The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 59: Ruins Investigation

Episode 59: Ruins Investigation 

In the end, no conclusion was reached that day on whether to descend from the cliff or proceed through the valley floor. However, there was still plenty of time. They would have to try various approaches. 

The next day, everyone headed toward the valley floor together. The first priority was to determine the number of Golems present. 

The valley floor stretched out into a barren wasteland. Vegetation was sparse, and rugged rocks were scattered everywhere. Sheer cliffs towered on both sides. It created an oppressive feeling as if we were about to be crushed. 

Only a small portion of the day’s sunlight reached the valley floor. It made the area dim and chilly even at midday. Occasionally, strong gusts of wind kicked up fine sand. 

“There’s a Golem over there.” 

“There’s one over here too. If we keep encountering them at this rate, reaching our destination is going to be quite a challenge.” 

“For now, let’s try to avoid them as much as possible.” 

At Ardan’s suggestion, they moved along a route that kept them as far from the Golems as possible. A Golem that had noticed their presence slowly began to rise. Small stones were tumbling from its massive body. 

“There’s no way we can avoid them all.” 

“That’s true, but—hey, look! That Golem over there is getting up too!” 

“And that one! What’s going on!?” 

As Jill and Elise pointed out, even Golems that were clearly farther away from them had begun to move. It was almost as if they were coordinating like a party. 

“They’re synchronized! It looks like Golems near the first one that wakes up also start moving. Be careful!” 

“Lilia, you don’t think all the Golems here are going to wake up, do you!?” 

“I don’t know! But it’s definitely possible!” 

“This is bad. Fall back! Hurry!” 

We sprinted back toward the entrance we had come from. Fortunately, only the three Golems that had initially woken up seemed to be pursuing us. 

“Ardan, I’m going to attack now.” 

“Do it, Fel! We’ll provide backup!” 

“Understood! Water Arrow!” 

A Water Arrow flew straight toward the Golem’s core. However, the rock was tougher than expected. The attack only managed to scratch the surface, failing to destroy the core. 

“It’s too hard!” 

“So that’s where the core is? Leave the rest to me!” 

With that, Jill swiftly closed in on the Golem and drove his sword straight through its core. With a strange, shrill noise, the Golem collapsed into rubble. 

We repeated the same process for the remaining two Golems—I used Water Arrow to expose the cores, and Jill delivered the final blow. 

“Alright! We got this!” 

Jill grinned triumphantly. Now that the Golems weren’t invincible, they were nothing more than prey to him. 

“Well, yeah. But if their numbers increase too much, we’ll be in trouble.” 

“Fel’s right. We got lucky with just three. But if it turns into ten or twenty, we’re in for a tough fight.” 

Ardan had a point. If they didn’t figure out the Golems’ synchronization pattern, pushing forward would be reckless. A strategy meeting was needed. 

“Did the Golems you fought yesterday attack in sync like this?” 

“No. I assumed all the Golems around here were the same. So we actually fought some in the wasteland over there, not in the valley.” 

Ardan pointed toward a reddish-brown wasteland. There were Golems there as well. Were they different from the ones in the valley? 

“Hey, show me the magic stone you picked up from yesterday’s Golem.” 

“Oh, this one?” 

Jill retrieved the magic stone from his magic bag. Comparing it to the ones from today’s battle, we noticed a slight difference in shape. 

“I see… These are a different type of Golem. These ones activate in groups. That’s a real problem.” 

“Golems that attack in packs, huh? No wonder this investigation isn’t progressing.” 

“Don’t just admire them—come up with a solution!” 

Now what? Was there a limit to how many could activate together? Testing that would be dangerous. For now, avoiding detection seemed like the best option. 

“First, we need to figure out how these Golems recognize us.” 

“Right. And it looks like we have a perfect test subject right over there.”

Lilia pointed at the reddish-brown wasteland.

— 

“Alright, let’s summarize the experiment results. Those things don’t react to sound or vibrations—they detect our body heat.” 

“Heat detection, huh? And their detection range is about the size of five carriages. So, what do we do?” 

“Hmm… What if we use Freeze Barrier to mask our body heat?” 

“I see, that might actually work.” 

It seemed the idea was correct. When we used Freeze Barrier to approach the Golems, we remained unnoticed. However, the moment the barrier was lifted, the Golems attacked. 

“Good, good. Now we need to see if this works against the linked-type Golems as well.” 

Ardan said this with his lips pressed together. Just because they were the same type of Golem didn’t necessarily mean they detected heat in the same way. They needed to proceed cautiously. 

“I hope this works. If it doesn’t, we’ll have to resort to the plan where we dangle Elise over the cliff.” 

“Ahh! Please, let this work!” 

Elise prayed to the heavens. She was clearly not fond of the idea of being suspended in midair. 

After finishing the test, we continued our descent into the valley. The area where we had defeated three Golems earlier now had large gaps where the rocks had vanished. It seemed new Golems wouldn’t appear immediately to replace them. 

“Alright, let’s go. If we fail, we don’t know how many will activate in response. Stay on guard.” 

With Freeze Barrier activated, Ardan slowly approached the Golems. Jill stood ready beside Elise, prepared to carry her away if necessary. As she wasn’t fast enough to escape on her own. Meanwhile, Lilia and I could fly. So we didn’t have to worry. 

Step by step, Ardan moved forward. He got closer than the previous test’s detection range. Yet, the Golems showed no reaction. In the end, he walked right up next to them without triggering any response. 

Ardan quietly returned. 

“It looks like we’re in the clear. Just to be safe, let’s move cautiously.” 

“Got it. But we’ll wait until tomorrow to proceed further.” 

If we continued now, we’d arrive at our destination late at night. Traveling through the dark valley was dangerous. And there was also a risk that the Golems might react to lantern light. Prioritizing safety, we decided to return to our base. 

—

The next morning. 

After preparing our gear, we resumed our ruins investigation. 

“Freeze Barrier! This should do the trick.” 

“Alright, let’s move carefully. Stay alert. Lilia, locate the Golems for us.” 

“Leave it to me!” 

We advanced while avoiding the dormant Golems lying in the valley. For lunch, we ate simple sandwiches of meat and vegetables, as using fire in this place was too risky—it could trigger a reaction from the Golems. 

Taking frequent breaks, they carefully navigated the rough terrain. 

“That area should be where the ruins are.” 

“No doubt about it. Look! That hole must be the entrance.” 

Lilia pointed at a hole about the height of two adults. It had an artificial, semi-circular shape, as if it had been carved out intentionally. The inside seemed deep, and we couldn’t see further in from our current position. 

“I’ll climb up and drop a rope ladder.” 

“We’re counting on you, Fel.” 

I leaped up lightly and reached the hole. It extended further inside. And without a light, I couldn’t see what lay ahead. I secured a rope ladder and let it down. Soon, the three others climbed up. 

“So, this is the entrance to the ruins. What’s inside?” 

“No signs of anything so far. Even Analyze isn’t picking up anything.” 

“Alright, let’s move in. Elise, provide light. Fel and Lilia, handle mapping and scouting. Ardan and Jill, be ready in case anything happens.” 

After confirming our gear, we proceeded deeper. We relied on Elise’s Small Light to illuminate the way. Before long, we encountered something. 

“There’s a door here.” 

“The request report didn’t mention anything like this.” 

Jill and Ardan cautiously approached the door. The rest of us moved closer to inspect it as well, but there was no visible keyhole. Could it require a spell to open? 

“How do we open this thing?” 

“Should we just break it?” 

Lilia’s answer to my question was quite drastic. She might be right, but that should be a last resort. A strong impact could cause the tunnel we were in to collapse. 

“If we do that, won’t a Guardian activate?” 

“Most likely. So, what now?”