The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 60: Guardian

Episode 60: Guardian 

The metal door wouldn’t budge no matter how much we pushed, pulled, slid it sideways, or even tried lifting it. We were completely stuck. 

“What should we do? Maybe we really have no choice but to break it?” 

“Yeah, seems like breaking it is the only option. It looks pretty sturdy, though.” 

“I’m concerned about what will happen to the ruin’s defense mechanisms.” 

It seemed like we had decided to go with Lilia’s suggestion. But Elise still looked uneasy. Honestly, I was worried too. If only there were a way to get inside without destroying the door… 

I examined the area around the door again with Analyze, and then it hit me. 

“Hey, what if we dig a side tunnel and bypass the door?” 

“I see, that way we could get in without breaking it.” 

“Fel, you’re so smart! Let’s start digging right away. If we use Pit sideways instead of downward, we should be able to dig a tunnel easily.” 

“Lilia-chan, what’s *Pit*?” 

Elise asked, tilting her head. It seemed like she had never heard of that spell before. In fact, it looked like most of the magic we used was unfamiliar to her. 

No, wait, maybe it was the opposite. Maybe Lilia was just so well-versed in magic that she knew spells that normal people wouldn’t. 

“Pit is a spell for digging holes.”

“A spell that specific actually exists?” 

“Ufufu, it’s perfect for pranks,” 

Lilia said with a mischievous smile. 

Elise watched her with a nervous grin. A race that creates magic just for pranks—that was Fairies for you. 

“Alright, let’s get started. Pit!” 

A hole large enough for an adult to pass through opened in front of us. I moved forward, using Analyze to check our surroundings. Everything seemed fine. I changed the angle and used Pit again. 

We advanced further, adjusting the angle with each spell. It was until I felt a definite connection to another tunnel. 

“We’ve connected to the passage beyond the door. Let’s move forward.” 

“Stay on guard.” 

“Of course.” 

With the dim glow of Small Light guiding the way, we emerged into a passage identical to the one we had left behind. As I checked the surroundings for any dangers, the others caught up. 

“Everything seems fine. The magic stones Lilia mentioned aren’t showing any signs of activation.” 

“I see. That means they haven’t detected our intrusion yet.” 

“So, what’s next?” 

Jill posed the question. And Ardan answered while keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings. The passage extended as far as we could see, carved directly from the rock. There were no keyholes or mechanisms visible on the back of the door—we definitely wouldn’t have been able to open it from the outside. 

“Our first priority is securing a base. It’s inefficient to return to the canyon entrance every time. Fel, Lilia, do you see any good rooms nearby?” 

A good room, huh? If we didn’t find one, we could always carve out a space in the wall. As I was thinking that, Lilia had already started scouting with Analyze. She then spoke up. 

“Found one! There’s a section with a bunch of small rooms. No idea what they were used for, though.” 

“Alright, let’s head there. Lead the way.” 

“Okay!” 

We followed Lilia, sharing the map as we moved. The hallway remained eerily empty—no creatures, no obstacles. Just a smooth, leveled stone path stretching ahead. 

Eventually, we reached the entrance to the small rooms Lilia had found. 

“Another door. No traps detected.”

“This one actually has a keyhole,” 

Ardan noted, examining the lock carefully. 

Did he have some kind of lockpicking skill? Jill didn’t seem like the type to learn such delicate techniques, so maybe Ardan had picked it up out of necessity. 

“How is it, Ardan?” 

“No good. I can’t open it. What about you, Fel?” 

Unfortunately, I didn’t know any magic for unlocking doors. If a spell like that existed, thieves would have a field day. I shook my head and looked at Lilia. If she didn’t have a solution either, we were out of options. 

“Fufufu, leave it to me. Unlocking is my specialty. Key Open!” 

With a soft click, the lock disengaged. 

It was impressive that it still worked after all these years. The ancient people must have had truly advanced technology and civilization. 

And Lilia having a spell that any thief would dream of? That was surprising too. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to ask what she originally planned to use it for. 

“Alright, opening the door. Stay alert.”

Ardan, without showing any particular surprise, slowly moved the door handle and opened the door. 

Was this within his expectations? If so, it seems like he relies on us quite a bit. 

Beyond the door, remnants of what appeared to be a collapsed bed lay scattered. 

“It looks like this was a nap room.” 

“Yeah, there are similar things lying around. But the wood and fabric are all tattered and unusable.” 

Jill said this while he was inspecting the room. I was also checking for anything unusual. But all I found was some debris. 

“Alright, this works out well. Let’s clean up this room and use it as our base.” 

“Good idea. It looks like we can open and close the door from this side.” 

Elise examined the door and added. We then began tidying up the room while checking its contents, just in case. 

“We don’t know if there’s any airflow. So cooking with fire is out of the question.” 

“Yeah, I figured. Rations aren’t bad, but they get boring pretty quickly.” 

As we chatted, we set up a table and chairs. At times like this, magic bags are incredibly convenient. 

We really owe Count Hauzinha and Sancho-san. I wonder how they’re doing. 

“So far, things are going smoother than expected.” 

“All that’s left is to make a round of the ruins.” 

Elise said while nibbling on some dried meat. Speaking of which, how much of the ruins do we need to investigate before the request is considered complete? Since this was a group request, I had never taken one on my own before. 

“Ardan, is the request complete once we confirm the overall safety of the ruins?” 

“Yeah. I’d say securing the entrance already fulfills the basic requirements. The main priority is confirming that the ruins actually exist.” 

“So, everything else is just a bonus?” 

Lilia said while hanging onto my arm. Apparently, she refuses to eat rations because they don’t taste good. Well, to be fair, I usually have to force her to eat even the meals she normally gets. Guess I can’t blame her. 

“What happens to any artifacts we find in the ruins?” 

“The default rule is to hand them over to the client. Depending on their value, we might get an additional reward. But honestly, if no one’s watching, people often just take things without getting caught.” 

“That makes sense.” 

If we found a high-performance magic bag or something, I’d probably take it home too. An extra reward wouldn’t be enough to make up for it. But if we got caught, it would seriously damage our reputation. 

“I wonder if anything important is hidden in these ruins?” 

There were mentions of them in ancient documents. So maybe there’s some huge secret buried here. 

Lilia must have been curious too, because she jumped onto my shoulder and looked over at Ardan. 

“Who knows? The request didn’t specify what kind of ruins they were. Maybe the client didn’t know, or maybe they wanted to keep it a secret.” 

“They know exactly where the ruins are, but not what’s inside? That sounds a little suspicious.” 

Elise had a point. The location we were given was spot on. It meant they must have known a lot more than they let on. 

“Maybe they’re still deciphering the ancient documents. They figured out the location but wanted to secure it before anyone else could snatch it away.” 

Jill said this while munching on some rationed bread. Ardan nodded in agreement. 

If that’s the case, then the true nature of these ruins might become clearer soon. 

“Tomorrow, we’ll explore the entire ruins based on the map Fel and Lilia created. The biggest concern is the magic stone. If it turns out to be a Guardian, we should take care of it before a full-scale investigation begins.” 

“Isn’t that dangerous? Do we really need to go that far?” 

“Elise, what if we overlook something and a bunch of people die in these ruins later because of it? That wouldn’t sit right with you, would it?” 

“You’ve got a point. But what if the Guardian is incredibly strong?” 

We had no way of knowing the Guardian’s strength. It was a risky move. Even if we were doing this for future explorers, we needed to set a limit on how much danger we were willing to face. 

“If that happens, we’ll just seal off the passage with magic. If we mark it as a dangerous area on the map, others will know to stay away.” 

“Good idea. In the worst-case scenario, we’ll do that. Either way, we need to investigate the magic stone for our own safety.” 

The real problem was how strong the Guardian would be. 

I vaguely remembered reading somewhere that Guardians couldn’t leave the ruins. If that’s true, we could just run away if things got bad. 

But that would also mean we wouldn’t be able to complete our investigation. If the Guardian attacked us, we’d have no choice but to deal with it.