/
“Is this the Shitorowa Ruins? I mean…”
“Super! It’s a ruin!”
“That’s exactly what I said. Well, it is.”
Although it’s regularly visited by people, which makes it slightly better than a beast trail, the Shitorowa Ruins we arrived at indeed had the typical appearance of such. The stone building, entwined with ivy and moss, made us feel its age, and although there were small chips here and there, there was no critical damage to be seen.
“It seems quite ancient, but the building itself is sturdy, isn’t it? I wonder if there’s some preservation magic at work?”
“I’m not sure. At least it’s a relief for us, who are going to investigate inside, that there’s no danger of collapse.”
“Well, let’s get in right away! I need light!”
“Alright, I’ll cast a spell-“
“Wait a second! I’m the scout, so I should lead! Tia, can you handle it?”
“Fufu, understood… here you go.”
Above my head, after pushing Burn aside, floated a luminous ball created by Tia’s spirit magic. If this was a dangerous place, such a thing would make us an easy target, but since our request was to investigate the interior… or rather to exterminate the demonic beasts, it’s actually welcome for enemies to come at us this time.
“I don’t think there are any traps unless thieves have sneaked in, but still be cautious. And be on your guard for goblins who should be living here normally.”
“Understood. Leave the rear to me.”
“Super! It’s perfect!”
“Well, let’s go.”
Receiving energetic responses, I walked into the ruins. These Shitorowa Ruins are a small-scale ruin with about ten rooms on the surface and a small food cellar underground. I know the structure from my previous visit, and I was using [Automapping] just in case, so there’s no chance of getting lost. And if we move on the premise that there are demonic beasts, we won’t even be caught off guard.
“Burn, there are two behind the wall. They’ll ambush us when we enter.”
“Understood. Super! Leave it to me!”
Burn rushes into the room with great momentum, passing by my side. The goblin’s sword, supposed to be a surprise attack, cleanly misses, and Burn’s sword, having turned on his heel, sends the goblin’s head flying.
“No other enemies inside!”
“Tia?”
“No ambush. At this pace, they probably won’t do anything other than surprise attacks, right?”
“Well, there’s probably no superior individual to command them. Alright, after we check the room just to be sure, shall we move to the next room?”
Without any trouble or danger, we finish our investigation of the ruin’s interior. After all, Tia and I are only “beginners” in “this world”, in reality, we have overcome a severe journey, and even though Burn has some oversights and mistakes due to lack of experience, his raw strength is quite high.
So there’s no way we would struggle with a request designed for “true beginners”. Taking time to avoid even a one in a million chance of oversight, we finish investigating the surface in about three hours, leaving only the underground food cellar.
“Hahhh, After checking below, we’re done.”
“Super! It was a piece of cake!”
“Don’t let your guard down until the end. Let’s stay alert.”
In contrast to the relaxed Burn, Tia was diligently on her guard. Aside from Burn still being a novice, Tia knows from my words that something will happen here, and since it hasn’t happened yet… she probably thinks that if anything is to happen, it will be underground.
And indeed, that is correct. If we enter here… Here it comes.
“Woah!? What!?”
“Eh, a magic circle!?”
As the two exclaim in surprise, a shining magic circle suddenly appears beneath our feet. At the same time, my head spins for a moment, and when it clears, what arrived before us was darkness.
“What, what’s this!? Super! It’s pitch black!?”
“We were teleported and the light couldn’t follow. Tia, could you cast it again?”
“Understood.”
I, of course, knew in advance, and Tia, who was experienced, chanted the spell without panicking, and a luminous ball floated above my head once again. The scene illuminated by i twas a closed space entirely surrounded by walls.
“What’s this, are we trapped?”
“There’s something over there!”
While Tia was looking around in confusion, Burn spotted something a little way off and raised his voice. As we all approached it, what we found was a small stone monument.
“A stone monument…? There seems to be something written… I can’t read it?”
“Eh, really? I can super read it!”
“Eh!? Why… Ah.”
Tia, suddenly realizing, looked at me and I nodded silently in response. Yes, this is the same as when Alexis and I went to get the Holy Sword. It only reacts to the Hero himself, and can only be deactivated by the Hero.
During the first round, I was convinced that Burn was just lucky, and I couldn’t read the text because I wasn’t from this world… So this was a mechanism exclusively for the Hero. I wouldn’t have realized it without that experience.
“So, Burn. I can’t read it, but what’s written on it?”
“Oh, um… should I place my hand here? Wha-!?”
“Burn!?”
The moment Burn pressed his right palm against the part with the characters on the stone monument, bright blue lightning ran through his body. Tia instinctively reached out at the shocking sight, so I hurriedly held her back.
“Ed!?”
“It’s fine, just watch.”
“…If you say so.”
We waited for roughly ten seconds. Burn, whose body had stopped glowing, was staring blankly at his palm.
“Hey Burn, what happened? Are you okay?”
“Ah, yeah…”
“Burn? Are you really okay?”
“…………….”
Burn, still looking dazed, slowly extended his right hand… and his lips moved slightly.
“Lightning.”
“Kyaa!?”
A bolt of lightning was discharged from Burn’s right hand. It struck the stone floor with a crack… and heat returned to Burn’s face.
“Whoa!? Is this, magic!? I did magic… and not just any magic, but lightning magic that only a Hero can use!?”
“Hey, Burn! What just happened?”
I already knew the answer. But I posed the question Burn wanted to hear. Burn slowly turned his face toward us and began to speak.
“You know, Ed. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to become a super strong Hero. But now, I’ve surpassed that effortlessly! Now! At this moment! I, Burn Bannings, have become-!”
(T/N: Missed chance to use Lloyd Bannings)
Around us, lightning fell like applause. In the blue-white light and the smell of burnt air, Burn declared loudly.
“I’ve become a Hero!!! Hahaha!”
Enveloped in the applause-like sound of lightning, Burn let out a hearty laugh. But then, a shadow approached Burn.
“Geez! I understand you’re excited, but calm down!”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry… super sorry…”
Tia scolded him, and the lightning around him disappeared. It seems that even the invincible Hero can’t compete with Tia.
“So? How do we get out of here?”
“If that’s the case, there’s a super escape magic circle behind the stone monument… Is this it?”
As Burn touched the floor, a glowing magic circle appeared… wait, what!?
“Idiot! Who activates it before we get on!? Tia!”
“Wa-wait! Wait!”
I hurriedly jumped onto the magic circle and grabbed Tia’s rushing hand, pulling her along. We just barely made the transfer in time, and the next moment we were standing in front of the entrance to the Shitorowa Ruins.
“Phew, that was close… Hey Burn, don’t mess around!”
“No, it’s not like that! I didn’t know either–“
“It’s great to have momentum, but you can’t always rely on it!”
“That’s… “
“Burn?”
“… So, super sorry.”
And so, the newly minted Hero’s first task was to bow his head and apologize in front of us.