The villain's ending is only death, Chapter 32
Although there was no chorus of "Hap!" following, fortunately, the children's mouths clamped shut.
I seized the momentum and spoke quickly.
"Who I am and who you are, that's not important. The problem is that you're trying to destroy a precious artifact right now!"
"Do you not have a stake and a hammer? Did your teacher instruct you to break the ice this way?"
I was really curious, but it seemed my tone came across as scolding, as the children's heads drooped lower and lower.
The child who had pointed at me with the staff mumbled in a deflated voice and then fumbled in his pocket, pulling something out.
"Actually, the guild master gave me this......"
In the child's hand lay a small, perfectly sized awl and hammer.
Seeing this, the other children also pulled out their own from their pockets.
"The ice is too thick and hard, so we couldn't dig it out with these!"
"And there's a spell that restores the spot after a few minutes!"
"We can use magic too, so we thought we could do it as quickly as the guild master......"
The children complained one after another, their voices filled with sorrow. I sighed and held out my hand.
Taking the awl and hammer from one of the children, I approached the large block of ice as tall as me.
Curiosity piqued, the children followed me closely.
The cut surface of the ice began to grow back on its own.
Soon, the indented edges that had been exposed started to be covered up.
I watched the regenerating ice closely.
Observing it, I noticed there was a limit to the regrowth. The exposed edges were not completely covered.
'I might be able to dig it out if I'm careful.'
I asked the child with the lion mask.
"Yes! I can make it with magic!"
"Since the artifact might be damaged, can you sprinkle a little only around the protruding edges without touching them?"
The child nodded vigorously and placed his staff near the ice.
A fine mist of water sprayed from the tip of the staff.
"Stop now. Wait a bit, and when I tell you to, sprinkle it again."
Without further scolding the children, I took action myself.
The frozen surface of the ice began to melt slightly where the hot water touched.
I carefully placed the awl on the melted part of the ice, avoiding the box, and struck it hard with the hammer.
Crack. A long crack appeared around the box.
Following the crack, I struck the awl a few more times, breaking off a large piece of ice.
The edge of the artifact box reappeared.
I watched it without touching it further. As expected.
Moreover, the part that had been cut and regrown took much longer to regenerate when cut again.
"......To break the ice without damaging the artifact, there's no other way."
I delivered the harsh verdict to the children, whose eyes sparkled.
"Don't think you can solve it easily with magic. You have to melt it bit by bit and break it by hand."
The children were greatly disappointed. They seemed to have firmly believed they could excavate it easily.
"However, the parts that have been cut regenerate more slowly."
"Then we can just keep breaking those parts, right?"
I nodded and instructed them.
"I'll break it first with the lion, and you follow up quickly. Got it?"
Seeing their bright, eager eyes, I felt a bit proud.
I was excited because it was a familiar field.
Leading the enthusiastic children, I began the ice excavation work.
Actually, I had only read about it in books dozens of times; this was my first time doing it myself.
'I thought I'd get tired of it in college......'
A bitter smile escaped my lips.
I never dreamed I would be doing this in a game I was suddenly dragged into, something I had longed for.
"Okay, now hit this. Don't let the awl touch the box. It will scratch."
The children, whom I thought would be rough, were unexpectedly much more delicate than I was.
How long had we been excavating?
Just as I and the children were about to collapse from exhaustion, the precious artifact box was halfway out of the ice block.
Surprisingly, the floor, which I thought would be flooded, was cleaner than the excavation site.
The fallen ice powder didn't melt, presumably because the magic was still effective.
As I stood up from my crouched position, my whole body ached.
I wasn't the only one; the children also complained, tapping their tiny hands on their bodies.
"But we've done half of it!"
At that moment, one of them, trying to muster some energy, shouted while looking at the artifact.
Looking in that direction, I smiled at the box, which was completely undamaged.
"Right! Thanks to what you taught us, ma'am!"
The children gathered around me and clapped.
'They keep calling me ma'am.'
Feeling a bit wronged, but with my face hidden by the mask, I had no choice but to join in the clapping.
A bone-chilling, icy voice came from behind me. I froze in the middle of clapping.
I had completely forgotten why I was here, caught up in the excitement of excavating the artifact with the children.
"What are you doing here?"
I turned around stiffly, like an un-oiled robot.
A tall man with a white rabbit mask stood not far away.
The navy blue eyes visible through the mask's holes were as cold as ice.
At the same time, he slowly extended his hand toward me.
His staff, much larger and more robust than the children's, was pointed at me.
"From the mask, you must be a mage, right?"
A lump of white light began to glow at the tip of the staff, ready to be fired at any moment.
I swallowed hard and thought.
'I can't say I'm here for a hidden quest.'
How could I resolve this situation?
'Should I take off the mask right now and reveal who I am?'
Suddenly, a small text appeared above his head, flickering precariously.
I gaped at the small text appearing on his goodwill gauge.
The goodwill, which had been at 9%, plummeted instantly.
Worse, it didn't stop at 3% but kept flickering precariously.
I bit my trembling lips tightly.
'They said there would be no penalty. They definitely said there would be none, so why?'
Fortunately, my face was hidden by the mask.
Otherwise, I might have broken down in tears at the sight of the plummeting goodwill.
Bunter, still pointing his staff at me, urged me to answer.
"How did you get in here?"
My mind went blank from the sudden drop in goodwill.
I was so flustered that I couldn't think of anything to say.
Just as I was standing there, lips moving like a fool without responding,
The children rushed in from behind, standing in front of me.
"The ma'am seemed to know a lot about artifact excavation, so we asked her for help!"
"Thanks to this ma'am, we're almost done! Look, guild master!"
The children surrounded me, pointing to the ice block behind them.
Following their gestures, Bunter's eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal. He then spoke sternly to the children.
"I've told you multiple times not to let outsiders enter here."
"The ma'am isn't an outsider, she's a guest!"
"And the homework the guild master gave us was too difficult......"
I was surprised that the children, whom I had only known for a few hours, would stand up for me like this.
But I didn't have time to feel grateful.
The word 'guest' from the children's mouths made Bunter's expression change.
He alternated his gaze between the artifact and me, then lowered his glowing staff and bowed respectfully.
"I apologize for my rudeness to the one who helped the children. I'm sorry. This place is not accessible to just anyone."
After Eclis's polite apology, this was the first time I had received an apology from a male lead candidate.
No one had ever apologized to Penelope in this world.
But even after receiving an apology for his rudeness from Bunter, I wasn't happy.
I felt ashamed of myself for getting so excited about the excavation site and digging ice.
And I was scared, thinking I might die.