Ch.326Chapter 326 – Killing Three Birds with One Stone

The collapse of a ruin being investigated for research could happen at any time.

Especially when it’s a structure of unknown age with sections flooded by groundwater seepage?

That’s practically like advertising “I’m going to collapse soon~” in every direction.

The fortunate thing was that the ruin hadn’t completely collapsed.

The building housing the entrance to the ruin was still intact. There were slight cracks here and there with dust and debris floating around, but at least it maintained its structure, right?

But how likely is it that the interior would be fine just because the exterior looks intact?

“Professor Mueller.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“Is there a way to enter the interior of the ruin?”

Even in the chaos caused by the collapse, I had to maintain my composure.

Besides His Highness the Crown Prince, the highest-ranking individuals at the scene were essentially just Professor Mueller and myself.

“We’ve mobilized all available personnel to clear away the stones scattered at the entrance and inside the ruin. According to the workers, we should be able to access the collapsed level within six hours.”

After hearing Professor Mueller’s explanation, I had a question.

“If there’s a collapsed level, does that mean there are levels that didn’t collapse?”

“Yes, Marquis. Only the areas flooded by groundwater collapsed. We’ve just confirmed that the rest remained intact, allowing everyone to evacuate safely.”

That’s a relief to hear. If only the flooded areas collapsed, at least there weren’t more casualties.

“How many casualties are there?”

“Everyone was wearing protective gear diligently, so fifteen people suffered severe injuries such as lost limbs. Besides them, about 100 people have minor scrapes and bruises.”

“I’ll visit those with severe injuries later to heal them. For now, let’s focus on rescuing His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Yes, Marquis!”

Professor Mueller seemed deeply moved by my words. However, we quickly began discussing how to rescue the Crown Prince’s party.

“We need to retrieve parts of the teleportation interference artifact immediately so rescue teams can arrive from the capital!”

“Nonsense! We should ask the dwarf workers skilled in tunneling to dig a passage!”

“Argh! Quiet! First, we need to clear all the debris! And the pump is broken, so that needs to be replaced first!”

“……”

In the open space next to the ruin entrance, the site supervisors, except for Professor Mueller, were gathered, each proposing methods to rescue people.

“Do you know how difficult it is to retrieve a teleportation artifact? It takes over ten hours just to deactivate it!”

“Then what do you suggest we do?”

“In the ten hours it would take to retrieve the artifact, the dwarf workers from the excavation team could dig a tunnel for rescue. Their digging skills are the best on this continent!”

“Oh, please. Those dwarves are on rotation leave now, where would we get them from?”

Watching them point out flaws in each other’s proposals, I couldn’t tell if they were trying to save people or just arguing for the sake of it.

Most importantly, all their proposed methods would take too much time.

But I had a way to rescue the Crown Prince and others trapped in the collapsed area more quickly and reliably than any of their suggestions.

“Professor Mueller.”

“Hmm? Marquis. Do you have a good solution?”

When I called Professor Mueller, he turned to me with expectant eyes.

With such expectations placed on me, I had to step up.

“Go and bring me a hammer.”

“A hammer…? Why do you suddenly need a hammer?”

Hmm. Professor Mueller must be quite confused by the situation. Everyone knows my ability works through a hammer.

“How long must we wait for the teleportation interference artifact to be retrieved, or for the dwarves to dig tunnels?”

“Pardon?”

“Why use such complicated methods? Go and bring me a hammer.”

“C-could it be?”

I nodded at Professor Mueller.

“I’ll repair the entire ruin with my ability. That will restore the collapsed areas flooded by groundwater to their original state.”

My ability has revived lands contaminated by magical pollution and restored collapsed elven libraries.

If my ability can even revive dead hair follicles, how could I not repair a building that still maintains its form?

“Ah, understood! Hey! The Marquis needs a hammer! Hurry and bring one!”

“A-a-a hammer? Why does he suddenly need a hammer?”

“The Marquis will use his ability to repair the entire ruin! So hurry and bring a hammer!”

“Understood! I’ll bring the finest one right away!”

At Professor Mueller’s command, someone who appeared to be supervising the workers rushed off somewhere.

About five minutes later? He came running back to me, breathing heavily, knelt on one knee, and presented a hammer to me with both hands in a respectful posture.

“Marquis! Here is the finest hammer at this site! I stake my 40 years of experience as a site worker on it.”

Indeed, the hammer was in excellent condition.

I could tell that the site worker wasn’t making empty claims when staking his career on it.

It wasn’t a neglected tool with rust on the metal and mold twisting the handle.

The metal had a characteristic black luster with a polished surface, and the handle was clean rather than grimy—clearly a well-maintained tool.

I gripped the hammer he offered with my right hand.

The weight was just right.

“Tell everyone to step back. I’m going to use my ability to repair this ruin.”

If I repair this ruin with my touch, it will no longer be a ruin but something new.

That would make this place more of a building exploration than a ruin excavation.

‘But that’s not more important than human lives, is it?’

Moreover, the person trapped in the ruin was His Highness the Crown Prince—my brother-in-law and the designated next Emperor of the Empire.

I’d feel uneasy if a stranger died, but if someone I knew died?

I might have to carry that trauma for the rest of my life.

To prevent that, I had to rescue the Crown Prince here today.

“Haa…”

Anxiety, doubt, fear, and impatience kept swirling in my mind.

But I had to suppress them. I had to believe in myself.

I already knew there was nothing my ability couldn’t repair.

I needed to be certain of that.

Shouldn’t the person using an ability have confidence in it?

Others believe and expect results, so how ridiculous would it be if the person using the ability doubted it?

With that thought, all the distracting thoughts in my mind disappeared, allowing me to focus solely on the ruin.

With everyone watching me, I raised the hammer in my right hand.

‘I will repair the ruin.’

With the firm intention to repair the ruin, I swung the hammer toward it.

“Huh?”

When my swung hammer touched the wall of the ruin, information about how to use my ability began to surface in my mind, as if I had known it all along.

Among this information, the method for determining the target and range of my repair ability was ridiculously simple.

The application range and target were ultimately determined by me.

It would be repaired according to my thoughts, according to my wishes.

‘Why did such a simple method only occur to me now?’

It would have been good to know this from the beginning, but why did this tutorial message appear now, like I was waiting for the ending after seeing the main story?

‘If this were a game, people would have cursed it thoroughly.’

Well, there was a game based on this world, but that was just a shell.

The real thing is this world I’m living in right now.

I stopped my wandering thoughts and mentally determined the range and target of my ability.

‘The collapsed passage. The area where groundwater is leaking. Repair that area.’

Having finalized the application range and target of my ability, I swung the hammer three times.

Fragments and dust flew from the wall, but nothing seemed to happen.

People looked around wondering if I had failed to use my ability, but I wasn’t anxious.

I could feel my ability working through my body.

And the people’s murmurs turned to cheers when they saw people emerging from the ruin.

“Hahaha. I believed in you all along, brother-in-law!”

The Crown Prince, who had been trapped in the collapsed area of the ruin, was walking out unharmed.

“Please be more careful in the future.”

“I will. I’ll be more careful next time.”

After confirming the Crown Prince had emerged safely, Professor Mueller gave instructions to the people, who soon returned with their investigation results.

“The passages connecting to levels 4-5 have been completely repaired! The groundwater leakage points now have only solid walls with no trace of groundwater!”

“Oh, oh! Long live the Marquis! Long live the Marquis!”

After confirming that I had rescued the Crown Prince and repaired the passages that had been inevitably flooded by groundwater, the excavation site began to heat up with excitement.