Please, Just Read It

Please, just read it!

Chapter 34

Their Circumstances (3)

At the same time.

Inside the ruins.

“…Finally got it.”

A young man with brown hair, Arpel Stingwood, let out a breathless laugh.

In his hand was a golden sphere, the core of the Golden Golem that his team had searched tirelessly for over the past 12 hours.

“Haa…”

Arpel let out a sigh of relief.

This small sphere, exuding a bizarre yet intense magical power, how much trouble had they gone through to obtain it?

Tracking the Golden Golem in a space where pathfinding didn’t work at all was an extremely tough task.

It was like trying to find a needle in a vast desert.

Completing such an impossible mission, Arpel Stingwood felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

‘Essentially, that guy did everything…’

Thinking that, Arpel looked straight ahead.

“Hmm.”

An old man appeared.

He was poking at the dead golem with a wooden staff.

Poke, poke.

Kook, kook—.

“…”

Quietly observing the old man’s antics, Arpel silently muttered his name in his heart.

‘Sir Theobalt…’

A living legend.

A figure respected throughout the magical world.

The retired commander of the Western Front’s magical unit.

Garon Edward von Theobalt.

His achievement of holding back hundreds of demons on the Hasslepart Mountain Range was still talked about among wizards.

‘It’s a damn lucky break that we are on the same team. If I had met him as an enemy…’

A shiver ran down his spine.

Imagining such a sinister scenario, Arpel Stingwood shook his head.

Speculating about things that hadn’t happened was pointless. At least in this second test, Theobalt was on their side.

“Sir Theobalt.”

“Hmm…?”

“Now that we’ve found the Golden Golem’s core, wouldn’t it be a good idea to take a little break?”

Garon Theobalt had been tirelessly using pathfinding for the past half a day.

There had been no time to rest.

They continued marching forward until they found the Golden Golem.

“Well…”

“…”

However, Garon Theobalt showed no sign of wanting to rest. Shaking his head, he replied.

“Even if I want to rest, there’s no time.”

“…Pardon?”

“Arpel, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Still poking at the golem’s corpse with his staff, Garon Theobalt shifted his gaze to Arpel.

“Have you felt any doubts since entering this ruin?”

“Doubts…?”

“Looks like there were none.”

As expected, Garon Theobalt nodded quietly and reached out his hand toward Arpel.

“Give it here.”

“Excuse me?”

“The golem’s core. Hand it over.”

“Ah, yes.”

Swish.

Receiving the core, Garon Theobalt rolled the golden sphere around in his hand.

The core danced vibrant colors with the movement of his fingers.

“Truly a peculiar magical energy. Isn’t it?”

“…Indeed.”

“It possesses an enigmatic yet powerful aura. I’ve never encountered this type of magic in my life.”

“…”

“Perhaps it was specially created by the Five Great Towers for this exam, which makes it even more so.”

Garon Theobalt, who had been silently observing the core, shifted his gaze back to Arpel.

“But tell me, why is it that we couldn’t find even a single core emitting such intense magical energy after searching for half a day?”

“…Huh?”

“No matter how you look at it, isn’t it strange that we couldn’t detect this peculiar magic at all? Especially for two talented wizards like you and me?”

Hearing that question, Arpel fell silent.

“Arpel. Have you ever had even a single moment of doubt about this?”

“…”

No, he hadn’t.

He simply assumed it was because of the magic interference within the ruins, brushing off any thoughts he had.

‘But now that I think about it…’

Yeah.

Something was a bit odd.

‘It’s not like my pathfinding ability is lacking. In fact, I’d say I’m quite good at it. I passed the first exam with flying colors, after all.’

Arpel Stingwood was a talented wizard who had reached the peak of the intermediate level at the age of 29.

He was the second son of the prestigious Stingwood family and had followed a solid elite course since childhood.

Even managing to graduate from the notoriously difficult Lutemis at the top of his class, he was one of the prodigies.

Arpel Stingwood was seen as one of the prominent figures in the next generation of the magical world.

‘Right. For someone like me not to sense a core radiating such intense power is completely nonsensical.’

It wasn’t just that that was odd.

‘Let alone Sir Garon Theobalt barely managing to track the remnants of this core…’

Yeah.

There must surely be another hidden reason.

Having organized those thoughts, Arpel posed a question.

“It is strange. So what exactly is the reason for this…?”

“Ah. It’s nothing significant. This is just one of the tricks that the Five Great Towers orchestrated.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Garon Theobalt ripped the skin of the Golden Golem apart with his bare hands.

[Shwoooosh—!]

“Here, take a look at this.”

“Ugh…”

Garon Theobalt waved the skin he had torn from the Golden Golem in the air.

Perhaps because he’d been poking at it with his staff for a while, the flesh was already in tatters.

Thud, thud—.

Thick, blue blood slowly dripped onto the floor.

The stench wafted around.

Arpel had no choice but to wrinkle his nose at the foul smell.

“Come now, clear your face and take a close look at the golem’s inner skin.”

“…”

Following Garon Theobalt’s words, Arpel began to examine the golem’s flesh closely.

“…Huh?”

Inner skin.

The inside of the skin.

Displayed against geometric red patterns, a tough yet flexible material that resembled scale armor was revealed.

“…!”

And at the sight of this, Arpel’s eyes widened in shock.

“D-Dragon skin…”

“Indeed, as expected of a member of the Stingwood family, your insight is remarkable.”

Dragon skin.

A top-tier alchemical material known for its excellent magical resistance, capable of blocking most types of “magic detection” and “magic sensing.”

“From the patterns engraved here, it looks like it has also been enchanted. It can essentially be considered a completed artifact.”

“…”

“By donning this skin as a cloak, one could easily ignore any ordinary “magic detection.” The reason we struggled so much to find the Golden Golem was likely due to this.”

Garon Theobalt shook off the blue blood that had splattered on the skin. Then like a precious treasure, he tucked it into his inner pocket.

“What are you doing? You should gather some too. Such skins aren’t easily found anywhere.”

“Ah, no…”

Arpel responded with a trembling voice.

“So… the Five Great Towers squandered such precious skin just for a mere selection test?”

“Oh come now. Just a selection test? You don’t know the significance this test holds in the magical world?”

Garon Theobalt grinned.

“Anyway, I have one more thing I want to ask you.”

“What kind…?”

“As you know, there are a total of 42 examinees hidden within this ruin.”

“…”

“Of course, I don’t know how many are left now… But still, they are all skilled wizards who passed the first test, so they should be capable of pathfinding.”

Garon Theobalt continued his speech while gazing intently at the core of the golem in his hand.

“However, now that the core has been exposed after being hidden within the dragon skin, how do you think things will unfold?”

“…!”

“Looks like you’re finally catching my drift.”

With a relaxed smile, Garon Theobalt slowly looked around.

Swish—.

In time with him, other examinees hidden in the magical veil began to show themselves one by one.

“…”

“…”

There were about ten of them, at least.

The moment the core of the Golden Golem was exposed, these other examinees sensed its aura and rushed to this location.

Like a pack of hyenas eyeing their prey.

“Do you understand, Arpel? The goal of this exam was never just to find the Golden Golem’s core.”

“…”

“It was either to defend or steal. One of the two.”

“…Ah.”

Only then did Arpel realize.

‘So it was all the plan of the Five Great Towers…’

The team that managed to find the core first through pathfinding would have superior average skills.

However, the moment that team extracted the core, they would become public enemies targeted by the other teams.

‘Multiple against one…’

A single team of skilled wizards would be up against multiple teams who caught the smell of magic like a pack of hyenas.

In such a situation, what action would the team take when faced with several enemies?

Would they flee?

Or would they stand and fight?

And how would multiple teams engaging a single enemy react?

Would they unite?

Or would they risk missing their chance by squabbling amongst themselves?

‘A design to explore all those possibilities…’

In other words.

This was a meticulously crafted device created by the thorough calculations of the Five Great Towers.

“Now, hold on a second.”

At that moment, Arpel Stingwood suddenly realized something and quickly spoke up.

“B-but… knowing all this, why did you, Sir Theobalt, insist on extracting the golem’s core?”

“Hmm?”

“Wouldn’t it have been simpler to leave the corpse as it was and pull out the core right before the exam ends?”

He continued.

“Yet you deliberately extracted the golem’s core to lure other examinees here…”

“Oh, well. That’s simple enough.”

Garon Theobalt grinned wide.

“After all, we’ll end up fighting them sooner or later; it’s better to gather these hyena-like bastards and wipe them out in one go, wouldn’t you say?”

“…”

No sooner had those words left his mouth than the air grew heavy.

Woom──!

The violent white light of magic erupted from the old man’s body, wreaking havoc in all directions.

“Cough…!”

Some examinees began to fall already.

Breathing became a struggle, as if sucked into the depths of the ocean. The intensity of the magic bore down on Arpel like a weight, suffocating him.

However—

Arpel, being a seasoned wizard, managed to protect himself from the external pressure using a defensive spell.

“Arpel.”

“Yes?”

“Get ready.”

Garon Theobalt stated.

“With you, me, and that lady sitting over there, Dorothy, in the mix… well, I believe I could handle about ten of those little pests on my own.”

“Right on, old man.”

A thin female voice responded.

The third team member, Dorothy, who had been quietly sitting next to Arpel, smiled brightly.

“I watched silently, and you are indeed amazing. You managed to turn the trap laid by the Five Great Towers into your advantage. Truly impressive, old man.”

“Too much flattery.”

With a loud shout of “Hup!” Dorothy jumped off the ground, her bright face scanning the surroundings slowly.

“What are you waiting for, Arpel?”

“…”

“Let’s go. We need to wipe those pests out, just like the old man said.”

*

“Haa, ha…”

Riley panted heavily.

The tense battle had ended.

A short yet intense encounter.

Because the opponents were also formidable wizards, it had been a physically draining conflict.

“Guh, cough!”

Suddenly, a strange groan echoed.

Looking ahead, she saw an examinee sprawled on the ground.

The one left alone, writhing on the floor.

Others had fled as soon as defeat was imminent, leaving him behind.

“Cough, cough! Damn… These bastards have no camaraderie whatsoever… Kugh!”

He was coughing up blood.

It seemed he had sustained serious injuries during the battle. Upon closer inspection, a hole was visible in the left side of his abdomen.

[Chuh…]

Of course, she felt no sympathy.

After all, he was the one who had launched the first attack. What a befitting fate for picking a fight without understanding the situation.

“Hey, what were you thinking, charging at us without a clue? If you hadn’t attacked first, we wouldn’t have bothered you at all.”

“Guh…”

Becky walked slowly towards the man crumpled on the ground, reciting the words she had just spoken.

“Damn it! If you’re going to kill me, just do it! I won’t accept any useless mercy…”

“Sure. I wasn’t going to show you any anyway.”

Swish—.

With a chilling sound, she sliced through his vital points.

That was the end of it.

No more sounds came from the man.

“Haaah…”

Having finished her work, Becky exhaled. She spoke with a sense of relief.

“Now it’s all over.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“You worked hard too. I saw you fighting back there. Ah, of course, you’re still far weaker than me.”

“…”

Becky shifted her gaze elsewhere.

“That aside, our resident ancient magic nerd is… ah…”

She trailed off, shaking her head.

“Yeah. Right. Still cowering in the corner, trembling. I knew it.”

In a dark alley corner.

Olivia was hugging her knees and shaking violently.

As before, she was mumbling to herself in an incomprehensible manner.

‘…Do all wizards without combat experience act like this?’

[She’s particularly bad, though.]

Honestly, it still didn’t make sense to her.

How could someone who trembled in fear the moment a battle started manage to torture another person?

Really…

Wizards are such unpredictable creatures.

“Hey. Get a grip. It’s all over now.”

“Gah! Huh…!”

Becky shook Olivia’s shoulder.

At that, the trembling Olivia sprang up and quickly surveyed her surroundings.

“Gah!”

“…”

“Ah… It’s all, all over…”

Becky looked at Olivia with a disappointed gaze.

“Hey, you idiot.”

“…Y-yes?”

“Why in the world are you just trembling there? Can’t you use that fancy torture magic of yours a bit?”

“Ah, well…”

The flustered Olivia responded.

“Um… The torture magic has a cooldown of a month, you see.”

“…”

[……]

A month? What kind of garbage magic is that?

“Haa…”

Becky sighed, perhaps thinking the same thing as Arpel, shaking her head.

“Anyway, that damn ancient magic always has issues…”

AAAAHHHHH───!

And that’s when it happened.

A horrifying scream echoed in the distance.

[……]

That was the beginning.

The ground shook with terrible sounds resonating through the corridors of the ruins.

Screech!

Bang!

Boom──!

The sounds of screams, explosions, and something collapsing…

‘…Do you feel that?’

[Yeah.]

And amidst this chaos, Riley and I sensed an unusual energy.

Intense, yet mysterious.

Moreover, it contained a very unique magic…

[…The core.]

“……”

The core of the Golden Golem.

“Hey, Riley.”

“Yes?”

Just as Becky seemed to sense that same energy, she began speaking to Riley.

“You feel it too, right? It’s the core of the Golden Golem. We should head over there quickly…”

“No, we can’t.”

“…What?”

“We can’t go that way.”

Becky looked back at her with a confused expression.

“Why not? The distance isn’t that far. By the time we get there, the situation will have calmed down anyway. We can sneak in and attack the team that seizes the core…”

“Becky.”

Riley cut off Becky’s words.

“Do you think we’re the only ones who would think that? By the time we arrive, other teams will already be there as well.”

“No, then what should we do?”

Riley shrugged.

“It’s simple. While everyone’s attention is focused over there, we take another Golden Golem for ourselves. There happens to be another one around here.”

“But then…”

“Becky.”

Riley cut off Becky’s words once more and smiled.

“Have you ever suffered for listening to me?”

“…”

Becky hesitated, glancing.

“…Never.”

“Then can’t you just trust me one more time this time?”

Riley gazed steadily at Becky with a slight smile. Sighing reluctantly, Becky slowly nodded.

“Haa.”

“…”

“Okay. I got it. I’ll do it your way.”