar thought this excavation would put an end to all concerns and controversies at once.

He wanted to give a decisive blow to those who still doubted Patos despite his demonstration of remarkable ability in treating baldness.

Upon reaching the fifth floor, they were looking at a room that had not yet been brought outside and whose door remained locked and unopened.

At that moment, Takitar felt vibrations beginning from the floor.

“By the way, the ruins seem to be shaking a bit. Is that all right?”

“It’s fine. The work to break through the barrier in the deepest part continues 24 hours a day, so it often shakes like this.”

Although Takitar accepted the exploration team member’s reassurance, he felt uneasy.

“The vibrations continue. Are you sure it’s all right?”

“Would it be acceptable if I go check outside?”

“I permit it.”

At Takitar’s word, one exploration team member went up from the fifth floor to the surface.

Shortly after, a tremendous vibration suddenly swept through the entire ruins, and dust began pouring down from the ceiling.

“What’s happening?”

“Your Highness! You need to move this way!”

The team member who had gone to the surface returned and led them, and Takitar and the exploration team evacuated to a safe zone located between floors 4 and 5.

As the last team member entered the safe zone, the passage collapsed, blocking their way back.

“What happened?”

“The ruins began collapsing from underground. We tried to ascend to the third floor, but water started rising from all directions and the passages began to collapse. So we had no choice but to return.”

From the team member’s words, Takitar realized the ruins had collapsed.

The cause, he thought, was likely the destruction of the barrier wall that had been underway in the deepest part of the ruins.

“Does anyone know we came here?”

“Everyone knows Your Highness has been moving about since dawn.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Takitar breathed a sigh of relief. Although trapped in the safe zone, at least no one would be unaware of the fact that he was trapped here.

In this situation, he thought of his future brother-in-law.

Somehow, he felt that he would come to rescue him and the others.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

I was informed that the crown prince had entered the ruins at dawn and that the ruins had collapsed several hours after his entry.

“Did His Highness move early in the morning?”

“Yes. He always moved early in the morning to check the condition of the ruins and the excavation status.”

“So it’s certain that His Highness is trapped in the ruins?”

“You can see for yourself with this.”

Professor Mueller said, taking out a crystal ball from his pocket and placing it on the table.

Light gathered around the crystal ball, creating an image.

“This is the current view of the ruins we’re excavating. This crystal ball tracks in real-time the special artifact attached to the clothes worn by people who entered the ruins for position tracking. His Highness is estimated to be between floors 4 and 5.”

“Isn’t magic use impossible within the ruins?”

“These are specially treated, so it’s fine. And artifacts basically operate independently. Besides, only teleportation-blocking artifacts are installed, so regular magic can be used.”

Only then did I recall that the crown prince had mentioned artifacts that only blocked “teleportation.”

“How long will it take for a rescue team to get here?”

“If they depart from the imperial capital, it will take about a month.”

A month. A long time if considered long, short if considered short.

But for those trapped inside, it would feel like a year.

“Is there a space within the ruins where people can take shelter in case of emergency?”

“Of course. That space is equipped with everything needed for ten people to survive for about a month. Fortunately, just yesterday we replaced all the supplies in that space, so they should be able to hold out until the rescue team arrives.”

I breathed a sigh of relief at Professor Mueller’s words.

However, one exploration team member’s face had turned pale.

Could it be…?

“What’s wrong with you?”

“W-well… actually, for floors 4-5, we only removed the old supplies but haven’t yet restocked them.”

Floors 4-5 were where the crown prince was isolated, and the shelter there currently had no supplies.

“Oh no.”

This meant they wouldn’t be able to hold out until the rescue team arrived.

In that case, I needed to hurry to the site. If there was anything I could do there, I had to do it.

“Let’s move to the ruins. Quickly!”