I donât know what the Arrow of God is, but we canât let Ebelheid run wild.
I left Ortem on the spot and ran after Everhide.
Mea and Maizen followed after me.
I stopped and turned around.
ââŠâŠ Mea should stay here. Itâs probably not safe.â
Maizen is working out, so heâll be able to move reasonably well, but I donât think we can expect that from Mea.
I donât know whatâs ahead.
Weâve seen the inside of the ruins all over, and I donât think itâs likely that a magic beast will appear again, or anything like that.
Itâs safer to stay here.
âBut Iâm anxious andâŠâŠâŠ If Abel is going to go, then Mea tooâŠâŠâŠâ
Mea winces and lets her head drop.
âItâs okay. Iâll be right back.â
âI, itâs true, isnât it? Mea, Iâll go after you on the count of five hundred, okay?â
âWell, itâs going to take twice that long.â
Is Ebelheid a cup of noodles or something.
I suddenly thought about riding the golem to get aroundâŠâŠ but beyond this place where the golem is lined up. There was a narrow passage ahead.
If you have your back bent, you might be able to get over it somehow, but Iâm not going to let that golem move that fine.
If you lean your center of gravity forward, youâll struggle to balance. If youâre careful about tipping over, youâll waste a lot of time.
I only know how to handle it for free, and I only half know how to handle it.
Iâll give up on using the golem.
The wall at the entrance of the passage has portraits of fire, elves, and chimera, and it has a very unusual atmosphere.
Itâs a strange picture, and thatâs why itâs so flavorful.
Ahead, is where Ebelheid is.
If we take too long, there is a chance that Ebelheid will have the Arrow of God or something like that in his hands.
We must hurry.
I rushed ahead with Maizen.
âIâm afraid youâve messed with the wrong thing. You wonât listen to me, even though I tell you to back off, so I have no choice. Iâm the leader for now after all. Helping my subordinate and cleaning up his messes is just part of the job description. I will do what I can to help as a leaderâŠâŠ Huh, Abel? Donât we need to run faster, or it will be bad?â
After a short run into the aisle, I stopped.
Maizen followed me to a halt.
ââŠâŠ sorry, Iâm out of energy.âăâ
I said, breathing hard and putting my hands on my knees.
âEhâ
It was a good start.
Even if it was just a combination of fatigue from the analysis of the ruins, and the special potion was out.
I knew that this would happen if I ran with a strange sense of caution.
âUmâŠâŠ I really feel badâŠâŠ but Iâll be waiting here for you. So do something to stop Ebelheid.â
We canât leave Ebelheid alone.
If those words are true, Ebelheid will use the arrows of God to start a war on earth.
We have to stop him from doing it here at all costs.
âWait, wait a minute!? Isnât that the end of the line!? Thereâs no way I could stop that thing!?â
âNo, but we canât overlook it. You see, a leader has to clean up his subordinatesâ messes andâŠâ
âSurely I said it, and I apologize for it so can I take it back!? Eh, youâre kidding, right? You donât really mean it when you come up here, do you?â
Maizen grabs me by both shoulders and shakes me.
I canât blame him for saying that, because itâs impossible to do something like that.
I gently look away.
âAbellll!?â
âNo, no, look at my feet. Iâm feeling really flat, you know. You can touch them if you want. Iâd rather have you admire me for running this far.â
I say, touching my foot myself.
âUntil hereâŠâŠ look back. Youâll see Mea still watching over you with concern.â
I glanced back.
Iâd say itâs about fifty meters or less.
Come to think of it, since I was born, Iâve never made a full-on dash for that long a distance before.
But as expected of Maizen, he has been training.
He hadnât even caught his breath after such a long run.
âAs expected, shall we just go home? Itâs too much for usâŠâ
âThatâs right! Maizen, take me on your back and go after Ebelheid!â
âEh, EhhhâŠâŠ Ah, Ahhh, yeah, I get it, butâŠâŠ Sure, that might work, butâŠâŠâŠâ
I got on Maizenâs back.
Maizen kept a straight face while we ran down the aisle.
Iâm honestly embarrassed too, but you canât replace your back.
Iâm sure Ebelheid didnât expect that weâll chase him in a piggybacked state, either.
When I passed through the aisle, I found myself in a large space.
At the corners of the four corners, there are huge pillars carved with intricate technical formulas.
They must have had some kind of role when the fortress was in motion.
There was a flamboyantly decorated door at the back.
Perhaps the Arrow of God was just beyond that.
In the middle of the room, there was a beast-shaped golem that was nearly four meters tall.
The motif was probably around a dog or a wolf.
Somehow the ears and tail features seem to resemble a hound.
âGoooooooooooh!â
The golem got up and turned its head.
It had magic stones embedded throughout its body, giving it a rugged impression.
Obviously, the number of magic stones is more than the other golems.
There must also be some that are assembled inside. It must mean itâs a higher rank than the others.
ââŠâŠ Looks like Ebelheid has activated itâ
It may have been set up to protect the depths of the fortress.
This is the last difficulty.
Ebelheid himself should be able to be neutralized without that much trouble.
âHiiiiii! What are you gonna do, Abel? You canât even bring a golem over here! Can we turn back? Can we turn back now!?â
Meizen shouts as he looks back at me.
âThat ⊠maybe if we turn back, theyâll follow us back.â
Heâs taller than the other golems, but due to his crawling posture from the start, heâs going to be able to get through the passage.
âThat-, Thatâs right! Canât you just reconfigure that thing, hey!?â
âI donât think so. Most golems like that are designed to deploy wards while theyâre activated to prevent such things. A sensitive interference type will be played first.â
ââŠâŠ Isnât that a dead end? H-, hey? Hey, Abel?â
Maizen calls out to me uneasily.
âDonât worry. This place is wide, so it wonât be a problem if I shoot my magic at it rather hard.â
âN-no, you canât do that! Thatâs a different story! Itâs a full-blown weapon! Iâm sure you think youâre strong, but you donât have enough sense of danger!â
âNo, but ⊠the basics are probably the same as before, and with that one, as long as you can cut down its mobility, you can do whatever you wantâŠâ
âGooooooooooooh!â
The beast-shaped golem howled, then rushed towards us.
âD-damn it!â
Maizen shakes me off.
Iâm slammed to the ground according to gravity.
Wha-, what, whatâs wrong?
Did he give up on me?
Oh no⊠no, but the golem is more important than that right now.
Wands, where are my wand. If I donât pick it up quickly, I will fall prey to the golem.
I crawl on the ground, looking for the wand I dropped.
There, The wand touches my hand. I look back at the golem as I hug my wand.
âWhat are you doing! You must run like hell! Iâll distract it! Iâll make buy you some time for thirty seconds!â
Maizen was running around the golem and into the depths of the ruins.
Perhaps the golem was under orders to protect the depths of the fortress.
The golemâs eyes were locking on to Maizen as it seemed to have stepped on Maizenâs higher priority.
âW-wait! You donât need to put your life on hold! Maizen! Come back here!â
âDonât be stupid, you run! Iâm the leader, you know!â
When I can get that far away from them, my options are limited to making a clean kill with a single blow.
I donât know the strength of the golem that accurately, either.
This is about as much as I can handle.
If the thrust is off and I canât beat it, the golem will crush Maizen to death first.
âCome back here! If you get close enough to me, I can do it!â
âIâd love to die protecting people! When an adventurer saved me when I was little, I decided to use this life to help others! If Itâs determination, Iâm already determined long ago!â
Maizen flees from the golem with tears in his eyes.
However, the gap between them is closing in. Itâs like a cheetah and a rabbit chasing each other.
âYour voice is trembling, donât push it! Really, please, please come back!â
âI, I, Iâm not shaking! Look, youâre gonna let me go down as a hero. So get yourself back home safe and sound!! Quickly, youâre leaving me to die for nothing!â
No, heâs saying some nice lines.
Itâs impossible to convince Maizen at this last-minute now.
âŠâŠâŠitâs such a wide area, so it wonât collapse even if I put some effort into it.
These ruins are not that weak either. This is a fortress that has existed for two thousand years.
It wonât break down with a little effort, probably.
Anything else would cost Maizen his life.
âRefineâ
I point my wand into the air.
If you combine airborne components, spirits, and magical power, a metal called Hydeem Magi-Metal will be created.
This metal has the property of being strongly affected by the magic power of its creator.
However, it cannot be used as a material for anything because its magic power breaks down and disperses quickly. âŠâŠâŠ
A silvery-white metal floats in the air. One after another, the metal sticks to it as if it were clinging to it.
In the blink of an eye, a metal ball the size of a golemâs head is created.
If itâs this big and dense, thereâs no way it would be unharmed.
âThere!â
I waved my wand and a chunk of Hydeem Magi-Metal shot straight out.
âGoooooooooooh!â
The golem stopped and looked back at me.
A chunk of metal bounced off its left shoulder.
A blinding sound rang out from the golem and it blew away like a puppy and stuck to the wall.
ââŠâŠ Kuhn.â
Whether it was a squeal or a stop, I canât tell.
âOkay, somehow ⊠Ahâ
The metal ball that had flown to the opposite side of the hall had gouged one of the pillars in the corner of the hall.
The fallen metal ball shook the area wide open. It had dug into the floor and made a crack.
ââŠâŠ thank you, Abel. I see youâve been saved.â
Maizen was staring at the golem stuck to the wall with an expression that didnât seem to add up.
Its limbs were still twitching and moving. However, it wouldnât be of any use anymore.
âAh, ahhh, yes.â
Somehow, itâs awkward.
ââŠâŠ maybe I was a burden?â
âT-thanks for jumping out. Look, err, I was happy too, soâŠâ
âI now have a question that I can answer with a yes or noâŠâ
âŠâŠ But Iâve loudly destroyed the ruins.
No, maybe itâs okay nowâŠâŠ but this might become the lordâs property later, right?
If I had damaged it so much, wouldnât I be charged for something?
Even in Japan, if we carved âAbel surrenderâ on the pillar of the ruins, it would be picked up by the news and it would be a big deal.
And then a metal ball, goes boom, boom, and waves it around.
I just hope is someone you can talk toâŠâŠ Iâm sorry for saying this, but I canât trust him from the point that I discovered Wegener,
âŠâŠâŠCanât we somehow blame it on Ebelheid?
that, At least that much is ok, right?
âWell, I should say Iâm glad it was only this much. If the ruins had collapsed, weâd all be buried aliveâŠâ
I grumbled to myself, and at the same time the ruins began to shake violently.
Rubble began to fall from the top of the collapsed pillars.
Couldnât it be that it was starting to collapse around there?
âH, hey Abel, is this okay? Isnât that kind of bad?â
ââŠâŠ that pillar, it could have been a bad one to collapse.â
I donât know what its role was, but there was some kind of complex formula carved into it.
It might have been something related to the maintenance of the fortress.
âI didnât expect the ruins to collapseâŠââ
âWai-, wait! Now take me on your back and go to that back doorâŠâ
âY-, youâre going in the back? Wouldnât it be better to run away this time!?â
âNo, if we donât, Ebelheid willâŠâ
Maizen raises an eyebrow.
âLeave that thing alone! He had it coming! Sorry to say it, but you should be glad you didnât have to fight! Did you think of bringing him back alive!â
âB-, butâŠâ
Even though heâs a person like that, weâve talked to each other about magic and respected each other during our investigations.
Ebelheid may have seen me as nothing more than a tool.
But when I rejected his invitation, he seemed a little sad. Thatâs how I feel.
Maybe thatâs just how I like to think of it.
If Ebelheid hadnât been trapped in the blood of his ancestors, there wouldnât have been any confrontation.
If we had met somewhere, for example, in a magic tool shop in the city, Iâm sureâŠâŠ
ââŠâŠâŠThe people from the investigation team are still unconscious. Itâs going to take a long time to even get them out of here. Are you just going to let them die? And even if Ebelheid made it out alive, he wouldnât escape the death penalty if the case came to light now.â
I look at the back door.
If youâre going to die with the ruins, holding the treasure youâve been seeking all along, there may be some relief rather than being executed in the city.
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