Chapter 203

The next day, as soon as the sun rose, the full-scale exploration began.

Their goal was to find the anomaly within Ground Zero, but only the professor knew what that anomaly actually was or what it looked like.

So, there was nothing for the students to do except follow behind Professor Winslet.

“By the way, Jacqueline, why have you been carrying that wooden stick around?”

“Huh? This?”

Rita asked as she watched Jacqueline swinging a thin, dried-out stick through the air.

It was something she had picked up from the ruins.

“I guess my hands were bored. I saw it lying on the ground and it just looked perfect for swinging around… And you could use it as a weapon, too, right?”

“A weapon? Out of nowhere?”

“You know, Ground Zero is dangerous. A monster could suddenly appear.”

“If a monster shows up, you can just use magic.”

Shannon cut in.

“And isn’t that just a random, useless stick you can find anywhere?”

“Well… I guess that’s true…”

Running out of excuses, Jacqueline awkwardly tossed the stick far away.

After a moment, still seeming a bit reluctant, she asked:

“But don’t mages usually carry a staff or something?”

“Look at the professor. Have you ever seen Professor Winslet carrying a staff? He just walks around empty-handed.”

“Then why doesn’t he use one? In the illustrations I’ve seen in books, all the great archmages had their own staffs.”

Shannon answered Jacqueline’s question.

“Those are all from the past. These days, people don’t really use staffs. Maybe a small, light wand, at most.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re heavy, expensive, and hard to maintain.”

“That’s… a lot more practical than I expected.”

“Of course, there are still places that use them. Usually as ceremonial treasures, or scepters passed down to the heads of certain schools.”

“I see…”

Jacqueline glanced back at the stick she had thrown away, still looking a little regretful.

Rita patted her on the back from behind.

“Don’t waste your energy for nothing. Save your stamina. We’ll be walking all day again today.”

The ancient city of Aslan could be considered ruins on the scale of an entire metropolis.

All traces of human life had long been swept away by time, and the ruined buildings were now reduced to little more than foundations and pillars. The place they had spent the night was one such site.

Now and then, the sound of wind passing through the ruins or distant birdsong was all that gave even a faint sense of reality to this submerged land, which had otherwise sunk into a deep silence.

“It’s kind of creepy, being the only ones in such a huge city.”

“I feel like I’m going to dream about this later…”

“Hey, look over there. Is that a fountain?”

Just as they were beginning to grow used to the hollow echo of their own footsteps, a wide open space appeared before them.

It had once been a plaza.

At the center stood a fountain and a statue that had somehow retained their shapes. Beneath the marble statue whose surface was worn smooth by wind and rain. Something was piled up in a heap.

Noticing it, Jacqueline approached the fountain, but Rita stopped her.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t go near that, Jacqueline.”

“But look at that. Doesn’t it look like gemstones?”

“Come to think of it, Ms. Rieka did say adventurers come to Ground Zero to pick up jewels and gold. She said the kingdom that fell here used to be incredibly wealthy.”

Standing on the edge of the fountain, Jacqueline stretched her upper body out to grab one of the shining stones at the statue’s base.

Water had pooled inside the fountain, but judging by its color, it looked heavily contaminated, so she hesitated to step into it.

“Careful. You’re going to fall.”

“Almost got it… There!”

Jacqueline nearly lost her balance but managed to steady herself and land back outside the fountain.

When she opened her clenched fist, a sparkling lump sat in her palm.

“Well? Do you think it’s a real gem?”

“Hard to say. I’m not an appraiser.”

“Let’s ask the professor.”

“Won’t we get in trouble?”

When Jacqueline ran ahead and showed the stone she had picked up to Professor Winslet, he immediately replied:

“Throw it away. Now.”

“Huh? Why?”

“If you have a hobby of raising insects, you can keep it. But what do you plan to do with that spider?”

“A spider?”

As Jacqueline tilted her head in confusion, Rita urgently tapped her on the shoulder from beside her.

“Jacqueline, look at your hand. Hurry!”

“Huh?”

Feeling a tickling sensation in her palm, Jacqueline looked down and let out a sharp scream.

“Ahh! What is this?!”

Legs sprouted from the gem, and it suddenly came to life, scuttling across her palm.

Rieka burst out laughing at the sight.

“That’s a jewel spider. When it’s time to lay eggs, it looks for a safe place, so it disguises itself as a gem and lets adventurers pick it up. Then it sneaks into pouches or chests where gems or coins are kept and lays its eggs there.”

“An insect? It lays eggs?!”

“Adventurers visiting Ground Zero for the first time always fall for it at least once. Looks like you did too.”

While Rieka was clearly amused, Jacqueline’s face grew paler by the second.

When the spider began crawling up her arm, Jacqueline shrieked and flailed her hand.

She managed to shake it off, but unfortunately, the lightweight spider flew a short distance and landed right in someone’s hair nearby.

Short blonde hair.

It was Jamie Prowley, the transfer student Jacqueline hadn’t even managed to speak to yet because of how cold and quiet she seemed.

“Uh… sorry.”

As Jacqueline fidgeted nervously, clenching and unclenching her hands, Jamie let out a small sigh and replied curtly:

“It’s fine.”

Crunch.

A crisp, crushing sound followed, and Jamie flicked her hand.

The dead spider fell to the ground.

Wiping her palm with a handkerchief she took from her pocket, Jamie’s expression remained completely unchanged from start to finish.

“…That’s a relief. I guess she’s not afraid of bugs.”

“Oh, Jacqueline…”

Rita covered her forehead with her hand.

***

Around noon, Rieka tapped my shoulder with a somewhat dissatisfied look.

“Hey, what exactly are we looking for?”

“Did you forget what I told you? We’re heading to find the anomaly.”

“And where exactly is this so-called anomaly?”

“Over there.”

I extended my hand and pointed in the direction we were walking.

Far in the distance, atop a hill at the center of the city, a faint silhouette rose into view.

Recognizing what kind of structure it was, Rieka let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“You’re saying we’re going into the royal castle of a fallen kingdom? Wow… you’ve got bigger ambitions than I thought, client.”

“The largest anomaly in Ground Zero lies deep within that castle. Our goal is to investigate it.”

“There’s something like that in Aslan’s royal palace? But how do you even know that? Have you been here before?”

In the original game, Candela of Judgment, exploring Ground Zero was a kind of challenge content.

It wasn’t required for the main story, but clearing it rewarded you accordingly. Like a bonus side episode.

And the anomaly I was about to seek out was one of the most difficult hidden pieces to clear in the entire game.

Of course, I couldn’t just tell her that outright, so I gave Rieka a vague answer.

“I read it in an ancient document I happened to acquire. I came to Ground Zero to verify its contents.”

Rieka crossed her arms and let out a low hum.

“Even from a distance, that palace looks massive… Places like that are usually extremely dangerous. Even seasoned adventurers set up a base camp nearby and spend months mapping out a safe route. But you’re dragging along a bunch of rookies… are you really sure about this?”

“I’ve already prepared countermeasures. It’ll be fine.”

“…Well, if you say so. Still, it kind of stings my pride that you seem to know more about this place than I do.”

Even as she said that, Rieka seemed quietly excited about exploring the palace.

With a hint of anticipation, she continued asking questions.

“So what exactly is this anomaly you’re looking for? Is it some kind of treasure?”

“More like a treasure vault.”

“A treasure vault?”

In the original game, Rieka became famous as the adventurer who first explored the deepest part of Ground Zero and returned alive, but not now.

So at this point, she knew nothing about anomalies.

Should I explain it to her?

“It’d be faster to show you than to explain.”

With that, I spread out my mana field.

It was to locate a nearby anomaly.

Just then, startled voices suddenly erupted from the students following behind.

“Whoa! That scared me!”

“What was that just now?”

“Oh, it’s the professor’s mana field.”

“What’s wrong with all of you?”

Only Estelle and Rieka, who couldn’t use magic, tilted their heads in confusion.

“What’s gotten into them all of a sudden?”

“You don’t need to worry about it. More importantly, there’s one over there.”

There stood the remains of a structure that might once have been something like a temple.

Twelve massive marble pillars, so large that even four people standing side by side couldn’t wrap their arms around one, were lined up in a row.

The roof those pillars once supported had long since collapsed.

When I used telekinesis to lift and clear away the fallen debris, a small altar was revealed.

The anomaly was on top of it.

It was a small, dull, colorless sphere floating in midair.

Rieka let out a deflated chuckle.

“So this is the anomaly? Seems a bit big to call it a ‘point’… So what exactly is it used for?”

“Watch closely.”

I picked up a stone from the ground and threw it toward the black sphere.

Without a sound, the stone vanished midair.

It was sucked straight into the colorless sphere.

“How did you do that?”

“It’s not over yet. Step back a little.”

The moment Rieka followed my instruction—

Twitch.

The colorless sphere, having swallowed the stone, began to tremble.

Then, in the next instant, it burst apart.

“Whoa!”

But the scattered fragments didn’t fly toward us.

Instead, as if caught by a powerful force, they hovered around the sphere’s center and formed a flat disc.

Inside the disc was as black as the night sky, with clusters of light swirling within it like a galaxy spread across the darkness.

“And this is a gate. The anomaly is the key that opens it.”